DISCLAIMER
I don't own InuYasha, nor any of its characters or original plotline. This is the remake of the original Chapter 2. Like the first one, I thought it sucked ass, with the constant changing of point of views, and as well as that I couldn't keep past and present tense APART... -.-; What was I thinking when I was writing the chapters those years ago...??

Chapter II: The Escape

Rin struggles as the man with blonde hair keeps a firm grip with his arm around her waist, basically keeping her tucked under his arm. "Put me down! Let go of me, right now!" she yells before shrieking as he picks up his pace and jumping over a small ditch.

"Shut-up, brat," he hisses at her as he then jumps a much larger ditch. "I'd drop you here and now and be rid of you, but Naraku demands that I take you to his castle." His face shows disgust when he mentioned the name 'Naraku.' He has no allegiance to this hanyou, for his loyalty only lies with his lord and master...

"P-please, just let me go... I want to go back to Lord Sesshomaru..." Rin's eyes start to fill with tears as the man ignores her entirely. He keeps his focus on the ground in front of him and the trees that he dodges around. The man that goes by the name Zikomo growls as he uses his javilin to leap over a large cliff-face; it's not the actual work he mind, but it's the fact that he has no choice or opinion. Master Cosmos told him to follow Naraku's orders. For now.

'Lord Sesshomaru... Please come save me soon...' Rin thought as a clearing starts to show through the trees.

"Man... I'd rather go to a village and kill some mortals, but noooo... I'm stuck with a brat..." Zikomo sighs in real regret as he starts to slow down, his right clawed foot digging into a log before leaping onto the stoned ground of the castle grounds. The air is filled with miasma, making Rin cough from the air.

"It's so nice to see that you've succeeded in what I asked of you to do, Zikomo," a voice rings out from the emptiness. Zikomo reluctantly drops to one knees as he keeps a firm grip on Rin's arm.

"I'm glad you're pleased, Naraku..." Zikomo said while keeping his eyes down to the ground. He doesn't want to look up at the filthy spider hanyou if he can help it...

"Indeed." Naraku walks out of the doors of the castle, making Rin cringe, but she can't move anywhere with the grip the blonde dragon man has on her arm. "Yes, you've pleased me by doing what my spawns can barely do. Now then, take her to the dungeon and make sure she's tied up well. I'm sure that our other guest could use the company."

"Yes sir..." the man answers as the hanyou walks towards another part of the castle. Breathing out loudly of his pint-up disgust, he then stands up and start to walk towards the castle, dragging Rin along. "C'mon, get going."

"Ow!" Rin cries as he yanks at her arm to make her walk faster. "That hurts, stop it!" She continues to struggle as he leads her through the maze of hallways. When they reached a very small room with a trapdoor, Zikomo uses his only dragon leg to grab onto the ring and pull the door up and open.

"Alrighty, in ya go," he said with little enthusiasm as he pulls Rin to the edge of the frame, then shoves her in.

She yells out in pain as her knees and hands come in contact with the packed earth of the ground, tears now spilling a little from her eyes. She hears Zikomo sigh in real annoyance as he jumps in as well, landing on the ground.

"I'm so sorry about that. Allow me to help you up again," he said with a slight smirk.

"N-no, stay away from me!" she said as she stands up and backs away from the dragon youkai. His smirk widens as she presses herself against the closest wall, considering she made the job much easier.

"Sifica nowel kagshinu dyc nua hodisailck!" he chants out, his hand that he just put in front of him glowing dark yellow. The sound of rattling chains comes to the girl's ears before something cold wraps around her wrists and ankles. Gasping in surprise, she finds herself lifted off of the ground and pressed firmly against the wall she was leaning against, two more chains wrapping around her waist to keep her secured there.

"I hope you're comfortable, 'cause you're stuck there until the hanyou decides what to do with ya," Zikomo said as he barks out a short laugh. With that said, he leaps up and out of the dudgeon, kicking the door closed.

"No, please! Don't leave me here..." Rin said, her words trailing as the door closes firmly with a loud thud. She pulls at the chains at her wrists for a few minutes before giving up with them, crying a little.

"Ack... What is with all the rattling...??" the girl then hears, making her snap her head up.

"Who said that...?" she asks softly, looking around. She hasn't adjusted to the darkness of the dudgeon yet. When she looks to the right side, she could barely see someone hanging by the chains.

"...What is a kid doing here...? ...Was is Naraku that brought you here...??"

"Y-yes... Naraku had me kidnapped from my Lord Sesshomaru, and now he's going to try and lure my lord into a trap..."

"Please do not cry... I hate it when kids cry..." the woman said softly. "Just... stay calm."

"A-alright..." Rin sniffles, able to stop her tears from falling any more. "...What is your name?"

"...It is Rose." Rose then gives out a weary sigh, making Rin wonder if she's okay at all.

"I'm Rin. Can you tell me why you're here, too?" the young girl asks, starting to feel a little better. She hates being alone and no one to talk to.

"Hnm... I was just passing through the territory... The guy, Naraku, then knocked me out and put me here... Supposedly to keep me from telling everyone where he lives at..." Sighing, Rose looks over at Rin, resisting the urge to cough.

Rin catches the sound of it, anyhow. "A-are you okay??"

"Yes... It is probably just from the poison Naraku sent into my bloodstream... I think it is starting to wear off again..."

"Poison?!"

"It is alright, do not worry. Someone like me could not get killed off easily by something so simple like poison... At least this kind of poison."

"Oh... Then you're a demon, like Lord Sesshomaru??" She can now see a bare outline of something that looks like wings on the back of Rose, but she still can't see well enough to be sure.

"I suppose I am like this lord of yours..."

Suddenly growling slightly, Rose snaps her head up to the trapdoor as it flips open again after a minute or so. Naraku jumps into the room, making Rin tremble slightly from the appearance of him. Rose only growls inhumanly at him, even though it's very weak.

"Awake again, I see," he sighs out while smirking a little at Rose. "Then it is true that it's only going to be an hour in the times you're unconscious. We'd see each other so often that it'd almost be like we're roommates or something like that." He turns his face to Rin, smirking even more as she whimpers. "And you. It won't be long before Sesshomaru comes to try and get you back, human."

"Leave her alone," Rose growls out, baring her teeth a little at Naraku as he turns his attention back on her. "She should not be here, no more than I should. You will gain nothing from holding the both of us here."

"Ah, but I would from holding the little girl here. You, it's your own fault for trespassing. I'll find something to do with you, but until then, you can just relax and sleep." Approaching Rose, he then reaches around and sinks his claws into the skin of her back, making her hiss out before she goes limp once more against the chains that hold her up.

"R-Rose!!"

"Don't worry, little Rin. Perhaps she'll wake up in an hour, but maybe not. As for you, you'll get to see your precious lord again, before I absorb him into my body." He disappears once more and shuts the door, leaving the two in total darkness again...

- - -

"Get in there," Rose hears as she was just starting to regain her consciousness once more, after about maybe thirteen hours of constant poison injections every hour. A thud of someone slamming into the ground issues nearby, and she keeps her eyes closed as another thud is followed, but much lighter. "Maybe ya'll think twice 'bout disobeying Naraku again while you're down here, Kagura."

'The voice... It sounds pretty damn familiar...'

"You really think that threatening me like that would scare me, little dragon?" a cool female voice answers to the male's.

"Nah, but Naraku would teach ya the meaning of 'scare' whenever he feels like comin' down here himself." Chanting the same spell from eariler, new chains rattles from a bit far off to Rose's right. Rose didn't even need to guess what the chains are for, since the woman hisses from the cold of the chains as she's hoisted up onto the wall beside Rose. Keeping her eyes still and her breathing steady and slow as much as possible, Rose can feel the presence of the male as he peers into her face, determining if she's unconscious or not. After a minute, he finally backs off and leaps out of the dudgeon.

"She is still unconscious?"

"Yes, Naraku." Rose can tell that the first voice is Naraku, while the second one, she's still pondering over as they both walk off. She can hear nothing more.

"If those two were any thicker, I might as well could have been dancing the macarena..." Rose sighs out as she finally lifts her head, surprising Rin and the woman named Kagura.

"So you are awake," the woman said pretty bluntly to Rose, both of the women looking at one another. Rose is surprised to meet red eyes, but she doesn't let that show."

"Been awake when you were thrown down here..."

"You're awake!! I'm so happy to know that you're okay now!"

"Quiet Rin, or else they will come back here... I am not keen on that and they knock me out again..."

"Sorry," she said much quietly, smiling a bit sheepishly. Rin looks over at Kagura the best she can, then back at Rose, her eyes showing much question. "Will we be escaping soon??"

"So you two are going to try and escape?" Rose turns back to the woman. Because it's so quiet in the room, Rose notices that she's only catching two heartbeats going. One is missing from the rhythm, considering there's three people in the same room, not just two anymore.

"We are. But what catches my interest most right now is that I cannot hear your heart beating at all."

Kagura gives a very weary and dark chuckle at that, being that she would like nothing better than to have her heart and her freedom.

"It's because my heart is in the hands of Naraku," she replies. "It's the only way in which he can control me. I need to have either Naraku dead to escape, or to get my heart somehow, and the orb, and escape..."

"Sound like a challenge..."

"...Lady Rose, can we be able to get out of here?" Rin asks after a few minutes of silence.

"Yes, just give me a few minutes to regain some strength.

Rose hears Kagura sigh lightly.

"You're both asking for a death wish. Naraku will try to kill you both before you could get to the barrier."

"And staying here is asking for a slow and painful death, so it is going to be that we go down fighting instead of rolling onto our backs and exposing our necks for his claws." With that said, Rose pulls at one chain for two full minutes. It finally breaks under the pressure of the final yank. Smirking a little, Rose then just use a claw to pick at the locks, first at her throat, then at the other wrist. The ones at the ankles, she just slipped her feet out of her boots, considering that the boots are thick, but her ankles are not. After getting the feel of gravity pushing against her once more and putting her shoes back on, she goes over to Rin, unlocking all of the chains and lowering the human girl to the floor when she finished.

Rose looks back over at Kagura as Rin also gets the feel of standing on her own.

"Is there anything I can do for you...?"

"Yes. Leave me here. If I do leave, Naraku would only cause me much pain by using the orb that is connected to my heart. So there really isn't anything you can do for me..."

"Maybe. Maybe not." As Kagura is left to wonder about her words, Rose uses the time to try and search for the presence of something that is Kagura. After a minute, she finds something pretty far into the castle.

"Lady Rose, how come you're glowing a little...?" Rin asks as Rose finally opens her eyes, smirking slightly. She finds that she can do something for the wind youkai.

"Just hang on for a minute, Rin," Rose said as she closes her eyes once more, concentrating on the presence of Kagura, willing the two to become one. After a minute, she then hears Kagura gasp softly. Her heart is within her own chest now, beating against her ribs.

"How... And why?"

"It is just one of my powers. I can will two separate pieces of the same presence to become whole again, since it is basically one way to heal and purify." Rose doesn't turn to Rin for a minute, since she's actually panting lightly. The usage of her powers tires her, which is one reason why she was reluctant on fighting against Naraku in the first place. "I know you and I do not know one another well enough, but I hope that when we meet again, I can give the orb you spoke of to you, since that will be what I will do first before Rin and myself leave here."

"...But with my heart now in my chest, wouldn't Naraku notice it missing...?"

"Do not worry about that. I had been able to leave behind a barrier with the image of it wherever it once was. I doubt he would think twice about it." Rose kneels down to her bag and digs through it for something. "Is the orb about as big as this?" she asks as she pulls out a small red crystal orb. She carries many odd objects in her bag, including crystals in many shapes and forms. When she feels like it, she shapes any gem she comes across into something, like a small orb or a star, something that could be able to be sold when she needs money.

Kagura blinks, being that she didn't think Rose could think of something to do about the orb that fast.

"Yes, about that size... But how did you get an object such as that?"

"It is called a hobby. Perhaps you will gain your own hobby once you are free," Rose replies with a very small smile. She places the gem in her pocket, then finally picks up her bag. "I will try to get the orb and switch them with the gem, but it may end up in failure. So I think it is best that you stay here. Maybe you can say that you threatened Rin or something, make up something that would suggest that I just left you behind without a thought about it."

"...Thank you... How will I ever be able to repay-"

"Do not think that you need to repay me. It somehow always end up with me doing something good for a complete and random stranger... I think it is just my nature," Rose said as she slightly fidgets from the word 'repay.' "Just play along with Naraku for now, until I somehow manage to contact you and let you know that you are free." Rose then pulls out a small object that she calls a lighter. "I will cause a distraction with something very loud, so you might end up getting a visit from the filthy being..."

With that warning, Rose kneels down and motions Rin to come to her side.

"You are going to be riding on my back, holding onto my neck. I am going to be fast to do the switch and the escaping, and I cannot really afford to carry you in my arms or something, since my arms are needed for right now."

"A-alright," Rin said as she carefully climbs onto Rose's back, trying to be gentle about the wings. Rose winces big time, being that her back is in more pain than she thought it would be, since all of the poison is always injected there. But without any other thought, she carefully pulls her bag over the girl's body after she pulls out a string of what looks like firecrackers and re-fastening the cover of the bag once more.

"At least this way, if there was any arrows or anything of the sort, you will be protected," Rose said to Rin with a small smile. She then looks over at Kagura. "I guess see you whenever you can escape and do not have to fear Naraku."

"Alright, just be careful. The castle is full of his minions and youkai guards of all sorts. No humans can survive in the miasma-filled air here."

"Thank you." With a curt nod, Rose then climbs up the ladder, slowly pushing the door of the dudgeon open after listening for anything that can be out there. Rin's arms tightens around her neck as Rose climbs out, places the door back down slowly and quietly, then starts to head down the hallways.

Suddenly getting that same feeling of dread in her veins, Rose smirks very lightly, being that she figured it would have been more difficult to find Naraku. Slinking into a room, she manages to find a way to the outside. Though she nearly poked her head out from behind a corner while a guard went by. She stands very still and didn't seem to even breath until he passes by and disappears around another corner.

"Hang on tightly, Rin, and do not make a sound," she warns her passenger before she gathers the muscles in her legs then leaps straight up to the roof. Rin gives a small whimper, but otherwise stayed quiet like Rose asked. Rose gets to one part of the roof and sits still, waiting some minutes before she can spot the guards. Taking part of the firecrackers, she quickly lights the strings in which will light the others and have them go off one after another.

'Fire in the hole,' Rose thought as she throws the crackers away from herself and Rin. In about ten seconds, the sounds of loud popping fills the air, making all of the guards suddenly go on their guard. As they move forward to investigate, Rose then spots Naraku coming out himself to see what the racket is. Smirking even more, Rose lights the last of the firecrackers and throws them near the guards and Naraku, them going off almost instantly. As Naraku turns in surprise, Rose leaps to another part of the roof, then to the ground. Just as Naraku then turns his attention on her, she charges forward and punches him straight in the face. "That is small payback, kuskoi," she said as she leaps backwards. Naraku can only blink a few times before smirking himself.

"I should have expected this when that fool said that you were still unconscious," he said as he wipes the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, wiping away the blood that Rose managed to get out of him from that punch. "Now you're here to get revenge? You should have just tried to escape, instead!" Naraku launches out a vine-like arm at Rose, in which she quickly dodges and aims a kick at his head. He jumps out of the way of the kick, but at the last second, Rose flips and grabs the back of his yukata (and a bit of his hair, since it's flying with the clothing), pulling him back as she lands on the ground. Using her speed as the advantage, she has him in the air and spinning until she finally lets go, sending him flying. She dashes forward as he lands on the ground, punching him once more in the face before setting off in an direction, stooping as though to catch her balance. A smirk is hidden as she runs as fast as she can, avoiding the guards that's now not surprised anymore. They wouldn't be able to catch her, not when she's running. She is the fastest being alive to run on the ground, and they would die of a heart attack before they can ever catch up with her.

Such a advantage to being the white cheetah youkai, even if she is the only one of the species.

Stopping when they reach the edge of something that Rose can only guess is the barrier Kagura warned about, Rose tries to catch her breath before looking at Rin.

"Are you okay?" she asks as Rin pulls her face from her back and the feathers of Rose's wings, looking up.

"Yes."

"Are you sure? You look a little freaked out."

"Y-you looks like you were going to keep fighting Naraku, then you ran the other direction. How come?"

"Well, for one, I could not really fight him, being that I was worrying about you the most. Another reason is this." Rose gently pulls out the orb she tucked into her pocket when she spotted it, then switched it with the gem when she stooped down as though catching her balance.

"Ohhh... You actually got it."

"I am personally hoping that he does not notice any difference, but I think I did an okay job with choosing the right gem for the job. This orb thing does not feel any different from the gem, nothing different in weight or anything."

"It's really amazing you think of all this stuff quickly, Lady Rose!" Though when Rin looks up at the barrier, she frowns a little. "But how are we getting past this??"

"Give me a minute to think, I doubt the guards are going to be here any time soon..."

Looking down to see if there is anything to kick, Rose spots a small rock. With a simple nudge, it bounces off the ground once before hitting the barrier. The rock then rockets past Rose's arm with much more force than she thought the barrier would give off. With a slight sigh, Rose moves forward, then hesitantly moves to touch the barrier herself with a hand. Instead of shocking her or anything, a small hole forms around her hand, enabling her to pass her arm through the barrier. Rose pulls back and looks down at her hand once the barrier closes. Though for Rin...

"Ow!" she cries as she yanks her hand away, when the barrier shocked her.

"Alright... Looks like it will only open for me, for some odd reason..." Rose said as Rin calms down. "I am going to hide you under my wings for cover." As she said that, she pulls off her bag, Rin in which instantly gets off of her back. Rose is silently thanking the fact that her back isn't hurting so bad anymore. She replaces her bag on her back, then picks up Rin, covering the girl with her wings. "Let us hope that this works..." she said quietly before walking toward the barrier. As soon as she is almost touching it with her horn, it forms an opening large enough for her to pass through. She and Rin both give a sigh of relief as the barrier closes behind them.

Rose suddenly looks back to see the herd of guards coming their way. Rin looks back as well.

"It is time to go," Rose said as she takes off towards the thick part of the forest. The wings covering Rin protected her from the wind that would have been otherwise stinging her face, being that she isn't used to such fast speed, like Rose is. Rose dodges trees almost like they were just part of a obstacle course. It really isn't hard for her to make a long, good distance between them and the castle, and now she's positive that the guards will never find them. At least not anytime soon.

For about five minutes, Rose is still running the speed she had took off, but she eventually starts to slow down, getting a little weary from the running. She doesn't have great stamina, in which she curses the most about being the cheetah youkai.

"Lady Rose, look!" Rin cries out suddenly as she points in an direction, making Rose halt quickly and look. There is a bear youkai, digging at the roots of a tree, roaring at something. Only Rin could see what it was in the first place. "It's a boy! The youkai is trying to get that boy!"

"What?" Rose looks to spot the little boy, huddled as far as he could underneath the roots of that tree. The bear youkai starts swiping at the wood, trying to tear the roots out of the way to get the boy. "Rin, I want you to stay here."

"B-but what if that youkai see-"

"I am not going to let it escape alive, Rin. I can smell so much blood on that youkai, which smells similar to the boy's blood... I am betting anything that the boy's family was killed by that youkai... And you are not going to be left defenseless here," she promises the girl as Rin climbs out of Rose's arms, looking terrified at the thought of being left alone. "Here." Rose draws a quick circle, then another smaller circle connected with the circle that's large enough to let one person stand inside it. Drawing a symbol inside the small circle, Rose then uses a claw to tear at her skin enough to let some blood drip onto the symbol. The entire thing glows, and Rose had Rin inside the circle before the glow disappeared, to have a small, purple barrier appears around her.

"Stay in this circle and you will be safe, no matter what. I will come back, just stay here." Rose then stands up and quickly charges at the youkai, hitting the bear in the head to gain his attention. He backs away from the roots to turn to Rose, snarling at her. He's pissed now.

"Why would you settle for a small snack, when you can get a meal instead?" Rose said with a small smirk. The bear roars before charging at her. Flexing her claws while they sharpen, Rose swipes at him, slicing right through the shaggy protection coat to the meat and bones. Cutting off his arm with a single stroke. He roars in pain and fury before he tries to bite Rose at the side. She merely jumps away, then jumps again onto his back. With that, it became a small rodeo as he tries to throw her off, though he eventually starts to slam himself into trees, hurting himself but still aiming to get Rose off of him. She laughs at his pitiful attempts, but when he starts to roll around, she jumps away, waiting until he was on his back, exposing his neck. With that, she jumps onto the beast's chest and digs her claws into his throat, holding him there.

"You should have left people alone," she said with a slight growl while holding up her other hand in his face. With little effort, she blasts a beam of light that is purely white, in which she calls Heaven's Strike. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Rin stepping out of the barrier and running over to where the boy was at.

"Are you okay??" she asks as Rose walks over, dusting herself off while looking back at the bear. She gives a slight bow with a hand in front of her face, her thumb tucked and just below the base of her fingers, while the said digits are straight up. She normally prays for the spirit for each enemy she defeats.

Looking back at Rin and the boy, she hears Rin ask again, but the boy says nothing to answer her.

"Please don't be afraid. Lady Rose killed the youkai, so you're safe now."

Rose walks over and kneels down next to Rin, peering into the dimness of the roots. "It is alright, come on out. There is no other youkais around to attack you."

"...A-a-alright..." the boy finally said as he slowly crawls out from his hiding place, holding his arm. As Rose examines him, she notes that he's about the same age as Rin, and about the same height as well. The only thing different is that he has a black tail that tells all that he's a inu youkai. His eyes are silver, and he's wearing a yukata outfit, that in which the top and bottom are blue and the trimmings and sash is red. They look royal, but it can't be said about it now - they are torn to shreds.

"Ohhh, you got a tail, just like Lord Sesshomaru," Rin said with a small smile, attempting to make him a little happier. "What's your name? My name's Rin."

"A-Astor..." Astor responds (It is pronounced Ah-star). He looks at Rin for another minute, then at Rose. "W-why did you s-save me?"

"I could not just leave you in that predicament, Astor. I just wanted to help you." Rose moves a little closer to Astor, her face showing concern at last. "Where is your parents?"

Her reasoning about the bear youkai killing them was correct, as Astor points over to the bear youkai fearfully. "Th-the bear demon k-killed th-them..."

"Oh..." Rin frowns sadly. Rose doesn't say anything, though her eyes flickers some sadness and pity for the small boy. "It'll be okay. I know how that feels, Astor... My family was killed by a bunch of thieves, then the village that took me in was all killed and eaten by a pack of wolves."

"R-r-really...??" Astor said softly, looking back up at Rin. "W-hy aren't you s-sad, though...?"

"I do get sad sometimes, but I'm with Lord Sesshomaru now. I'm happy for that."

"Y-you don't m-mean THE L-Lord Sesshom-maru??" Astor said as his eyes widen greatly. "T-the L-L-Lord of the W-West?"

"Yes, him!" Rin said, smiling. "I was taken by a man named Naraku, but Lady Rose save me this time instead of Lord Sesshomaru!"

'What is with the whole 'Lord' and 'Lady' titles...?' Rose wonders idly as Astor looks up at her in wonderment, apparently his shock wearing off from the bear attack.

"A-and then she s-save me, as w-well," he said as tears start to fill his eyes again. "Th-thank you again, L-Lady Rose..."

"You are welcome..." Rose said, resisting the urge to say 'Er' at the beginning of the sentence. Being called Lady Rose all the times is starting to get really weird for her.

As both of the kids continue to look up at her, she sighs lightly. "What had the bear youkai do damage to you at, Astor? We will need to get them cleaned and wrapped."

"M-my legs are r-r-really slashed up... I-I cannot even m-move, l-let alone walk..."

"Hm..." Rose looks up in the direction she and Rin came from. "I do not think the guards will catch up any time, but just in case, we will need to put some extra distance between us and them..." she said. Taking off her bag, Rin gets the hint right away that she's to climb on, so after she did that and Rose replaced the bag back on, she only winces slightly from the pressing against the wounds on her back before gathering Astor in her arms, covering him with her wings.

"I run extremely fast, so my wings are to protect you from the winds. You would not like your wounds to be stinging you right now," she said as a warning before taking off in a direction that she felt like it was the right way to go. Anywhere else but in the territory of the lunatic that is called Naraku... is her reasoning. 'Something strange is going on for the day, it has to be more than just saving two children from death...' she thought as she forces her lungs to take air in as she runs into the dimming light of the day-turning-night...