Love Will Find A Way
By: Angel-With-Attitude
Chapter 3: Plan
o-o
The sun rose and fell in the sky, day in and day out. The silver moon went through its phases as the years passed. Ten to be correct. It had been ten long years later, when the princess and the prince of the East and the West had celebrated their seventeenth birthdays. And as part of the Eastern celebration, Lord Akio finally allowed Princess Kagome the privilage to venture out into the valley without an escort.
Ever since that one day when the two children had met Lord Akio had made strict orders that the princess could not leave the walls without someone with her. But finally after ten years of Lady Yuki trying to talk him out of the order he finally lifted it and allowed Kagome some freedom.
It was the day Kagome was waiting for forever. Ever since the day she met that boy, her father appointed an escort to walk with her through the trails near their land. Her escort was a chubby raccoon-dog demon that served her father. But all he wanted to do was talk about how him and his friends would go out and party. And he never wanted to really go for walks, just to go the edge of the castle walls and wanted to turn back. For ten years she had to put with Hatchi's laziness. All she wanted to do was explore through the valley.
And today was finally that day. Getting dressed in a simple short kimono, she stepped out into the bright and warm summery day.
Kagome gave her mother a kiss on the cheek and then turned to her father. "Daddy, you have to let me do this on my own. Promise?" He had always been protective but ever since she met Inuyasha he had stepped up on the fatherly guard. "Promise you won't send someone after me?"
Lord Akio thought about it for a minute. They hadn't heard from the West since that day in the valley and everyone in his kingdom had almost forgotten about the West but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was being planned. He looked down at his daughter who had grown so much and he suddenly felt a wave of calm and proudness as he looking into his daughter's eyes. "Ok I promise."
Kagome's face lit up with joy and she hugged her father. "Thank you so much Daddy, I won't let you down." She giggled and skipped off to the ledge that dropped into the valley. Before leaping off the ledge she looked back at her parents, not able to hide her joy and excitement.
It was so good to be on her own! Not having to follow a lazy raccoon-dog around or listen to his drunken tales. She didn't have to follow the trail that led around the castle. She could go anywhere she wanted. She felt so free!
She skipped the old creek she found when she was younger. She stopped at the edge of the creek to see little fish swimming around in their own little word. She saw snails and lizards along their travels near the water. A noise over her shoulder turned her attention to find a heard of deer grazing in the grass.
Smiling, she decided to head off to a part of the valley the trails never touched. She quietly walked by the deer, some of them moving in their shyness out of her way. She walked by the herd, heading to the edge of the forest, to see what hid in the tree shadows.
o-o-o-o
Meanwhile in the Western Lands, Lord Taisho walked down the one hallway towards the porch that overlooked the valley. He stopped on the dirt path and glared with deep golden eyes at the Eastern lands which lay just over the valley in front of him. He let out a small growl which was met by a light chuckle from someone behind him.
Lord Taisho turned around to see a figure standing almost as tall as him, long white hair flowed down his back, golden eyes of the same tint met his own eyes and white furred ears twitched atop of his head. When he saw who it was that stood behind him, Taisho's face showed that of a cross between a smile and a smirk. He walked up to his now grown up son and looked him up and down. "Today is the perfect day to put our plan into action."
The figure who was standing in front of him was noneother that Prince Inuyasha of the Western lands. He had grown so much in the last ten years and he was almost as tall as his father. His long white hair flowed down his back and almost reached the small of his back as his golden eyes glowed with determination - the innocence of a child gone. He also had the family's sword, the Tetsusiaga strapped to his side as his hands flexed as a habit, the bones in his knuckles cracking.
"The time to strike is now." His father announced as he looked over his shoulder to the soldiers who were standing there waiting for his signal. He turned back to his son and looked him right in the eye. "You know what to do?"
"Yes." Inuyasha answered as he crackled his knuckles again, his sharp demon claws glimmering in the sunlight.
Lord Taisho turned to two of his warriors and gave them the cue to run into the valley. They did so, carrying torches that were lit with fire. The two found a dry patch of grass in the middle of the valley where the West and East met. The chuckled evily and dropped their torches. The fire spread quickly and with their luck, the wind was from the west, blowing the fire to spread towards the east. The plan was going just as Lord Taisho had planned, the winds were perfect.
Father and son watched from the edge of their lands as the fire ate up the dry grass in the valley and made its way to the Eastern lands. The fire grew in the dryness of the air as the fire's reflection made their golden eyes deadly. When the fire had grown big enough, Lord Taisho sent Inuyasha out.
Watching from her garden, Lady Izayoi left out another sad sigh as she watched her son leap out into the valley. The scent of smoke caught her nose and turned her gaze over to the valley and saw that the fire was growing fast, eating up all the dry grass since there wasn't much rain recently.
"What were you thinking Taisho? This is only going to make things worse." She whispered to herself, a single tear running down her cheek as she wished to herself for the hundredth time that her husband's plan wouldn't work. If only the gods would answer her prayers.
o-o-o-o
After exploring the dark forest at the edge of the valley, Kagome was going to make her way to another river that ran by the valley. She wanted to explore the water, see if there were any animals that lived around the water. She was glowing in her freedom, humming to herself without having to worry about anyone hearing her. She was by herself, all by herself and she could go wherever her feet took her.
She was looking around in the sky, seeing the birds flutter in their journey to getting food for their waiting young. She watched as a young fawn followed his mother around, learning to graze the grass hear his feet. She was humming a lullaby to herself, soaking up the warm sun when her nose suddenly caught the scent of smoke. Looking up, her silver eyes wided and she gasped as the herd of deer and other little animals ran past her in a hurry. She looked past the animals and saw what they were running from; she then saw the huge tongues of fire heading her way.
"Oh no! This can't be good." She yelled to herself as she took into a run in the direction she saw the castle. She had to get home.
o-o-o-o
Meanwhile, Lady Yuki was spending the day in the warm sun, reading one of her favourite books while Lord Akio was pacing the garden. There were no scheduled meetings with his troops today and it seemed too stuffy in the castle. And though he wouldn't admit it to his wife, he was worried about his daughter out in the valley by herself.
"Don't worry, she'll be fine." She said and turned the page and trying to concentrate on the words rather than her husband. "There's nothing to worry about."
Lord Akio just grunted at his wife and continued to pace. He was about to say something to his wife when he turned around and something caught his eye. Smoke and fire. And lots of it. He could also see some of the local animals running away from the path of the fire. "No. NO!" He roared and ran back inside the castle. "Get troops together! Find Kagome! " He yelled through the halls.
Lady Yuki jumped up at her husband's roar to watch him run into the castle. Looking around her, she then spotted the fire raging out in the dry grass and ran inside to follow the black haired demon lord. Now there was something to worry about - Kagome may not be as fine as she thought.
o-o-o-o
All around her was red. The fire had caught up with her and the trees around her burned as the fire ate them up. She tried to dart around them and get away but the fire had spread so fast that she was caught in it. The tongues of fire licked its way around on the dry grass and the fallen logs all around as she tried to make her way out of danger.
Her heart pounded in her chest in fear, her breaths came out in short spurts. She tried to look all around and tried to make her way somewhere away from the danger. Her body screamed in protest for her muscles were getting sore from lack of oxygen but her brain told her not to stop, she had to get out of the fire. She looked around as she tried to find her way back home.
The heat was so intense and she felt her lungs burn inside her chest from the effects of breathing in the black heavy smoke. Her home rested on a rock ledge that she had to climb in order to get home and away from the fire. Hoping up the smaller rocks, her legs burned with no oxygen. Her head was getting faint from the smoke around her and the rocks continued to get larger as she worked up the hill. Pulling herself up one of the larger rock faces, she saw that no fire had spread so close to her house and allowed herself to stop for a moment.
Her breathing was too fast and too shallow to grab any oxygen. Her lungs burned from the hot air and every time she tried to pull in a deeper breath, it sent her into a coughing fit to try and rid her respiratory tract from the smoke in her lungs. She wasn't getting enough oxygen for her body to work and she suddenly felt lightheaded. With the urgency still in the forefront of her mind, she tried to get up but the strain made her suddenly collapse to the ground unconscious.
