"Humanity is not betrayed by the untimely attempts of the revolutionaries,
but by the very timely attempts of the realists."
~Max Horkheimer
All's Fair in Love and War
Chapter 14: Execution
~Regenbogen Haven (Kagome's POV)~
The doors again and I look up to study the face of Inuyasha. It is then that I notice he is not there. Glancing around the group of soldiers I see his sister is also missing.
"Where are they?" I ask with tension in my voice.
"They're missing. They haven't been seen since this morning." Miroku says calmly. Calm, he is always calmest when I want to scream and cry.
"Have you searched the castle?"
"All of it. They're not here."
Shit. I know where they are. They have escaped. How was I so careless? I stand up quickly and half-run-half-walk down the hallway and into the courtyard. Miroku and the guards follow behind.
I walk to one end of the courtyard and face the walk trying to regain my composure. I turn to face the crowd that has gathered.
"Fetch everyone in the fortress." I order harshly.
No one argues, I can see the fear in their eyes. I wait silently as the crowd grows, when no one else joins the mass I start my speech.
"People of Regenbogen, we have a traitor in our midst. One person here helped the prisoners escaped. One person has sealed the fate of this revolution. If this person be not a coward, I demand they come forward and admit to..."
I stop as the grinding of the gates drowns me out. When the gates opens all the way Kikyo rides into the courtyard on her cart. I immediately dismiss her as a suspect just as I did Miroku. They are both loyal to the rebellion.
"I demand they come forward and admit to betraying us all!" I repeat.
I wait. No one moves. Just when I am about to start again Kikyo steps ahead. She walks forward until she is away from the crows, facing me.
"Kikyo? What?" I ask. I am confused. Does she have information?
"It was I." She says clearly into the silence.
"What?"
"I betrayed you, I betrayed the cause."
"No."
"Yes, I helped Inuyasha and Sango escape."
I am floating in a blank white void. Nothing could have surprised me more. Kikyo has been my friend since childhood.
"Why?" I shriek.
The anger is welling up inside, pouring forth. She's a traitor. I hate her.
"Love, I did it because of love." She says. Her calm infuriates me. How can she seem so unconcerned?
"Who do you love?" I am still confused.
"Inuyasha."
Stupid Kagome! How could I miss that? It is (was?) obvious.
"Don't you love the Haven? Don't you love me?" I ask begging her to tell me this is all a sick joke.
"I do. That's why I came back."
I turn and face the wall, staring at the rough grey I try and straighten this all out. I must be calm. Emotions will only complicate things further.
"Do you know the punishment for betrayal?" I ask. My voice is cold and quiet. I still keep my back to Kikyo and the crowd.
"Death. Execution." She has sentenced her own demise.
"Correct. Guards, take her to Inuyasha's cell. Execution will be mid- morning tomorrow. Prepare the gallows."
I turn finally, all I see is the guard's backs as they lead one of my most people away. I am cold all over. Who can I trust now?
~Road to Hikari (Inuyasha's POV)~
Regenbogen has long since disappeared. I am empty. Strangely I think I will miss Regenbogen-the garden especially. It is different from the over- decorated Hikari.
Sango and I continue to gallop, we must push our horses as hard as we can. I can see they are starting to tire. If we can only get out of the conquered territory we will be able to find some of my father's army. They will keep us safe and I doubt Kagome will dare to send her soldiers into the heart of her enemy's land.
I hope we have a head start of at least one hour. I am unsure of exactly where we are. I know we must follow this road. I wish I knew this area better but it had always been a "discountable" area until the revolution started and after that we weren't allowed to speak of Regenbogen. I have no idea what this imposed ignorance was supposed to achieve.
My father has always ignored things he is afraid of. He was afraid of mother-or rather he was afraid of the feelings he had for her-but she died giving birth to Sango. We don't EVER talk about her. Out conversations are filled with things to try and stay off the subject of the unspeakables. It is stupid really. I am just coming to see how much I hated the life at Hikari. I am going back to the coldness by choice, even Regenbogen was warmer then Hikari. Both places are a prison to me.
The terrain has changed by the time I pull myself out of my thoughts. It has become less rocky and more like the plains in the interior of Shi Wase. We are definitely getting further form Regenbogen. I hear and see no pursuit. I signal for Sango to stop. We must rest the horses before we continue. I am sure the escape will not continue to be this easy.
**************************************************************************
yay! another chapter done! i'll try and quicken the plot up a little in the next chapters and also i'm trying to update faster. nothing much to say...
THANKYS: AznGurl, Jazzy, Chris, Madison Hammack and azn dark dragon gurl for reviewing last chapter! i wrote this because your reviews motivated me to write instead of doing my science homework. (bad murky-lurky! bad!) ^_^
~Max Horkheimer
All's Fair in Love and War
Chapter 14: Execution
~Regenbogen Haven (Kagome's POV)~
The doors again and I look up to study the face of Inuyasha. It is then that I notice he is not there. Glancing around the group of soldiers I see his sister is also missing.
"Where are they?" I ask with tension in my voice.
"They're missing. They haven't been seen since this morning." Miroku says calmly. Calm, he is always calmest when I want to scream and cry.
"Have you searched the castle?"
"All of it. They're not here."
Shit. I know where they are. They have escaped. How was I so careless? I stand up quickly and half-run-half-walk down the hallway and into the courtyard. Miroku and the guards follow behind.
I walk to one end of the courtyard and face the walk trying to regain my composure. I turn to face the crowd that has gathered.
"Fetch everyone in the fortress." I order harshly.
No one argues, I can see the fear in their eyes. I wait silently as the crowd grows, when no one else joins the mass I start my speech.
"People of Regenbogen, we have a traitor in our midst. One person here helped the prisoners escaped. One person has sealed the fate of this revolution. If this person be not a coward, I demand they come forward and admit to..."
I stop as the grinding of the gates drowns me out. When the gates opens all the way Kikyo rides into the courtyard on her cart. I immediately dismiss her as a suspect just as I did Miroku. They are both loyal to the rebellion.
"I demand they come forward and admit to betraying us all!" I repeat.
I wait. No one moves. Just when I am about to start again Kikyo steps ahead. She walks forward until she is away from the crows, facing me.
"Kikyo? What?" I ask. I am confused. Does she have information?
"It was I." She says clearly into the silence.
"What?"
"I betrayed you, I betrayed the cause."
"No."
"Yes, I helped Inuyasha and Sango escape."
I am floating in a blank white void. Nothing could have surprised me more. Kikyo has been my friend since childhood.
"Why?" I shriek.
The anger is welling up inside, pouring forth. She's a traitor. I hate her.
"Love, I did it because of love." She says. Her calm infuriates me. How can she seem so unconcerned?
"Who do you love?" I am still confused.
"Inuyasha."
Stupid Kagome! How could I miss that? It is (was?) obvious.
"Don't you love the Haven? Don't you love me?" I ask begging her to tell me this is all a sick joke.
"I do. That's why I came back."
I turn and face the wall, staring at the rough grey I try and straighten this all out. I must be calm. Emotions will only complicate things further.
"Do you know the punishment for betrayal?" I ask. My voice is cold and quiet. I still keep my back to Kikyo and the crowd.
"Death. Execution." She has sentenced her own demise.
"Correct. Guards, take her to Inuyasha's cell. Execution will be mid- morning tomorrow. Prepare the gallows."
I turn finally, all I see is the guard's backs as they lead one of my most people away. I am cold all over. Who can I trust now?
~Road to Hikari (Inuyasha's POV)~
Regenbogen has long since disappeared. I am empty. Strangely I think I will miss Regenbogen-the garden especially. It is different from the over- decorated Hikari.
Sango and I continue to gallop, we must push our horses as hard as we can. I can see they are starting to tire. If we can only get out of the conquered territory we will be able to find some of my father's army. They will keep us safe and I doubt Kagome will dare to send her soldiers into the heart of her enemy's land.
I hope we have a head start of at least one hour. I am unsure of exactly where we are. I know we must follow this road. I wish I knew this area better but it had always been a "discountable" area until the revolution started and after that we weren't allowed to speak of Regenbogen. I have no idea what this imposed ignorance was supposed to achieve.
My father has always ignored things he is afraid of. He was afraid of mother-or rather he was afraid of the feelings he had for her-but she died giving birth to Sango. We don't EVER talk about her. Out conversations are filled with things to try and stay off the subject of the unspeakables. It is stupid really. I am just coming to see how much I hated the life at Hikari. I am going back to the coldness by choice, even Regenbogen was warmer then Hikari. Both places are a prison to me.
The terrain has changed by the time I pull myself out of my thoughts. It has become less rocky and more like the plains in the interior of Shi Wase. We are definitely getting further form Regenbogen. I hear and see no pursuit. I signal for Sango to stop. We must rest the horses before we continue. I am sure the escape will not continue to be this easy.
**************************************************************************
yay! another chapter done! i'll try and quicken the plot up a little in the next chapters and also i'm trying to update faster. nothing much to say...
THANKYS: AznGurl, Jazzy, Chris, Madison Hammack and azn dark dragon gurl for reviewing last chapter! i wrote this because your reviews motivated me to write instead of doing my science homework. (bad murky-lurky! bad!) ^_^