Two hulking figures towered above young Nami. One was very tall with an eyepatch, a ragged kimono, and a strange circular tattoo on his cheek. The other man's dress was equally in disrepair, and he wore a set of cut off gloves that added to his menacing look. One man stepped to the front of Nami, the other remained behind. They both crossed their arms simultaneously and stared down at her.
"A village wench", the taller one, Kane, growled as he grabbed Nami's collar. His companion, Yutaka, got a rope from his collar and began to tie the girl up. Nami began to scream, flailing her arms wildly, but she was quickly subdued by the rope and Kane's strong grasp over her mouth. Once her arms and legs were bound and mouth gagged, Yutaka shoved her over his shoulder and turned around, heading away from the villiage.
"Great idea that you had here Kane. Those villagers think they can keep fighting us off? Now that one of their own was stupid enough to wander off, we'll hold her for ransom and suck every bit of wealth out of those bumpkins."
"How far do you want to take her?" Kane stretched, patting Nami mockingly on the back, "She looks tired and in need of a little nap."
Yukata smiled at Kane's sarcasm and shook his head. "The usual hangout will be fine. The Black Fox clan will never be ignored again!" He paused a moment and did his best to bellow out a menacing laugh, but it ended in coughing due to his raspy, irritated throat.
Kane just rolled his eyes and walked ahead, grabbing Yukata's kimono and dragging him ahead. "Stop fooling around. Our horses are tied up ahead and then we can get back to our campsite before nightfall."
"Why did we leave our horses all the way out here again?" Yukata asked, scratching his dandruff-filled head.
"You need to bathe more, you animal," his companion shoved him, "Its a matter of stealth. They have lookouts for men on horses now, it was a lot easier to get closer without loud hoofs announcing our arrival. Do I have to tell you everything? I guess so, you decided to avoid the river this morning. Im surprised the villagers didn't smell you coming."
"Shove it, Kane! You are not exactly the picture of cleanliness yourself. It doesn't matter, we can take care of all that stuff once we start reaping the rewards of this little one.."
The two bandits continued to bicker on about meaningless things while Nami hung rather uncomfortably from Kane's shoulder. She had spent the first few minutes struggling and crying her eyes out, but now she was concentrating on relaxing and figuring a way out of the situation. If I can get out of this alive, and bring an end to the Black Fox Clan, I won't have a need for a husband! People will start believing me, I'll get free treats all the time, and best of all, I'll have Koshi kicked out of town on his ass!
Nami did her best to keep track of where they went as Kane and Yukata went on horseback. It was hard for her to, because as Kane held her in front of him, his free hand found time to wander down Nami's front. Tied up, she couldn't do a thing, but even so she knew it was a priority to keep track of her location more than punish the grungy hentai.
The farther they got from her village, the harder it was for her to remember the landmarks, but continuing the task helped her to keep calm. Every minute or so, the fear in the back of her mind would come to the front, wishing someone, even that lying Koshi, would come, but then she would argue with herself that she rather be bitten by a snake than be rescued by him.
Young Nami slipped into a light sleep, and woke up a few minutes later when her kidnappers came to a stop. A group of about twenty bandits were gathered around campfires, laughing and joking about women, wars, and bodily fluids. She cringed at the jokes she heard, but at the least they had stopped, and she didn't think that she was out of range of being saved.
Kane and Yutaka were greeted with a hero's welcome, slapped on the butt and some grunts and growls that she saw even among the village men. This is discouraging me from ever getting married, Nami thought as she was put on the ground and shoved beside a tree.
Yutaka hovered over her, and tugged her hair so she would stare right into his eyes. "Don't cause any trouble, and I won't sell you off. Do you understand me?"
Nami nodded, and Yutaka released her hair. He looked back to the rest of his companions, and since most of them were preoccupied with sake, looked back at the fair skinned girl.
"I got a kid myself. Don't get to visit him often," he said in a soft, almost soothing voice, '' Mind yourself and I'll make sure you won't get hurt. That's all." He turned around and laughed, walking back towards his friends and passing gas in front of Nami as he walked back to them.
"Who is going to be the one to send out the message about the kid?" he asked the excited group.
"Let them sweat it out for a few days, and get real worried" Kane waved his hands to quiet the rowdy bunch. "I wanna be able to hear the cries of those women from all the way over here. When we know that they are good and weak, we will set our demands, high ones, and then keep increasing them."
Yutaka raised a brow, "Fair plan, but how far do you plan to go before giving her back?"
Kane rolled his eyes and looked away from Yutaka. "Daddy dearest is whining again. We give her back once that town is so poor they have to eat dirt to survive. And if they give us one coin less, we kill her. Heck, we may even do it anyway."
Howls of laughter came from the group, but Yutaka could only smile. He scraped his lips over his teeth and sat down, grabbing some of the roasted meat that was sitting out and chewed on it in thought. Killing wasn't foreign to him, but unknown to the group was after his son had been born, he promised not to slay another child.
Nami scrunched up her nose. I think if I didn't have this gag preventing me I would've hurled a long time ago. Disgusting men, if they try to kill me I'll give them hell. This isn't looking very good. Her eyes remained focused on Yutaka and his subtle reactions, and a glimmer of hope surface. Still, I have a slim chance to try to appeal to that one guys sense of decency. Problem is how I go about it.
It was dark, and Shippou was lost, again. He groaned at this, and pondered over whether or not he should return to Miroku. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. All I was going to do was get some information on these strange demons, come back and tell Miroku, and do Kagome proud. So far it isn't turning out so good."
He stood on a tall rock to try and get his bearings. A cold wind whipped past him and he shivered, blinking away the cold from his eyes. "The old woman I found on the road said that there were some tales told of the demons to the east, and I still haven't found a nearby village. This is getting frustrating." Another cold wind came from the other side, a strong gust, and it knocked him right off the rock. Lightning crackled in the sky, and a snowflake fell on his nose.
"The weather is going to get pretty nasty," he told himself, "I'll just have to go back and find Miroku, then go out searching when conditions are better. Now I have to go west.." He scratched his head, "Which way was that again? Oh! Yeah..I think that way!"
Shippou's slow and steady walk from before had turned into a light jog. The temperature seemed to drop dramatically every few minutes, and with each drop, his tiny feet moved faster. A light fog set in to further complicate things, and at one point the best he could see was a campsite, a large one to be exact, straight in front of him. He knew it wasn't Miroku's, but it would be a good place to wait until the fog lifted.
Another snowflake hit the back of his neck, and he ran straight for the fires.