The Highwayman

Disclaimer: Ah screw it. I don't own Inuyasha or the Highwayman.

Know what? This'll be the first story I've ever finished! Duuuude! That's cause for a celebration! *Gets out graham crackers.*

To Keri Maxwell: You hate the poem? That's a shame. Isn't death fun? That's why I love it. Screw happy endings! Death is the way to go! And, do any of my stories have 'nice happy poems'? Lol, afraid not. If I were to obsess over any more poems, they would probably be sad like this one. But… if you have any suggestions… *Looks hopeful.*

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And still of a winter's night, they say, when the wind is in the trees,
When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
A highwayman comes riding-
Riding-riding-
A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door.


Over the cobbles he clatters and clangs in the dark inn-yard,
And he taps with his whip on the shutters, but all is locked and barred;
He whistles a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Bess, the landlord's daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.

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The wind whistled through the trees, and the moon shone bright upon the empty village. No people lived here anymore. They claimed it was haunted. Ever since that massacre by the mysterious red-coated men fifty years ago, no one had dared come back. Those that dared soon fled, telling wild stories of specters and horrible apparitions.

None of these tales are true of course. There is only one pair of spirits that dwells here. They appear once a month to reenact their death, and to relive the tragedy that it was.

It is said, that first a boy, wandering the woods, appears at the edge of the clearing. He makes his way carefully through the rows of decrepit dwellings, as though being careful not to disturb anything. He knocks softy on the rotting remains of a window shutter, and it is then that the other appears.

She wears long, red ribbons in her hair that flutter in some unfelt wind. The couple exchanges a few words, though none that have seen this can say for sure what they are. Soon the boy in red leaves the window, only to returns a night later. He sits in a tree for a long while as if watching something on the ground before him, then without warning, springs away into the night.

The next night he returns again, but does not make it as far. He mysteriously falls to the ground, and all can agree on the one word that echoes through the forest when that happens.

"Kagome!"

Ok… NOW it's over. Thank you to all who reviewed this! It really encouraged me to continue. In fact, it encouraged me so much, that I went and finished it. Something that I never thought I'd do with a story. So, thanks again! And to all those lurkers that read this but didn't review:

Ok, it's the last chapter. Have pity on me? Please review? Even if it's just 'bleh, arglefrast.' at least let me know that you read (and hopefully liked) my story. So…. Goodbye all!

-Anubis's Avatar