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CHAPTER 4. KARI MEET SESSHOUMARU, THE REAL SESSHOUMARU
Kari awoke feeling groggy, with a pounding migraine. It felt as if someone were taking a hammer to her skull. Not very pleasant. Kari tried to rub her head, on to find her hands shackled to the wall. "Great, just great. This is just what I need today. I wonder if it was that damn Sesshoumaru that did this to me, I wouldn't put it past the demon. I wonder what the others are thinking right now. To bad they aren't here."
Kari sat up and tried to get the manacle off of her wrists, but it was no use. They fit snugly around her wrist, with no give to them. She was getting rather uncomfortable when the door opened to her prison. In walked the little girl, Rin.
"How are you feeling? Lord Sesshoumaru didn't want to do this, but he hates his brother, and is going to use you as bait." She told Kari, coming closer and unlocking the shackles. She then handed Kari a bowl of broth. It didn't look like much, but Kari was thankful for anything that she could get her hands on right now.
"So why did he take me then? I told him that I scared the others to the point that they are probably rejoicing in my absence, not looking for me. And besides, I only just met InuYasha yesterday, why he want to come after someone that he just met?" Kari got up and stretched. Unfortunately, when she stretched, her tail came out from around her waist.
Rin gasped and Kari looked down to see what she was looking at, and saw her tail. It was really pretty, really, like a fluffy white cat's tail. Though it did have a patch of black at the very end. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that." Kari said apologetically, wrapping her tail around her waist once more, hiding it under her shirt.
"I just didn't know that you had a tail, it is very pretty, can I pet it?" Kari couldn't resist a little girl, so she unwrapped her tail once more and let Rin pet it. It felt kinda nice, and soon Rin had Kari purring like the cat that she was. That was how Sesshoumaru found the two of them. Rin sitting in Kari's lap, petting her tail, and Kari purring.
"What is going on here, Rin? I told you to bring the girl some food, I did not tell you to unshackle her." He said, walking over and pulling Rin off of Kari. He gave Kari's tail a funny look, but other than that, ignored her.
"My lord, she would not have been able to eat if I had kept her shackled. I saw that she needed something to eat, and decided that she wasn't a danger to me. She's part human, and humans hate to harm children, most of them anyways." Rin told him, moving to get the empty bowl from the floor.
"That is acceptable then. Now, leave us."
"Yes, Lord Sesshoumaru." Rin left the room, and suddenly Kari felt uneasy. She didn't like that she was alone with this man.
"You, why are you here in this time?"
"Who wants to know?" Kari stood up, not wanting to look weak. She felt that if she looked weak in front of this man, he would kill her without a thought.
"You dare defy me? Who are you to question my authority over one such as you?"
"One such as me? You mean a half breed, right? News flash, I take shit from no person, be they demon, hanyou, or human, got that? That means that if you don't start treating me with respect, then I wont show you any respect. I am a person, not an animal. You can't treat me like such, since I'm not one. Now, if you would kindly show me the door, I will just leave and get out of your hair." Kari didn't take well to people ordering her around. She also didn't take to people that were rude to her.
"Ha, as if I would just let you go, you are going to be the bait that I need to lure my little brother here, to my castle, so that I might kill him. I left your sent on every place in-between here and where I found you. I cannot let you go and ruin the surprise that I have in store for him, my dear little kitty cat. And once my brother is dead, there will be no use for you. So you will die to.
No, I cannot let you go. Goodbye." He left the you in the room, and you heard the click of the lock on the door.
Damnit, I've really gone and done it this time, I always get myself in these situations, but I can usually get myself out of them too. Kari went over to the door and took a look at the look. It was a simple lock, easily picked, so Kari made one of her nails lengthen into a claw and picked it. Once she was out of the room, she walked down the hall, silent, like a cat. When she came to where two halls met, she peered around the corner and saw that it was clear. So she wouldn't get lost, Kari made a little scratch on the wall beside the hall she just came out of.
She got to a main hall, when she heard fighting coming from outside. She ran to see who it was, and almost cried when she saw Kagome and the others. They were all fighting Sesshoumaru, and Kari saw that they weren't doing so well. So she got the idea into her head that she would sneak up on Sesshoumaru and come at him from behind. No one noticed what she was doing until she was on Sesshoumaru's back. Again, she made all of her nails lengthen into claws and sank them deep into his chest. Sesshoumaru collapsed and fell to the ground, while Kagome and InuYasha came running.
"Oh my god! Are you alright, Kari?" Kagome asked, grabbing one of Kari's arms to help her up.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just glad that didn't take to long." Kari got off of Sesshoumaru and heard someone gasp behind her. She turned and saw Rin run to Sesshoumaru.
"Let's get out of here." Said InuYasha.
"I agree with you there, do let's." Kari said, walking to the gates of the castle, not looking back.
Kagome looked like she wanted to say something, but she held her tongue. She didn't think now was the time to question Kari about everything.
They walked on to where the group had made their camp the night before, when it was to dark to go searching for Kari. They all settled down while Kari and Kagome made dinner.
"Kari, what are you? I know that you are my cousin through our mothers, but I know nothing of your father." Kagome said, cutting some vegetables to go into the stew that they were making. InuYasha's ears perked when he heard Kagome talking with you.
"Dad was the last full blooded demon of our time. Despite what you think, not all of the demons died out. My fathers clan was still alive, but dying out because of inbreeding. Despite what you think, my brothers are only my half brothers. I am the last of my fathers clan. The clan of
the demon cats. Unlike InuYasha, I can change form at will because the moon's pull has weakened in our time. Also, unlike him, I can hide what I am from the rest of the world with ease, all except for the tail that I've had since birth." Kari allowed her tail to unwrap itself from around her waist. Kagome gasped when she saw it. By now, the others had gathered around Kari and Kagome and listened to the tale.
"So that's why he knew so much about the shikon jewel, huh?" Miroku questioned. The whole group had been told Kari's story while they were walking back to the camp.
"Yeah. It was his family's dream to find the jewel and use it to become humans so that they wouldn't have to live in hiding for all of their lives. Dad was one of the odd ones. He looked human, so he was allowed to go out into the human world to find a mate. Unfortunately the woman he chose as his mate was not a person that could accept a demon child, and dad couldn't go back to his family with a hanyou like me. They were uptight about the crossbreeds even though they wanted to be humans. Dad went back to live with them, but he visited me often, but then a disease went rampent in the little community that they had set themselves up with, and there were no survivors, not even my father. He wouldn't allow me to see him when he was sick, because he feared that he would pass the disease onto me. He wrote me letter after letter though, so I knew that he loved me." Kari told them, blinking away tears that came to her eyes when she thought about her dad.
"Well, for one so young, you have really stuck through it all, haven't you?" Miroku said.
"Wow, Kari, I never knew. I thought that aunt Shezo loved you. That's what all of us thought back in Japan. We never knew." Kagome said, giving her cousin a hug.
"That's the way mom wanted it. She was vain about her family."
"Well, that was an interesting story, can we believe a girl who's eyes turn purple when she gets angry? Or actually uses her claws to injure another person?" InuYasha said, looking at Kari expectantly.
"Whatever, I don't care what you think of me. I was just trying to get away from your idiotic brother so that I wouldn't have to die. The only way I could see a way to get out of there, was to injure him so he couldn't follow us after I escaped. I thought the two of you hated each other."
"We do," He stuttered. "But, what you did, it was kinda of weird. I've seen cat demons attack before, but never from behind, like you did. It was just so human like. Plus, none of knew that you were what you are."
"Oh well. We were bound to find out sooner or later. Sooner rather than later, huh? Oh, dinner's ready." Kari moved to the pot and dished out food for everyone.
"Wow, Kagome was already a good cook, but with Kari here as well, the food is just amazing!" Shippo exclaimed.
"You are right, Shippo. We won't have to worry about going hungry with the two of them with us. We are so fortunate to have three lovely ladies with us in our travels." Said Miroku, earning him a whack on the head from Sango.
"Don't get any ideas Miroku. I don't think that Kari or Kagome would agree to anything you have to say. You lecher." InuYasha said, taking his bowl from Kagome.
"Thank you. For once, you said something intelligent." Kari said, getting a bowl of the stew for herself.
"Wh-what's that supposed to mean?! I am intelligent! There hasn't been any proof other wise!" He stuttered.
"Come off of it, InuYasha. You are always doing something silly. It's no wonder that Kari would think that you aren't intelligent." Kagome told him. She moved closer to the fire as she ate, sitting next to Kari.
"B-b-but!" No one was listening to him, so he just jumped up into a tree and stared off into space for a long time.
Kari wondered if they had upset him, and thought that maybe they should do something to cheer him up. But she also thought that he wouldn't appreciate sympathy on her part, so she just forgot about it.
When it came time to go to bed, Kari jumped into a tree and settled onto a branch. She saw Kagome looking up at her, so she smiled and gave two thumbs up to say that she was comfortable. She settled down for the night, when InuYasha jumped in front of her and said "Watcha doin up here in a tree? I though you might want to be down on the ground, in a bag." He sat down and looked at her funny.
"I'm a cat-demon. We prefer high places so that we can sent the things near us. And if you don't mind, I would really like to get some rest, your brother is an awful brute." She replied. Kari kinda curled into a ball to preserve her body heat, but still she shivered.
InuYasha noticed and he jumped out of the tree and got a couple of blankets from Kagome. He jumped back into the tree and saw that Kari was fast asleep, but still shivering. He wrapped some of the blankets around Kari and some around himself. The nights were getting cold. The fight with my brother must have wore her out. Sesshoumaru isn't kind to the best of demons. I'm surprised that she even could get away from his castle on her own. That shows that she has talent. He thought to himself, as he watched her sleep.
He kept staring at her through the night, thinking about how she was able to hide her sent from him. That was nearly impossible for most demons, but it seemed that this girl had much more to her than what met the eyes. He had trouble keeping his eyes open, so he just fell asleep.