DISCLAIMER: I don't own Inuyasha or the book called 'Hasse Simonsdochter' written by Thea Beckman, nor do I own the characters of these two stories!! But I do own the idea of mixing these two ingredients into a new story.
INTRODUCTION TO CHARACTERS OF THIS CHAPTER:
Musou: A young merchandiser of the age of 23. He buys gems from places to sell them for a higher price in other places where they are rare.
[AN: Remember the piece of meat that wanted to be out of Naraku in the series? Sorry don't really remember which episode :P. In the series, he didn't know his name so he borrowed the name Musou. Yeah I know it's Onigumo, but I hate that name ^-^. In this story his real name is Musou and yes he looks like Naraku.]
Italic: thoughts
-- --: locations
"...": spoken words
~*~*~*~*~: time gap
*...* : noises
-by Kittymui-
The travel continues...
Previously:
Inuyasha watched his brother disappear upstairs and walked towards the dining
table. This is the first time we've had a real conversation... he thought
amused. Join his group...and travel together...? Should I do it? he mused.
Inuyasha suddenly let a smile appear on his face as he had decided what to do.
~*~*~*~
"And?" Kagome asked, watching Sesshoumaru enter the bedroom. "How did it go?"
Sesshoumaru silently walked over to Kagome until she was within arm reach and stopped. "We had a real conversation." he replied with a calm voice.
"Really?" That's good to hear." Kagome was about to smile but didn't as she saw Sesshoumaru's unchanged expression; his eyes were filled with emotions she didn't quite understood.
Kagome was surprised when Sesshoumaru suddenly hugged her tight. "S-Sesshoumaru...what's wrong...?" she asked worriedly.
"F-father..." she heard him whisper. "...h-he died...because
of me..."
Kagome's eyes widened and gently pushed Sesshoumaru away a little to see his
face. "W-what?! B-but how...?" she asked surprised.
Sesshoumaru dropped his face. Will she find me weak now...? After seeing
me like this... or after I told her... he wondered sadly.
His thoughts were cut off when he felt Kagome's warm hands touching his.
"Come..." Kagome said with a gentle voice. "...come sit on the bed with me and tell me the whole story."
Sesshoumaru was surprised at first, by her gentleness but he pulled himself together and together they walked towards the bed.
~*~*~ an hour later ~*~*~
Kagome was sitting on the bed and leaning against the wall with her legs stretched
out. Sesshoumaru was lying on the bed with his head resting on her lap and with
his back facing Kagome as he told her the same story that Inuyasha had told
him. During his story, Kagome comfortingly stroked Sesshoumaru's silky hair
as she listened to him.
And finally, Sesshoumaru finished his story and finished expressing his feelings.
"But, it's already in the past...right?" Kagome said with a gentle
voice. "You shouldn't feel guilty anymore...your parents wouldn't want
their death to be a burden."
"Yeah..." Sesshoumaru replied relaxed as he slowly lifted himself up in the sitting position. "Thank you for listening, I feel much better now..." he smiled as he held Kagome's hand that was stroking his hair before.
Kagome smiled and raised her other hand to cup his cheek. "I'm your wife remember?" she said as she moved closer to his face until her lips were brushing his. "I'll always be here by your side, love." she whispered before she sealed their lips in a kiss.
Sesshoumaru wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back.
After a while, Sesshoumaru pulled away. "I have asked Inuyasha to join
our group. I do not want him to wander off again, since he is the only family
I have now..." he said. "And I feel...responsible__"
He was cut off when Kagome put her hand on his lips. "Shh..." she
said with a smile. "It's okay...I understand."
With that she moved closer and sealed their lips again. This time Sesshoumaru
put his arm on her back and gently laid her down to the bed.
Kagome wove her hands through his silver hair.
Sesshoumaru smiled in their kiss as he kissed her passionately. God I love
her so much... he thought to himself.
~*~*~ meanwhile ~*~*~
"Hey Inuyasha! Where have you been??" Hiten smirked as he saw Inuyasha enter the bedroom.
Bankotsu and Hiten had gone to their room after Inuyasha left the inn to head for the stable. They waited for their friend to return after he satisfied his curiosity about the girl.
"And? And?" Hiten asked curiously.
"She's my brother's mate..." Inuyasha stated plainly.
Bankotsu and Hiten both smiled. "Yeah I knew it was something like that." Bankotsu laughed.
"There are things I'd like to discuss with you guys..." Inuyasha suddenly spoke with a serious voice.
Bankotsu and Hiten stopped laughing and started to pay attention.
"I have talked with Sesshoumaru and we've finally settled our past." Inuyasha started.
"That's good to hear." Hiten responded.
"There's more..." Inuyasha continued. "...he asked me to join
his group."
Then all became silent for a moment.
"It should be fun." Hiten suddenly spoke, causing Inuyasha to widen
his eyes.
"Yeah, the more the merrier, right?" Bankotsu added.
"You...you guys really are okay with that?" Inuyasha asked surprised.
Bankotsu approached him and put a hand on Inuyasha's shoulder. "He's your brother, right? Who knows how long it will take to meet him again if we split our paths again?"
Hiten also walked to his side. "Besides, we're good friends right? We'll always follow you wherever you go so we respect your decision." he added.
"Guys..." Inuyasha didn't know what to say to his friends.
Suddenly Bankotsu and Hiten jumped away at the same time and shivered as they
rubbed their arms with both their hands. "Ewwww...man! This is way too
mushy for me...!!" Bankotsu cried.
"Yeah I'm having goose bumps here!!!" Hiten cried after him.
Inuyasha burst out laughing. He was really happy to have such good friends.
~*~*~*~ The next morning ~*~*~*~
Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha's group were gathered around the dining table.
"Yesterday I have gone out to gather information about our next mission." Sesshoumaru started and took out a scroll of his sleeve. "Our next destination will be a city called Mayr and the mission is to protect merchandiser who's transporting a carriage with valuable gems to the city."
"He will arrive here at noon. That's in about an hour so prepare yourselves for take off." he ordered as he stood up. "I'll be upstairs in my room in case you need me." With that, Sesshoumaru walked to the stairs and went to his room.
The rest also stood up and went to prepare themselves. Hiten and Bankotsu went
upstairs to gather their weapons and equipments; Kyoukotsu, Renkotsu and Kouga
did the same.
Kagome left the building to make her way to Kyra and Inuyasha just stood there
in the dining room, waiting till everybody had left the place.
Good this is my chance. Inuyasha thought when he saw that everyone was gone from the dining room.
-- In the stable --
"Hey there! We're going to travel again, are you ready?" Kagome asked
as she patted Kyra's back. The horse nodded and whinnied in reply. "Good
girl!" Kagome said proudly.
When Kagome was just about to climb on Kyra to take a short ride, she noticed someone standing at the opening of the stable. She relaxed as she realized it was Inuyasha. "Hi there, what's up?" she asked casually.
Inuyasha gulped. "H-hey...euhm...I..." he stuttered, walking towards Kagome.
"I wanted to...thank you..." he finally managed to say.
Kagome gave Inuyasha a puzzled look. "What for?" she asked.
"For not telling my brother about yesterday." Inuyasha replied.
A smile appeared on Kagome's face. "Don't worry about it, I was wrong to stick my nose into someone else's business."
"But you had the right to...!! Yet I..." he said with a regretful
tone and hesitated whether he should be mentioning the things he said to her
again.
He snapped out of his thoughts when he felt something touching his hand. When
he looked down, he realized it was Kagome's hand that was holding his.
"Hey I said don't worry, okay?" Kagome smiled. "Forget what happened yesterday...friends...?" she asked as she shook his hand.
Inuyasha was surprised by her straightforwardness. She considers me a friend? After all that I've said to her...? But then a soft smile appeared on his face as he replied. "F-friends..."
"Good!" Kagome said cheerfully as she let go of his hand again. "Have you already finished preparing?" she asked.
"My friends are gathering things up in our room...and I..." Inuyasha replied as he held the hilt of his Tetsusaiga that was attached to the sash around his waist. "I only need my Tetsusaiga and claws."
Kagome smiled. "I only need my horse here..." she patted on Kyra's back. "And__" Kagome stopped talking when she noticed something was missing in her possession.
"What's wrong?" Inuyasha asked, puzzled by her panicked expression.
Kagome didn't reply and made her way to the exit. She was so hasty that she
didn't even realize someone was already standing at the opening and she bumped
straight onto the person.
Just when Kagome was about to fall backwards of the collision, two strong arms
held her upper arms and steadied her.
Kagome looked up and realized it was Sesshoumaru.
A smile appeared on his face. "Looking for this?" Sesshoumaru asked as he held up Kagome's weapons.
"Yup!!" Kagome cried happily as she took her bow and quiver and she started to equip herself.
In the meanwhile, Sesshoumaru looked up from Kagome to Inuyasha, who was still standing near her horse. "And what were you doing here, my dear brother?" he asked.
"I came to thank Kagome for saving my life this morning." Inuyasha replied coolly.
"Ah...so you know..." Sesshoumaru smirked. "I assume you already know you shouldn't touch what's your brother's." he warned subtletly as he put his arm around Kagome's waist protectively.
Sesshoumaru's gaze shifted back to Kagome as he felt her hand on his cheek.
"Sesshoumaru...we're just friends..." Kagome said with a calm voice,
which gradually became more annoyed. "What do you take me for??? And besides...I
wouldn't even let him even if he wanted to!!"
"I wouldn't even dare to touch my brother's mate, so don't worry." Inuyasha added, walking towards the couple.
Sesshoumaru smiled. "I know you won't. I was just kidding." he chuckled.
"Well...shall we go outside?" The carriage will arrive pretty soon." Sesshoumaru suggested before he turned to the doorway.
Kagome quickly ran to her horse and climbed on it. "All set!!" she cried out excited and the three of them exited the stable together.
~*~ After a while ~*~
The carriage came as Sesshoumaru had predicted. It was a regular carriage made
of dark wood. A brown horse was pulling it in the front. Between the horse and
the carriage, there was a small seat with a young man sitting on it.
He had black hair just above his shoulders and dark brown eyes. He was wearing
a mud green tunic with a brown pelt around his waist and short pants below.
He looked around the age of 23.
The young man stopped his carriage right in front of Sesshoumaru's group, which
was already waiting for him on the unpaved road in front of the inn.
He stood up from his seat and bowed slightly. "My name is Musou and I've been told that I would be escorted to the city by a group of mercenaries led by a person called Sesshoumaru." he said with a clear voice.
Sesshoumaru stepped forward. "I am Sesshoumaru and yes, we will be responsible for you safety until we reach Mayr." he replied.
Musou smiled in his thoughts. What a group... he thought amused as he scanned the crowd. A hanyou and a full blooded inuyoukai, two humanoid youkai, a bald youkai, a youkai with muscles and no brains...a horse and___!! he widened his eyes when he saw the person on the horse. a...a h-human?!?! he thought shocked. He looks very...young...and he's dressed like the leader?! He really looks like... he shook his head. No...it can't be her...he's a boy...Then a grin appeared on his face. Amusing...truly amusing...
Kagome felt his gaze on her and felt strangely uneasy. What is he staring
at...?! she thought annoyed.
Sesshoumaru also knew where the man was staring at and cleared his throat to
draw his attention again. "Let's be heading to our destination." he
ordered with a clear voice.
He turned to the owners of the inn. "I thank you for your hospitality,
till we meet again." he said politely before he turned around and walked
into the direction of the city.
At the same time, Musou sat down again and Kagome turned her horse around to
ride next to Sesshoumaru.
Inuyasha stayed near his brother and the rest took their positions around the
carriage: Hiten & Bankotsu stood on the left side of the carriage, Renkotsu
& Kouga on the right side and Kyoukotsu stood behind the carriage.
Miroku, Sango and Shippou waved and watched until the group disappeared out of sight.
~*~*~ Later ~*~*~
After a couple of hours, they've suddenly left the forest and reached the toughest
part of their road: Dyr. Dyr was a large area that looked like a desert. Nothing
could grow on the earth and not a single drop of rain would fall from the sky
in Dyr.
Nobody every understood why it was possible that a dead place like this one
could be located between two huge forests.
The earth was yellow and dry and no green could be seen around, except for the
forest behind them. There were a lot of rocks on the left and right side of
the road. Rocks that reached your knees and rocks that could even hide an elephant
Kagome knew what was waiting for them here. Sesshoumaru had told her that a
lot of bandits inhabited this place and that they would rob and kill every merchandiser
that tried to cross it. No wonder that Musou needed protection from youkai.
Kagome thought to herself.
Suddenly, Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha and Kagome stopped walking at the same time,
causing the rest to stop.
"W-what's_" Musou started but was shushed when Sesshoumaru raised
his hand to the air.
"You felt it too, aniki?" Inuyasha whispered to his brother.
"Yes." he replied. "They are here..."
After hearing their leader's words, Renkotsu, Kouga and Kyoukotsu quickly jumped into fighting positions. Hiten and Bankotsu did the same.
A loud whistling sound could be heard in the air and shortly after that, figures
dressed in black started to appear on the rocks. All of them had their faced
covered with a cloth, except for their eyes.
Within seconds Sesshoumaru's group was already surrounded by them.
"Well well, and I thought nobody would ever dare to cross this place again since our last attack." a male voice sounded from above.
Everyone turned to the highest rock in the vicinity where the voice came from.
A figure dressed in white appeared on it. His face, except for his eyes was hidden behind a white cloth; he was obviously the leader of the gang.
"Listen up!!" he cried out loud to his fellows. "This one's going to be our biggest catch of all times!! They'll be surrendering in no time so do NOT worry!!!"
Sesshoumaru, Kagome and Inuyasha narrowed their eyes of anger.
"Why you...!!!" Inuyasha growled as he gripped the hilt of his Tetsusaiga.
Ignoring the rising anger from below, the leader continued his pep talk. "After
this, we'll be rich!! We will go to the city and get some___"
He stopped yelling when he suddenly felt a sharp pain coming from his cheek.
The white cloth that covered his nose and mouth was cut loose at one side of
his face and was now dancing in the wind with the other end still attached to
the other side of his face.
His face was revealed and the leader was actually just a regular man around the age of 40. And the cloth was used to hide the horrible scare that ran diagonally from his nose to his lower-right jaw.
It took him several seconds to realize what had happened. He raised his hand to touch his burning cheek and held it in front of his eyes.
Blood.
He finally snapped out of hit and looked down from the rock to below. He scanned the group and stopped when his eyes met the angered navy blue ones that were staring straight at him.
Kagome was still holding her bow and aiming at the man, even thought the arrow has already been shot.
Inuyasha started wide-eyed at her for her braveness, as did Hiten, Bankotsu and Musou. Sesshoumaru and his group only smirked at this.
"Why you!!!!" the leader roared.
Kagome smirked. "Well I had to do something to shut you up!!!" she cried out.
This made him even more furious.
"Prepare yourselves for battle." Kagome said to the rest as she drew another arrow.
They didn't have to wait long for the enemy as a loud roar sounded from the highest rock.
"ATTACCKKK!!!!!!"
After that, every single black figure had started to dash towards the group.
Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha unsheathed their weapons, Hiten & Bankotsu readied
their spear and halberd, Musou hid himself in the carriage and the rest readied
themselves too.
~*~*~*~
Compared to the tigeryoukai tribe of their previous mission, these human bandits
were a lot more easier to handle. It only took them about an hour to wipe out
the whole gang.
Inuyasha only needed to use Kaze no Kizu once and Kagome only used 5 arrows.
They didn't even suffer any injuries.
"Well then, shall we get going?" Musou suggested with a relieved
voice as he came out of his carriage.
The group nodded and everyone prepared themselves for take off.
When Kagome was just about to motion Kyra to walk, she suddenly felt something
coming at her and quickly looked around. Her eyes widened as she realized that
a dagger was coming straight at her.
Kagome quickly duck and successfully avoided being hit but her braid was cut
loose in the process.
A couple strands of hair were cut off and fell to the floor. The rest of her hair landed gracefully on her shoulders. Everybody were shocked and gasped at the sudden attack.
Kagome quickly jerked her head up and searched the direction where the dagger
came from. Her eyes caught a figure dressed in white. The leader was still
alive!! she thought furiously. When she was about to reach for her bow,
she heard Sesshoumaru unsheathe his sword.
Within seconds, Sesshoumaru had already dashed towards the leader and buried
his sword into his chest.
"Nobody...hurts what's mine..." he growled angrily before he pulled
his sword out of the leader. The leader dropped dead to the sand and Sesshoumaru
swung his sword in the air to get rid of the blood before he sheathed it again.
He walked back to Kagome's side. "Are you uninjured?" he asked with
a gentle voice as he looked up to Kagome.
"I'm okay, just lost some strands of hair." Kagome replied as she braided her hair and tied it again.
"Good." Sesshoumaru said relieved. "Let's get going." he ordered and the whole group started to move again.
What they didn't realize was that Musou frequently stole glances at Kagome ever since the surprise-attack.
~*~*~*~
It's really a girl...!!! he thought surprised. And she definitely
resembles her...her eyes...her hair...such a beauty... he thought dreamily.
A smirk formed on his face as he finally averted his gaze from Kagome's back.
Kagome didn't know why, but she felt a sudden chill through her body.
Sesshoumaru noticed this and lowered his pace to walk next to her. "What is wrong?" he asked worriedly.
Kagome looked down aside to Sesshoumaru. "Nothing serious...I felt a sudden chill through my body...I guess I'm just tired..." she smiled.
"Well...we've been traveling for 8 hours already and the sun is going to set soon..." Inuyasha said, looking at the sky.
"We'll take a break as soon as we have exited Dyr." Sesshoumaru suggested. "It's too dangerous to set up a camp here."
Kagome and Inuyasha agreed with this and they continued their way out of Dyr.
~*~*~*~*~
After traveling a while, they've finally reached the border of Dyr and entered
a huge forest again. They've set up a camp, just like Sesshoumaru had planned
to, in a small open area near the road.
Inuyasha was resting in a tree near the open area, Musou slept inside his carriage near the campfire and the rest except for Kagome and Sesshoumaru were resting against trees around the campfire.
-- somewhere deeper in the forest --
Sesshoumaru was leaning against a big tree with Kagome in his embrace. Her head
was leaning onto his chest and his arms were resting on her waist.
They both had taken off their armor and were now only dressed in their white
haori's and hakama's.
"I'm worried about that Musou..." Kagome said with a soft voice.
"Hm?" Sesshoumaru slowly opened his eyes as he raised his hand to stroke her hair.
"His eyes..." Kagome continued. "...when he stared at me this afternoon...they were...scheming..." she said with a worried tone.
Sesshoumaru pulled her closer and leaned his chin on her head. "Do not worry too much...I will end his life before he can even try to do something to you..." he said reassuringly.
Kagome relaxed a little after hearing those words and snuggled closer. "Oyasumi-nasai"
Sesshoumaru lowered his head and placed a gentle kiss on Kagome's forehead. "Oyasumi-nasai, love."
Posted: 4 September 2003
Last Edited: 12 February 2004 (re-edited because of tag problems)
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