I'm working as fast as I can on the long, way too long, awaited sequel to Mind Games. I have no excuse for taking so bloody long. And Mind Games will under go some rewriting on a few chapters I was never overly happy with
Disclaimer: I still don't own Inuyasha , I just like borrowing him….and keeping his tied up in the back of my closet
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Arrows Fall
Chapter one- Waking up alone
Inuyasha woke in a cold sweat with a barely restrained scream that threatened to erupt from his throat. Bolting upright with his shoulders hunched, his hands clutched at the blankets until his knuckles were white. His amber eyes wide with fear, the pupils dilated to dark pools surrounded by a band of gold. Gasping for air, his entire body trembled violently under the sweat drenched robe and thick covers. He cast a glance around the darkened room in state of near panic, whining low in his throat. His damp ear flaps pinned themselves to his silver mane as visible tremors passed through his frame. He could still feel the hands on his skin touching every inch of his flesh, and hot breath in his ears whispering jumbled up words. His skin crawled at the memory of the touch…it felt wrong on some many levels. It made him feel dirty.
He sucked down several lungfuls of air, struggling to gain some control over his frantic breathing, pulling the thick hot blankets up more like a shield against the nightmare that was still fresh in his mind than a need to warm himself. His back and shoulders burned from the scars decorating his skin while his slender frame trembled violently with the after shocks of the nightmare. His rough dry tongue ran over his cracked lips, tasting salt and blood.
With a muted whimper, he dug his clawed fingers into his head. He had hoped that it would alleviate the searing throbbing pain exploding behind his eyes, and making his vision blur and darken at the edges. The pain burned at the back of his eyes for several moments before fading into a dull throb. He pulled his blood specked claws from his scalp with a soft sigh having grown used to the sudden flare ups of pain. One trembling hand reached for the wooden cup, he vaguely remembered residing on the worn wooden table by the bed, and feeling his hand close around it, he weekly pulled it to his lips and gulped the contents down. He coughed as his body tried to reject the warm stale water that tasted like it had been dredged up from of the bottom of an ancient well that left him feeling nauseated and thirstier than before.
With a sigh he set the cup down and stared hatefully at the blurred image of the stone wall, letting both hands drop limply into his lap for now. He knew the room was barren aside from the meager table and bed. A tiny window and a hefty looking locked wooden door bound in iron strips were the only way out. But the face, he had seen it in the few lucid moments between his feverish dreams of a woman with dark hair. His brow creased as he struggled to put a name with the face and found only a thick fog. He could still feel her ghostly nonexistent touch on his skin. He sighed heavily, dragging his fingers through his hair, feeling like utter crap. How long had he been in this disgusting dark place? The days seemed to have slipped through his weak grasp like water. It felt like a week or more, even his internal clock was at a loss to come up with an answer.
Inuyasha's dulled drugged senses picked up a strange smell over a mix of scents he couldn't place. Dry and damp stone mixed with rotting wood and stale water….and something musty that slipped through the still air like a living thing. He growled softly in irritation at the smell, not likening the way it stuck in the back of his nose and mouth, making the bile rise in his throat. He tried just breathing out of his mouth but then the dry rotten taste lingered on his tongue.
With a soft groan he let his body go limp and rolled on to his side, sweat glistening on his pale skin as he stared distantly at the wall. He lay there, wishing he could slip back into the dream world he had created just to get away from the pain, but he didn't want to see the strange woman who felt oddly familiar. Should he know her?
A dream, he thought bitterly, the whole fucking time it was just a dream. He was still trapped in a small room and now he was haunted by an image that felt oddly familiar as if he should know it. It shouldn't have been anything to get worked up about. But it had seemed so real….he could almost taste her on his lips, feel her hands on his skin drawing pleasurable sounds from him with each touch. The inu hanyou shuddered and stared at the blurry image on the wall. He grew more and more frustrated with the thick fog invading his mind….who the hell was this woman ?
The young inu hanyou rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, his vision slowly starting to clear. The female meant nothing to him, and yet she lingered in the back of his brain, slowly sinking into nothingness.
Inuyasha curled up out of frustration, unable to shake how real it had all seemed. He felt so cheated and frustrated. He should have known better, no one, especially a human, would ever want anything to do with a lowly half breed like him. The whole thing had only been the sickness and fever messing with his mind. The woman in his dreams was most likely just some village girl he had seen a while back, since the only thing he could remember was her. No other detail came through clearly except her and even that was rapidly fading away. He squeezed his eyes shut with a faint whimper, his bangs covering his anguished face. He couldn't very well stay in this damn bed, getting all upset over something he should have known would happen.
With a growl, he sat back up, hissing, as his head throbbed and vision blurred for a moment. There was no way he was staying in this place; instinct pricked at the back of his mind, and the fine hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He had a feeling that whoever owned this place had no good intentions towards him once he healed enough.
He swung his legs over the edge of the small bed, intent on finding his clothing and sword, and leaving.
The stone was icy beneath his feet, making him shiver lightly, his muscles turning to gel the moment he put any weight on his leg. Digging his fingers into the mattress, he forced his weary body to stay upright, the sweat trickling down his pale skin from the effort of standing. His injured leg sent a red flare of agony up leg, the muscles tensing for a moment, before giving out, sending the inu hanyou sprawling across the floor with a sickening thump. His fangs cut cruelly into his lower lip as he came down hard on his chest and jaw.
Inuyasha made a soft frustrated sound in the back of his throat, as he found it utterly humiliating to be so weak. Not like there was anyone to see him fall flat on his face, so it was some small relief.
With a groan, he tried to stand again only to hit the floor face first with a soft thump. He could taste his blood on his lips and tongue. He craned his head up at the sound of footsteps approaching, followed by the soft whine of the door swinging on its hinges. His vision clouded and all he was able to see was a slightly blurry shadow while a pair of strong warm hands gently griped his hips and pulled him off the floor.
Inuyasha let out low pathetic sound as he was lifted. His entire body trembled violently; he was in pain and feverish again. He tried to look around, his neck muscles straining, glazed eyes making out the faint outline of a large male before his vision faded into darkness, his damp silvery hair falling into his anguished face.
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Confused yet ? It gets stranger
