Back again! Well, we were undefeated District Champions, and we were the only undefeated team in the State Playoffs! We were going to play against a team we'd already beaten, a team that wasn't even an All Star Team! (They were a Tournament Team (?Go figure)) But, we got rained out and they called game…we lost…Evangeline was a good team though, so…no hard feelings…. Second Place in State, baby! I'll take that any day! (Though First WOULD'VE been nice….**sighs** Oh well, you get what you get, huh?)
Then I left for Destin, Florida! Man! That place is FUN! Except when you get stung by a jellyfish in the face and come back as red as a friggin crawfish **huffs** But it's turning brown now…YAY!
One more note before I end this LONG A/N…. School is…unfortunately…about to begin again. Since I have quite enough homework to do on school days and a new schedule system that the damn school just HAD to come up with…updates will be terribly slow. The weekends will be the only times I have to write and update…which I WILL DO! Promise! But I also have two other stories I'm working on (one for here and one for FictionPress) so I'll do my best!
Anyway…I'm glad to be back! **grins** But I didn't have many reviews to look forward to…**frowns sadly** Looks like a need to have a discussion with a few people…**taps foot** Anywhoots…enjoy the chapter!
A2R:
HanaTenshiHimeko: Goody! **claps hands** I did have ONE review! **glares at other readers** Thanky Hana-chan! **turns back to Hana-chan and hands her a cookie** I'll try not to disappoint you!
Disclaimer:
Moon: **sobs** *WHY* must I do this *EVERY* time? **covers face with hands while crying**
Inu: **rolls eyes** here we go again! **crosses arms and mumbles, irritated**
Moon: **suddenly stops crying…tears vanishing** and WHAT exactly is THAT supposed to mean?!?!?!?! I do NOT do this every time! **eyebrows raise dramatically**
Inu: (calmly) Yes…you do…
Moon: I…I…I do NOT!!!!!!! **sticks tongue out**
Inu: Are you gonna say it or should I? I'm sure these people would rather read the story then listen to you… **motions to crowd of people**
Moon: Oh, alright…for the people…I don't own Inuyasha…**muffles sob**
Inu: What'd I tell ya? Huh? I KNEW she'd start up again! I swear…**walks away mumbling about stupid fanfic writers; leaving Moon to sob**
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Chapter Five:
Onwards to Rulac Mountains!
--Sango's hut--
"Yeah, well…I'd have to join the armies if we did go to war," Inuyasha said in pure disgust. 'That's a good enough reason to not want to start a war! Let her believe in it being the only way to end the fights that have already started…I know different.' Inuyasha grumbled in his head.
He and Kagome had been arguing about the feuds between their two lands, Miroku and Sango adding their little tidbits of information each time the quarrelling duo paused for a hurried breath before plunging back into their heated argument.
"So WHAT!!" Kagome barely held back the scream of suppressed rage as she hissed in utter abhorrence. 'Geez, how much more pig-headed can this guy get?!' She turned back to Sango and Miroku, showing her back to the now seething inu-lord and effectively cutting off his reply with her next statement.
"Is he ALWAYS this selfish?" Kagome calmly asked the two, her anger having been forced into a chained box in the corner of her mind. Miroku's mouth dropped open at her blatant question and Sango stared in shock. No one, and I mean NO ONE, ever dared to openly insult Inuyasha if they wanted to live.
Inuyasha spluttered audibly for words as Sango began to allow her chuckle to rise to the surface. She liked this demoness more and more. No one had been able to better Inuyasha in any arguments before, but this Northern Lands demoness held her own and even topped her point with an insult to her opponent. Sango covered her mouth with her hand as she watched Inuyasha's dumbfounded face stare in surprised shock at the primly calm Kagome.
Miroku heard the tiny giggle from Sango and grinned as well.
"Well, actually…" The black-haired demon's grin broadened at the death-glare his friend shot at him. Inuyasha glared at him when Miroku gave him the 'you know it's true' look, but dropped back down to the mat nevertheless.
As the conversation and tempers dwindled down with neither side having much more to say, Kagome decided to ask them some questions.
"So…what, exactly, are YOU two doing here? I mean, where do you live?" she asked, looking at Miroku and Inuyasha, both of whom had stiffened slightly at her words. She glanced at Sango and saw that she wouldn't give an answer either, that it was up to the boys to confess who they were.
Kagome watched in wait as Inuyasha looked forlornly at his fifth empty bowl of soup, then tossed it carelessly on top of his pile of dishes, his insulted pride forgotten as he remembered his stomach. Miroku had set his elbows on his knees and leaned forward, before opening his mouth to speak.
"Lady Kagome, umm…well, WE," he pointed, indicating himself and Inuyasha, who remained expressionless, "are actually here on business. We came to buy 'gifts' for Inuyasha's brother's wedding." Miroku said slowly, glancing at her. Kagome nodded and waited for him to continue.
"You see, Inuyasha's brother…is…well, he isn't exactly a peasant…" Miroku wasn't sure how much he should say; he didn't know this demoness very well, and besides, it wasn't his place to go blurting out Inuyasha's heritage to everyone. He stopped and glanced at Inuyasha who caught his look and gave an annoyed sigh.
"Oh geez! If you won't say it outright, Miroku, then I will!" Inuyasha snorted at his friend then turned to Kagome. "I'm the second son of the taiyoukai here, Lord Inutaishio. Lord Sesshomaru's my brother, and me and the lecherous 'monk' over there were buying gag gifts for old Sesshy and his bride-to-be." He ended abruptly and turned back to Miroku. "That wasn't so hard." Miroku gulped in relief and nodded.
Kagome sat back in awe and realization. 'He's the younger brother to the man I'M supposed to marry!' She gasped audibly. Inuyasha looked at her, taking her gasp to be awe at his family.
"It isn't that big of a deal, I mean…"
"How old is your brother?" Kagome cut across him, wondering just HOW old this man was that she was being forced to marry. 'After all, Inuyasha looks to be only a few years older than me! His brother must be a lot older than that!' Inuyasha gave her a strange look before replying.
"He's my half-brother and he's eleven years older than me…why?" He gave her a hard look. Kagome shifted uncomfortably, "No reason."
"Huh…yeah right." Inuyasha glared at her for a while before standing. He looked her up and down, trying to figure out why she'd ask that question in the first place.
She sat primly on the edge of her seat, much like a woman of noble birth would. Her hands were clasped delicately in her lap, and her face was turned away from his scrutinizing gaze, causing her luscious ebony hair to fall forward. 'She's beautiful…' Inuyasha caught himself, ' Not that it matters to ME!!!! Besides, she's acting really odd…I wonder…' Inuyasha mentally shook his head to rid himself of thoughts of her and stood up, putting his curiosity on a back shelf.
"Well, I'm going to go continue what we came here for before we were so rudely interrupted by helpless women. Coming, Miroku?" He stared meaningfully at his friend. 'This girl is strange. WHY would she want to know Sesshy's age?' He glared at her hard before turning to leave, Miroku on his heels after thanking Sango for the dinner.
Sango saw the look of outrage and slight hurt that passed over her new friend's face at Inuyasha's careless words, and quickly spoke up before another argument started.
"We're coming with you!" Sango stood, grabbing Kagome's hand as they followed the demons out the door. "I need more herbs," she said at Miroku's raised brow. Inuyasha gave his customary 'Feh' before adjusting his disguise and setting off through the shabby streets to the market.
Sango whispered to Kagome, "Remember not to mention Inuyasha and Miroku's higher status. They always come disguised so no one notices them. They can take care of themselves, but Sesshomaru has spies all over, and if he found out that Inuyasha consorted with common folk, well, let's just sa there'd be hell to pay…." Kagome nodded to show she understood, and walked beside the human woman towards a rather grungy booth.
The old hag who ran it gave them all ugly looks from under her grizzled and matted gray hair.
"Good afternoon," Sango began cheerfully before going off into a long list of needed herbs for her medicinal store. As the old crone began to shuffle around, collecting the herbs and tallying up the prices, Kagome looked around.
Shelves surrounded the booths walls, covered in vials of potions and odd looking plants. A foul smell emitted from most of the concoctions in the boiling and bubbling cauldrons the hag had in the back. Kagome, not very interested in such things, turned to see where the boys had got off to.
She spotted them at a nearby booth, talking with the merchant about local gossip. Inuyasha looked annoyed and Miroku looked worried. She watched as the afore-mentioned noticed her gaze and nodded to the shopkeeper before striding towards her. Kagome caught there hushed conversation as they quickly closed in the distance between themselves and her.
"I can't believe it! That BITCH! How DARE she insult the Western Lands!" She heard Inuyasha quietly fume beneath his breath. Miroku had a grip on his arm and was whispering reassuringly to his friend.
"Maybe she only got lost. Mayhaps the woman was delayed by something…" Miroku ran out of excuses to console his irate friend as he turned on Kagome.
"What is the meaning of this?! Why is it that your land thinks it has to be so damn conniving and treacherous!" He glared at her harshly, not caring about the look of confusion on her face as he roughly gripped one of her shoulders.
Kagome yanked her arm away from him, and glared at him.
"I have not the slightest idea WHAT you are talking about! And how DARE YOU insult my homeland!" She sent a menacing glare straight at him. Miroku watched helplessly as the two locked gazes. It was obvious neither would back down anytime soon. 'It seems I must be the peace-maker once again…' Miroku sighed before gripping their arms in each of his hands, turning their angry glares full onto himself.
"It seems, Inuyasha, that Lady Kagome doesn't know what we are talking about. We might get some answers if we EXPLAIN what's going on first." He gave a meaningful glare at his companion. Inuyasha huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, obviously annoyed and seething. Miroku continued, "Lady Kagome. It seems as if your princess was supposed to arrive at the castle this morning, and she has yet to show up or send word of her whereabouts though it is now late in the afternoon. Would you know anything on the matter?" Miroku gazed calmly into her fiery stare, and he was slightly relieved when Sango came up, a bag in her hands.
"Kagome, DO you know anything about this?" Sango looked from each of the three faces as she said this, coming to rest on the hesitant demoness.
Kagome saw that she wouldn't get away without answering. She blurted out the first thing that came to her mind. She was good at not thinking before she spoke, and it seemed as if that habit would get her in trouble yet again.
"I know that the Princess is being forced to marry someone she DOESN'T love or even know! I know that she despises the deal that put her in such a situation! I know that she is beginning to hate her father for no reason and that she already despises the Western Lands prince that she is betrothed to! I know that I DON'T WANT TO GET MARRIED!!" Kagome caught her breath, realizing too late just what she had said. Sango and Miroku gave her surprised looks, but Inuyasha only growled.
"And WHAT does your not wanting to get married have to do with this, bitch?" He glared at her hard, noticing her sharp, hurried gasps and the fact that her scent was becoming frightened and desperate within the anger. Suddenly, it dawned on him. 'She's the Princess…. That would explain some things…such as her insistence that war was the only good way to end the fighting, not to mention her overall attitude…'
"You're the Princess of the Northern Lands, aren't you?" Inuyasha accused, again grabbing her arm firmly in his grip. Kagome gave him a hard glare before looking away, not denying his statement. Inuyasha looked at her in disbelief.
"Do you KNOW how much trouble you've caused? The Western and Northern Lands are on the brink of war, and your selfish enough to refuse to help dissolve the problem!" Inuyasha was yelling at her now. Kagome turned back to him, angry tears in her eyes.
"I am NOT selfish! You don't know how I feel! You have no idea what I'm going through! All you care about is not getting your precious hands dirtied with fighting! YOU'RE the selfish one! Not me!" Kagome ruthlessly cut him with her words, using the facts he'd announced during their argument after dinner as ammunition.
Kagome pulled on her arm, trying to release herself from his grasp. It was useless, the cold stare he turned on her was harder than his grip on her upper arm.
"How dare you." Inuyasha hissed. "You don't know anything about me. You're coming with me, and we're going to the castle right now. You WILL marry my brother, and you will NOT cause this war!" Inuyasha emphasized his words by tightening his already painful grip on her arm. Kagome struggled as he began to pull on her arm to bring her to the palace. Sango and Miroku stood aside, not wanting to get on either of their friends' bad sides by helping the other.
It was a brief battle of strength between the two. Kagome planted her feet and tugged at her arm, throwing her weight backwards to dislodge his hold on her, while Inuyasha held her arm firmly and yanked in the opposite direction. Kagome was getting desperate, she REFUSED to marry Lord Sesshomaru and that arrogant half-brother of his was NOT going to force her to do ANYTHING!
With a mighty heave, Kagome pulled free of his grasp, his claws slicing into her skin, making her cry out with pain. She toppled over backwards into one of the large bubbling cauldrons the old hag had had in the back of her booth, immersing herself fully in the bubbly broth.
Inuyasha couldn't help but laugh at the funny appearance of the 'Princess' flailing around in an old cauldron while an old crone screeched at her and yelled obscenities. Sango took pity and rushed to help her friend from the steamy pot. Kagome's ebony hair hid her face as it streamed the liquid down her front, and Kagome spit some of it out of her mouth, having swallowed some as she fell. Miroku gasped, but Inuyasha kept laughing his ass off as Sango took a towel that a bystander handed her, attempting to help Kagome dry herself.
"We'll have to get you some other clothes…." Sango muttered as she glanced at the sodden traveling suit her friend had doused. Kagome took the towel from her and began scrubbing herself dry. Kagome slung her drenched hair out of her face and heard an audible gasp from the entire crowd that had accumulated when she and Inuyasha were fighting.
Inuyasha abruptly stopped laughing as he looked at Kagome. 'Oh shit!' he thought as he walked cautiously to her. The old crone was cackling in the background as Inuyasha came face to face with the transformed Kagome. Kagome glared at him out of her blue eyes and asked him in an irritated tone, "What in the Seven HELLS is everyone staring at!?!" She raised her hand to run her claws angrily through her wet hair and then realized that she DIDN'T HAVE her claws!
"Eep!" she squeaked as she stared at her hand. She quickly snatched a vial from the shelf beside her to look at her reflection. She saw that her strips had disappeared as well as her crescent moon and sun symbol. 'Oh no! What WAS that stuff?!' Kagome let out a muffled cry as she looked at her now human features. Her head felt stuffed as if she had a terrible head-cold. She couldn't smell, her vision seemed blurred, her ears felt like someone had just turned off the sound to everything, and she couldn't feel her luscious tail! Of course, she was only smelling, seeing, and hearing everything from a human's perspective, but that potion was making her sick to her stomach.
Falling down into a sitting position, Kagome covered her face with her hands, noting sadly that her suspicions were true. Not only were her marks and claws gone, but her beautiful tail as well. Her muscles felt sore and the slashes where Inuyasha's claws had scored her flesh stung painfully. Inuyasha watched all of this in rising fear. 'What have I done? No one will believe SHE is the princess as a human! There HAS to be an antidote to that old crone's potion!' Turning to the old woman he asked her,
"Is there any way to reverse this?" The old hag shook her head and cackled some more. Miroku groaned.
"There HAS to be! We can't just leave her like this!" Sango cried, rushing to the crone and shaking her shoulders forcefully. The old woman laughed again and waved Sango's hands away.
"There is one thing that could reverse it," she said in a wheezing and grizzled voice. The four looked up hopefully at her, waiting for her to continue.
The woman looked at the two demons and the human girl that was looking anxiously at her demon-turned-human friend. She cackled.
"It will be hard to obtain the stone that will reverse the spell. There is a witch that lives in the Rulac Mountains. Her name is Dirleena; find her. She may reverse the spell, but you will have to do something in return for her. Her payments are not always pleasant either. You may have better luck leaving her as a human than facing Dirleena." She glanced at the sobbing girl and met Inuyasha's hard gaze.
"We HAVE to change her back," he growled in annoyance.
"Very well. There is a map that shows which mountain Dirleena dwells in. There are many things that will block your way that you will have to overcome. I will not wish you luck, for a witch's luck is not good. You have been warned."
With that last statement, the old hag and her entire booth of wares disappeared as if nothing had ever been there. Not even a puff of smoke or a *POP* was heard or seen as any trace of the witch even being there disappeared.
A single paper drifted down lazily to Inuyasha's feet. He bent down, picked it up, and glanced at it before turning to his companions and the newly composed Kagome.
"It seems as if we are going to the Rulac Mountains," he told them grimly, catching Kagome's eye in a half-angry, half-sympathetic glance. 'I will change you back Kagome…and you WILL marry into the Western lands.'
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Well that's it for now! Leave some comments. That was six pages on Word without my A/N's! So it wasn't too short! ^_^ (Okay…maybe it was…)
Okay people, you HAVE to let me know if you want Shippou in here or not. Kouga and Hojo will be (and as their usual selves…well…as close to the OC (Original Character) as I can get them considering that they have slightly different roles than in the anime and manga), but the following I'm not sure if they'll make an appearance or not. :: Kikyou, Naraku, Shippou, Kaeda, Kagura, Kana, etc. :: and others (my own characters)
Let me know who you want in here and if you think they should be human or demon, and what their role could be…I may use your ideas. Also, if you have your own original character and you want him/her/it to be in this fic, let me know! I WILL give you credit for your character or suggestion for characters, etc.
Thanks for reading and PLEASE leave some reviews! They can be criticizing or commentary…I DON'T CARE! I just need reviews! I need to know if anyone is actually reading this story or if I'm just wasting my time…
Anyway, I'm off to stuff my face with the wonderful creation of Pocky as I watch my newly acquired Inuyasha DVD's in Japan…(God Bless the Pocky! And the Japanese!) (Oh, and America! Hehe)
Laterz!
~MoonWolf~
^ ^
(.\/.)
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(pS. I may be starting another fic….so look for it in the upcoming weeks….More about it next chapter…)
