InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ I Will Follow You Into The Dark ❯ The Warriors of Twilight ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: Inuyasha I no own. You no sue.

 

A/N: As promised, another chapter for the weekend…I'd like to take the time to thank my reviewer, WanderingAnariel, you wrote me such a lovely review!!! You are so sweet and thank you for taking the time to review, it means so much to me and gives me the motivation to keep updating! I hope you enjoy this next installment!

 

Warning: bits of cursing, it is Inuyasha after all, and more cursing to come…not sure what ages are really reading this story, but if you have that much of a problem with it, then contact me, but for the time being all original cursing will stay as is.

 

Kagome's thoughts are written in italics

 

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I awoke to find myself lying down inside a tiny tent. Unfortunately, I also found that I had been resting my head upon a large rock, the reason for my oncoming headache.

 

I sat up quickly, suddenly remembering that I had been `captured' and had fainted…Where was I? And more importantly, who was I with? I gripped a small blanket that had been covering me tightly to my chest, willing away the tears that were threatening to spill down my face.

 

I was incredibly scared and wondering what to do with myself when I heard some pieces of conversation outside the tent, speaking of, what I believed to be, serious business, judging by their tones.

 

“We must move north, it is not safe”

“…Taken prisoner by the Atsugians…”

“Split into smaller groups for…”

“We must wake her soon….”

 

My heartbeat slowed for a few moments as I processed this information. Surely dangerous captors would not speak of me without threatening words.

 

I looked down at the blankets that were now fisted in my hands, and they certainly wouldn't be taking care of me like this.

 

It was dark inside the tent, but I realized that my cloak had neatly been removed, folded, and placed in the corner, and breakfast was sitting just inside the entranceway.

 

Since I was left a rather ravenous person from so much stress, I decided to take a chance started to devour the food I was given.

 

Wanting to make a good impression, I tried to make myself look at least half decent, my ebony locks would certainly not cooperate, but I finished my breakfast and peeked outside to greet them anyway.

 

The two men that I first found were nothing of what I would expect. Since they weren't looking, I looked at the face of the first man and I saw that his face was impeccably smooth, as a baby's is when it is first born. His eyes were brown, and his short black hair was pulled into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. He had two small golden earrings in his one ear, he wore a long purple cloak, and he was carrying a staff in one hand.

 

I then went to look at the other man, but I could not see him very well, for his hood was pulled upon his head, but he seemed a bit younger than the first man, perhaps my age.

 

I tried to take in his whole character, but I couldn't look from his eyes. His eyes were a piercing amber, unlike anything I've ever seen. His robes were that of a dark crimson. An ancient sword hung from his waistband.

 

I blushed, catching myself staring at him as the first man in the purple robes. He finally realized my presence and gave me a small smile and joked, “My, finally awake?”

 

“Yes-, sir, but may I ask, who are you?”

 

He gave a small chuckle at that, but answered quickly, “Yes, you gave us quite a scare last night when you fainted before we could tell you who we were.”

 

“We are part of the Warriors of Twilight.” I gave out a huge sigh of relief. “My name is Miroku, and I will be escorting you with Inuyasha.”

 

He gestured his hand to the young man standing next to him, who acknowledged me with a slight nod. Not much of a talker, I could tell already.

 

“We hope that you had a restful night, for we'll need to get moving very soon if we are to be traveling for the rest of the day. It seems that the Atsugians,” Miroku paused to edit whatever he was about to tell me, but continued with a small smile, “will be looking for you soon. We believe it'd be in your best interest if we moved farther north.”

 

It made no point to me whatever path we took, but I wanted to know what he was not telling me. But now was not the time, for I had other questions.

 

“Miroku?” I seemed to have pulled him away from some other place, “Yes, your highness?”

 

“Whatever happened to the other warriors coming to fetch me?” He paused again, straining for words, as he seemed that it hurt him to explain.

 

“We believe they were taken by them. But all that matters now is your safety princess.” Inuyasha was silent this whole time, but sadness sparked his eyes when Miroku mentioned the lost members of their group.

 

To break the now heavy atmosphere, Miroku continued, “We'll be headed out today to start our three day journey to the town of Zama, please make sure you have all of your belongings.”

 

I bowed my head, “Thank you for all you've done to help me.”

 

“No problem at all, princess.” Miroku said with a wave of his hand.

 

I nodded my head and turned to go back inside the tent when I felt something rub my backside. A HAND!!!

 

“Eeeeep!” I must have jumped five feet in the air and spun around so quickly it made my head spin. But I had no time to scold him, for the keeper of that lecherous hand had already been punished with a large whack to his head and was currently unconscious and being dragged away by one peeved Inuyasha, who was now displaying his colorful vocabulary none too discreetly.

 

Taking a moment to calm down, I resolved in my head that I would let that one slip, but next time there would be hell to pay. Therefore, I chose to forget that little `incident' and took the time to notice the campsite.

 

There were at least ten other tents identical to mine, all set up in one circle around a large fire pit. I decided that there probably were not many warriors, since I was the only one to be able to fit in my tent, and there were only ten other tents.

 

There was not a woman in sight, and everything around me was particularly quiet, besides the fact that the other men were packing away their belongings, so I guessed it was probably time to leave.

 

I was not too fond of the idea of meeting up with Miroku again, lest his hand gain any more ideas, but I figured I had no choice, since I saw Miroku had again gained consciousness and was headed my way with Inuyasha close behind in order to escort me to my horse.

 

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The men had seemed to divide into smaller groups, each consisting of two to three people. Miroku led me to one of the white horses standing by-without going near my backside, or else he would get a warning growl from Inuyasha, WAIT- a growl?

 

That's strange…but anyways… Miroku gently helped me into the saddle, as he instructed the men with their duties:

 

“We are to stay close together. If anything wrong should happen, do all you can to reach our destination, Zama, where we will meet to make amends. Be not seen, stay in the closure of twilight (hence their name), and remember your duty to Princess Kagome.”

 

All eyes went to me suddenly, and all I could do was smile weakly and nod, as to give them some reassurance in their actions.

 

They all bowed back and left, all in separate directions, as to confuse the Atsugians of my whereabouts. Instead of having a horse himself, Miroku walked beside me, calmly leading the horse down the path.

 

I had thought it would only be us until Inuyasha appeared suddenly out of nowhere.

 

Without looking at him, Miroku told him, “Well, Inuyasha, now that you're here, I'd like to tell you that I plan to have this journey stay very short. We should reach Zama in no more than 4 days. I believe she will be very safe there under our guardianship, and also of the holy men and women that live there. No demons shall reach her there.”

 

Demons? The same creatures that my father was killed by?

 

Inuyasha nodded his head, “Wise decision, Miroku.”

 

I still couldn't see Inuyasha's face, but I was beginning to wonder if he didn't wear his hood down because he was deformed or something.

 

Why it was so intriguing that he didn't remove his hood was beyond me, but I also thought it very rude that he would not show himself to someone in higher rank than himself. So I guess I wanted it removed for the fact that I felt he was disrespecting my title.

 

My thoughts took another track when I contemplated how low and smooth his voice sounded, nothing like I would have expected coming from someone his age.

 

But then I realized, I didn't know his age. He then was looking at me, and I realized that he had been for sometime. An awkward silence overcame us, surprisingly enough, even with Miroku there.

 

“Feh, what are you staring at, wench?” He asked rudely.

 

Where did THAT come from? He was quiet only two seconds ago.

 

I let out a huff, “Excuse me! I am the princ-” I cut myself off, still wanting to scold Inuyasha for the nickname he had given me, but I didn't want to sound like a nasty brat either.

 

Miroku had given Inuyasha a nudge to do something, and Inuyasha, realizing that Miroku wanted him to act nice, only said, “Here's your cloak, PRINCESS.”

 

He all but threw it at me, and I took it with a slight frown. I thought sarcastically, Well…isn't he just one bright ray of sunshine…How could he have come to hate me so immediately?

 

However, I still took the green cloak politely, and put it on, for it had become colder.

 

I forgot the tension, and took my time to look around. The trail had become quite pleasant at this point; the autumn leaves falling on the path, the large oaks standing in a line on either side of us.

 

We had been traveling all day, and I suddenly realized that I had become weary with the day's travels.

 

“Princess, we can stop here, if you wish.” Miroku had said abruptly, most likely sensing my exhaustion. “Yes, please.” I murmured. “Feh, weak wench.” I heard Inuyasha mumble. Another jab to his ribs was well placed by Miroku.

 

After finding a clearing, Inuyasha gently lifted me down off the saddle, and I found that I never realized how tall Inuyasha was, probably even taller than Miroku himself. I was only 5 foot 4 myself, so I caught myself having to look up in order to speak with him.

 

“Why, thank you, Inuyasha.” I curtsied and tried to act politely as possible, hoping in some way that it would change his hostility towards me.

 

“Feh.” He said, turning away.

 

Well, there goes that theory…“Why Inuyasha, is that the only word in your vocabulary?” I asked smartly, needing some way to retaliate. If he could be rude, so could I.

 

“Shut it wench and then maybe I won't have to say things that I will regret having said later.”

 

I gasped as he spun on his heel to walk away.

 

Ughh!! This man was frustrating me to no end! Why couldn't we get along like normal people! He left me to tend to other duties, leaving me fuming.

 

I hadn't known the man for more than a few hours, and we hadn't spoken more than two sentences to each other yet!

 

And, why would he not take down the hood? I brushed off his rude statement and stomped over to where he was kneeling gathering wood, and tried to yank his hood off, sickly wishing that whatever was under there could be used to degrade him as he had degraded me.

 

What surprised me were his lightning quick reflexes. Without me realizing it, he had turned around and had me pinned against a tree with my wrists pinned above my head.

 

His breath fanned over my face as he threatened, “Wench, even TRY doing that again and you'll be sorry we ever met.”

 

I should have been threatening him back, but my thoughts were distracting me, and before I knew it, he had let go of me and was headed towards the center of the clearing with his firewood to start a fire.

 

Miroku had watched this scene from not too far away and let out a low whistle, “Heal boy,” when Inuyasha walked towards him.

 

His answer was a whack to the head.

 

My thoughts, however, were spinning. How could he have possibly heard me coming from so far away? And how in Kami's name was he so fast?

 

I ignored the tears that were threatening to surface, having been completely dejected by a man in less than 24 hours. Miroku and Inuyasha quickly set to work to put up the tent as I went to wash my face quickly in the river beside us.

 

I stared at my reflection, gasping over how flushed I had become over the day. Red blotches had appeared at my cheekbones, seeming as I was very chilled by the temperature, and goose bumps were lining my arms, from the cold wind that grew even stronger as the day progressed.

 

The sun was beginning to set as I headed back to our camp. Miroku and Inuyasha had cleverly built a little fire outside the tent; and were busy preparing a meal for us.

 

I went to sit on a rock as I gazed at what they were doing. They seemed to be gutting a fish and placing it on a stick in order to cook it. This practically made my stomach churn as I felt I was to be very sick soon.

 

“I think I will go in my tent now. I need lots of rest after today.” I made an excuse just to get away from the horrid smell suddenly enveloping the air. I lay down smoothly upon the solid ground, suddenly being able to think much more clearly than I had been in the past few hours.

 

First of all, I missed my mother, brother, and Sango, second, I was scared to see where these two strangers would lead me, especially since one seemed to want nothing other than to see me dead, and third: I was just so tired of the war.

 

I would gladly go back now and give my life if it meant peace for everyone else. I felt as if nothing was important enough to have to live everyday if it meant saving my family. What was the answer to my problems?

 

I could end this now…run away and just hand myself over. But what would my two protectors think of me then? I figured that I had to try to escape and make amends.

 

I was even more persistent in leaving when I heard their conversation when they thought I was asleep.

 

“The poor girl has no idea what's going on right now in Yamoto.” I gasped and listened more intently to the conversation.

 

“I'm afraid that she might never be able to return home again after this.” I heard Miroku say. Then Inuyasha started, “Especially since we now know that the wench's mother is being held captive until her return.”

 

Both men were quiet then as I figured they were finally planning to go to bed. Tears threatened to fall from my eyes as I thought of my mother.

 

She was taken because of me? I would not let it be so. As soon as they were asleep, I silently broke from my tent and down the path to follow the river back home.

 

I didn't know where my final destination would be, but I would make it back to save my mother no matter what: even if it meant losing my life over it. I couldn't have her suffer because of me.

 

The tears had eventually won the fight and poured noiselessly from my eyes as I headed down the path faster and faster. All that was racing through my head was that I must get home to free my mother from those wicked people.

 

If the warriors were to protect me, why did they not tell me this information? Why couldn't I know that my mother was in horrible danger? Fury and rage encircled my mind as I walked down that path. My thoughts were so loud in my mind that I didn't even hear the footsteps constantly growing louder as they approached me.

 

Two hands gripped my back, and I was suddenly locked in a strong embrace by someone's arms, and his hand was clamped over my mouth as I screamed.

 

“Quiet wench! What in the hell are you trying to pull?” The voice sounded enraged, but I found that I recognized it.

 

I turned slowly as he let me go, to find that it was Inuyasha that had been following me. I felt bad, but I suddenly unleashed all my anger upon him as I shouted in harsh whispers, “I'm going to save my mother! It is my fault she is there in the first place! Why can't you understand that you bastard?!” Whoops…getting a little ahead of myself…but he deserves it!

 

Inuyasha just looked at me with a stunned expression. I asked, “What?”

 

“Feh, just didn't know you had it in ya wench.” I was confused, “What?”

 

Right now, Inuyasha just looked annoyed, “The damned cursing is what.”

 

“If you were feeling half of what I'm feeling right now, you'd understand why I'm acting this way.”

 

But this was not the Inuyasha I knew. For once, I noticed he was not wearing his cape and his whole head was showing. He had silver locks that whipped around his face and reached down to the center of his back.

 

But on top of his head were the most incredible, EARS?!?! And dog ears at that…

 

I gasped, “You're a- a- DEMON!!!” Inuyasha's lightning hands reached forward and grasped my mouth closed once again. “Can you say it much louder, wench?!?!”

 

He looked defeated as he added, “Besides, I'm only half.” I noted to myself that it looked adorable when his ears folded flat against his head at his confession.

 

Seeing the confused look on my face he let me go and explained, “I had a demon father that was an inuyoukai, but my mother was fully human.” His eyes gazed at the ground and his voice had grown abnormally soft, especially for Inuyasha.

 

I finally realized that he was incredibly embarrassed that I was seeing him like this, and he was probably cursing himself for forgetting his cloak. “But, where would you live then?” I asked.

 

Atsugi and Yamato were the only two countries I knew of, and they consisted of only humans or demons, no in-between.

 

I was surprised he had a mixed heritage. For, demons and humans almost never got along.

 

He sighed and motioned for us to go back to camp, but explained nonetheless. “I don't know why I gotta explain myself wench, but the truth is, I never fit in anywhere. My mother died when I was really young, because as a half demon, I didn't age very quickly at all. And so, I found a place to belong with the warriors, a group of humans that work in harmony. I was just lucky they accepted me.”

 

“My older brother, Sesshoumaru, helps the Warriors of Twilight from time to time, even though he is a full demon.”

 

“A FULL demon? Why would the Warriors have him as a fellow warrior if he is one of the kind they are fighting?”

 

“Well, he has saved many of the men's life, for example, and he is also against the politics of King Naraku, which is why he left Atsugi and is currently supporting Yamato. He wanted to do all he could to protect the royal family of Yamoto so that one day King Naraku would be overcome.”

 

His face look pained as he told me this, which caused me to ask, “Then why have I not met him?” He looked at me for a moment, a sense of hate shocking between us in an instant when he said, “He was one of the warriors sent to fetch you.”

 

I suddenly realized why his actions toward me had been so hostile. I heard the deep tension in his voice as he added; “No, Sesshoumaru, the stupid bastard went and got himself captured by those baka demons. Frankly, I'd like nothing better than to fucking kill them all with my bare hands.”

 

I thought I saw those golden eyes flash red as his hands tensed. He wished that his brother had not been sent to fetch me. I was crushed at this point, since I always seemed to be the cause of everyone's problems.

 

I reached out to touch his arm, and he flinched quite a bit as I whispered, “I'm so sorry. But my mother is there too. Perhaps that gives some solace to what you are feeling now as well.”

 

“Don't worry about it, wench.” But I knew better than to think he would forgive me so quickly by his own free will. We walked quietly after that, no more deep secrets to share for the time being. I hardly even knew the boy.

 

I looked up at his face again as we walked, amazed by his facial features, but especially the appendages that rose from his head. “Inuyasha?” I asked, “Can I touch those?”

 

He turned his head to me and flicked his ears once or twice, which caused me to giggle. He seemed unable to answer the question, “Um-well-uh-, you mean my ears?”

 

I nodded my head eagerly, my fingers desperately itching to touch them.

 

“Uh-I guess-, I mean, NO way wench! Whaddya think I am?”

 

I was amused that I seemed to be breaking down that macho façade, if only a little bit. He DID almost agree…“You're a dog demon.” I answered smartly, “And you have dog ears.”

 

He blushed slightly but stomped off using his favorite phrase, “Feh.”

 

I guess I'll just ask later…

 

And then I noticed where we were and I saw the faint glow of the fire as it was finally sputtering out. And then I saw Miroku in a lump beside the fire, but Inuyasha looked less concerned as we continued getting closer, while my worry and fear rose.

 

Miroku wasn't moving at all, and although I couldn't see his face, I thought for sure that he was dead.

 

Inuyasha went up and slightly kicked him in the side, receiving a grunt in reply, although Miroku didn't move.

 

Inuyasha bent down to grab a bottle, which was out of my sight and held it up to read the label. “Sake again, my friend?” He said with a half smirk on his face.

 

To the unconscious Miroku, he added, “Best wishes to that hell of a hangover you're gonna have in the morning.”

 

Inuyasha threw the empty bottle down and redirected his gaze back to me, which was greatly illuminated by the dwindling campfire.

 

He then took step over and lifted the flap to my tent and gestured his hand as to direct me inside. I quickly complied, beyond tired at this point, and finally settled in for the night, abandoning all plans of escape.

 

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Sayonara,

<3 AkaiiNeko