InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Princess Bride ❯ The Swamp of Fire ( Chapter 14 )

Writer's Corner:

Sorry about that other chapter being so short! I was in a hurry but that's not the case today. I woke up early just so I could write a decent chapter .

Yeah, I have band festival today. WOOPIE (sarcasm)! Here's the chapter!

Previously…

Kagome started to cry while she wheezed as sand flowed out in her tears. She buried herself against Inuyasha as they both fought for air. "Kagome… Are you… alright?" The Inuyoukai asked, short of air but his hands were tangling in her hair anyways.

"Y… yes…" she stuttered, burying her face in his chest. "Kami-sama that was scaring!" she shrieked when all the air had passed into her lungs.

"That's what I get for traveling with a stupid girl," Inuyasha muttered, scooping her up cradle style.

"I can walk you know," Kagome told him flatly but he shook his head.

"I don't trust you to go off and do something stupid like that again so no. You're not walking," He replied, walking on into the Swamps of Fire, unaware of the eerie yellow eyes that had been watching the entire time.

~*~

Chapter Thirteen:

Kagome licked her lips and squeezed her eyes shut as another blast of fire went on around the two of them. Her grip around Inuyasha's neck tightened and she snuggled closer to his body. He stopped telling her about his travels to observe her appearance, and grinned to spite himself at her appearance. Kagome eyes opened slowly and her chocolate orbs were filled with confusion. "What are you laughing at?" she asked.

"You. Don't be scared, you're with me. I'll always protect you," Inuyasha replied, kissing her lips softly and then drew back before they could get lost in each other.

"How do I know that? There are all sorts of bad things in here like fire, vicious rat youkai and quicksand!" Kagome replied, exasperated.

"I don't believe in vicious rat youkai. Nothing can take me down," The Inuyoukai's delicate ear twitched, picking up a very quiet sound in the back round, his amber eyes flashing in all directions defensively. Kagome was about to question him on what was wrong but he put a hand to her mouth when something huge, fat and smelly catapulted onto Inuyasha's back causing him to lose his balance and drop Kagome. She rolled on the forest floor, watching as Inuyasha wrestled with the beast. It was nearly the same size as he was!

"Kagome! Get the hell away from here!" The Inuyoukai yelled at her as he wrestled with the rat, finally getting it in a stranglehold.

"No! I'm not leaving you here!" She shouted in reply, screaming when the rat escaped her mate's grasp and came crawling towards her. "Get back!" she shouted, beating it over the head with a very large piece of wood she found lying behind her. This, of course, did nothing and the rat youkai was now very angry. "Help!" She whispered when she slipped in another mud puddle, landing right on her caboose in front of the deadly rat youkai.

Inuyasha lunged forward; digging his claws into the rat's back, blood spurting everywhere as they rolled along the ground, Inuyasha's arms now strangling the rat youkai once again. He grunted when the beast struggled against him but forced his grip, letting out a breath of relief when the creature's movement ceased and he could not make out any heartbeat. With that, he dropped the youkai and staggered over to where Kagome was making her home in the mud. He offered her two bloody hands to stand but realized how covered in blood they were.

"Um… Excuse me a minute," He told her; going to a nearby puddle of water to wash as much of the blood off as he could, then he helped her up. "Are you alright?" He asked her gently, his voice somewhat strained.

"I'm okay but look at you! You're bleeding all over your chest, Inuyasha!" Kagome's chocolate orbs widened in worry as she went to touch them but two strong hands caught them on their way there.

"I'll be fine. I'll heal in an hour. These are just nicks, not huge flesh wounds," He told her surely, observing her as she nodded.

"Alright," She replied as they continued to walk along. "So why did you run away from your group at sea, Inuyasha? I thought that if you were caught, you would be killed," Kagome asked, resuming the topic that they were on before the rat youkai attacked them.

"The captain did almost kill me. For the first time, I was actually afraid for my life. After a short time though, I realized that with me, he was just spluttering mindless babble. He wanted to train me so I could take over my own crew because since I was half a demon at the time, I had strength and lots of potential to become something great," He replied, his amber eyes flashing in memory.

"I see," Kagome answered as she soaked in what had happened over the two years that she had spent believing he was dead. "So they started to train you?"

"Yes and I did all that I could to be the strongest. I wasn't doing it so I could be the captain and gain all the riches and wealth in the world. I was doing it so I could come back to find you and have no trouble with opposition," Inuyasha's lips brushed against her forehead, drawing a flush from Kagome's cheeks. "I also was educated. I learned to read and write and to speak properly but, when I was going to write you, it was the perfect opportunity to escape," The Inuyoukai added. "Then, when I came here, I found out you were engaged. I was angry at first, not knowing what to believe so I came to find you, to know the truth." His amber eyes fixated on her chocolate orbs as they stopped walking.

"Are you upset with the truth?" Kagome asked him, a teasing smile forming on her lips playfully.

"Not at all," He replied, kissing her hard on the mouth, tangling his fingers in her hair. Kagome made a small mewling sound against his mouth and kept a firm grip around his strong neck. "Oh, by the way," He whispered, breaking away from the young woman. "The exit is right there," he finished, pointing to the left.

"Really? Kami-sama! We made it out of there alive!" Kagome rejoiced, running towards the exit, Inuyasha high on her tail. They burst out into the open and Kagome caught Inuyasha's face, kissing him passionately. His tongue slid in to probe her mouth but he stopped suddenly, his gaze shooting forward in disgust.

"I believe you have something that is mine, whelp," a husky voice that was filled with anger spoke.