Disclaimer: So as you know, I own nothing related to Inuyasha. NOTHING.
So, I know I talked about this years ago, but I'm finally getting back into the whole writing thing and I decided to start simple with a fanfiction. So, faithful and new readers, welcome to the revamping of A Fortuitous Infatuation. I'm sure it'll be better than the blasphemy I wrote back in middle school during my weeaboo faggotry days. So without further ado…
- - A - - - F - - - I - -
She could feel him before she actually saw him. He was maybe a little over four miles away, slowed down enough by her head start and the wide expanse of the sea behind her. Even with the slight advantage, his age and experience was enough of a liability to her escape. He would catch up with her soon.
Her tapered ears flicked ever-so slightly backwards, catching his voice on the afternoon breeze.
"Milady, please come back! Your father only wants what is best for you!"
She couldn't help but to hesitate at his words, only for a moment at the side of an enormous tree. So it was actually true, she mused, her father did plan all of this and he had even sent her teacher after her! She frowned, but her thoughts were short-lived as she snapped back into reality at the sound of her teacher's voice. This time, right behind her.
"Lady Rei," his hand touched her shoulder gently. "I had hoped you would understand."
A pause. "Yes, I do," She moved from under his grasp and looked up at her teacher. A tall wolf demon dressed in a kimono of dark silks and furs, his mere presence was intimidating. Nevertheless… "Forgive me, Master Li."
In the blink of an eye, Rei shot her bared claws forward, striking her teacher in the abdomen and leaping backwards as he was sent sliding back from her. Though she put some distance between the two of them, unfortunately her attack left the older demon unfazed, his claws reaching out to grab her own in a flash and flinging her into a tree.
She didn't even have the pleasure of reaching the ground before he pounced on her once again, his forearm digging into her collarbone, securing her in place while the other dug into her chest. She could feel the poison slowly creeping into her veins and it wouldn't be long until he knocked her out.
"You must forgive me, my lady. I had hoped it would not come to this…however, I have my orders."
Rei grimaced as his fingers dug deeper into her flesh; she could feel something warm dripping down her stomach. Blood. Her eyesight was starting to blur and she could feel her heart rate slowing, it was becoming hard to breathe. "S-Shall I take a guess…by any means necessary, y-yes?"
"…Yes."
Li sighed, his grip on her slacking. This is what she wanted. As he relaxed his hold on her, Rei snuck her hands behind her, sinking her claws deep into the bark. If that was really how her father wanted to play, she was going to play. Hard.
"Fox fire…" she muttered, soft enough that Li even had to strain his ears to hear.
"What did you just...? Rei, NO!"
It was too late. He could do nothing but leap away when she suddenly became enveloped in the fire of her fox magic, cradling his burnt arm. She flung herself headfirst through the tree, using the momentum to back flip through the foliage and make her escape. She didn't manage to get very far before she felt the crippling pain from her abdomen. The bleeding was worse now; she could see the crimson trail she was leaving behind her. Li would reach her again in no time.
She glanced behind her, surprised and a bit suspicious that her teacher was nowhere to be seen. Then, she heard him again. This time, his voice seemed to be laughing.
"I wasn't expecting you to come quietly, but you've really done a number on me! Good luck, my lady, you are out of my jurisdiction and therefore you are on your own. I hope that you will not get into too much trouble. Oh, and I would patch up that injury. It looks bad."
Rei glowered in the direction of the voice, though a small smirk managed to find its way onto her lips as she turned to continue through the trees. "What a lovely thing to say. I'll have to remember to thank Master when I see him again."
- - A - - - F - - - I - -
"So, this is what he meant by 'out of his jurisdiction.'"
Rei dizzily plopped down next to a boulder, wincing as she clutched her chest tightly. She had bandaged her wound to the best of her abilities, but Master Li was thorough. Surviving this wasn't going to be easy, she was going to need medicine to counteract the effects of the poison. She looked around, looking for anything that could help to ease the pain. No such luck. She sighed, leaning against the rock and peering through the trees. There didn't seem to be anything around that could be of use to her and she had no idea where she was. Not only was she completely out of familiar territory, but the local flora in the area was unfamiliar to her.
"Betrayed, injured, lost, and it will be dark soon. This is turning out to be a wonderful day…" Rei chuckled, sucking in a painful breath.
She knew she had to keep moving. Staying still would slow down the poison, but it wouldn't help her condition improve. If she moved too much, the poison would go through her bloodstream faster, and that wasn't good either. Which way to die? With a smile, she stood, shakily, brushing the dirt from her kimono and proceeded to stagger on deeper into the woods. There had to be something she could use to help. Her Master would have healed her once they got back to the castle, but with what?
Looking around, she couldn't find anything that looked remotely familiar to what she had seen her Master use, but then again, she never really paid that much attention. Such a good pupil. Rei shut her eyes as another wave of dizziness took her, leaning against a tree until it passed while she tried to find a solution.
Master Li had done this to her a few times before, injuring her in some sort of way to try and get her to figure out how to save herself. "You're leg is broken, what would you do?" He would say, leaving her to find a solution. Sometimes he would actually follow through with the situations and injure her himself. Nothing too bad though, only things that would heal quickly and leave no marks. "His Lordship would be upset with me if his precious daughter was bruised in some way." Then, he would show her how to hide the ones she had gotten.
Opening one eye, she peered at the ground around her, trying to find the something to use, something that looked familiar.
"What was it that he used?" Thinking out loud was one way to get answers. "Good for….bleeding…cuts…poison, I hope. It begins with an A…A something."
She took a few steps, still keeping the one eye open, looking around at her feet. After a few feet, she finally saw it. In a small clearing next to a large oak tree, grew a wide range of flowers and grasses, but there was one she recognized.
"Agrimony."
She lurched forward, falling hands-first, and reached for the greenery, pulling up tufts of the flowers. She smiled and pulled it close to her face, smelling the sharp leaves. Perfect. She thought as she shifted through the grass for something else that could be useful. This was turning out to be her lucky day, along with the agrimony; she also found another herb for poison. She could never remember the name for it, but she knew the smell, a fresh, airy sort of smell.
Plucking the leaves off, Rei laid the seeds of the second plant down beside her and reached for the tree to tear off a piece of the bark. She deftly cut the flower into pieces with a claw and placed them on top of the bark with the seeds, mashing them together with a nearby stone. Once it was formed into a paste, she slowly pulled away the makeshift bandages from her stomach, sliding the lapels of her kimono aside, and carefully applied the mixture to it with a sigh of relief as the pain slowly ebbed away. When she was finished, she retied the bandages and leaned back against the tree. Now what? Her injury was fixed for the time being, but now she had no idea what to do next. I just need to find out where—
Her thoughts were cut short as her ears caught the rustling of leaves in the distance. She snapped her head in the direction of the noise, lifting her nose to smell the scents of her intruders. Dog…demonic…and humans. Two male, two female. I need to move. She snapped to her feet, reeling as she stood, eyes searching for a place to hide. She was in no condition to fight or run and was still going through the effects of the poison.
"-sure it's this way, Inuyasha? It's been hours!"
Rei caught the voice on the breeze. She had to move. Now. Slowly, she dragged herself up the tall tree behind her, scrambling to the highest branch to get a good look. She could see them now; they were closer than she actually thought. A half-demon? Interesting. She could see the half-demons' ears flicking gently as he sniffed the air, quickly approaching her position with the humans following closely behind. She shut her eyes as her vision blurred slightly, shaking her head. Focus, focus. What are they doing?
"I know it's around here somewhere. The scent of blood's getting stronger…" The half-demon replied as he leapt through the trees. The humans behind him seemed to be annoyed with him, but continued to follow him, making their way more carefully through the woods.
"What do you think it is?" The shorter female spoke this time. Such strange clothing… She turned to the taller one, a demon slayer by look of the garb.
"Well, Inuyasha said the blood was from a demon, so there's that. All we can hope is that it's friendly."
The man next to her laughed. A monk, his beads clacked as he laughed. "If we're lucky."
Rei shook her head again as her vision suddenly blurred again, this time making her visitors imperceptible. She nearly fell from the tree when an explosion of pain shot up her abdomen and into her chest. W-What is happening? W- This time the pain sent her tumbling out of the tree where she landed hard on her shoulder, her head bouncing against the hard dirt. She could hear the crack of bone as she landed, sucking in a cry of pain.
"Quick, over there, Inuyasha! I saw someone fall!"
Rei groaned, attempting to drag herself somewhere safe, her heart racing with panic. They could be like the ones Father talked about, only after my head for money. That wasn't about to happen. She dug her claws into the dirt, gasping through the pain as it continued to move throughout her body, dragging herself closer to the brush in the distance. If she could just get there, she could hide and maybe escape.
"Oh no," a voice gasped. "She's hurt!"
No.
Rei saw a pair of bare feet land in her way and cringed backwards, drawing herself up as best as she could in defense and protecting her wound with her hand. Though her vision was blurred and slowly fading, she held herself up to get a look at her enemies. She recognized the person belonging to the bare feet, sniffing the air for confirmation. The half-demon. She wobbled lightly as she glanced over at the others, unable to tell them apart. Rei knew they were the humans, but which was the demon slayer? She had heard of what they did to demons when they encountered them. The half-demon must be some sort of…pet to them. She was not going to end up the same way.
"Inuyasha, we need to help her!" The green blob said.
"Don't come near me!" Rei snapped, taking a shaky step back.
The humans took a step closer. Rei bared her claws and fangs, hissing sharply. She took another step back, this time falling hard to her knee in with a painful cry.
"We need to stop the blood, there's too much…" This time the purple blob spoke, stepping toward her.
Rei looked down at her stomach, lifting her hand to see it black with tainted blood. Her eyes fluttered closed as another spasm of pain shook through her, teetering towards the ground. She didn't feel herself hit the ground; instead she landed on something soft. She sniffed the air lightly. The dog.
"It's infected. We need to take her back." His chest rumbled in her ear as he spoke.
She felt herself being picked up gently and cradled in the dog's arms. Did I…get it wrong…? Nonononononono…
"….no….please…" She murmured. Then, everything went black.
- - A - - - F - - - I - -
"-asleep for so long. When do you think she'll wake up, Kaede?"
"I do not know, Shippo. Sometimes ye must rest in order to heal, it will take time."
"I hope it doesn't take much longer…"
"Time will only tell, little one. Come, she will need more medicine when she wakes."
Rei listened as the two left, the door flapping shut behind them. She waited until she could no longer hear their footsteps before she slowly sat up, cringing slightly in pain. She blinked slowly, waiting for her eyes to focus, and took a look around her. She was in a simple hut, in a human village by the smell of it, filled with an assortment of medicines, plants, jars, and a few futons including the one she was sitting in. A small fire crackled in the center, warming the tiny room. It was…cozy.
Why bring me back? She lifted her arms and looked down; examining the brand new kimono she had so graciously been clothed in. Opening it slightly, she saw that even her wound had been bandaged again. And save me as well… She shook her head, brushing away the thought. No. I know their kind. I need to leave.
Bracing herself against the wall, Rei shakily slid to her feet. She took a breath and proceeded to the door, pausing for a moment to listen for her captors. Nothing. Smiling, she left the hut and edged around its perimeter, all the while getting a good look at her surroundings. The village was a small one, filled with a smattering of huts and hovels. It was a simple place, filled with farmers and their families. An unassuming place. Just like they would have me think.
In the distance, Rei spotted the forest that she hoped she had come from. Freedom. She smiled at the thought and stumbled towards the trees, grimacing with discomfort as she dodged and darted to safety. Or so she thought.
"Just where do you think you're going?"
Rei faltered, spinning around quickly to find herself face to face with a red hakama-covered chest. Looking up, she saw the all-too-familiar white hair and canine ears of her half-demon captor. He didn't seem too pleased to see her, a look of frustration on his face combined with hands balled into fists on his hips solidifying that fact.
"Ah…" Her voice betrayed her, coming out as a whimper. She took a step back and straightened herself, trying to at least match the height of the angry demon. "If you must know, I am escaping." She said matter-of-factly, placing her own hands on her hips.
The dog demon's eyebrow lifted slightly in surprise. "Escaping?"
"Yes."
"You're serious."
"I am."
"Little bit ungrateful, don't you think?"
Now it was Rei's turn to be surprised. Ungrateful? Why should she be ungrateful? She was a hostage, being held captive against her will! Ungrateful? No. "Why should I be grateful to my kidnappers? While I appreciate the attention to my injury, I will not let myself remain a captive any longer, a slave to your whims."
"Kidnappers?" The half-demon crossed his arms and sighed. "Pretty sure we saved you, woman, so a little gratitude would be great."
Rei took another step back, bristling. "Gratitude?! Never! You kidnapped me, held me against my will, and are going to do who knows what with me! I will not let that happen!"
The half-demon sighed again, stepping towards Rei with a quickness that caught her by surprise and threw her unceremoniously over his shoulder. Ignoring her cries and insults, he adjusted her on his shoulder and begun to walk back to the village. "I can't take much more of this. We're going back; maybe Kagome or Kaede can talk some sense into you before you get yourself killed."
"HOW DARE YOU? PUT ME DOWN YOU BEAST! I COMMAND IT, PUT ME DOWN!"
"Yeah yeah, soon. Maybe then you can give us some answers."