I'm just throwing out these stories from the wazoo. I don't think I've written this much in forever. Not only am I working on my three current stories, but I have two complete chapters for my upcoming fanfic. Check it out on my profile!

WARNING: Change in rating. I have now changed it to M because of the mature adult content that will be arising in the next few chapters. For those of you who wish not to read it, I will provide you with information on how to avoid it. Let me know if that's a problem though, because if it's not then I won't worry.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Beauty Killed the Beast

Chapter Four

Of course, neither prince nor princess could foresee their parents' betrayal. They also couldn't foresee their danger. On their own, they have no one but each other. The Princess may have had a lot of classes, but none would prepare her for this. Who knew that the Prophesy would occur so soon? Who knew that their lives would all be put at risk? Because Dragons don't wait until the perfect moment, and by the end of the day, one will die.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Inuyasha shouted, glaring pointedly at his father.

In unison, Kagome snapped at her parents. "I'm a merger? That's it? Bye-bye daughter, hope you have a good life?"

"I couldn't do anything," InuTaisho answered coldly, giving a sideways glance at Izayoi. "It was made before my opinion."

"You promised that she was not to be my wife!" Inuyasha shouted.

Kagome was having similar difficulties. Her father rushed to her side and Naomi gave her a sympathetic look. "Kagome," she started, "you are meant to take the throne but... Souta is the–"

"Don't you dare say it," Kagome cut in fiercely, pushing against her father as he tried to gain a hold of her. "I'm terribly sorry your first child wasn't a boy. The horror, I know."

"It's nothing like that," Akira tried to assure her but was halted from continuing further by Izayoi.

She cleared her throat loudly and grabbed both Akira and InuTaisho. "We're making a scene," she said quietly. "We can continue with this discussion later – after the party."

Inuyasha growled and stared at her hard. "No. It cannot wait."

"Inuyasha, do not speak to your mother–"

"Save it." Inuyasha's harsh comment stopped his father from speaking further. It surprised him. Neither Inuyasha nor Sesshomaru would ever speak against him.

Kagome felt like she was going to explode. Her temper was flying inside her mind and her mouth was tight with the words she wanted to say but couldn't. Her breath was coming in short and while her parents exchanged looks, she wanted to run away, far away.

And she never wanted to come back.

"We'll talk about this later," Naomi told Kagome. "But it's for the best. You two are both so cute. You look so happy together and...with the Prophesy coming to a head, Golden must come together."

"There's obviously nothing to talk about," Kagome hissed, glaring at both of her parents. She looked over to Inuyasha and saw that he was in a foul mood as well. His lips were set in a hard line and his amber eyes... They practically burned with hate.

Kagome's head was sure to explode at any moment.

And that's when it did.

A force so strong and powerful knocked her forwards, and tripping on her dress she fell to the ground. Her mother was in a crumpled heap beside her and her father. She grasped for a hold to help her up and stared wide-eyed as brick and stone lay beside her in crumbles.

It wasn't her head that exploded – it was the wall behind her.

Instinct took over as she whipped around, forcing her body from the ground so fast she almost fell again from tripping on her dress. Inuyasha stood beside her with his father, who held Izayoi with one arm. It was clear the explosion knocked mainly everyone over. Humans were screaming, demons were roaring but louder than that, a dragon was laughing.

A yellow dragon with scales that gleamed almost gold crouched in front of them, his face peering in the hole he created. His chuckled vibrated throughout the palace and guests huddled in the far back, as far away from the dragon as possible.

"Did I ruin your fun?" The dragon seemed to laugh at his own inside joke and he ran a large claw along the shattered stone to open the hole more. "Oh, I apologize. My deepest condolences."

He laughed again. "I don't suppose you know who I am."

InuTaisho stood forward, pushing Izayoi who was shaking in fear behind him. "Ryukotsusei. They told me this day would come."

The dragon burst out into a fit of laughter, his bark letting out random spurts of fire. The dirtiest smell of brimstone engulfed the room. When his laughter was finished, he gave what appeared to be a smile.

Kagome inched closer to Inuyasha, turning her head ever so slightly to read his reaction. He was looking at her with a determined expression on his face. She was so shaken that she didn't know what to do. Her father was now a distance from her, holding her mother that seemed to be having trouble standing. She needed someone there. Slowly, Kagome held out her hand, palm upwards.

Inuyasha took it, looking down at her shaking hand.

And that's when he saw it.

"What is that?" Inuyasha whispered, his eyes glued to the red mark on the back side of her wrist. "Is that...a moon?"

"I was burned when our home was attacked," Kagome whispered back, pulling her hand away as if the idea of touching him was hazardous.

Inuyasha swallowed hard. Everything was slowly piecing together, and he didn't like the outcome. The crescent moon shape on her wrist was by far the oddest mark he'd ever seen, and with him – the only half-breed in existence – being clearly a rebel to the broken rule of mixed breeding, he was the dissenter.

Life was definitely kicking him in the ass.

"We're coming," the dragon hissed wickedly, his golden eyes piercing. "And you are all going to die."

The earth trembled and screams pierced the sky. People were running, trying to escape with their lives.

"Inuyasha," Izayoi cried, grabbing him fiercely. "Take Kagome a run. Get away from here. Now."

"But–"

Izayoi gave him a shove into Kagome's direction and nodded towards Kagome's parents. They understood.

"I can't leave," Kagome yelled, looking at her parents desperately. "Come with me. We have to hurry."

"Inuyasha, get her out of here!" Naomi screamed, her face already streaked with tears. "Now!"

Another wall of the palace exploded and a roar could be heard. It sounded like a bitter chuckle that only intensified with the screams of guests.

"The Prophesy is now!" Ryukotsusei roared loudly, his large body entering the room with his head forcing the ceiling to cave. "What was ours will be again!"

Kagome didn't even have time to fight. Without a word, Inuyasha grabbed her waist and threw her onto his back. She clung onto his neck tightly, her legs trying to wrap themselves around his body but failing due to the skirt of the dress.

"Dammit," Inuyasha cursed, reaching around the back of him to hold her up. He ran through the palace halls, finally making his escape through a back entrance.

"Let me go, you bastard! Let me go!" Kagome screamed, though she made no move to loosen her grip on his neck. She had just left her parents behind. Would they even survive?

"They'll be fine," Inuyasha exclaimed, running into the deep dark forest. Night time had set over the land of Golden and a small crescent moon was their only light. "The guards will protect them."

"But what if–"

"There are no 'what ifs'," Inuyasha enforced, turning his head slightly. "They will be fine. We needed to get you out of there."

"And for what purpose?" Kagome scoffed, tightening her grip. "They married me off to you because they want Souta to rule. The oldest must always rule the Kingdom, but apparently not me."

"What the hell is wrong with me?" Inuyasha demanded. He continued to run and his breath was starting to labour slightly. Kagome's weight plus the weight of her dress wasn't all that heavy, but he was running at a fast sprint and he had been for a while.

"Nothing's wrong with you but they married me off!"

"Well it's not like I want to marry you," Inuyasha spat, shaking his head. He jumped up in the air suddenly, leaping into the trees.

"What are you doing? And you jerk, why don't you want to marry me?" Kagome shrieked. "I'm perfectly fine."

"You're a rebel; hardly a princess," Inuyasha explained, taking a breath on the branch of the tree he jumped in.

Kagome had a fit, twisting her body so that Inuyasha was forced to let her go.

"Stop struggling," Inuyasha seethed.

She didn't listen to him. Instead, she fought with him until his grip reluctantly let her go. Soon, she realized how stupid she was to fight.

"Inuyasha!" she breathed, feeling her body fall to the ground. She shouted, her arms flailing in the air. "Inuyasha!"

Arms wrapped around her when she was sure that she was going to drop to the ground. For a moment, she felt safe and unharmed but then, the wind rushed through her hair and she fell again. Kagome groaned, rolling onto her stomach and coming face to face with her saviour.

"You're not supposed to fall too," she complained, massaging her neck with her hands.

"You stupid wench," Inuyasha exploded. "You're not supposed to let go of me while we're on a tree branch!"

Kagome glared at Inuyasha, watching his amber eyes flicker. She could feel her temper rising and her blood boiling. How dare he?

"You were being an absolute dick! Why would I not want to fight you off?"

"And you're mad at me, why again? Because you disagree with the statement that you aren't a princess? A princess does not fight anyone off, hence the idea of a damsel in distress."

"I- You- Ah! Shut the hell up!" Kagome screeched. "I don't know what I am but you certainly cannot judge me on either of them."

"I'll do whatever the hell I want," Inuyasha scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Now get off of me."

"You cannot order me to do anything," Kagome said, her tone dismissive.

Before she could even blink, Inuyasha had his hands under her and threw her off of his body. She rolled in the grass for a moment before sitting up in a daze.

"I can't stand you," she hissed.

"Right back at ya, princess."

Kagome seethed. Without hesitating, she stood up and walked over to him. Her body was pressed against his and her head tilted up to face him. "So what now, Beast?"

"We keep walking."

"Where?" she asked.

"Well, I have perfect direction so when I was running back there it was in the North-East direction."

Kagome stepped back, shaking her long dress. "And why would you do that?"

"Um, the opposite of where we were?" Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Any other dumb questions?"

"Yeah, where are we going? You failed to answer me the first time."

Inuyasha thought about it for a moment. "Tonight, we continue the way we were going. I know a place where we can rest in the meanwhile."

"We're in the middle of the forest!" Kagome exclaimed, stamping her foot. "We should keep going."

"And we will," Inuyasha said, with exaggerated slowness. "In the morning."

"They need help!" Kagome yelled, shaking her head. "Why aren't you doing more?"

"Because right now I have to protect you!" Inuyasha snapped. "I had to give up my family to protect you because you are my fiancée whether I like it or not."

"Whether we like it or not," Kagome corrected.

Inuyasha glared at her. "I don't really care what you like or dislike. I was talking about myself. Now, are you going to come with me or stay here and die?"

Kagome growled but followed him, grabbing the bottom of her dress and carrying it. It weighed a ton since the skirt of the dress was multi-layered with heavy material. She walked behind Inuyasha with her head held high, making sure that she didn't stray too far. She knew that there were dangers in the woods and she wasn't naive to the fact that she had no means of protecting herself.

But she was still deathly angry.

A long while later Inuyasha stopped and sat down in a grassy field, turning to look at her. "You can stop cursing me now."

"I wasn't cursing you," Kagome said, yawning. "I was cursing this stupid dress." Her past anger seemed to be suddenly forgotten. Moody humans.

Frowning, Inuyasha followed her hands as she moved her skirt this way and that, until she finally sat down right beside him. Her legs were bent before her and her skirt flowed all the way to the long wild grass. "What's wrong with it?"

"The skirt is way too long," Kagome sighed. "It weights a ton." She gave him a brief glance and rolled her eyes. "I guess I'm not a very good princess."

"Oh? Now you listen to me?" Inuyasha smirked. His clawed hands picked at the grass around his legs, twirling the greens around and around. Then he stopped abruptly. "Wait, why did you suddenly start listening to me?"

"I've been thinking..." Kagome trailed off.

Inuyasha's mouth tightened to a hard line. Knowing his irrational, emotional human mother, he learned that a woman who'd been thinking was a woman that you didn't want to be near. You wouldn't hear the end of it for a long, long time. Maybe if he said nothing, she would give up on the conversation.

"Since my parents married me off, that has to mean something. I mean, I'm good at my studies even though I don't really try. I excel at all of my extra-curricular activities and I appear like a model daughter."

Inuyasha could feel that something heartbreaking was going to be said. And then she would cry. And then they would be in the same place as when they first met.

"But because I appear as something doesn't mean that I am so they must be worried. I'm not a model daughter. I hate dance lessons and spinning classes. I hate picking out jewellery and fussing over dresses. I like archery and horseback riding and I love taking care of the animals. None of those last things were...Princess-like. So I'm not a typical princess, which makes me a bad princess which would most likely make me a bad queen..." She trailed off again.

Inuyasha waited for the waterworks.

And he waited.

And he waited.

He quickly stole a glance at the girl, watching her eyes especially. They were a deep brown colour, he realized, like chocolate. The sliver of a moon gave him just enough light to see their surroundings. He could see the paleness of her skin, shining in the moonlight. Her hair was as dark as the sky, portraying violet brilliance. He watched her face and discovered, with great fear, that she wasn't crying.

WHY WASN'T SHE CRYING?

All women cried. It was a fact of life. So why wasn't she? She was traded off to marry him – the Beast, of all people – so that she couldn't be queen of her own land and now there was an attack on his palace that could mean the death of her parents.

But she wasn't crying.

Something was deathly wrong.

"Are you okay?" Inuyasha feared asking but felt that he had to. The puzzle pieces weren't fitting in the frame.

Kagome gave him a small smile. "Not really but I'm tired."

"Uh..." Inuyasha didn't know what to say. So she wasn't happy but she wasn't crying? Was that possible for a woman? "Then lie down and sleep."

"Aren't you going to get some sleep?" Kagome asked, resting her body on the ground and curling her arms tight against her. She turned her body to face him and tilted her head upwards. "You look tired too."

"In a bit," Inuyasha answered, roughly. "Go to sleep."

And so she did.

She felt the wind rustle against her long flowing dress. The smooth tingling breath of nature stirred her from her deep sleep and she woke up, frazzled and blinking.

First, a dragon flashed in her mind. Golden scales curled around her and the sound of bitterness filled her ears. She cried out, clutching soft stands in her grasp as she wildly looked around.

"Kagome, are you okay?" The rough, husky voice brought her back to reality and she turned to face Inuyasha.

Only to realize his face was right there.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome choked out, her voice high with panic. She barely noticed their close proximity but Inuyasha was more than aware.

Turning his head slightly away from her, Inuyasha groaned. Why did she have to be on top of him? "Kagome, everything's okay," he muttered. Morning was the worst time for any woman to be on top of a man because it was during the night when men could...relax their thinking. Unwind.

A woman on top only made the dreams that more real.

"Oh." Finally, she managed to realize the position she was in. Quickly scrabbling off of him, but tripping over her dress in the process, Kagome cursed. "Damn dress."

Inuyasha sat up and looked at her, noting things about her he wish he wouldn't. Like how her hair was absolutely wild; the tight curls from yesterday loose and natural. She looked like a woman should when they woke up: sexy and vulnerable with sex-hair to boot. A thought crossed his mind but instead of saying anything, he quickly turned is head. He refused to think of it further.

"What?" Kagome asked. "What was that look for?"

Goddammit, why did she have to be so perceptive now? "Nothing," he called in a singsong voice, irritation clearly laced.

"It was obviously something," Kagome sang back in her much higher range. "Tell me. Do I look horrifying?'

"Not at all," Inuyasha muttered, making sure that she wouldn't hear it. Instead, he shrugged his shoulders. "Your dress," he said simply.

"It's horrifying?" Kagome asked, hurt in her expression. "But it was my gift..."

Oh God, was she going to cry? "No, it's not horrifying!" Inuyasha exclaimed, exasperated. "You just seem to be having a hard time with it. You keep tripping over it and if we ever get into some sort of trouble then that would be a problem."

"Well you have claws, can't you rip it shorter?"

Could she read minds? How the hell did she know his earlier thought that he refused to think about because it wasn't supposed to be thought of!

"I, uh, guess," Inuyasha said roughly, trying to hide his pleasure. He just wished he had never woken up with her body on top of his. "How much shorter?"

Kagome gestured where she wanted it ripped and Inuyasha did so, making sure to take care of the edges so that the material didn't fray further. Any shorter and he would make good actions of his thoughts.

But weren't they engaged, technically? So he could think that, right? It wasn't bad because it wasn't like she was promised to someone else. And they were the same age. Well, he was older by a few months but that hardly mattered. If they mated, her aging would slow down like his so that would never be a prob–

"Are you okay?" Kagome asked worriedly. Inuyasha looked into her face and almost winced. She looked genuinely concerned for him. Besides his mother, what person did that? A demon father and a demon brother sure as hell wouldn't and other people feared him only because he was a half-demon, not because he was a prince. "You look distracted," she continued, as if to clarify for him his already tangled emotions.

"It's nothing. We should continue heading north. If we're where I think we are it would be much faster to get there than back home. Not only that, but home may not be safe anymore. King Hidaka would be able to help us get proper transportation back." Inuyasha made up a plan as the words flowed out of his mouth. "Once we're there, they should have at least some news of what occurred. I doubt my place is still standing though."

"Why?" Kagome whispered, as if she was afraid of the answer.

Inuyasha pointed to the sky, where dark billowing clouds filled the air. "Smoke."

He was right. Judging by the look of horror on her face, she had been afraid of the answer, and now she was.

They walked for several miles and by noon time, both of them were starving. Kagome walked easily now that her dress was short, but Inuyasha couldn't help but notice that if she bounced the skirt would just show enough...

"You there, stop!"

A fierce growl came from beside them, hiding in the trees not far from the edge of the field they were walking in. Suddenly, five demons appeared, all of them with blood red eyes, torn shirts and bulging bags. They surround them on the far side, making sure that their only escape was back the way they came – a field, which provided no protection whatsoever.

Inuyasha grimaced and grabbed Kagome's wrist, pulling her directly behind him. "Do not move," he growled, low in his throat.

Her tiny hands grabbed the back of his shirt, which was caked with mud from yesterday's activities. "What are you going to do?"

He didn't know, but he sure as hell wasn't going to tell her that.

"Who are you?" Inuyasha bellowed out, directing his attention at the demon that called to them in the first place.

"Our names are of no importance," the demon hissed, his dark eyes focused on Kagome. "Especially since you'll be dead soon."

"I wouldn't do that," Inuyasha growled. "As Prince of the Western Lands, you would be sentenced to death."

"And who would know?" another demon yelled out.

Well, fuck if he knew. He was trying to buy time so he could think of a plan.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome's tiny voice whimpered.

"Shut up," Inuyasha whispered with exaggerated slowness. "Stay still and stay behind me."

"Besides, you're Inuyasha," the lead demon spat. "Worthless fucking half-breed. Your parents had to ban the rule only because they realized that you were born. It's pathetic."

"Yeah, yeah, cut the bullshit," Inuyasha shouted with a bored tone. "You going to attack me or what?"

"You can't fight them!" Kagome hissed behind his back.

"You see a different option?" Inuyasha countered. "If you do, let me know. In the meanwhile, I have to kill these bastards."

"No."

"Are you seriously fighting with me now?" Inuyasha yelled at her, incredulous. The rest of the demons surrounding them laughed in amusement.

"The human's got a mouth on her," one of them shouted.

"As your fiancée I can't let you fight."

Inuyasha almost fell over.

The demons burst out laughing, a few of them holding their stomachs. They were having a bloody riot, they were.

"You have not provided for me Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed, waving her arms in the air. Her face was red and her eyes spit fire. "So what, now you're going to leave me to fight these demons? No! You will stay right here and pamper me."

Inuyasha stared at her, his amber eyes wider than he thought was possible. She glared at him, deep chocolate pouring into melted gold. Suddenly, she jerked her head to the side.

Was she sick or something? Was she twitching? Demented? Psychotic?

She gave him another pointed stare at the demons that were by now practically crying.

"Attack you nimrod!" Kagome hissed. "I chose Plan B."

Oh, so now she told him.

Faster than she could blink, Inuyasha took two long strides and took two of the demons out. He smashed the first demon's head in, his neck making an undeniable crack. The second demon's legs were taken out and he felt to the ground, his head smashing on a rock.

Inuyasha spun around, hearing the footsteps of a new attacker. The lead demon reached out for this throat, his claws narrowly missing while Inuyasha ducked and punched him in the stomach. The demon keeled over but not before Inuyasha was tossed to the ground. He quickly did the math. Three were on the ground, one was on top of him, the other...

"Asshole, leave me alone!" Kagome screamed, pounding on his head with her fists. He had her up over his shoulder, his thick gnarly hand caressing her legs.

"Fuck me," Inuyasha spat, throwing his legs upward to kick the demon who stood on top of him in the chin. He spiralled backwards, giving Inuyasha enough time to double back and attack Kagome's fiend. He jumped on the demon's back, his hands in a position his father taught him. A quick jerk and the demon fell to the ground, stone cold dead.

Kagome's scream pounded through his head, but he caught her all the same.

"Stay here!" Inuyasha warned again, throwing himself backwards to attack the lead demon who had finally gotten back up.

A few minutes later and all of them were either dead or unconscious. Inuyasha wasted no time in collecting their bags, sorting through all of the junk until he found food. Handing Kagome a few items, he rolled his eyes.

"Plan B, huh?"

Kagome smiled. "I thought it was quite ingenious."

Without warning, Inuyasha grabbed her wrists and pulled her close, the food smashed between them. He stared down at her gently, his head tilted to match hers.

Kagome's chocolate orbs widened and she stuttered something incoherent.

Ignoring her, Inuyasha leaned down even closer. He could hear her heart speeding up, her breath catching in her throat... "Never," he whispered gently, "ever, order me around like that again. Even if it is Plan B. Or I'll have to kill more people."

And with that, he flung her body onto his back and ran away, not wanting to be anywhere near the few demons that would wake up in a bit.

"Dickhead," Kagome cursed, but the insult was heavy-hearted.

Oh I just love romances. Tons of fluff my dear readers, with more to come PLUS more. I've finished planning this story, and it will reach up to Chapter 12 plus an Epilogue. Not that long, eh? (That's the Canadian in me, not.)

Please review and tell me what you think! Also, CONTACT ME via whatever if the rating change is a problem. Most are complaining because of the lack of adult content - cough cough - but I'm kind of glad for it. To all of you faithful and loyal reviewers, thank you for kicking my butt. I enjoy it (not in a kinky way, you sick people).

Loves, WitchyGirl99