AN: I'm going to combine a few of my written chapters from now on, to make it longer. Some of the characters may seem a bit OOC, but if they get too far off the OOC train, let me know and I'll smack them back into place.
Chapter 4: Meetings
Kagome awoke with a strange, warm feeling. She sat up in a large bed, covered with soft golden sheets. 'Where am I?' She looked to the bottom of the bed and there her clothes were. Washed and folded, waiting for her to put them on. The thought of where she was re-entered her mind as she put on her underclothes.
Inuyasha walked slightly behind Sesshomaru as they went back to Kagome's room. They opened the door but stopped upon seeing Kagome with her skirt and bra on, putting on her shirt. Sesshomaru turned around, leaving Inuyasha with his jaw hanging. Sesshomaru cleared his throat.
Kagome reached for her shirt on the bed when she heard a sound and turned around to Sesshomaru's back and Inuyasha gaping. She screamed "SIT BOY!!!" and the poor half demon crashed into the floor. "I'm still getting dressed! Don't you know how to knock?!" She quickly slipped the shirt over her head and faced them with a red face. Sesshomaru held a small smirk that disappeared as he turned around when she said she was proper.
"Alright," she started. "Where are we?" Inuyasha pulled himself up off of the floor. "This is Sesshomaru's place. It was our father's keep before he died. The place and everything inside and around it belongs to Sesshomaru now." Inuyasha explained. "Just rest up, okay?" "Inuyasha, where is my sister? Where is Mari?"
Sesshomaru answered "Kagrua took her. There has been no trace of where she has taken the human." He said. "For all we know, the girl may already be dead." "Don't worry Kagome," Inuyasha took her hand in his. "We'll find her. Alive. I give you my word." Kagome felt as if the world was falling around her. She didn't feel the hot tears cascading down her cheeks. "Don't cry, Kagome." Inuyasha pulled her into his arms and put his arms and put his chin on the crown of her head. "I told you. We'll find her. Sesshomaru has half of the Western Army looking for any sign or trace of her." "But what if Sesshomaru is right." 'Wow… never thought I'd say that.' "If Kagrua has Mari, that means she's with Naraku right now. He won't think twice about killing her if she proves to be a threat. And she will. He also won't mind using her to kill us, like he's using Kohaku. I don't think I'm strong enough to hurt my sister." She said into Inuyasha's shoulder.
"I don't understand how anyone can put up with these humans. They make far too much noise it seems to me." Sesshomaru said, ending their moment. 'Why does he have to ruin it now…?' Inuyasha thought to himself as he felt Kagome's body move away from his and run out the room. She ran and ran, out of the castle and nearly past the barrier. "Now look what you've done!" Inuyasha yelled at his half-brother before running after Kagome. Following her scent, he caught up to her before she got past the castle barrier. He found her sitting on a large rock by a pond, trying to stop crying. "Kagome…" his own words seemed to echo in the clearing and in his ears.
Inuyasha walked closer to her and gently put his hands on her shoulders then moved to kneel in front of her when she didn't respond. "Kagome…don't listen to him." 'I will get her back if I have to strangle Kagrua myself…' he silently swore to her then slowly pulled Kagome to him, placing her face in the crook of his neck. He could feel the hot tears scalding his shoulders and moving down his chest being soaked up by his haori. He rocked her, all the while whispering to her that her sister was alright, that it would be okay. He hoped he wasn't lying.
He inhaled the scent of her, finding out she had exhausted herself and was asleep. "I love you, Kagome…" Inuyasha whispered into the summer night. "May the gods help me, but I love you. I choose you…" The wind carried it off before Kagome's ears could hear it. Inuyasha sat there with Kagome asleep for a while longer before heading back to the castle he once had called home.
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Mari woke up once again, feeling better than she had the first time. She didn't open her eyes as quickly, but she could feel someone holding her. And from the biceps she was feeling, a very male someone.
She slowly opened her eyes and saw a pale chest with a dark purple haori opened to the mid chest. She could see the slight definition of muscle. 'Yep… it's a guy…' she thought to herself.
Naraku felt Mari wake, but thought it best to let her rise before him. As she moved to get out of his arms he looked at her with a soft gleam in his ruby eyes. "Rest well?" his deep voice and the rumble from his chest made her go still. "I still want to leave here, Naraku. You won't be able to keep me here long." 'My strength is returning...soon I'll be strong enough to raise some hell for this guy...' Naraku gently grasped the slightly drugged girl's chin, "I have told you already. You cannot and will not leave until I get what I want." "You have yet to tell me what it is you want." Naraku absently fingered a coil of hair that rested right above her right breast. "I want to see just how powerful you are and if you can aid me in my search for the jewel shards. But even if you cannot, I am considering keeping you here for other," He smirked and glanced down at where his fingers still rubbed the strands, then looked back at Mari's face. "more pleasurable reasons."
Naraku got up and moved to the door. "Do not leave this room until I return, the creatures outside will eat you faster than you can draw breath to scream." his dark laugh echoing in the darkness that surrounded Mari, her eyes turned to the window to gaze at the pale moon. "Kagome..."
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A/N: im going to be combining my written chapters so that they are longer when I type them out, I feel the story isn't moving fast enough to keep up with your appitites.
Kagrua flew towards the barrier that led to the Western Castle. The home of Sesshomaru and where she knew Inuyasha and Kagome were as well. "Inuyasha! Lord Sesshomaru!" she called out. "What do you want, Kagrua?" Golden-red eyes sliced through the darkness. Inuyasha stepped out with a stoic Sesshomaru behind him.
"I want to tell you where the girl is. And no, I'm not here by Naraku's bidding. He has been torturing her since he took her." "Don't you mean since you took her?" Sesshomaru said. 'Are those red around his eyes? Interesting that he would be upset over some human...' Kagrua thought to herself and said out loud "Whatever, I only came here to tell you where she is." "Then talk witch." Inuyasha said the gritted teeth. "She is in Naraku's new hiding spot, exactly north of here, 500 miles away." Kagrua said as she moved to leave "Oh and you might want to hurry. There's no telling how much longer she will last with everything shee has already endured." She disappeared into the woods.
"Sesshomaru?" Inuyasha asked his brother in a low whisper "Do we trust her word or what?" Inuyasha did not look over at his brother, if he had, he would have questioned the resolve in his red eyes. The eyes of a pisses off full-blooded demon. "Inuyasha, you will stay here, at the castle and be regent while I am gone. I will go and get the girl." Sesshomar said "do not try to follow me either, I will not hesitate to kill you or your priestess if you follow me. Do you understand, Inuyasha?" Inuyasha nodded and turned back towards the castle. "Kagome won't like this..." he muttered under his breath.
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The sound of a whip cracks through the darkness, screams of pain echo throughout the castle. "It really would be a shame to break such a creature, so beautiful and young, but I will get what I want from you." Mari's head weakly rose from beneath the blood-matted coils of hair. Her back covered in deep grooves and bleeding thickly. "Why can't you see that nothing you do can break me." Mari whispered, if Naraku wasn't standing directly if front of her, his hand holding up her face, she didn't think the gods would have heard her. Naraku looked at her with cold eyes and said "I can see and what I see makes me want to break you into even smaller pieces." Before her eyes Naraku shifted into the shape of Kagome. "No one will come for you, you know. We don't care about you. Not me, not Inuyasha, not even mother..." His shape shifted once more to reveal the one she knew for only a few short moments as Sesshomaru. "I despise all humans. And none will save you from Naraku. What makes you so special?"
Pale hands reached for Mari. Before they made contact with her skin, a mix of dark purple and red flame engulfed her body. "Really, you don't think I'm that stupid? Please, just torture me, but don't demean my intelligence." Mari ground out, the flames that burned Naraku, healed her wounds. Naraku growled and stalked out of the room. 'Someone...anyone, gods and goddesses, please send someone to save me. I'll even marry him, if its a guy. You guys know I keep my promises.' she prayd to the gods that she knew existed. As the flames around her body died her head hung and she passed out from the energy lost healng her body and keeping a thin barrier even as her mind shut itself down. Kanna eyed the girl chained up in the cell. She felt the power that came out of the girl and even after she fell unconscious, Kanna could still see a faint glow around the girl, protecting its user as she slept. The void demon turned around and went in search of Kagrua.
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"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked as they walked back to the Western Castle. "Where did Sesshomaru go?" "Don't know." "What did Kagrua say to you guys?" "Nothing..." Kagome stopped in her steps and looked at Inuyasha's back. "What do you mean 'nothing', Inuyasha, what is Sesshomaru doing?" When Inuyasha looked at her she knew. "He went to get Mari alone, didn't he?" "...Yes." Inuyasha looked toward the castle, away from Kagome. "We have to-" "No!" he boomed "We have to stay here, it will be much easier on Sesshomaru if we do as he says and wait here. If we go something might happen and I might not get there in time to protect you and we would lose all of the shards."
First happiness, then confusion had gathered in Kagome. Then a searing hot fury at the end of what he had said, "You don't want to lose your shard detector, isn't that what you mean?"
"Of course not. You are only my shadow." a voice said in the darkness. "After all, Inuyasha, the jewel and that soul of yours are mine." "Ki-kikyou?" stammered Inuyasha. "Why are you here? How did you get past the barrier?" "I'm here to take you with me Inuyasha." Kikyou said. "The hell you are!" Kagome had found her voice "Over my dead body. I''m sick and tired of you." Kikyou stared at Kagome. "That can be arranged, girl." Kagome rolled her eyes. "Bring it on."
When Sesshomaru reached where Mari's scent was the strongest, he paused, looked at the weak barrier of the castle and cut through it with his bare claws. "We must bring her back home, pup." 'I plan on doing that.' Sesshomaru thought to his demon. "...Naraku, come out, you worm." "Now, now, Lord Sesshomaru. You really should get a taste of this girl." Naraku held up a blood covered hand and licked his fingers clean. "Mmmm...she is so sweet, like a ripe berry." he said with an evil smirk. "Where is she?" Sesshomaru flexed his claws, ready to tear the hanyou apart. "No matter what I did she wouldn't give in. She even surprised me with a miko attack, but that didn't last long. She kept entertaining me with the notion that you, of all creatures, would save her." A scowl marred his face. "It seems she was right on that part. But I showed her the impossibility of that already." "Tell me whaere she is and I'll kill you quickly." he snarled, his eyes a bright red and his magenta marks going ragged. Naraku pulled off the white fur cloak from his body and revealed an unconscious Mari. Naraku held the limp girl in front of himself as a sheild. "Coward." Sesshomaru tensed, but did not attack. "What's the matter Lord Sesshomaru?" Naraku mimicked Mari's voice. "Don't you hate humans? Don't you want to kill me? To see my sweet, red blood running down your blade, your hands?" "Stop using her voice!" Roared the pissed off demon lord. "Oh, so the great human-hating demon does feel, but for this worthless human girl. Heh, I have already had my fun with the girl, you can have whats left."
The enraged demon charged at the hanyou. Naraku threw Mari's body toward a nearby tree and took off with his swarm of insects to protect him.
Sesshomaru sped towards Mari when Naraku flung her away. He caught her, but it was too late to kill Naraku. He looked at the dark swarm of buzzing insects, judging if he would have to go far, giving up the notion with the mental nudging of his demon he looked at the bruised girl in his arms. "We got her pup, she is whole. The hanyou was lying, he did not taint her. Let us take her back home." Sesshomaru could hear his demon purring in content as the girl in his arms slept on in dark bliss. 'Home...' He shot them back toward the castle in a ball of light as the castle began to fade back into dust, the only things that remained were the bones of the structure and a small orchard near the line of the forest.
Purifying flames, arrows and an assortment of other things were flying (including fists, feet, shoes, hair, etc) and poor Inuyasha was in the middle of it, still as a statue. "Oh kami, what should I do? Who should I go to?" Inuyasha whispered to whatever god or goddedd would take mercy on him.
Kikyou grabbed a handful of Kagome's hair and pulled, in return, Kagome grabbed Kikyou's and scratched her face with blunt nails. When Kikyou went down Inuyasha made up his mind. Kagome was about to crush Kikyou's skull with a large rock whe Inuyasha grabbed her and threw the stone away. "Inuyasha, let go of me!!" she shouted. "No, Kagome, I'm not going to let go of you. Not this time." Inuyasha said in a soft voice to Kagome.
"You-you stupid, stupid girl, Inuyasha is mine and he is coming with me to hell..." A shakey Kikyou rose slowly to face the tow. "I will not allow you to take what is mine again." "Kikyou, I'm not yours, maybe once long ago, but not anymore. The woman I loved died years ago." Inuyasha said in a soft voice. "Kikyou, when you died, that was it. Now I am with Kagome, and now, I understand that I truly love her and always will. She wants me as I am, with all of my flaws." Golden eyes narrowed at the dead preistess "If you ever do harm to her again, I, myself will kill you and mak sure you stay dead."
Kikyou glared at Kagome, who was being held back by Inuyasha's firm but gentle grip. "You will regret this, hanyou." And with that Kikyou left, walking unsteadily.
"You can let me go, Inuyasha." Kagome said softly. Inuyasha turned her in his arms until she faced him and cupped her face in his clawed hand, pulling her face to his. "Kagome, I will never let you go. Never again. Not in this life or the next." Eyes like pools of golden fire stared back at her. "Say what you mean, Inuyasha. I'm not going to believe you this time. I'm through, I won't take these mood swings of yours, one minute you like me, the next -" Her speech was cut short by Inuyasha's lips. "I mean what I say, Kagome, I love you." He whispered softly. "You mean it, really?" Heh... would you rather I tell the whole forest, fine." Inuyasha took Kagome onto his back and climbed the tallest tree he could find. "I LOVE KAGOME, I WILL ALWAYS LOVE HER!!!" Inuyasha shouted at the top of his lungs, then smiled and kissed Kagome over his shoulder. He jumped back down to the ground and proceeded back to Sesshomaru's castle.