InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Young Ones ❯ Chapter 13 - A Big Decision! ( Chapter 13 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Inumimi 
The King worries about the older members of their group as the terrain gets rougher.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 08.26.2009 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.9K | Visits: 357 | Status: Completed
The King worries about the older members of their group as the terrain gets rougher.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 08.26.2009 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.9K | Visits: 357 | Status: Completed
Disclaimer: InuYasha belongs to Rumiko Takahasi and her publishers. No profit is made from this story. No copyright infringement is intended.
***
Sorry I have not updated in so long, but my dog tore the ligaments in her knee and had surgery today, when she gets home tomorrow I will have to play nurse whenever I am at home so I may not be able to update for the next 6 weeks or so! To make up I am posting two chapters today.
Chapter 13 – A Big Decision
The foot-pads had been left at the last village and the group was once again on the road. Kagome was getting rather nostalgic for the “good old days” when InuYasha would just carry her on his back. It was so much more comfortable than riding a horse. Glancing sideways Kagome notice that the princess, despite being a better technical rider, was getting no less weary of riding. Curious Kagome turned to her young counterpart and inquired “Princess I could not help but notice that you ride quite well. I have to admit that after all these days in the saddle, I’m sore in places I didn’t even know could get sore! I wish I could just let InuYasha carry me on his back like he usually does!”
Rubbing her own backside a bit the little princess had to admit “Actually I started to learn how to ride when I was quite young, but father never really let me go anywhere with him so I didn’t get a chance to do any long distance riding. Once I got Yasha, well if I had to go any distance around the castle grounds, I usually let Yasha carry me. Unfortunately, if I let Yasha carry me on his back here on the road, father would have an absolute fit! So I guess we have to suffer sore bottoms till we build up whatever you build up when you ride all day.”
Kagome laughed and replied “I don’t even want to think about what we are building up down there, I hope it’s not calluses!”
The two girls were so busy laughing at the thought of calluses on their bottoms that they hardly noticed how rugged the terrain was getting. There were still a good number of tress, but now that they were climbing to a higher altitude, huge boulders and small rock outcroppings were starting to take over the scenery.
Finally a small flat clearing was located and a lunch break was called.
As they all sat around eating a simple cold meal, the princess noticed how serious her father was looking. Fearing that he was keeping some important news from them she inquired “Father what’s wrong; you have such a look of concern. Is something wrong?”
Quickly flashing what he hoped was a reassuring smile the great King replied “No my dear daughter there is nothing wrong, other than this dreadful terrain. I fear that we will have to send the carriage and cart back soon. I know that Mikio and Tetsuya have been doing their best to keep working as we travel, but they really have not had anything useful to contribute for days now. I really should have sent them back with Toshio and Hisoka. I am also concerned about Kaede; will she be able to keep up on horseback? Part of me wants to send her back with the others, but I am not comfortable with you traveling around the countryside without a chaperone.”
Kagome had to stifle a laugh; the little princess had more chaperones than she needed. It was not likely that anything would happen with Yasha, InuYasha, herself and the princess all sharing one tent! What did the king think would happen, some sort of pre-pubescent orgy? If nothing else, InuYasha was about as moral as they came. In reality he had never laid an improper hand on her until they were basically engaged!
Deciding to put the king’s fears to rest Kagome ventured to speak “Your majesty, I don’t think you have to worry about chaperoning your daughter. I can personally vouch for InuYasha’s morality. I was just 15 when we started our quest and he never laid an improper hand on me. To be quite honest, InuYasha and I sort of feel like the princess and Yasha are – well like our younger sister and brother.”
Nodding his understanding, the King replied “I have to agree that you and InuYasha seem to have taken my daughter and Yasha under your wings, so to speak. We will continue for as long as we can and then I will decide if Kaede will continue with us or return with the others.”
The King then declared that they would push forward for the rest of the day. The terrain would be getting much worse. They would be heading into a small rocky mountain range and the pass that would lead to the Northern Province that was their goal. He knew the road would be narrowing as the small mountains rose above it and suitable camping sites would become scarce. They would not have a very comfortable night tonight and this would be a good test to see if Kaede could handle the worsening conditions. If she had trouble tonight then she would be sent back with the two scholars.
Once again on the road Kagome was concerned, the little princess had remained surprisingly quiet after the King had voiced his concerns. Voicing no opinion as to whether she wanted Kaede to continue with them or not. Kagome knew that Kaede was the nearest thing to a mother the princess had ever had, but she was also a servant under the princess’s command.
Deciding that the little princess needed to talk about this issue Kagome took a breath and asked “Princess you were unusually quiet at lunch once your father mentioned sending Kaede back. Are you worried about her not being with us?”
Nibbling her bottom lip the Princess replied so quietly that Kagome had to strain to hear her over the gentle plopping of the horse’s hoofs. “I don’t know what to think, I’ve never really been without Kaede. Yasha and I are always trying to get away from her, but now that she might be sent back, I’m - I guess a little scared. It’s not that I ever thought I needed a chaperone; it’s just that as far back as I can remember she’s the one who took care of me, and after I got Yasha – well she started to take care of him too. Then there is part of me that loves the idea of finally being freer and that makes me feel guilty.”
Kagome sighed; she could almost understand the princess’s dilemma. While she had not been brought up in the smothering constraints imposed by nobility, she was brought up in the upright moral atmosphere of a shrine.
When Kagome turned 15 and suddenly found herself 500 years in the past, traveling with a child who treated her as a mother figure, and three adults (though Sango usually was the only one who actually acted like an adult) Kagome felt a freedom she had never experienced before. It was hard for her not to just run wild and it was only the knowledge that she had to finish school that kept her at all in check.
Kagome also had to admit to herself that if circumstances had been just a tiny bit different and if InuYasha had not had such strong morals, she would have let InuYasha have his way with her. Fortunately for her very loose 15 year old morals, InuYasha, the son of a hime and a great youkai lord, if nothing else, always tried to conduct himself honorably especially where women were concerned.
So Kagome could understand the little princess’s dilemma, on one hand she would love the idea of independence on the other she would fear the possibilities of what could happen.
Hoping to relieve her little counterpart’s fears, Kagome replied “I wouldn’t worry about it right now. If it turns out Kaede has to leave us you still will have your father, Yasha, InuYasha and me. We’ll all make sure you’re OK and you won’t have to worry about Kaede getting hurt in this rough terrain. In addition, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Kaede and Tetsuya have been spending a great deal of time together. Who knows, for once she might be the one getting up to no good!”
At the very thought of Kaede and Tetsuya together the poor princess didn’t know if she should laugh or be horrified. What came out of her mouth was a very unladylike snort and “oh yuck”. Quickly covering her mouth in embarrassment the princess quickly added “Excuse me, I mean I never thought of Kaede as being interested in – well you know – that kind of stuff.”
Laughing Kagome replied “Well what do you think she is – made out of stone? She was probably quite a hottie when she was young!”
As the girls continued their very silly conversation, branching out from Kaede’s supposed love life; to all sorts of gossip regarding the amorous adventures of several of the soldiers accompanying their group, Yasha could only roll his eyes in disbelief. Here they were on a dangerous quest and the girls were gossiping! As they continued down the road, InuYasha caught the attention of his counterpart and in a voice so low that only another Inuhanyou could hear it commented “Get two girls together and that’s the sort of silly stuff they do, might as well get used to it.”
Yasha could only shake his head, girls! Then he smiled, his princess was having a good time and had another girl for company. Yasha occasionally felt guilty, his princess had had lots of other friends to play with before she got him, but it was odd how on that first day, the day he saved her life, his princess had sent her little playmates away without a second thought. After that, she seemed to have almost no interest in her former playmates; she only wanted to play with him. The only time she ever associated with any of the little girls she used to play with was during her more female oriented lessons, and even then Yasha would be there to guard her.
Yasha himself never questioned the fact that his princess was the only friend he had ever had who was nearly the same age as him. When his mother was still alive the other human children shunned him, his mother did her best to be both mother and playmate, but it still hurt that no other children wanted to play with him. Then when he was sold to the palace and taken to live with the slave master and his wife, it was very much the same thing. Yasha had spent most of his time either working with the slave master or in his house living a somewhat sheltered and isolated life. It was only when he became the property of his princess that he really got to play with another child. Yasha and his princess finally got to do all the silly things regular children took for granted. They played games, explored the castle, and pulled pranks on their tutors. Still Yasha always felt that his princess was not getting to do all the ‘girlie’ things she could do with her girl playmates.
Yasha was suddenly jerked out of his thoughts by a low rumbling. Quickly scanning the road for a possible threat he was stumped. He could sense nothing dangerous. No animals, no youkai, no humans, what was causing that ominous noise?
InuYasha had also immediately gone on alert when he heard the rumbling, unlike his very young counterpart, he knew exactly what it was and looking at the rocky crags that hung over the road he began to yell “Earthquake!!! Everyone try and take cover!” Grabbing Kagome off of her horse he barely noticed that she had instinctively clutched her bow, quiver and her saddle bag. Yasah immediately copied his older counterpart’s action pulling his princess and her saddle bag off her horse. Yasah’s Inu instincts demanded that he follow the actions of the person he subconsciously considered his pack leader.
InuYasha had noticed that the road seemed to be a bit wider up ahead and he sprinted down the road, Kagome in his arms, closely followed by Yasha who held his princess.
As InuYasha ran, dodging rocks and small boulders that had started to rain down on the road; he continued to yell out instructions to the King’s guard, who had formed a defensive perimeter around the King. Shields held high, the guards would try and protect the King with their bodies.
As the King’s guards realized what the true threat was they began to move the King back down the road in the direction they had come from, not the direction InuYasha, Yasha and their charges were headed.
Finally the rumbling subsided, though the hail of rocks and boulders continued. The moment InuYasha put Kagome down she pulled Yasha and the princess towards herself and quickly erected her spiritual barrier. Under the protective shield of the barrier the little princess was distressed to realize that her father, the guards and the cart carrying Kaede, Tetsuya and Mikio were retreating in the opposite direction.
Then the unthinkable happened, with an ear splitting crack the entire mountain side began to slide down.
Still maintaining her barrier Kagome felt InuYasha pulling her, Yasha and the princess further up the road.
After what seemed to be an eternity the dust settled and where once a road neatly cut between two towering mountains, now an enormous unstable pile of rock and rubble towered hundreds of feet, blocking their way.
Fearing aftershocks and more rubble Kagome continued to maintain her barrier until she ran out of strength. InuYasha had continued to herd them further and further up the road, fearing that the unstable mass of rock might collapse at any moment.
Glancing at the little princess Kagome was worried, the child’s father was somewhere on the other side of the now impassable road and there was no way to know if he or any of the others were safe.
Trying to take a positive attitude Kagome addressed her young counterpart. “It looked like everyone else had gotten pretty far back down the road.”
Realizing that Kagome was trying to reassure the young princess InuYasha added “It was lucky for them that the mountains were sloping back fairly gently before this pass, there shouldn’t have been much in the way of falling stuff where they were.”
Suddenly InuYasha realized that everyone Kagome included was looking at him, he realized he was the alpha male and now in charge.
Looking at the huge unstable wall of rock, InuYasha immediately realized that even he would not dare to try and scale it. Deciding that he had to let everyone know just what the situation was he spoke “There is no way we can get back to the other side, not here at least. All that loose rock will be impossible to climb and unfortunately I don’t have the ability to fly on my youki energy like my brother can. As I see it we have to keep going forward. There’s bound to be another route back to the southern lands.”
Glancing at Kagome InuYasha noticed that she was staring at the wall of rock and the surrounding mountains suspiciously. Realizing that InuYasha was staring at her Kagome decided to voice her suspicion. “I can’t prove anything, but this all feels very – contrived. Here we are on a quest and now we have been quite conveniently separated from the rest of our party. It just feels like we’ve been set up.”
Closing her eyes and stretching out her hands Kagome tried to see if she could sense any hostile forces. Finally she opened her eyes and declared. “I don’t feel anything evil, but I almost can feel something, it’s like a tickle in the back of my head, some sort of power. Perhaps this situation happened because we are supposed to be on our own when we find the relic.”
Seeing that standing around was getting them nowhere InuYasha turned to look at his companions and spoke. “We’ll the sooner we find that stupid relic the sooner we all get home. So let’s get going.”
InuYasha bent over so Kagome could climb onto his back, as he straightened up he looked over to see Yasha also bending over and within a moment his princess was also securely mounted on her hanyou’s back.
With one last look behind them the foursome headed down the road.
***
IDoInuyasha31 – Thanks, glad you liked my attempt at action!!!
***
Sorry I have not updated in so long, but my dog tore the ligaments in her knee and had surgery today, when she gets home tomorrow I will have to play nurse whenever I am at home so I may not be able to update for the next 6 weeks or so! To make up I am posting two chapters today.
Chapter 13 – A Big Decision
The foot-pads had been left at the last village and the group was once again on the road. Kagome was getting rather nostalgic for the “good old days” when InuYasha would just carry her on his back. It was so much more comfortable than riding a horse. Glancing sideways Kagome notice that the princess, despite being a better technical rider, was getting no less weary of riding. Curious Kagome turned to her young counterpart and inquired “Princess I could not help but notice that you ride quite well. I have to admit that after all these days in the saddle, I’m sore in places I didn’t even know could get sore! I wish I could just let InuYasha carry me on his back like he usually does!”
Rubbing her own backside a bit the little princess had to admit “Actually I started to learn how to ride when I was quite young, but father never really let me go anywhere with him so I didn’t get a chance to do any long distance riding. Once I got Yasha, well if I had to go any distance around the castle grounds, I usually let Yasha carry me. Unfortunately, if I let Yasha carry me on his back here on the road, father would have an absolute fit! So I guess we have to suffer sore bottoms till we build up whatever you build up when you ride all day.”
Kagome laughed and replied “I don’t even want to think about what we are building up down there, I hope it’s not calluses!”
The two girls were so busy laughing at the thought of calluses on their bottoms that they hardly noticed how rugged the terrain was getting. There were still a good number of tress, but now that they were climbing to a higher altitude, huge boulders and small rock outcroppings were starting to take over the scenery.
Finally a small flat clearing was located and a lunch break was called.
As they all sat around eating a simple cold meal, the princess noticed how serious her father was looking. Fearing that he was keeping some important news from them she inquired “Father what’s wrong; you have such a look of concern. Is something wrong?”
Quickly flashing what he hoped was a reassuring smile the great King replied “No my dear daughter there is nothing wrong, other than this dreadful terrain. I fear that we will have to send the carriage and cart back soon. I know that Mikio and Tetsuya have been doing their best to keep working as we travel, but they really have not had anything useful to contribute for days now. I really should have sent them back with Toshio and Hisoka. I am also concerned about Kaede; will she be able to keep up on horseback? Part of me wants to send her back with the others, but I am not comfortable with you traveling around the countryside without a chaperone.”
Kagome had to stifle a laugh; the little princess had more chaperones than she needed. It was not likely that anything would happen with Yasha, InuYasha, herself and the princess all sharing one tent! What did the king think would happen, some sort of pre-pubescent orgy? If nothing else, InuYasha was about as moral as they came. In reality he had never laid an improper hand on her until they were basically engaged!
Deciding to put the king’s fears to rest Kagome ventured to speak “Your majesty, I don’t think you have to worry about chaperoning your daughter. I can personally vouch for InuYasha’s morality. I was just 15 when we started our quest and he never laid an improper hand on me. To be quite honest, InuYasha and I sort of feel like the princess and Yasha are – well like our younger sister and brother.”
Nodding his understanding, the King replied “I have to agree that you and InuYasha seem to have taken my daughter and Yasha under your wings, so to speak. We will continue for as long as we can and then I will decide if Kaede will continue with us or return with the others.”
The King then declared that they would push forward for the rest of the day. The terrain would be getting much worse. They would be heading into a small rocky mountain range and the pass that would lead to the Northern Province that was their goal. He knew the road would be narrowing as the small mountains rose above it and suitable camping sites would become scarce. They would not have a very comfortable night tonight and this would be a good test to see if Kaede could handle the worsening conditions. If she had trouble tonight then she would be sent back with the two scholars.
Once again on the road Kagome was concerned, the little princess had remained surprisingly quiet after the King had voiced his concerns. Voicing no opinion as to whether she wanted Kaede to continue with them or not. Kagome knew that Kaede was the nearest thing to a mother the princess had ever had, but she was also a servant under the princess’s command.
Deciding that the little princess needed to talk about this issue Kagome took a breath and asked “Princess you were unusually quiet at lunch once your father mentioned sending Kaede back. Are you worried about her not being with us?”
Nibbling her bottom lip the Princess replied so quietly that Kagome had to strain to hear her over the gentle plopping of the horse’s hoofs. “I don’t know what to think, I’ve never really been without Kaede. Yasha and I are always trying to get away from her, but now that she might be sent back, I’m - I guess a little scared. It’s not that I ever thought I needed a chaperone; it’s just that as far back as I can remember she’s the one who took care of me, and after I got Yasha – well she started to take care of him too. Then there is part of me that loves the idea of finally being freer and that makes me feel guilty.”
Kagome sighed; she could almost understand the princess’s dilemma. While she had not been brought up in the smothering constraints imposed by nobility, she was brought up in the upright moral atmosphere of a shrine.
When Kagome turned 15 and suddenly found herself 500 years in the past, traveling with a child who treated her as a mother figure, and three adults (though Sango usually was the only one who actually acted like an adult) Kagome felt a freedom she had never experienced before. It was hard for her not to just run wild and it was only the knowledge that she had to finish school that kept her at all in check.
Kagome also had to admit to herself that if circumstances had been just a tiny bit different and if InuYasha had not had such strong morals, she would have let InuYasha have his way with her. Fortunately for her very loose 15 year old morals, InuYasha, the son of a hime and a great youkai lord, if nothing else, always tried to conduct himself honorably especially where women were concerned.
So Kagome could understand the little princess’s dilemma, on one hand she would love the idea of independence on the other she would fear the possibilities of what could happen.
Hoping to relieve her little counterpart’s fears, Kagome replied “I wouldn’t worry about it right now. If it turns out Kaede has to leave us you still will have your father, Yasha, InuYasha and me. We’ll all make sure you’re OK and you won’t have to worry about Kaede getting hurt in this rough terrain. In addition, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Kaede and Tetsuya have been spending a great deal of time together. Who knows, for once she might be the one getting up to no good!”
At the very thought of Kaede and Tetsuya together the poor princess didn’t know if she should laugh or be horrified. What came out of her mouth was a very unladylike snort and “oh yuck”. Quickly covering her mouth in embarrassment the princess quickly added “Excuse me, I mean I never thought of Kaede as being interested in – well you know – that kind of stuff.”
Laughing Kagome replied “Well what do you think she is – made out of stone? She was probably quite a hottie when she was young!”
As the girls continued their very silly conversation, branching out from Kaede’s supposed love life; to all sorts of gossip regarding the amorous adventures of several of the soldiers accompanying their group, Yasha could only roll his eyes in disbelief. Here they were on a dangerous quest and the girls were gossiping! As they continued down the road, InuYasha caught the attention of his counterpart and in a voice so low that only another Inuhanyou could hear it commented “Get two girls together and that’s the sort of silly stuff they do, might as well get used to it.”
Yasha could only shake his head, girls! Then he smiled, his princess was having a good time and had another girl for company. Yasha occasionally felt guilty, his princess had had lots of other friends to play with before she got him, but it was odd how on that first day, the day he saved her life, his princess had sent her little playmates away without a second thought. After that, she seemed to have almost no interest in her former playmates; she only wanted to play with him. The only time she ever associated with any of the little girls she used to play with was during her more female oriented lessons, and even then Yasha would be there to guard her.
Yasha himself never questioned the fact that his princess was the only friend he had ever had who was nearly the same age as him. When his mother was still alive the other human children shunned him, his mother did her best to be both mother and playmate, but it still hurt that no other children wanted to play with him. Then when he was sold to the palace and taken to live with the slave master and his wife, it was very much the same thing. Yasha had spent most of his time either working with the slave master or in his house living a somewhat sheltered and isolated life. It was only when he became the property of his princess that he really got to play with another child. Yasha and his princess finally got to do all the silly things regular children took for granted. They played games, explored the castle, and pulled pranks on their tutors. Still Yasha always felt that his princess was not getting to do all the ‘girlie’ things she could do with her girl playmates.
Yasha was suddenly jerked out of his thoughts by a low rumbling. Quickly scanning the road for a possible threat he was stumped. He could sense nothing dangerous. No animals, no youkai, no humans, what was causing that ominous noise?
InuYasha had also immediately gone on alert when he heard the rumbling, unlike his very young counterpart, he knew exactly what it was and looking at the rocky crags that hung over the road he began to yell “Earthquake!!! Everyone try and take cover!” Grabbing Kagome off of her horse he barely noticed that she had instinctively clutched her bow, quiver and her saddle bag. Yasah immediately copied his older counterpart’s action pulling his princess and her saddle bag off her horse. Yasah’s Inu instincts demanded that he follow the actions of the person he subconsciously considered his pack leader.
InuYasha had noticed that the road seemed to be a bit wider up ahead and he sprinted down the road, Kagome in his arms, closely followed by Yasha who held his princess.
As InuYasha ran, dodging rocks and small boulders that had started to rain down on the road; he continued to yell out instructions to the King’s guard, who had formed a defensive perimeter around the King. Shields held high, the guards would try and protect the King with their bodies.
As the King’s guards realized what the true threat was they began to move the King back down the road in the direction they had come from, not the direction InuYasha, Yasha and their charges were headed.
Finally the rumbling subsided, though the hail of rocks and boulders continued. The moment InuYasha put Kagome down she pulled Yasha and the princess towards herself and quickly erected her spiritual barrier. Under the protective shield of the barrier the little princess was distressed to realize that her father, the guards and the cart carrying Kaede, Tetsuya and Mikio were retreating in the opposite direction.
Then the unthinkable happened, with an ear splitting crack the entire mountain side began to slide down.
Still maintaining her barrier Kagome felt InuYasha pulling her, Yasha and the princess further up the road.
After what seemed to be an eternity the dust settled and where once a road neatly cut between two towering mountains, now an enormous unstable pile of rock and rubble towered hundreds of feet, blocking their way.
Fearing aftershocks and more rubble Kagome continued to maintain her barrier until she ran out of strength. InuYasha had continued to herd them further and further up the road, fearing that the unstable mass of rock might collapse at any moment.
Glancing at the little princess Kagome was worried, the child’s father was somewhere on the other side of the now impassable road and there was no way to know if he or any of the others were safe.
Trying to take a positive attitude Kagome addressed her young counterpart. “It looked like everyone else had gotten pretty far back down the road.”
Realizing that Kagome was trying to reassure the young princess InuYasha added “It was lucky for them that the mountains were sloping back fairly gently before this pass, there shouldn’t have been much in the way of falling stuff where they were.”
Suddenly InuYasha realized that everyone Kagome included was looking at him, he realized he was the alpha male and now in charge.
Looking at the huge unstable wall of rock, InuYasha immediately realized that even he would not dare to try and scale it. Deciding that he had to let everyone know just what the situation was he spoke “There is no way we can get back to the other side, not here at least. All that loose rock will be impossible to climb and unfortunately I don’t have the ability to fly on my youki energy like my brother can. As I see it we have to keep going forward. There’s bound to be another route back to the southern lands.”
Glancing at Kagome InuYasha noticed that she was staring at the wall of rock and the surrounding mountains suspiciously. Realizing that InuYasha was staring at her Kagome decided to voice her suspicion. “I can’t prove anything, but this all feels very – contrived. Here we are on a quest and now we have been quite conveniently separated from the rest of our party. It just feels like we’ve been set up.”
Closing her eyes and stretching out her hands Kagome tried to see if she could sense any hostile forces. Finally she opened her eyes and declared. “I don’t feel anything evil, but I almost can feel something, it’s like a tickle in the back of my head, some sort of power. Perhaps this situation happened because we are supposed to be on our own when we find the relic.”
Seeing that standing around was getting them nowhere InuYasha turned to look at his companions and spoke. “We’ll the sooner we find that stupid relic the sooner we all get home. So let’s get going.”
InuYasha bent over so Kagome could climb onto his back, as he straightened up he looked over to see Yasha also bending over and within a moment his princess was also securely mounted on her hanyou’s back.
With one last look behind them the foursome headed down the road.
***
IDoInuyasha31 – Thanks, glad you liked my attempt at action!!!