Kagome spent the next two weeks learning all she could about how each demon fought, any special moves they knew, and anything else that she could learn about them, though she had yet to talk to Inuyasha. It seemed to always be the same. As soon as she thought she might be able to talk to him, he took one look at her and she felt so small that she turned right around in defeat.
Luck was on her side, because Inuyasha had taking an interest in her. Whether that was a good thing or not, either way she didn't have to worry about the other demon men, because if they tried to reach a single claw to her, Inuyasha was there in a second, though she didn't have a clue why. She never tried to start a fight, but she was glad to know that if something happened, then he would have her back.
But, as she lay on the ground looking up at the dim lights on the ceiling, she couldn't help remember what Ayame told her when she first got there. Some chose to be here, but she couldn't figure out who they were. All of the demons she talked to would rather be free than in the prison.
However, she had yet to talk to Inuyasha. Maybe that was who Ayame was referring to. Still, it didn't make much sense as to why Inuyasha would want to be here. He didn't seem like the type who would willing be held prisoner. She should really talk to him so that she would know if he was going to be a problem to her plan.
Her plan only had two X-factors. Meaning there was only two things that she was unsure about. She didn't know where Inuyasha's loyalty laid. And something seemed to be bugging her as to why the others hadn't tried to escape. It seemed that they were all very capable of leaving any time they wished. Yet, they all chose to remain there.
Why would they continue to stay when they all claimed to have no loyalty to Kikyo? Maybe she held something over them. Or they were lying to her. Or maybe it was…she didn't know. But she wondered why no one seemed to say why they stayed even though she never asked them directly. She still hinted towards it, trying to find out, but beating around the bush wasn't working. They just kept ignoring the question.
Just then, she heard the noise that meant that they all had to stand at attention. Quickly she got up and stood next to Ayame as they a waited for Kikyo to enter. Once Kikyo entered, everyone seemed to be tense, waiting, as Kikyo looked them over. Walking in front of them, she stopped about the middle as her eyes stayed on her newest pet and a smirk appeared on her face.
"Inuyasha, Kagome. Come," Kikyo commended as she turned to leave the cell and wait for them by the door.
Once they were out, Kikyo locked the cell and then proceeded to leave with the two following her. They followed Kikyo to a room that held various types of weapons. There were different kinds of swords, draggers, knives, bows and arrows, and staffs. Kagome notice that Inuyasha went straight to an old beat up sword that looked like it couldn't even cut paper.
Looking over at all the types of weapons, Kagome chose a small dragger and a bow with a quiver of arrows. Slipping the quiver over her shoulder, she put the bow with the arrows and then tugged the dragger into her waist band so that it wouldn't fall and she would be able to get to it if she needed it.
"Time to earn your keep," Kikyo said to Kagome before looking at both of them and saying, "I need you to deliver a warning to the Southern leader."
With that said, Kikyo turned and started to leave. But she stopped by Inuyasha and whispered low enough so that only he could hear it.
"If she fails, kill her." With a slight nod from the hanyou, Kikyo was out of the room.
"Ready?" the hanyou asked.
She eyed him warily. "For what?" she asked nervously.
"Come on, I'll explain on the way," he said as he started to walk away.
They walked through the forest for two hours straight. Neither one had said a word since they'd left. When they started walking, Inuyasha took a slight lead, but now, two hours later, there were a few feet between them. She was getting tired from walking nonstop and from the pace that Inuyasha had set.
Trying to keep up with the hanyou was starting to take a toll on Kagome's body. She was having trouble with trying not to trip as she struggled to keep up. But, as she was pushing her tired legs to go faster, she missed the sticks that lay in front of her. Her foot got caught and she tripped.
Landing face first on the pile, she made no move as to get up. Her face was red from embarrassment while her body was hungry and thirsty. As she heard footsteps coming closer, she wished that she would disappear. The footsteps stopped right by her head as her stomach decided to further embarrass her by giving a loud growl. Hearing a deep chuckle coming from next to her, she really wished that the earth would open up and swallow her.
"Are you going to lie there all day, or are you going to get up so that you can eat?" the hanyou said and she could hear the amusement.
Slowly she got up, but she carefully hid behind her hair until she felt her cheeks cool off. Well, that was the plan. That is, until a certain hanyou took it upon him self to move her hair aside and get the full view of her scarlet face. As she felt him move her hair away, she looked up into his golden eyes and seemed to get lost in them.
"What are you doing?" she asked barely above a whisper as she watched his face come closer to hers.
As his face came inches away from her own, she felt extreme tension in her muscles, and a little scared. She had never been close like this with a male before. His face was only an inch away. She closed her eyes, waiting for what she thought would come next. But it never did.
Instead, Inuyasha pulled back at the last second and turned to stand up. Titling her head to the side in slight confusion, she watched as he turned his back to her, all the while wondering what had been about to occur. For a second she could feel the warmth of his breath on her lips, and she wondered why she got the sudden desire to wrap her arms around him and claim his lips with her own.
"I'll get some food. Can you start a fire?" She was brought out of her thoughts by the hanyou's voice.
When she looked at him, his back was still facing her and he seemed to be waiting for her answer. Standing up, she nodded her head, but then realized that he couldn't see her. So with a soft "Yes," the hanyou took off into the forest without a backward glace at her. With a soft sigh, she started to gather some sticks and fallen leaves to start a fire.
Making a fire pit with some stones, so that the flames wouldn't get out of control, she rubbed two sticks together to get a small flame. Laying the stick with the flame by the leaves, the dry leaves instantly caught on fire. Once she got a small fire started, she took her bow and arrows off and then grabbed an arrow with her bow.
Placing the arrow on the bow string, she took aim as she drew the bow string back. Looking around for a suitable target, she found a large tree a distance away. Taking aim of the center of the tree, she let the arrow go and watched it fly. The arrow flew until it hit the tree right where it was supposed to hit. Putting her bow down as she looked at the tree and her arrow, a small smile came to her lips.
Hearing clapping, she turned around to found the hanyou, with four large fish in his arms. Scarlet stained her cheeks from embarrassment for she didn't know that she had had an audience. Looking down, she sat near the fire as the hanyou put the fish on a stick and then over the fire.
Continuing to stare at anything that wasn't the hanyou, the two fell into another silence. Not really minding the silence, the hanyou went about cooking the fish until they were done. Putting the stick with two cooked fish on it in her line of vision, she took it with a soft thanks, and then devoured.
"So where did you learn to shoot like that?" the hanyou questioned casually to hide his curiosity.
"My father taught it to me before he died, though it has been a while," she answered with a shrug.
"What happened to your father?" he asked, showing a little of his interest.
"A demon attacked my village, killing my mother and father. My brother and I were the only survivors," she said sadly after a moment of hesitation.
"Where's your brother?" he asked with his head tilted and his eyes fully on her.
"Kikyo killed him." She whispered the words as she fought the tears that threatened.
The hanyou could smell the salt in the air and knew that the girl he was looking at was on the verge tears, though he did nothing to comfort her nor did he make any attempts to break the silence that now engulf them. Nevertheless, his interest in the girl just seemed to grow. For some reason, he wanted to know all there was about the girl before him, and it kind of scared him.
It took her a little while to get her emotions under control. But when she did, she felt it was her turn to find out something about him. Waiting for as long as she'd been in the dungeon with the hanyou, she was determined to get her answers. So with a deep breath, she turned to face the last prisoner she had to converse with.
"Why are you here?" she asked when he felt her looking at him and they made eye contact.
"I was wondering if you were ever going to ask me that," he said with a chuckle.
"What do you mean?" she asked as she tilted her head to the side.
"Well, you asked everyone but me that question. I wondered if I was just special and that's why you didn't ask me," he said with a cocky smirk.
"Well…I-I mean…will you just answer," she stuttered as she tried to hide her discomfiture.
"And what question is that?" he asked as he copied her.
"Why are you here?" she asked again.
"Same as you. 'Cause Kikyo sent us out on a mission." He couldn't help the smirk that spread across his face as he watched her.
"No, I mean… Why are you in Kikyo's clutches?" She reworded her question as she tried again.
"I think it's time to get moving again," the hanyou said as he stood up and then started to kick dirt over the fire.
Feeling a little lost, the girl just tilted her head as she watched the hanyou start to leave. It took for him to go a few feet away before she snapped out of it and hurried along after him. Once again they were engulfed in silence. Looking over to the hanyou, she noticed that he had a smirk on his face and she couldn't help the frown that formed on hers.
She almost tripped again at the realization that the hanyou had outsmarted her to get around the question. But now that brought up more questions. Why did he avoid answering? What could he be hiding? She wasn't sure, but she was determined to find out. So with another deep breath, she got ready to start her questioning.
"Why did you avoid my question?" she asked, as if she were talking about the sky.
"What question might that be?" He couldn't help it as his smirk grew a little wider.
"The question about being under Kikyo's command." She smirked herself when she saw his face fall just a little.
"Why does it matter?" he asked and she got the feeling that they were playing 20 questions without getting the answers.
"Why shouldn't it?" she asked as she stopped walking.
"'Cause you should know when to ask a question." To her shock, he answered her…well, kind of.
"What do you mean?" she asked with her head tilted slightly.
"Come on, I'll tell you later…if I remember," the hanyou said as an after thought and continued on his way.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXx
It had been a week of walking. Only stopping twice during the day, they would stop only for a small break to eat and rest and then again when it was time to make camp to go to sleep. Though she had problems with walking non-stop for hours, she didn't complain. She was, after all, a little used to it.
Silence is what she would mostly get as they walked along, but when they took a break, there were rare moments where they would talk, but he would still be watching her, especially when he thought she was looking. Though he always avoided the questions that had to do with Kikyo, she was able to learn a little about him. She found out that he had no family that were alive and wanted him.
"Why don't we stop for a break?" Inuyasha asked, breaking her train of thought.
"Okay," she answered as she started to collect sticks and leaves to start a fire while he went to get some food.
Once he returned with some food, she had the fire going. Sitting down across from her, he started to cook the food. Looking intensely into the fire as if it held all the answers, she thought about giving up on asking him questions and just hoped that he wouldn't ruin the plans that she had made with the help of her brother.
"Do you still want to know why I'm under Kikyo's command?" The question itself shocked her, but what really caught her off guard was the way he said it, as if he was overcome with sadness.
"Yes," she replied, almost whispering in her disbelief and a little afraid that he would change his mind at any second.
"I've been with Kikyo for a long time," he started and then sighed before continuing, "But when I first met her, she wasn't like she is now," a soft smile played on his lips, "She was sweet and kind. She was so innocent and beautiful that I fell in love with her." The smile disappeared from his face. "But after so much time, she started to change. I'm not sure what really happened to her. All I know is that she just became the opposite of what she used to be and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't turn her back."
"Do you still love her?" the girl had to asked, some part of her really wanting to know.
"The Kikyo I loved died long ago," he said sadly.
"Then why do you stay?" she asked with a tilt of her head.
"It's the reason why we all stay. Because if we go, we will be dead in less than a day," he said gravely.
"Why is that?" she asked, trying to figure out what he could possibly mean.
"Kikyo is a miko, she forms bonds with us when we are asleep so that she can check up on us to make sure that we are doing what we are suppose to and to find us if she needs to," he explained.
"Are you sure she can do that?" she questioned with a brow raised.
"Yes," the hanyou answered without hesitation.
"How?" The word escaped her as she wondered the possibilities.
"There were other prisoners besides us. There have been three attempts to escape that have all failed. They tried to escape during a mission. But it didn't take long for Kikyo to find them. She even brought them back to the dungeon to be executed."
It was silent for some time as she let this all sink in. As a question popped into her head, she was about to ask, when the hanyou put up his hand to silence her. Finishing their food, they put out the fire and continued on their way.
There you have it another chapter. And once again, I don't own Inuyasha and friends.
Isabella the White Tiger