Disclaimer: Inuyasha doesn't belong to me, neither does Beauty and the Beast. I know that this has been done a million times, but I'm not just dropping them into the Disney film or anything, I hope what I've come up with is creative and enjoyable so make sure to R&R! :D
Kagome brushed her dark hair out of her face and let out a long breath.
"I know I said I want to be a priestess, but that doesn't make this job smell any better." She said out loud to no one. Her mentor and substitute grandmother Kaede was a knowledgeable teacher and a loving woman, but any affection she held for Kagome had no bearing on her training; she was worked to exhaustion almost every day. The elderly woman had taken Kagome in three years ago after her mother, brother and grandfather had been slaughtered by bandits. Petrified, and alone, Kagome had fled the only home she'd ever known and eventually ended up in the territory of Inuyasha, the demon prince. From what she heard, she'd gotten very, very lucky.
The people here lived their lives in tentative peace. No one had even glimpsed him in over fifty years, yet it was impossible to forget that this land and everything in it belonged to him. There was no end to the stories about him. Opinions varied on whether he was worse than his older brother Sesshomaru, the demon king. Sesshomaru's territory was vast and he ruled it with an iron fist.
Kagome had never seen him, but he was rumoured to be a breathtakingly handsome man with long silver hair and piercing golden eyes. He was so powerful that demon armies were said to drop to their knees and surrender at the mere sight of him. Kagome had her doubts as to whether that was true or not, but she was certain of one thing; he was by no means a kind person, but he didn't waste time throwing his weight around. If the humans in his territory stayed in line, King Sesshomaru paid them little mind. He was respected and feared.
But Inuyasha was different. He was called the demon prince, but everyone knew the truth even if they didn't dare voice it; Inuyasha was only a half-demon. Constantly needing to prove himself, he'd thrown away every ounce of humanity he could in order to gain power. Anyone that angered him was never seen again. The last woman to incur his wrath, a priestess from many years ago had been fed to the wolves as punishment. In disbelief and horror, Kagome had asked what crime the priestess had committed, but Kaede said she didn't know and it didn't matter; the only way to survive was to stay invisible. His vassals were seen sometimes, they came around every month to bargain for food and supplied and collected the tithe once a year.
Kagome shook her head to clear it, she'd just remembered why she was doing this smelly job in the first place. Today was the day the prince's servants arrived to purchase everything from fabric to food to Kaede's specialty medicines. The one Kagome was working on, the one that had her up to her forearms in an herb paste that smelled like unwashed men was for disinfecting and healing cuts. She glanced at the sky, trying to get an idea of how much time she had left. She wasn't good at this on the sunniest of days, but when thick clouds cast everything in grey, she was forced to make a guess. Inuyasha's men usually arrived midday and asked for all the villagers to assemble in the town square. She groaned in annoyance, if she hurried she could have the medicine ready, but she'd have no time to make herself look presentable.
She would be the last to arrive. Jar tucked securely under her arm, Kagome made her way to the town square and pointedly ignored all the people that- some more discretely than others- wrinkled their noses at the smell of her. Let them. In their tiny village, she may have been the only single girl of marriageable age but there wasn't a one man whom she cared to impress. Priestesses never married anyway.
She could make out the long grey ponytail and hunched form of her mentor and went to stand beside her. Kaede chuckled when she approached.
"If ye had started that task when I first said…"
"Yes, I know." Kagome said irritably. "Aren't you used to it by now?"
"Aye. And soon, you will be too. But in the meantime," One of her eyes was covered with a patch, but the other one looked impishly around the crowd, "everyone else must suffer. Sometimes I wonder if ye do it on purpose."
Kagome harrumphed. This was a fairly common topic of conversation between the two of them. It wouldn't do for a priestess to be squeamish, and there was often little time for beautifying oneself, but Kaede couldn't help but find it suspicious that Kagome was never in a hurry to comb the tangles out of her thick black hair, or scrub the stains out of her miko robes. The old woman was convinced that her apprentice was actively trying to discourage male attention. Not that she blamed her, there was a reason the unmarried men in this village were unmarried. Kagome hotly denied such behaviour every time, insisting that she was simply dedicated to her training.
For such a pretty, kind-hearted girl that got along with everyone, it saddened Kaede to see that she didn't have any true friends. No matter how often she offered Kagome time off, the girl stubbornly refused to form any bonds. The death of her family ad affected her more than she'd ever admit, so Kaede did her best to keep her mind occupied.
The rumbling wagons and neighing of the prince's horses signaled the approach of his caravan. Everyone stood at attention, silent and ready. The wagon pulled up and two men emerged. Kagome tensed. They may have looked human, but no one was fooled; these two men were demons. Wolf demons to be exact, by the names of Ginta and Hakkaku. They had never harmed anyone as far as she knew, but you couldn't help but be intimidated by the feral glint in their eyes or the dried blood under their nails. Both wore similar uniforms of armour and fur pelts, but Ginta had grey hair with a darker patch in the middle while Hakkaku was bald, apart from the white hair he'd styled into spikes. Demon fashion? She didn't know and honestly, didn't care.
"Good people." Hakkaku said, "We are here for our usual supplies and will pay the usual price. But today, we are seeking something else as well. Master Inuyasha has requested that one unmarried lass be brought back to the castle with us. The girl's family will be richly rewarded."
The reaction was quiet but not unnoticeable. Husbands clutched their wives. Young girls hid behind their mothers. All eyes landed on Kagome and they inched away from her, leaving a wide circle around them. Kaede moved in front of her, as if her wizened body could provide any sort of shield.
"Please," she beseeched the two youkais, "Kagome is my apprentice, she will be the new priestess of this village one day, and priestesses do not marry."
Ginta approached with his arms crossed, claws tapping against his muscled bicep.
"But she isn't a priestess yet." He clarified, eyes daring Kaede to argue. Kagome got a sudden, vivid mental image of those tapping claws ripping into the old woman's neck for her defiance. She placed a shaking hand on Kaede's shoulder.
"I will go." She said, "Please give the reward to her."
Kagome bent down just far enough to meet Kaede's eye and took one of her wrinkled hands.
"I'll be fine. The money should be plenty for you to hire some help until you find another apprentice."
"Kagome, don't do this." Kaede pleaded. But they both knew she didn't really have a choice; what Prince Inuyasha wanted, he got. End of story. At least this way, Kaede would able to manage.
They hugged, holding each other tightly for as long as they could. A large bag of clinking coins was dropped unceremoniously at Kaede's feet and Kagome felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Time to go, girl." Ginta told her firmly. Blinking back tears, Kagome stood and walked towards the now packed wagon.
She refused to look back. She didn't want to see the poorly concealed relief on the faces of the villagers. Some might be genuinely sad for her, but most were just happy it wasn't them meeting this fate. She climbed into the wagon and sat in the little space she could find among the cargo.
I suppose I'm a piece of cargo too. She thought bitterly. The doors closed, and she was left in darkness.
As the wood rattled and thumped beneath her, Kagome was struck by the realization that she'd probably never see Kaede again. Drawing her knees up to her chin, Kagome hugged herself tightly and allowed the tears to fall.
TBC