InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ One Can Only Wander For So Long ❯ Far, Far Away ( Chapter 13 )

A/N - The only thing I own related to anything `Inuyasha' is a cute little plushie of Kirara. Slightly short chapter, but, has a bit of content. If this totally sucks, please, drop me an email with suggestions on how to repair it, and I'll post a revision, or something when the story gets revamped. I hope I don't disappoint.

This chapter is a bit more violent and dark than the others, it finishes off Kikyo's flashback from that night so long ago, but from Inuyasha's point of view. I wanted to get this part out sometime, but wasn't sure where to put it in, so, it might seem a little… strange… in its placement.

The illustration isn't very drool worthy, just something to keep it rolling. Most of the scenes in this chapter wouldn't make for a very good drawing, anyways… so I tried to keep it simple and to-the-point.

http://www.mediaminer.org/fanart/view.php/167549

Chapter Thirteen - Far, Far Away

Inuyasha came to slowly. He was vaguely aware of a painful throbbing in his head, probably from striking it as he fell from the tree. His normal hanyou senses still hadn't returned, so he figured he must still be human; not much time had passed since he had become unconscious. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something seemed... off. As his fuzziness wore off, he vaguely became aware of something worrying - he couldn't move his arms or legs, they seemed to be strangely immobile.

Suddenly feeling trapped, he weakly strained his muscles, trying to get them to respond to his commands - and realized they were bound somehow to whatever he lay upon. Sharp pricks bit into the base of his thumb joint along his wrist as he pulled weakly against his restraints, knowing he would be unable to rip himself free in his altered state. He became nervous at this realization, and his body broke out in a fine sweat. As the liquid cooled and evaporated from his skin, he noticed another fact - his shirts had been removed. As his attention centered on his clothing, he could also tell his pants felt looser, probably from when his inner white haori had been untucked and removed.

His vision was blurry, so he couldn't make out any details of the darkened room he was in, and his whole body tingled - his nerves felt like they were hypersensitive. He was feeling very confused about this situation, he hadn't ever been KIDNAPPED before, if this is what he was. He had been the target of life-threatening attacks, verbal abuse, but no one had attempted to capture him before.

Sounds to his left caught his attention and he found he was unable to rotate his head to look around himself. The sound of a door opening, followed by the soft footfalls of someone...

"I see you are awake," a soft, muffled sounding voice came to his ears. "I've set up a lovely session for us, my darling, full of activities beyond your wildest dreams." Inuyasha became even more nervous, his mind flashing full of horrible torture that could easily kill him while he was still in human form.

"I'm sure you've noticed by now you can't see or hear very clearly..." the woman, he was sure it was a `she' talking, ran a finger slowly down his extended arm, eliciting a shiver from him. "But you can feel everything quite well, can't you?" The soft steps moved around the room to stop on his right side. A soft breath tickled his too-sensitive ear as she whispered huskily, "I've been wanting to do this for quite some time..." as she slid her fingers over his abdomen and slipped them under the hem of his hakama, brushing the tips of her fingers teasingly over his manhood, jerking from him a ragged groan and an immediate physical reaction to her touch.

Inuyasha was in a strange mental state, he knew this voice sounded slightly familiar, but as his hormones raged under her teases, he no longer cared about her identity. That is, until the cool tip of a knife slid over the curve of his neck, drawing a thin line of blood. With his sense of touch in overdrive, he couldn't hold back the pained yelp. A tear slipped down his cheek, and she wiped it from his face with a soft brush of her fingertips. The sharp sting from her warm fingers tracing lightly over the wound followed as she wiped the traces of blood from his neck.

"I'll be needing *much* more of this before we're through, Inuyasha, for a little something special later..." He shuddered as she fondled him again before withdrawing her hand. He was unable to control his physical reactions to what she did to him. His feelings jumped from frightened to anger to aroused within seconds of each other; she was leaving him in the state of utter confusion. He had little time to collect his thoughts before she was back again, running the fine strands of something along his right arm and down his bared chest. "With you so sensitive to pain and pleasure, this will be a lot easier for me..." she murmured.

Those fine strands turned out to be attached to a small whip, which she struck him with, supposedly lightly, on the chest. All thoughts of even minor arousal left his mind in an instant, as his nerves felt as though they were exploding in pain, and he couldn't contain another pained shout.

His body was suddenly raised to a semi-standing position, it seemed whatever he was attached to could rotate. The flat surface behind his back was no longer there, for it seemed to drop away from him as he was turned up. Her right hand rested lightly on his bulge and stroked him teasingly, bringing him back to instant, confused arousal as she struck him again over his back with the whip. He wanted to die. This wasn't how things were supposed to be done, and he had never been held in any sort of submissive position before. He felt sickened by her touches and even more disgusted by his body's slight physical reaction to her initial teasing.

Her slight strikes stopped suddenly, much to his relief. Although he knew they were hardly even leaving marks, it felt like his back was being stripped of its flesh. Her hand gripped him through his pants and she pulled him roughly. White stars of pain erupted from behind his tightly shut eyelids and he grit his teeth in an effort to contain yet another outburst. He could actually make out the noises she was making... she was enjoying this torture as much as a normal person would enjoy physical pleasure.

Her soft gasps and moans as she drew his blood and struck his skin grew in intensity until she was screaming in ecstasy with every strike.

He was losing consciousness quickly; the loss of blood and the mind-numbing torture were overwhelming his human body's ability to cope.

*thump*

*thump thump*

His heartbeat sped up, his fingers flexed, and he could feel his senses clearing. He cracked an eye open at the woman returning to his side with a large bowl. His vision was still blurry, and his depth perception seemed warped. He watched the woman set the bowl to his side, before withdrawing a beaded necklace from her pocket. She slashed open her palms, gripping the necklace tightly as her blood coated the strand. She dunked the beads and her hands in the bowl, and when they emerged, they were coated in blood. His blood, his nose confirmed, as his sense of smell began to clear.

The first rays of the morning sun had sprung over the horizon as she dropped the necklace down over his head. Closing her eyes, she began to speak, "To bind you…"

He growled at her as his youki returned to him, surging through his body.

"…to me…" she continued, unaware of her impending doom.

His claws flexed and he ripped his arm free from his restraints, slashing upwards at her face. He missed taking off her head by a few inches, instead - marring her face with parallel slashes, destroying her left eye. She screamed in agony, clutching her own bloody hands to her face. She stumbled backwards, in shock. Inuyasha ripped his other arm free, kicking his legs out of the bindings as well. His equilibrium still off from the heavy sedatives she used on him, he stumbled over himself before his system could neutralize the drugs. He screamed in a blind fury at the woman who dared capture and assault him in so many disgusting ways, going into a frenzy of destruction, trying to escape from the room. He burst through the ceiling, taking out the main support beam to the house.

As the building collapsed, Inuyasha never heard her final words. But his short lived freedom from her grasp ended in a painful twisting of bones and tissues as he collapsed to the forest floor, writhing in pain. His arms and legs shortened and white fur sprouted from his skin, and all went black.

~-~

"…Inuyasha!"

He huffed once. His body ached all over, and his head felt funny.

"Inuyasha!! What happened?"

He shifted once before cracking an eye open.

"Inuyasha! Are you…?"

His gaze fell upon the tiny form of Myoga, who was currently leaping up and down on his… on his… snout? Inuyasha's eyes grew impossibly wide as he leapt to his feet. Or, what would have been his feet, as he lost his balance and fell over. He looked down at what he thought were his hands… and saw paws. `What in the… What happened?' he asked, panic creeping into his body as his voice suddenly was nothing but growls and yips.

"Inuyasha!! I know it is you, but what happened?" Myoga seemed unable to understand him. Inuyasha's sight fell upon the house in ruins next to him. The little flea followed Inuyasha's gaze, and hopped over to the wreckage. His tiny form could be spotted hopping from plank to shattered plank, glancing under items, peeking into cracks. "This house reeks of a black miko! Did she curse you? What did you do to incur her wrath?"

He frowned, as shame for his plight and the occurrences the night before welled inside of him. He was a dog now! He had no idea what happened, but he got the sneaking suspicion he should have killed the woman before he attempted to run.

Myoga leapt back over to his side, and looking knowingly up at the beaded necklace. "She would have had to put that on you herself, Inuyasha… What did you do? How could you allow her to be that close?"

Inuyasha closed his eyes, whining in misery. He shook his head once and leapt off into the forest, unable to explain his weakness, his inability to protect himself from that wretched woman.

"Inuyasha!!" He could hear the flea trying to follow, but unable to keep up with the hanyou-turned dog.

A few days later, Sesshoumaru found his half-brother. Inuyasha had wallowed in his misery, hiding in a cave in shame. Inuyasha refused to tell Sesshoumaru what really happened, and so, the fanciful tales Myoga had spun about a grand battle and a love-scorned woman remained in place. Inuyasha would have smirked at the little flea's explanation if he weren't so upset. Or a dog.

Over the next few weeks, Inuyasha trailed his brother in shame as they searched out mikos and priests far and wide. The skills taught to the newer generations were nowhere as advanced or as powerful as the one who cast the spell, so, his curse would not break. Inuyasha became impatient, and, unable to stand being around his family and friends like this, he left. He ran away, to live like a dog would, away from the disappointed looks and pitiful glances.

Sesshoumaru hunted him down, one last time, seemingly determined to not let his brother live alone in shame.

`Go the fuck away,' Inuyasha growled at him from the cave entrance.

"No, it is my responsibility to ensure that this curse is broken," Sesshoumaru replied.

`No it ain't, just go back to your little woman and leave me the fuck alone.'

"Why is it that you do not wish to accept my help, Inuyasha?" Sesshoumaru asked.

`We've already visited all the most powerful people around, and none of them could do a damned thing. Just leave me alone.' He growled, slinking back into the recesses of his small cave.

Sesshoumaru didn't return after that. Inuyasha spent his years in isolation, slowly realizing what a fool he was to alienate his only family. Time passed, and he moved on, finding new places to live, and encountering new people along the way. It wasn't too long before he noticed some sort of nasty bad luck trailing him wherever he went. People he came in contact with vanished mysteriously or died in gruesome ways, and every so often, he would get the creepy feeling of being watched.

~-~

Kagome watched Inuyasha carefully as he recounted details of his story that he could remember. She was horrified to learn he had gone through such an ordeal at the hands of a woman like that, and a strange sense of foreboding began to creep through her. He continued after a moment's pause, "It was a long time ago, and far, far away from here. I… didn't think of this sooner, because it was so rare that I met anyone… but, as I tell you these things of my past, I'm startin' to see a pattern. A really bad pattern… especially since you've been attacked twice since we met…"

Kagome nodded slowly, understanding what he meant. She knew something had to be wrong with that attack on her home, because in the two years she'd lived in that house, no youkai had roamed near the city to attack and destroy homes and people, nor had she ever felt anything quite like that chilling sensation of evil when Rin and Sesshoumaru had been visiting.

"Inuyasha, is there a chance that she might have..." she paused for a moment, "...lived through the house collapsing?"

Inuyasha shrugged slightly. "I didn't want to find out..."

Kagome was silent for a moment before she stood from her chair. She reached down and grasped Inuyasha's hand in her own, tugging him to his feet. She looked up at him, feeling a bit shy from his spontaneous actions earlier, and then led them out of the room. They had talked for not even an hour after he woke, but they were both famished. Kagome stepped out onto the walkway outside of their room, looking around at where she was before continuing on. It had been a while since she visited Sango out here, and she had gotten lost on the grounds for a whole hour then. The garden in the middle of the estate was huge, with a manmade stream winding through it. The weatherproofed wooden walkway connecting the buildings in the estate was covered to protect from the rain, but open on both sides to allow for one to step on or off, either into the gardens to their left, or to the trees interspersed at their right, which were planted just close enough that you couldn't see to the wall surrounding the entire grounds. The entire estate was designed to provide both privacy and security, and yet still leave a feeling of freedom and openness with nature.

The estate had recently sustained some heavy damage in a large attack aimed at Sango. Her older brother had been involved in some dangerous people, and had died ten years prior, but it seemed that his old enemies sought to collect his debt from the last remaining family member, Sango. In an attack, mere weeks after Kagome had moved to the area, most of Sango's family home had been destroyed.

Kagome knew Sango had some fighting skills, but, she was at a loss as to how the girl managed to survive the chaos and destruction that was wreaked upon her house, come out of it with no intruders alive to tell their tales.

Kagome was brought back from her musings when Inuyasha nudged her arm with his elbow. "What's on your mind?" He asked.

Kagome smiled at him. "I'm just thinking about how nice this place is..." She pulled them into another building near the front of the estate. The hard wooden floors gleamed brightly in the light that spilled from the huge windows lining the eastern wall. A skylight above added even more brightness to the room, and the two of them walked over to where Sango and Miroku had sat down to enjoy some sliced fruit.

Sango's pet, a small fire-cat named Kirara, leapt up onto the table and nudged Sango's hand for another slice of bacon, her favorite treat. Inuyasha's nose twitched once at the sight of the bacon, but he didn't say anything as he sat down next to Kagome, crossing his arms in a defensive gesture. Kagome took this as a sign of reluctance to relay his life-story to the two people watching them with expectant looks.

"Long story short..." Kagome began with a short recount of Inuyasha's curse and the two youkai attacks. "You already knew about the bear youkai from my visit to the woods... but this last attack is showing less signs of coincidence, and more planning.

Miroku withdrew a bracelet from his pocket. "This," he waved it slightly, before setting it down on the table between them, "was the only object on the corpse of that youkai that attacked your home, Kagome." They all looked down at the bracelet, before Kagome picked it up hesitantly, turning it over in her hands. The metal had an oddly cold feel to it, and strange nicks and scratches on the interior.

Inuyasha watched Kagome handling the bracelet warily. The faint scent of something vaguely familiar reached his nose, but he had a hard time putting his finger on exactly what it was, amidst the mouth-watering scent of bacon and the pungent sweet aroma of the fruit. The moment he took his eyes away from Kagome's actions, he heard her say, "What a strange piece of jewelry. Was the youkai wearing it?"

"No," Miroku answered, popping another piece of fruit in his mouth. He chewed for a second before continuing. "It was in a side pocket, and I'm surprised I noticed it at all. I don't know what relevance it has, but, it just seemed to stand out from what he was wearing." Kagome turned the bracelet around once more in her hands, noticing it was a smaller band, something that a woman would wear. Without thinking, she slipped it over her hand, watching the silver metal slide against her skin. It had barely been there a second before she froze, her eyes wide in shock as she slumped over in her chair, unable to move.

O_O

Ok… Well, yes. Um, that was Kagome's moment of stupidity for this week. :D Coming up to this point in the story, I just thought it would be fun to toss that in! I'm sorry, but I'm a sucker for `Oh, save me!' points in stories. Whee! After Inuyasha regained his true form… I was stuck! I hadn't quite planned out how they would act around each other, because my original plot for this story pretty much ended when he became hanyou again, with a classic Happy Ending. But I forgot about wrapping up Kikyo's story, I forgot about having the dark recounting of that night decades ago, and I had to throw in some more Sess/Rin, Sango/Miroku stuff!! So… yes, this story has a while to go still. I certainly hope I didn't disappoint with this chapter, with it either being too dark, or, not ENOUGH for those extra-ecchi French-fries out there. And hopefully, I don't dawdle too long with posting new chapters... (Crosses her fingers that this chapter doesn't post wrong) Until then... May you have plenty of other fics to keep you occupied and entertained. :)