Well I'm back and really disappointed because I only had one reviewer (Thanks XxHisLilLoverGirlxX) and I'm writing this chapter just for her!
Disclaimer: I never will own Inuyasha…
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The Love Of My Brothers Assassin
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Kagome and Yuki walked silently towards the village closest to the castle. Yuki knew not to disturb the princess's thoughts after she has fought with her brother. The first, and last, time she had done that, Kagome had gotten so emotional that she nearly lost control of her youki and almost destroyed the castle. Her room had not been so lucky. It had taken months to repair the damage.
Yuki sighed and did a sweep of the surroundings with her senses, checking for any threats even though she knew there would be none. Where they were currently at was far too close to the castle for any bandits. There was a secure perimeter for a mile and a half and they had just crossed the mile point. The village was just another half a mile beyond the perimeter.
The phantom glanced over at the princess, who had a traveling cloak on and the hood was drawn up over her head so she couldn't see her face. Unfortunately Yuki could feel Kagome's anger radiating off her aura. Again she sighed. Would those two never get along? Perhaps if Kagome would be able to fight and defeat Prince Inuyasha he would realize that she wasn't so helpless—but no, there wasn't anyone who would teach her the basics even.
Another sigh. Yuki looked in front of her only to realize that they were about to enter the town. She drew in a big breath, readying herself for what she was about to do—
"I wish to see what the blacksmith has today." Kagome stated. Yuki let out the breath that she had taken. She was going to ask what clothing stall they would visit first and she wants to go to the blacksmith?
"What for?" Yuki asked. Kagome ignored her and walked forward past the main street where all the merchants' stalls were and turned left into an alley. Yuki followed her diligently. They walked forward until the alley opened up into a small clearing where the blacksmith located his forge. The clearing was warmer than the rest to the village due to the fact that the fire was kept going all day every day. If he were to put the fire out, it would take him a week to bring the fire to the temperature that he liked to work with, and that would be a week of work lost.
Kagome walked into the little shop connected to the forge and the blacksmith was in there conversing with his new wife of two months.
"So you really think we should?" He asked. He was a skinny man but not without muscle. His eyes were dark and penetrating and his hair was nonexistent due to the constant fire.
"Of course you oaf!" His wife had fiery red eyes and the same red had created her hair color. The two were like night and day. He was always calm and collected. She was constantly angry and disorganized. Kagome and Yuki giggled at the two, which got their attention.
"Ah, Princess Kagome, how nice of you to grace our humble abode once more!" The blacksmith bowed.
"You oaf, you know she comes in here often enough and she hates all that royal crap!" She turned to Kagome, "How are you Kagome?"
Kagome smiled. "Good, Mizuki, and yourself?"
Mizuki smirked, "As good as I can be living here with this oaf. Now what can we do for you today?"
"I would just like to see what you have this week."
Mizuki nodded and motioned for her to follow. She led them to the back room which was filled with weapons. "You can go ahead and look around and if you want anything just call." She smiled before leaving Kagome and Yuki alone.
Kagome started looking at the swords, which ranged from broadswords to katanas to long swords to every other sword you could imagine. Some of the swords were decorated and some were not, but none of them interested her. She passed those and moved to the bow and arrows. Still none tickled her fancy. Kagome had been searching for a few weeks now for a weapon that called to her. Kagome wished to learn to fight and she was determined to do so even if she had to do it on her own.
Silently the princess walked around the room inspecting each piece of weaponry hanging on the walls. Yuki became engrossed in the weapons and every once in a while she would pick one up and test the weight of the weapon. There were some rather large weapons which were surprisingly light and also some very small, heavy weapons. She couldn't fathom how such weapons were made but she knew the blacksmith, Kinzuka, was a highly adapt metal smith widely known for his famous weaponry.
Yuki glanced over to where Kagome was. For as many times they came here, she always seemed disappointed when they left. She had figured out that Kagome wanted to get a weapon but could not figure out why she had such a hard time picking one out.
"Kagome, why can't you—"
"Pick out a weapon?" Kinzuka interjected. He had been leaning against the doorway and was not surprised when the demoness had jumped. He constantly disguised his aura because he didn't want to be easily found. One could only find his forge if they knew the location, not by searching out his aura.
He waited for Yuki to nod before he answered her. "Weapons are not as ordinary as you think." He paused and Kagome turned to listen to him as well. "You may think that these weapons are nothing but pieces of metal, forced into different shapes, forced to be sharp. You may also think that there is nothing special about these scraps of metal hanging on these walls but you would be wrong. Every weapon that is forged is done with dignity, passion, and spirit. A weapon can be your best friend or it can become your worst enemy. A weapon becomes an extension of your body, used to defend yourself or the ones you love. With every weapon, there is a sort of spirit that reigns supreme in the metal. Because of that, one does not simply pick their own weapon, but their weapon claims them as its own."
Yuki stood in silence, awed by Kinzukas' speech. He had such passion when it came to anything that dealt with weapons. She could understand now how he was able to forge such masterpieces.
Kagome silently agreed. As she turned around to look at more weapons she went to take a step towards the wall but instead one foot got caught on the other. She came off balance and fell towards the wall, only to catch herself using said wall.
"Opps," she giggled. "Silly me, tripping over my own feet." She pushed against the wall to stand up but instead found her left hand slowly sinking into the wall. She looked over to Kinzuka to find him looking rather amused. Her hand finally stopped moving with a rather loud click and the wall beside that area stared to move loudly, swinging in to reveal a hidden room.
"It seems that you've stumbled onto my hidden room!" Kinzuka chucked loudly.
"Why do you have a hidden room?" Kagome became curious as to what the room contained.
"That room, Princess Kagome, is the room where I put all the weapons that are unable to be wielded."
"Why can't they be wielded?" Yuki asked.
"They are all weapons that I have forged. They had found demons of all kinds to wield them, but the demons have all either been overwhelmed by the aura of the weapon or they had died in battle and the weapon refuses to be used by another." He glanced at Kagome who was looking into the room with curiosity. "You may look at the weapons, though I don't believe you'll choose any."
Kagome nodded and walked slowly into the room and gasped at what she saw. These weapons were nothing like the ones in the first room. These weapons were all elaborately decorated, but even more deadly looking than the others.
Some of the weapons around her faintly pulsed, most were angry pulses, but a few—no two of them—were calling to her. She closed her eyes and let her senses guide her to where the first, and closest, pulse was coming from. It led her to a rack full of bows and arrows. Each bow was distinctly different from the next and had its own unique quiver full of arrows she had never seen before.
The bow right in front of her, the one that seemed to call her, was lethal looking. It was made out of dark brown wood and was rather large. The notch where the arrow would go seemed to be almost glowing as if it were on fire. Above and below the middle of the bow were five sharp, red spikes that looked like they grew out of the wood. At the very bottom of the bow were four red beaded stings with tiny skulls attached to the ends.
Kagome looked down to where the quiver was. It was made out of leather, but it looked like it was dyed dark to match the wood of the bow. It had been knocked over and she could clearly see the arrows. The tips of the arrows were yellow which faded to red in the middle, and then black at the end with the feathers. These arrows did not look like any regular arrows. They looked as if the arrow head, the shaft, and, yes, even the feathers were made from the same material.
Kagome reached forward to touch the bow, but stopped short when Yuki gently grabbed her arm. She gave the phantom a questioning look.
"Perhaps it would be best if I were to take it off the rack for you, in case—you know—it's a trap or something."
Kagome shrugged. "If it will ease your mind."
Yuki nodded. She grabbed the bow in what looked to be a safe area and tried to lift it, but to no avail. She tried lifting it using more of her strength, but it still wouldn't budge. After that, she sighed and gave up.
"I can't pick it up. I don't think it's meant to be held by a woman."
Kagome scoffed. "Perhaps if I tried to pick it up, it'll move. After all, I am stronger than you." The princess reached forward and picked up the bow with a practiced ease and looked at her companion. "How could you not pick this up? It's light as a feather!"
"No one has been able to pick that up in about three or four centuries." Kinzuka, who had been quiet up until this point, said. "I am quite surprised at this turn of events actually, although, I must warn you to be careful. Kaentakai is very temperamental at times." Kagome nodded, still gazing at the bow, Kaentakai.
Another, clearer, pulse resounded and reminded the princess that there was another weapon that wanted her. Once again, she closed her eyes and followed her instinct. It led her to a corner in the back of the room in which sat a katana, which by seemed as if it were just a normal katana inside a black sheath with blue ribbon crisscrossing along its length.
It pulsed gently which caused Kinzuka to make a curious sound. Kagome slung the bow and quiver over her shoulder so she could pick up the katana. Once she held it in her hands she could feel a slight vibration coming from it. She looked to the blacksmith to ask him what was going on, but it seemed as if he already knew what her question was.
"Unsheathe it. That's what it's waiting for." Kagome gave a sight nod before looking again at the katana.
Ever so slowly she pulled the blade out of the sheath and still it seemed ordinary, but once it was completely out of the sheath there was a rush of energy and light, originating from the blade. Kagome felt as the hilt elongated and twisted around her arm to about her elbow and the area where she was holding molded to be more comfortable for her hand.
The light died down and the two women gasped at the blade. It had intricate carvings covering every inch of it. The blade was wider than a normal katana but not by much and near the hilt, it was if there should have been two separate blades but at the top they fused together to come to a point so there was an empty gap between the pieces of metal. Each side of the blade was probably sharp enough to cut a leaf, midway to the ground without changing its path.
"It's amazing!" Kagome half-whispered.
"But I'm quite surprised it chose you!" Kinzuka laughed.
"And why is that?" Yuki asked.
"Because that sword belonged to a demoness a long time ago. She was the most beautiful demoness that anyone had laid eyes on, everyone lusted after her. She had many suitors, some of which were forceful, but they never got their way. She was well trained in the art of swordsmanship and no one could defeat her. Eventually she came up with a compromise: she would mate whoever could defeat her in battle.
It had taken two centuries for someone to defeat her, but she was graceful in defeat even though the demon who beat her did not want her for a mate for he already had one. He wanted her to produce children for him and his mate because his mate was barren."
Kagome was mesmerized by not only the beauty of the sword but by the story. "What happened to the demoness after that?"
"No one knows. It's not even known whether or not she had children with the demon. All I know is that one morning I woke up to seeing the sword stuck in the ground outside my front door."
"Oaf! Why are you telling these pups a fairy tale?" Mizuki half-yelled. Kagome and Yuki jumped, being unaware of her presence until now.
"Not a fairy tale, my dear, a legend. I knew the lovely Demoness from the story." Kinzuka replied calmly, having gotten used her sneaking up on him constantly.
"Yeah, so did I and I still believe she was a traitor!" Mizuki growled.
"Why do you say that she was a traitor?" Kagome asked meekly.
"That katana you're holding, it only works for those who are pure of heart. When someone becomes a traitor, they are no longer pure of heart, unless they became traitors to save lives—which I don't think is possible—so once they have been tainted, the sword will no longer work for them. The sword wouldn't work for her any longer. I saw it myself.
She had disappeared for about eight or nine months so I only assume that she had a child, but she never mentioned anything about it. About two months after she came back we were forced into battle. We were surrounded by dozens of demons and I saw her face. She tried to use her most powerful attack but it would not work. Her face was full of despair. That was the last look of her I had. More demons came in between her and me causing me to lose sight of her. I survived the battle, wounded and weary but she was never seen again. Two days later the sword was in front of the door."
"Oh, I see." Kagome said slowly. "What was her name?"
"We do not speak it anymore. It's a curse!" Mizuki spat.
Yuki gazed at the katana for a minute, finally asking, "What is the name of this weapon?"
Kagome closed her eyes and drew in a large breath. "Seiketsu."
Everyone turned to look at her in astonishment.
"Kagome," Kinzuka said softly, "how do you know that?"
The princess shrugged her shoulders slightly. "I don't really know. It just came to me when I first released it. I could feel the purity of the blade. It has no imperfections; it's pure through and through."
Mizuki laughed loudly. "Well I don't suppose you want to be waiting around here right? You were on your way to town so I suppose you need new clothing am I right?"
"Oh!" Kagome blushed as she remembered what she had to do. She had completely forgotten that she had to get new clothes for the company that would be arriving in a week. "How much do I owe you for these?"
Kinzuka laughed, "For the princess, no cost at all!"
"Oh! Arigatou!" Kagome and Yuki bowed to the blacksmith and his wife. "Good-bye!" They waved as they walked out the door of the room and disappearing from sight.
"She must be hers." Mizuki said lightly. Kinzuka was silent as they walked out into the main area or the forge. Immediately he spotted something. On his work bench was a pile of gold coins.
He chuckled lightly and replied, "It may seem so."
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A/n: Hoped you liked it. Please review and I'm going to try to write more but I can't promise anything because it seems that my muse has been shrinking lately. I think it was because I started college but oh well. Remember: Review. I accept flames and constructive criticism!