Chapter Nine
"Ah, Kagura," Tamon greeted. "I did not expect to see you here."
"And I did not expect you to have guests," Kagura smiled. "Especially ones with such silver hair." Morinoko backed up as Kagura watched her with grim intention. "I will have to tell Naraku."
Tamon stood up. "Now, Kagura. They are children. Must we involve Naraku?"
"Whenever there is an InunoTaisho involved, me must tell Naraku," Kagura chuckled. Kagura dashed down the hallway to find Naraku.
"I told you to leave," Tamon sighed.
"We can still leave now," Shippo insisted.
Tamon shook his head. "You would not get far before you are found."
As if to prove his point, a dark shadow filled the doorway.
"Now if it is not the little hime," Naraku chuckled. "I did not expect to find you here in my home. I did not realize Sesshomaru would sink so low as to send his own daughter as a spy into enemy territory."
"He did not send me. I came on my own," Morinoko snapped. "I am not afraid of you."
Naraku laughed. "Such a brave little girl, are you not? Fine, do not fear me, but you will come to see me as a threat. That I can promise."
Two guards sauntered into the room, taking Shippo and Morinoko, pulling them out into the hallway.
"Now, let us go and tell your father what you gave been up to, child." Morinoko swallowed. Sesshomaru would most definitely not be happy.
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Waiting for her father to come and collect her was agonizing. She could see his face now and it was not pleasant. Her imagination playing out the scene only made her squirm. Morinoko and Shippo were sitting in two chairs in an empty room, the guards watching them intently. Naraku and Kagura were over in the corner, talking in low voices. Kagura sounds angry and frustrated as she spoke quietly to him. Morinoko strained to hear the words and still came up with nothing. Shippo was avoiding her gaze, opting to study the ceiling with great interest. Morinoko knew that he would get in more trouble, seeing as he was the older one here and should be the responsible one. Morinoko hung her head. It seems her great plan had fallen through and it was all her fault. If only she had listened when she was told to leave or, better yet, had never tried to carry through her crazy plan!
She looked up when two feet came into her eyesight and she looked up to see Naraku.
"Someone should be coming shortly to collect you," Naraku hissed. "And if I ever see you around here again, I will not hesitate to kill you."
Morinoko nodded mutely. Naraku turned on his heel and swept out of the room. Kagura made her way over to them, eyeing them with interest.
"You are very stupid for trying to talk to Tamon," Kagura told Morinoko. "You are lucky you are alive."
Morinoko nodded, looking down at the floor. Kagura crouched down, taking Morinoko's chin into her hand, roughly jerking her head up so Morinoko was looking into Kagura's face.
"Why did you do it?" Kagura demanded quietly. "Why?"
"I had to stop Naraku," Morinoko explained. "I had to stop him by taking away his most valuable possession."
Kagura stood up, laughing cruelly. "Take Tamon if you want him, kill him if you must. It will not change anything. Sesshomaru will fall, no matter what you do."
"You do not know that!" Morinoko argued.
Kagura turned to look at Morinoko, shaking her head. "I pity you child," Kagura spoke. "You know little and understand even less."
Morinoko glared, looking away. She heard the door slide open and shut with a clack. Kagura had left.
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It was midday when the two guards ushered Morinoko and Shippo out of the room. They were led past Tamon's room, who stood at the doorway, staring at Morinoko. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, feeling uncomfortable. They continued down the hall when Morinoko heard a weird sound it her ears. It was as if a thousand different voices were whispering in her ear, filling her mind with the speech of wordless conversations. Morinoko shuddered as they sound grew louder.
This way, look this way. It was the voice Morinoko had heard in the forest. She turned her voice to the direction the sound was coming from and found herself looking at a painting of misty mountains. Here, go this way.
A guard shoved Morinoko, realizing she had stopped, her eyes fixated on the painting. Morinoko stumbled forward when he shoved her, the whispering silenced. She tried to hear it again, but found she could not. The sound was gone and Morinoko's mind was clear. She continued forward, trying not to get distracted again.
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It had been bad enough that Morinoko had been caught, but as if to injure her pride even more, it was not her father that came. Instead, Inuyasha stood outside the gate, looking annoyed. Did Sesshomaru see Morinoko of so little importance, that he did not care to find out first that she was fine?
"Way to go, kid," Inuyasha snorted. "Get caught on your first try."
Morinoko did not reply, only standing still beside him.
"You best tell Sesshomaru that if I see anyone of his so far into my land again, I will not restrain myself from initiating the most severe of punishments, hanyo," Naraku warned.
"Guard you land better and you will not have this problem again," Inuyasha shot back.
Naraku walked back onto his grounds, the gate shutting securely behind him.
"Such a pleasant man," Shippo commented, frowning.
"Next time, do not be an idiot and get captured," Inuyasha growled, "then maybe you will not have to deal with such a 'pleasant' man. Now let us go. I did not want to be out here at this time."
Morinoko trailed behind Inuyasha, guiltily staring at her feet. "He does not care," she whispered.
Inuyasha turned his head to look at Morinoko, but did not stop walking. "Whaddya talking about?"
"Father," Morinoko sniffed. "He did not come."
Inuyasha snorted. "So that means he does not care? When he got the message, he only sent me because I will travel fast. He did not feel like yelling at you in front of Naraku. It was bad enough that Naraku knows you were not sent by Sesshomaru, it looks like he cannot control his kid. Sesshomaru, in fact, will be yelling at you far into the night when we return. Do not say I did not warn you."
Morinoko nodded, feeling like a fool. It had been a dumb decision and she only hoped Shippo would not have to suffer for her actions.
"Why did you go anyway?" Inuyasha asked. Morinoko thought of telling him the truth that she had heard a voice in the forest that told her to go, but decided against it. Morinoko did not wish to sound crazy.
"I wanted to convince Tamon to stop helping Naraku," Morinoko confessed.
Inuyasha snorted. "People like Tamon, people who help Naraku, do not just stop helping them. They are corrupt and evil beings; they are not going to change alliances simply because a small girl asked them to."
"He said he was finally getting everything he wanted," Shippo grumbled. "He said he was not going to give that up."
Inuyasha nodded. "It is selfish bastards like him that will ruin the world."
Morinoko sighed, looking up at the bright sky. Why would anyone in the world ever help Naraku?
A/N:
Tsukino Aisuru-A: You serious? Because if you are, I will totally take you up on that offer. Though, how does the whole beta Reader thing work? I haven't the slightest clue, honestly.
Gentle Catastrophe: I like to think that because I'm so smart, I automatically fix those mistakes subconsciously as I read instead of seeing them. But I think we all know that isn't true in the least bit. :)
But thank you for all the love; you are a wonderful person. And all the fighting comes later, you know, when all those hotheads get involved. :P