Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, and I will only say this once.
[Warning: This story addresses the issues of slavery, rape, torture and violence in general. This does not mean I support any of these acts, and if you're sensitive, do not read. It will also contain swearing and mature content in the future chapters.]
Chapter One – To Run
She had never been this close to death.
She could feel it everywhere, it was slowly approaching her like a wild animal hunting down its prey. Every step she took brought her closer to her ending, her heart beating faster and faster as she dodged the trees and everything else that stood in her way.
She wanted to stop running.
Honestly, she was going to die anyway so what was the point in tiring her body even more?
Her steps were faltering, she fought to breathe as she jumped over a rock and almost tripped because her legs were too weak to keep her steady. She was ready to give up as she noticed that the forest was slowly coming to an end and there would be nowhere else to hide in a while, she was sure they would get her right after she arrived at the main road. Her life was over.
She just wanted to lie down and wait for her dismiss, even if she managed to escape, where would she go? She had no family, her clothes were dirty and torn, she doubted anyone in a village would take pity and help her… That was, if she managed to stay alive long enough to reach a village. She doubted she would, it was getting harder and harder to move, she couldn't feel her legs anymore and she wondered how long it would take before she collapsed on the ground and they came for her.
A raspy breath brought her back to reality and she dodged yet another branch that threatened to hit her face as she ran. She couldn't give up, not if giving up meant he would die too. She had risked way too much already, there was no going back now and she would make sure he was safe before the slender fingers of death were wrapped around her throat and destroyed what was left of her will to live.
Hugging the little kitsune youkai closer to her body, she reminded herself that she was doing this for him. She wouldn't have minded if Onigumo tortured her to death, it would actually be a favor he was doing to her, but threatening the kit's life was where she drew the line. The child had seen his parents be brutally murdered by one of Onigumo's soldiers, then he was thrown into the same cell as her to recover for a while and after this, he was forced to work for the man who killed his family.
Kagome herself suffered a similar fate so she couldn't help but take care of the young kitsune as she wished someone would've done with her when she was introduced to the cruel reality that slavery was. In a short period of time, she grew attached to the little youkai and he was the only source of joy in her life ever since, the only thing that kept her going and made her turn away from the idea of killing herself to escape the prison she was trapped in.
She went as far as taking the punishments for him when he couldn't reach the expectation of their master, that was how much he meant to her, but today Onigumo was way too angered and left her no choice. She could usually convince him to torture her instead of Shippo since he was only a kid and her master took some kind of sickened pleasure in watching her suffer, but this time she failed. Shippo had a fever and couldn't work, her master then decided that keeping the kitsune alive wasn't worth it anymore and tried to kill him.
Kagome didn't think, when she saw the devil incarnate reaching for the kit she had come to treat as her own son with a knife on his hand and a murderous glint in his eyes, she snapped. In a moment he was trying to kill the kit, which slept oblivious to the dangers outside, and in the next second Kagome had a torch in her hands and Onigumo laid on the floor with a pool of blood around his head. She didn't have time to think, as soon as she heard the commotion outside caused by the sound of her master's scream, she picked Shippo off the ground and decided to put an end to this.
She wasn't going to stay alive for too long if the soldiers saw what she did so she might as well try to escape with a grand finale. Setting her master's clothes on fire, she held the young youkai closer to her body and started to run like a mad woman, pushing everyone out of her way and either setting their clothes on fire or hitting them with the torch if they tried to stop her.
She managed to escape the abandoned castle that way and now, she didn't know for how long she had been running. It might as well be for hours since she couldn't properly feel her arms and legs anymore and it was getting harder to keep her eyes focused on the hill in front of her. The woods now stood far behind her as she ran with more ease because there were no more trees or rocks to try to knock her down, instead, the path around her had nothing more than colorful flowers and she would probably have appreciated the view if she wasn't so busy trying to not to die.
Her vision darkened around the edges and Kagome found it difficult to think clearly, it was then that she tripped over something and fell on her back, her body aching in pain from the impact and her vision becoming completely taken by the darkness.
''Lady, are you okay? Rin is sorry for being in your way," Kagome heard the squeaky voice of a girl as she felt tiny hands brushing her bangs out of her face. ''Sesshoumaru-sama! Please help Rin!" The same voice screamed at the top of her lungs and the woman cringed, it was way too loud for her fragile body deal with.
The black spots started to fade away as the stars in the dark blue sky came into view, and Kagome wondered if this would be the last time she would see the moon. This thought suddenly making her eyes widen as she heard the yells of the soldiers coming closer.
Quickly getting up and ignoring the dizziness that took over her body, the woman looked at the way she came and her heart started beating faster in fear when she saw at least twenty soldiers running towards her, a murderous look glued to each face. They wanted vengeance, and she knew it was over for her.
Realizing that now she not only had the kitsune to take care of but a little girl too, Kagome acted fast. Giving the little youkai to the young girl, the woman held her chubby face in her hands and whispered.
''They are coming for me, you must run. Please take my son away, I beg you to save him!"
Rin looked at the woman with bright blue eyes in front of her confused. It was clear that she needed help, her kimono was all torn, she looked unhealthily pale and thin and her hands were way too cold, a clear sign of sickness.
''Lady, you're not well.'' The little girl frowned and Kagome managed to smile slightly despite the fear that was taking over her body.
''I know honey, but I need you to run away right now or else you'll die too and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. Please tell my son that I love him and did all this to see him happy and free,'' Kagome spoke as she turned to look at the woods and saw that they were almost reaching her, if the girl didn't run now she wouldn't be able to escape. ''Run, please, let me save at least someone so I can die feeling that my life was not wasted!" The woman screamed as she pushed the girl, trying to make her move but with no avail.
Rin noticed the angry men right behind the nice woman and her heart clenched in pain when she noticed that her fingers were shaking in fear, she couldn't let the Lady die there. Taking a small step back and holding the older woman's hand, Rin smiled as she hugged the kitsune closer to her tiny body and took a deep breath, the woman's despair growing as she noticed that the girl wouldn't obey her anytime soon.
Before Kagome could tell her to run again, Rin opened her mouth and let out an earth-shattering scream that made the older woman's eyes widen in surprise. ''Sesshoumaru-sama!''
As if the name was the answer to all of her problems, something that looked awfully a lot like lighting to Kagome struck down the ground in front of her, making the wind blow her hair violently. For a while, the woman saw absolutely nothing and considered blindly running away since the distraction was good enough to give her some seconds of advantage and maybe make her able to escape alive.
She wasn't quick enough though and as soon as she opened her eyes, she saw the last thing she expected to see: a daiyoukai. Kagome froze in place as his golden eyes stared right into hers, narrowing a little and making the woman stop breathing because she hadn't seen anyone that looked so deadly in a long time.
He stood proudly in front of her with two magenta stripes on each cheek, a crescent moon was gently placed on his forehead and contrasted with his snow white pale skin. His hair had an entire category of its own, and was the purest silver color she ever saw. She didn't even need to mention anything about his towering height or the fact that he had two swords on his hip, there was no doubt he could kill her in a blink of the eyes.
Looking confused, the woman was completely lost for she didn't know who she should fear: the soldiers that wanted her head or this demon that appeared out of the blue. Honestly speaking, he looked way more dangerous than Onigumo's men but when she saw him glancing at the girl that let her hand go and now held his, she realized that he wouldn't kill her.
Not right now, at least.
''Sesshoumaru-sama! These bad guys threatened Rin and they want to kill the nice Lady who tried to help me run away from them!" The innocent girl said as she made a scared face, making Kagome's eyes widen in surprise at her lie.
This little human girl had just lied with a straight face to a youkai, Kagome simply couldn't believe it. Said youkai narrowed his eyes at the girl before he flexed his claws, gently pulling his hand away from her grasp and turning to look at the soldiers, who were frozen in place at the sight of their unexpected visitor.
The little girl winked at Kagome before she held the woman's hands in hers. ''Don't worry nice Lady, Sesshoumaru-sama is the strongest inuyoukai in this world, he'll keep us safe!" She said with such conviction and trust that Kagome had no choice but to believe in her as she stared at her savior's back, noticing a huge amount of what seemed to be pelt that was wrapped over his shoulder and wondering what was the use of that.
A tension filled silence took over the place and after a while, the general snapped. ''Get out of our way demon! You're obviously outnumbered so give us the woman and the brat or die while trying to protect them!"
Silently assuming that the brat was Rin, Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed before his mouth twitched up a little, making some soldiers freeze in place at the terrifying sight of the smirking demon. The general was not surprised though, and scowled at the annoying creature that stood in their way. ''Move demon, we do not have time to waste!"
Kagome didn't know the little girl, much less the daiyoukai, but she had a feeling that he wouldn't be the one dying. Squeezing the girl's hand, Kagome gave Shippo's head a pat and moved them back a little, realizing that the youkai would act soon.
The woman was right for Sesshoumaru-sama, as the girl called him, was standing in front of her a second ago and suddenly was facing the general. Eyes widening in surprise, the man ordered his soldiers to attack him and Kagome watched in awe the scene that played right in front of her eyes.
The silver haired inu was probably the most deadly creature she had ever laid her eyes on, he moved with such ease and grace that made Kagome envy him for a minute. A green line that looked like a whip flowed from his fingers as he swiftly killed the ones that tried to attack him, and he had killed at least seven soldiers while none of them managed to get close enough to hurt him.
The general gritted his teeth as he glared at the demon and looked at his men, silently telling them to get the girl and her stupid kit as he himself would take care of the annoyance. His life was on the line, he had to get the girl and avenge his master, there was no room for mistakes and he wouldn't lose his life because a few warriors were cowards.
''It seems that my men are incapable of dealing with a stupid nuisance so I'll have to do it myself and punish them later.'' He said as he charged at the demon with his sword.
Rin cringed when she heard her Lord be insulted and realized that the bad man wouldn't stand for too long. Giving the shaking woman at her side a soft squeeze on the hand, Rin silently reassured her that all would be well soon.
The general's blade met air as the demon easily dodged his pitiful attacks. When the human charged at him again, Sesshoumaru held the blade in his hand and let the poison drip from his claws, easily melting the metal and destroying the weapon.
Meanwhile, Kagome was slowly backing down and pulling Rin with her as the other men charged against them, spears on their hands and cruel smiles on their faces. They suddenly got way too close for comfort and Kagome saw no other option but to pick the little girl up. She was about to run with what was left of her energy to find a safe place to hide the girl and her son, when a silver blur appeared in front of her.
The daiyoukai's silver hair seemed to be made of pure silk and for a delirious second Kagome felt tempted to run her fingers through it. Inside her dizzy mind though, she knew that if she wished to stay alive she needed to control her irrational wishes.
''I advise you to step back, human, unless you wish to die too.'' The demon's deep voice made Kagome's eyes widen in surprise and immediately follow his orders, the authority on his tone suddenly waking her up from her small delirium.
It was only then that the blue eyed girl noticed he had his hand wrapped around a sword and the general now laid in a pool of blood on the other side of the field.
''Close your eyes.'' The little girl's voice caught Kagome's attention and before the woman could ask why, it happened.
With a graceful movement of his arm, the youkai's sword sent a blast of energy in the warriors' direction, making Kagome's eyes widen in surprise when the bright light faded out and there was no trace of the humans left.
''I told you Sesshoumaru-sama would save us!'' Rin smiled happily at Kagome, making the woman put her down as she stared at the demon in shock, still trying to understand what happened.
Onigumo's men were dead. No one lived to talk about what happened and to where Kagome ran away. She was safe.
She escaped alive. She was free.
When this information suddenly made sense to her, it was like a switch had been turned on and she started to feel everything again. Her head ached badly, her hands trembled, she was hungry, it was getting harder and harder to breathe and her vision was starting to fade away.
''Rin,'' Kagome said softly as her whole body went numb. ''Please take care of Shippo and thank the daiyoukai for me.''
''What's wrong, Lady?'' The little girl asked at the woman's weird request. She was fine, no one would hurt her so why she was speaking as if she was going to die?
''I-'' Kagome struggled to form words in her brain as the world around her faded completely. ''I think I'm going to faint.''