Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews! That's the most I've ever gotten for one chapter! My Slayers ficcies don't do nearly so well. I hope you enjoy the upcoming chapter, and please leave more reviews! Questions will be answered at the bottom. Much thanks to my buddy Somari for beta-reading! And, if you've a nose for justice, please sign the petition to keep NC-17 fictions on ff.net! http://www.petitiononline.com/KEEPNC17/petition.html


The Untouchable
Chapter 2: The "Punishment"
This One still bears no claim to the characters or idea of Inuyasha.

Kagome awoke from her dark, dreamless void of sleep only to enter a dark, dreamless void of wakefulness. She found herself sprawled on a moist layer of hay that was thinly spread across a cold, stone floor. The hay may as well have not been there at all, for it served her no protection from the chill that eminated from the stone beneath her. All it managed to do was stick nastily to her body in an annoying sort of way, which, Kagome realized, was probably the real reason the hay was here - not to provide comfort but to pester the prisoner.

And a prisoner she was, for even with the distinct lack of light that limited her vision severly, she was able to deduce that she was indeed locked inside a dungeon cell. Not like it was a very hard fact to come by, actually. With the pungent stench of feces and death surrounding her, not to mention that she could just make out the faint outline of bars from wall to ceiling directly in front of her, what other conclusion could she have possibly come to? Not that she was terribly surprised to be in such a place as a dungeon. Dungeons were generally the place where one goes when they have broken the law, and Kagome had done so when that batty old woman shoved her, an untouchable, into a prince. What the hell was that stupid woman thinking, anyway? It was common knowledge that those of a lower class should never, under any circumstances, touch someone of a higher class than they without express permission, and that went tenfold for untouchables. And she had just touched a member of royalty. She, Kagome of the lowest possible order of human beings and youkai alike, had touched someone from the highest order! She surely was to be publicly executed as an example to others at dawn of the following day.

Kagome willed herself to stir, the stone floor roughly scraping her skin as she pushed herself up into a sitting position. Immediately her injury caused her head to swim and she fell foward, barely throwing her hands out in time to catch herself before her skull was bashed yet again. Leaning one elbow on the ground and keeping her face lowered, she tentatively placed one hand on the back of her head and felt her wound, wincing at the pain it brought. It felt like it had stopped bleeding, which was good, though her hair was a mess of blood and tangles that would be impossible to comb out. Not like it mattered anyway since she was to die in what was probably just a few short hours hence. She had no idea how long she was unconscious, but she was positive that night must have fallen already at least.

She gathered her strength, or what was left of it anyway, and managed to sweep her legs around from underneath her and place her feet flat on the floor in front of her. This being done, Kagome was able to slowly scootch herself back against one of the cell walls and leaned on it as she continued to push with her feet, inching herself up the wall. She soon got herself in an upright position and took a step foward only to feel herself waver, and she shot a hand out to the wall to balance herself. After taking a few deep breaths, Kagome felt her senses steady and she slowly made her way to the front of her cell, keeping one hand on the wall for balance. She peered out nervously through the bars.

"Hello?" the girl called meekly, not expecting an answer nor really wanting one in the first place. She could hear the shuffling of other prisoners along with assorted moans, but it seemed that there was no one else around. She gripped the bars and moved along them to get a better view of the dungeon. There wasn't much light, but a little way to her right there was a torch on the wall which provided at least a little visual aide. It didn't help much from her position; the flicker from the fire barely reached her eyes and caused some slightly eerie shadows. She was, at least, able to discern her position in the dungeon - she was reasonably close to one of the exits if she could still see that torch. Probably for easy access in the morning, she guessed. Behead the dirty roach of society as soon as possible.

Kagome held her breath as she heard footsteps echoing down what was probably a long stairwell that ended at that exit. A heavily armored figure emerged from the opening and Kagome sensed that it was a youkai, though its aura wasn't all that strong. She gulped as it approached her, allowing her to see only that it was humanoid in shape - the rest of its features were hidden beneath a light body of chainmail and a helmet, the top of which had two very long and skinny points a the top that were probably adapted for the youkai's ears. It carried an axe...a very large and quite threatening axe in fact, which would explain why Kagome yelped and fell backwards onto the ground when the guard rammed this very same axe against the metal bars with an ear splitting clang.

"You're awake," it growled. No crap, Kagome thought as she shook her head, trying to rid herself from the intense ringing in her ears. The youkai growled louder, though without words this time, and Kagome stared dumbly at him from her spot on the floor. He took a key from his belt and unlocked the gate to the cell, throwing it open and causing it to clamor into the stone wall. The poor girl shivered as the guard entered the cell and leaned over her, his breathing harsh inside of his helmet and his slitted pink eyes whirling with anger. "Get up."

Kagome struggled to comply with his wishes but the dizziness returned and she fell back to the floor. The youkai snorted in disgust and grabbed her by her hair, reopening the wound on the back of her head and causing her to shriek with pain, and tossed her out of her cell and into the corridor in front of it. "GET UP."

"I...I can't," she whimpered, tears streaming down her face. The youkai guard snorted with disgust and hauled her up by her arm and proceeded to roughly drag Kagome to the stairs; she made a futile attempt to coordinate her legs to keep up with him but ended up getting scraped along the floor anyway. Noticing the dead weight behind him, the guard huffed and picked up the poor girl, throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her up the stairs.

"Kami-sama," he muttered, "it's bad enough he decided to pick up an untouchable, but a pathetic human to boot is even more of a disgrace!" This did not go unheard to Kagome's ears, and her breath caught in her throat. She wasn't going to be killed, but kept instead? Why? she thought frantically. What's going on?

Kagome was brought through a long, twisting corridor before the guard kicked open a door and Kagome had to squint against the flooding daylight that invaded her eyes. She could tell that it was already midday, and that if she was to be executed it would have been hours ago. Just how long was she unconscious in that dungeon? And why wasn't she dead yet? She managed to get her eyes in focus and started scanning her surroundings from her uncomfortable position on the youkai's shoulder. It seemed that she was in a beautiful garden filled with all sorts of flora and fauna. A clear, shimmering lake lay in the middle of the garden, and Kagome stared in awe, thankful that she could have seen such a gorgeous place within her meager existance.

The guard strode to the lake and set Kagome down carefully on the soft sands that surrounded it. She wavered on her feet and almost fell onto the soft grass, but the guard caught her and roughly stood her up again. "Don't touch anything but this sand until you disrobe and purify yourself in this lake, understand?" he hissed. Kagome nodded and slowly began to remove her rags, making sure they were folded into neat piles on the sand. She contemplated asking the guard to avert his eyes from her nude figure, but realized that this would be a stupid thing to ask and so she entered the lake and submerged her form into it's depths with nary a word.

The water was not cold, but it was not hot. It emitted a soothing warmth that relaxed her body, and she sighed happily as she swam out into the center, letting the water rinse her skin of the muck and filth of her every day life. She let her feet touch the bottom of the lake, which wasn't deep at all, and the sand felt smooth against her feet. She ducked under the water to scoop up some of the sand, and used it to scrub into some of the deeper dirt stains that had been left. Oh a whim she rubbed it into her hair and on her wound, the pain from which she hadn't felt since her feet had touched the beach, and she knew it was healed and that all the traces of blood had vanished from her hair. Her skin and body felt pristine and cleansed, and Kagome swam back to shore, her health and energy restored with a new vigor. Upon reaching the beach, Kagome noticed one thing quite quickly. "Hey!" she demanded. "Where are my clothes?"

"We burned them," the guard stated, his harsh eyes causing Kagome to quiet herself. "They were infested with your impure filth, and could not be allowed to remain on the grounds. You are to wear this instead." The guard handed Kagome a bathrobe and a pair of slippers, and she placed them gingerly on herself, reveling in the way the soft material felt against her skin as nothing else had.

Almost as soon as she tied the belt to her robe, the youkai guard grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the lake and towards a great castle that Kagome hadn't paid attention to while she was enraptured with the beauty of the garden. The castle was magnificient in its own way, towering over the lands and reaching high up into the sky. It was both intimidating and lovely, and Kagome was disappointed that she was whisked inside without given more than a cursory glance at the building she was now entering.

Inside the castle the halls were full of life; servants scuttled this way and that preparing for dinner, and there were guards that stood dutifully at their posts. Kagome ached to look around, but as she was being drug through the halls by a particularly gruff youkai, she hadn't any chance. After turning this way and that, she soon knew that she would not be able to find her way back to the lake without assistance - this castle was like a maze!

Awed that she was allowed to traverse in such a place, Kagome didn't notice when the guard holding her hand stopped and she crashed into him, rattling his armor a bit. "Watch where you're going!" he commanded, and she nodded and rubbed her sore shoulder as she watched the guard knock on a large, exquisite-looking door.

"What is it?" came a highly irritated voice from inside the room.

"I have brought the untouchable wench from yesterday. She has been purified."

The door swung open and Kagome found herself staring into the handsome face of the hanyou prince. His strange, silver hair glittered in the sunlight that streamed in through the windows, and Kagome noticed two furry dog ears on top of his head. The prince grabbed her chin and stared into her eyes, which were widened with shock. When he let go of her she saw his amber eyes narrow menacingly, and she stared demurely at the floor, knowing immediately that she was doomed when the prince spoke:

"What the hell is this?"


"To My Readers" section!
(Yay, no flames this time around!)

FishyKittie: Continue Princess Zelgadis OR ELSE! ^_^
vicious-wolf: No, not the katana! ::shivers with fear:: I'll update soon, I promise! Don't hurt me! Anyway, I never saw that movie either, but I think their untouchable name meant that they were kick-ass cool, not that they were low-down dirty.
Naatz: No, untouchables don't have powers, but you probably can tell that Kagome isn't a normal untouchable, or a normal person for that matter. ^_~
Aaries: You're missing out. Try reading Awakening Power by Crystalite for starters. There was another one I really liked where Kagome was bought specifically to be Inuyasha's concubine, but I can't seem to find it. If anyone knows where it is please tell me!
Inaho: It should be different in that Kagome isn't a slave or a concubine...she's lower than Inuyasha, yes, but how they treat each other and his reason for keeping her around and such are totally different, and that should lead it down a unique storyline.
Lady Pyro: Well in today's world, untouchables are people that are born into the caste that handles the disgusting jobs, like tanning hides of dead animals and dealing with dead bodies in the streets. They are believed to be souls that were cruel in their past lives and are being punished for it now. The untouchables in this story are similar to that, and they are deemed not worthy to associate with the higher classes lest the higher ups become as impure as the untouchables.
Pyro: You sure you really want a spoiler like that? >:)
Winter: No problem. I follow the Kikyou from the manga, not from the anime...I think Kikyou is a very noble character after she finds out what Naraku did, and wants to do the right thing. She even compliments Kagome, not try to kill her! I hate how they changed her for the anime. GRR!
Everyone Else: Thank you so much for supporting me! I do hope you liked this second chapter.