A/N: I UPDATED!! It's amazing! I finnaly found time to update! YAY!! ^_^ I'm going to put my other stories on hiatus for a while. It's too muvh stress to juggle three stories, and school. So, I'm ganna be working on this one for a while, then I'll get back to my other stories,
Disclaimer: ::Sigh:: I don't own Inuyasha or any other charactors from the wonderful series that Rumiko Takahashi derived from scratch. Now, let me wallow in my misery in peace!
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Chapter V
I'm On My Way
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*~^~*
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He was running.
That was what he normaly did now, run as fast as his demon speed would allow him. He passed a few workers to his right, and leaped over a fallen tree. To the human eye he was nothig but a red and white blur, speeding past at an incredible pace. This place reeked of bad memories and sad stories, leaving his unguarded mind to fall slowly into the depths of sadness. But one light shone through, and that was where he was heading. He was on his way back to where he belonged, or the closest place to it. He'd been trying to get away from this torture for who knows how long, but was always caught and dragged back by the demon guards to work in the filth he'd lived in for nearly five years. They'd been breaking the rules of course. Do NOT under any circumstances let someone escape and come back alive.
He'd been brought back seven times.
Jumping the same fence he'd jumped quite a few times before, he made his way towards the gates that lead to the nearby forest. One of the few ways to get out of this place was through there. He knew this trail like the back of his clawed hand scaning it every day, figuring out the best way to escape while helping the other humans and half-demons that worked near the main gate, and this short trail was the best he'd been able to find. Many of the guards were near the North side of the old mine where he slaved, the last place he'd tried to escape. Every one of them were still as blind as a mole, espeacialy that greasy thing Naraku.
They didn't see that he actually had a *brain*, and made up stratagy's. They didn't *see* that he wasn't as stupid as they thought him to be. Everyone thought he was a mindless dog-boy, even the other slaves. They'd made fun of him and tortured his poor ears. Once they'd been desprate enough to put a rat in his hair while he was sleeping. Stupid rodent nearly chewed them off....
He never trusted anyone after that. The only good thought's he could turn to was the girl he'd promised to come back to. He wondered if she still remembered him; he cirtainly remembered her. She was the only thing that kept him from giving up in all these years, his promise to her.
And this time, he'd escape. If he was caught again, he'd just try tommorrow. Getting caught and beaten never stopped him, so he'd keep trying untill he finnaly got out, and back to her. He missed her a lot....
He slowed his run into a walk as he came colser to the stone gate and quickly walked up to one of the box shaped pillars that held the gate together, peering around the edge. Sniffing a bit to make sure no one was near, he was about to bolt to the gate when he heard a shout from a childs voice. He stopped in his tracks and listened. The kid was maybe a little younger than he was when he came here, but he noticed a strange scent coming from the direction of the shout; he'd missed it earlier. Walking slowly out from behind the pillar he looked at the scene in front of him.
There were two guards along with a young boy, who looked about nine or ten. He was growling at the two guards who were holding something in their hands. But what surprised him was that the boy was a hanyou, not human and demon, but two different breeds of demons. A wolf and a dog.
The young boy was glaring merderously at the two people who were holding something fuzzy. It looked like an animal or something, with brownish gold fur. The boy growled again, baring sharp fangs as the two men poked and proded the fuzzball in their hands.
"Drop Shippo now or I'll hurt you!" He snarled lamely, running out of good things to say. The guards glared down at him from behind their rusted metal helments and looked back at each other as if the black haired hanyou was never there. The boy snarled again, his wolfish ears flattening against his head. "I'm warning you!" He growled. They finnaly acnoaleaged his presence when one gripped his long black hair and pulled him to face him. The boy struggled and snarled against the grip, trieing to pull himself out of the older mans metal clad hands.
"Shut up you little freak!" The guard hissed angrily, his face so close to the half-demon that he could feel his rank breath beating on his face. The young boy squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath.
"Who says we can't have a little fun with the fuzzball? He's only a slave like you." The other man sneered before bursting into amused laughter, "And who says we can't play with you either?" He added as an afterthought.
Both of the men were demons, Inuyasha could see, because both had unnatural colored hair, strange looking elfish ears, and long whiplike tails waving behind them. He growled slightly as they laughed in the half-demons face, making him flinch. Shaking his head in sympathy, Inuyasha was about to to make a dash for the gate, when a shout from the direction of the guards stopped him, and he turned back to see what had happened.
"The half-breed bit me!" One of them shouted in outrage, the one holding the boy, as he put his thumb in his mouth and glared daggers at the boy who was looking quite smug.
"Now Shippo!" The black haired boy suddenly shouted, and the fuzzball the other man was holding transformed into a giant pink ballon like creature and threw both men off their feet, freeing the young hanyou.
After getting over their shock, the guards stood up and charged the demons, one going after the boy and the other after the pink balloon. The boy quickly ducked under the mans raised fist and punched him hard in the gut, even if he was a demon that one hurt! He slid to the ground, holding his abdomine and glaring at the dirt.
The giant balloon was having a bit more trouble though, as he circled the guards head, making him run in circles over and over again. As the balloon was making another pass, the guard suddenly fell to the ground after tripping over an uplifted root. He quickly tryed to get to his feet, but wasn't fast enough as the black haired hanyou came up behind him without warning, and punched the back of his head, instantly knocking him out.
When they made sure that no one else was coming, the giant balloon transformed, and in it's place stood a short kitsune youkai, grinning like an idiot.
"I didn't think that would work!" He exclaimed excitedly jumping up and down and pumping his fist in the air. The hanyou grinned back.
"Neither did I!" He grinned and turned towards the gate, heading straight for it. "And you thought I wasn't strong enough." He told the kit, giving him a sly look. The fox pouted dejectedly.
Suddenly a sound from behind them made them spin around so fast they nearly got whiplash. Before they could react, the guard who'd been on the ground brought down a large slab of wood, aiming straight for their heads. They winced and waited for impact, but it never came. Slowly, the hanyou opened his eyes and stared at the fallen guard in front of him, unconsious. His eyes widened to plates when his gaze wandered up and landed on a smirking dog-demon with silver white hair, gleaming in the sunset. He quickly backed up a bit and stared in wonder at the dog-demon, before sighing and holding his hands out.
"I guess you're here to take me back...I can't blame you." He sighed quietly. Inuyasha gave him a strange look. The fox kit had frozen when he set eyes upon the silver white hair, gold eyes, and twitching dog-ears. Something was iching in his brain, telling him he should know this guy, but he couldn't put his paw on it.
"Why would I do that?" He snorted, "I want to get out of this place as much as you guys do." He said smirking as he passed the gaping pair and walked toward the gate.
"W-who are you?" The boy asked, giving him a strange look. Inuyasha turned and glared at them.
"We don't have time for introductions!" He hissed, "I'm getting out of this place while I still can!" He said, turning back to the gate, "Are you coming?" He asked over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow at them. The black haired boy splutered a bit before nodding and grabbig Shippo's tail, dragging him towards the waiting hanyou.
"I'm Hitori by the way, and this is Shippo." He introduced, pointing to the frozen fox behind him. Inuyasha glared.
"Didn't I say now wasn't the time?!" He growled, hopping to the top of the gate in one swift leap. The boy stared for a bit before throwing Shippo over his shoulder and climbing up the gate pillar, following Inuyasha down to the other side.
"Just so you won't call me filthey half-breed like everyone else." Hitori muttered, dropping Shippo, who had finally come out of shock. Despite his attitude, Inuyasha's face sofened a bit.
"Inuyasha..." He muttered, carefully sniffing the air for any more guards.
"Huh?" The boy looked at him confused.
"My name is Inuyasha!" He barked, leaping off towards the woods without a glance back. Hitori grinned.
"Now were gettin' somewhere." Then he noticed the hanyou was gone, "Hey! wait for me!" He shouted as he ran off after him, Shippo not far behind.
*~^~*
"Kimi wa ima doko wo aruite
Nani wo mitsumeteru no?
Itsuka hanashite kureta yume
Oitsuzukete iru no?..."
Kagome sang under her breath as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. She was off to another dinner feast with the king, who had ordered her to wear her best dress. Of course she could no longer wear her best dress, considering it didn't fit her anymore, so he choose one for her.
And he happened to like girls with big, poofy, pink, frilly dresses...
She scowled at her reflection and resisted the urge to rip the dress to little scraps she could use for making her cat's clothes. She *hated* the king. After he'd sold Inuyasha to the North, he'd forbidden her to go out and see Sango, also forbidding Sango to ever come here.
"It's disgusting to assosiate with peasents." He'd sneered one day when Sango had visited the castle, while she was standing right next to her. "Espeacialy a 'demon extermanator'." He'd spat that out like it was a bug in his mouth. She had to literally restrain Sango from ripping the guys throat out... Sango was very proud of her family business.
Later, he'd forbidden her to even *leave* the castle! She couldn't even go out to the guardens anymore, even though her mother had protested. He'd brushed her off with a comment on her health.
Then he'd made nearly impossible rules for her to follow, such as: Don't leave you're room unless summund, never go into any other room in the castle other than you're own, don't leave the castle unless under attack, and many more outragous rules. She gritted her teeth as she thought of the many more he'd made.
"Don't do this, don't do that, I'm gonna murder you in you're sleep..." She hissed angrilly, glaring at her reflection again. He'd taken *everything* from her. Her friends, her freedom, and nearly her privacy. He had a castle maid check up on her every five minutes, which constantly ticked her off. She could be in the middle of dressing and someone would barge in without warning and ask what she was doing. It had happened too many times to count.
She sighed and gave up her glaring contest with herself and turned to her bed, flopping down face first and buring her head in her pillows, not caring that her dress got wrinkled.
"I hate being a princess..." She muttered into the pillow as she sighed.
"Well then, why don't you run away?"
Kagome shot up and looked to her window where a grinning Sango sat, stroking Kirara, her newest partner. She'd found Kirara living off of mice in one of the castle barns, skinny and weak, even for a demon. The little cat seemed so helpless then, Sango didn't have the heart to kill her, so she took her home and nursed her back to health, and she'd kept her ever since. When she found out Kirara's ability to transform into a giant sabor toothed tiger, she'd taken her to every extermanation job from then on. She also used Kirara to help her get up to her room. Kagome grinned and stood up, walking over to her friend and sitting next to her.
"You know I can't do that until Inuyasha comes back, then we can all run away, and start a traveling play!" She grinned happily and Sango giggled.
"Yeah, the great Kagome Higurashi, star of the most romantic airship play in the world!" She grinned and Kirara hopped out of her arms with a soft 'mew' and curled up on Kagome's feather soft bed. Kagome grinned back.
Ever since the new king arrived she'd had nothing to smile about. Nowadays, Kagome no longer grinned at everything, or smiled at even people she hated. Now, she only smiled around those who had known her sonce she was 10. Which wasn't very many. The king had sent half the workers in the castle back home, only three days after his new reighn.
Of course, they had the right to blaim the wolves who'd come and stayed that night, for killing her father, but the king said that he wouldn't blaim them, considering how large their army was, and what good allies they could be.
It was also surprising how the townsfolk were holding up. There weren't any new shipments of food for them as much as they'd have liked. The king had said that if they wanted food, they had to get it themselves. Now, whenever Sango came, Kagome would notice that she had lost quite a bit of weight even though they only met days apart. One day she'd asked her about it.
*~^~Flashback~^~*
"Sango...how much food do you get daily?" She'd popped the question a few moments into their chess game. That was the only board game she'd been given. Sango was winning, but she wouldn't let the girl take her perfect score!
"Why do you ask?" She said quietly, her eyes glued on Kagome's fingers as she made her next move.
"Well....whenever you come over now, you seem......skinnier." She said now watching Sango's hand like a hawk.
"I don't usually eat." She muttered as she put her hand to her chin thoughtfully, planning her next move as Kagome took hers. "We can't make our own food, so we either have to go hunt, or eat the demon parts we keep stashed in the freezer for Kirara. But I've tried that and I'd rather eat a raw cow." She added with a snort.
Kagome smiled lightly. "So, you can't even ask neighbors, or even the merchents to sell you food?" Sango shook her head.
"The merchents are either sold out or don't have any crops left. Our neighbors don't have any food to spare. They'd give it to us if they could, but we can't take their food." She said as she moved one of her pieces to the other side of the board. "Checkmate!" She grinned widely and sat back in her chair. Kagome pouted and slid down in her chair.
"There goes my perfect score..."
*~^End Flashback~^~*
After that Kagome saved some of her dinner and brought it to her room for Sango. At first the girl protested, but Kagome was too stubborn to take no as an answer, so she ate whatever Kagome brought her.
After Kirara arrived, hunting had become much more easy. Kirara could track a herd of deer and bring down every one of them. Sometimes the exterminators sold the extra meat they'd caught to the elderly villagers who couldn't hunt themselves. The exterminators were like saviors now. Every time one would come back from a hunt a few of the injured, elderly, or children of the village brought whatever money they could scrounge up and baught as much meat as they were allowed. Now the exterminators were fine financially, thanks to Kirara, but they were still underfed.
"You really believe Inuyasha's still going to come back?" Sango sighed suddenly, fidgiting with her kimono. Kagome snapped her gaze up to her friend and gave her a strange look.
"Why wouldn't he?" She asked cocking her head confusidly. Sango sighed and avoided her eyes.
"It's nearly been five years Kagome. I don't think he's coming back." She was focusing her gaze on the small candle resting on Kagome's desk. Even though she had electricity, Kagome still liked to use candles. They gave the room a gentle glow that the lights never could.
"Of course he will. He promised me didn't he? We both know Inuyasha would never break a promise, he said it's dishonor and shamful." Kagome pointed out like she'd solved the problem.
"But Kagome, he's been gone for so long! What if he's dead! He couldn't help it if he's dead, honor wouldn't matter to him anymore!" Sango argued slightly. Kagome shook her head stubbornly,
"He said that he'd come back to me even if he was miamed and run through, he'd still find a way back to me!" She protested. Sango was about to retort when a knock at the door startled both of them.
"Lady Kagome, you are to come to dinner." A guard said in monotone before walking away. Kagome sighed and stood up.
"I'll bring you something from the table ok?" She offered, smiling sadly before walking out the door quietly, pink, frilly, dress and all.
*~^~*
"How far is it?"
"I don't know."
"Is it a big castle?"
"Maybe."
"Are there any trees?"
"Maybe."
"Is there a pretty girl there?"
"Maybe."
"Are you hopelessly in love with her?"
"No."
"Darn." Shippo snapped his tiny fingers. That was a close one. The young kitsune and the hanyou were now taking turns in torturing the older hanyou, who was trying his hardest not to twitch uncontrolably. "Didn't think you were paying attention." The kit shrugged from his shoulder. Hitori glared up at them.
"How come he gets to ride?" He whined. Inuyasha twitched a bit. The kids were no older than six and seven, Hitori being oldest. Even if he was about as tall as a ten year old, he still had the mind of a seven year old, but was very intelligent, as was the fox kit. That's what he didn't need right then, two whinney kids, two *smart* whinney kids...
"He's not supposed to get a ride." He growled and pushed the kit from his shoulder, causing him to land face-first in the dirt covering the path they were traveling on. Hitori snickered at the kit as he spit sand and picked rocks from his fangs. Shippo glared at him but did nothing else as he stood up and dusted himself off. They continued to follow after the hanyou as he sulked on ahead. Hitori caught up to him quickly.
"So, what's this girl you're going to see like?" He asked as he hopped over a rock in the path. Shippo looked up at him in intrest. The hanyou growled lightly.
"None of you're business!" He snapped and sped up a bit. That didn't help, as the two kids matched his pace.
"Well, if it isn't our business, then tell what she's like so we can know a bit about her before we meet her." Hitori said calmly. Inuyasha scowled down at him.
"Who says you're going to meet her?!" He snapped angrilly. Hitori sighed and shook his head.
"Who says were not? You can't stop us, we can just follow you're scent." He smirked back up at the golden eyed boy. Good point...
"Fine!" He growled irritably and crossed his arms over his chest with a sigh. He looked at the ground in thought, pulling her face from his memory. Of course, she probably looked older and a lot prettier than her ten year old self, but that was all he had. "I haven't seen her in a while so she probly looks different. She's got greyish blue eyes," He glanced around and looked up at the sky, pointing to it, "the color the sky is right now. When ever she laughed they sparkled like that glittery stuff you put on birthday cards." He muttered. Hitori gave him a dry look.
"Quite the romantic ain't ya?"
"Shut up!" He barked. He looked back ahead with a slight scowl. "Her hair is raven black with blue highlights, and about this long," He indicated by putting a hand a little below his shoulders, "and whenever she's happy she smiles like the world just came to peace." His eyes sofened but his face still remaind a scowl. "She was about a few inches or so shorter than me, may be taller now I'm not sure. She likes flowers and nature, anything simple can make her smile. She's not even afraid of rodents, she thinks their adorable." He looked a little thoughful.
"Exept for the time that giant rat demon was found in the corn bags in the barn." He shook his head. "Anyway, her favorite flowers are roses, the blue kind, because it's her favorite color. She's kind to about every living creature. Be it a spider or a giant troll who stepped on a nail, she'd help anything that needed any help. She helped me when I needed it."
Now it seemed as if he was talking to himself, but the two Youkai kids listened with rapt attention. This was inturesting...
"I met her in a small field near the village she lived in. I was watching some kids play ball below, and she joined in. She kicked the ball into the tree I was sitting in and I fell out, the other kids laughed at me and pushed me around, but she told them to stop. They listened 'cause she was the princess, and went back to the village. Then she asked me to play, and I never had so much fun in my life. The next day she invited me to the castle, and we've been friends ever since." He shrugged and put his hands in his sleaves, no longer scowling.
Hitori and Shippo extainged evil looks and turned back to him with innocent angel faces. Inuyasha looked at them suspiciously, but they just grinned. Now he was questioning their sanity, and walked away a bit. But before anything more could happen, they heard a shout of 'Pervert!' and a loud resounding slap. From the trees ahead a girl walked out, flushed and angry, and headed down the path. Inuyasha and the kids stopped and blinked, then a rather begragled priest walked out of the same bushes as if nothing had happened. He turned and spotted the demons. He smiled suddenly and walked over to them, bowing in introduction.
"Hello. My name is Miroku, how may I be of servis?" He asked politely.
Oh boy...
*~^~*
Disclaimer: ::Sigh:: I don't own Inuyasha or any other charactors from the wonderful series that Rumiko Takahashi derived from scratch. Now, let me wallow in my misery in peace!
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Chapter V
I'm On My Way
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He was running.
That was what he normaly did now, run as fast as his demon speed would allow him. He passed a few workers to his right, and leaped over a fallen tree. To the human eye he was nothig but a red and white blur, speeding past at an incredible pace. This place reeked of bad memories and sad stories, leaving his unguarded mind to fall slowly into the depths of sadness. But one light shone through, and that was where he was heading. He was on his way back to where he belonged, or the closest place to it. He'd been trying to get away from this torture for who knows how long, but was always caught and dragged back by the demon guards to work in the filth he'd lived in for nearly five years. They'd been breaking the rules of course. Do NOT under any circumstances let someone escape and come back alive.
He'd been brought back seven times.
Jumping the same fence he'd jumped quite a few times before, he made his way towards the gates that lead to the nearby forest. One of the few ways to get out of this place was through there. He knew this trail like the back of his clawed hand scaning it every day, figuring out the best way to escape while helping the other humans and half-demons that worked near the main gate, and this short trail was the best he'd been able to find. Many of the guards were near the North side of the old mine where he slaved, the last place he'd tried to escape. Every one of them were still as blind as a mole, espeacialy that greasy thing Naraku.
They didn't see that he actually had a *brain*, and made up stratagy's. They didn't *see* that he wasn't as stupid as they thought him to be. Everyone thought he was a mindless dog-boy, even the other slaves. They'd made fun of him and tortured his poor ears. Once they'd been desprate enough to put a rat in his hair while he was sleeping. Stupid rodent nearly chewed them off....
He never trusted anyone after that. The only good thought's he could turn to was the girl he'd promised to come back to. He wondered if she still remembered him; he cirtainly remembered her. She was the only thing that kept him from giving up in all these years, his promise to her.
And this time, he'd escape. If he was caught again, he'd just try tommorrow. Getting caught and beaten never stopped him, so he'd keep trying untill he finnaly got out, and back to her. He missed her a lot....
He slowed his run into a walk as he came colser to the stone gate and quickly walked up to one of the box shaped pillars that held the gate together, peering around the edge. Sniffing a bit to make sure no one was near, he was about to bolt to the gate when he heard a shout from a childs voice. He stopped in his tracks and listened. The kid was maybe a little younger than he was when he came here, but he noticed a strange scent coming from the direction of the shout; he'd missed it earlier. Walking slowly out from behind the pillar he looked at the scene in front of him.
There were two guards along with a young boy, who looked about nine or ten. He was growling at the two guards who were holding something in their hands. But what surprised him was that the boy was a hanyou, not human and demon, but two different breeds of demons. A wolf and a dog.
The young boy was glaring merderously at the two people who were holding something fuzzy. It looked like an animal or something, with brownish gold fur. The boy growled again, baring sharp fangs as the two men poked and proded the fuzzball in their hands.
"Drop Shippo now or I'll hurt you!" He snarled lamely, running out of good things to say. The guards glared down at him from behind their rusted metal helments and looked back at each other as if the black haired hanyou was never there. The boy snarled again, his wolfish ears flattening against his head. "I'm warning you!" He growled. They finnaly acnoaleaged his presence when one gripped his long black hair and pulled him to face him. The boy struggled and snarled against the grip, trieing to pull himself out of the older mans metal clad hands.
"Shut up you little freak!" The guard hissed angrily, his face so close to the half-demon that he could feel his rank breath beating on his face. The young boy squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath.
"Who says we can't have a little fun with the fuzzball? He's only a slave like you." The other man sneered before bursting into amused laughter, "And who says we can't play with you either?" He added as an afterthought.
Both of the men were demons, Inuyasha could see, because both had unnatural colored hair, strange looking elfish ears, and long whiplike tails waving behind them. He growled slightly as they laughed in the half-demons face, making him flinch. Shaking his head in sympathy, Inuyasha was about to to make a dash for the gate, when a shout from the direction of the guards stopped him, and he turned back to see what had happened.
"The half-breed bit me!" One of them shouted in outrage, the one holding the boy, as he put his thumb in his mouth and glared daggers at the boy who was looking quite smug.
"Now Shippo!" The black haired boy suddenly shouted, and the fuzzball the other man was holding transformed into a giant pink ballon like creature and threw both men off their feet, freeing the young hanyou.
After getting over their shock, the guards stood up and charged the demons, one going after the boy and the other after the pink balloon. The boy quickly ducked under the mans raised fist and punched him hard in the gut, even if he was a demon that one hurt! He slid to the ground, holding his abdomine and glaring at the dirt.
The giant balloon was having a bit more trouble though, as he circled the guards head, making him run in circles over and over again. As the balloon was making another pass, the guard suddenly fell to the ground after tripping over an uplifted root. He quickly tryed to get to his feet, but wasn't fast enough as the black haired hanyou came up behind him without warning, and punched the back of his head, instantly knocking him out.
When they made sure that no one else was coming, the giant balloon transformed, and in it's place stood a short kitsune youkai, grinning like an idiot.
"I didn't think that would work!" He exclaimed excitedly jumping up and down and pumping his fist in the air. The hanyou grinned back.
"Neither did I!" He grinned and turned towards the gate, heading straight for it. "And you thought I wasn't strong enough." He told the kit, giving him a sly look. The fox pouted dejectedly.
Suddenly a sound from behind them made them spin around so fast they nearly got whiplash. Before they could react, the guard who'd been on the ground brought down a large slab of wood, aiming straight for their heads. They winced and waited for impact, but it never came. Slowly, the hanyou opened his eyes and stared at the fallen guard in front of him, unconsious. His eyes widened to plates when his gaze wandered up and landed on a smirking dog-demon with silver white hair, gleaming in the sunset. He quickly backed up a bit and stared in wonder at the dog-demon, before sighing and holding his hands out.
"I guess you're here to take me back...I can't blame you." He sighed quietly. Inuyasha gave him a strange look. The fox kit had frozen when he set eyes upon the silver white hair, gold eyes, and twitching dog-ears. Something was iching in his brain, telling him he should know this guy, but he couldn't put his paw on it.
"Why would I do that?" He snorted, "I want to get out of this place as much as you guys do." He said smirking as he passed the gaping pair and walked toward the gate.
"W-who are you?" The boy asked, giving him a strange look. Inuyasha turned and glared at them.
"We don't have time for introductions!" He hissed, "I'm getting out of this place while I still can!" He said, turning back to the gate, "Are you coming?" He asked over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow at them. The black haired boy splutered a bit before nodding and grabbig Shippo's tail, dragging him towards the waiting hanyou.
"I'm Hitori by the way, and this is Shippo." He introduced, pointing to the frozen fox behind him. Inuyasha glared.
"Didn't I say now wasn't the time?!" He growled, hopping to the top of the gate in one swift leap. The boy stared for a bit before throwing Shippo over his shoulder and climbing up the gate pillar, following Inuyasha down to the other side.
"Just so you won't call me filthey half-breed like everyone else." Hitori muttered, dropping Shippo, who had finally come out of shock. Despite his attitude, Inuyasha's face sofened a bit.
"Inuyasha..." He muttered, carefully sniffing the air for any more guards.
"Huh?" The boy looked at him confused.
"My name is Inuyasha!" He barked, leaping off towards the woods without a glance back. Hitori grinned.
"Now were gettin' somewhere." Then he noticed the hanyou was gone, "Hey! wait for me!" He shouted as he ran off after him, Shippo not far behind.
*~^~*
"Kimi wa ima doko wo aruite
Nani wo mitsumeteru no?
Itsuka hanashite kureta yume
Oitsuzukete iru no?..."
Kagome sang under her breath as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. She was off to another dinner feast with the king, who had ordered her to wear her best dress. Of course she could no longer wear her best dress, considering it didn't fit her anymore, so he choose one for her.
And he happened to like girls with big, poofy, pink, frilly dresses...
She scowled at her reflection and resisted the urge to rip the dress to little scraps she could use for making her cat's clothes. She *hated* the king. After he'd sold Inuyasha to the North, he'd forbidden her to go out and see Sango, also forbidding Sango to ever come here.
"It's disgusting to assosiate with peasents." He'd sneered one day when Sango had visited the castle, while she was standing right next to her. "Espeacialy a 'demon extermanator'." He'd spat that out like it was a bug in his mouth. She had to literally restrain Sango from ripping the guys throat out... Sango was very proud of her family business.
Later, he'd forbidden her to even *leave* the castle! She couldn't even go out to the guardens anymore, even though her mother had protested. He'd brushed her off with a comment on her health.
Then he'd made nearly impossible rules for her to follow, such as: Don't leave you're room unless summund, never go into any other room in the castle other than you're own, don't leave the castle unless under attack, and many more outragous rules. She gritted her teeth as she thought of the many more he'd made.
"Don't do this, don't do that, I'm gonna murder you in you're sleep..." She hissed angrilly, glaring at her reflection again. He'd taken *everything* from her. Her friends, her freedom, and nearly her privacy. He had a castle maid check up on her every five minutes, which constantly ticked her off. She could be in the middle of dressing and someone would barge in without warning and ask what she was doing. It had happened too many times to count.
She sighed and gave up her glaring contest with herself and turned to her bed, flopping down face first and buring her head in her pillows, not caring that her dress got wrinkled.
"I hate being a princess..." She muttered into the pillow as she sighed.
"Well then, why don't you run away?"
Kagome shot up and looked to her window where a grinning Sango sat, stroking Kirara, her newest partner. She'd found Kirara living off of mice in one of the castle barns, skinny and weak, even for a demon. The little cat seemed so helpless then, Sango didn't have the heart to kill her, so she took her home and nursed her back to health, and she'd kept her ever since. When she found out Kirara's ability to transform into a giant sabor toothed tiger, she'd taken her to every extermanation job from then on. She also used Kirara to help her get up to her room. Kagome grinned and stood up, walking over to her friend and sitting next to her.
"You know I can't do that until Inuyasha comes back, then we can all run away, and start a traveling play!" She grinned happily and Sango giggled.
"Yeah, the great Kagome Higurashi, star of the most romantic airship play in the world!" She grinned and Kirara hopped out of her arms with a soft 'mew' and curled up on Kagome's feather soft bed. Kagome grinned back.
Ever since the new king arrived she'd had nothing to smile about. Nowadays, Kagome no longer grinned at everything, or smiled at even people she hated. Now, she only smiled around those who had known her sonce she was 10. Which wasn't very many. The king had sent half the workers in the castle back home, only three days after his new reighn.
Of course, they had the right to blaim the wolves who'd come and stayed that night, for killing her father, but the king said that he wouldn't blaim them, considering how large their army was, and what good allies they could be.
It was also surprising how the townsfolk were holding up. There weren't any new shipments of food for them as much as they'd have liked. The king had said that if they wanted food, they had to get it themselves. Now, whenever Sango came, Kagome would notice that she had lost quite a bit of weight even though they only met days apart. One day she'd asked her about it.
*~^~Flashback~^~*
"Sango...how much food do you get daily?" She'd popped the question a few moments into their chess game. That was the only board game she'd been given. Sango was winning, but she wouldn't let the girl take her perfect score!
"Why do you ask?" She said quietly, her eyes glued on Kagome's fingers as she made her next move.
"Well....whenever you come over now, you seem......skinnier." She said now watching Sango's hand like a hawk.
"I don't usually eat." She muttered as she put her hand to her chin thoughtfully, planning her next move as Kagome took hers. "We can't make our own food, so we either have to go hunt, or eat the demon parts we keep stashed in the freezer for Kirara. But I've tried that and I'd rather eat a raw cow." She added with a snort.
Kagome smiled lightly. "So, you can't even ask neighbors, or even the merchents to sell you food?" Sango shook her head.
"The merchents are either sold out or don't have any crops left. Our neighbors don't have any food to spare. They'd give it to us if they could, but we can't take their food." She said as she moved one of her pieces to the other side of the board. "Checkmate!" She grinned widely and sat back in her chair. Kagome pouted and slid down in her chair.
"There goes my perfect score..."
*~^End Flashback~^~*
After that Kagome saved some of her dinner and brought it to her room for Sango. At first the girl protested, but Kagome was too stubborn to take no as an answer, so she ate whatever Kagome brought her.
After Kirara arrived, hunting had become much more easy. Kirara could track a herd of deer and bring down every one of them. Sometimes the exterminators sold the extra meat they'd caught to the elderly villagers who couldn't hunt themselves. The exterminators were like saviors now. Every time one would come back from a hunt a few of the injured, elderly, or children of the village brought whatever money they could scrounge up and baught as much meat as they were allowed. Now the exterminators were fine financially, thanks to Kirara, but they were still underfed.
"You really believe Inuyasha's still going to come back?" Sango sighed suddenly, fidgiting with her kimono. Kagome snapped her gaze up to her friend and gave her a strange look.
"Why wouldn't he?" She asked cocking her head confusidly. Sango sighed and avoided her eyes.
"It's nearly been five years Kagome. I don't think he's coming back." She was focusing her gaze on the small candle resting on Kagome's desk. Even though she had electricity, Kagome still liked to use candles. They gave the room a gentle glow that the lights never could.
"Of course he will. He promised me didn't he? We both know Inuyasha would never break a promise, he said it's dishonor and shamful." Kagome pointed out like she'd solved the problem.
"But Kagome, he's been gone for so long! What if he's dead! He couldn't help it if he's dead, honor wouldn't matter to him anymore!" Sango argued slightly. Kagome shook her head stubbornly,
"He said that he'd come back to me even if he was miamed and run through, he'd still find a way back to me!" She protested. Sango was about to retort when a knock at the door startled both of them.
"Lady Kagome, you are to come to dinner." A guard said in monotone before walking away. Kagome sighed and stood up.
"I'll bring you something from the table ok?" She offered, smiling sadly before walking out the door quietly, pink, frilly, dress and all.
*~^~*
"How far is it?"
"I don't know."
"Is it a big castle?"
"Maybe."
"Are there any trees?"
"Maybe."
"Is there a pretty girl there?"
"Maybe."
"Are you hopelessly in love with her?"
"No."
"Darn." Shippo snapped his tiny fingers. That was a close one. The young kitsune and the hanyou were now taking turns in torturing the older hanyou, who was trying his hardest not to twitch uncontrolably. "Didn't think you were paying attention." The kit shrugged from his shoulder. Hitori glared up at them.
"How come he gets to ride?" He whined. Inuyasha twitched a bit. The kids were no older than six and seven, Hitori being oldest. Even if he was about as tall as a ten year old, he still had the mind of a seven year old, but was very intelligent, as was the fox kit. That's what he didn't need right then, two whinney kids, two *smart* whinney kids...
"He's not supposed to get a ride." He growled and pushed the kit from his shoulder, causing him to land face-first in the dirt covering the path they were traveling on. Hitori snickered at the kit as he spit sand and picked rocks from his fangs. Shippo glared at him but did nothing else as he stood up and dusted himself off. They continued to follow after the hanyou as he sulked on ahead. Hitori caught up to him quickly.
"So, what's this girl you're going to see like?" He asked as he hopped over a rock in the path. Shippo looked up at him in intrest. The hanyou growled lightly.
"None of you're business!" He snapped and sped up a bit. That didn't help, as the two kids matched his pace.
"Well, if it isn't our business, then tell what she's like so we can know a bit about her before we meet her." Hitori said calmly. Inuyasha scowled down at him.
"Who says you're going to meet her?!" He snapped angrilly. Hitori sighed and shook his head.
"Who says were not? You can't stop us, we can just follow you're scent." He smirked back up at the golden eyed boy. Good point...
"Fine!" He growled irritably and crossed his arms over his chest with a sigh. He looked at the ground in thought, pulling her face from his memory. Of course, she probably looked older and a lot prettier than her ten year old self, but that was all he had. "I haven't seen her in a while so she probly looks different. She's got greyish blue eyes," He glanced around and looked up at the sky, pointing to it, "the color the sky is right now. When ever she laughed they sparkled like that glittery stuff you put on birthday cards." He muttered. Hitori gave him a dry look.
"Quite the romantic ain't ya?"
"Shut up!" He barked. He looked back ahead with a slight scowl. "Her hair is raven black with blue highlights, and about this long," He indicated by putting a hand a little below his shoulders, "and whenever she's happy she smiles like the world just came to peace." His eyes sofened but his face still remaind a scowl. "She was about a few inches or so shorter than me, may be taller now I'm not sure. She likes flowers and nature, anything simple can make her smile. She's not even afraid of rodents, she thinks their adorable." He looked a little thoughful.
"Exept for the time that giant rat demon was found in the corn bags in the barn." He shook his head. "Anyway, her favorite flowers are roses, the blue kind, because it's her favorite color. She's kind to about every living creature. Be it a spider or a giant troll who stepped on a nail, she'd help anything that needed any help. She helped me when I needed it."
Now it seemed as if he was talking to himself, but the two Youkai kids listened with rapt attention. This was inturesting...
"I met her in a small field near the village she lived in. I was watching some kids play ball below, and she joined in. She kicked the ball into the tree I was sitting in and I fell out, the other kids laughed at me and pushed me around, but she told them to stop. They listened 'cause she was the princess, and went back to the village. Then she asked me to play, and I never had so much fun in my life. The next day she invited me to the castle, and we've been friends ever since." He shrugged and put his hands in his sleaves, no longer scowling.
Hitori and Shippo extainged evil looks and turned back to him with innocent angel faces. Inuyasha looked at them suspiciously, but they just grinned. Now he was questioning their sanity, and walked away a bit. But before anything more could happen, they heard a shout of 'Pervert!' and a loud resounding slap. From the trees ahead a girl walked out, flushed and angry, and headed down the path. Inuyasha and the kids stopped and blinked, then a rather begragled priest walked out of the same bushes as if nothing had happened. He turned and spotted the demons. He smiled suddenly and walked over to them, bowing in introduction.
"Hello. My name is Miroku, how may I be of servis?" He asked politely.
Oh boy...
*~^~*