InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Kagome's promise ❯ chapter one ( Chapter 1 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Kagome's Promise
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha he and the inu tachi belong to Rumiko Takahashi I do not own Edens promise all rights belong to
Cassie Edwards I am making no profit from these works it is purely for fun and practice thank you


This is based on a book i have read called Eden's promise a few things will be changed in this story
characters will be OC so don't blast me for it okay people. Kagome's mother will not be in this Miroku will be the light keeper and playing the part of
Kagome's father, Inuyasha's sister will be Kagura and the pirate will be Sesshomaru okay. All characters will be human
Sesshomaru's wife will be Rin. Alright enough of the a/n on with the story and let me know what you think okay. Naraku will be the Judge and
kikyo will be Inuyasha's evil aunt that sold him into slavery Ayame and Koga will not be in this story. Really I am shutting up know.
This is a A/U okay


1825...May
A few miles down the coast from Charleston, South Carolina


Lurid streaks of lighting flashed brightly against the dark scudding clouds; whitecaps in the ocean rose and fell with wind. Day had turned almost to night.
At Pirate Point Light Station, rain fell in a driving force against the lighthouse windows, yet the light continued to burn steadily in the dark sky.
Spectacular waves crashed with phosphorescent bursts as Miroku Hirugashi, the light house keeper, peered down at the angry sea.
“We've needed rain at times even prayed for it, but I never like getting' it in one gully washer”he complained to his daughter, Kagome.


Steadfastly, he guided his powerful beacon over the troubled water of the Atlantic,continually sounding the deafing foghorn to alert ships to
the dangerous, rocky shore.“And this ain't the best way to be awakened from a sound sleep,” he growled. “I'll not be worth a tinker's damn tonight if
I don't get some more sleep today. A man needs his sleep to keep this lighthouse running' right when he's awake.”

“Surely the storm will abate soon, Father,” Kagome said. She gave him a half glance. Her reasons for wanting the storm to pass were the same as his:
she fervently hoped that he could go back to bed and slip into a sound sleep. His birthday was in a few days. She had planned to go into Charleston this
afternoon while he was sleeping to purchase his birthday gift and fresh ingredients for his birthday cake. She couldn't leave on such a venture while he was awake.
He did not approve of her going anywhere alone, though she had done so countless times anyhow, whenever she could manage it.


“Pity any ship that gets caught in this weather,” Miroku said, squinting out over the waves.
“My beam can only do so much. The rest is up to the lord and how he commands the wind and the sea. Makes me feel helpless, Kagome. Damn helpless.”
More jagged forks of white fire appeared in the dark sky. Gathering in the skirt of her cotton dress around her legs, Kagome leaned closer to the window and looked down
at the ocean. It's dark water coiled like a sea serpents writhiring in the foaming turmoil. Although the lighthouse trembled and swayed and its iron girders groaned,
she reminded herself that the building was secure enough, resting on a huge, submerged iron tube that had a base filled with rubble and concrete.


It had been a part of Kagome's life for as far back as she could recall.
Miroku gazed at his daughter, proud of her devotion to him. She had since the death of his wife. Ten years now. Ten long years since since he had lost his dear Sango.
But somehow Sango was still there, always with him, kept alive in Kagome. Kagome was a lot like her mother special. Flowing black hair across her shoulders.
Her blue eyes were soft and kind, shrouded with thick, black lashes. Her cheeks always dimpled when she spoke or smiled, her lips were undeniably shaped to be
kissed.

Kagome had developed into a beautiful woman. Today she wore a cotton frock trimmed with lace, with short puffed sleeves and a high, white collar.
Her breast were round and firm, her waist tiny, perfectly tapered. Yes, she was a woman. She was his confidante. She was his friend.

But, foremost, she was his daughter, and Miroku was preparing himself for the day he would lose her to man. He knew to except it soon.
She was the right age for marrying. She was seventeen, soon to be eighteen. Kagome squinted her eyes and focused her attention on a movement out at sea.
The waves were so high and so fierce that it was hard to tell what she had seen. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw it again.
Her hands were wove nervously through her hair as she gasped.


“Father, it's a ship,” she said, looking quickly over at him and catching him studying her. Of late he had been doing a lot of that.
She thought that she understood. With his birthday fast approaching, so would hers. All her birthdays these past few years seemed to be a threat to her father.
He knew that he would lose her one day and he dreaded the loneliness that her absence would bring him.Yes, she understood. But thus far he had nothing to worry about.
No man had caught her fancy. There was no one special. No one who caused her heart to behave strangely.... She was glad when her father's eyes moved back to the
sea. It gave her a chance to look at him. He was tall and thin. At forty-five he still had a head of hair, black and wavy. His dark blue eyes were sad at times when he
was remembering his wife, but usually they smiled as he talked. Denim trousers and shirts were his everyday attire; the smell of pipe tobacco was always on his breath
and clothes.

Another bolt of lighting made Kagome start with fright. She couldn't help recalling the time when her father had been almost crippled during a fierce electrical storm.
He had been on his way up the metal spiral stairway in the lighthouse tower when the stairway in the lighthouse had been heavily charged with electricity.
He had received a severe jolt from the lightning. Even know the lower half of his body was partially numb from the experience, and he had to walk with a cane.

“A ship you say?” Preston asked, staring out to sea, inti his beam of light. As the gusts of wind knifed around the windows, the lamps flickered, but the wicks,
fueled by kerosene, were not extinguished. “Do you see it, father?” Kagome asked anxiously, again looking out at the sea. She got another glimpse of sails
fighting the wind, then the ship was hidden behind the mountainous waves. “Do you think the captain sees your beam?”

Miroku's jaw tightened and his lips thinned. He had caught sight of the ship and recognized it. This one time he wished that it wasn't his duty to operate a
dependable light. The ship fighting the waves and wind belonged to Gentleman Sesshomaru, a cursed pirate skilled at eluding the American Naval vessels that
patrolled these same waters. The storm was surely the only reason the ship was so close to shore. He and his marauding crew were hunted along the whole
shoreline of the Americas.

“Aye, I see the ship and I'm sure it's caught sight of my beam,” Miroku growled, his hand still on the delicate mechanism that controlled the heavy lantern and
it's full set of lamps suspended by chains.

Kagome gave her father a questioning stare. She moved away from the windows, relieved to see a separation of clouds overhead. The winds had shifted and
were now more subdued. “Father, you aren't happy about seeing that ship,” she said softly. “Or even about sharing your beam with those on board it. Why?
Whose ship is it? Do you recognize it?”

Miroku gave Kagome a troubled glance, not wanting to worry her. For many years there had been little piracy off these shores, but suddenly one final, savage
explosion had occurred, and for a decade it had rivaled the Golden Age of piracy in it's white hot intensity. Gentlemen Sesshomaru was one of the remaining pirates,
the most elusive of them all. His black devil ship struck fear into all who sighted it.

The fact that the ship was this close to shore Miroku no choice but to tell Kagome, to warn her to be careful when she was alone.
He himself was either sleeping during the day, or high in the tower of the lighthouse at night unable to keep a constant watchful eye on her and the possibility of intruders.
She was responsible for her own well-being.

“Father, it's not like you not to answer me,” Kagome said, placing a gentle hand on his arm. “What is there about this ship that causes you to behave strangely?”

Miroku hesitated a moment longer,then looked Kagome square in the eye. “Daughter,” he said, patting her hand.
“ That damnable ship belongs to Gentleman Sesshomaru. I've herd it described by many who have spoken of pursuing it at sea.”

“Father, surely you are wrong,” Kagome scoffed. She laughed softly. “There have been no pirates in this part of the Atlantic Ocean for years, surely not
since the massacre of pirates by the navy right here in this cove in 1798.”

“Were that only true many a captain and crew of plundered ships would still be alive,” Miroku said. “But what I have told you is true enough.
Be warned, Daughter. If any strange men approach you while you are alone and they do not give you a civil answer as to why they are there, use that pistol I gave
you for your protection.”



“But, Father, surely no pirate would ever drop anchor in this cove again,” Kagome argued softly. “Or even near it. The lighthouse beam is as deadly as
cannon fire. The beam would lead the naval vessels to the pirates and another massacre would occur.”

“Kagome, though the lighthouse casts its light over the grave of many a pirate in these waters, don't ever think any pirate is too cowardly to come ashore if he
thinks he has a reason to,” Miroku said flatly, frowning at Kagome. “Pirates are called many things, but never cowards.”

An iciness crept around Kagome's heart as she recalled when she had planned once her father was fast asleep. Was it safe for her to go into Charleston?
Were there pirates there, lurking in the shadows of the buildings, ready to abduct an innocent miss? Or was her imagination running away with her?

Picking up a spyglass, Kagome placed it to her eye and watched the movement of the ship. The storm had abated, and she could get a good view of the vessel.
She knew that her father would be glad to see it moving farther out to sea.

“My beam still reaches the devil ship,” Miroku said chuckling. “I imagine every pirate on it is cussing me and my light. Perhaps a navy vessel will show up and
blast the black sonofagun clean outta the water.”

“Doesn't it frighten you to know that the crew of the ship realizes that you've spied them?” Kagome asked. She lowered her spyglass, a sudden feeling of
foreboding troubling her. 'What if they return to ki-”

Her words died on her lips. She didn't want to say the word 'kill', much less think of the lighthouse being cause of danger to her father or herself.
“They'll be gone soon enough,” Miroku said, his fingers cramping on the controls. His eyes burned with the need to sleep. They're smart to hightail it out of here.
They have to know that every Navy captain in Charleston Harbor would give a year's wages to chase and corner that sonofagun.”

The clouds had dissipated and the sun was crowning the sea with it's golden light. Miroku stretched his arms over his head and yawned.
He moved shakily to his feet, silently cursing his weak, partially numb legs. He grabbed his faithful cane and hobbled around the small room, extinguishing the lamps.

“I think it's safe enough for me to return to my bed,” he said, going to the trapdoor that opened to the staircase. He yanked it open and let it rest against the floor as
he began maneuvering his clumsy legs onto the stairs that spiraled around inside the lighthouse to the ground. “I'm going to go and dream of that Fresnel lens that
I want for my lighthouse. I hear that its beams are visible up to twenty-four miles away.”

“Yes,that would be grand,” Kagome said, following him through the trapdoor and down the stairs. Her heart ached to see how much effort it took for him to move
down the stairs. Her heart ached to see how much effort it took for him to move down the stairs. It never got easier, not for him to walk or for her to watch.

“I hope you can have the lens one day,” she said quickly. “I know what it would mean to you. A powerful lens is the pride of many a lighthouse.”
The descent to the ground was always a tiring one, even for Kagome. Footsteps and the thump-thump of the cane echoed on the steps. The trapped, unpleasant smell
of mildew and kerosene stung Kagome's nose. The heat of the small space was stifling.

When they finally reached the bottom landing, Kagome was glad to step outside. She inhaled deeply the air fresh with rain and earthy scents.
A low breeze disturbed the silence, bringing with it the fragrance of flowers.

She walked alongside her father down the pebbled path that led to their cottage, then stopped beside him as he took time to admire her well-tended garden.
“At least your flower garden benefited from the rain,” Miroku said, his gaze taking in the variety of flowers. Tulips, primrose, irises, and a generous number of grape
hyacinths and daffodils filled the colorful, lush borders of the garden that sat close to the cottage. Chives, parsley, mint and other herbs were planted in the corners.

But ferns were Kagome's true obsession. She had a separate garden filed with the woodsy green plants. “Your ferns are thriving exceptionally well this spring,”
Miroku said, smiling over at Kagome. “Though flowerless, they are pleasing to the eye.”

Kagome bent over and touched a delicate fern frond. “Yes, this year the ferns are so green, so rich,” she said, touching another delicate frond.
“Father, don't you see? Their beauty lies not in the flowers, but in their intense color and fascinating shades.”
She straightened her back and rose to her full height, smoothing wrinkles out of her skirt. “There's a mystery about them,” she said sighing.

“With you manual for identifying the ferns you bring back from the forest, I don't see how they can keep their mystery for long with you,”
Miroku said, chuckling. He turned and headed toward the porch. “If your not filling your garden and our house with ferns, your pressing and preserving them.”

“Yes, I know,” Kagome said, moving to his side as he reached the steps. She looked down at her fingernails, showing them to her father.
“If I don't have dirt beneath my fingernails from working in my garden, then i have oil beneath them from working with you in the lighthouse.
I surely look far less than ladylike.”

Miroku leaned hard against his cane. He grunted with the effort of mounting the steps, groaning as he lifted one foot and then the other.
“To hell with your nails,” he said. “There's much more of you to look at than your damn fingernails. Take a look in the mirror, Kagome.
You're as pretty as a picture.” he swallowed hard. “Just like your mother. Just like your mother.”

Kagome laughed softly, flipping her midnight black hair back from her shoulders. “Of course, you wouldn't be prejudiced, would you, Father?” she said,
her eyes twinkling. “Like I said, take a good look in the mirror,” Miroku said. “No woman in Charleston can compare with you.”

Kagome started to open her mouth to dispute that statement by mentioning his recent show of interest in Kagome's close friend Kagura Llewellyn.
But she reconsidered. It was best not to say anything. If her father was infatuated with Kagura, it was for him to tell her of his own accord.
He knew as well as Kagome how flighty Kagura was. Surely he could see that she was not someone who would settle down with one man,
especially a man twenty years her senior, and...half crippled.

Nearby, corn swayed in the gentle breeze; sprigs of oats, pea vines and hills of potatoes stretched out in a neatly kept garden.
A cow bellowed from a small barn that sat not that far from the little four-bedroomed keeper's cottage.

A goat roamed in a fenced-in area outside the barn. Fresh goats milk and big brown eggs from Kagome's chickens were always available
for her weekly baking of breads and cakes. Leaning hard on his cane again, Miroku stepped onto the porch and lumbered toward the door.
“Be sure and awaken me in time for us to check the wicks before it gets to dark this evening hon,” he said. “Ah, I have at leas seven good hours of sleep ahead of me.”


Kagome nodded. She hoped that seven hours would give her enough time to go into Charleston, shop, and return home before her father
awakened and realized that she was gone. It was more important than ever that he never discover her trips into Charleston while he slept.
If there was danger of pirates on land as well as sea, even she had cause to wonder about the wisdom of wondering about unescorted.

Yet, didn't Kagura come and go as she pleased? Sometimes she escorted, but most of the time she wasn't. Kagome's father had said nothing about Kagura
going about on her own. But, of course, Kagura wasn't his daughter and she wasn't seventeen.

But going into Charleston was Kagome's only escape from the drab life of a lighthouse keeper. She lived on a lonely seashore where the loudest noise was a splash
of a wave as it rolled shore ward, or the caw of a seagull as it searched the near shore for food. Kagome loved the smells and sounds of the city.
She loved to go shopping.

Most of her rainy days were taken up with her studying her botanical specimens under microscope and pressing fronds in diaries.
She intended to purchase a new diary today along with her father's birthday present. No. nothing could stand in her way of her excursion into Charleston. Nothing.

Kagome followed her father into the cottage. She watched him lumber off into his bedroom, closing the door behind him.
Then she began pacing, hoping that she would hear him snoring very soon. Looking around she was reminded of the paltry Four hundred dollars a year her father
earned as the light keeper, and the small amount he paid he for assisting him. There was no room for such luxury on such a salary, but she had done her best to
decorate the cottage within their means. It was sparsely furnished, but cozy. The wooden floors were kept golden from fresh waxings. The windows were draped
with a length o sheer cotton fabric in which rosettes had been gatherd by hand, tied in place with twine and hung from small nails.

Kagome went to her bedroom, where delicate white lace adorned her window and canopied her four poster oak bed and was draped across her dresser.
She took a hooded cape from a peg on the wall and eased it around her shoulders. Going to a drawer in her nightstand, she swept a tiny, pearl-handled pistol into
her hand. She silently studied it for a moment, recalling her father's warnings. The pistol had always seemed more of a threat to her than an instrument of protection,
for she hated the idea of being forced to carry a weapon for any reason.

But today, it seemed right to slip it into her pocket of her cape. After seeing the pirate ship, she had been made to realize just how vulnerable she was.
A man's strength against a lady's could only be stopped with a bullet.

Shuddering at the thought, she dropped the pistol into her deep cape pocket, then leaned her ear against the wall that adjoined her father's bedroom.
Her eyes sparkled and she smiled when she heard a steady drone of snores.

“He's sound asleep,” she whispered. It was safe enough to leave now. Her father would ever know that she had gone into Charleston until she gave him his
birthday present. And she was hoping that she would find him a very special pipe to ease his anger at her. Tiptoeing from her room, she headed for the front door,
her pulse racing.




A/N Well thats chapter one next chapter enter Inuyasha and Naraku next chapter will be up in about three days later