Kyandi: Howdy hey, howdy do!
Hamoni: Keep it up and a chicken will get you.
Kyandi: That's not funny, even if it does rhymes.
Hamoni: I thought it was pretty fun.
Kyandi: Goody for you. Anyway, sorry we've been away so long. I'm currently having my brother type all my updates.
Kyandi's brother: Kyandi-nee broke her wrist and is currently swamped with work.
Kyandi: It sucks! But that's off topic. We're here now so enjoy and review!
Hamoni: Kyandi-sama does not own Inuyasha.
Chapter 7 Captured Again
"You disrespectful woman!"
Hamoni would have ignored this, if it wasn't the tenth or eleventh time she had heard that sentence in the course of one day.
"Give it a rest already." Hamoni told Jaken planting her foot on his back and using that to shove him over the edge of the cliff.
The imp demon landed on a ledge just three feet below but that didn't spare him the near heart attack he suffered at the mere thought of falling hundreds of feet to the forest below. If anything the relief made it worse when he realized that Hamoni had done it on purpose. When he climbed back over the edge, Hamoni didn't seem the least bit remorseful as she walked beside A-uh, petting one of the dragon's heads.
"Are you alright, Master Jaken?" Rin asked from A-uh's back.
"No I am not alright, you silly girl! She nearly gave me a heart attack!" Jaken snapped.
"Technically to give you a heart attack the fright would have to be greater and your heart weaker. Since neither was the case, your heart is fine." Hamoni remarked over her shoulder.
Jaken stared at the girl before following them, continuing to rant about Hamoni. Sesshomaru glanced at Hamoni as the girl pet A-Uh's head...well one of them. Since he had saved her from those bandits a few days before hand, she hadn't said a word to him. Sassy or otherwise. He would have wondered if she had lost the ability to speak if she hadn't spoken to Rin and Jaken. So apparently she was just unwilling to say anything to him.
"Miss Hamoni, is this right?"
Hamoni looked up at Rin who sat on A-Uh's back mixing something in a stone bowl. Hamoni took the bowl from Rin and looked at its contents. She rubbed some of the paste inside between two fingers, dabbed a tiny bit on her tongue, smelled it, and used the rod to turn it over and check it.
"That is perfect, Rin!" Hamoni told the little girl who's face lit up.
Hamoni had been teaching Rin how to mix herbs for multiple things from injuries to fevers, to coughs, and so on. Rin had been struggling a little bit with some of the mixtures but she had finally picked up on it. It certainly had been keeping Rin busy as they traveled. Over the last few days Rin had stuck to Hamoni like glue.
Sesshomaru had a feeling that after the incident with the bandits, Rin was afraid something would happen where he couldn't show up in time and she would lose Hamoni. He didn't think that would ever be the case. Hamoni had handled herself well with the bandits and had held out long enough for him to arrive. That didn't make Rin any less worried though.
Sesshomaru watched to two for a moment longer before looking up at the sky. It was starting to get dark. Hamoni and Rin would need somewhere to rest soon. After two days walking and resting on A-Uh's back, the two, as well as A-Uh, needed a place to actually sleep. But being on a mountain trail there wasn't really anywhere for them to rest.
Sesshomaru paused at a cliff, looking down at the land below them. They had left the forest behind and the land before them was open fields on one side, and more forest on the other. A large river cut through the trees and wove it's way through the open fields. The tree line would give them cover and with the river near by Rin and Hamoni could find something to eat.
Without a warning, Sesshomaru slipped his arm around Hamoni, before jumping from the cliff. It was faster to take his way down, instead of walking down. Shocked by the sudden grab-and-jump, Hamoni grabbed the nearest thing, which meant she wrapped her arms around Sesshomaru's neck. Behind him Jaken and Rin rode A-Uh after him as Sesshomaru headed down the mountain side. Sesshomaru glanced out of the side of his eyes as Hamoni wrapped her arms around his neck to keep from falling.
When she did this, it put her hair right under his nose. Sesshomaru's nose was filled with the smell of herbs, fruit, and grass. Her scent was a somewhat sweet smelling one but not too strong for his nose to take. He would definitely be able to follow it anywhere. Living another five hundred years, he doubted he would be able to forget it either. It was her scent that had made it easy to track her when she had tried to escape back when he had first captured her.
When Sesshomaru finally landed on the ground, placing Hamoni back on her feet, she turned her head, possibly to shoot him a glare or a sharp remark, but she paused when she found him looking down at her, his face just a mere inch or two from hers. Her eyes met his and quicker then he had ever seen a human move, she released his neck and forced her way out of his grip. Sesshomaru could see the light pink coloring of her cheeks as she walked away from him.
Before she could get too far away from him, he reached out grabbing the end of her hair to stop her. He tugged on the hair, giving her a silent order to stay put. Idly he took note of the soft, silky feeling of her hair as it slid through his fingers. Why he noticed that didn't even crossed his mind. But the tug on her hair, didn't go unnoticed and she shot him a hard look before pulling her hair out of his grip.
She might have slapped him if she thought she could actually land the hit.
She was obviously not grateful for being swept off her feet either. Quite literally at that. Sesshomaru didn't care. He hadn't dropped her so she should be grateful.
Sesshomaru and the brief scare he gave her, were soon forgotten as Hamoni and Rin got their dinner made and ate before it got too dark. Grateful at least to be able to lay down and sleep and not have to doze on A-Uh's back, Hamoni pulled out the sleeping roll she kept in her pack and unrolled it. As usual, Rin curled up in the sleeping roll with Hamoni and A-Uh laid down next to them, shielding them from wind. Jaken had even fallen asleep, leaning against A-Uh at the head of the girls' bedroll.
Sesshomaru remained awake, watching his sleeping companions. Looking at Rin curled up in Hamoni's arms, using one of the older girl's arms as a pillow, Sesshomaru could almost believe that they were mother and daughter. Or at least sisters. They did both share the same hair color. From afar anyone could confuse them as being related. It was up close that others could tell the differences.
Sesshomaru's eyes fell on Hamoni's sleeping face then.
It was amusing to him. The first couple of days, Hamoni refused to sleep with him around. It was almost like she thought he would try to eat her while she slept or something of that nature. Instead she would doze while riding A-Uh. Now she had no problem of sleeping with him near.
Had her opinion of him changed in the time she had been with him?
And she was sleeping so near to him now. If he just reached out, he could touch her. In fact, one long strand of her hair was brushing his leg. Sesshomaru picked it up, letting the silky strands play through his fingers. He would have never been able to touch her hair freely like this when she was awake. She would have snatched it from his hand and shot him a glare.
And truthfully he would normally never be this intrigued by the feel of a woman's hair. It was odd that it caught his attention now.
Sesshomaru sat there for a while, just staring off into the sky, running the hair through his fingers. He knew he should get some rest while he could too. In the morning Rin would be up, running about as she normally did with Hamoni just a few steps behind. Then they would be off once again. So with that thought in mind, he leaned back against the tree behind him and closed his eyes.
Tomorrow would be another day of traveling and even being a demon, he needed his rest.
- 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 -
"Miss Hamoni? Miss Hamoni?"
Rin tugged on Hamoni's sleeve, looking up at the other human who was staring off into the distance. Sesshomaru and Jaken paused and turned to look at Hamoni when she failed to answer the human at her side. Hamoni's eyes were fixed on something in the distance. When Sesshomaru turned and searched the land that stretched before him, he could not find what had caught the human woman's interest.
"Miss Hamoni, what is it?" Rin asked. Hamoni's eyes narrowed.
"This aura..."
Sesshomaru turned back to Hamoni when she spoke lowly.
"This is definitely his aura." Hamoni remarked.
"Who's?" Rin asked.
"Naraku."
At this Sesshomaru turned fully to face Hamoni.
"This is not actually his aura, but it could be one of his incarnations. No...there's two of them." Hamoni remarked.
"Where?" Sesshomaru asked.
Hamoni pointed, not really noticing or caring that she had just answered him. Usually she stubbornly refused to answer him.
"Past those trees." she remarked before thinking about who she was talking too.
Sesshomaru, in an instant was gone from their sides as he jumped towards the trees, raising his hand to attack the trees with claws extended. From the trees jumped Kagura with a smaller, white haired girl behind her. Hamoni moved in front of Rin, blocking her from the two, Jaken standing at her side with A-Uh.
"My, you picked us out so easily." Kagura said looking at Sesshomaru before her red eyes turned to Hamoni herself.
Hamoni knew she was in for trouble just by the look on the woman's face. All she needed was to see the flash of Kagura's fan to scoop up Rin and, to his protest, Jaken, and run. She barely managed to move them before the blades of wind hit the ground where the three had just been standing. The force, knocked Hamoni off her feet and sent her tumbling onto her right side, but she didn't release Rin or Jaken. A-Uh had moved out of the way too and now landed beside Hamoni.
Sesshomaru turned to look up at Hamoni and her two arm loads who were a little wind blown but otherwise unharmed. Rin was holding tight to Hamoni and Jaken hung from the young woman's arms, completely surprised that Hamoni had just saved him. But Sesshomaru didn't have time to wonder why Hamoni had saved the imp demon when she clearly disliked him.
With Kagura's next attack, he stepped into the line of fire. Hamoni though, was back on her feet, holding on tight to Jaken and Rin, and keeping herself between them and Kagura.
"I am not here to fight with you, Sesshomaru." Kagura told the dog demon.
Sesshomaru turned to glance at Hamoni, who was all eyes for the other woman. He was aware that the young human woman was the sorceress' target. Hamoni seemed to have figure this out as well. It wasn't hard to tell. Sesshomaru could see the knowledge in Hamoni's eyes. Naraku wanted Hamoni, but Sesshomaru wouldn't hand her over. He need her as well.
He didn't know why Naraku wanted the girl, but he didn't need to know. Sesshomaru turned on Kagura, engaging her in battle. Hamoni, by this point, had set Jaken and Rin down, the imp demon and A-Uh standing guard over them.
"Rin."
Rin looked up at Hamoni knelled in front of her and removed her earrings. Hamoni took Rin's hand in hers, sitting the earrings in Rin's hand and curling her fingers over the jewels.
"I want you to keep these safe and out of sight of everyone else. Don't even let Jaken or Sesshomaru, or even A-Uh know you have these. That woman wants them and I can't let her get her hands on them." Hamoni told the child in a low voice only for her ears. Rin stared wide eyed at her.
"Understand?" Hamoni asked.
Rin nodded. Hamoni gave a firm nod and released Rin's hand. If things went bad, Rin would have the jewel shards and Sesshomaru would protect them, believing he was was protecting solely Rin.
Hamoni got back to her feet and turned to find Kagura swooping towards her, having slipped past Sesshomaru. Hamoni shoved Rin out of the way and jumped out of Kagura's way, heading the opposite way from the way she had pushed Rin. She hit the ground rolling and came easily to her feet, facing the woman sitting a top of large feather. The other, white haired, girl had vanished from sight.
"You certainly are hard to catch." Kagura remarked.
Hamoni shoved her hair out of her face with one hand.
"I have decent reflexes for a human. Are your's well, as well? Shall we find out?" Hamoni asked.
Kagura caught onto her meaning in time to dodge Sesshomaru's attack to her back. Hamoni pulled her bag off her shoulder and started digging in one of the smaller, front pouches, her eyes never leaving Kagura. She found exactly what she was looking for just as Kagura took a swiping dive at her again, knocking her off her feet and scooping her up on the feather. Hamoni dropped her bag in the process.
Hamoni took a moment to correct herself, now finding herself thirty feet in the air, with only a feather and air between her and the hard ground below. Hamoni had never been afraid of heights, but she figured now would be a good time to start.
Hamoni turned her sharp, blue-grey eyes on Kagura. Without warning, Hamoni lunged at the other woman, wielding a small blade in her left hand. If she didn't lose it, Sesshomaru would probably take it from her as well. Which was why she had kept it hidden all this time. She had simply just been buying her time, but now seemed like a good a time as any to use it. She had already been taken hostage by one demon.
She didn't need to be taken hostage by a second one.
Kagura yanked back but the purifying aura around the blade still cut deep into her right shoulder. Kagura pulled so far back that she upset the balance of the feather, sending Hamoni tumbling to the side and off the feather altogether. Hamoni caught a tree limb in her hand, halting her fall half way down and was able to drop safely the rest of the way to land on her feet.
When she landed she took a deep, shaky but grateful breath in. She had been lucky to catch the branch as she fell.
Kagura looked down at Hamoni, who turned a displeased but otherwise calm look on Kagura. Sesshomaru was impressed to say the least and intrigued at the same time. This whole time Hamoni had hidden the weapon on her and hadn't used it. Then, in the face of danger, she had acted without hesitating against an opponent who, by natural order, was stronger.
Kagura though, seemed to be determined not to let the girl slip through her fingers. She would prove that Hamoni's escape had been a fluke. This time when she snapped open her fan, Hamoni didn't move fast enough. She was human after all. No did Sesshomaru reach Hamoni in time. A powerful gust of wind sent Hamoni flying back into a large boulder, a crack sounding as Hamoni's head connected with stone, and knocked her out.
The girl slumped to the ground lifelessly.
"Miss Hamoni!" Ran cried in distress.
Kagura swooped down to collect her prize but Sesshomaru's attack forced her away from the unconscious human. Kagura drew back and sent up a gust strong enough to force Sesshomaru to shield his eyes. When it died down enough for him to see, Hamoni was gone.
Sesshomaru looked up in time to see Kagura take off, Hamoni's lifeless form draped over the feather next to Kagura and Kana sitting on the other side of the girl. Sesshomaru wasn't happy with this at all.
"Jaken, stay with Rin." Sesshomaru ordered before taking off, following Kagura's feather.
Kagura looked back over her shoulder at him. He was sure persistent on reclaiming a human woman he didn't even to like.
Oh well.
Kagura had her orders to follow and that was taking this human to Naraku. Kagura glanced down at the woman laid out beside her. She really did look quite a bit like the priestess Kikyo and the human woman, Kagome. Her long hair fell around her and tumbled over the side of the feather. Part of it was starting to take on a red shine from blood on the back of her head. That would have to be seen to so the girl wouldn't die on them.
Kagura was sure that Naraku wouldn't be happy if the human girl died.
Kagura had to swoop out of the way when Sesshomaru tried to strike her feather down. She was going to have to lose him somehow. How better then a distraction.
"Kana." Kagura said looking at the smaller demon.
The white haired demon pulled out one of Naraku's Ninjiki balls from the fold of her sleeve. She threw it over the side of the feather, the thing exploding into hundreds of the demon bugs which then swarmed Sesshomaru. They wouldn't last long against the dog demon but they would do the job.
Sesshomaru slashed at the bugs, but more swarmed him, blocking his view of the three females on the feather. When he finally slashed his way through the last of the bugs, Kagura and Kana, with Hamoni in their clutches, were gone. Even the demons' scents was shredded by the wind. That being said...
The smell of Hamoni's blood was thick and sickly sweet in the air. He would be able to follow that scent to the ends of the earth and beyond. First he needed to return to Rin, Jaken, and A-uh.
When he rejoined his companions he found Jaken trying to calm a crying Rin. The little girl was so caught up in her tears that she failed to notice Sesshomaru's arrival, as she normally would have.
"Oh, my Lord! I cannot get her to stop." Jaken said, seeing Sesshomaru approach.
Sesshomaru looked down at the little girl who had her hands clutched around something that she held to her chest.
"Rin."
His soft calling made the girl fall silent, though tears still fell from her eyes. She looked up at him, sniffling.
"You will remain her with Jaken and I will go to retrieve her." Sesshomaru ordered.
Rin's eyes grew wide before a delighted smile lie her face. She gave an eager nod. It was then that Sesshomaru's eyes locked on to the girl's hands.
"Rin. What are you holding?" Sesshomaru asked.
Rin's grip on the object tightened and she bent herself over her hands to hind them.
"I can't tell you, my Lord." Sesshomaru was shocked by this.
Rin had never hid something from him before.
"Let me see, Rin." Sesshomaru ordered. To his further surprise, Rin shook her head.
"I can't, my Lord." she said.
"You insolent, little girl! Lord Sesshomaru gave you an o-"
Sesshomaru cut Jaken off before he could really get going.
"Jaken." he said in warning. Jaken fell silent while Sesshomaru knelled to be on level with Rin.
"Why can you not?" Sesshomaru asked, now curious.
"Miss Hamoni made me promise. She said no one can know that I have them, my lord. She said that woman wanted them." Rin told him.
Sesshomaru had a good idea what was in the little girl's hands. He held his hand out, a pointed look telling Rin to let him. Rin, looking crest fallen, opened her hands to show him. Sure enough, nestled in the cradle of her hands, was Hamoni's earrings made from shards of the Sacred Jewel.
So Hamoni had given them to the girl to keep them out of Kagura's grasp, knowing Sesshomaru would protect Rin over her. She had even made Rin promise to keep them hidden. But Sesshomaru couldn't leave them with the child. They would attract all kinds of demons without Hamoni's spiritual presence to hide them.
Sesshomaru figured it was the woman's spiritual abilities that had kept them hidden. Other wise demons would have been after them left and right.
"I must take them, Rin. Only she can hide them from others." Sesshomaru told the girl.
Rin debated for only a second before dropping the earrings in his open hand. Sesshomaru tucked them away and stood. Now he had to go and find the human woman and punish her not only for getting caught but for making Rin try to keep something from him.
She was turning out to be a troublesome human.
-0-0-0-0-
Hamoni wanted nothing more then to curse, but that wasn't her. As it was, coming to she groaned because of the pain in the back of her head. She had definitely cracked her head hard. She was almost tempted to continue laying where she was and not open her eyes. But then she noticed that her hands were bound together.
That wasn't a good sign in the least.
If she was still with Sesshomaru, her hands wouldn't be bound and she would hear Rin chattering in the background. At the moment she couldn't hear a thing. Now she had to open her eyes.
Hamoni forced her heavy lids to rise and found herself lying on her side in a semi-dark room lit only by a single torch on the opposite wall from where she lay. Her hands were bound together with steel shackles and chained to a wall. There was no way she was getting out of them. Had it been rope she could have eventually twisted her way out, but not with metal shackles.
Hamoni pushed herself up into a sitting position and looked around. She was in a small room with a barred window over her head and a thin, sliding, screen door that was far out of her reach. She could tell from the lack of light on the other side of the screen that it didn't lead outside. She could see the full moon through the window and had the door led outside, the moon light would be shining through the screen. This meant that she was in a room that was part of a larger building. Now the question was...
Where was that building?
She would have to get out of the room first to figure that out. Hamoni shifted, placing her feet on the wall, where the chains were connected, and heaved as hard as she could, hoping the wall or chains weren't very secure. Sadly that wasn't the case. Neither would budge a single inch.
"That will not work."
Hamoni leaned her head back to look at Kagura upside down. The other woman stood in the doorway watching her.
"Never hurts to try. Thank you, by the way, for the horrid headache I have now." Hamoni retorted.
Kagura simply watched her from over her fan as Hamoni settled herself into a sitting position. It seemed people from this ear didn't understand sarcasm very well. Hamoni was about to ask a question when the door opened again. Kagura instantly backed away from the door and the young man standing there.
"Well it is nice to finally meet you, young priestess." he remarked.
"I am not a priestess and I assume you are the infamous Naraku I have been told so much about." Hamoni replied.
A smile, that was awfully close to a wicked smirk, curved his lips. He ignored the comment as he neared her.
"You are the sister of the young priestess that currently travels with the half-breed Inuyasha." he stated rather then asked as he knelled next to her. Hamoni watched him closely.
"And now you travel with Inuyasha's older brother, Sesshomaru." he added.
"I assure you it is not by choice." Hamoni replied. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at him.
"Not that it is of any of your concern." she added.
Hamoni bit back a gasp of shock and pain as he suddenly, and roughly, seized her by the chin. The feel of his fingers on her skin made her skin crawl more then Sesshomaru's did. She realized that where Sesshomaru's firm touch rose goosebumps on her skin, Naraku's painful grip made her stomach turn.
That was warning enough on which one of them was the bigger threat to her.
"You look very much like Kikyo as well. Perhaps more so then your sister. She lacks the mature air, Kikyo and you have. And you have Kikyo's bold, strong will as well." Naraku said, staring at her.
Hamoni's eyes flashed with the beginnings of her temper stirring. She didn't like it when people grabbed her like that. She liked this man even less. She was suddenly missing Sesshomaru's company. At least he didn't touch her like this for no reason.
"Remove your hand." Hamoni said slowly.
Naraku's smile grew but that fell from his face and he yanked his hand back as a soft, blue glow surrounded Hamoni.
"I do not like to be touched. I have had an arrogant, annoying, narcissistic, dog demon yanking me about for days now." Hamoni told him, the glow growing stronger and brighter with each word.
"So do not touch me!" she finished.
By this point Naraku had to back away from her. Her abilities were certainly just as strong as Kikyo's and even if it was unconsciously, she was able to surround herself like a barrier with the purification aura. He would not be able to touch her like that.
Naraku put his smirk back into place as he looked at her.
"You will not be able to hold that barrier for long. You are unpracticed." he informed her.
Hamoni knew that. She didn't even know how she had made it to began with, but she figured if she held on to her anger and need to protect herself from his touch, she could keep it in place for a short while. She didn't want to think about after that.
"Now, where are the jewel shards you wore in your ears?" he asked.
One corner of Hamoni's mouth quirked up in a sort of half smirk. She was half tempted to tell him, "Up your butt." but that was childish and would get her no where.
"Somewhere you will never find them. Even if you do, you won't get them. I knew what she was after when she came after me." Hamoni replied.
Naraku eyed her. That face, stern in it's defiance, really was so much Kikyo's. But the fierce fire burning in her icy blue eyes was completely different. She would not let herself be pushed around so easily. He was sure she gave Sesshomaru a couple of problems.
"We shall see. I will come to see you again." Naraku said simply as he got to his feet and left, leaving Kagura behind.
Kagura looked at Hamoni who had still not let her barrier fall. Or perhaps she didn't know how to release it.
"He will find them." Kaguar told her. Hamoni's sharp eyes turned on her.
"Even if he does, he will never get them. I am not so idiotic as to leave them where they could be easily obtained. He will have a fight for them that he will surely lose." Hamoni replied.
Kagura looked her over once more. It was easy to tell that she and Kagome were sisters. Neither knew the meaning of 'give up'. Kagura was sure Hamoni would hold on to her brave front to the bitter end.
"For your sake...pray you are right." Kagura told her before leaving, sliding the door close behind her.
Hamoni let her stiff back and shoulders loosen. She sagged a bit and heaved a low sigh. She really did hope she was right. If Sesshomaru didn't protect Rin then next time Hamoni saw him, she would slap him as hard as she could.
END
Kyandi: Ohhh! Hamoni's Mommy Instinct has been awaken!
Hamoni: Oh hush it.
Kyandi's brother: You're one to talk Kyandi-nee.
Kyandi: It's different for me.
Kyandi's brother: If you say so.
Kyandi: I do, so everyone enjoy and review.
Kyandi's brother: We'll be back soon.
Hamoni: Farewell!
