InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Silver Fox ❯ Gotta Get Outta here ( Chapter 25 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

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Four months. That was how long she'd been in Naraku's so called care. Three months since she'd been moved to the dungeon after tearing apart half of the castle. Gone were the small comforts of sunlight and fresh air. There was nothing in the room but her and the chains that held her. The rock cell was a ten by twelve foot hole in the ground with a rock slab jutting out from the wall as a bed. There was a thin wool blanket covered with blood, mold, and worse things that she dare not want to put a name to. She could smell that the same things were covering the bed and the walls, but not the floor.

Kagome sat, tethered to the wall by wrist and neck. After four months she had given up hope of being found. Of course her friends were probably looking for her, she knew that, but if they hadn't found yet... She sighed heavily. This time around Naraku hadn't tortured her, not physically at least. He never even layed a hand on her since she was tied up. He'd sit across the room with that smug mocking smile that he almost always seemed to wear and talk to her. He'd tell her about how far away her friends were, how they'd never find her, and that they would stop looking soon enough.

Slowly she stalked to the middle of the room using up all the slack the chains gave. Her hair was a matted mess and her clothes were torn from tossing around on the floor. "It's not fair!" She yelled pulling on the chains harshly. "What isn't fair, pet?" Naraku cackled from a shadowed corner. Kagome jumped back not realizing that he had been there the hole time. "Why are you here?" She hissed. He laughed. "My pet, this is my dungeon, do I have not the right to be here? Though in all truth I have an update on your little group." He walked into the light that was cascading under the door.

"They are in the Southern Lands, hunting for you of course. Though we both know that we are no where near the south. InuYasha disappeared some days ago. The demon slayers neko is dead, killed by a dragon youkai. The monk is poisoned. That young kit is heathy physically. That red fox also disappeared some time before InuYasha. So tell me Kagome," He drug out each syllable of her name. " how long do you think your little group will last with all the sick, dead, or missing members?" He smiled and left.

Kagome looked down at her hands that clenched at the dirt floor. How could this happen? What is happenning to every one? Where are Sai and InuYasha? She asked herself. Tears streaked down her face as she thought of Kirara. The adorable little fire neko had been Sango's companion for a long time and helped them on many occasions. Now she was gone. And poor Miroku, they were no were near Keade's village to get more antidote for the poison. Shippou and Sango were probably in mourning still and in worry over Miroku. She took firm hold of the chain and looked at the hored thing that kept her here.

"I've gotta get outta here!" She pulled. It didn't budge. She pulled again and again. "I refuse to stay here when my friends need me!" She yelled again. The chain at her neck snapped with a loud crack. Only a single link held to the binding steel plate. The two wrists chains broke at the wall, leaving a long length to drad. She ran on silent steps to the door only to find it locked. Slowly, with percise steps she stalked around the room, pushing at the wall. Nothing, no hidden doors or switches, no way out. In a huff she slammed her foot down. "The floor is dirt." She whispered like it would break the world.

Transforming she padded around, finding the softest spot of dirt. Then she dug. Paw fulls of dirt flew up and with one went a shackle and chain on her wrist. The other was still there, tightly bound, but with some extra thought it disappeared like her clothes did, she'd worry about it later. Silver paws were turning brown as more dirt was flung out. It was easy in this form to dig. Claws tore it up while paws pushed it out. All four legs working in time for the most efficient digging. She stopped and looked back.The tunnle was deep and dark for her just starting, but then again she was a demon and could dig amazingly fast.

Spurred on she dug faster. Left paw, right paw. She dug and dug, but knew that she couldn't stop no matter what. Finally her tunnel broke though to the surface. The pregnant moon hung high in the sky and shown down on her. A small hut stood alone when she looked back. She shook her head and turned away, determined to get as far as possible before he realized she was gone. Kaogme left her already sore feet carry her as far as possible before deciding to transform back. She built up her energy to transform back but it didn't come. She stood, blinked, and tried again. Nothing. She was stuck. 'I'm stuck. I'm stuck in my other form!'

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So far for the past seven weeks Kagome had managed to avoid Naraku's notice. It wasn't as if he himself had come out looking for her, but the Saimyosho had been buzzing about the forest in waves, circling one way then the other. At the moment Kagome was hiding in the root system of the tree from said venomous insects. She dug a hole out to make a den within the first week and had lined it with soft grasses. She snuffled at the entrance that was covered with leaves. The saimyosho were still out there, close by.

Kagome sighed then lay down. It seemed like the little bugs would be there for some time, which made no sense. Naraku had been searching the woods for the seven weeks she'd been here. Being as careful as she had been she knew that he, nor his bugs, saw her. Snorting she curled up tighter preparing for a nap. Just as the edges of conciousness started to fade the buzzing abruptly stopped. Soft, light footsteps sounded just outside the burrow. She froze, holding her breath, and staring wide eyed at the entrance.

The leaves just piled at the door shuffled and fell away. A low mewling sound fell with the light into the small den. A small bundle of silver fur rolled down the slope to Kagome's resting place. She stuck her nose out to the shining furball, but jumped back when a cold nose met hers. The tiny, baby fox mewed again and opened it's eyes. Lavender eyes met her blue. The little fox tottered toward her, sniffling at her, buring it's tiny nose in her fur.

A small growl rumbled out of her chest. The kit looked up and gave, what could only be determined as, a fox smile. The little one curled against her side, sliding beneath the fluff of her tail, yawned, and fell asleep. 'Where did you come from, and where is your mother?' The answers weren't forth coming and she could only wait and see it the fox kit would tell her, if she could. And a she the little fox was. She let the blackness fade onto her mind and slept.

The rumble of a stomach woke her from the best sleep she had in nearly six months. The little fox, whose stomach was rumbling, was still in the grips of sleep. Kagome stood, listened for the sound of saimyosho, and went outside. Breakfast was a rabbit and a few mice that she had eaten to leave more of the rabbit for the kit. No matter how much she ate, she couldn't get used to the raw texture of the meat, or the mushroom like flavor of the mice.

Carrying the rabbit back in her jowls, she darted from bush to bush careful to avoid open spaces, back to the den. The fox was awake and looking around the little hole in the ground. Kagome dropped the rabbit in front of the fox and was surprised to see that the she went at it with vigorous bites. She tore at the meat, gulping it down as fast at she could.

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That was how time passed. Days to weeks. Weeks to months. Seasons came and went and soon a year had passed since the day she met Ryoko. The little fox had indeed turned out to be a fox demon whose father had gone missing. Since neither had been able to change into a humanoid form, Ryoko because she was to young and Kagome for unknown reasons, that had left the to speaking in a language as old as their species.

Ryoko had been born in the spring of last year. She never had a mother and assumed Kagome would take the role. She did. Her father was a silver kitsune whose was a rogue from the main colony. The main colony being the town she and Sai were lord and lady of.

Kagome stalked about the burrow getting ready to dig yet another new tunnel. As of now her tunnels spread under half of the forest, most of which were made in case of any emergencies. The only problem was that other animals of the forest were constantly tring to invade, and the only way to keep them out was being ever vigil and always patrolling.

"Okaa?" Ryoko asked coming in front of her. "Yes?" The answer was a little yip. "When are we going to leave this forest?" She looked at her paws, shifting them in the dirt. "As soon as we can, maybe tomorrow actually. Why?" She shuffled around in the small dirt tunnel. "I just really don't want to leave. This is our home." The small growls and motions even seemed whiney. "We have to move further away from Naraku. I know another forest with a big tree that would be perfect to build a den under." Somberly Ryoko nodded. It was for the best. She remembered the stories her mother told her of Naraku.

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They were gone before the sun broke the horizen. Their lithe forms raced across fields and through forests. Ryoko stuck very close to Kagome's side, matching her step for step. The running only stopped for food and a short rest. The stops were infrequent and short, but they managed to keep going. Ryoko only fell behind a few times and even then it wasn't far. The days it took to travel the distance blurred into one lump, night indistinguishable from day.

Kagome slid to a stop at the edge of the forest she knew so well. So many memories were connected to the forest, and the tree that sat almost in the middle. Thought the memories weren't like they were supposed to be, to long in animal form had changed her thought process for them to be. Instead they were just flashes of things and the feelings that went with. All the happiness, sadness, safety, and pain. She took a hesitant step in before letting her feet guide her to the sacred tree.

The old tree was just as she remembered it. The old gnarly roots rolling from the trunk had long ago been left exposed from the dirt. Ryoko watched her mother aproach the tree, sit on it's roots, and stare at it. Kagome stood on hind legs and sniffed at the tree. Something about it made her happy, but the reason why evaded her. Giving a fox sigh she jump from the roots. "We dig here." Kagome growled to Ryoko.

Ryoko nodded and took her spot next to her surrogate mother. Their movements were perfectly in unison. Kagome was correct in assuming that under ther tree was perfect; the roots had some how actually left a hollow chamber which cut the digging time in half. The chamber was an almost dome shape with perfectly smooth walls that gave it the illusion of rock. The two of them walked back out to gather any soft bedding that they could find.

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Sorry it took so long. Lots of work. -_-; Thanks for the reviews. I'll try to make the next one longer.