Kagome's mouth dropped.
"I AM NOT BECOMING YOUR SEX SLAVE!"
Prince Inuyasha visibly flinched at the screech. It took him a moment to calculate what those words were, and then he did a double-take.
"That's not what I mean! What do you take me for, some kind of pervert?" He sputtered, as if the words themselves were so ridiculous they were incomprehensible.
Kagome frowned and crossed her arms.
"I wouldn't be all that surprised if you were a crazy ax murderer here to chop my head off."
At least he wasn't planning to rape her back here…
He pinched his forehead, sighing impatiently. "Look, all I need to say to you is this. I saw what you did back there-well, everyone did-and you have a talent that not many people possess." Kagome's eye twitched at the compliment. "So I've decided that you are going to spend the rest of your days here in my castle and use your spiritual power to help me out a bit."
Kagome's anger was bubbling up, like a pot of boiled water about to spill over the edge.
"Do you seriously think I'm some random girl that has absolutely no life?"
He gave a small nod. The pot spilled over.
"I'm not! I have a life!" A dull one…but still a life.
He rolled his beast-like amber eyes.
"That's nice, but you have no choice in the matter. Your first task of the day will be to go out and pick herbs with the rest of them. Let's see if you can handle that." Inuyasha smirked, showing one of his fangs.
She stomped her foot in protest.
"You don't understand, I have to go home, my grandfather is counting on me."
He rubbed his chin. Kagome sincerely hoped he was taking the thought into consideration.
Standing there for a good five minutes, he finally finished "Nope."
Kagome glared at him for all she was worth, knowing he overpowered her. He was some giant Feudal time hulk, and here she was just some measly schoolgirl…but he wasn't going to stop her from doing what she wanted. If she played along long enough she would find some way out.
Forcing a nod, Kagome didn't attempt a smile knowing her face would crack in anger if she allowed her face of nonchalance to change.
Prince Inuyasha seemed a bit surprised that she didn't bark out in anger, though the surprise was short-lived for he swiveled on his heel and went straight back to prince mode.
"Ryuu!" He called out sharply.
An audible grunt could be heard echoing down the hallway, followed by obstreperous footsteps that shook the floor. Kagome waited in tense silence, almost expecting a dragon to come swooping down the hallway and gobbling her up. Sadly, that didn't seem as much of a fantasy as it once was when she was a little girl.
Stomp. Stomp.
Her eyes were glued to the end of the hallway, waiting for some sort of mystical creature to come popping up, but her eyes only greeted a surprisingly short, yet exceedingly portly, bald man.
"Stupid girl, meet Ryuu. Ryuu, meet stupid girl."
The man gave a nasty smile showing an assorted arrangement of rotting yellow and green teeth. Kagome grimaced as he reached out a greasy hand.
"Hello stupid girl."
Kagome shot a sideways glare to Prince Inuyasha, however he only gave a big grin that nearly split his face in two. She wasn't completely sure which of the two men appearances were creepier…
"Hello…Ryuu," she managed through her forced smile. He gave her a strong handshake nearly shattering her hand causing her to wince in pain.
"Ryuu, take her to the fields, and make sure she doesn't run away. If she does, you know what to do."
Ryuu gave a terse nod.
"I have a name you know!"
"Sure you do…sure you do…" Inuyasha belittled.
With no warning whatsoever, Kagome squeaked as Ryuu lifted her off the ground and threw her on his back as if she were no more than lifting up a toy car.
"I'll make you pay for this Inuyasha!"
"Have a nice time." He chirped as Ryuu hauled her further and further away.
Kagome started roughly pounding on Ryuu's back, although he made no sign of feeling anything. With a final blow, that did no more than brush a few dust marks off his back, Kagome backed down. The ride was so uncomfortable…
"We almost there, stupid girl." Talk about a man of few words…
He pushed through a small mat-like door at the corner of the hallway. Kagome was finally getting the basic outline of where she was. The area was in the shape of a figure eight.
Pushing through the mat, which caused her hair to flip all over her face, they finally made it. Pushing back her curly curtain of jet-black hair, she stared in wide-eyed wonder at the large rolling plains that held blooming plants and thousands of people that appeared to be villagers picking them, bending down, turning, and repeating. It was beautiful, however hauntingly so; all them looked exhausted.
The plains glazed over from the setting sun. People continued the same pattern, over and over again. It smelt like mint cookies, oddly enough.
"Your spot," Ryuu pointed to a spot identical to the same spots occupying the rest of the vast fields.
"What do I do?" Kagome inquired.
"Yours shiso; pinch leaves and pick."
He knelt to the ground and began to demonstrate. She found herself actually paying attention to his ministrations. The reason must've been something of curiosity and interest; that or Ryuu was intimidating enough to make her want to.
"There," he finished, pinching one right in front of her face.
Kagome nodded half-heartedly. In the back of her mind she wandered how she was supposed to leave; there was no way she was going to become one of these lifeless people. Yet nobody seemed to be willing to share any information to her…her apparent "spiritual power" was all she had.
"Go. Start." Ryuu ordered.
She shook her head as if to rid her thought. 'C'mon Kagome. Focus.'
Kagome soon found the task was repetitive and tedious. Pinch. Pick. Pinch. Pick. There didn't seem to be a need for much brainwork, which explained the dull attitude of the rest of the people doing the exact same thing.
She continued the process anyways do to Ryuu's unyielding examination of her work. Despite the repetitiveness, she still found it difficult to thing about anything but when she was going to be allowed to go back inside. The heat was exhausting. Mentally, she made a note to ask Inuyasha why in the world these people were out working their butts in the fields when he sat in a magnificent castle.
She'd only been out for twenty minutes and was already tired.
Sweat was piling up all around her body. A large drop of salty sweat rolled down her neck, making her whimper softly in the hopes he wouldn't hear her; more kept piling up in the same area.
All at once, the bites that Kagome almost forgot from earlier for they didn't hurt at all in comparison to her neck were throbbing uncomfortably underneath her clothes in pain. Were they even there before? She'd have to check that out later…curse that Inuyasha…
"Good! Stupid girl do good job!"
Kagome resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She continued the constant cycle.
The sun was set finally, and all of the relieved villagers began to pick up their baskets of herbs and walk back into the direction of the setting sun. Each of their eyes was sunken. A few village people stayed however, and slowly dragged their feet into the castle.
"Come. Follow."
Kagome picked up her basket of shiso and walked alongside Ryuu as they joined the small crowd of people flocking to the castle.
A cool breeze washed over when she walked inside, making her sigh with relief. Never again was she going to take supermarkets for granted…
Walking slowly behind Ryuu, she completed the mindless task of walking down the hallways to her room. Kagome was thankful, for at least now she wouldn't have to guess and remember where her room was.
He opened the door. "There. Get dressed. Meet outside."
Kagome nodded and opened the door; she was no longer staying in Sango's room. The room was just as plain and simple, however. Wooden floors, a small dresser, and a soft were all the items that occupied the room. Deciding this would be a perfect time to go and check out her wounds, she hurriedly peeled off her outfit and examined herself in the small mirror sitting on top of the dresser.
Purple bruise marks were all over her body in the shape of teeth marks. Kagome touched each one gently to make sure they were real, but even with her gentle touch she still took a sharp intake of breath. Yep, they were certainly real.
'These weren't there before…' she mulled, finally taking her fingers off.
Tearing off fabric from her kimono, she wrapped it around her abdominals. With a small squeeze it was tightened around her firmly. Opening the draws out of sheer curiosity, she found three pairs of plain white kimonos.
"Duh," she slapped her forehead. Ryuu asked her to change, where else would clothes be?
Kagome slipped on the white pair. They weren't as comfortable as the silk pair she had worn, but they would make do.
"Done?"
"One moment!"
She quickly slipped back on her shoes and met him outside. Ryuu stood rubbing his hands together. He gave her a wide smile that Kagome assumed was made to make him seem friendly, which didn't work because of his serious need for dental work. Well, until he cracked his knuckles.
"You're coming with me."
"Yeah, yeah, I know…but where are we going?"
"Dinner,"
Wow did that sound nice. Kagome followed him with a little perk in each step, and a small smile on her face. She could get a little food in her stomach and then think of a way to leave.
Meandering down the hallway, Ryuu stopped in his tracks and opened a rather large door in comparison to the rest of the doors adjacent to it.
"Come in."
Kagome poked her head through the doorway. The soldiers in red were serving themselves some food, ravenously scooping huge amounts of it into their mouths, thereby flinging food particles into each other's plates. She wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"Hurry up."
She complied and lifted a tray up. She didn't even bother to lift up her face to see who the chefs were for her concentration was solely on the food that they were dumping onto her plate.
With a small scan of the room, Kagome recognized a familiar brunette ponytail swaying slightly.
'Sango,' the thought bolted into her mind, and without thinking, she rushed over to greet her, giving her a big hug. Kagome wasn't sure if that was the 'norm' but oh well.
Apparently it wasn't for Sango's back immediately went stiff.
"Thank you for carrying me to your room."
Her back loosened.
"Oh my god Kagome!" Sango cried, whipping around to face her. "That was amazing what you did back there…how'd you do it?"
Kagome frowned and picked up a rice ball and swallowed up most of it.
"I'm not sure, it just kind of burst out of me, then I passed out. I don't quite remember how it all happened."
Sango scrunched up her face in confusion, taking a bite out of her own rice ball. She stared at her plate in concentration. Then she lifted up her chopstick and stabbed her plate as if reaching a conclusion.
"I know what the reason is. It's because you aren't trained. I bet with some practice, you could become a very good priestess from what I've seen of you."
"Do you think it'd be possible if you could teach me some priestess moves?"
Sango paused and rubbed her chin.
"Well I don't see why not. I know the basics of what it is, but that's it. I think I'd be better at showing you some fighting skills."
Kagome nodded, staring at her empty plate with total concentration. Maybe if she learned fighting skills or priestess skills she could fend for herself and find her way back home.
"Would you like me to show you a few moves since you're finished eating?" questioned Sango.
Kagome peered up from her plate. Sango's brown eyes gleamed honesty, how she knew that she wasn't sure, but she felt it.
She nodded her head vigorously till her poor bruised neck nearly snapped in half.
"Sure thing,"
Sango was still eating, so the rest of the meal was spent in companionable silence. Well, as close to companionable silence as being surrounded by a bunch of barbarians would allow.
Kagome felt a hand roughly shake her shoulder.
Angry grey eyes stared sharply at her.
"I found you, stupid girl. Wait till boss hears about this. You got lucky with what you did back there. Stupid girl won't be lucky this time."
Kagome saw the whole room turn quiet, as each head turned to stare at her. A fly could be heard buzzing in the background.
"Oh, um, I didn't mean to-"
"Leave her alone, Ryuu," Sango finished for her.
Ryuu stopped glaring and turned his eyes in surprise at Sango.
"You sure?"
Sango nodded, pointing her finger authoritatively at the door. "Yes, Ryuu. If Prince Inuyasha asks, tell him she's under my supervision right now."
Ryuu gave a small humble bow.
"Yes, Lady Sango." And there he went, toddling off a bit like a penguin due to his tubby body.
Kagome stared at his retreating figure in wonder.
"I didn't realize you had so much command over the soldiers."
"Yeah I do. I need to; being the only lady here aside from you and Kaede I have to show that none of them can mess with me." She let out a short giggle, which seemed odd coming from Sango but it made Kagome feel a bit more relaxed. She softly chuckled with Sango.
Gradually, the attention faded away from Kagome and back into conversations about how to kill certain animals and whose ax is better than whose.
"You ready?"
"I hope so."
"Don't worry, you'll be a natural."
With this the two girls emptied their remaining scraps into the garbage and walked outside a door that led straight into a star-lit sky and rows of crops.
"It's so amazing out here...where I live it's too bright to see the stars."
"You have that many torches and lanterns? How does your people do that?"
Kagome smiled at Sango's obvious confusion. "Not really. We use electricity, which is used for light as well as many other things."
"Elec-tri-city," Sango tried the foreign word.
She nodded.
"That's fascinating. Your people sound very advanced."
Kagome snorted. 'There's plenty of numbskulls where I'm from, don't worry.'
"Am I wrong?" Sango gave her a quizzical look towards her reply.
"No, it's just not everyone from where I'm from is that advanced. It just depends upon the person."
"Oh I see," Sango responded in understanding. Suddenly she stopped walking.
"Here we are."
It wasn't quite pitch black darkness, but it was a dark blue, and with what light sustained, Kagome could make out a trail set between two rows of plants that stood out from the rest due to its width.
"Follow me closely."
Kagome did so with ease, for there wasn't much to worry about except the occasional fly or mosquito.
The footsteps led into an area that was parted by trees. When they passed up the trees, Kagome noticed the place actually did look like real warrior training grounds, like the kind she'd seen in old documentaries watching television.
Targets were aligned side-by-side in a neat row next to a small shack.
"Okay...NOW we're here. What do you think?"
"It's interesting. I've never seriously trained for anything except maybe swimming, so I'm excited."
Sango beamed at the enthusiastic reply.
"I think that you'll enjoy it. I'll show you first and then you can try, but we might have to work on the spiritual part of it tomorrow because I know you've had a long day."
"Well...now that I've had a chance to relax a bit, the fresh air feels invigorating and I'd like to get some training in before it gets too dark." This wasn't entirely true. In fact, she almost felt bone-weary. But the quicker she got home, the faster she could sleep however long she wanted.
"Okay, give me just a moment."
Kagome waited patiently for Sango's return, completing the pointless task of counting how many rings made up the target circle. Moments later Sango began jogging out the shack, carrying what looked to be a seriously messed up, huge, dog bone. As Sango came closer, it looked like a gigantic boomerang...
"Am I supposed to use that?" Kagome pointed a dubious finger at herself.
"Sure you can! But first I'm going to give a demonstration."
Sango hoisted the odd weapon in the air. With a mighty grunt, she stepped forward and flung the mechanism. The target was immediately chopped into mere splints of wood.
Kagome clapped. "Woohoo!"
Laughing, Sango gave an exaggerated bow as if bowing for a large audience.
"Thank you, thank you..."
She clapped her hands as if to get serious again. "All you do is hold the end, reach back, and throw. Well, it's a bit more complex than that, I've been doing it for many years, but I think with practice you should get the basics of it. Here, you try."
Sango shoved the awkwardly large weapon into her hands. The weight of it caused Kagome to collapse.
"No, grab the end silly," Sango admonished.
Kagome made a second attempt. This time, grabbing the handle of the strange boomerang, she gave a clumsy tug and threw it with all her might. The boomerang didn't even make it to the target…
The action sucked whatever energy dinner had given her out of her body. The exertion had caused an immense surge of pain to rack through her body, forcing her to double-over.
"Oh crap! Are you okay!?" Sango came rushing to her side.
"I think...my stomach..." Kagome wheezed.
Wasting no time at all, Sango unbuttoned Kagome's white kimono from the waste, revealing her white appendages. Tenderly, she unwrapped them. Bruise marks were all over her stomach.
"Shoot! You can't be practicing with those kinds of injuries!" Sango scolded, yet all the while she was lifting Kagome onto her back.
"Sorry..." she muttered weakly.
Sango paid her no mind and quickly charged through the trail. Kagome wasn't quite sure what had happened next, for she closed her eyes in the attempt to get a bit of rest, though when she awoke she found Sango's eyes staring at her bruises and a glass of water.
"This is very strange...you have bruises, but no teeth marks... You must've blown those suckers to bits before they could sink their teeth in."
"I know, and the weird thing is after I woke up I didn't see or feel any bruises."
"Maybe your spiritual powers healed it."
Kagome stared at her stomach thoughtfully. "I still don't know how I did that."
"That doesn't matter. You're alive and now you need some rest...go to sleep...we'll go to the training grounds tomorrow."
"Will I be able to skip working in the fields?"
Sango's face sunk into a deep frown. "So that's where Inuyasha sent you. That dumb idiot...with those injuries you should've been resting the whole day, I thought you were with Kaede."
Kagome shook her head.
"We'll go in a few days if you're ready for it. I think Kaede has some special cream we can put on those bruises, but for now just rest."
She smiled at Sango's kindness. Really, she had no reason to care but she did anyways...that's something to be admired...
Sango was just about to leave until Kagome's voice stopped her.
"Sango, can I tell you something?"
"Sure, go ahead."
"Well...come close I don't want anyone over hearing."
Sango obeyed and came close, kneeling to her side.
"I can't stay here," she whispered, "My grandfather really needs me. He's probably worried sick. Is there any way you think I could leave without Prince Inuyasha finding out? I want to learn how to fend for myself before I go that's why I asked earlier."
This only caused Sango's frown to deepen.
"I know you don't see any reason to stay, but please do. You could really help him with...er...something."
Kagome glared at Sango's pleading face. It only caused anger to pile up in her stomach.
"What is this? Why does everyone need my help? I don't understand why I'm so important..."
Sango let out an agitated sigh.
"I'm not allowed to tell. If word got out, all the kingdoms would be after him and the castle, more so than the occasional battle. But basically, he has a curse, that if you became good enough with training you could possibly break the curse."
"What is the curse?"
"That's private information."
Kagome pinched her forehead in frustration. She hated being left curious…"It doesn't matter. There's no way I could do that Sango, I'm not nearly strong enough for that."
"How do you know? You haven't tried."
"I don't want to help that stupid jerk anyway. It's a good thing he has whatever that curse is."
Sango sighed again, unable to think of a way to respond to that, considering all the hell he'd put Kagome through.
"I see where you're coming from. Well goodnight Kagome."
Kagome yawned, snuggling deeper underneath the covers.
"G'night Sango…"
"One more thing before you go to bed." Kagome opened her heavy eyelids to stare at Sango's figure leaning on the doorway.
"Though you're the first female friend I've had in a while, Inuyasha is my first loyalty. He's my master. If you want to receive training from me, it won't be free. You'll have to abide by my rules."
Kagome shot her a puzzled glance.
"What's that?"
"That's for me to decide."