InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Her Own World ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )

Her Own World

 

Chapter Three

 

The ookamiyoukai hated humans.

 

Human warriors had captured their princess, the next one set to take the position of alpha, three days ago. However, they had been unable to approach the strange dens, due to the large amounts of spiritual power that had been radiating from the place. Earlier that evening, an inuyoukai had approached them cautiously, seeking answers as to their presence. Explaining their plight to the inuyoukai, who had introduced himself as the Inu no Taisho, he had stated that there would be a diversion in the town square later that evening, and that they would be able to break into the largest den and reclaim their princess. They were advised to secure the assistance of a human, as there were likely to be spiritual barriers.

 

Spotting a human cub foolishly wandering outside the barrier, one of the ookami pounced. A hand was clamped over the little girl's mouth as she was dragged off into the forest. Thrashing about wildly, her movement was halted as she was held by the scruff by Kouga, one of the higher-ranking males in the tribe. Staring at the three ookami males surrounding her, her scent began to smell of panic. Kouga snarled, baring his fangs, as he uttered one of the few human words that the Inu no Taisho had said was needed; “Obey.” Panic-stricken, the girl nodded.

 

Their youki fluctuated as the barrier went down. Grinning to each other, the three male youkai dragged the little girl into the largest human den. Tearing through the strange human home, they could not tell where the scent of their Princess was coming from. They could smell her somewhere inside, but could not track the scent; it was as if she had been dragged all over the place to camouflage where she was.

 

“Over here!” Ginta shouted, waving them toward a stone cave inside the wooden den. Perplexed, Kouga sniffed experimentally at the air. There were so many scents coming from within - mainly anger and fear - but Ayame's scent was definitely amongst them. Flanked by Hakakku and Ginta, Kouga descended the steps hewn into the earth. He could tell that they were headed deeply underground; the smell of the earth was permeating the stone.

 

“Where is she?!” Kouga roared into the air, sniffing the air for her scent. It was faint, coming from even deeper into the earthen cavern. With a growl, he grabbed the wrist of the small human girl at his side, and dragged her toward a door. Reaching out to remove it, he recoiled; his hand burnt from the power of purification. Snarling down at the human cub, he uttered another of the words that the Inu no Taisho had taught him; “Remove.”

 

Shakily, the cub reached out and pointed at a strange piece of white cloth that she could not reach. Growling, Kouga guessed that she was saying that that was the thing that he had told her to remove; he grabbed her by the waist and hauled her up. Screeching, the cub screwed her eyes tightly shut, until Kouga ordered her again. “Remove.”

 

Tiny hands pulled the strange cloth off the door. Practically shoving her into Ginta's hands, Kouga took off in the direction that Ayame's smell was strongest. He could smell many different youkai in this area; in fact, all the creatures in this strange cave were youkai. They were of little concern to him, though. They were lower-level youkai; no more than animals. His only priority right now was Ayame.

 

At last, he found her, unconscious and filthy. “Ayame!” He cried out in the native tongue, trying to remove the strange metal wall that kept her inside. His hands burning again, he looked around the metal cage; spotting the same kind of cloth that had prevented him from passing the door, he grabbed the cub again and ordered her to remove it. Doing so, Kouga ripped the cage from the wall of stone, hurriedly making his way toward his fallen Princess.

 

She was half-starved; her lips were sewn together. Using a claw to try to cut them, he growled as he was deflected. Snapping a part of the metal cage into a sharp blade, he carefully cut each and every stitch, the spiritual power dissipating and allowing him to completely remove them from her flesh. Picking up the redhead, he turned to his comrades. “We have her. Leave the human cub; we have no further use for her. We need to get Ayame home, else she'll die. She's already ill from lack of food and water.”

 

Nodding, the three ookami fled the large human den, following their scents out the way they came.

 

OoOoOoOoOoO

 

Kagome's head was throbbing.

 

Groaning as she was jostled about, her eyes squinted open. Even though there was no light to see by, and the world around her was almost pitch-black, she could vaguely make out the figure of a person - she could not tell the gender - on the other side of the container she was in. Unlike herself, this person was upright, leaning slightly backwards against something solid. Sitting up, or at least attempting to, she looked around her in the dark night for any sign of where she was.

 

“Awake, are you?”

 

The voice made her eyes snap over to the figure that was on the other side of what she had now determined to be a cage. As useless as her eyesight was, she could tell that the person was wearing billowing clothing and had long hair. Her memories swam for a moment before she placed him. His voice was the same as the man that had knocked her out in the town. Freezing up, she scampered backwards, attempting to get away from the man. Wide eyes watched as his silhouette drew closer. She felt the wooden bars of the cage hit her back moments before he knelt down before her, placing hands on either side of her body, preventing her escape. He lowered his face to hear ear, before breathing, “You ain't harmed. We took your clothes to make sure you ain't got any weapons.”

 

Kagome's stomach wrenched nervously as she registered the feel of his hair brushing against her bare legs. Running her hands along her body, she was relieved to find that she was mostly decent; her corset was still intact, and her petticoat was still covering her above the mid-thigh, barely preserving her modesty. But, as covered as she was, she was still scantily dressed; her cheeks flamed at the indignity of it all. These… these animals had removed her clothing! Left her in her underwear!

 

“Wh-what did I do?” Kagome whispered, her posture, tone, and, though he couldn't tell at the moment, scent laced with complete and utter terror. “Why have you taken me?”

 

“You'll find out soon enough.” He grouched, backing up and retuning to his corner. “But now, you sit down, shut up, and do what I say. Understood?” Kagome's head nodded frantically. “We're stopping for the night soon. We'll arrive at some point tomorrow morning, probably. Until then, you just do what you're told, understand?” Kagome nodded again.

 

Watching the starlight dapple through the canopy, Kagome thought she caught a flash of silver in front. Peering around, there were six people manoeuvring the portable cell that she and this strange man were in. She thought she saw another two behind, two in front, and one leading them through the foliage. She was jostled around several times; for a few hours, that's all there was. She cried out in pain several times as she was smacked around, hitting her head on the bars.

 

Terrified did not even begin to describe how she was feeling at the moment. In the dark, things began to take on new shapes; trees became demons, men became monsters, youkai became even more fearsome and beast-like. Curling herself up into a ball, while trying to preserve her modesty, was easier said than done, but Kagome somehow managed it. Tying to make herself as small as possible, she clutched the sides of her head, inwardly chanting `its all a dream… its all a dream…', praying that she would wake up. Unfortunately, she knew it wasn't a dream, and she knew she wouldn't wake up from it.

 

OoOoOoOoOoO

 

Inuyasha was grateful when they finally stopped for the night. Letting him out of the cage as the rest of the inuyoukai set out to hunt down something to eat or for firewood, Sesshoumaru motioned for Inuyasha to follow him. Perplexed, Inuyasha followed his elder brother to the opposite side of the clearing, blinking at the sight he saw. There, wrapped up in Sesshoumaru's mokomoko-sama, and Rin had nicknamed it, was the kitsune that the woman had held when she had been taken from the village. He was unconscious, the large knot on his head showing where he had been hit to become so.

 

Raising as eyebrow at Sesshoumaru, he allowed his scent to reek of confusion as he held his hands to his sides, palms up. It was a bizarre game that the two of them used to communicate when Inuyasha was human; one would have thought that Sesshoumaru would have just learnt the human language, but he truly saw no need, when only two people in the pack spoke it; and only one of them was on a permanent basis. No, he seemed to prefer the bizarre sign language that they had developed.

 

Pointing to the kitsune, he then pointed to his own nose. It was then that Inuyasha understood, communicating this with a nod. The kitsune would have been able to track her easily, using his own sense of smell. Not all youkai had superior senses, but kitsune noses were nearly as good as inu noses. Nearly. He was, once again, amazed at his brother's ability to think so far ahead; were it anyone else, they would have grabbed the girl and run, leaving everything else behind. That could have likely proven a fatal mistake, since it would have left vital clues to her whereabouts.

 

Allowing his mind to wander, he set himself on keeping the fire that one of the inuyoukai had started going. It was only a small blaze at the moment, but soon it would be large and hot; able to cook a boar or two. Most of the youkai that were with them preferred their meat raw, but Inuyasha and the human girl had to have their food cooked; the girl more so than Inuyasha. He would get over any sickness when the sun rose. She would not. They did not want to kill her; they merely wanted to take her to a place to show her what it was like for them when her people had invaded their lands.

 

Soon, there were several fish skewered and sizzling over the fire. Turning them periodically, Inuyasha cursed his missing sense of smell. He normally would have been able to tell when they were cooked by scent, though the fire provided ample light to see by. Sighing to himself, he turned the fish around, so as not to burn them, careful not to burn himself in the process. At a gentle tapping on his shoulder, his eyebrow rose as Sesshoumaru pointed to the cage and making a beckoning motion, before pointing toward the fire.

 

Understanding that his brother was telling him to bring the human out and seat her by the fire, at least for a little while, Inuyasha stood with a grumble. Picking his way through the inuyoukai gnawing their way through raw boar carcases, his nose wrinkled up. Eating raw meat was disgusting; he supposed that he got that taste from his human mother, who always fed him cooked and seasoned meats. He could handle unseasoned, but he couldn't handle uncooked.

 

Banging on the cage, he solicited the attention of the woman within. “Up!” He demanded, hauling the door open. Grabbing her by the forearm as she scrambled into a sitting position, he hauled her to her feet and dragged her toward the fire. He could feel her tense up and try to resist him, attempting to pull her arm back. “What?” He snapped, already irritated.

 

“A-are they going to eat me?”

 

Snorting, Inuyasha tugged her along. “Don't be stupid. Why would they eat you when they've got perfectly good boars to eat? You wouldn't fill a pup's belly. You haven't even got any meat on you.” He scoffed at her. “Sit there,” he pointed to a rock by the fire, “and don't you even think about escaping! Even if I wasn't awake all night, the inuyoukai will be able to hear you moving, so I suggest you stay as close to the fire as possible if you don't want trouble, you got that, woman?”

 

Nodding, Kagome took her seat by the fire. She hadn't noticed before, but she was remarkably cold. She'd felt the heat of the man's hands as he'd hauled her upward, and now she was shivering all over, her teeth chattering as she rubbed her hands over her arms in an attempt to warm herself. The heat of the fire warmed her a little, though her back was still cold. Her lack of clothing was proving to be a problem, as it allowed her skin to cool much faster.

 

“Oi.”

 

Snapped out of her thoughts, she looked up. The strange man had sat himself next to her, and was holding out two fish on a stick. Peering at them warily, she gave a small jump when he shook them. “Hurry up and take them, unless you want the burnt ones.” He grouched, nudging them toward her again. Carefully, she avoided touching his hand as she took them and held them away from her person, as if they were contaminated. Who knew what they had done to them? “They ain't poisoned.” The man snorted, practically inhaling his own fish. “We ain't gonna kill ya. If we were gonna do that, you woulda been dead already.”

 

Bristling at his frankness, but unable to deny the truth of his last statement, she slowly picked at her own fish. It was bland, but it would keep her going. She could not help but feel that every eye in the campsite was on her; she could see the glow of the strangely coloured eyes all around her. There were some green, blue, and red amongst them, with one pair of golden. All youkai eyes had a distinct shine in the darkness, a testament to their demonic blood. Shivering, she attempted to block out the creepy eyes and focused on her meagre meal. It was proving to be rather difficult, but it allowed her to get some food in her belly.

 

“What's your name, girl?”

 

Jumping at the unexpected question, Kagome hesitated. They had kidnapped her, and they did not even know her name? A frail hope welled up within her that this was all some sort of mistake; that they had not intended to capture her, but had merely mistaken her for perhaps Kikyou. They did share a resemblance. Youkai had much more reason to capture her than Kagome. After all, she was the one authorising everything, not Kagome. So wrapped up in her musings was she that she did not realise that she had not answered his question.

 

“Girl! Your name!”

 

She gave a small start, flushing in her embarrassment and fear. “K-Kagome.”

 

After the man's snort, things fell silent once more. She heard several canine whines accompanied by human-sounding yawns. Figuring that the youkai were likely settling in for the night, she drew her knees up to her chest. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't sleep. She'd never felt more alone; even when she was on board that ship with no one she knew but Sango. At least, then, she knew she was safe and had a friend. His words echoed in her head again.

 

`We ain't gonna kill ya. If we were gonna do that, you woulda been dead already.'

 

Kagome snuck a glance at the dark-haired man. Could she really believe that?

 

OoOoOoOoOoO

 

“Damnit!”

 

Bushes were ripped out of the path of the female taijiya. Clenching her fist as she hacked through the underbrush, Sango cursed herself. She and Kohaku had taken off after the direction they had seen the black-haired man and silver-haired youkai take off in, the Princess in their grasp. Growling under her breath, she almost tripped over another root.

 

“Ane-ue! Which way did they go?”

 

Sango was so frustrated that she could cry. Her father had entrusted she and Kohaku with the duty of protecting their Princess, and they had failed. Screaming her anger to the skies, she threw out her Hiraikotsu to cut a path in the forest. She was amongst those that had been uninjured during the raid, save for a few scratches here and there. The youkai had not actually killed anyone, which confused Sango. One of the taijiya had remarked that the youkai appeared to be speaking to each other during the fights, but he couldn't be sure. Sango was sure that they weren't dealing with the everyday, run-of-the-mill youkai; these beasts were intelligent, and wanted something.

 

But what did they hope to achieve with the Princess?

 

Thrusting the blade of her katana into the trunk of a large tree, she gave a roar of anger. “I don't know!” She called over her shoulder, to her younger brother. “We have to find them before they kill the Princess!” She cried, having reached the end of her tether. “They took her alive, so they want something.” She murmured to the group of five that had surrounded her. One of them was her younger brother, Kohaku, another, the Houshi, Miroku. The rest were some of the taijiya that had not been knocked unconscious in the raid.

 

“How do you know?” One of the older men asked hesitantly.

 

“Sango-san is right.” Miroku held out an arm to stop the approach of the men onto the woman, who was shaking violently. Nodding to Kohaku, he allowed the younger boy to support his sister as she fell to her knees, her head buried in her hands. “Those youkai were not mindlessly slaughtering innocents. I feel that they were merely distractions while the others retrieved what they came for. Perhaps they were ookamiyoukai, seeking revenge for the capture of their female comrade?”

 

“Perhaps.” Sango's voice was thick with tears of anger.

 

“We should return to the Palace.” One of the older men commented. “We will be of little to no use in this darkness. We cannot see. Best to wait until morning to follow any visible tracks.”

 

Sango nodded, standing and breathing deeply to calm her frazzled nerves. “You're right…” she pulled her katana out of the tree, replacing it in its sheath, “just allow me to retrieve my Hiraikotsu.” She turned away from them as the rest of them, bar Miroku and Kohaku, left to return to the village. The two men in question followed her deeper into the forest, their senses on alert for any other threats. “Ah, there it is…” she murmured, bending to pick it up.

 

Miroku pulled her back by the shoulder, pointing his shakujou at the giant boomerang bone. “I sense a strong youki from under the Hiraikotsu.” He murmured, inching forward cautiously toward the weapon. Kohaku and Sango stood back, watching to see what the Houshi would do. Carefully, Miroku hauled the weapon backward with one hand, his own weapon pointed at the point where the youki was strongest.

 

What they found was not what they had expected. Under the Hiraikotsu was a small feline creature. It was yellow with black markings and two tails, and completely unconscious. “Poor thing…” Sango murmured, picking it up and cradling it in her arms, “…it must have been in the path of the Hiraikotsu.” She stood. “Houshi-sama, is this what you sense?”

 

“Yes, I believe so.” He eyed the tails, surprise etched across his features. “Sango-san, do you know what that is?” Kohaku had also picked up on the tails, and was staring at them unabashed.

 

“Eh?” Sango peered down at the animal's tails, seeing them for the first time. “A nekomata…” she breathed in awe. “I thought they were only myths. I was not aware that they actually existed.” She reached down to caress the unconscious feline's facial markings. “Its still alive… shall we take it back to the Palace?” She asked, trepidation evident in her voice. “I don't feel right, just leaving it here.”

 

Miroku nodded. “I don't sense any malevolent energies from it. But, perhaps we should conceal its whereabouts from Kikyou.” His voice darkened. “It is likely that she will wish it exterminated. As it is, she is the next in charge after Kagome-hime. I fear for the youkai population of the land. Even those that kidnapped the Princess were not evil; I sensed in them only desperation, but no bloodlust. The fact that none of the villagers were slain only proves my suspicions.”

 

“But what shall we do?” Sango asked, slinging the Hiraikotsu over her shoulder effortlessly, the nekomata cradled in her other arm. “It is unlikely that they will actually return her, and we cannot let them go unpunished, should we find them.”

 

“The chances of us being able to track them are slim to none.” Kohaku's head shook. “Even with two humans amongst them, they can still travel remarkably fast.”

 

“So, you noticed it too, eh?” Miroku rubbed the back of his neck, a sigh escaping past his lips. “That the dark-haired man that lured the Princess away was human? He was the one that broke my concentration during the ceremony, so that the barrier fell. He took me completely by surprise, and I faltered. I am just as much to blame as anyone else. Had I been aware of my surroundings, I would not have been so easily distracted.”

 

“What?” Sango's surprise was evident. “But why would a human man want to help youkai kidnap a human Princess?”

 

“I have no idea…” Miroku trailed off, “…but whatever the reason, we will likely never know.”

 

The three of them lapsed into silence as they finally made it back to the village at daybreak. Looking around them, people were trying to repair the damage that had been done, and the injured were being tended to. It looked just like it used to back in the homeland before they had come to this place. However, their quiet moments were shattered when Miroku spoke up. “I sense a disturbance in the Palace. Kikyou's fury is palpable, even from here. Her spiritual energies are peaking. Something else must have happened.”

 

OoOoOoOoOoO

 

Kagome was still cold.

 

She'd been shivering all night, her lips turning slightly purple. The man had not been lying when he said that he would not be sleeping that night. He had sat in the exact same spot, only moving to throw a log onto the fire every now and again. She had not taken her eyes off him all night, distrusting him most of all. She could understand why youkai would want to do her species harm, but not another human.

 

What did he have to gain by assisting the youkai in kidnapping her? Was he perhaps a sorcerer, who had them under his control? She noted that none of the youkai would approach him as he diligently tended to the fire; in fact, they seemed to avoid him like the plague. She could sense no youki from him; he seemed to exude an aura of some description, though it was faint. She could not tell what kind of energy it was, though as the night wore on, it seemed to get stronger. Still, it was too faint for her untrained senses to distinguish. She settled for not knowing, and praying that she never found out.

 

As dawn drew near, the man that sat next to her began to fidget. She could sense something strange; like his faint aura was pulsating in the pre-dawn light. It made her nervous, but looking around, she decided that she'd rather stay with the man who at least appeared completely human. She wasn't so sure that he was a good human, but he appeared human, unlike the men that watched them. She wasn't so sure that she wasn't going to be eaten, eventually. She'd heard tales of wild, humanoid youkai that resided in the forests of Shikon, but had been assured that they had all been driven away.

 

Now she wasn't so sure that they had gone far. She knew that the forests in this land hadn't been completely scoured yet; these youkai must be a tribe that they had not yet reached. She only hoped that they had left some kind of clues as to their path. But, from the way that things were looking as they began to erase all sign of their spending the night in the clearing, she doubted it. They even began burning the cage halfway through the night, depositing it by the human man to burn into ashes. The rest had been reduced to splinters and taken away in different locations at varying points throughout the night. Panic struck her as she realised that, without the cage, there would be no way to transport her. Was this where they would finally kill her?

 

Whimpering in her fear, she buried her face in her arms, suddenly oblivious to the cold of the night, or that the air around her warmed as dawn approached. She failed to notice the first sliver of light as it peeked over the horizon, bathing the world in a bright orange glow. She only managed to look up when she heard “Alright, girl, I'm going to carry you from here on out.”.

 

Watching as the early morning light bathed the strange man through the trees, she cringed as his entire body seemed to pulse. She had to blink to ensure that her eyes were not playing tricks on her; he was changing. Not clothing, but seemingly his entire being. His hair was lightening as he closed his eyes, the ears on the side of his head morphing and travelling upwards, to become silver koinu ears on the top of his head. Fangs began to protrude from his smirk, his nails lengthening and becoming pointed claws. When he finally opened his eyes to glare at her, they were a deep golden colour, glowing in the semi-darkness with youki.

 

Kagome couldn't help the scream that burst out of her as she tried to scramble backwards. All she accomplished in doing so was falling over backwards, landing on her back with her legs up in the air, in the most undignified position possible. She'd exposed her lower undergarments to the world, as well as the entire length of her legs, forgetting that she'd been exposing most of it the entire night, and the underside of her behind. Shooting up to a seated position, she folded her arms along the exposed length as best she could, without exposing her cleavage from the open chest of her corset. Her face was in flames, she was sure, if the heat on her face was any indication.

 

“What the hell are you screaming about?” The man growled in a low voice, before barking something out to the demons around them. Kagome trembled as he hauled her up by the arm and then gripped her around the waist, throwing her up over his shoulder. All she could do as he gripped the flesh of her under-thigh was flinch and make herself as still as possible, lest he decide that he would rather devour her on the spot rather than take her wherever. Perhaps, along the way, she might find something that could pass as an arrow, and take out at least one of her strange captors.

 

Whimpering as they took off, she couldn't help but wryly note that she preferred the cage; there was less shaking that way; and there wasn't the feel of some strange youkai's clawed hands groping her in inappropriate places!

 

OoOoOoOoOoO

 

Kikyou watched the taijiya hurry around the Palace grounds with a small smirk. She'd never tell anyone what she knew, though she had little concern. Even if someone somehow discovered that she knew what was going on, she doubted that anyone would be brave enough to actually step up and report her to higher authorities. Humph. As it stood, she was currently the highest authority, with their dear Kagome-hime missing.

 

She despised the young Princess.

 

Kikyou was three years Kagome's senior, and had been trained to hate and destroy all youkai on sight. That… little girl had demeaned her by taking that kitsune out of the dungeons and releasing that large oaf of a hanyou. She smirked. The kitsune had disappeared with the Princess, and let the hanyou enjoy a few weeks of freedom… she would have him executed soon enough.

 

Youkai were dangerous. Her entire village in the homeland had been annihilated by gruesome youkai, leaving Kikyou the sole survivor. She had been only eleven. Hiding in the bushes for three days, with little to eat but the berries that grew there, she prayed that they wouldn't return. When it became apparent that they weren't coming back, she fled the slaughtered village in the direction of the capital. There, she had sought out the old miko Kaede, the sister to her deceased grandmother, also of the name Kikyou. Under her, she had trained in the spiritual arts, learning how to purify human souls and youkai.

 

While she was completing her training, she had also been schooled in the arts of diplomacy, at the request of the Emperor. He had informed Kaede that there was a position opening up for an advisor for his young daughter when she eventually travelled to the new land they had discovered in the west. Knowing that Kikyou was an apt pupil who possessed logic and the ability to handle stress, she had recommended her great niece for the job. At thirteen, Kikyou had completed her training in both the spiritual arts and diplomacy, and had set out in order to await their Princess. She had arrived before the Houshi, and had assumed command of the extermination of youkai, with orders to have it done before their young, naïve Princess had arrived.

 

Kikyou relished in the power that she had held, wishing for the Princess to never arrive. As it was, she'd only had to put up with her for a single day, being allowed to assume command of the supposed `search and rescue' mission that the taijiya were about to embark on. Pointing out the direction in which she had sensed them leaving, she had sent the taijiya on their way, with her blessings. She just hoped they wiped out a few tribes before they returned.