Demon's Heart
She looked down at her fingers, she would barely make them out but she could tell they were scratched and bloody from clawing at the stone walls. She walked around the room that she was imprisoned in, feeling against the wall she found what seemed to be the door to get out, but no handle on her side, the only want to get out was from whoever trapped her here. And from the looks of it, they did not want her out any time soon.
The ground was made out of straw and mud, she could feel it oozing between her feet. There was a small crack in the ceiling that only let in a single shard of light, making her just able to see around the room. She could see a chained skeleton in the opposite corner.
Worst part about being trapped, was that she could not remember how she got there. Or how long she had been there. Hours? Days? All she remembered was waking up to the feeling of some bug crawling across her face, and as she was swatting it away her hand hit the stone wall. She started to wake up and realized that she was trapped. But nothing came to her when she tried to remember about how she got there, is was like her memory was whipped.
Her mouth was dry and her lips were starting to crack from the lack of moisture. Her throat was raw from screaming. When she first came to the conclusion that she was stuck in here, she screamed endlessly until her voice just gave out. Screamed for someone to come and find her, to come and rescue her. Or even the person who put her in here to come and give her some explanation about why she was here.
That was another missing piece to this puzzle. She did not know who put her in here. What were their intentions of taking her and keeping her locked up in this cell?
Just then, she heard what sounded like a key being put in to a door lock. She then heard it switch, and a door creaking open. At the bottom of her cell she could see a ray of light entering the dark room. Footsteps started to be heard, first they were slow and then they began to speed up. As they got louder, she could see the shadows of two feet in front of her door cell.
"Who ever you are and whatever you want, please, let me out." she begged them, as she rested her head on the cell door, slowly sinking to the ground.
An evil laugh was made right out side the door, and it sounded familiar to her.
A chill came over her. She made her way back up on to her feet, taking a few steps back from the door and she cleared her throat. "Who.. who are you and what do you want?"
The person on the other side came up to the door and inserted a key in to the door lock as they let out another laugh. "Why, Kagome, do you really not know who I am?"
And the cell door flung open as her capture could be seen in the doorway of the cell.
"Naraku!" she hissed at him, her eyes narrowing as she lunged at him.
He waved his hand and a surge of energy blasted her back against the stone wall. She moaned in pain as she hit the wall and fell to the ground. She tried to stand, her legs wobbling underneath her.
"Such a stubborn wench. I do not understand how someone as short-tempered an Inuyasha could keep such an insolent woman." Naraku walked in to the stone cell, closing the door behind them.
Kagome sat up against the wall, her lip had been cut by the impact, she whipped the blood away from her mouth and leaned her head against the wall. A sharp pulse shot through her body, she winced in pain, as she reached her hand up to her head and as she pulled it back she could see the amount of blood that was escaping.
She looked up at Naraku. "Insolent woman?" she quoted him, as she snickered to herself. "I'd rather be that than a demon."
Naraku looked down at her, smiling. "And being a demon is bad?"
Kagome laughed under her breath, rolling her eyes but he probably could not see it from the darkness in the room. "Please," she groaned. He reached in to his pocket, and pulled out a candle. After lighting it, he placed it on a one of the stones that was sticking out from the walls so they could see each other.
"Demons are monsters. All you want is power and control over others. Like what you have now." Kagome looked away from him, not really wanting to continue the conversation any farther.
Naraku enjoyed the idea of him being a monster. He leaned against the opposite wall to Kagome, and stared at her as she kept herself away from making eye contact with him. "If I am a monster, that means your precious Inuyasha is a monster, too." he pointed out.
Kagome's head snapped back around to face Naraku. He put his arms up in defense when he seen the look she was giving him. "I apologize, precious fiancée, right?"
Once she heard him say that, Kagome's memory started to come back, only getting a few pieces of what had happened to her. It first came in a blur and then it started to become clearer to her of what happened before she was captured by Naraku.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted to get his attention.
Inuyasha turned around to see Kagome, holding on to her bow, waving at him through the clouds of dust.
He ran over to meet her as the debre and rubble finally settled. He looked her over to make sure nothing had happened to her during the battle, but nothing was out-of-place. He was happy that she was alright, if anything would have happened to her because of him, he wouldn't be able to live with himself. She meant a lot to him. But he hated that she always put herself in danger for him when she didn't have to.
She smiled up at him before throwing her arms over his head. "Oh thank goodness, you're alright!" she sighed in relief.
Inuyasha stood there in her arms, not knowing what to say or do. After letting her stay there for about a moment or two, he put his hands on her waist and pulled her from him. "Feh, of course I'm alright." he snarled at her. Crossing his arms and looking away to escape her glance. "It's you who you should be worried about, you're just a human."
"Just a human!?" Kagome shouted back at him, making Inuyasha jump in terror away from her. She stuck out a finger at him and starting waving it back and forth with each word. "Just because I'm a human doesn't mean I going to get hurt!"
Inuyasha rolled his eyes at her. He was always worried about her when they went in to a fight, and he just didn't want to have to worry about her for once. He pointed at her. "I told you to let me handle this and what do you do? Try to help me!"
"You know you need my help when it comes to fighting, it's because to me that you're even still alive!" Kagome shouted at him.
Inuyasha laughed in her face. "Ha! Need your help? Please, I'm always having to come rescue you because you can't leave well enough alone!" he shouted back at her.
"I'll always in need of rescuing because you," she poked his chest firmly with her finger, "keep putting me in danger! So sorry for trying to help!"
She crossed her arms and turned away from him. He walked up to her and shouted over her shoulder in to her ear. "Well, then if you don't want to be put in danger, why are you here?"
At first she didn't flinch, but after pausing for a moment she swiftly turned around to face him, tears welling up in her eyes. "I don't know, maybe because I care about you, you idiot!" she shouted at him as she turned around and began to walk away towards the bone eater's well.
"Fine!" Go home like always!" Inuyasha hollered to her on impulse, but he was shocked. Every time he tried to keep her out of danger she would get upset with him and go stomping off out of the Feudal Era. If she was going to be like that and over react when ever he tried to protect her than he would just let her go. He wouldn't chase after her. What was the point if it would just happened again? He turned to head back to the village but stopped himself.
He looked over his shoulder at Kagome walking away from him and he couldn't just let her leave again like this. "Stubborn woman." he muttered under his breath. Inuyasha began to chase after her. He jumped up in to the sky and landed in front of her. Walking towards her, he stuck his arms out to catch her. "You're not going home, Kagome."
"SIT BOY!" Kagome screamed at the top of her lungs to get him out of her way. Inuyasha tried to resist the force pulling him to the ground, but he couldn't, and he crashed in to the ground face first. Kagome huffed and stomped passed him. "Goodbye Inuyasha." she mumbled to him as she left him began in own personal hole.
She had made it to the bone eater's well. Glancing over the side in to the darkness beyond her, she didn't want to leave but if he didn't want her there, what was the point in staying. She would always be in danger as long as she was in the Feudal Era, as long as she was fighting demons along side Inuyasha. She would never be fully safe. Maybe it was for the best that she returned home for good. She grabbed the side of the well and pulled herself up on to the side, giving herself one last moment before jumping in. But out of the corner of her eye, she seen a flash of red and she was picked up, and was then flying through the air.
"INUYASHA! PUT ME DOWN!" she screamed in his ear, and tried hitting him in the back.
But he ignored her, until he made it to the sacred tree. He landed in front of it and he finally set her down on her feet. Once she was on the ground she swung at him, hitting him in the arm a few times before she started stomping off again in to the direction of the well. Inuyasha jumped in front of her, putting his arms out to catch her again. "Kagome," he started to speak but she walked past him, bumping him with her shoulder as she passed.
He ran ahead to cut her off. Panting, he crossed his arms as she walked closer to him. "Come on Kagome, you can't just ignor-" and she kept walking passed him, not even acknowledging that he was trying to talk to her.
before she could get too far ahead, Inuyasha reached out his hand, grabbing Kagome's from behind and pulled her back to him, not letting go on her hand. She pulled and yanked to try to get her hand free, but his grip was too strong for her, so she gave in and didn't fight back. She looked up at him and sighed. "What is it, Inuyasha?"
He let go of her hand and gestured towards the sacred tree. Kagome at first rolled her eyes but walked towards it. Seeing the mark where he was pinned against it for many years, until she had finally freed him gave her mixed emotions. Part of her always wondered what would have happened if she didn't come through the well, he'd still be there. Frozen. She sat down on one of the tree branches, while Inuyasha followed behind her.
He thought that he should start it off. He first took a deep breath and looked down at her. "Kagome, I didn't mean it that way. I know I put you in danger, but you are always there for me, and I do need you here," Inuyasha moved closer to her, taking her hand in his and rubbed his thumb back and forth over the top on her hand. "Without you I would still be pinned to this tree, never meeting you and never going on these adventures together."
She looked up at him, and she could see how sincere he was being. His eyes looked back in to hers and she almost couldn't find words to say. "Inuyasha.."
"No Kagome," he whispered, his eyes softening more as he looked at her. "I don't want you to get hurt over helping me because I care about you, too." He leaned in to her and slightly kissed her forehead, and then rested his forehead against hers for a moment. "I don't want you to leave me, not ever again."
Kagome couldn't help but smile to herself, while her heart was pounding away against her chest. She didn't know what to do or say to him. Where to start? She had always wanted him to open with her and to hear this, but was he serious about it? She pulled away from him, he lifted his head back up and glanced in to her eyes and she could see the pain that it was causing him that she might be leaving for good over something, really, stupid.
She wanted to have things cleared up. "What are you trying to say, Inuyasha?" she asked while smirking at him.
Inuyasha stared blankly back at her. He couldn't put what he felt for her in to words, to try to express what she meant to him and how thankful he was to have someone like her in his life was impossible to do. Kagome stared back at him, growing a bit concerned at him not saying anything. He smiled at her; he would rather show her than tell her.
He leaned in towards her and pressed his lips softly against hers. At first, she was resistant, and then after a moment, a wave of relief washed over her, at the thought of knowing how he felt about her. He didn't have to say anything, just this single act alone told her everything that she wanted to know, and she pulled her arms around his neck, bringing him closer and kissing him back.
Inuyasha pulled away from her for a moment, resting his forehead on hers and exhaling. "I only want you, Kagome, will you spend the rest of your life with me?"
"Is that a proposal?" she teased him, tightening her arms around him as she leaned in to kiss him, pausing barely an inch away from his awaiting mouth.
He laughed back at her, wrapped his arms around her waist. "That's the best you're getting from me." he teased her back. Taking a big breath of air, he paused for a moment to collect his thoughts and then looked back at her smiling. "You've been with me through it all, and there would be no one else I would want to spend it with, I'm so glad you fell through that well," they chuckled together. "Will you marry me, Kagome?"
"I'm impressed," she joked around with him, but he looked at her with concern. "Of course I will." she smiled at him. Inuyasha let out a sigh of relief as Kagome leaned in to kiss him.
Kagome snapped out of her memories. Naraku was leaning against the wall looking at her. Kagome stepped back from him, she didn't feel safe at all while he was around her. "How did you know about that? We didn't tell anyone."
Naraku threw his head back and laughed lightly at her. "Oh, Kagome. I know more than you think. And I also know that you were on the way here to try to defeat me," he pushed himself off of the stone wall and started to walk over to Kagome. "But then I stole you in the middle of the night, while everyone was asleep, and now they are on their way here to rescue you."
She was concerned. He was sharing so much information to her, and having a long conversation. Usually he would just show up and say a clever line or two and vanish. Why was he lingering around? He was playing games with her, leading her on and making her remember certain things at a time. He must have drugged her and made her inhale something so that her memory would be fuzzy. That wasn't like Naraku. She wondered what he was planning to do. She decided to play along with his game. "And they will rescue me and we will defeat you. Just like we planned. Whatever you're planning on doing won't work."
Naraku smiled while shaking his head at her. "Oh, I don't think so," he leaned down to sit beside her. Kagome tried to inch away from him. She didn't trust him and didn't want to be near him in this small, stone prison any longer. Naraku could see how uneasy Kagome was getting with him getting closer to her, and he liked it. He leaned towards her and whispered. "The only way to really hurt a demon is through their heart, and I don't have one."
She rolled her eyes at him, shrugging what he had said off, it didn't concern her at all. Naraku realized that he didn't get his point to her across clearly. He reached a hand out to Kagome and ran his fingers over her cheek. "But, Inuyasha however..."
And it clicked for her. He took her to get to Inuyasha, he was planning on doing something to him that involved her and of course Inuyasha would try to save her and keep her from danger. She wanted no part in hurting Inuyasha, and to have him think that he could use her to get to him, she wouldn't allow it. She was so enraged at the idea she slapped him across the face, leaving a red imprint of her fingers tips on his cheek. She couldn't believe she just did that, that she was even able to touch Naraku without him dodging it. It had happened so fast that she almost wouldn't have known she had done it, except for the imprint on Naraku's face. She pulled her hand back and stared at him.
Naraku brushed his fingers across the side of his face that was slapped while looking at Kagome. He could feel the blood behind the irritated skin pulsating. How did he not sense her about to hit him? It happened so fast that even he didn't have time to dodge or block the hit. It was curious to him. It was also infuriating that a human priestess would raise their hand to a powerful demon such as himself."Insolent woman. Inuyasha will suffer dear for this."
"It's not my fault, or his, that you deserved that. It was long over due." She felt good that she did hit him, it meant that even behind all of that power there was some weakness. But Kagome didn't fully understand the purpose of having her kept in this room. Yes, they are coming to rescue her but they would be coming her anyways if she wasn't here, why would Naraku want to have her here? What does he plan on doing to hurt Inuyasha that involves her?
"What do you need me for? Inuyasha would have come here with or without taking me hostage." Kagome narrowed her eyes at Naraku, not wanting to look away from him. He took her in the middle of the night while everyone was asleep and clearly no one noticed, so they would either think she had run back to the village or went here alone. Why not take her when they would all be able to see him taking her? Why did he have to do it so secretly?
Naraku stood up from where he was sitting beside her. Slowly he began to walk towards the door. He had enough of this girl and her growing stubbornness. He pulled the door open to leave and looked back at Kagome. He didn't want to give away any details of what he had planned for her, but letting her sit in the lonely silence of these stone walls would probably drive her to make the wrong decision. "I need you to hurt Inuyasha's heart."
She laughed at him. How could he even imagine the thought of her siding with the likes of him to help him hurt Inuyasha. Nothing Naraku could say or do would convince her to do anything against Inuyasha. After everything they had been through, she would go down with Inuyasha if she had to. Kagome got to her feet and walked over to Naraku, leaning in to him she whispered: "I will never help you hurt him," she said, pausing for a moment. "I'll die first." she said as she turned and walked away from him back to her spot in the cell.
Naraku didn't believe that for a second. He knew that she cared for him, and that the two of them had been through a lot together. If it came down to it, he knew that Kagome would do anything to save Inuyasha, and he, too, would do the same for her. She was bluffing. What he had planned for them, there was no way that they would be able to survive this together.
Naraku smirked to himself as he watched Kagome walk back to her spot. He cleared his throat, catching enough of Kagome's attention for her to turn back to face him. He slowly shrugged his shoulders at her. "And what if I killed him first?" Naraku asked her.
Hearing him say that angered Kagome, she could feel her blood beginning to boil over. The thought of Naraku hurting or even killing Inuyasha made her sick to her stomach. She didn't want to have any part of helping him do anything to Inuyasha, but if she didn't help him hurt Inuyasha, then he would kill him. But what was he planning to do? How was he going hurt him by using her?
Kagome wanted nothing more than to slap him one more time after him saying that. But she didn't want to make things worse. She wanted to know what he was conspiring to do and what her part involved. She narrowed her eyes at him, while he stood in the doorway."What do you want from me? What do you want me to do to hurt him?" Kagome asked him.
Naraku narrowed his eyes at her. "Such a curious wench." He took hold of the door, pulling out his key he made sure to lock it, and before he closed the door he looked back at her. She was looking up at him with just worrisome eyes. He leaned in to the cell for her to hear him. "It's best if I let it be a surprise for both you and Inuyasha." Naraku stepped outside of the stone walls, and before shutting the door, he smiled at her. He couldn't help himself but leave her with a last thought before he left her. "We'll see if you're his heart or not." and without letting her to say another word, he slammed the door shut.
She heard the door locking and his footsteps starting to trail off in to the darkness as she was revisited by the silence and her own thoughts. What she gathered from what Naraku said was that he was going to use her to get to Inuyasha's heart. How he would do that Kagome did not know, but she was worried. This was different from any other time they went up against Naraku. He had a plan, and a very good plan at the sounds of it, and Inuyasha and the others had no idea of it.
The one thing that didn't sit well with her was that Naraku had earlier said that the only way to defeat a demon was through their heart. Demons are almost unkillable. He said that he did not have one, so that wouldn't help them. But he had to have loved someone or something, he must have a weakness they could figure out.
And she wanted to know how would that apply to Inuyasha since he is a half demon. He is able to be injured and has a short fuse when angered so he would act irrationally once he sees her in the hands of Naraku. She knew that all of her answers would be answered soon by Naraku. She had to admit to herself, though, she was worried. But worrying would not help her, so she laid down and once she put her thoughts away, she found sleep.
