InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Miko Bride ❯ The Miko Bride- The Adventure Begins ( Chapter 2 )

(Open on Shippo, playing a video game in his room. He coughs violently. Mu'uonna enters, and feels his temperature.)

Mu'uonna: Feeling any better?

Shippo: A bit.

Mu'uonna: Guess what?

Shippo: What?

Mu'uonna: Grandpa's here.

Shippo: What? Tell him I'm sick!

Mu'uonna: You are sick. That's why he's here!

Shippo: He'll pinch my cheeks! I hate that!

Mu'uonna: Maybe he won't this time.

(Grandpa enters, holding a package. His face lights up when he sees Shippo, and pinches Shippo's cheek. Shippo glares at Mu'uonna.)

Grandpa: Hey! How goes it?

Mu'uonna: I'll leave you two alone.

(She leaves. Grandpa hands Shippo the package.)

Grandpa: Here. I got a little gift for you.

(Shippo tears into it eagerly. His face falls when he sees what it is.)

Shippo: A book?

Grandpa: Not just any book! My father used to read this book to me when I was sick, and now I'm here to read it to you.

Shippo: Has it got any action in it?

Grandpa: Does it! Intrigue, piracy on the high seas, sword-fighting, kidnapping…

Shippo: Doesn't sound too bad. I'll try to stay awake..

Grandpa: Thank you, thank you, your vote of confidence is overwhelming.

(He sits down, clears his throat, and begins.)

Grandpa: The Miko Bride by R. Takahashi. Scroll one: Kagome was raised in a small shrine in Japan.

(As he speaks, the bedroom dissolves to a shrine in the Japanese country side. A beautiful, black haired young woman-Kagome-is riding towards the stables on a horse.)

Grandpa: Her favorite pastimes were riding her horse, Horse, and tormenting the half-demon who worked there. His name was Inuyasha, but she never called him that. Instead she called him `hanyou.' Now isn't that the best beginning?

Shippo: (Half-heartedly) Yeah, it's really great.

(Kagome rides up to Inuyasha, who is busily chopping wood. Inuyasha has white hair, amber eyes, dog ears, and wears a simple gi and a rosary around his neck.)

Kagome: Hanyou, polish Horse's saddle. I want to be able to see myself in it.

Inuyasha: As you wish.

Grandpa: `As you wish' was all he ever said to her.

(Kagome sets some empty water jugs in front of Inuyasha.)

Kagome: Hanyou, fill these jugs-please?

Inuyasha: As you wish.

(She starts to walk away. Inuyasha's eyes don't leave her until she looks back at him.)

Grandpa: Eventually, she realized that when he said `As you wish,' he really meant `I love you.' And soon enough, she realized that she truly loved him back.

(Kagome is standing in the shrine's kitchen. Inuyasha enters. Kagome points to a pitcher she could easily retrieve.)

Kagome: Hanyou, fetch me that pitcher.

(Inuyasha obediently pulls down the pot. He sets it before her and whispers tenderly in her ear.)

Inuyasha: As you wish.

(They step outside. As the sun sets behind them, they share a tender, loving kiss-)

Shippo: Whoa, whoa, whoa!

(All of a sudden, we're back in Shippo's room.)

Shippo: What the heck is this? Are you trying to trick me? Where's the action? Is this a kissing book?

Grandpa: Wait. Just wait.

Shippo: But when does it get good?

Grandpa: Keep your tail on. Let me read.

(He begins to read again.)

Grandpa: Inuyasha had no money for marriage, so he packed his few belongings and set off across the sea to seek his fortune.

(We're back at the shrine. Kagome and Inuyasha are locked in an embrace.)

Grandpa: This was a very emotional time for Kagome.

Shippo: I don't believe this!

Kagome: I fear I'll never see you again.

Inuyasha: Of course you will.

Kagome: But what if something happens to you?

Inuyasha: I will always come for you.

Kagome: How can you be so sure?

Inuyasha: This is true love! You think this happens every day?

(He gives her a peck on the cheek, shoulders his bag, and marches off to the docks.)

Grandpa: Inuyasha never reached his destination. On the way, his ship was attacked by the Dread Pirate Kouga, who never took prisoners. Kagome was devastated when she learned of Inuyasha's murder.

Shippo: Murdered by pirates is good!

Grandpa: She locked herself in her room and for days, she neither ate nor slept.

Kagome: (Emotionlessly.) I shall never love again.

(The scene changes again. We are now in Kyoto square. A great crowd of people has gathered around the castle.)

Grandpa: Five years later, Kyoto Square was filled as never before to hear the announcement of Prince Naraku's bride-to-be.

(Prince Naraku, swathed in baboon-skin robes, appears upon the balcony, accompanied by the aging King and Queen, and his right hand man, Count Hiten, a tough-looking demon with black hair.)

Naraku: My people! A month from now, our great country shall have its 500th anniversary. On that night, I shall marry a woman who was once a commoner like yourselves. Perhaps now you will see her as more than common. Would you like to meet her?

(A resounding `yes' echoes throughout the square. Naraku holds up his hand for silence.)

Naraku: I give you the Princess Kagome!

(The crowd parts as Kagome steps out from the shadows behind them, walking down a red carpet to the center of the square. She stands impassively as the crowd cheers for her.)

Grandpa: Though the law gave Prince Naraku the right to choose his bride, she did not love him. Despite Naraku's assurances she would grow to love him, the only thing that gave her joy anymore were her daily rides.

(As Kagome rides through a wooded glen, she hears a voice and reins in.)

Voice: A word, m'lady?

(In front of her she sees three people. The one who has spoken could be her twin, except for two things: she has her hair pulled back into a long ponytail, and she radiates coldness, is colder even than Kagome now. Her name is Kikyo. To her left, a tall demon stands erect as a steel rod. He has a crescent moon on his forehead, and scars running across his cheeks-his name is Sesshomaru. To Kikyo's right stands a massive, hairy wolf demon-Rouyakan.)

Kikyo: We are but poor lost circus performers. Is there a village nearby.

Kagome: There is nothing around for miles.

Kikyo: Excellent. Then no one will hear you scream.

(She nods to Rouyakan, who reaches over and pushes a nerve on Kagome's neck. She tries to scream anyway, but unconsciousness claims her too fast. Cut to the sea, where Sesshomaru is busy readying the trio's boat. Kikyo tears up some fabric, and attaches it to Horse.)

Sesshomaru: What is it you're ripping?

Kikyo: Fabric from the uniform of an army officer of Guilder.

Rouyakan: Who's Guilder?

Kikyo: The nation across the sea! The sworn enemy of Japan!

(She sends Horse galloping back to the castle.)

Kikyo: When that horse returns with the fabric, Prince Naraku will think the people of Guilder have kidnapped his bride-to-be. When he finds her dead on the Guilder frontier, his suspicions will be totally confirmed.

(She bards the boat. Rouyakan comes in after her.)

Rouyakan: You never said anything about killing her!

Kikyo: I've hired you to start a war! It's a long and noble tradition, a prestigious career!

Rouyakan: I don't think it's right to kill an innocent girl.

Kikyo: Excuse me? Excuse me? Did I just hear the word `think' escape your overly large mouth! You weren't hired to think, you hippotamic landmass!

Sesshomaru: I agree with Rouyakan.

Kikyo: Oh! The sot has spoken! What happens to her is not your concern! I will kill her, and have Inuyasha all to myself!

(Sesshomaru and Rouyakan goggle in confusion.)

Kikyo: …Sorry, slipped back into the anime. Anyway, Sesshomaru, remember-never forget this: When I found you, you were so drunk you couldn't buy sake!

(She whirls on Rouyakan.)

Kikyo: And you, friendless, brainless, helpless! D'you want me to send you back to where you were? Unemployed, in Russia?

(Kikyo stomps off to the front of the ship. Sesshomaru pulls up the anchor and walks over to Rouyakan.)

Sesshomaru: That Kikyo sure can…fuss.

Rouyakan: Fuss, fuss…I think she likes to scream at us.

Sesshomaru: Probably she means no…harm.

Rouyakan: She's really rather short on charm.

Sesshomaru: You've a great gift for rhyme!

Rouyakan: Yes, yes, some of the time.

Kikyo: Stop that! Rouyakan, are there rocks ahead?

Rouyakan: If there are, we'll all be dead.

Kikyo: No more rhymes now, and I MEAN IT!

Rouyakan: Anybody want a peanut?

(Kikyo's scream fades as we cut to the boat at night, far out at sea. Kikyo sits motionlessly at the front of the ship, Sess is at the helm, and Rouyakan stands by Kagome, who is staring angrily at Kikyo.)

Kikyo: We'll reach the Cliffs by dawn.

(Sess nods and glances behind him.)

Kikyo: What the hell are you doing?

Sesshomaru: Checking to see if anyone's following us.

Kikyo: That would be inconceivable.

Kagome: You will be caught, you know. And when you are, Naraku will have you all hanged.

Kikyo: Of all the necks on this boat, Highness, you should be worrying about your own.

Sesshomaru: Are you sure nobody's following us?

Kikyo: I've told you already, that would be utterly, totally, completely, and in all other waves inconceivable. Nobody in Guilder knows what we're doing, and no one in Japan could have gotten here so quickly. By the way, why do you ask?

Sesshomaru: No reason. I just happened to look back, and someone was following us.

Kikyo: What?!

(All except Kagome rush to the back of the boat. At first, they see nothing but the inky black night, but suddenly, a ship comes slicing through the fog.)

Kikyo: Probably some fisherman…out for a pleasure cruise on these…eel-infested waters…

(They are distracted by a loud splash. They whirl around, and see Kagome has dived off the boat.)

Kikyo: After her!

Sesshomaru: I don't swim.

Rouyakan: I only dog paddle

(Sesshomaru does a rimshot on a set of drums that appears out of nowhere. Kikyo flicks him on the nose.)

Kikyo: Veer left! Veer left!

(As Kagome treads water, a high pitched screech breaks through the night air.)

Kikyo: Do you know what that sound is, Highness? Those are the Shrieking Eels. If you doubt me, just wait; they always get louder when they're about to feast on human flesh! Return to the boat now, and I promise no harm will come to you. (Yet.) I doubt you'll get such an offer from the Eels.

(The shrieking is becoming louder, and more terrifying. A dark shape slithers past her. She's frozen in fear; it's zeroed in on her, circling around her. Suddenly, it's shooting towards, screeching in an unearthly way…)

Grandpa: She doesn't get eaten by the Eels, you know.

(We're back in the bedroom. Shippo is clutching the sheets so hard that his knuckles turn white.)

Shippo: What?

Grandpa: She doesn't get eaten by the Eels. I was telling you because you looked a little worried.

Shippo: I'm not worried. (Pause.) Okay, I'm a little concerned, but that isn't the same thing. Besides, the good guys never die in stories.

Grandpa: I can stop now if you want.

Shippo: No you can read a little more…if you want.

Grandpa: Okay. "Do you know what that sound is, Highness."

Shippo: You're past that, Grandpa.

Grandpa: So I am. Now where were we? She's in the water, the Eel's coming after, she's scared, when all of a sudden…

(Rouyakan's hand shoots out and smacks the Eel on the head. He hauls Kagome out of the water. Kikyo ties her up. Sess points behind them, to the ship behind them.)

Sesshomaru: I think he's gaining on us

Kikyo: He's no concern of ours. Sail on! I suppose you think you're very brave, Highness?

Kagome: Only compared to some.