InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Gift ❯ The Chase ( Chapter 4 )

Whatever it was she was expecting, that's not what she found. It wasn't a secret training ground or some sacrificial alter. It was a jail, a set of corridors, one to the left and the other to the right with more hallways branching off each. The walls were solid stone and the ceiling came low. Widely spaced torches cast the hallways in a dim glow that was barely enough to see by. Run of the mill guards slowly patrolled the halls as prisoners growled and beat against the bars. Easily alluded by a spirit monk as they mumbled angrily up and down, stopping only to bash their weapons against the cages.

 

`So I wondered into the dungeon, well, I don't know what that woman was hinting about there isn't anything … sinister down here. A jail is needed in any civilized society,' her told her to go back but the tingling in her spine made her press on, down to the left corridor where a particularly odorous guard just finished patrolling.

 

`Wait, something is different, I mean, it just feels wrong somehow. I don't know its not like I've ever been in a jail but this is not how I imagined it. The smell it's much more like an animal smell then a human one and the noises are much more primitive...'

 

Cells were lined with stone and earth and partitioned off by thick iron bars. Most of the cells were empty but the four that were occupied were filthy. It was obvious they were not cleaned regularly, if the putrid odor coming from each cage was anything to go by. Stained straw covered the floor and if she looked closely she could see creepy crawly things moving around in it. It was sad to see that kind of disregard for a living creature and she couldn't help but feel sorry for them.

 

Her pity was short lived, however, when the prisoners began hiss at her. Rearing their heads and lunging their hands at her.

 

`Clawed hands?' her mind whispered desperately, `Their eyes glow red and they're growling. Oh my god these aren't humans they're …they're demons!' Cold understanding now gripped her as she realized what Kagura meant by only fearing the guards. She crept down the halls cell after cell until a harsh,angry voice broke her out of her stupor,

 

“Wench, what are you doing down here?”

 

Breaking into a full run, Lian sprung down the corridor without so much as a glance back. Voices echoed all round her. Up and down the passages she ran turning and weaving as randomly as possible. Footsteps clanged behind her, apparently unable to keep up as their armor slowed them to a joggers pace. The voices and footsteps grew quieter but still she ran.

 

Finally she whipped around the last corner and stopped, trying desperately to quiet her breathing. It was invigorating dodging the guards and exploring these underground caverns, but even she needed a rest. Trying to find a wall to support herself but again all she found was bars. Slowly she turned around and surprisingly she heard the cry again. The pulse that tore through her and knew she found its source.

 

`A boy?' she though as she first came upon him, `No he's not a boy…and he's not like the others, he's just sitting there. Calm, yet crouched for battle. I've had never seen anything like him. Clearly he is a demon, with his long silver hair, bright gold eyes and… dog ears? But there something else.'

 

 

Inuyasha was unsure of this creature that suddenly came into his view, leaned against his iron bars, and now stood staring at him. His body tensed instinctively as the pools of brown searched his face. It annoyed him yet perked his interest.

 

`Who does she think she is looking at me like that. Foolish wench I could reach her I'd rip that rapid heart from her chest'. Rising up on to his haunches, he knew his deep throated growl would be enough to scare this timid little girl away. She shuddered ever so slightly with a gasp of breath caught in mouth. Yet afraid as she seemed to be she never turned away. Her eyes enraged him, it wasn't the sickening smell of human or her tensed body it was the eyes he couldn't stand the way they pierced through him.

 

`Stop it, stop looking at me,' he thought as his growls grew louder and he lunged towards the bars, ` I can smell the panic all over her yet she won't turn away'. That anger was beginning to fester under his skin. He had been looked at before but like this. She looked him in the eyes for one, she really looked. Her eyes held no contempt, disgust, or hatred; they weren't filled with lust or greed either. He didn't know what it was they were bursting with and that is what peeved him.

 

 

He was frightening to her but she didn't run.

`I don't need to, he is in there and I'm out here', she reasoned. `Why is he here? Why are all these people down here?' For the first time since she saw him she broke eye contact and quickly looked side to side to make sure no guards were coming and timidly stepped forward.