Inuyasha! A Feudal Fairy Tale!
Rating: PG-13
Author: PoF
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. It's just that simple.
Dedication: For Emily and Toth-chan, because they got me addicted to Inuyasha.
Summary: What happens when you mix together bits and pieces of Ranma, any fairy tale you can think of, Romeo and Juliet, and add in a crapload of Inuyasha characters! A feudal fairy tale! The plot's pretty self explanatory.
AN: Be gentle! I love Ms. Takahashi's works, but I've only seen a few episodes of Inuyasha! Hope you like it!
Chapter One: Once Upon A Time…..
Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away, there lived a young maiden. She had luxurious black hair, and dark green eyes, and was reputed as being quite a beauty. However, beauty is a dangerous thing to have in a far away land from a far away place, as people grow jealous and others grow possessive.
Then again, these things are often direct related….
One day, Kagome, the aforementioned maiden, was working in the garden when a carriage pulled up. She ignored it and kept working away, knowing that the only way the crop would grow was if she tilled the soil and planted the seeds.
"Why are you doing that peasant work?" a haughty voice demanded. She looked up and saw it was, of all people, Queen Kikyo. The Queen lifted her chin proudly when Kagome gave a clumsy curtsy. "Well… you've at least got good manners to go with your good looks. He'll like that." She sighed. "Maiden Kagome, I'm going to be frank with you. Your country needs you. In return for your compliance, we're willing to give your family a title and have your family come and live at the palace with us, where they will never want for anything else."
Kagome was impressed by her Queen's openness, and the knowledge that her family would always be safe was tempting, but Kagome had not been raised a fool. "I'm sorry, Majesty. I'm afraid I have to decline. I can't accept until I know exactly what it is that I'm supposed to be doing."
Kikyo suddenly smiled. The Queen was very pretty when she smiled, but normally she looked sad. The people of her fair country assumed it was because of the heavy burden of being a Queen. She liked Kagome's bravery. It was a good thing the poor child was brave, because she'd need that strength of hers for the path ahead.
"Are you aware of the current situation between ourselves and the demon nation to the south of us? Good. Then, as you already know, they are threatening us with war. Sesshomaru, the aristocratic leader of that country, has reached an agreement with me that will keep our lands in peace for many, many years to come."
She nodded, not certain of how she fit in yet. She'd heard how people like Sesshomaru treated humans, and was even more adamant to stay out of foreign affairs. But Kagome seriously doubted that Kikyo would have agreed to give him human sacrifices or something.
"Would I be
correct in assuming that you've also heard of Prince Inuyasha?"
"Sure," Kagome replied. "But only in rumors. They say that he's the sibling of King Sesshomaru, born after Sesshomaru's
mother died and the old king remarried to a human. They say he has his father's silver hair and
his mother's skin, so he doesn't have any of those weird markings like the
current king. They say he's strong for only
being a half demon, but he's taken out a few of the full-demons too. Or that's what I've heard. They say that because he was left Tetsusaiga, his elder brother was forced to give him the
position of law-defender, and that he doesn't mind a bit because he gets to do
a lot of fighting."
Kikyo blinked in surprise. She'd never expected that the rumors of the lower folk could be so accurate! She clasped her hands and regained her queenly attitude. "Everything you say is true. It is regarding Inuyasha that our peace treaty was based upon. You see, he is the only Halfling in the demon-country, and because of that, no demoness will take him as a husband."
She suddenly understood. The shovel dropped from her hand. "Eh?" She nearly face faulted. "You want me to marry Lord Inuyasha?"
"In a word? Yes."
She had to clasp a hand over her mouth to keep from going ballistic to the royal lady. After taking a few deep breaths, she managed to speak without raised voice. Her feelings regarding this news were hidden. "Why me?"
"Because of your assets. Rumors of your beauty have spread even to my castle, maiden Kagome. As a farmer's daughter, you are obviously not afraid of hard work. As the granddaughter of a priest, you have certain powers that can protect you from the other demons of that place. You are brave, and I have no doubt that you're loyal to your country. All these traits Sesshomaru has assured me Inuyasha will admire, so that we can hope to try and get a perfect match." The Queen sighed again. "Believe me, maiden Kagome, I wish that this task could have gone to someone else. I wish. . . ."
The Queen hung her head sadly, and Kagome knew what she was thinking. In a match such as this, it should have been the Queen's daughter or sister that would have been chosen to marry Inuyasha, but the Queen was an only child and did not have a husband to father a child.
Even if she did, the child might not have a grasp of the powers of a priestess, and would not be able to defend herself. The Queen realized she had put a difficult question in front of the girl who only wanted to till the earth, and said so. "Please, maiden Kagome, this is your choice. It is not, nor ever will be, a royal proclamation that you must wed Lord Inuyasha. If you do not want to, I will fully understand."
Her answer was surprisingly swift. "No. I won't, Majesty. I refuse to wed Prince Inuyasha." The Queen's shoulders sagged. "However, I agree to be engaged to him either until we both willingly consent to this marriage, or until a different agreement can be reached." She smiled gently at the Queen, her cheeks turning pink. "Would that help, Majesty?"
She began to smile as well. "It would, I believe. It would indeed. Very well. Kagome, please, make ready yourself. We must leave for the castle immediately. There's some paper work to take care of." The maiden went to curtsy again, but Kikyo took the younger girls by her shoulders. "None of that, Kagome. Please, call me Kikyo." She then gave Kagome a warm and rather reckless smile that would have made her royal trainers cringe at her losing her stoic façade. "After all, we're family now."
Little did Kagome imagine, however, just how literal Kikyo was being. She had just walked into the castle when lawyers began handing her scrolls to sign. Kikyo assured her she didn't need to read them and she should just go ahead and sign them. It wasn't until she had slept the night (in a rather large and comfy bed) that she had found out just exactly what had been written on the papers.
The drapes were flung open, leaving a tired and sore Kagome rubbing her eyes and blinking around the room. When her vision cleared, she found herself staring at a sunny girl with hair as dark as her own. She yawned. "Hello. Who are you?"
The other girl's smile grew. "My name's Sango. I was told to come and get you, Duchess Kagome. Or would you prefer just being called Lady Kagome?"
"Just call me Kagome. What do you mean I'm a Duchess?" she asked, gropping for her hairbrush so that she could start her morning schedule.
Sango blinked. "Oh. You mean you didn't know? Didn't you read the papers you read last night?"
"Reading? I could barely hold the quill! Let me guess, I accidentally signed papers that say I'm now a bloody noble, right?" Sango nodded and added that she herself was one of the 'bloody nobles'. Kagome felt her cheeks begin to burn. "Sorry. It's just… I didn't know that I was going to be made nobility!" She peered at the girl, and realized she was armed to the death. "You certainly don't look like a noble."
To her surprise, Sango laughed. "That's the thing about royalty and peasants. The peasant all think nobility are stuck up people who sit around on their asses all day, while the nobility all think that the peasants are all uneducated who are good for nothing but labor. In reality, we're all nothing like you thought other people are. I mean, I'm a noble lady: I never wear dresses, I can beat up some of the guys here in court, I've been trained in magic and fighting since I was old enough to hold my head up." She paused and considered what she'd said. "Of course, there are a lot people in court who say that I'm a traitor, and I don't really see how. . . ."
She shrugged, still in a pleasant mood, and tossed a dress at Kagome. "Anyway, I was sent up here to drag you down to dinner. So this is me dragging you. Put that on and then I'll show you how to get to the breakfast room. Although I don't know why. Did they tell you when it is you're moving out?"
"No," Kagome said, almost sensing a conspiracy.
"Night before the next new moon. Apparently Sesshy's even sending his own chariot to take you in. I suppose he thinks that will stop bandits from coming after you."
"B… bandits?"
Seeing Kagome's nervous face, Sango explained, and tried to be less blunt this time. "There are a lot of bandits that patrol the borders between our kingdom and theirs. They… well, you know, they do bandits stuff. They steal from anybody possible, and kidnap whoever they get their hands on. They're the people Inuyasha and I have been sent to stop. Inuyasha takes care of the demon ones, and I take care of things on this side of the border."
Kagome lay back down in bed, staring up at the ceiling. "The night before the new moon. How long do I have to say goodbye to my family?" She rubbed her head. "Yesterday I woke up and the biggest thing I worried about was how much it might rain this week. Today I wake up and I'm engaged and nobility."
Sango only laughed. "Well, just think of what can happen to you tomorrow!"
The night before the new moon came sooner than Kagome would have liked. Her head pounded as she went to bed the night before she was to leave. For the past four days, she had been drilled repeatedly in etiquette and customs. Her brain felt like it was going to explode. She never wanted to see another etiquette teacher for as long as she lived!
The next morning she was already up and dressed by the time Sango entered. Sango peered at her, and didn't say anything about the bags under Kagome's eyes. She tossed her some fruit for a quick breakfast before they headed out. "It's not that bad," she confided in the girl she'd quickly begun to call a friend. "I mean, you're not even going to meet Inuyasha for another two or three days. And you don't have to marry him, remember? Look, it'll take us a day and a half to get to the border. It'll take us another day and half to get to the capital. It would take us longer, but these are demonic horses, we're talking about."
Kagome stifled a yawn. "I wish I had known that last night, before I went to bed. Maybe then I would have been able to get a bit more sleep."
The idea of getting into a rickety carriage made her want to cry. What in the world had possessed Kagome to do this? She'd had such a quiet, simple life before! However, when Kagome saw the carriage Sesshomaru had sent to pick her up, she felt a little relieved. At least it would be a quiet ride!
The horses were skeletal ones, floating a foot of the ground.
She turned to look at Kikyo, and almost wanted to change her mind about the whole thing. She wanted nothing more than to blurt out: 'I'm not doing it anymore! I'm not a priestess! I just a normal, sixteen-year old farm girl! Find a real noble lady to do it! Find somebody who won't make a mess out this! Hell, even take Sango if she'll agree, just give it to anybody else but me!'
The words were cemented in her mind when she saw the look of hope in Kikyo's eyes. The Queen was looking on her as a woman, a ruler, and a mother would. Kikyo looked at Kagome and saw hope for her people, a strong woman she could be proud of saying was her subject, and somebody she longed to have known years ago, because Kagome was, simply and foremost, a good person. Her beauty was not skin-deep, it radiated out of her, and that was why everybody who met Kagome loved her so much.
She only hoped, watching the two girls climb into the skeleton-drawn carriage, that Kagome's shining light would be enough to break the wall of ice around Inuyasha's heart.
For a day and a half they traveled, and encountered nobody. Kagome occasionally heard cheers from outside as they passed through cities or farm areas. The cries of hope and good luck made her stronger and weaker at all the same time. She needed to do this; but how could she do it? Sango helped to sheer her up at these times. Kagome even managed to fall asleep.
On the eve of the second night, however, Kagome was curling up to go to sleep when she got a sudden feeling of apprehension. The feeling pounded in her head. She pushed her blanket off herself and found Sango still wide awake, fingering a knife. Sango took a swig of alcohol and passed the bottle to Kagome. "You too, huh? Here, have some. It tastes so bad it'll wake you right up."
Kagome coughed when the alcohol burned her throat. "Ugh! That is horrible! I don't suppose you know what will get rid of my headache, do you?" Sango shook her head, and Kagome explained. "Every time there's a demon around, one that wants to harm people, I get a horrible headache. The last time I had one, a thunder brother was flying overhead. He was just traveling by, but I could sense his distaste for humans, and how much he wanted to kill us all. This one isn't all that bad, but they're close."
"I know. My nose itches whenever there's trouble around, and it's really itching now. We're deep in the bandit territory right now. At this speed, we'll be out of it in another hour." She itched her nose. "I only hope that the King was right and that nobody attacks us in the royal….."
The carriage suddenly halted.
Sango motioned for Kagome to be still as she peered cautiously out the window. An arrow thunked right by her head. She threw herself back inside, holding her knife in one hand and a boomerang in the other, crouching on the floor to pounce on whatever unlucky soul opened the door.
Kagome reach out under her seat and pulled out her bow and arrows. She notched the arrow, but did not yet draw. There wasn't enough room. She tried to ignore the headache.
The door slowly opened.
With a war cry, Sango threw herself at the attacker. Kagome, sensing something behind her, drew her arrow and shot, as dangerous as that was in such a confined space.
Her arrow struck the tale of a little fox-demon, leaving him suspended from the ceiling, his vibrant eyes watering. "That was mean! I was only going to take your money! You don't seem to have a lot of it anyways! Why'd you have to go and shoot me like that?" He pulled at this tail, whimpering in pain.
She felt awful for shooting such a cute little demon, even if he was a thief. She crossed her arms. "If I take you down, will your promise not to attack me?" The little boy only nodded. "No, I want a solemn, spoken oath that you won't attack us anymore."
"I… I promise!"
"And your friend? Will you get him to stop fighting Sango?"
The fox-demon stopped squirming and dried his cheeks, suddenly laughing. "Miroku is fighting the warrior Sango? You don't need to ask me. He'll stop himself! Well," he added. "He'll stop himself from killing her, anyway."
Hoping he was telling the truth, she stood up on the seat and pulled with all her might on the arrow. It came off as if it were nothing. She caught the demon as she fell, and smiled at him. He was kind of cute! Judging by the look on his face when she smiled, he thought exactly the same way about her. She inspected his tail, and the demon didn't mind at all, trusting this strange new girl completely. She closed her hand around it, and when she pulled it away, the tiny wound from the arrow was gone.
"Gee… thank you! Thanks a lot, lady! My name's Shippo! Yup! Shippo the fox-bandit!"
She was only half listening as she walked out the carriage door, wanting to see why the horses had stopped and what had happened to Sango. She blinked when she saw the skeletal horses were eating from giant carrots. The girl looked blandly at Shippo, who was smiling proudly and who had declared her shoulder as his perch. "I take it that was your doing?" She sighed. "Sango? Sango? Are you okay?"
Laughter filled the bushes, this one a kind of girlish giggling. Sango reappeared from the bushes, her weapons sheathed and leaves in hair. Her arm was thrown around the arm of a monk with darker hair a goofy smile. She itched her nose. "Hey Kagome! I see you've already met Shippo! This here's Miroku."
He suddenly let go of Sango and took Kagome's hands. "Lady Kagome… please bear my…. Ow!" He rubbed his head where Sango had smacked him.
Sango grinned. "Don't worry about these two buffoons. They're the good bandits. If there could ever be such a thing! But there's still somebody else around here. Would you guys mind sticking around for a little while longer? If you two were man enough to try and attack the chariot of the King, somebody else might be that fool hearty too."
"It's not fool hearty when you know it's not the King," a voice drawled. The gang looked up to find the infamous thunder brothers, the leaders of the King's own guard, floating above them. The one who had spoken had eyes that glowed red in the night. "We can smell your human stench from miles away."
Sango stepped forward. Shippo and Miroku, knowing they would be executed on sight if they were identified as being bandits, disappeared into the background. Kagome notched her bow as Sango spoke: "I'm Sango, sent with this woman by the Queen herself, and with the permission to enter your lands. You can see our papers, if you like."
"We don't care about no stinking papers," the fat one laughed. "We'll tell the King it was all a mistake. We'll say you got out of the carriage and took a walk to stretch your legs. That's when we attacked."
Hidden in the treetops, a gold eye slowly opened. He didn't want to come out, but he couldn't get any sleep with them blabbing like that!
"Right," the elder thunder brother agreed. He drew his staff, blue lightning clinging around him in the dark air. He grinned. "Eldest gets to go first, as always." And he threw done the lightning.
Sango dove out of the way, but Kagome remained affixed. She had never seen such power before, and was absolutely mesmerized by it. It was beautiful, and astonishingly large. How could she possibly make it away in time? She closed her eyes and let her arrow fly, praying that it might somehow save her.
"You fool!" someone roared. "Get out of the way!"
Arms wrapped around her shoulders, sending her flying from the path. The ground struck her back hard. The pain told her she was still alive, even as her eyes began to darken.
A cry rang through the air as the light from the bolt disappeared. Kagome opened her eyes and found somebody was laying on top of her. She could feel their heart beat through her own. His body was heavy and muscular, but comfortable. His breath was hot on her neck, sending the oddest sensations through her body. Her stomach felt weak, and her throat felt clenched. Her skin was in gooseflesh, but felt warm. Her chest brushed his as he moved, sitting up.
Kagome stared straight ahead, almost too terrified to move. Her throat closed up even more when she found herself staring at one of the most gorgeous looking guys she'd ever seen. His hair was long and black, as dark as hers and just as soft feeling. He wore red robes that looked as if they could have been woven from blood. His hazel eyes glowed with pride, but they were harsh and determined. There was a trickle of real blood running down his face.
"Those bastards!" he snarled, as if he were an animal. "Those two are gonna get it when I'm through with 'em!" He glanced down at the girl who was stuck under him, not the least bit aware of their previous, compromising position, or the reason behind the blush that had spread over Kagome's cheeks. "Are you okay?"
"Yes," she weakly replied. "But you're not." She lifted a hand to heal him. Her fingertips brushed his cheek. His skin was warm and soft. He flinched away, looking as if she had just slapped him instead of touching him lightly. Her eyebrows drew together, wondering what had happened to this human that had made him so jumpy about being touched by a girl. Or was it touched by another human?
"I can't heal you if you move like that!" she snapped. Kagome smiled at the strange boy. "Don't worry. It doesn't hurt."
He ducked his head, and she lightly touched his cheek again. After only a second later, she let go of him and smiled brightly again. "There. You see? All better again."
"It would have healed just fine on it's own." He pulled himself off her, again not seeming to notice the fact that he had just pinned a beautiful girl. He glared at her with those fierce hazel eyes. "Stay here," he commanded her.
Kagome normally would have said something along the lines of "I don't think so", but she stayed there, feeling too tired to really move. It wasn't that she was tired from healing or anything, she just felt tired. And she didn't know why. She began to peel herself off the bushes. The young man might have ordered her to stay here, but Sango was still out there somewhere.
He returned to find her leaning a tree, rubbing her forehead. Her headache was finally gone. "I take it the thunder brothers have left now?"
The boy arched an eyebrow. "Yes." His long fingers tapped the hilt if the rusted sword by his waist. "You were extremely lucky, lady. That show blew up your whole carriage. You must be a priestess, right? You heal me, and the arrow you shot somehow went right through the lightning bolt. It hit Manten in the shoulder." The man flipped hair over his shoulder, his back superiorly stiff. "Then again, with a mark that big, it's hard to miss."
Kagome managed to stand up, her back hurting. "I need to find Sango. She might have gotten caught in the blast. She might still be. . . ."
"There was no body else around," he suddenly announced.
The ground seemed to fall away, even as her knees landed on it. Sango was dead? No! It couldn't be! She felt his hands clasp her shoulders as he demanded to know if she was all right. For a brief moment she looked up and saw that his eyes were completely and utterly open. Then he blinked and it was gone. He held her protectively in his strong arms. She could feel the blood beating fiercely in his veins even through his robes.
"You're drained," he said, as if he just realized it. He snorted in disgust. "I should have known a weak woman like you wouldn't have been able to heal me and stay awake after all."
"No," she muttered. "It was… the arrow. And Sango. . . ." She felt tears run down her cheeks for the lost life of her close, though new, friend. She found herself being shifted in his arms, wincing in pain was his hand brushed her back. His arms supported her shoulders and her knees, and she was amazed when he moved them off of the bitch, further into the bushes. He carried her like it was nothing, not just in strength, but in respect to him having saved her life and he acted like it was no big deal.
She was even more surprised when he gently placed in her the shelter of a tree, and took off his robe, spreading it over top of her like a blanket. She felt her cheeks grow warm as she wondered if the handsome man was going to join her under it. But, instead, he sat a distance away.
Kagome closed her eyes and tried to sleep, but she was cold. Even under the robe, she shivered. Kagome half awoke when she felt a body slide in next to hers. She opened her eyes to see the handsome boy was slipping under the robe. His skin was cold to the touch, and his cheeks were red. She guessed that he had wanted to be the big man and stay up protecting her the whole night, but it got cold at night. Only a demon would have been able to stay out without getting chilled.
He tried to get comfortable, and was startled when the human girl suddenly snuggled closer to him. Nobody had even done that before. Then again, nobody had ever looked at him like a hero before, either. Nobody had ever looked at him without some level of disgust. Even of the eyes of his own brother were sickened when they looked at him.
Thinking that it didn't matter much, he let her move closer to him and he tossed his arm over her waist, holding her against him. She was nice and warm. If she said anything –if anybody said anything- he just had to explain that sleeping like that was the only way he could be comfortable. It wasn't his fault that he couldn't help thinking that she looked kinda cute or that her hair smelled nice. He put his chin on top of her head, her hair soft against his exposed throat.
There. Now she was fully protected. Still, he couldn't help but feel a bit of fear at having his throat exposed like that. If she was an enemy. . . .
The hero laughed mentally. This little human girl? Hurt him? Priestess, magical powers, bow and arrow or not, no little human girl could ever hurt Inuyasha. He settled down for the night, knowing that when dawn came he'd feel like himself again.