Chibi chibi: Ello again! Kudos for my first reviewer, Claire! *throws confetti* And I must agree with Michelle for the thing at the end of the original story. I think that she lead him to the tiger. Human emotions are strange things anyway. Well, on with the fic!!
Disclaimer: Do I hafta say this? *People reading fic nods heads* *sighs* FINE. I don't own InuYasha or the short story 'The Lady, or, The Tiger?'. Now, I'll just be in my room crying...
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The Lady, or, The Tiger?
Chapter Two:
His Story
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He laid his beaten back on the cold, moldy wall. His hands, which had claws instead of human nails, were chipped and had dirt underneath them. His eyes closed in pain as he accidentally scarped part of his back against the wall. On top of his head were two triangular silver dog-ears that came up from his matted silver hair. He wore only loose cotton pants that were blood stained for other beatings.
As he sifted around, he bondings clanked against each other, causing his ears to lay back from the loud sound. He opened his eyes a little bit, taking in his dark surroundings.
His cell was at least eight feet by eight and had little hay to get comfortable in it. It didn't matter though, the hay was moldy and was wet from the rain that entered through the open window, though the window was bared with anti-youkai seals.
Yes, this young man was youkai...but wasn't youkai. You see, this person was a hanyou; half youkai and half human. He was an outcast because of it. The humans knew that he had too much power and feared him because of it and the youkai would look down at him because of his 'weak human blood'.
He settled down a bit, recalling how long he had been in this dirty, mattered place.
He had been in there for fifty years. Fifty whole goddamned years! He knew why he was in there, and didn't like it a bit. Was it a crime for having a secret relationship with the princess?!
…
Obviously, it was.
Ah, the princess…The hanyou smiled at that thought. He loved the princess with all his heart, and even agreed to turn human for her with the help of the Shikon No Tama.
But things didn't go exactly as planned. The king's adviser, Naraku, had found out about their secret relationship. He didn't tell anyone for a least three months, learning on what he or she did and what times they meet underneath the God Tree. He learned on what he was going to do for the princess and decided it was the time he told her father about their relationship.
At the place they where going to make him human, (under the God Tree, where they first meet) he arrived with at least a thousand soldiers that the King put under his control.
He over powered the hanyou quickly, for he was in shock. They put anti-youkai wards on his shackles, gagged him, and threw him in jail, not before he was allowed one look at the terrified face of his beloved.
Fifty years he had made it without hearing her sweet voice. Fifty years he made it without her soft hands. Fifty years he had gone though without seeing her dark brown eyes. Fifty years without seeing her body move gracefully.
He hated every second of it in that accursed 'shack', as he called it.
But, it had been fifty years since that day. Surely his love would've had to marry a different person and had kids. She would have had to rule the kingdom alone if she did, and he knew that she was to soft to rule the accursed land alone. By now she would be old and wrinkle, for she was a human and not a hanyou as her lover was.
That was also one of the many reasons he hated being a hanyou. He stayed young and healthy through out the years, not aging a bit since anyone last saw him. He was inferior to the full-blooded youkai. The humans didn't accept him for his appearances. He was an outcast to all that saw him.
His ears perked up as he heard the sound of metal-cladded feet walking his way. The jingling of keys on a ring also registered to his ears. Now, what could be happening down here…?
He saw the guard stop at his cell's door. The guard lifted a large silvery-rusted key into the lock and opened the bared and anti-youkai plastered door. Two other large-looking men were behind, most likely his officers.
"So, you're the blasted hanyou, eh?" said the commander as he stepped into his cell, looking around with disgusted eyes and unlocking the shackles that was holding him down. "You'll be coming with us, and I wouldn't even think about trying to escape. We'll kill you at once."
The two men behind him stepped forward and took the hanyou by the arms ruffle, opening some newer wounds that had been inflicted to him a few days before. He winced as they started to drag him off, out of the jail.
"And…where exactly would…you be taking me…?" he asked through clinched teeth. The pain in his body started to awaken with a fierce fire. Lords, would it kill them to be easier on him in his weakened state?!
"I'm glad you asked." Said the solider to the left of him, "You have the honor to be judged in the area. Be glad that you won't have to die by our axes, but instead a tiger's jaws."
His eyes widen by a fraction. He thought that that area was only for humans! He could easily sniff out which door held the princess and which one held the tiger. Maybe they thought…
"But don't you think I'll be able to tell which one's which?" the hanyou replied. Time to see how smart these humans were…
"You won't be able to smell them out." This time the one on the right replied, "You're a hanyou, your nose ain't as good as full-blooded youkai. Hopefully, the tiger will eat you. I've all ready seen the lady and boy, isn't see gorgeous…" He started to daydream about her at this point.
The hanyou raised a brow. He had almost forgotten that he had to marry if he didn't get slaughter by the tiger. This was just great. He didn't want to be eaten by a stupid tiger and he most certainly didn't want to get married to a person he didn't even know! Looks like he had to escape, but as long as he had those anti-youkai bounds on his wrist, he couldn't do anything.
As they were approaching the end of the hallway, the two officers stopped and the commander stepped in front of the hanyou's face. The commander sneered at him in hatred.
"Listen good, dirty vermin," said the commander, taking on of his dog-like ears and pulling hard on it, "You will behave as the maids get you ready for the test. No talking, no blinking, no nothing, or else, I'm afraid, we're going to have to kill you and all the preparation for this occasion will go to waste. We don't want that, do we now?"
The hanyou nodded. He still wanted to live, even though he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He smirked unnoticed as he thought of a plan for getting rid of the lady. After they were wed (if the priest survived, that is), he could always wait patiently for them to move out of the land and kill her or he could just jump out of the arena, but there was the chance of floating anti-youkai spells around it.
As he was pondering over how to get ride of the 'lovely' lady, a few lower maids from the castle took him to the laundry room, not being anymore gentle then the guards when they dragged him off. The look disgusted at him, but it wasn't the fact that he was dirty and bloody. You can guess why, I hope.
They reluctantly washed him, keeping his matted cotton pants on though. They scrubbed hard then they were suppose to, making his wounds bleed some more. They dried him off with dirty rags instead of the clean towels hanging on the walls just before them. They stripped him of his only clothing and put cleaner cloths on him, though they were just simply cotton servant's cloths.
They brushed though his hair ruffle, making sure to pull hard on the knots and scratch his dog-ears in a non-pleasant way. He winced as they pushed him back toward the guards, sneering at his back and quickly washed their hands in clean water.
The commander and officers inspected him quickly. After a few minutes of staring, they nodded their heads and took him by the arms again, dragging him to the waiting room before the arena.
The hanyou looked out the large windows in the castle. He silently basked in the sun's warmth he had almost forgotten over the years. Sure, he did have that little window, but it didn't allow as much sun through as these windows did.
He was back to the real world as he was forced into a semi-large room. There was really nothing in it, except a large wooden door that most likely led to the arena.
"Stay in this room and don't go anywhere." Said the guard to the left of the door that led back to the hallways. "If you leave this room, we would be more than glad to chop your head off. You will wait here in till the rest of the preparations are complete. Have a nice life, half-breed." And with that, all the guards left the room, leaving the hanyou to glare where they had been standing.
He walked to the middle of the room and plopped down with his arms over his chest and legs crossed. It was good being able to move his limbs again, but it didn't really matter to him at the moment. He had to get away before he was married to a wench!
He glanced around. No windows…and the only doors were the one to the hallways and the other one went to the arena…maybe he did need to get married and then kill the women after they moved…yeah…that sounded like the best idea he came up in years!
He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He could smell the blood of many years past outside the door to the arena. His ears flicked back and forth, picking up the sound of cheers and clapping outside the same door. It was most likely time for him to go and be 'judged'.
He soon found that he was correct. About three minutes later, he heard the guards return and command him to get up. They took hold of his arms ruffle again, dragging him out the door and into the bright, sunny light. The cheers and shouts over-whelmed his ears, forcing them to lie back tightly against his skull. They stopped right in the middle of the arena. Letting go of his arms, they turned around, saluted their king, and walked back to the door connecting to the room he was just in.
He looked around the arena, noticing how packed it was. Well, it was a special occasion, considering that a hanyou was taking the test. He noticed that some of them were trying to throw rocks at him, but they were to far away to hit him (yes, the arena was that big).
The cheers and shouts slowly died down as the King raised his hands. He lowered them only when there was complete silence in the arena.
"Welcome all to this wonderful advent!" Shouted the King. The hanyou glared at him as cheers and roars answered him. He raised his hand again and the coward calmed down, "Today is most likely the best day to judge this disgracing hanyou of his charges! He has been sent here after fifty years in prison!"
The crowd gasped. How could he be over fifty? He maybe a hanyou, but wouldn't he aged at least a year or two?
"What are his crimes?" A voice shouted from the stands. The people around started to nod their heads in agreement, wondering what he did wrong.
"I'm glad you asked." Said the King, "His only has one crime against him though, forcing the late princess to have a relationship with him!"
The hanyou's mouth opened in shock. A forced relationship with the princess?! He didn't force the princess into seeing him, or talking to him! Damn that Naraku!
The coward gasped again, looking at the hanyou with newly kindled hate in their eyes. How could a vile creature like him do that? No, wait, that was a stupid question to them.
"Yes, most tragic indeed." The King said, "To bad she couldn't watch this creature be killed. Most unfortunate that she passed away a little while ago." The King dappled fake tears from his eyes as he said this.
The hanyou's world seemed to collapse around him. His princess…his love…his Kikyo…was dead…?
"On a happier note, at least we get to see him get killed. Now, to proceed with the 'game'. Choose a door, hanyou!" The King pointed a finger to the doors, waiting for the hanyou to pick one right away.
Hmm…seemed like everyone was expecting him to choose the tiger…He glared at the King once more before turning around and walking towards the doors. As he got near, he could feel the tension in the coward.
He studied the doors like every prisoner before him did. He pretended to rub his nose, but really was sniffing the air to see which one held which.
The door to the left smelled like Sakura trees after a spring rain, while the one on the right smelled like dead corpses and hungry. Gee, I wonder which one holds the lady? The hanyou thought sarcastically to himself.
He walked to the left door, just before he opened it, he turned around and looked straight at the King.
"I just wanted you to know that the name is InuYasha. Kapeesh?" Before he saw the King's reaction, he turned back around and opened the door swiftly.
Out stepped the lady. She took the hanyou's breath away before he realized it.
She wore a white wedding dress that clung to all the right curves and it was adored with pearls and quartzes, diamonds and bows, just like all the gowns before it. She had raven-black hair that was wavy and stopped just below the shoulders, neatly brushed. A veil covered her face that was pinned up with a tiara of silver. In both her hands she held white and red roses, the symbols and love and marriage. She looked at him straight in the eyes and smiled, not a bit of bitterness or regret or disgust in her grayish-blues eyes, just a simple, small smile.
She hooked arms with the startled hanyou and some-what half dragged him to the preacher that stood in the middle of the arena. He had his Bible out and was all ready starting the sermon. The baker rushed out with the cake and put it a little ways away from them.
InuYasha noticed on the cake that his name (done with great haste) and the lady's name.
Kagome…
What a pleasant name…
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Chibi chibi: Yeah! Inu and Kag finally meet each other, even though they haven't said a word to each other yet. Just wait till the next chap, peps. It's about how Kagome agreed to be the lady ^__^
InuYasha: I don't even know WHY you continue doing this fic! ONLY FOUR PEOPLE REVIEWED!!
Chibi chibi: . Shut up, you *Whacks him over the head with the butt of her axe*
InuYasha: XD Keh…*Twitch*
Chibi chibi: Yes, now I would like to thank the people that reviewed to this fic!
Claire: Yes, kudos to my first reviewer again! ^__^ love ya!
Michelle: Yes, I must agree. I got ticked off when I read it and the author didn't put the ending either. I nearly ripped the book in half and I never got to sleep when I pondered which door she choosed. -__-;;
Wanderer K: Once again, I didn't hated it how it ended and don't worry ^__^ I got an ending all of you peps will luuuv *Insert evil laughter here*
Biganimefan1: o.O wow! How could you have every guessed who was who?! *Note the sarcasm and thanks for reviewing!
PS: Sorry for taking so long to update. Laziness, being grounded, and being piled under a mountain of books and homework does that to ya ^__^;; and also, I'm doing is fic in Arial font. 10 is the size!!
Bai bai for now!!
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113 Ways to Annoy People (six through ten out of one-hundred thirteen):
(This has nothing to do with the fic. I would just like to share it all with you)
6. Amuse yourself for endless hours by hooking a camcorder to your TV and then pointing it at the screen.
7. Speak only in a "robot" voice.
8. Push all the flat Lego pieces together tightly.
9. Start each meal by conspicuously licking all your food, and announce that this is so no one will "swipe your grub". *Cough*InuYasha*cough*
10. Leave the copy machine set to reduce 200%, extra dark, 17inch paper, and 99 copies.
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