InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Silence ❯ Escape to the Forest ( Chapter 10 )

Angeltiger: I'm baaaack!

Inuyasha: Oh joy…

Angeltiger: Will you cut out the insults? Jeez, I can't win…

Kagome: …Sit.

Inuyasha: (Thud)

Angeltiger: (giggles)

Disclaimer:

Angeltiger: Forgot to do this last chapter. I uhhh…woke up at four in the morning to the cops beating on my door, threatening to send Rumiko's dumb muscles if I didn't put it in this one. So here you go: I don't own Inuyasha & Co. Happy? Not me…

Silence

Ch.11 Escape to the Forest

Kagome immediately broke out in a cold sweat. Seeing her alleged mate so soon was defiantly not what she'd expected. "That…that wasn't a dream was it?"

"'Fraid not, mate." He smirked, taking a step further, "Not that it matters, I won't have to talk to you through your sleep anymore."

Every time he stepped forward she responded with a step back until her back hit the hard wall. She looked around frantically, but no one, not even an imp, was anywhere near. His teeth shone as he finally backed her as far as she could go, eyes greedily taking in her form. What he would give for another go…

Kagome felt around her left side for the handle of the shoji screen, wincing when a clawed hand not unlike her own came up to cup the side of her face.

The instant his hand touched her skin the world around her flashed white, and she was transported to that night in the forest, reliving her fear. Her sides burned where he had scratched her, and she instinctively crossed her arms to cover them, her hand leaving the handle of the door. Her eyes flashed white again and she was back in Sesshomaru's castle, though Kazuki was much closer than he had been when she'd had her flashback.

"I've missed you." He growled, eyes flashing red, "What do you say we go for another round?"

The bluntness of his question hit her like a physical blow, and her hands tightened around her hips. His breath was so rank and so close to her she had trouble not gagging, but she assumed if she insulted him so noticeably her life would end quickly. So, wisely, she kept her mouth shut and held her breath.

The monster purred and brought his hand from her cheek to the nape of her neck and gripping hard enough to bruise. "Why aren't you answering me?"

He threw open the shoji and tossed her inside before stepping in and sliding the door shut loudly. He drank in her moon bathed frame and tried to focus on other things besides her bare skin he had seen through her window earlier that evening.

Kagome herself glared at the window, and at the huge full moon just outside. It seemed so close she could touch it, and it beckoned to her. Or mocked, knowing she could never escape with her attacker so near.

The window was easily larger than her, and much wider. The glass was so spotless it looked nonexistent, like she could just run and jump out of the hole…and fall to her death nearly five stories down.

Her attention was slightly diverted when she caught sight of two flashes of violet near the outskirts of the castle.

A feral growl interrupted her from her suicidal wishes and she slowly turned to acknowledge it. Her cinnamon eyes met scarlet and fear gripped her throat.

"I don't like being ignored, wench!"

A small lump moved on her futon before pocking it's head up to find the source of the commotion. His sleepiness disappeared at the sight of his surrogate mother's crumpled form on the floor. "Kagome!"

Kazuki turned and the cry, eyes widening in recognition. The little kit's face mirrored his and they both narrowed their eyes in anger.

"You!" They cried simultaneously.

"I thought I got rid of you!" Kazuki yelled pointing a claw at the kit.

"I thought I told you to stay away from my Kagome!" The wolf's accusing point was answered with a smaller version.

Kazuki snarled and Shippo's bravery was lost as he rushed to hide behind Kagome. She held her shivering ball close to her breast and whispered, "Go get Sesshomaru!" as quietly as she could.

With a shaky nod, he used her body to push off and took towards the door. Luckily, he was fast enough to open it, dart out, and take off before Kazuki had a chance to understand what had just happened.

He strode forward and snatched her up by the neck, dangling her in the air as if she weighed no more than a doll, before slamming her into the large glass widow. She tried to cry out when she felt the glass crack behind her, but her windpipe was being crushed and nothing but high air escaped. Distantly, she could hear a high-pitched howl in the outside world, almost feeling it beckon to her…

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He yelled, spit flying in her face. He shook her, and she felt a crack spread when her heel connected. "You can't escape me you bitch! Get it through your thick head."

He struck her forcefully across the head, sneering when she was finally able to cry out. He turned and flung her behind him, claws catching parts of her clothing and eyes taking and evil glint when he heard her skull connect with the hard floor.

Lights flashed behind her eyes and the wind escaped her lungs. Her fear melted into panic when she couldn't breath, coupled with the unbearable stink on her cheek and the throbbing pain in the back of her head. She felt a trickle of blood through the tangled masses of her hair.

"You will learn to be submissive, bitch. Understand?" He snarled, taking a step further. She tried to scoot back, but found with the wind still knocked out of her, moving was very hard.

He snarled again and came to a stop few feet in front of her, "Answer me!" he yelled, kicking her in the thigh and stepping back as she rolled over in pain. "I told you I will not be ignored."

When she finally got her breath back to cry out, she saw his hand was up, ready to give another strike to her head. She threw up her hands in defense, eyes catching the pony-tailed figure outside as he took to the air, the moon outlining and giving him a glow of purity behind both Kazuki and the window.

Said window in front of her crashed into a million pieces as her savior burst into the room. Kazuki turned towards the sound on reflex and froze on the spot as Kouga settled to the floor with a loud thump, violet eyes outlined in scarlet as they settled with unhidden hate towards the rouge. The wolf prince checked behind his prey to make sure his woman was safe before resettling a heated glare towards his enemy. And then…

All hell broke loose.

Sesshomaru had just begun to settle into relaxation when his acute ears picked up yelling towards the other end of his castle. He rose from his futon gracefully, sliding his swords into place and heading towards the door.

The wood paneling slid open with blinding speed and a red blur flew by and attached itself to his leg. Said red blur looked up, apparently very upset. "Sesshomaru!"

"Kit? I would suggest you detach yourself from my person."

Complying, Shippo hopped off and began to dance around frantically at his feet. "The bad wolf's got Kagome and Kouga came to save her but she's all beat up and lying still on the floor and there's glass and blood everywhere and Kouga's mad and the bad wolf came after me and momma sent me to get you and I-"

"Enough!" Sesshomaru commanded.

Shippo's' mouth closed with an audible click. He reopened it to argue, but decided against it and let out a small whimper instead.

Eyes hardening with annoyance, Sesshomaru plucked the kit up by his shirt collar and proceeded down the halls to where he could hear sparring. Fire entered his eyes as he entered the final hallway that would lead to two wolf demon's deaths for daring to enter his home.

The two were impossible to differentiate as their figures blurred together as one. Deep growls, yelps of pain, and mainly snarls were heard as the two fought like the wild dogs they were.

Dimly Kagome came back to the present, immediately wishing for the painless pleasures of unconsciousness. Regardless, she pushed herself off of the floor slowly just as a fur covered leg passed her face by inches.

Her eyes widened as she remembered the last thing she had seen: the window bursting, and Kouga leaping in to save her. She raised her head, paling when Kazuki had Kouga up against the wall by his throat, only to have him thrown off and tackled to the ground by the enraged prince.

Rocking back on her heels, neither demon noticed her arrival into consciousness. She tried to stand, but only succeeded in falling backwards, slamming her already bruised hands into the thousands of glass shards that lie scattered across the floor. With a yelp, Kagome rocketed up, only to lose her balance and stumble backwards, dragging her bare feet across the shards and making them moist with her own blood.

In a panic, she tried to get away, but her center of balance was still off and she slipped on the mixture of glass and blood, hurtling backwards towards the window. In a last ditch effort to save herself, she nabbed the side frame of the window, jagged edge and all, slicing her hand open in the process.

When her wet hand could no longer hold the glass she slipped, leaving a bloody hand trail behind as she plunged into the darkness, five stories below. The two ookami were so engrossed in their battle for her, they didn't notice her movement, let alone her disappearance.

All motion stopped the second the shoji screen slammed open, revealing a rather pissy Sesshomaru holding a terrified Shippo by the collar. Tossing the kit to the futon, not a blink later, he was by Kazuki's side. He bashed the hilt of Tokijin none-too-gently against his skull, resulting in a clean knockout.

Next his glare went to the ookami prince, who, in spite of being afraid of the Taiyoukai, held his ground. Finally, he spoke, "Where is Kagome?"

Kouga blinked, "Wha-?" Whirling around, his eyes searched frantically for his woman, noticing the bloody shards of glass near the window. Oh, no…

Immediately Kouga was at the panel, claw tracing the handprint she had left in a last ditch effort to save herself from the fall. Feeling sick, he leaned over the edge as Shippo jumped on his shoulder and Sesshomaru stood behind him, hoping against hope she wasn't lying in a broken mess so many feet below.

He was semi-rewarded for his optimism, as Kagome's body was nowhere in sight.

Standing was painful, but she didn't care. Kagome had landed rather ungracefully on all fours, somehow twisting her body from falling on her back, almost…catlike. It may have been her new demonic nature, or maybe it was just her will to live, but either way she had survived.

But not without injury, she could tell at least her left wrist was broken since it had taken the brunt of the fall, and she was badly cut and bruised all over her body. Not only was her left hand out of order, her right was completely cut open from the glass paneling, still bleeding freely.

After she had sat there on the ground for a few moments, cradling her painfully throbbing hands, she had heard noises coming from her right. Quickly she did what both her mind and body agreed on: she ran.

Pain laced her body with every step through the forest, as the shards still in her feet dug themselves deeper with their every meeting with the ground. She held her left arm close to her chest as to not disrupt it while running. The noises were getting louder, and now she could tell that it was footsteps that she heard; not just two, but many. Fear outweighing her pain, she pushed further faster.

She had no idea how long she had run, but to her weakened state it seemed like forever. They were getting closer now, whoever "they" were. She chanced a glance back, and was rewarded with a three human looking demons trailing close behind. Her nose told her they were wolves and she should stop to see if they were with Kouga, but her mind told her that they might be with Kazuki, so on she ran.

Her escape was immediately cut off when one of her stalkers leapt in front of her and she slammed into him painfully. The demon grabbed her by the shoulders, eliciting a scream of pain as he smashed into a rather nasty bruise.

"Quiet woman!" he ordered as the other two stopped at her sides, worn and completely out of breath. It was then that she noticed her own fatigue, and her wounds chose that time to make themselves known again, since she was no longer concentrating on one thing.

"Damn she's fast!" one gasped, holding on to his abdomen and leaning against a tree for support.

"Even cut up as she is…" said the other, bent over, hands resting on his knees as he tried to regain his breath.

Only the one holding her captive seemed in good condition, hardly out of breath at all. He also seemed to be the leader, as he snapped to the others. "Jazuki! Kurozuki! Quit playing around and get it ready."

"Right!" they chorused, hands digging into furred shirts. The one on her left, Jazuki, pulled out a large rope while Kurozuki pulled out pieces of cloth, both grinning evilly.

It was then that their names registered in Kagome's mind. Jazuki and Kurozuki? Sounds like Kazuki…her eyes widened in realization as their smell hit her. They're brothers!

"Ok, Zazuki, you can drop her now." Kurozuki informed as he gathered the items together. "We'll wrap her up, so she won't cause us any problems." He winked at her, causing shivers to go up her spine.

Just as Zazuki let her fall from his grasp, she tried to take off. Unfortunately, the leader had though ahead and nabbed her tail before she could get far. Oh how that hurt! She'd think twice before yanking at Buyo's tail from now on…

"Nice try missy," he soothed, pulling her back into his embrace.

"Kazuki was right to choose her," Kurozuki chipped, his boyish grin unfitting for his manly face, "she's beautiful."

"But she's all beat up." Jazuki reasoned.

"That's how I like `em" he answered, the grin completely contradicting his words.

"Enough. I want out of here before-" Zazuki was cut off when a wailing howl cut through the air, immediately followed by many, many others.

Jazuki glanced up to his elder brother in worry, "Ours?"

He concentrated carefully, allowing the voices to settle in his head. After a moment his reply was curt, "No."

Immediately Kurozuki wrapped the rope around Kagome's arms and winding the other end around her legs while Jazuki stuffed the cloth in her mouth, accidentally hitting her broken wrist and making her scream out in pain. Jazuki stuffed the rest of the cloth into her mouth, cutting off her scream and making her gag.

Zazuki bent down to help his brother tie the rope around their captive's legs when a loud snarl erupted behind them and he was tackled by a rather large grey wolf. Immediately following was the second wave as about six or seven others lunged after their prey that dare attack their sister.

"Shit! Kouga's called in his whole damn pack!" Jazuki screamed, hearing the noises of the other's paws running to join their pack mates as he fought with the ones already there.

"We gotta get out of here!" Kurozuki pleaded, desperately trying to fend off three wolves that were going straight for his throat.

"Not without the girl!" Zazuki ordered, throwing off an attacking wolf as he snatched her by her broken wrist and dragged her off.

Tears sprung in Kagome's eyes as his grip on her wrist tightened to a clamp. A quick wolf dug his teeth into his calf, making him loose his balance and fall, dragging her with him.

As soon as she felt his grip release she jerked away and hobbled away as fast as she could with the ropes loosely tied around her legs. Immediately four wolves surrounded her front, crouched low and prepared to attack should one of their enemies come after her.

Kagome's head swiveled around at the sound of rustling in the bushes behind her and all four of her guards leapt at Jazuki, who had made his own lunge towards her. The five wolves met in the air and came crashing to the ground as a pile of thrashes and snarls.

Zazuki ran to her side as she stayed focused on the bushes, unaware of his presence. Just as he grabbed her upper arm, two familiar figures burst from the brush and tackled him several feet away. Kagome tried to scream their names, but it came out as no more than a mumble around the gag.

Hikaku kept Zazuki entertained as Ginta raced back to her side, yanking out the gag and slicing open her ropes. "My wrist!" she cried when he pulled the rope off her arm too harshly.

Ginta took it carefully into his hands and studied it. "Sorry, sis," He soothed, picking her up and jumping out of the way as a battered Kurozuki made a wild attempt to tackle her. Her savior set her down, only to have her collapse in his arms, not able to hold her own weight any longer.

"Hold on a little longer, sis. Kouga'll be here soon," Ginta whispered, jumping periodically back and forth as he tried to keep her out of the fray.

It finally came to a halt as the three brothers of Kazuki stood in a tight circle, more than thirty wolves, both in human form and not, surrounding them on all sides. All were snarling, and the slightest movement from the three would set the members of Kouga's pack into a series of warning barks.

Hikaku finally left the frontline and came to a stop on Kagome's other side, helping Ginta keep her barely conscious body up. "You ok, sis?"

Her head lolled, ears throbbing as pain laced through parts of her body she didn't even know existed, "Yeah," she mumbled, "never better."

Hikaku glanced to his best friend for confirmation.

"She's got a broken wrist and shoulder." Ginta explained. "And her right hand's split open, and who knows how many fractures she's got under these bruises."

Hikaku's eyes found Kagome's in sympathy and lightly placed her hand at the small of her back. "Everything's going to be ok, sis."

The last thing she remembered before slipping into the comforting darkness was Kouga leaping down from the treetops and calling her name, a terrified Shippo attached to his shoulder.

Angeltiger: There ya have it folks, and update.

Everyone: O_O

Angeltiger: Go jump off a bridge…

Sabriel: And if you like the chapter, send many many maaany Pixi Stix!

Angeltiger: You don't need anymore! You ate my entire last batch!

Sabriel: …So?

Angeltiger: Gah! (chases Sabby around the stage)

Kagome: (sighs) Thanks for reading, please review…