InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ I Will Follow You Into The Dark ❯ Startling Occurences ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: Inuyasha is still not mine, nor will he ever be. Rumiko owns everyone affiliated with that show…lucky

 

A/N: ahoy! Exciting chapter ahead cause a big twist is added! Hope you like! I posted in celebration that I'm now off for holiday break! PLEASE REVIEW!!! I really wanna know if you guys like this story so far!

 

Special thanks to my reviewer, inu-babe, WOW YOU ARE SUCH AN AMAZING REVIEWER!!!! Your words made me feel so happy inside *smiles brightly*

ENJOY…and…

HAPPY CHRISTMAKWANZAKKAH to EVERYONE!!!!

 

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As I woke up the next day, I immediately wanted to go back to sleep, because last night's occurrences came back to haunt me and I felt overwhelmingly embarrassed. Luckily, Inuyasha was still nowhere to be found, and strangely, neither was Miroku.

 

Shippo was still sleeping peacefully, and I didn't have the heart to wake him, so I let him sleep as I stood up to go search for my protectors.

 

It was a lovely day, and I figured I could stop by the river to clean up before going to look for Inuyasha and Miroku and then maybe see to getting breakfast for Shippo. However, before I reached the river, I heard two men speaking in energetic whispers.

 

“She has no idea what she's doing to me Miroku!” Inuyasha said, throwing his arms up into the air.

 

“Of course Princess Kagome doesn't know, she is only a human after all, and doesn't know how you react to things that she thinks are common day occurrences.” Miroku was sitting nearby on an old tree stump, with his arms folded calmly, unlike his companion, who was now pacing the area, keeping no part of his body still at any moment.

 

“And it's not just that, Miroku! She SMELLS!” Ouch, there's a shot to my ego.

 

But he continued, “She smells so goddamned nice that I go crazy just being near her!” I caught a gasp in my throat. “And when she accidentally brushed my chin last night, it took every last drop of my self control NOT to follow my instincts and take her right then!”

 

Miroku looked slightly surprised at this confession, “Why, Inuyasha, I thought you didn't like her very much. She certainly thinks that you don't care for her at all.” He said calmly.

 

“She said that?” Inuyasha asked, startled. Miroku silently nodded his head.

 

Inuyasha let out an exasperated sigh and turned to look at a distant place in the forest. “I guess that's what I wanted from the beginning: to not get close to her. I feel sorta bad, but there is no way we could ever have a future together. Also, she is the reason behind my brother's capture, which also makes me frustrated, and sometimes she so stubborn I could—” He spun around pausing for a moment as he thought. “But I guess that is what draws me to her. She's not like the others Miroku. She's headstrong and stands up for her opinions. She's a strong princess, ready to be queen. And, see, this thing with her smell isn't just a recent development. From the first time I smelled her I knew there was something special about her. “

 

“Do you think then that she is your intended mate perhaps?”

 

Inuyasha let out a bemused, “What? It couldn't be that.”

 

I was confused even more as Miroku kept explaining, “in my studies, I have encountered that youkai find mates in those that smell most appealing to them. Have you ever experienced any other smell this enticing?”

 

“No, never.” Inuyasha whispered as he shook his head.

 

“What's wrong then? Of course you're a little inexperienced on the wooing part…okay, INCREDIBLY inexperienced on that part…but a few nice words an she'll be yours!” I was blushing so intensely that I was afraid I would faint from too much blood rushing to my head.

 

“Damn it, Miroku! It's not that easy! She's a—a princess, and I'm nothing more than some lowly warrior with no family history, no family titles, and NO future!” He then said quieter, “I have nothing to give the wench.”

 

Funny, even when he was completely beating himself up he still had to give me that nickname. But I overlooked that small part and felt a small part of myself being ripped apart as he added, “I can't get close to her—ever. The rules of her land would only pull us apart again. That's why I keep pushing her away. There can be nothing between us.”

 

So this is why he wouldn't kiss me like I thought he was going to? This is why for the past few days he had forced himself to act like an incredible ass to me?

 

This is what it felt like to have your heart being broken. He didn't want me because he didn't think he was worthy. Again, my title had led me to losing another person I cared about, and now this time simply because I scared him off. He couldn't even try to be near me? But I was scared myself. Have I really just developed feelings for a man this deep in a matter of a few days?

 

Maybe we truly were destined to be together if I liked him as much as he liked me. I sighed contentedly. But I was broken from my reverie when I noticed my subjects of interest had left the area. I was shocked at first, but then hurried back to the cave to see if Shippo had awoken. Hopefully, I would get there before Inuyasha and Miroku.

 

I needed something to make me ignore my increasing heartbeat, and today's discoveries were not helping it slow. Problems just kept rising, and I couldn't take care of them all at once.

 

Luckily, when I stepped in the cave, Miroku and Inuyasha were not there, but I knew they would be arriving soon, for we still had lots of ground to cover before the night fell. I went over to my cloak and gently rocked Shippo so he would awake.

 

He looked so cute as his eyes looked around as he woke up. He still had a faraway look: I was sure he hadn't slept for days if he was on his own and was worrying about predators. It felt nice to have someone to take care of, although I was wishing I had a certain hanyou to take care of as well…

 

Ack! Stop thinking about him already!

 

I stroked his back to ease him into a more conscious state and quietly asked, “Shippo, are you hungry?” He replied softly, “Not really, but I might be later.” I smiled, “okay, we're going to be leaving soon for the day, so on the way if you get hungry, tell me and we'll stop to get you fed.”

 

Shippo nodded his agreement and finally woke up to help me wrap up our makeshift bedding, which happened to be my cloak. As we finished gathering the supplies I heard a voice, “Dammit wench, slow enough? We gotta get moving already.”

 

Back to your normal self, Inuyasha?

 

I didn't even turn to look at him, afraid of what my face would reveal. But Shippo and I gladly grabbed all of our stuff and walked out of the cave. I mounted the horse and held Shippo on my lap, as Miroku led the way. And as always, Inuyasha was out in front on the lookout.

 

The day was uneventful and SO long, and I had plenty of time to contemplate what Inuyasha had said to Miroku this morning. What could I do to make him understand that I didn't care who he was? He had to know that riches and titles had no value to me by now. I mentally scolded myself for not making it clear to him, and only hoped that I could still get through to him.

 

Wait, I care this much to be with him? I gasped under my breath, realizing how much Inuyasha really did mean to me.

 

But how to tell him without letting him know that I was eavesdropping…that would be the major challenge.

 

Sooner than I expected, the sky was becoming gradually darker, and I realized that we had been traveling for over 10 hours. My back was certainly sore from riding the horse all day. Miroku's feet must have been killing him. I awoke Shippo from his nap and dismounted at the clearing.

 

I set Shippo down, who went frolicking for flowers immediately, and took a good look over at Inuyasha and Miroku, who had begun to set up camp. They looked so tired, so I figured I could help out and do something for them.

 

“I'm going to go collect wood.” Before Inuyasha could protest, Miroku said “Fine.” But then added for good measure, “But don't wander too far away.”

 

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I took Shippo with me so that he could gather some wildflowers and I could have some company. We were calmly walking along the forests path, listening to all the wonderful sounds of nature enveloping the woods around us.

 

I found some small twigs and sticks for the fire, since I couldn't carry much else that was heavier in large quantities; so I figured in this case that small sticks would do the job. I hadn't realized that we had wandered far away from camp, until I noticed strange red marks across the trees around us.

 

I was shocked to find that I recognized the signs, “Atsugian land.” I harshly whispered. “Yes, Princess.” A large male's voice came from behind me. I tried to scream, but found that I was in a firm grasp with a strong hand clamped across my mouth. Five more appeared out of nowhere from there, giving me menacing, teasing looks as I looked around fearfully, wishing so much that Inuyasha and Miroku could know I was here and save me.

 

But wait! Shippo was here! I prayed to Kami he had run and gotten Inuyasha instead of trying to fight the men off. Because I saw no other struggle, I concluded that he had in fact fled to find Miroku and Inuyasha.

 

I tried to fight the man: to at least bite his hand, or kick him. But the others helped the man control me, and eventually they forced me to drink a vile potion. It tasted bitter as it thickly slid down my throat. All I could think was, `I'm going to die' when I finally saw everything go black.

 

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(A/N: AHAHAH!!! THE PLOT THICKENS!!! That would have been positively evil if I had ended there, and also incredibly short, so we're still moving on…)

 

I awoke to find that I was in a rather large chamber, in a large bed, but not in a place that I recognized, which I was used to by now. I was resting under fine red silk sheets and a lace white canopy hung over the bed. The furnishings were too intricate to be placed in middle to lower class family homes. This stuff was made for royalty. That's right, the last time I was conscious I was on Atsugian land. No, I couldn't possibly. I felt the pit of my stomach drop at the realization that I could possibly now be a captive under the Atsugians.

 

To gather my bearings, I walked quickly to the window to see if I could figure out where I had ended up. Unfortunately, I realized that the vile liquid I had been force fed earlier had made me unbearably woozy, so I clung to the window for support while I tried to stop everything I saw from spinning. All I saw was a magnificent garden, just like the one I had back home, but this was nothing like home.

 

I suddenly heard a bustling behind me, and as I turned to look, I saw that a maid had entered the room and she was hurriedly fixing my bed. I asked her politely enough to confirm my suspicions, “Where am I?” But she gave me such a hostile look, as if saying I should know exactly where I was being kept, but she quickly turned and exited the room.

 

Soon after, another maid entered, carrying a red dress, that seemed to be for me, and she motioned for me to come to her. She forcedly dressed me, using no precautions to see that I was comfortable, like Sango once had, and after she left, two men entered the room.

 

I was horrified that the one man was Naraku, King of the Atsugians, and even more so when the other man was introduced as Captain Takemaru, the very same man that had murdered my father. My nightmares had come true.

 

I wanted to fling myself at them with a torrent of rage, but held myself back, not wanting them to know how much of a power they now held over my emotions. It took my nearly half my strength just not to cry.

 

Naraku was the first to speak, and to my disgust, he was holding a rather smug look upon his face. “Princess Kagome, what a joy that you will now be staying with us. We have been expecting you for a while, but it seems that you were better at hiding out than we had expected.”

 

Captain Takemaru couldn't help himself but give a chuckle, implying that my hiding was nowhere near noteworthy. “Yes, King Naraku, it seems that you have captured me, but now I must asked, what is your plan of action now? Kill me? Force me into slavery? Torture?” I was sounding much more brave than I felt inside. Right now, I was feeling that my whole self would break apart simply by anxiety and grief, let alone cowardess.

 

“Well, what you might already know is that Yamoto has been taken over, but to officially connect our two countries, we must have more of a `official' bonding.” Captain Takemaru said to me. King Naraku then added, saying, “Yes, we believe that this bonding would be through a matrimonial sort.”

 

I gave a snort of discuss as King Naraku thought I would have, evidently and warned me, “Now Princess, we can't be having that, especially when you're mother's life is at stake.” I suddenly spun towards him, since I had turned during this conversation, to face out the window.

 

“What have you done with my mother?” King Naraku knew he had won, definitely captivating my attention now. “Well, as you know, my son, Prince Kouga, is now at the age of 21, and will be fulfilling my place in Atsugian line as king very soon.”

 

I shuddered to remember my father's recounts of Kouga's behavior. He had been known to be a rascal, abuser of women, even accused of many of the mishaps happening within his own country. I shivered at these thoughts, which did not go unnoticed.

 

(A/N: Sorry to the Kouga lovers, but he's gonna be a jerk in this story! )

 

Naraku then said, “Oh, you certainly need not worry about anything princess, you know, he gets his charm from me after all.” He grinned sinisterly. That was exactly the reason why I was worried. Captain Takemaru then concluded their visit by telling me, “You shall be meeting him in the next few hours, however, you will be kept here now for the time being.”

 

“Great.” I sighed to myself as they exited from the room. I finally decided that `yes', getting married to Kouga was the worst thing they could possibly conjure up for me. This was such a setup that I felt suddenly trapped at how little choice I had in the situation.

 

On the one hand, I could refuse to marry Kouga and have my mother possibly killed and the people of my country tortured by the Atsugians, and on the other hand, I could marry him and endure the fact that I would have to be his for the rest of my life: enduring all of his absurd cheatings and irksome traits.

 

I could tell that the best choice would be to marry him. After all, I was only one person, and I would be selfish to subject my country to that kind of torture. The truth finally was ringing in my ears: that my father's wish for me would never die, to always keep the country ahead of myself. The irony of it all was astounding.

 

I had contemplated climbing out the window, but realized that would bring misfortune to my mother as well if they couldn't find me. However, I secretly enjoyed the thoughts I had for different ways to kill Kouga once I was married to him.

 

Poison worked nicely…and then a group of people walked-, no marched, into the room declaring, “The Crown Prince, Prince Kouga is now entering the room.” Wow, that could get quite annoying to have them announce that every time he walked into a room.

 

And there he was before me: the spawn of Satan sent to punish me with eternal damnation. Okay, maybe that was a little deep. But it was close.

 

He looked at me with cruel, piercing blue eyes. His fine brown hair was pulled into a ponytail, and he was quite tall standing next to his announcers. His pale skin blended in with his surprisingly neutral robes.

 

He was also quite skinny, leading myself to believe that the man had never eaten a full meal in his life. But he was also known to be a very avid runner. Unfortunately, he was too handsome to ever be my archrival, but I quickly reminded myself that he was in fact, the enemy.

 

I banished such thoughts with his next remark, “Ah, Princess Kagome, such a pretty young girl.” Well, I couldn't help but blush he would think me pretty, but to declare me a girl was far from pleasing in my mind.

 

I didn't even acknowledge his presence and went to sit on the bed, which forced him to come and stand before me. And I still would not look at him. Thus, he unwillingly kneeled to the floor in front of me to somehow appear in my line of sight.

 

He could tell I was being stubborn, so he just had to say teasingly, “Now, Princess, is this how you will behave to your future husband?” His voice was velvety smooth, daring me to accept him, almost an impossible task in my mind. “Yes. And you are not my husband. Inuyasha will come to save me.” I answered.

 

Warning him, I shot him a rather livid glance, hoping it would give him some insight to my mood at the moment. However, he appeared not to notice and rose to sit next to me on the bed. Why did he, of all men, have to be so goddamned persistent!

 

“And who is this Inuyasha?” He seemed too interested for that to be an innocent question.

“None of your business.” I turned my back to him and looked towards the door.

 

I had realized then that the other announcers had left for us to be...alone in the room together. I blushed scarlet I was sure, and my breathing increased rapidly. To even be stuck with a man this vile, in a room alone, was unfathomable! With his history I was expecting the worst to happen.

 

He reached his hand to my face and slowly slid his fingers lightly down my cheek and down to my neck. Eventually it had made its way down and around my waist, forcing me to move closer to him. His mouth was at my ear as he whispered, “How are you feeling right now?” I was appalled at his actions, thus springing up from the bed, clearly surprising him, and I had quickly paced back yet again to the window.

 

I was fuming with anger that he would think I would accept him under these conditions with which I was to be wed to him. Clearly, the man had never been refused in his life, seeming as the dumbfound look that now crossed his face made him look almost comical. But it was soon replaced with a face of persistence.

 

It told me that if he ever was refused, he always, always, got his say in the end. He rose from the bed just as fluidly as I had and walked over to where I was standing to be right behind me. His arms made it around my waist, no matter how I hard I had fought him, to form an inescapable snare as he pulled me recklessly close to him.

 

“Now, Kagome,” I could tell his mood was becoming quite annoyed by his tone, and I found he was a force not to be reckoned with. “I don't think it wise you refuse me like this, especially when there are more people's lives at stake here other than your mother if you are not wed to me.”

 

This was the stupidest thing I have heard, it was so obvious that there was also my country, and he knew that. But seeming to read my thoughts, he echoed them slightly, by stating, “Well of course there's your country,” but then the unexpected, “But then there's Inuyasha.” He released me quickly, sending me falling to the floor, seeming as that I had lost the strength in my legs from this statement. “That's what I thought.” He concluded as he left the room.

 

They had Inuyasha? How could that ever happen? Unless he had tried to come and save me… But where were they keeping him? And HOW could they have captured him? He was a half demon! Oh, ouch…I see the point. The Atsugians were strictly full demon, nearly doubling the amount of power Inuyasha had. But being a stubborn ass should have helped him somehow!

 

I ran out of the room after Kouga, catching him as he had already made it halfway down the large, and foreboding hallway. “Kouga!” I yelled. He turned around to look at me with an amused smile creeping upon his face.

 

“I'll do anything, just let me see him.” The determination in my voice did not go undisguised.

 

“Then marry me.” He said deeply. I just nodded, knowing already that was the deal established. Although, things can always change. I could not give up so easily.

 

“Come.” He said, while motioning his head to follow him. He grasped my hand rather harshly and drew me to his side with his arm wrapped around my waist as we walked quickly down the hallway.

 

I'll play your games for now Kouga, but you'll see…the odds will soon swing in my favor.

 

They have to.

 

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A/N: Okay, I'm going to be incredibly annoying and ask again REALLY nice: please, please, please, Review! I'm pretty desperate since one of the four reviews I got was from my sister! I know…pathetic…I feel like I'm just walking blindly through this story, cause since I don't get much feedback, I'm not really sure if what I'm writing is good or not. But thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far! I really love it!

 

Until next time,

<3 AkaiiNeko