Chapter 35: The Tale Of The Kidnapping
Story: Twist Of Fate
By: Sky
Karamina padded slowly back towards the palace, with Kanari at her side. Four days ago, they had led a contingent of Clansman down to the massacre site, to remove what was left of the remains of the two young Clansmen, and take them home. And there, with honors, they were burned along with their pelts, and their family was given the ashes to bury in the family burial spot. It was with the death of those two, that the Clan learned of a hunter of their kind, and it was stirred into finding who and what this demon was, and how to destroy it.
When that started, Karamina had become rather distant from her brethren, and the only one who could find her was her sister. Deciding that no good came from her just sitting around there in solitude, she told the Clan she was taking Karamina back to the West, so that she could see what she could find out there. And now, they traveled back at a leisurely trot; each not talking much to the other. And that bothered Kanari a bit. Karamina almost always had something to tell her sister when they met up with each other every once in a while. The silence was disturbing.
"So I heard Haruki and Aveatre have finally decided to stop circling each other and have decided to become mates," Kanari stated, trying to get Karamina to talk about something. And she loved to tell Kanari about the recent exploits of her two favorite red kitsune.
"Yes," was all Karamina said before lapsing back into silence. Kanari wondered around her brain for a little more, trying to find a new subject. And then she landed on Karamina's other favorite subject.
"And I heard that boy you had, the Exterminator, was healing just fine, and he's currently living in a cavern somewhere near the palace."
"Yes, he is. And he's recovering nicely," was all Karamina said once more before lapsing off into silence. Kanari wanted to pull her fur out, but knew she couldn't show that to Karamina, or she would just make her sister even more depressed and quiet. So she continued walking in silence as well, trying to think of some way to cheer up Karamina. Before she decided to get into the drastic measures though, Karamina spoke.
"I'll have to ask her about that," she said to no one in particular, and with a thoughtful tone to her voice. Kanari looked to see her sisters gaze somewhere else, and a thoughtful spark in the light orbs. Well, at least she wasn't walking in silence anymore.
"Ask who about what?" asked Kanari, with her curiosity getting the better of her.
"Kagome about the kidnapping," Karamina stated, and then stopped and watched her. Kanari took a few more steps forward, before turning to look over her shoulder at her sister. One delicate scared ear cocked sideway in interest as it caught the words that Karamina said, and her tongue flicked out slightly in anticipation. So this was what Karamina had been thinking of that had kept her so silent.
In the back of her mind, Karamina looked at the transformed Clansman before her, and couldn't help but smile. Rarely, even though she lived in the wild wood, was Kanari ever in her true form as a silver kitsune. She for some reason liked to be a two-footed human-ish form. Karamina still couldn't understand that, as she found traveling on four feet much better then two, but she would not question what her sister liked and didn't.
Her mind shifted back to the original thought.
"Jath're'ka acted like the world was his when he came to ask for Kagome's hand in marriage. It was like Kagome had already been promised to him. Guthrick should have caught it and reported it. Then Jath're'ka kidnapped Kagome. Once more, Guthrick should have caught him on this, and found a way to get a message to the clan if he couldn't think of one. He would have known that we would deal with this situation, but he didn't." Kanari nodded, knowing that Karamina wasn't really speaking to her, but thinking out loud. Though that was never a bad thing to listen to when it came down to Karamina's concerns.
"And when the Southern Palace was attacked by InuTaisho and the pack, he was not there, and he did not join the fight. Though Guthrow told me later that when he and Yasha were going through the palace in search of Kagome, he caught his scent. Why did the Clansman run away from the palace?" Karamina paced side to side, and Kanari watched as she thought. Politics and plots were not something she was good at. She liked things much simpler. In some ways, she wished that she understood them better, because then she could help Karamina out when she needed to think things out like she was doing right now. Though, it also seemed that she was doing a pretty good job about it.
"Were they sure it was him? We did have two other…." Kanari tried to stop her thought before it continued, but she had gotten to the point of no return at that point. But thankfully, Karamina hadn't been listen.
"No. Guthrow has a good nose. He knew what the Clansman there smelled like. It was Guthrick. He fled as the dogs rushed in. But my question is, why would a Clansman need to flee from his own kind? And those that are traveling with their own kind?" Kanari shook her head.
"I think you're right Sister. We need to ask Kagome about her kidnapping."
OoOoOoOoOoO
Kagome sat at the side of the clearing, waiting for Yasha and Guthrow to come back from their baths. Kagome had worked him into a sweat this afternoon, and Guthrow had called an early halt just so Yasha could get cleaned up. She kicked her feet in a slightly bored gesture, and watched the dents in the earth increase as she kept kicking at them. She knew that the boys weren't too far away, and that was the only reason that Guthrow had left her alone where she was now. Though, she was slightly irritated that she couldn't talk to Yasha while he was getting cleaned up. But then again, it wasn't proper for her to do that. Etiquette decreed that only a wife or a servant could be present in the bathing chambers with a man. Her father would never let her be a servant, and she most certainly wasn't married. She shuddered at the thought, as the jaguar, Jath're'ka came to mind.
The Lord of the South that had been so obsessed, he had gone so far as to even kidnap her from her fathers lands; the lands he was visiting. That alone could have been taken as an act of war, even though the Clan had specifically told the Lords of the Lands that they could not fight the other. They were to rein in peace, and any acts of war would make their holdings forfeit, and the Clan would chose a new Lord of the Land. Thankfully, though, Karamina had been present, and had allowed her father to come to her rescue. Though, the three days before that had been able to come, as they had journeyed over, had been absolute hell for her.
Kagome mused at the word phrasing she had used. Maybe she had been spending too much time with Yasha after all. She kicked her heels absently as she thought about their adventures again. Remembering the first time she had really met him, had been in this very cavern. She smiled as she looked at the smoothed stone and the covered entrance; making it his new home now. She still remembered being trapped in the cavern as well, having been distracted too much, and not leaving herself a way out. She was very lucky that he was the type of person he was, or she very likely would have ended up as a pelt. She also remembered sneaking out of the palace to go and visit the boy who was now stuck there until the others could figure out what to do with him.
She remembered their first real adventure, when she had gotten them in trouble. Though, now thinking about it, when hadn't they been in trouble? She smiled to herself for a moment, and then shuddered at the memory of the sound of the altered Velkir as they chased her with him on her back through the forest. And how, after she was wounded, he had protected her as best he could; leaving himself open to more fatal wounding. Though, he wasn't wounded too badly, because of the timely arrival of her father and brother. And of Karamina and Guthrow. It had taken him some time to heal from that excursion, as his wounds had been deep, and she absently rubbed the scar on her wrist. That had been her price for it. The Velkir had struck her hard enough, and had given her a deep enough wound, that it had actually left a scar. Even after the application of healing sauve and ointments that had been placed upon it, to help increase the speed of her demon healing. There next adventure had been a little more dangerous. She had found Yasha returning from a game of 'territory' with Guthrow, and had goaded him into coming with her. She had found the most interesting cave, and had wanted to show it to him. They had been journeying for a bit into the belly of it, and she had shown him the prize that she had found, when disaster had struck.
Yasha was the first to notice the muddying of the pool water from the underwater river that had deposited the gold. And it was because of this that they had started heading back, and the errie quiet that Kagome had felt to the very marrow of her bones, even with them being underground. And that was when the shaking had started, and in their escape, the cavern they were in had caved in, and Yasha had been trapped under the debris from the ceiling. She had dug him out, but he had been badly hurt; at least several of his ribs had been crushed. Though, she could not take him to get him help, for they were now trapped in the cavern that she had been so eager to explore. For several days, they had relied on the rations that Yasha had brought with him, and had refilled the water from the clear crystalin pools around the cavern. Because of a glowing ball of foxfire that Karamina had given her for emergency use, both of them were able to see in the darkened cavern. It had become apparent though, on the third day of their misadventure, that Yasha could not chew the food that he had brought, and Kagome had been determined not to let him starve and loose strength, so she had decided to chew it for him, and passed it by mouth back to him, so that he could have his first meal in three days. And his strength did seem to recover after he had gotten some food in him.
It was not long after that though, that they had found a shaft of sunlight tilting into the cavern, and their miracle of rescue had come. Kagome smiled as she remembered that she had just stuck her hand outside of the hole, to show Yasha that it was indeed an entrance to the surface, when she had heard muffled voices who had offered to help them. Though, to their complete surprise and astonishment, it was Yasha's master and her companion that had saved them from the confining depths of the cavern by opening the hole, and lifting into the bright light of day. Her father had been really mad at her after that, and Yasha had needed time for his bones to heal after that one. It was then though, as she had heard later, that her father had learned about what had happened to Yasha's mentor and teacher, and how her companion, the lecherous monk, had found her. There had been some good days after that. Days when things were lazy and carefree. When she got to see Sango and Miroku train Yasha in his fighting style. When Karamina would tease the human boy mercilessly, and then either be attacked, or attack him, all in great fun though. After that though….
Kagome couldn't help but shudder at the though of Jath're'ka being near. How he had come to charm her to be his wife, and to bear his children. How when she had refused him, he had stayed for a while just thinking that she needed more time to think about it. But he got more and more frustraited because of her unwillingness to respond to her. That was why he had a plan. What was why he… She shuddered again. No. Right now, she would not think about that. That was a part in her life that didn't exist.
'What happened after that…' Then she remembered. Yasha had been gone for two years, and she had turned to a fine and proper young lady, much to the evident displeasure of her father and brother. She still couldn't discover what had been issue with it, since they had always wanted her to be proper. Now though, with Yasha back, it didn't seem to be much of an issue, which surprised her.
Heaven help the way that Yasha had come back. Kagome couldn't help but smirk as she remembered that Yasha had kidnapped her, and had started to take her back to the village he resided from, to be a prize and a trophy; proof that he and the others that were with him could take on a demon without the help of an elder Exterminator. Though, he had been very careful with handling her, and she had realized how much she had missed him. Guthrow had come to her rescue, and was as surprised as she was to find out who her captor was. Though, Yasha gave her over without a fight, and Guthrow thanked him, and took her back to the palace. It had seemed though, that not long after they had left, the poor boy had once again been attacked, though this time by a cat demon, and had to be saved by none other than Kanari.
Kagome remembered clearly about hearing about the news from a young Clansman named Ari, who had just melted from the forest. Though, she didn't know then that Kanari had saved him, just that another clansman had. Later on she would learn though, much to her amusement, that Kanari had accidently poisoned him, and once again Karamina had to come to his rescue. In that sitting, she had learned that Yasha was different then his Exterminator kin. The fact that he had trusted her, and the way he treated her, would always make him different. The guards had not liked the thought of her being friendly with an Exterminator, but she could understand their reasoning now. They were just suffering from the insult of having being caught, and having their hair shorn. And she had claimed to have such confidence in the boy. And by mutual consent, along with a little bullying on her part, the guards agreed that the information about the direction the Exterminator youth had taken had been kept completely from the ears of her brother Sesshomaru. As well as the fact that Yasha had been involved.
Things had turned interesting again after that, as suitor Misol had come to call upon the lovely maiden Kagome, and because he would not get the hint that Kagome was not interested, her brother had put him back in his place. Though, his parents were an old family friend, he was not the one for her. Her mind had kept drifting back to a young black-haired boy, who lay wounded in a familiar cavern, resting at the side of a familiar clearing. To clear her mind, since she was not going to be able to go back to the garden this night, because of Sesshomaru and her suitor, she headed for a place she hadn't been to in a long time; her mothers atrium. It had been so quiet in there that she had initially not wanted to enter. The birds that had once hopped happily between the branches had been released the day her mother had died. The plants were still being cared for, but not a single one bloomed, because they had no mistress now to impress with their brilliant colors. She remembered she had gone over to her mothers bed, and curled up onto the furs that still rested on them, and had drifted off to sleep.
After she had awoken back in her rooms, with questions plaguing her mind, she did something she hadn't done for years. She snuck out of the palace, and she transformed; heading for the clearing she knew was there, and to the boy that she knew was there as well. She had confronted the wounded Yasha, and had asked him why he had not come for her; why he had not saved her. The confused boy had tried to defend himself, but she hadn't really been listening, a fact that now she was sorry about. Yasha had been though much to save her, as she had learned from her father, Karamina, and Guthrow, who had come to his defense, and told her about what had actually happened. After that, things had smoothed out, and she was once more friends with the swiftly-mending Yasha.
She sighed sadly then, at the memory of Kanari coming into the clearing, with a gravely wounded Ari, and the pelts that were over her arm. Ari had since been moved to the palace, where she could be tended too completely, and Karamina and Kanari had run off with the two pelts of the Clansmen Adarin and Yousek. She gave another sad sigh as she remembered the two Clansmen. They spoke softly to her on her journey home, and she had often seen them around the palace for a little while after that. A few times, she had even spoken to them, and found that she really liked the pair of siblings. Yousek was curious, though slightly naive in a few things, and Adarin had a good head on his shoulders, and he loved his sister to death. Well, that was literally now. There was a slight pain in Kagome's chest as she remembered how soft their pelts were. There was no more going to talk to Yousek when she was troubled. No more talking to Adarin when she needed help figuring something out. She had lost two kitsune that she was starting to get really close to, and she was really saddened in the fact that she would not get to talk to them, or get to know them anymore.
Kagome shook her head to clear it of such thoughts, and settled down on the branch again, resting her hands on either side of where she sat. She was just getting settled when she heard a commotion coming from the forest, though, it wasn't in the direction that they boys had headed off. She turned her ears in that direction, then looked over as well, and saw two silver Clansman pad into the clearing. One, she recognized instantly, though the other, she wasn't so sure about. Though, she knew that for some reason, she knew who the other Clansman was.
"Karamina? What are you doing here?" She jumped off the log as the Clansman sat down where they were, the other looking around the clearing.
"I wanted to ask you something Kagome." Karamina turned to Kanari, and flicked a questioning ear at her sister.
"Guthrow and the boy aren't here," she stated as her head turned in the direction that they had headed.
"Guthrow took Yasha to go get cleaned up." Kagome was starting to feel uneasy. What was going on. Why were both of them here? For she was sure now that the other was Karamina's twin, Kanari. "Karamina, what is going on?"
"Sit down Kagome," Kanari said, before heading off into the forest where the other two had disappeared. Kagome watched her for a moment, and then sat back on the log that she had been on before their arrival. Her eyes studied Karamina's with confusion and uncertainty. What had happened now? A thousand questions raced through her mind.
"I have something I need to ask you, and I'm sorry if you're not ready to speak of it yet, but I really do need to know." Kagome swallowed a bit nervously, already having an idea about what Karamina was talking about, since he own thoughts had traveled a bit that direction earlier.
"What do you want to know?"
"It's about your kidnapping…." Kagome gave an involuntary shudder as the words left Karamina, and the elder Clansman watched the girl in sympathy. Kagome had never talked about it before, and Karamina was sure that she never would if she didn't have to. But there was just something about it that kept striking her as 'wrong'. She probably should have asked about it before, but it didn't occur to her then. Now, however, this poor frightened pup could very well hold the key to the mystery. "I know Kagome. You don't like to talk about it. But I need you to remember what happened that night."
"I couldn't forget," Kagome replied softly, looking down at her hands that she wrung nervously in her lap. Ebony hair cascaded over her shoulder; slightly hiding her face from view. Her ears were canted so far back, and they laid so flat on her head, that the shifting of her hair actually covered them up, so that it didn't look as though she had them, save for a small bump. Karamina moved before Kagome, and placed her chin on Kagome's knee, and nuzzled it gently. This caused a slight smile to grace Kagome's lips.
"It's alright Kagome. It's over with. Please tell me what happened."
With a deep breath, Kagome closed her eyes, and started to tell Karamina about that day.
She remembered that she had been having such a great time with Yasha, whom back then she had called 'InuYasha'. She knew it was a pet name, and not his actual one. She had learned from someone that his actual name was just Yasha, and had started calling him that whenever he was mentioned to her during his absence. And she guessed it had caught on, because it seemed like everyone now called him by that name. But that was not what she was thinking on right now.
She and Yasha had just roped Guthrow, and had tied him up, rendering the poor creature helpless. Though, he had been a very good sport about the pups play, and had ceded to them both. Though, he bore with him a message that at the time, no one would know would change her life forever. She was to attend the formal leaving of the Sothern Lord, at the request of her father. Leaving Yasha behind with a playful set of banter, and had gone charging for home, unaware that danger was afoot in her fathers forest. Kagome was almost half-way home, when she had seen a Clansman sitting in her path. She recognized him as being the advisor to the Southern Lord, and thinking that maybe Karamina had a message for her, or someone else had had a message for her, she had foolishly stopped, not realizing that she had lined herself up perfectly with the trap. In mere moments, Jath're'ka had jumped from the concealing brush at the side of the road, and had pinned the startled and smaller dog below his massive form. She remembered avidly the Clansman telling him to hold her as she tried to struggle free as he changed into his human form, and bound her mouth and feet.
"Wait a minute," Karamina interrupted, with surprise in her eyes and voice. "The Clansman did what?"
"While Jath're'ka held me down, the Clansman gained his human form, and tied my muzzle and my feet. He had told me that I couldn't call for my father now with my muzzle tied, because he didn't want to have to hurt me if I did. And he tied the knots so well around both my muzzle and my feet, I couldn't even think of escaping."
"It wasn't someone else who was taking on the shape of a Clansman, was it?" Karamina couldn't believe her ears. A Clansman helping to steal one of the Lords daughters? That couldn't be right. But Kagome was no liar either. And what reason would she have to lie? Karamina felt shaken to the very core of her bones. She didn't like how events were turning out.
Kagome shook her head.
"No Karamina. It had the distinct scent of a Clansman, though slightly diminished. It was like he wasn't pure blooded. And he looked kind-of dogish. And smelled like it too." Karamina's hearts sank to the end of her tail. Any hope she had that there had been a mistake or a demon that could take on other forms was crushed with those words. That sound like Guthrick alright. Half Clan half Dog. And the description matched as well. Even a demon that changed shapes could not change the scent. So it had been a Clansman that had attacked Kagome. A Clansman. Not just a confused pup of a previous Lord, but the Clansman of that pup himself helping with the capture. She shook her head, then looked back at Kagome, who was giving Karamina a strange expression.
"I'm sorry Kagome. I interrupted you. Please continue." Kagome studied Karamina for a few more moments, and then continued on.
"Jath're'ka then rendered me unconscious with a bite to my neck. When next I woke next, it was the first night that the demon and Clansman made camp. I had listened to their plans for me, and I didn't like what they were planning. They were discussing how my life was going to be, and what lessons I was going to have. Not to mention, preparing a nursery for my pups. I had tried to get away, only to find out that I had forgotten that I was tied. The Clansman had a pleased and malicious gleam in his eyes as the Southern Lord once more rendered me unconscious with a bite. I awoke again as once more we were traveling, and I was slung over Jath're'ka's back. I could feel the ropes digging into my paws and muzzle, and all I could do was pray that someone at that point had realized that I was missing, then the Clansman motioning to Jath're'ka, and him reaching back and biting me into unconsciousness again."
She didn't tell Karamina about waking up once more to hear the Clansman and Jath're'ka sharing crude comments about what to do with her when he got her in bed; the comments on what she was going to be like, and what noises she was going to make. And she knew that the Clansman knew she was awake, just by the fact that some of the comments were made while he was looking off in her direction. He wanted her to hear them. He wanted her to know what the plans for her were; to know what to expect.
"After that, I woke up and my neck hurt, and I was one a bed. I originally thought that it had all been a nightmare, that I had slept wrong or something, and that was why I hurt. But when I really woke up, I realized that I wasn't in my own room. And you know mainly what happened after that."
Karamina nodded as Kagome completed her tale, but her mind was racing at a mile a minute. She still couldn't believe that a Clansman had kidnapped a daughter of a Lord. And not just watched it happen and allowed it, had participated in the kidnapping as well. In fact, it sounded as though he was the sole instigater of the plan. That made things all the worse.
At this point, Kanari came back with Guthrow and Yasha. Upon Yasha seeing the pale form of Kagome sitting upon the branch, he rushed to her side as quickly as he could, and held out a hand to her, which she gratefully took and gave him a reassuring squeeze. Guthrow and the others declined to comment on what had just happened.
"Enjoy your bath?" Kagome asked Yasha, trying quickly to change the subject before Yasha could ask her what was wrong. Yasha nodded, though his eyes still held concern.
"Yes, it was refreshing. I was going to suggest that you might like one as well, but…"
"It's alright. I think I am going to take one." Kagome made as if to jump off of the branch, when a sudden thought struck her mind. She recalled once when she had been heading off to take a bath, that she had overhead the Clansman talking to someone.
"Karamina, there is something else," she stated, posed still in her mid-jump.
"What is it?" asked the Clansman, coming out of her deep and distressed thoughts to hear what else Kagome had to say about the kidnapping.
"When I was headed to the baths, I overhead the Clansman talking to someone. I don't know who it was, it may have been Jath're'ka, but I distinctly remember hearing him say something about an advisor named Nuraku..."
Hi Everyone. Yep, it's me again. Now things are starting to get interesting, eh? -winks- Yeah, I know, I'm still evil. xD And you won't believe how the next chapter is going to be. Hopefully, you're going to realize things you didn't even know you realized yet. -hides from people trying to come after her- I know this is mainly a 'what has happened up to this point chapter', because one of the reviewers mentioned that because of some of the updating spaces, it was getting hard to remember some things. So, here you go. A refresher. xD
Hey. At least I updated again. Because of some extra time I have, these should be updated more quickly then last time, so you won't have to wait five months for the next chapter to be posted. xD Hopefully, you're still enjoying the story. Let me know with a Review!! The deal still stands. The more you review, the faster I type.
Please Review!!!!