The temporary effects of that damned drink were beginning to wear off as I reached my home, but it was like I'd had way too much to drink, my head was spinning, I was dizzy, and by the time I had collected some clothing and a pack for my journey, I was so sick that I could barely walk. I splashed myself with water, pulling it sloppily from the stream, and was ready to leave.
I was halfway to the door when the wardrobe slammed shut, startling me. I jumped, stepping into the watery mess on the floor. My feet came out from under me. A startled yelp escaped my lips, the next thing I know I'm lying on the ground, I can't quite remember how I got here, but being horizontal reminded me of how tired I was, not to mention the throbbing in my head. My hand moves up to touch the spot on my head, yeah there, ouch. I looked at my hand, in front of my face now, was that blood?
Just water, I decided, laying my hand down on the bed in front of me. Wait, not bed, floor. But its just as comfortable as the bed, and I'm already here. Why was I here again?
Leaving… I was leaving. Leaving? Surely not tonight? I was too tired to leave tonight…
It was early dawn out when I awoke, lying on the floor, bag clenched tightly in my fist. I rubbed my head, groaning, as I sat up. A cool morning breeze blew in to the wreck that was my old home, and I realized that I was damp, and cold.
I sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. Wait, not my bed, but the floor, and not even the right floor, I was… home? Something big happened, and I couldn't even remember what it was.
I needed to get moving, I was supposed to be leaving, I remembered that much anyway, last night's events… was it last night? How long had I slept? How did I get home? It was all a blur. I stood for a moment, gathering my wits about me.
I took a deep breath and made the best of this mess I was in. I looked inside the bag I had clutched in my sleep, a mess of colors and fabrics stared out at me, this wouldn't do. I dumped the mess of a packing job onto a dry spot on the floor, and then I dressed myself in a simple travel kimono made of sturdy, warm material. It was shades of green and yellow, like leaves in the sun, and it would help me blend in on foot. I folded the rest of my sparse clothing, not including the robe I had been wearing when I awoke, into the bag, adding the little bit of medical supplies I owned, mostly dried herbs and salves, and hefted the pack up on to my shoulder. My mom's travel cloak was in the top of the bag, but I didn't know how long I would be traveling, so it stayed there until the weather turned for winter.
I set off through the trees at a brisk pace, with any luck I could be outside the village walls before the sun began to turn the sky colors. I cast one last look over my shoulder at the home I was leaving behind and then I began to run.
The sky was beginning to lighten, and birds were waking up and starting their days, I needed to get out of here soon, before it got too much brighter. I was close, so close, to the northern gate; I could almost see the wall that encircled the village. I was minutes away from freedom.
I kept winding my way through the trees; it was slow going this far into the forest, roots and vines littered the ground trying to impede my every step. Then I heard it, an extra footfall. I whipped around, looking for the source of the sound, but there was nothing. I wandered around the area a bit, Naraku had played this game once before and I would not make the same mistake twice, but there was no one to be found. Maybe I was imagining things; this close to freedom, maybe I was getting paranoid.
I started walking again, one step, two steps, three steps, and still I heard nothing. Maybe I really had imagined it… but if there was no one there, than no one would know if I made a fool of myself testing it.
I started moving again, fighting my way through the tangled undergrowth, continuing on my way for a few more minutes, going faster and slower as the mood struck me, still I heard nothing. Finally in a last ditch effort I picked up my pace, taking sure steady steps, and then right before my foot touched the ground I stopped, hovering on the edge of my movement.
There; a distinct thud and the crunch of the brush under a foot that most certainly wasn't mine. A curse followed the noise, and then
"I've found her! She is here, here!" Heart racing I began to run, the sounds of pursuit quickly followed, it was a saving grace that this far out in the forest, the men were far too big to fly, they had to chase me on foot.
More men joined in the race, I needed to escape quickly, but the wall was still not in sight, it must be quite farther on foot than when flying, because I had been so sure I was close. A vine tangled around my ankle and I fell, letting out a startled 'eep'. I crashed into a tree, clinging to it while attempting to shake free of the vine. Heavy footsteps pounded closer, I was losing my lead; they were going to capture me.
I dropped to the ground tearing at the vine ensnaring my foot, but it was too late, the men were right on top of me, I needed a new plan. Frantically I rubbed dirt over my pale skin, my neck, shoulders, the exposed part of my chest, my hands, wrists, and my face, covering every bit of flesh exposed to the light, I rubbed it into the cloth of my kimono also, dimming the bright colors and hopefully helping to blend into the colors around me. I curled up in the low brush, dirty and scared, clenching my eyes shut.
The footsteps came closer and closer still until they were right beside me, and then they passed, still chasing the girl they thought was ahead of them. I remained frozen in my spot afraid to move for fear of stragglers.
All was silent around me, I opened my eyes and looked around but no one was near, there were no sounds of men to the south, but I needed to go north. I followed the trampled paths made by the men, darting from tree to tree, heart still pounding, I traveled this way for some time, but the sun had not moved far in the sky before I needed a rest. I leaned up against the tree, facing the way I had come, sighing with relief; finally a rest from the fear that had been plaguing me.
There was a noise behind me.
"Where is she?!"
"I-I-I don't k-know, Sssir."
"What do you mean you don't know?! You and the others have been searching all night, I was just alerted that she had been found!"
"Sir, we have b-been looking, b-but she seems to have disappeared. We looked everywhere."
"How is it that you can't manage to find a single girl? She can't even fly!"
I cringed as the sound of a fist making contact with flesh reached my ears; there was a thud, then the rustle of fabric.
"Leave him," the rustling stopped, "Continue the search for the whore; she must be around here somewhere." I pressed tighter against the tree, hardly breathing.
"Naraku," a hushed silence fell as the other men grew quiet; this too, was a voice I recognized, InuYasha… my heart sank in my chest, what was he doing here? "You're going about this all the wrong ways. Kagome is smart; she will be running, not hiding. If you want to find her" He paused, and I held my breath, "If you want to find her, tighten security at the borders."
Damn it, damn it, InuYasha! Why are you helping Naraku find me?
"Well you heard him, get to the exit gates, inform the others to use any force necessary to stop her." Naraku called.
"No." InuYasha's voice echoed just as loudly as Naraku's, "Your men cannot hurt her, Naraku, even just her capture will not go well, she is in a fragile mental state, if your men hurt her… she might break."
The sound of another hit reached my ears, "You are not the commander here, InuYasha!" A second impact with the ground and a third sound, muffled. "Do as I said, man the gates, capture the girl, then bring her to me."
For a moment it was silent. And then the men rushed to obey Naraku's orders. I kept still, pressed tightly against the tree at my back, silently praying that no one would pass by my hiding place. Three men in a small group raced past me, flying towards the east, if even one had bothered to look over his shoulder, I'd have been caught, but for now I was safe. I waited until the birds in the trees around us began to sing again before coming out of my hiding spot. I would continue to the closest gate, Naraku and his men would not expect me here, sure that their 'camp' was safe, which is why I would be able to escape here the easiest.
I stepped out of my hiding place, into the clearing. There were two unconscious bodies on the ground; one of them was the ranking officer whose knee I had cut that day so long ago. The other was much more difficult for me to walk away from.
"InuYasha…" I whispered, taking in the sight of his prone body lying in the dirt.
I hesitated, torn between helping my once dear friend and the urge to flee before he awoke to help my would-be captors again. I knelt in the dirt, unable to walk away from my friend; "Why are you helping them, InuYasha? Why do you wish for my capture?" I leaned down and pressed a soft kiss against his lips, I expected him to be warm, I didn't expect him to sigh, roll over, and pin me to the ground beneath him.
My eyes widened, and my heart began to beat its way out of my chest. I was pinned, trapped, and cold, so cold. I struggled, pushing against him, hitting his chest, anything to escape. I couldn't breathe. I opened my mouth to scream, and he smothered the sound with a kiss.
I bit his lip, hard. He growled something obscene, catching my arms and pulling me up as he fell back holding me on top of himself.
"Damn it, Kagome! That hurt!" His indignant whisper brought me back to the present, and tears welled up in my eyes. "Shit, Kags, I'm sorry…" He pulled me tightly against his chest, holding me as I shook, "I just… what did you expect? I wake up to a kiss after not having seen you in so long…" his voice trailed off, but too late.
I shoved away from him, sitting up on his lap,
"Why are you helping Naraku find me?!" I hissed at him, slamming my palm down on his chest. He winced, but more from guilt than from pain, I hadn't hit him that hard…
"Kagome, you don't understand, you'll only make things worse by running. Naraku… Naraku is not a man who is used to being denied what he wants; he will come after you, Kagome, and when he does he won't be gentle when he finds you."
"I must not let him find me then." I answered, standing up, and facing away from InuYasha where he lay on the ground still. "I am leaving, one way or another InuYasha; with or without your help." I turned towards him once again, looking down at my friend for what might be the last time, and the look in his eyes frightened me. "InuYasha, please…" I begged, backing up into the trees once again, "Please don't."
"I have to keep you safe, Kagome." I turned and began to run. Truly now the gates were so close, maybe I could make it before they found me.
"I found her! She's headed for the Northern gate!" Then he was chasing me, crashing through the brush behind me; men were approaching from all sides, I needed a new plan. I needed a way to fight. I ducked through the arms of a burly man who appeared in front of me, and heard him collide with someone behind me, and then, finally, I could see the gates.
Stone wall covered in creeping vines, beyond it, forest and mountains and a whole world where I could be safe. We called it the gates, but really it's just a gap in the wall, this far into the forest, and with a little help from fae magic, no one could get close enough to cause us any harm, and anyone who did usually forgot why they were coming here, or got turned around in the opposite direction at some point. No, my problem wasn't the gate; my problem was the men blocking the gate. I slid to a stop, stirring dust into the air. A flash of familiar red in my peripheral vision, and I was moving again.
I collided with his chest, gripping him tightly, shaking in fear, "Please InuYasha, you have to help me!" The dust filled the air; it was as if he and I were alone in the smog.
"Ka-kagome!" he was startled, I had to be quick. I slid my hand down his chest, dragging my nails through the layers of material. The dust was beginning to settle, I needed to hurry. I nuzzled my face into the gap when his kimono overlapped,
"Please, Yash," I begged, my right hand tracing the line of his fundoshi through his hakama, "Please help me." I felt him tense against me and knew I had messed up. I cursed quietly.
"I am helping you, Kagome," He muttered, pulling me against his left side so I was facing out away from him, "I've got her, I've got her, stand down." He intoned, dragging me towards the line of men in front of the gate. "Call Naraku." He commanded. I squirmed in his grip and flashed him a wild eyed look and his grip on me loosened just a fraction, but it was enough.
I lunged across his body, reaching for his sword and pulling it from its sheath. Gripping it loosely in both hands I stepped back away from him, watching as the other men drew their weapons. If InuYasha would not help me, I would have to help myself.
InuYasha was already advancing toward me, weaponless. I guess he thought I wouldn't hurt him, but he didn't understand how broken I was.
"Don't do this, Kagome. Naraku is already on his way." He reached his hand out towards my sword, trying to return it to his control.
"I don't want to hurt you, InuYasha," I said loudly, circling around him so I was facing the other men, "I just want to leave in peace."
"You won't hurt me, Kagome," InuYasha stated, walking towards me, "Just give me the sword, and we can end things nicely…"
"InuYasha, stop." I cautioned.
"Just hand me the sword."
"Please."
"Let me help you." He was too close; I drove my left hand up, raising the sword above my head, and stepped back into a spin, dropping the sword down across the meat of his left shoulder.
Shock registered on his face before pain, it wasn't a deep wound, and I had been theatrical about it in hopes of scaring the other men at the same time, but it was more than anyone had expected of me. I hoped that it would be enough to gain my freedom; we all knew who the best swordsman here was.
InuYasha, after a moment's pause, continued towards me, "Don't be foolish, Kagome. Let me help you." He ducked under my next swing, stepping towards my down arm; I followed my swing with a step through, pivoting and thrusting my sword through the air where InuYasha had been only moments before. My sword swung out as I spun in a circle in the opposite direction, catching InuYasha's right hip. He cursed, dropping the weight off his injured leg.
He limped towards me another step, "Stop, InuYasha, please."
"I'll stop when you drop your sword." Came his damning reply.
He dropped into a roll towards me and I stepped back, cutting into right arm as he rose to his knees. He staggered to his feet and I stepped into him. I kicked the knee of his uninjured leg and rammed my hilt into his stomach, knocking him on his back. Turning to face him my eyes widened in shock as he staggered to his feet once again. There was silence around us as he rose unsteadily into a fighting position, the other men holding their breaths anxious to see what I would do next.
InuYasha and I continued our spinning dance, and I watched as he became weaker and weaker with blood loss from the superficial wounds I had inflicted upon him. It occurred to me that he realized I had yet to truly hurt him, and that was why he continued to fight me. I could wait no longer for blood loss to take him, Naraku would be here any moment, and InuYasha was just too stubborn to give up. I would have to harm him, genuinely attack him, before he would give up and let me escape.
InuYasha was standing to face me once again, still on his knees, when I struck. I lunged forward, driving my sword into his chest just below his collarbone. I watched the silver blade slide through his flesh, watched as the red tinted blade came out the other side. I saw the pain on InuYasha's face, the look of betrayal as he realized what I had done; heard the shock of the men behind me, and InuYasha's groan of agony as I pulled the sword from his chest. Without my sword to hold him up, he collapsed, falling in the dirt.
"Stay down, InuYasha." I commanded. A tear rolled down my cheek, falling to the dirt beside my fallen friend. I turned my back to him for the last time, facing the men blocking the gate behind me. "Who else would keep me here?" I demanded, stepping towards the other warriors.
Silence met my ears, and the men moved out of my path. I sent a silent prayer up to the gods, thanking them that I would not have to shed more blood today.
I was almost clear when I heard it. The 'woosh' of a blade cutting air behind me. I spun and raised my sword, dropping to my knee as I turned, but blindsided I missed my block, coming up from the wrong direction, I only managed to drop my hands in time not to lose them, and earned myself a cut across the chest for it too.
Naraku had finally arrived.
"Don't just stand there you Idiots, capture her!"
I brought my hands back up to fight swinging up my sword… one handed? I backtracked quickly, weaving backwards into the trees, buying a little bit of time. I glanced down at my left arm where it hung limp at my side. 'Left arm up', I told myself, as I turned and began to weave through the trees, but nothing happened, I couldn't feel where it was at all, and worse, It didn't even hurt… yet.
I could hear the men closing in, I needed to do something to help, I was so close to freedom. I stopped running, using my working arm to pull on the water in the air around me, condensing it, adding to it, until a dense fog billowed around us, but without both my hands, the rain I had hoped for would take too long. I began to run again.
How easily I could create a path through the fog even with only one hand was the only thing that allowed me to pull ahead of the men, and my lead the only thing that allowed me to run for as long as I had. Frequent stops to rest my damaged body while my mind and my hand worked to condense the fog and even cause rain to begin to fall were my saving grace, the time allowed me to catch my breath and the lead I gained let me rip the hem of my kimono and use it to sloppily bind my arm and tie it in place. It took longer than I expected and I was forced to begin to run again with my bindings coming loose.
Blood continued to run down my arm, diluted by water, but kept flowing fresh by the jostling pace of my run and the pounding of the rain I had caused.
My breaks were becoming more and more frequent and I was recovering more slowly, soon I could hear the pounding steps of the men again, I had long ago abandoned my sword so I could move more quickly, but now I was beginning to wonder if I should have kept it. Too late now though, I just had to keep running and hope that I could still outlast these men.
My shoulder and chest were beginning to throb in time to my footsteps, it helped me focus. After a while I lost myself in the ducking and running and pain.
I don't know how long I ran, but eventually I reached my breaking point, stumbling to a halt I looked around, blowing out the fog around me I took in my surroundings. There were trees around me that I didn't recognize, and flowers I had only ever seen in books, mixed in around the plants I recognized; I must have run farther than I thought to be finding such things, and I must have been pretty far gone from blood loss to care. In front of me was a small clearing and a small rise, the beginnings of the hilly terrain that was south of my village, and dug into the small hill was a den, not unlike one a wolf would make, but I had never needed fear wild animals, so hiding inside, even if there were wolves to arrive later, was not a problem.
I was almost inside the small clearing when I snagged my impromptu sling on a branch, pulling it tightly against the wound across my shoulder and chest. I cried out as the pain burned down my arm and split across my chest. Footsteps began to pound towards me, but I was too weak to run anymore, I scrambled for the grassy opening, hoping that I could escape in time. A twig across the opening gouged across my shoulder, encouraging a fresh spurt of blood and I had to muffle a scream. I dragged myself inside and curled up in the dark, cool space.
Damp and bloody I fell asleep in the den of the wolf.
