InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Silence ❯ Into the Castle ( Chapter 9 )

Tokugawa: Hello all, I'm one of Angel's editors. I regret to announce that Angel was killed in a car acci-

Angel: I'm right here!

Tokugawa: Then why am I writing this?

Angel: Because you're doing me a favor and remaking a chapter I lost when I got my new computer.

Tokugawa: Oh, right. Well folks, never mind, Angel isn't dead!

Sabriel: Not yet anyway….

Tokugawa: Don't kill Angel, *turns to audience* and shame on you readers who are encouraging her!

Angeltiger: *sticks out tongue* Yeah!

Tokugawa: So, just remember, if this chapter sucks, I did my best to make it have the same feel as Angel's writing and we can't all be the next Amy Tan.

Angel: Who?

Tokugawa: A fairly popular author, though I guess that really you're writing style and hers are nothing alike… not to say you won't be a popular author… well whatever, moving on….

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Inuyasha walked up the hill in a dazed state. The anger that had kept him going in the absence of Kagome had burned itself out. He tripped over rocks several times, looked down, and then continued walking, whispering Kagome's name to himself over and over. Miroku and Sango continued ahead of him, glancing back over their shoulders with concern from time to time.

Miroku paused and listened, normally Inuyasha with his superior hearing would have heard it first but his mind was elsewhere. A soft scraping sound of wood on stone grew in audibility from what seemed like the sound of a wasp walking on a windowpane to someone trying to write with blunt chalk and the horrible screeching sound it made. Miroku and Sango turned to see an oncoming blur of black and brown, Inuyasha didn't look up and just kept moving up the hill at a turtle's pace. Only when he heard the ferocious roar was he woken from the trance.

"INUYASHA!!" the blur jumped claws outstretched at Inuyasha releasing a snarl to rival the creatures indigenous to nightmares. Inuyasha turned to face Koga and ducked out of reflex though from the look on his face you could see he was indifferent as to whether or not he was hurt. Koga's momentum kept him going and he crashed into a pile of small boulders.

"Dammit Dog-breath! You let my Kagome get hurt!! I'm gonna rip your empty head from your god-damn shoulders!!" At this point Sango intervened, Taking her Hiraikotsu and throwing it at Koga. As soon as he got up, again he was knocked down. Koga sprang back up but now he saw something, or rather, did not see something.

"Where is she?" he snarled.

"Who?" Inuyasha asked, still suffering from being separated and brain working like a snail.

"Don't fuck with me you mangy fleabag, where's my Kagome?" Now Koga was not snarling, he was speaking from the bottom of his throat with a low, sepulchral monotone.

"Sesshomaru has her." Inuyasha began to come out of his trance, the thought of her being taken off by his half-brother beginning to make his blood boil.

"You mean you failed to protect her Twice!?" Koga returned to yelling, grabbing Inuyasha's throat. And though Inuyasha truly did not care, the inherent drive to live inside all things took over and he grabbed Koga's throat in retaliation. The two sat there trying to strangle the other, their faces turning red, then blue and purple until both passed out on the ground. Sango and Miroku looked at each other, then at the rivals. Miroku sighed and turned again to Sango.

"Well which one do you want to get?" he asked, staring down at the demons like one would troublesome children.

"I'll take the wolf."

"Right." He said, taking up Inuyasha and putting him over his back in the manner one does when carrying something heavy. He unsteadily helped her pick up Koga and the two resumed their trek towards Sesshomaru's castle.

A lanky wolf demon moved behind a boulder, he had been watching the course of events from a vantage point above the group. So she isn't with them… someone's taken her, Sesshomaru they said? Well I'll find this Sesshomaru… And she'll return to me… my Kagome.
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Kagome was escorted to Rin's wing by the three imps with pink stripes. The funny thing was that they had different number. She paused, wondering if it was impolite to ask. The imp with the most stripes turned.

"Why are you standing there human?" Kagome blushed.

"Um… uh… I don't know if it's impolite to ask this, but, why do you have those stripes?" the Imp who had asked here why she had stopped walking grinned and took out a small sack containing gold or some other precious metal. The other two took out similar bags and, muttering, emptied their contents into the first imp's bag.

They bet on me?

"You are correct human, it is impolite to ask." Kagome was partially embarrassed but also miffed at the tiny creature's arrogance.

"But, if you are to live here, you must be educated." The imp smirked, patting her winnings. "While in the castle you will find many different colors, too many to go over now, but I will give you the abridged version."

Kagome nodded.

"Stripes indicate what duties we perform; the number of stripes indicates rank, the more stripes: the more authority." It was as Kagome had suspected.

"First, those with blue stripes, are charged with the duty of keeping the castle in good repair and pleasing to the eye, if ever there is something you dislike about your room or other part of the castle, notify them."

White stripes-maids and butlers, check.

"Second are pink stripes such as myself, we are Rin's caretakers."

Pink stripes are Rin's babysitters, got it. Interesting, I suppose I have that job too.

Had Kagome glanced down she would have seen five pink stripes on either sleeve of her clothes and neon pink fingernails, quite like nail polish. Sesshomaru's castle was under an enchantment to make the stripes appear on anyone doing a form of work for the demon lord, the enchantment served the purpose of making it easier for the imps by eliminating the need for them to dress in uniform.

"After pink stripes are orange stripes, if you are injured go to them. They shall assist you."

Oranges, medics. Next.

"Browns are the cooks, and the final group you need to know are the reds. If ever you are in danger, you will not be for the castle is impenetrable, but if you are go to them. They shall protect you."

Reds, er.…security…bodyguard, something of the sort, understood.

"Do you have any questions?" The imp asked.

Kagome nodded. "Just one, what are the black stripes?" She inquired out of curiosity, remembering the horror on the face of the Imp who had been demoted.

"They are assigned to keep the castle's sewage system clean. Unclogging septic channels and such."

"Oh, I see." Ewww...

"Now come, we must introduce you to Rin."

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"You are sooo lucky that I can't reach you dog-breath. If I weren't stuck like this you'd be dead."

"Hah, I'd like to see you try and lay a hand on me, wolf."

"Well in your current predicament it wouldn't be too hard."

"What do you mean my predicament? You're tied up, too."

"Pfft. I can get away any time I want."

"Yeah right, you couldn't escape a prison made of straw, you weakling."

"I'm the weakling?"

"Yeah that's right."

"That's it! I've had it! You, lady. Untie me!"

Sango looked back over her shoulder at Koga who she was still carrying on her back, albeit now they had hog-tied him and Inuyasha.

"Not a chance in hell, you two'll just get into a fight and waste time."

"It wouldn't waste more than a minute; I could clobber dog-breath with one hand behind my back."

"You're almost right there, Koga, you just got who'd do the clobbering backwards. Hey, monk, untie me so I can give wolf-boy a demonstration."

Miroku dropped Inuyasha on a rock.

"Oh dear excuse me Inuyasha." Sango smirked and Koga burst into outright laughter.

"Hahahahaha- ow shit! What was that for?" Sango had dropped Koga, too.

"Mmmm, master, you are delicious…" came a voice from somewhere on Inuyasha.

"Get off you stupid pest!" Inuyasha glared at where he thought, incorrectly, Myoga was.

"But without my knowledge you will not be able to save Kagome, and I need sustenance to stay alert." Myoga used the situation to his advantage.

"I said 'off!'"

"Yes, milord." A small speck flew from Inuyasha to Koga.

"Oh my, this blood is wondrous, too!" But Koga didn't complain, he was slowly working away at the ropes that bound him.

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Kazuki sat and thought about her. The first time round it had been only to exact revenge, but now he had a craving for more. An appetite that was ravenous in its desire for her. Kazuki sniffed the air searching for her scent, he could not find hers but he found a scent that was commingled with his own and chose to follow that. He sniffed to see how recent it had been left, it was perhaps a week old, which meant wherever the person with the scent had gone, and he had quite a way to go before he caught up.

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Kagome kept walking down the corridor, several strides behind the imps. Walking when they walked, turning when they turned, in the giant castle she thought it best to simply play "follow the leader." After several more minutes of walking the imps stopped, Kagome according to the rules of the game, did likewise. Upon stopping Kagome looked about, she noted the wall decorations of paintings and tapestries and suits of armor. Then her eye drifted toward a wakasashi mounted on the wall, the sheath and handle matched that of the katana she carried perfectly. Quietly she moved towards the wall and picked up the wakasashi and fitted it into her robe below the katana. The imp spoke.

"This is Mistress Rin's room, she can be… unpredictable…at times so I suggest you be careful when you enter. Good luck, young lady."

Kagome smiled "thanks."

"They're on backwards."

Kagome blinked "I beg your pardon?"

"Your swords, you have them wrong. Here." The Imp walked up to Kagome.

"First," the imp said, "you always have the wakasashi above the katana." She reached out and took the swords, "and second, you keep the swords on your left side, not your right, that way you can unsheathe them with your dominant hand." The imp put the swords back in on the other side of Kagome's robe first the wakasashi and then the katana.

"There, young lady, now you look wonderful." Again Kagome smiled and again said "thanks." The imp looked at her with a look upon her face as if she were trying to decide something of great importance. The look left and the imp gathered her courage and spoke.

"Young lady, forgive me for being impolite, but you are not familiar with the ways of the upper-class, are you?" Kagome shook her head.

"I will notify Master Sesshomaru of this, if you are to live in this castle you must learn etiquette." The imp turned and walked off. Kagome sighed and opened the door to Rin's room. Instantly she was knocked back onto the ground. She looked to see what had attacked her and she found a small girl giggling wildly and hugging her.

"Rin is glad to see you are better!" at the sound of her voice Rin burst into more giggles. The noise woke the still sleeping Shippo; the young fox rubbed his eyes and looked about. "Hey who's that?" He asked looking at Rin.

"Rin is Rin." At which point she fell to the ground and laughed so hard her sides shook.

Well I may as well get started. Kagome thought. "Rin, try calling yourself 'I' instead of 'Rin'. Rin is what other people call you; you call yourself 'I' or 'me'. It's called using first person. So instead of saying 'Rin is Rin' say 'I am Rin' Go on, try it."

"I am Rin, Rin am I. I'm the only Rin under the clear blue sky." Rin began to prance about the room.

I think I just found a distant ancestor of Dr. Seuss. Kagome chuckled quietly.

Shippo smiled at Rin's antics and began to run himself. Rin smiled back and the two giggled. "Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm Shippo."

"You're little, are you a baby?" Shippo's instant like of Rin diminished as quickly as his ego.

"I'm ten." he said with more than a hint of irritation in his voice.

"Oh, wow you're older than me." And with that all was well again. Kagome rolled her eyes but smiled at the same time. The trio frolicked for several hours, Kagome keeping an eye on the two and constantly chastising Rin for her third person referrals. Before Kagome realized it, her session with the young girl had expired, she gathered Shippo up in her arms and he curled into a ball and went to sleep.

Kagome looked out the window as she exited the room. The sun was setting and seeing the sky streaked with reds and oranges made Kagome realize she was tired. She could not find her way back but encountered an imp and so managed to get directions to her room.

She flopped onto her bed, not taking the time to change into her night robes. She closed her eyes and rolled onto her back, within a few minutes she was sound asleep.

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Tokugawa: Okay, now if you think Angel sucks at first person POV-

Angel: Watch it….

Tokugawa: Sorry. Sorry.

Angel: Good.

Tokugawa: Anyway, as I was saying, for those of you who think Angel isn't very good at first person *ducks as an enraged AT tries to tackle him* I'm even worse at it, so show some more appreciation for her writing skills.

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I was in the library when one of the higher-ranking Imps entered, clearly wanting to raise some sort of subject.

"Yes? Out with it." In retrospect I suppose I was unfairly sharp to the Imp, but I was irritated at having been interrupted.

"I'm sorry, my Lord, but the girl…. she is lacking manners; she acts like a commoner. Perhaps… perhaps someone should teach her the correct etiquette?"

"Do not worry, I will see to that myself. Fetch her for me." The imp brought up a good point, but in a situation such as this I felt that if you wanted something done right, do it yourself.

"Yes, my lord," the imp bowed and left the room.

I returned to my own thoughts, it still baffled me as to why I had saved the poor girl. It made no sense, I had nothing to profit by it, nor did I enjoy human company. But… then why had I saved Rin? Nothing made sense. There was something different about those two, they way they acted in comparison with other humans, they, for all their quirks, had integrity. Kagome though, what- in hell or out of it -could have lead me to take pity on my half-brother's wench? There was some other way she was different than her companions, though. Not just that she conducted herself with honor but also something about how she smelled, most likely it was simply better hygiene than the habits that most humans kept. Yes, I suppose that did make me somewhat shallow.

The Shoji Screen door opened, I tuned my head. There stood the girl.

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The sun shone through the glass window. Kagome sighed and rolled over; she had had trouble sleeping last night. Though she drifted off with some ease, in the middle of the night she woke up from tossing and turning and when trying to get back to sleep found that there was no way for her to balance her spine and lay on her back comfortably. She tried to ignore the sun for a few more minutes but Shippo stirred and she knew that she would have to attend to her adopted pup.

She got up and stretched. Shippo yawned and rolled over, muttering in his sleep. Kagome looked at him with affection and scooped the still sleeping fox up in her arms. There was a knock on the door, Kagome opened it a crack and peered out, an imp with gray stripes walked in.

"The Lord Sesshomaru wishes to see you, young lady." Kagome flinched inwardly.

I've already managed to overstay my welcome. He's planning to kick me out.

Kagome nodded to the imp and got up. She walked down the hall, finding her pants uncomfortable and limiting her strides, peculiar since they were perfect yesterday. She had little trouble finding Sesshomaru; though she was not familiar with the castle's layout she was able to find him by his scent. Hall after hall, corridor after corridor, turning right, left, going straight; Kagome grew more and more nervous as she walked towards Sesshomaru's chambers and her inevitable eviction. The worry consumed her, and as she reached to pull away the shoji screen which separated her from the castle's lord her hand trembled.

The screen removed she looked upon her host. He sat quietly in a chair, motionless, staring at some small microcosm beyond the sight of others. Slowly his head moved toward her, his amber eyes staying soulless.

"Sesshomaru-sama" Kagome bowed and a loud rrrip resonated throughout the room. At the worst possible time she had ripped her pants.

Kagome's head spun. What? This makes no sense; I haven't been getting fatter or anything. How on earth could this happen?

Kagome tilted her beet-red face up and swiveled it on her neck to see the damage of the rip. Sticking out of the split was a short hairy stub. Kagome teared up and rushed from the room, her doom was set now; Sesshomaru would not have her in his castle. She hid in her quarters and waited several hours, weeping, if she were turned away: where would she go? It was dark before an imp knocked on her door again. "The Lord Sesshomaru has requested your presence." Came the muffled voice through the door.

Oh God, I'm doomed.

Kagome made the same trek as she had that morning. Knocked on the same door. Pulled back the same shoji screen. Sitting there, as he had earlier, was Sesshomaru. Kagome bit her lip, bracing herself for whatever harsh words Sesshomaru might have for her after the incident that morning. None came. After the quiet had gone on for several minutes Kagome spoke.

"Se…Sesshomaru-sama?"

"Yes?"

"You called me, what did you want to say?"

"Well first of all, here is a pair of new clothes; they will fit you better now than your old clothing will since you have gained a tail."

Kagome looked back again at the furry stub and found that it grown, it now was around a foot long and brown hair about the length of her finger hid her skin from view. The extension of her spine swished back and forth at the air.

"First of all?"

"Yes, also you're actions the imps have told me-"

This is it; he's going to send me away. She thought.

"-indicate a lack of knowledge of the ways of the aristocracy. If you are to stay here you will need to understand these things. I shall teach you."

"I see, uh, thank you…" Kagome was taken aback, where was the ridicule?

"That is all, it is night now, will you have tea with me before going off to bed?"

"Oh, yes I'd like that very much, thank you."

"Mistake one." Sesshomaru said without any indication what the mistake had been.

"Mistake?"

"Yes, you don't accept tea when it's offered the first time around. You wait and say 'no thank you, I'm fine.' Then I offer it again and gradually you pretend to be persuaded that you'd like some tea."

"Ah I see…."

Sesshomaru called a servant and tea was brought out.

"Here have the first sip."

"Why thank you." She reached for the cup but stopped after a moment, "but I'd much prefer you to drink first, you are, after all, the host." Sesshomaru nodded.

"You're learning, now go ahead and have a sip."

"No, you first."

"No, you, I insist"

"You."

"You."

"I'm flattered but you must have the first sip."

"You are the guest."

"Well alright then, but only so the tea doesn't get cold."

Kagome drank the tea and smiled. Sesshomaru continued to stare at her, watching her every move for the smallest mistake. He was fairly satisfied that she at least knew how to drink tea correctly, as he thought he'd have to explain that to her as well.

After the tea was gone she was dismissed, and went back to her room. She changed from her ripped clothes into the new pair, her tail slipped comfortably through a hole in the back of the pants. She lay down on the bed and looked out the window, she thought she saw something move but wasn't certain. She closed her eyes and went to sleep.

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"You stupid wolf." Inuyasha muttered, the argument between the two had subsided but the two continued to shoot insults at one another. Koga didn't reply and instead, concentrated on his bindings. He had heard a telltale snap that meant the rope had finally broke, and his upper body swung and came up near his feet; he grabbed hold and ripped the ropes off. His feet and hands hit the ground with a light thud for only a second before he was up in the air again, feet already propelling him in the direction that Kagome's scent told him to go.

Up the hill he went, at places the incline grew so great he had to move on all fours. His hands found holes in jagged rocks and he used these to balance himself while he moved his legs. Hours of this passed and Koga made little progress. He grabbed at rocks but more and more often he missed or the sweat on his palms made him lose his grip. He grunted with effort as he made the climb, perspiring and panting as he tried to complete what seemed an impossible task. But eventually he reached the top and there stood the largest construction Koga had ever seen.

It had four levels and large rectangular windows through which one could see people walk down the halls and observe them in their rooms. Koga's eyes tracked multicolor imps going about their business then a taller person walked by, attracted to motion, as all eyes are, Koga's attention shifted. And there she was. Kagome walked down the hall and into her room. She turned towards the window and looked out for a moment, then turned back again and began to undress.

Koga, acting as a gentleman would, turned and gave Kagome the privacy she was entitled to. After five minutes- or time in that general amount -Koga turned back assuming that Kagome was done changing and his obligation to decency completed, evidently he was wrong. Koga willed himself to turn away but he stood transfixed.

Kagome was different, namely, she was like him. Her tail wagged in contentment when a northerly breeze picked up and added to the evening cool. Koga was immobilized not so much by shock, he had heard what happened and understood the implications but more by awe, Kagome had looked wonderful as a human but now that she was a wolf she was drop-dead gorgeous. This of course made some rudimentary sense, it was only logical that members of Koga's species would have an advantage when it came to his views of appearance, but now that the playing field had been leveled Kagome blew the competition away. Koga sat there, staring, and telling himself not to do so.

Kazuki had less shame about being a peeping-tom. Instead of feeling guilt he simply watched, noted certain things he'd like to do to the girl when the opportunity arose and continued watching, as one might sit watching porn on the television. She redressed quickly and moved away from the window, out of sight. Kazuki's carnal desire was rejuvenated. He got up to move closer to the castle but his legs protested he had stretched them as far as they could go tonight. Giving in to physical state over physical desire Kazuki curled up and slept.

Koga was in like state, and though his intentions were nobler than Kazuki's, his endurance was not. Koga found a rock that sheltered him from the cold wind that had evolved from the earlier comforting breeze. As his eyes closed a fragment of a thought, not coherent or full etched into anything deserving the term cognitive moved through his mind. So beautiful…

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Kagome was in Rin's room again, the young girl rolled on the floor with laughter as Kagome joked with her. Shippo, the humor not making its way to his less acrobatic sense of wit stared at Rin like some peculiar creature, squawking at something invisible to all others. Kagome looked at them both with amusement and affection. Rin regained her composure, Kagome prepared to tell another joke.

"The boss of all monkeys wanted the moon. Hundreds of his followers tried to get it for him, all failed, they jumped for hours trying to catch it. At last one finally grabbed hold of the shining ball and handed it to his master. 'Master here is the moon, as you asked for,' he said. The master thanked him, promising rewards. 'Out of curiosity, Master, what do you plan to do with the moon?' he asked. 'Ah, I hadn't thought of that,' the monkey boss replied."

Rin fell to the ground again, rolling around, squealing with glee. "Do you like my joke?"

"Wonderful, Rin." The amazing thing was, the whole day spent with her went without a single correction. Me, I, my, all went without a hitch.

"Good! Then I've got one you'll really like!"

Children. Kagome thought, as pleased as Rin was.

~Imagine all the children we could have, all the pups, not like that dirty rag of a fox you carry around with you~ An unseen voice spoke to Kagome. A malignant voice that ran smooth when envisioning life with his mate and coarse when speaking of the Fox

~You~ Kagome's inner voice trembled with fear, she pushed herself to sound more resolute but his affirmation of: ~Yes, me~ destroyed what confidence she could muster. ~I'm coming for you, mate, oh how happy we'll be together!~

~Forget togetherness, I want you to stay away from me!~ But deep down after introspection she found herself wondering ~Do I?~

~Of course not~ The silky voice had returned. ~You know how happy you'd be with your kind, of course you'd need to learn some respect for your mate, I'm the male after all~

Stay away, forget you, forget respect, and forget being your mate, stay AWAY!

~But I'm already here~ said the voice.

Kagome awoke drenched in sweat. It had been a nightmare, hadn't it? But… was it a prophetic nightmare? She needed to see Sesshomaru, looking out the window she saw that it was dawn, Sesshomaru would be awake. She opened the doors to the hall and stepped quickly out of her room.

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Koga ran at full speed, following the infuriating scent of that scum Kazuki, but he ran with fear also for Kazuki was ahead of him, and he knew where the demon intended to go.

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"There! Look there!" Sango cried out.

"Sango, that's a pile of rocks." Inuyasha rolled his eyes, he had seen it coming, she had finally gone mad with grief over her family. Losing Kagome had tipped her over the edge.

"No, to the left."

"That's Miroku."

"Too far left."

"Oh, that, the giant castle…I saw that ages ago."

"No you didn't."

"Yes, I did."

"Will you two shut up? I think our priority should be saving Kagome!"

It had been like this for hours, without Kagome to ease tensions all of them had been on edge. The sooner she's back the better was the general consensus among the companions and it crossed the mind than more than one of them as they made their way to the castle.

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Kagome moved down the hall, searching for Sesshomaru. Hearing footsteps she turned expecting to see the demon lord, but her luck was never that good. Instead a rough looking demon stood before her. His eyes were set in folds of skin giving him an angry look, contempt for all things. He spoke from the bottom of his throat. "Hello, mate."