Trapped in the Threads of Fate
Disclaimer: This is getting very dull people! But I don't own Inuyasha and gang! Never have and never will! So STOP NAGGING!
A/N: Hey there minna-san! Wuz up peoples? Work is keeping me really busy, but I'm trying my hardest to make time for writing this story. My stupid job is taking up most of the good motivational hours in my day! GrRrRr! Oh well, I have to make money! Even though I can't use it for anything but tuition! Well, on with the next chappie!
~*Recap*~
"I.you.I thought." stammered Miroku.
Still being incredibly cold, Sango nuzzled into his chest. "It's okay if you're confused or don't know!" Her fists clenched at the back of his black shirt. "As long as it's a good feeling, I'll be happy with that!"
"It's good! I promise!" he whispered as his hand wandered down the small of her back to her bottom.
Sango's eyebrow twitched, "BAKA!!" Being that she was still stiff, Sango grabbed Miroku's cursed hand and dug her fingernails in.
~**~
Chapter Seven: Revealing the Past
Miroku got up from the kitchen table to start clearing the empty dishes. Kagome, Sango and Inuyasha stayed where they were remembering the last time they had tried to help him clear the table. Kagome and Sango had been groped and Inuyasha had dropped the pile of dishes in his hands to whack the hentai, earning a very angry and hurt look from Miroku at the broken dishes.
"So, Inuyasha, you know how we got stuck in this place, but what's your story?" Sango asked, hoping to change the subject going through everyone's mind.
Kagome and Miroku clearly interested, turned their heads to the boy in question. "If you really want to know, you're gonna have ta' help me find something!" Inuyasha proposed.
"That's fine with me!" Kagome piped in.
"Yeah, I'm up for that!" Miroku agreed.
Sango nodded her head in agreement, "Okay, now your story."
Inuyasha gave a half smile, "It all started five hundred years ago..."
~*Flashback*~
Inuyasha ran through the field, sheath in one hand and rusty sword in the other. He skidded to an abrupt stop when he spotted his target. A large, ferocious-looking cat-like youkai stood off to his left. And just behind the cat stood a girly-looking-guy. The cat turned to face the girly- guy and snarled. It lifted off the ground and charged at their enemy with its fiery claws. The girly-guy easily dodged the cat and planted his fist in its side. Forcing the cat to go crashing to the ground, transforming into a much smaller kitten.
"Kirara!" yelled a little voice full of worry.
"Sesshomaru, you're fight is with me!" Inuyasha growled. He stole a quick glance at his wounded friend.
"Ah, yes, unfortunate for your friend that she got in the way!" Sesshomaru said sarcastically. He lifted his sword and got into his fighting stance. "Father's fang WILL be mine!"
"Feh, you fucking wish! He gave it to me and I'll never let the likes of you put your crappy-looking claws on it!" Inuyasha snarled as he got into his own fighting stance. They stood glaring each other down before Inuyasha let his impatience get the better of him and he thrust his rusty sword at his half-brother.
Sesshomaru narrowly dodged. He turned in his evasion to strike the hand that wielded the sword Inuyasha held. His own sword did the job of cutting into his younger half-brother's wrist.
Inuyasha snatched his hand to his chest, "You fucking asshole!"
"Tsk tsk tsk! You should watch your language little half-brother!" Sesshomaru said in a cool manner. He slung his fluffy white boa around his arm as he watched his younger brother fume. A small smile crept over his, "I WILL have father's fang! You cannot fight what is destiny! Why don't you just hand it over and be done with it!"
Inuyasha charged blindly at his brother, "You think I'd give it up willingly! You'll have to pry it from my cold dead fingers!" He swung his rusty sword out of pure hate, aiming for Sesshomaru's heart.
"Pitiful!" Sesshomaru laughed as he dodged yet another weak attack from the twenty-one year old hanyou. "You don't even know how to use the sword! At least with me it'll be put to good use!" He took out the poison inflicting whip hiding in his boa and slashed out at Inuyasha. The whip hit it's mark on his hand, forcing Inuyasha to drop his sword as the poison seeped in.
Inuyasha made a quick recovery as he grabbed the sword back with his other hand while he forced the pain of his wrist into the back of his mind. He rolled to dodge another oncoming attack from Sesshomaru. "It's mine! It was given to ME NOT A DUMBASS LIKE YOU!" he yelled. Inuyasha jumped into the air, hoping to get the upper hand as he speedily swept his sword a bit awkwardly in Sesshomaru's general direction. Not being used to holding his sword in the wrong hand, Inuyasha wasn't able to get the effect he wanted.
Skillfully, Sesshomaru avoided the attack and appeared behind Inuyasha in a flash. "You're pathetic!" his gloved right hand darted forward and snatched the sword from Inuyasha as the force of his left hand hit the back of Inuyasha's head.
Golden eyes rolled back as Inuyasha let out a moan when he hit the ground. His limp body was left in the dirt while Sesshomaru took his prize, "Unless you learn to fight better, you will never get to wield father's fang!" With that said, he jumped into the sky and left his half-brother.
~*End Flashback*~
"My half-brother stole something important to me when I was gone to visit my mother's grave. I came here because it's where he hid it! That's pretty much it, so now you all know!" Inuyasha said after a long pause and a distant look entering his golden eyes.
Miroku raised his eyebrows, "I think there's more to the story that he's not telling us!"
"I completely agree!" Sango smiled. When an all too familiar look entered Miroku's violet eyes, Sango gave him a swift kick in the shin. "I told you not even to think anything perverted around me!"
"Who said it was anything perverted?" Miroku whined as he rubbed his sore shin. "Maybe I was thinking about a way to get uptight boy over here to tell us the secret!"
"I don't think I'd give you that much credit to come up with something that wouldn't involve something perverted!" growled Sango.
Kagome giggled at the two, "You guys are really entertaining! But if Inuyasha doesn't want to tell us why he's here, let's not pry! I'm sure he'll tell us when he's ready!"
Inuyasha crossed his arms on his chest and scowled, "STOP TALKING ABOUT ME LIKE I'M NOT HERE!!" Sango, Miroku and Kagome jumped in surprise. "Now that you've all shut up, you can help me find what I came here for!"
"But you didn't tell us the truth!" Miroku complained.
"How do you fucking know that?" Inuyasha seethed giving Miroku a warning look at the same time. The unspoken challenge of doubting his words were like knives pointed at Miroku's throat.
"Um, maybe you could tell us what we'll be looking for. You know, that way it might not be like looking for a needle in a haystack!" Kagome suggested, hoping to break the thick tension building up in the room. "Inuyasha?" she asked when she got no response.
Inuyasha blinked as if to stop staring daggers, "It was a sword!"
A thoughtful look entered Sango's chestnut eyes, "A sword? There are a lot of those lying around all over the place! I think you're going to have to be more specific!"
"It's has a slender shaft. The hilt has off-white tape on it that looks really old and worn. At the end of the hilt is a rounded gold tip. The sheath is black with three red rings on it close to the top. If you unsheathe it, the sword appears to be very badly taken care of and it's a little rusty. There are many chips all along the blade, so it's pretty dull. How's that for more specific?" Inuyasha finished. He got up from his chair and tucked it under the table, "Is that enough or do you need to know more?"
Sango smiled, "Nope, that's good enough for me! I'm sure there aren't many swords that look like that that are lying around this castle!"
Inuyasha looked at Miroku and Kagome to see if they needed any more of a description. Kagome got up, "Where do you think you're brother-"
"HALF-BROTHER!" Inuyasha interrupted.
"Sorry! Where do you think you're HALF-brother would have hidden it?" she finished.
"That is a good question Lady Kagome! Plus it would help us narrow down our areas for searching!" Miroku added.
"I'm not really sure! I do know that he probably wouldn't hide it in that piss room! I know that wouldn't have been here five hundred years ago!" Inuyasha said.
Sango, Miroku and Kagome all laughed out loud. "It's called the bathroom Inuyasha!" Kagome corrected him and started to laugh again.
"Whatever! Could you just help me look now?" Inuyasha scowled as he left the kitchen to start his search.
Kagome finished her giggling and ran after him, "Wait up! Don't you think we should look in some sort of strategy?" Miroku and Sango followed suit as they tried to muffle their laughter.
~**~
It was late in the second day of searching and the foursome had just gotten to the second floor in the east wing of the castle. Kagome gave out a yawn, "I don't think it's in this room either!" They had taken to searching in groups of two, with the boys on one team and the girls on the other.
"You're probably right! Who in their right mind would hide a rusty sword in a room full of precious stones, silver, gold, silk, and every other possible piece of priceless jewelry there possibly could be five hundred years ago!" Sango said in a sarcastic voice. "Kagome, this would be the perfect place to hide a sword! No one would think to look here! And if the place got robbed, the sword would be discarded and left for trash!" she gave Kagome a dry look.
"Well, I'm tired of looking through all these rooms!" Kagome groaned.
"Who's up for a before bed snack?" Miroku asked as he and Inuyasha entered the room. They looked equally stressed out from all the hunting.
"Maybe after we finish this room!" Sango replied.
"No way! We are SoOoOo done for the day! There will be no more searching till tomorrow! Now let's go eat!!" Inuyasha said with a determined look on his face.
"Are you sure?" Sango asked.
"Yes we're sure!" Miroku smiled. He reached for Sango's hand and led her to the kitchen with Inuyasha and Kagome in tow.
"What are we gonna have for a snack?" Kagome asked with a big smile.
"SMORE'S!" Inuyasha practically yelled.
"He doesn't even know what they are, and he gets this excited! Makes me worry about when he does know what they are!" Miroku laughed.
Soon after they had their graham-marshmellowy-chocolaty-goodness, they went their separate ways to bed.
~**~
'I was so tired before, why can't I go to sleep now? It was probably all that chocolate I ate before! Why did I pig out? Now I can't sleep and I'm probably gonna get fat too! This is just great!' thought Kagome as she tossed in bed.
"Go to sleep Kagome! We have another big day of hunting for that useless sword tomorrow!" Sango yawned.
"Sorry!" Kagome whispered. "I think I'll just go take a little walk outside to calm my nerves!" She got out of bed and tiptoed to the door. With one last look at her dozing roommate, she opened the huge wooden door and left. Once on the other side of the close door she let out a sigh.
'I should probably still try to be quiet so I don't disturb one of the guys!' Kagome mused. As quietly as she could, she crept down the hall to the stairs. A warm breeze blew up the stairs as she reached it. It seemed to call out her name as it traveled up the next flight of stairs. Kagome looked at the direction the breeze went, 'That's funny! I don't think I've ever been up there before! And I did get an invitation from the wind!' A smile graced her lips as she turned her feet to go up instead of down.
The warm breeze was steady and seemed to direct her down hall after hall, and finally into a room with a bunch of tables lying in neat rows on their sides and a couple of boxes scattered here and there. Kagome walked into the room and caught a glimpse of something behind all the tables. 'I wonder what that is?' she thought as she walked towards whatever it was. As she got closer, an open door with a staircase leading up came into view. It was dark and very uninviting, but the gentle breeze seemed to go up the stairs.
"Well, maybe it's not as scary as I think it is up there!" Kagome whispered to herself. Putting her slender hand on the rail, she slowly made her way up with the breeze. When she got to the top, strangely enough, all the candles were lit and the room was filled with boxes that overflowed with either shaved wood or white fluff.
"It seems I've found a storage room at the very top of the castle! I wonder if they called it an attic five hundred years ago?" she said to herself as she went to the closest box to see inside.
"No, it was just called a storage room! It's the place where most of the useless junk is put," came Inuyasha's reply from a dark corner by a window.
Kagome gasped and jumped from surprise. "In...Inuyasha, what are you doing here? I thought you were asleep!"
He stepped out of the shadows, "I find it hard to sleep without my sword! But I should be asking you that question, Kagome! Why aren't you in bed? I thought you were the one that kept complaining she was tired?"
"Well, it's true that I said that I was tired, but after those S'mores I couldn't sleep! Now, thanks to Miroku, I'm wide awake!" explained Kagome.
Immediately, Inuyasha was in front of her and had her arms in his grasp. "What do you mean, 'thanks to Miroku'? What did he do to you? I'll kill him!!" growled a now very angry Inuyasha.
Kagome's eyes went wide, "Nononono, that's not what I meant!"
Inuyasha obviously didn't hear her, "That asshole is going to pay for hurting you!"
"Inuyasha you're not listening! LISTEN TO ME!!" Kagome yelled. Finally getting his annoyed attention, "When I said, 'thanks to Miroku', I meant that he was the one who made the S'mores! I can't sleep when I've just had a high concentration of sugar!"
Inuyasha abruptly let her arms go, "Well, why didn't you say so in the first place?"
"I did!" she said with her fists clenched in frustration.
"Feh!" he uttered as he went back to searching through random boxes.
"Are you looking for your sword in those boxes? I don't really think it would fit in a place that small!" Kagome said as she got closer to see what he discovered.
But when she got close enough, Inuyasha swiftly shoved the object back into the box. "Do you think I'm that stupid? Of course my sword wouldn't fit in one of these puny boxes! I'm looking for clues, Baka!"
Kagome rolled her eyes, "Fine, tell me what kind of clues and I'll help you search!" She went to a box a ways away from where Inuyasha was rifling through, and started to dig into the white fluff.
"I don't really know what I'm looking for! But if you think you found anything that might not belong in a storage room, just tell me and I'll tell you if you're on to something or not." Inuyasha went back to rummaging when he saw Kagome go to another box.
Kagome stuck her hand into another box and hit something hard. "Ow!" she said as she quickly pulled her hand back out. Inuyasha looked over his shoulder, smelled the air, and went back to work when he didn't smell any blood. Kagome just took out some fluff and uncovered the mystery object. "Wow, a glass ball with sparkles inside!" she said in awe as she picked it up.
"That's just a pointless object!" Inuyasha stated as he went to the next box.
Kagome shrugged and was about to put the glass ball back into the box when an incredibly bright light surrounded her and she found herself looking at a very different room, yet it was still the same. "What's going on?" she looked around, "Inuyasha? Inuyasha, where are you? Inuyasha?" Realizing that he wasn't anywhere around, Kagome looked around the changed room.
The storage room seemed newer. The candlesticks were almost at their full height, and there were still a lot of boxes, but they were neatly in stacks to the side of the room. There was a nice looking couch on the other side of the room beside the newly polished window. The door to the stairs was closed, but it definitely wasn't the same door. The door she remembered was a chestnut color, while this one was painted forest green to match the couch and rug. This obviously wasn't her own time anymore.
Sensing that she was still holding something, Kagome looked down at her hands. The glass ball was still there. She still had a piece of the future with her, besides herself.
Suddenly, there was a lot of noise coming from the other side of the door. It sounded like yelling and violent fighting. Feeling like she shouldn't be found, Kagome decided to find a safe place to hide, like maybe behind the couch. But when she tried to move, her feet were quite literally stuck to the floor. Panic took over her entire body. 'Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap! What am I gonna do if they find me here? If they aren't nice, I'm not gonna be a pretty sight!'
As she saw the door move to open, Kagome squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath. 'I'M GONNA DIE RIGHT HERE, ALL ALONE!' her mind screamed.
"YOU BITCH!" Inuyasha yelled.
Kagome opened her eyes in surprise. She opened her mouth to talk, but nothing came out. 'I can't talk?! And why is he calling me a bitch? If I could talk, boy would he have an ear full!'
Inuyasha backed into the room, seeming to not even notice Kagome. "You're a traitor! You even betrayed your own sister!"
'But I don't have a sister! Is he even talking to me?' thought a confused Kagome.
"Becoming an ally with your half-brother has done wonders for my career as a Miko!" came the voice of a woman.
Inuyasha snarled and grabbed the young girl that backed through the door next. She was wearing the full dress of an ancient miko, and wasn't the least bit worried that Inuyasha had put her behind him. "You would plan to kill the both of us and never tell Sesshomaru! He'd kill you if he found out you got to kill me! You know as well as I do that he and I have vowed to kill the other before anyone else got to!"
"Ha, like that would matter to me! He's just another pawn in my plan to take over the western lands!" said the woman's voice. She was just on the other side of the door, out of Kagome's line of vision.
"But Inuyasha, I thought your older half-brother hated humans!?" asked the young miko behind the hanyou.
"He does! But even he knows when he sees a good alliance!" said the mysterious woman as she walked through the door so Kagome could see her. She was wearing identical clothing to the younger girl. She had an arrow pointed at Inuyasha, and Kagome could see a mysterious black aura surrounding both arrow and woman.
'It's like looking into a distorted mirror! She has a really close resemblance to me! Weird!' thought Kagome as she stared at the woman. It was now painfully clear that no one in the room could see her at all.
"Kikyo, she's your sister! At least let her live!" pleaded Inuyasha.
'Inuyasha sure is acting strange! For some reason, I don't see him as the type to beg for someone's life! Not to mention the fact that he doesn't seem to want to fight that woman!' Kagome thought from the place she was glued to the floor.
"It's funny isn't it? If I were just an ordinary Miko you'd have killed me already! Inuyasha, you're losing your touch!" said the unemotional woman.
Inuyasha and the younger girl backed up so that they were practically beside Kagome. She could hear the girl whisper to Inuyasha, "Don't worry about me! I have some really good power left! I could probably stop the arrow if she shoots!"
"Don't be stupid! I'm your bodyguard and I have to protect you from that soulless bitch! I don't want you to put yourself in anymore danger!" Inuyasha whispered back. "If only I had my damn sword, I wouldn't have this problem of a traitorous wench!"
"I may be traitorous, but you are far worse off than I am at this very moment! You foolishly came to your brother's castle without defenses! Sad, isn't it? Here you were thinking that you had a powerful Miko on your side and I turned out to be the one you needed protection from!" laughed the one named Kikyo.
"That's where you're wrong Kikyo! I didn't bring you here for my protection! In fact I didn't BRING you here at all! You came of your own free will!" growled Inuyasha in a menacing tone.
Kagome watched as the younger Miko walked out of her viewing range and Inuyasha moved directly in front of where she was standing. He was blocking most of the room from Kagome's point of view, so all she could do was look at his back or down at the floor. Not long after Inuyasha moved into his position in front of Kagome, she 'felt' the younger Miko step right into her.
Their bodies were as one as the girl stepped beside Inuyasha. Kagome couldn't control her body, but she realized that the girl was also holding a glass ball with sparkles. The only difference was that hers was noticeably newer. As the young girl moved, so did Kagome.
'Oh Kami! I wanted to move, but not like this! Now I'm just freaked out...a lot! Why is this happening to me?' Kagome thought as her right hand moved to hover over the glass ball. 'Now what's going on?'
"You aren't going to scare me with your feeble attempt at holy power! You don't know the first thing about centering your being! Not to mention knowing any spells!" said Kikyo with a glimmer of dare in her tawny eyes.
"Don't you dare! How do you know that you'll be able to control your powers?" Inuyasha scolded the girl.
"Trust me!" whispered Kagome and the girl as one. Rolling her eyes back, Kagome took a deep breath. Her head lifted up to face the ceiling, 'Oh crap! I don't know what's going on, and now I can't see a darn thing! At least with my eyes open I could've seen SOMETHING!'
Kagome felt a strange tingling sensation flow through her veins till it concentrated at the tips of her fingers. "Don't do it! You could kill us all!" came Inuyasha's warning.
"Only Time and Fate will decide our destination!
May both a Curse and a Blessing befall this castle as we travel the
constellations! We shall stay the same and yet be different!
You and I are Evil and Pure! May you sleep the eternal slumber of a perennial as you watch Time and Fate
take their toll on True Love's Path!"
"I hope I said that right!" whispered Kagome and the girl as they opened their eyes to watch the spell take its course.
"YOU IMBECILE!! YOU'VE JUST CAUSED THIS WHOLE CASTLE TO SLEEP UNTIL THE PROPHECY COMES TRUE!! THAT COULD VERY WELL NEVER HAPPEN!! WE'LL ALL BE DEAD BY THE TIME YOUR SPELL HAS WORN OFF!!" screamed Kikyo as their world seemed to melt.
Inuyasha turned to face Kagome, a look of worry sketched across his features. Then Kagome started to feel lightheaded and soon she and the girl were falling to the ground. The last thing Kagome heard was Inuyasha's worried voice, but it wasn't her name he was calling out, it was, "KAEDE!"
~**~
The glass ball went crashing to the ground, causing Inuyasha to spin around and watch Kagome's limp body head for the glass-covered floor. "Oh Shit!" he spit out as he dove to catch the unconscious girl. His knees hit the floor and he felt the sharp pieces furrow in.
Ignoring the searing pain, Inuyasha held Kagome and pushed the hair from her face, "Kagome?" When she didn't respond, he carefully got up started to walk to the couch in the corner of the room.
As he was making his way to his destination Kagome moaned. Inuyasha froze and looked down at her scrunched up face, "Kagome?"
Kagome groaned and slowly her hazel eyes fluttered open, "Inuyasha?"
"Kagome, what happened? One minute you were fine, and the next you're crashing to the floor!" Inuyasha questioned.
Raising a hand to her forehead, "Um..."
~**~
A/N: And here's where I'll end the chappie! I was originally going to go in a completely different direction, but Inuyasha threatened me with a very sharp claw! He REALLY wanted some of his past to be revealed in this chappie! But I will do what I was gonna do in the next chappie...hopefully! And I did sort of add some more characters here, so hope you're happy now! Not that you wanted more people, but n e way, I'm so sorry it took so long for this update! I truly do hope that it won't take so long for the next chappie! I think I'll start on it first thing tomorrow! That way I should have a lot of ideas fresh in my mind! Well, gomen nasai for the long awaited update, and you WILL get another VERY soon!!! I'm afraid that Inuyasha will break my legs if I don't keep this promise! Ja!
KrysTheAngel ^_^
August 2003
Disclaimer: This is getting very dull people! But I don't own Inuyasha and gang! Never have and never will! So STOP NAGGING!
A/N: Hey there minna-san! Wuz up peoples? Work is keeping me really busy, but I'm trying my hardest to make time for writing this story. My stupid job is taking up most of the good motivational hours in my day! GrRrRr! Oh well, I have to make money! Even though I can't use it for anything but tuition! Well, on with the next chappie!
~*Recap*~
"I.you.I thought." stammered Miroku.
Still being incredibly cold, Sango nuzzled into his chest. "It's okay if you're confused or don't know!" Her fists clenched at the back of his black shirt. "As long as it's a good feeling, I'll be happy with that!"
"It's good! I promise!" he whispered as his hand wandered down the small of her back to her bottom.
Sango's eyebrow twitched, "BAKA!!" Being that she was still stiff, Sango grabbed Miroku's cursed hand and dug her fingernails in.
~**~
Chapter Seven: Revealing the Past
Miroku got up from the kitchen table to start clearing the empty dishes. Kagome, Sango and Inuyasha stayed where they were remembering the last time they had tried to help him clear the table. Kagome and Sango had been groped and Inuyasha had dropped the pile of dishes in his hands to whack the hentai, earning a very angry and hurt look from Miroku at the broken dishes.
"So, Inuyasha, you know how we got stuck in this place, but what's your story?" Sango asked, hoping to change the subject going through everyone's mind.
Kagome and Miroku clearly interested, turned their heads to the boy in question. "If you really want to know, you're gonna have ta' help me find something!" Inuyasha proposed.
"That's fine with me!" Kagome piped in.
"Yeah, I'm up for that!" Miroku agreed.
Sango nodded her head in agreement, "Okay, now your story."
Inuyasha gave a half smile, "It all started five hundred years ago..."
~*Flashback*~
Inuyasha ran through the field, sheath in one hand and rusty sword in the other. He skidded to an abrupt stop when he spotted his target. A large, ferocious-looking cat-like youkai stood off to his left. And just behind the cat stood a girly-looking-guy. The cat turned to face the girly- guy and snarled. It lifted off the ground and charged at their enemy with its fiery claws. The girly-guy easily dodged the cat and planted his fist in its side. Forcing the cat to go crashing to the ground, transforming into a much smaller kitten.
"Kirara!" yelled a little voice full of worry.
"Sesshomaru, you're fight is with me!" Inuyasha growled. He stole a quick glance at his wounded friend.
"Ah, yes, unfortunate for your friend that she got in the way!" Sesshomaru said sarcastically. He lifted his sword and got into his fighting stance. "Father's fang WILL be mine!"
"Feh, you fucking wish! He gave it to me and I'll never let the likes of you put your crappy-looking claws on it!" Inuyasha snarled as he got into his own fighting stance. They stood glaring each other down before Inuyasha let his impatience get the better of him and he thrust his rusty sword at his half-brother.
Sesshomaru narrowly dodged. He turned in his evasion to strike the hand that wielded the sword Inuyasha held. His own sword did the job of cutting into his younger half-brother's wrist.
Inuyasha snatched his hand to his chest, "You fucking asshole!"
"Tsk tsk tsk! You should watch your language little half-brother!" Sesshomaru said in a cool manner. He slung his fluffy white boa around his arm as he watched his younger brother fume. A small smile crept over his, "I WILL have father's fang! You cannot fight what is destiny! Why don't you just hand it over and be done with it!"
Inuyasha charged blindly at his brother, "You think I'd give it up willingly! You'll have to pry it from my cold dead fingers!" He swung his rusty sword out of pure hate, aiming for Sesshomaru's heart.
"Pitiful!" Sesshomaru laughed as he dodged yet another weak attack from the twenty-one year old hanyou. "You don't even know how to use the sword! At least with me it'll be put to good use!" He took out the poison inflicting whip hiding in his boa and slashed out at Inuyasha. The whip hit it's mark on his hand, forcing Inuyasha to drop his sword as the poison seeped in.
Inuyasha made a quick recovery as he grabbed the sword back with his other hand while he forced the pain of his wrist into the back of his mind. He rolled to dodge another oncoming attack from Sesshomaru. "It's mine! It was given to ME NOT A DUMBASS LIKE YOU!" he yelled. Inuyasha jumped into the air, hoping to get the upper hand as he speedily swept his sword a bit awkwardly in Sesshomaru's general direction. Not being used to holding his sword in the wrong hand, Inuyasha wasn't able to get the effect he wanted.
Skillfully, Sesshomaru avoided the attack and appeared behind Inuyasha in a flash. "You're pathetic!" his gloved right hand darted forward and snatched the sword from Inuyasha as the force of his left hand hit the back of Inuyasha's head.
Golden eyes rolled back as Inuyasha let out a moan when he hit the ground. His limp body was left in the dirt while Sesshomaru took his prize, "Unless you learn to fight better, you will never get to wield father's fang!" With that said, he jumped into the sky and left his half-brother.
~*End Flashback*~
"My half-brother stole something important to me when I was gone to visit my mother's grave. I came here because it's where he hid it! That's pretty much it, so now you all know!" Inuyasha said after a long pause and a distant look entering his golden eyes.
Miroku raised his eyebrows, "I think there's more to the story that he's not telling us!"
"I completely agree!" Sango smiled. When an all too familiar look entered Miroku's violet eyes, Sango gave him a swift kick in the shin. "I told you not even to think anything perverted around me!"
"Who said it was anything perverted?" Miroku whined as he rubbed his sore shin. "Maybe I was thinking about a way to get uptight boy over here to tell us the secret!"
"I don't think I'd give you that much credit to come up with something that wouldn't involve something perverted!" growled Sango.
Kagome giggled at the two, "You guys are really entertaining! But if Inuyasha doesn't want to tell us why he's here, let's not pry! I'm sure he'll tell us when he's ready!"
Inuyasha crossed his arms on his chest and scowled, "STOP TALKING ABOUT ME LIKE I'M NOT HERE!!" Sango, Miroku and Kagome jumped in surprise. "Now that you've all shut up, you can help me find what I came here for!"
"But you didn't tell us the truth!" Miroku complained.
"How do you fucking know that?" Inuyasha seethed giving Miroku a warning look at the same time. The unspoken challenge of doubting his words were like knives pointed at Miroku's throat.
"Um, maybe you could tell us what we'll be looking for. You know, that way it might not be like looking for a needle in a haystack!" Kagome suggested, hoping to break the thick tension building up in the room. "Inuyasha?" she asked when she got no response.
Inuyasha blinked as if to stop staring daggers, "It was a sword!"
A thoughtful look entered Sango's chestnut eyes, "A sword? There are a lot of those lying around all over the place! I think you're going to have to be more specific!"
"It's has a slender shaft. The hilt has off-white tape on it that looks really old and worn. At the end of the hilt is a rounded gold tip. The sheath is black with three red rings on it close to the top. If you unsheathe it, the sword appears to be very badly taken care of and it's a little rusty. There are many chips all along the blade, so it's pretty dull. How's that for more specific?" Inuyasha finished. He got up from his chair and tucked it under the table, "Is that enough or do you need to know more?"
Sango smiled, "Nope, that's good enough for me! I'm sure there aren't many swords that look like that that are lying around this castle!"
Inuyasha looked at Miroku and Kagome to see if they needed any more of a description. Kagome got up, "Where do you think you're brother-"
"HALF-BROTHER!" Inuyasha interrupted.
"Sorry! Where do you think you're HALF-brother would have hidden it?" she finished.
"That is a good question Lady Kagome! Plus it would help us narrow down our areas for searching!" Miroku added.
"I'm not really sure! I do know that he probably wouldn't hide it in that piss room! I know that wouldn't have been here five hundred years ago!" Inuyasha said.
Sango, Miroku and Kagome all laughed out loud. "It's called the bathroom Inuyasha!" Kagome corrected him and started to laugh again.
"Whatever! Could you just help me look now?" Inuyasha scowled as he left the kitchen to start his search.
Kagome finished her giggling and ran after him, "Wait up! Don't you think we should look in some sort of strategy?" Miroku and Sango followed suit as they tried to muffle their laughter.
~**~
It was late in the second day of searching and the foursome had just gotten to the second floor in the east wing of the castle. Kagome gave out a yawn, "I don't think it's in this room either!" They had taken to searching in groups of two, with the boys on one team and the girls on the other.
"You're probably right! Who in their right mind would hide a rusty sword in a room full of precious stones, silver, gold, silk, and every other possible piece of priceless jewelry there possibly could be five hundred years ago!" Sango said in a sarcastic voice. "Kagome, this would be the perfect place to hide a sword! No one would think to look here! And if the place got robbed, the sword would be discarded and left for trash!" she gave Kagome a dry look.
"Well, I'm tired of looking through all these rooms!" Kagome groaned.
"Who's up for a before bed snack?" Miroku asked as he and Inuyasha entered the room. They looked equally stressed out from all the hunting.
"Maybe after we finish this room!" Sango replied.
"No way! We are SoOoOo done for the day! There will be no more searching till tomorrow! Now let's go eat!!" Inuyasha said with a determined look on his face.
"Are you sure?" Sango asked.
"Yes we're sure!" Miroku smiled. He reached for Sango's hand and led her to the kitchen with Inuyasha and Kagome in tow.
"What are we gonna have for a snack?" Kagome asked with a big smile.
"SMORE'S!" Inuyasha practically yelled.
"He doesn't even know what they are, and he gets this excited! Makes me worry about when he does know what they are!" Miroku laughed.
Soon after they had their graham-marshmellowy-chocolaty-goodness, they went their separate ways to bed.
~**~
'I was so tired before, why can't I go to sleep now? It was probably all that chocolate I ate before! Why did I pig out? Now I can't sleep and I'm probably gonna get fat too! This is just great!' thought Kagome as she tossed in bed.
"Go to sleep Kagome! We have another big day of hunting for that useless sword tomorrow!" Sango yawned.
"Sorry!" Kagome whispered. "I think I'll just go take a little walk outside to calm my nerves!" She got out of bed and tiptoed to the door. With one last look at her dozing roommate, she opened the huge wooden door and left. Once on the other side of the close door she let out a sigh.
'I should probably still try to be quiet so I don't disturb one of the guys!' Kagome mused. As quietly as she could, she crept down the hall to the stairs. A warm breeze blew up the stairs as she reached it. It seemed to call out her name as it traveled up the next flight of stairs. Kagome looked at the direction the breeze went, 'That's funny! I don't think I've ever been up there before! And I did get an invitation from the wind!' A smile graced her lips as she turned her feet to go up instead of down.
The warm breeze was steady and seemed to direct her down hall after hall, and finally into a room with a bunch of tables lying in neat rows on their sides and a couple of boxes scattered here and there. Kagome walked into the room and caught a glimpse of something behind all the tables. 'I wonder what that is?' she thought as she walked towards whatever it was. As she got closer, an open door with a staircase leading up came into view. It was dark and very uninviting, but the gentle breeze seemed to go up the stairs.
"Well, maybe it's not as scary as I think it is up there!" Kagome whispered to herself. Putting her slender hand on the rail, she slowly made her way up with the breeze. When she got to the top, strangely enough, all the candles were lit and the room was filled with boxes that overflowed with either shaved wood or white fluff.
"It seems I've found a storage room at the very top of the castle! I wonder if they called it an attic five hundred years ago?" she said to herself as she went to the closest box to see inside.
"No, it was just called a storage room! It's the place where most of the useless junk is put," came Inuyasha's reply from a dark corner by a window.
Kagome gasped and jumped from surprise. "In...Inuyasha, what are you doing here? I thought you were asleep!"
He stepped out of the shadows, "I find it hard to sleep without my sword! But I should be asking you that question, Kagome! Why aren't you in bed? I thought you were the one that kept complaining she was tired?"
"Well, it's true that I said that I was tired, but after those S'mores I couldn't sleep! Now, thanks to Miroku, I'm wide awake!" explained Kagome.
Immediately, Inuyasha was in front of her and had her arms in his grasp. "What do you mean, 'thanks to Miroku'? What did he do to you? I'll kill him!!" growled a now very angry Inuyasha.
Kagome's eyes went wide, "Nononono, that's not what I meant!"
Inuyasha obviously didn't hear her, "That asshole is going to pay for hurting you!"
"Inuyasha you're not listening! LISTEN TO ME!!" Kagome yelled. Finally getting his annoyed attention, "When I said, 'thanks to Miroku', I meant that he was the one who made the S'mores! I can't sleep when I've just had a high concentration of sugar!"
Inuyasha abruptly let her arms go, "Well, why didn't you say so in the first place?"
"I did!" she said with her fists clenched in frustration.
"Feh!" he uttered as he went back to searching through random boxes.
"Are you looking for your sword in those boxes? I don't really think it would fit in a place that small!" Kagome said as she got closer to see what he discovered.
But when she got close enough, Inuyasha swiftly shoved the object back into the box. "Do you think I'm that stupid? Of course my sword wouldn't fit in one of these puny boxes! I'm looking for clues, Baka!"
Kagome rolled her eyes, "Fine, tell me what kind of clues and I'll help you search!" She went to a box a ways away from where Inuyasha was rifling through, and started to dig into the white fluff.
"I don't really know what I'm looking for! But if you think you found anything that might not belong in a storage room, just tell me and I'll tell you if you're on to something or not." Inuyasha went back to rummaging when he saw Kagome go to another box.
Kagome stuck her hand into another box and hit something hard. "Ow!" she said as she quickly pulled her hand back out. Inuyasha looked over his shoulder, smelled the air, and went back to work when he didn't smell any blood. Kagome just took out some fluff and uncovered the mystery object. "Wow, a glass ball with sparkles inside!" she said in awe as she picked it up.
"That's just a pointless object!" Inuyasha stated as he went to the next box.
Kagome shrugged and was about to put the glass ball back into the box when an incredibly bright light surrounded her and she found herself looking at a very different room, yet it was still the same. "What's going on?" she looked around, "Inuyasha? Inuyasha, where are you? Inuyasha?" Realizing that he wasn't anywhere around, Kagome looked around the changed room.
The storage room seemed newer. The candlesticks were almost at their full height, and there were still a lot of boxes, but they were neatly in stacks to the side of the room. There was a nice looking couch on the other side of the room beside the newly polished window. The door to the stairs was closed, but it definitely wasn't the same door. The door she remembered was a chestnut color, while this one was painted forest green to match the couch and rug. This obviously wasn't her own time anymore.
Sensing that she was still holding something, Kagome looked down at her hands. The glass ball was still there. She still had a piece of the future with her, besides herself.
Suddenly, there was a lot of noise coming from the other side of the door. It sounded like yelling and violent fighting. Feeling like she shouldn't be found, Kagome decided to find a safe place to hide, like maybe behind the couch. But when she tried to move, her feet were quite literally stuck to the floor. Panic took over her entire body. 'Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap! What am I gonna do if they find me here? If they aren't nice, I'm not gonna be a pretty sight!'
As she saw the door move to open, Kagome squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath. 'I'M GONNA DIE RIGHT HERE, ALL ALONE!' her mind screamed.
"YOU BITCH!" Inuyasha yelled.
Kagome opened her eyes in surprise. She opened her mouth to talk, but nothing came out. 'I can't talk?! And why is he calling me a bitch? If I could talk, boy would he have an ear full!'
Inuyasha backed into the room, seeming to not even notice Kagome. "You're a traitor! You even betrayed your own sister!"
'But I don't have a sister! Is he even talking to me?' thought a confused Kagome.
"Becoming an ally with your half-brother has done wonders for my career as a Miko!" came the voice of a woman.
Inuyasha snarled and grabbed the young girl that backed through the door next. She was wearing the full dress of an ancient miko, and wasn't the least bit worried that Inuyasha had put her behind him. "You would plan to kill the both of us and never tell Sesshomaru! He'd kill you if he found out you got to kill me! You know as well as I do that he and I have vowed to kill the other before anyone else got to!"
"Ha, like that would matter to me! He's just another pawn in my plan to take over the western lands!" said the woman's voice. She was just on the other side of the door, out of Kagome's line of vision.
"But Inuyasha, I thought your older half-brother hated humans!?" asked the young miko behind the hanyou.
"He does! But even he knows when he sees a good alliance!" said the mysterious woman as she walked through the door so Kagome could see her. She was wearing identical clothing to the younger girl. She had an arrow pointed at Inuyasha, and Kagome could see a mysterious black aura surrounding both arrow and woman.
'It's like looking into a distorted mirror! She has a really close resemblance to me! Weird!' thought Kagome as she stared at the woman. It was now painfully clear that no one in the room could see her at all.
"Kikyo, she's your sister! At least let her live!" pleaded Inuyasha.
'Inuyasha sure is acting strange! For some reason, I don't see him as the type to beg for someone's life! Not to mention the fact that he doesn't seem to want to fight that woman!' Kagome thought from the place she was glued to the floor.
"It's funny isn't it? If I were just an ordinary Miko you'd have killed me already! Inuyasha, you're losing your touch!" said the unemotional woman.
Inuyasha and the younger girl backed up so that they were practically beside Kagome. She could hear the girl whisper to Inuyasha, "Don't worry about me! I have some really good power left! I could probably stop the arrow if she shoots!"
"Don't be stupid! I'm your bodyguard and I have to protect you from that soulless bitch! I don't want you to put yourself in anymore danger!" Inuyasha whispered back. "If only I had my damn sword, I wouldn't have this problem of a traitorous wench!"
"I may be traitorous, but you are far worse off than I am at this very moment! You foolishly came to your brother's castle without defenses! Sad, isn't it? Here you were thinking that you had a powerful Miko on your side and I turned out to be the one you needed protection from!" laughed the one named Kikyo.
"That's where you're wrong Kikyo! I didn't bring you here for my protection! In fact I didn't BRING you here at all! You came of your own free will!" growled Inuyasha in a menacing tone.
Kagome watched as the younger Miko walked out of her viewing range and Inuyasha moved directly in front of where she was standing. He was blocking most of the room from Kagome's point of view, so all she could do was look at his back or down at the floor. Not long after Inuyasha moved into his position in front of Kagome, she 'felt' the younger Miko step right into her.
Their bodies were as one as the girl stepped beside Inuyasha. Kagome couldn't control her body, but she realized that the girl was also holding a glass ball with sparkles. The only difference was that hers was noticeably newer. As the young girl moved, so did Kagome.
'Oh Kami! I wanted to move, but not like this! Now I'm just freaked out...a lot! Why is this happening to me?' Kagome thought as her right hand moved to hover over the glass ball. 'Now what's going on?'
"You aren't going to scare me with your feeble attempt at holy power! You don't know the first thing about centering your being! Not to mention knowing any spells!" said Kikyo with a glimmer of dare in her tawny eyes.
"Don't you dare! How do you know that you'll be able to control your powers?" Inuyasha scolded the girl.
"Trust me!" whispered Kagome and the girl as one. Rolling her eyes back, Kagome took a deep breath. Her head lifted up to face the ceiling, 'Oh crap! I don't know what's going on, and now I can't see a darn thing! At least with my eyes open I could've seen SOMETHING!'
Kagome felt a strange tingling sensation flow through her veins till it concentrated at the tips of her fingers. "Don't do it! You could kill us all!" came Inuyasha's warning.
"Only Time and Fate will decide our destination!
May both a Curse and a Blessing befall this castle as we travel the
constellations! We shall stay the same and yet be different!
You and I are Evil and Pure! May you sleep the eternal slumber of a perennial as you watch Time and Fate
take their toll on True Love's Path!"
"I hope I said that right!" whispered Kagome and the girl as they opened their eyes to watch the spell take its course.
"YOU IMBECILE!! YOU'VE JUST CAUSED THIS WHOLE CASTLE TO SLEEP UNTIL THE PROPHECY COMES TRUE!! THAT COULD VERY WELL NEVER HAPPEN!! WE'LL ALL BE DEAD BY THE TIME YOUR SPELL HAS WORN OFF!!" screamed Kikyo as their world seemed to melt.
Inuyasha turned to face Kagome, a look of worry sketched across his features. Then Kagome started to feel lightheaded and soon she and the girl were falling to the ground. The last thing Kagome heard was Inuyasha's worried voice, but it wasn't her name he was calling out, it was, "KAEDE!"
~**~
The glass ball went crashing to the ground, causing Inuyasha to spin around and watch Kagome's limp body head for the glass-covered floor. "Oh Shit!" he spit out as he dove to catch the unconscious girl. His knees hit the floor and he felt the sharp pieces furrow in.
Ignoring the searing pain, Inuyasha held Kagome and pushed the hair from her face, "Kagome?" When she didn't respond, he carefully got up started to walk to the couch in the corner of the room.
As he was making his way to his destination Kagome moaned. Inuyasha froze and looked down at her scrunched up face, "Kagome?"
Kagome groaned and slowly her hazel eyes fluttered open, "Inuyasha?"
"Kagome, what happened? One minute you were fine, and the next you're crashing to the floor!" Inuyasha questioned.
Raising a hand to her forehead, "Um..."
~**~
A/N: And here's where I'll end the chappie! I was originally going to go in a completely different direction, but Inuyasha threatened me with a very sharp claw! He REALLY wanted some of his past to be revealed in this chappie! But I will do what I was gonna do in the next chappie...hopefully! And I did sort of add some more characters here, so hope you're happy now! Not that you wanted more people, but n e way, I'm so sorry it took so long for this update! I truly do hope that it won't take so long for the next chappie! I think I'll start on it first thing tomorrow! That way I should have a lot of ideas fresh in my mind! Well, gomen nasai for the long awaited update, and you WILL get another VERY soon!!! I'm afraid that Inuyasha will break my legs if I don't keep this promise! Ja!
KrysTheAngel ^_^
August 2003
