InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Story of Two Sisters ❯ Runaway ( Chapter 4 )

 

For the next week Akira lived in the belly of the ship unnoticed by its human crew. After all she was a panther demon and like a cat she was able to creep around and keep herself hidden from view. The first night after the ship docked she waited for the crew to unload part of their cargo and retire for the night before making her escape.

She crept along the cool white sands of the beach until she was far away from the human village. Across a small rice patty field stood a forest, the perfect cover for her to hide.

Having left in such a hurry in the night to escape her fate Akira had taken very few supplies and weapons with her. Her stomach rumbled as she made her way into the dark cover of the forest. Carrying nothing more than a sword she had no means of killing any game so she did the only thing she could. She sought out berries and such that she knew was safe for her to eat. Once her hunger had been cured she lay down to rest.

`What ever I do I have to keep moving. It won't be long and someone will come searching for me.' She thought as she drifted off to sleep under the blanket of stars above the tree tops.

Unlike her homeland this land was hostile. Back home there were no rogue demons and most humans did not fear or threaten the panther clan. They had learned to live in peace, but her home land was quite smaller than this. In just a few days you could travel from one shore to the other.

She had left home with only her sword and a small pouch with essentials she thought she might need. She feared if anyone recognized her she would be returned home to her sister and have to uphold the agreement of the treaty. She wore a long black cloak over her short black skirt with a layer of short chain mail over it and the low cut top that left her midriff exposed.

Getting use to this new land and its people did not take long. One of the best tricks Akira learned was to stay off the main paths used by humans. She made her way aimlessly throughout the forest. She did not travel in any particular direction because she had no destination. Many nights she would lay awake trying to come up with some plan to allude her sister and the tiger clan. But until she could come up with a full proof plan the only solution she had at the moment was to keep moving.

One night after only a couple of weeks Akira sat leaned against a tree trunk when she heard voices and laughter. They seemed to be very close to her and it had been days since she had seen anyone. Curiously she crept up close to the fire light bleeding through the trees before her. As she approached she noticed it was a group of well armed men. They seemed to be enjoying themselves eating dinner and drinking heavily.

A ruffling sound of leaves moving came from Akira's right side. Startled she slipped back into the shadows to hide. After her eyes adjusted to the dark she noticed it was a young girl tied to a tree trunk. The girls clothes where tattered and dirty, her face was tear stained and her mouth was gagged. Rage over came Akira at the sight of the helpless girl before her.

After making sure the coast was clear she approached the young girl. She knelt down before her and pulled her dagger from her boot. The girl began to struggle trying to get away but it was no use.

“I am not going to hurt you.” Akira whispered. “I will cut your ropes and you have to very quietly sneak away from here. Go quickly I think there is a village nearby.”

Akira cut the ropes and helped the girl up. “Quickly, go, run.” Akira said.

The girl stood for a moment and thanked her for her help and ran off into the darkness. Akira had felled to notice she had been seen as she helped to free the girl. As she turned to make sure she could escape herself she saw all the men rushing in her direction. `Oh great…they know I am here.' She sighed heavily to herself.

Four men surrounded her with their swords drawn ready to fight while three other stood back with their hands on the hilt of their swords.

“Here's a pretty little thing.” One of the men grinned evilly.

“Hai, this should be fun.” Laughed another.

Akira drew out her sword and eyed each one of them as they passed before her continuing to walk around her. A large man stepped in front of her and began his attack swinging his sword fiercely at her left to right. She blocked each of his swings and swung around with the hilt of her sword knocking him to the ground. As soon as he had fell another man came at her from her left she met his sword with her own but he was much stronger than the first and had caught her off guard pushing her to the ground. As she held him off she pushed back with all her force and quickly pulled a dagger from her boot and stabbed him in the gut with it. He fell back with a grunt. With no time to spare another man rushed in and she met him with the end of her sword rising to her feet. By this time her first attacker had managed to get back on his feet and came at her yet again. Swinging wildly and almost in a full out run at her she dropped to the ground on her knees and as he tripped over her body she pushed back up sending him through the air. As her first attacker rose to his feet shaking off his landing the only other man that had drawn a sword stood facing her. The two of them walked circling each other waiting for one to make a move. And with all her focus on one attacker the other came from behind and struck her on the back of her head.

She lay there as everything seemed to blur for a moment before her. She rolled over to see her first attacker and his companion standing over her. He held his sword with both hands and raised it high with the blade pointing down. He came down hard and fast but she rolled out of the way of the blade and it pierced the ground.

A light breeze blew and her eyes began to glow a bright blue. She charged at her first attacker with her blade held high above her. He met her blade with his and they exchanged blows with the sound of the blades being the only thing heard in the group. Their blades locked and they stood nose to nose and he pushed her back and with his left leg swept her feet from under her again. Akira again found herself on the ground but to her surprise she felt something cold and hard under her right hand. It was her dagger. She sat up and without delay sent the dagger flying through the air. It pierced the man's neck and he fell to his knees as the wound began to freely release blood. The fourth man ran at her full force ready to finally take out this troublesome girl. As he approached her she ducked his swinging blade and spun around on her knees holding out her sword cutting the man in half.

During the battle the hood of her cloak had fallen and she instinctively had pushed it back off her shoulders allowing her to move more freely. She stood staring down the three men left. They nervously glanced back and forth from each other to the girl.

“Who's next?” she grinned knowing these mortals held no real threat to her.

“We'd better get out of here!” one man shouted as he turned and ran. The others followed him.

She walked over to the edge of the campfire and grabbed a canteen. She pulled a dark cloth from her pouch and dampened it whipping the blood from her sword and dagger. She washed the cloth and then used it to remove the blood from her hands as best she could. In the distance she began to hear someone or something approaching.

 

A young man leapt out from the trees. He was dressed in red with a sword at his side. His hair was long and white, his golden eyes stared at her. From his smell she could tell he was a demon. He reached for the hilt of his sword, “Did you do this?” he growled.

“They attacked me.” She replied surprised by his reaction to the dead bodies.

He lowered his head and growled bearing his fangs for her to see.

A giant yellow cat with a black tipped double tail, black ears, and flames around it's feet landed a few away from the young demon. Upon its back sat a girl dressed in demon slayer attire and a monk robbed in dark blue and purple. He held a golden staff in his hand. They eyed the stranger as they dismounted the large cat and stood at the white haired demons side.

“InuYasha,” the monk spoke up. “These thieves are probably the same ones that slaughtered the village we came across earlier.”

“That doesn't make it okay for her to go around killing humans.” He barked. “She's a demon and could have gotten away without taking a life.”

“That's true.” Akira replied. “But it is customary where I live to take the lives of anyone who threatens yours.” She began to reach for her sword.

Kagome finally arrived riding her pink bicycle out of breath. “What's going on here?”

“InuYasha found the thieves that killed the villagers.” Sango said looking to the dead bodies behind Akira.

“She did all this?” Kagome asked. Sango nodded.

“I do not want to fight you.” Akira said.

“Listen to her.” Miroku added. “Enough blood has been spilled here because of these men.”

“InuYasha,” Kagome said as she walked up to him placing her hand on his shoulder. “Let's get back camp.”

“Keh,” InuYasha scoffed. “How do we know she's not a threat to us?”

“If she were she would have already attack us.” Sango spoke up.

InuYasha gave her one last glare before turning and walking back into the forest. Sango and Miroku climbed back onto Kirara's back and took off. Kagome began to climb back onto her bike when she looked at the demon girl who was watching her carefully.

“Who are you?” Akira spoke. “I can tell you have great spiritual power, but there is something odd about you.”

“You have no idea.” Kagome smiled as she began to peddle off on her bike.