Chapter 5:
I still don't own Inuyasha but when I have taken over the world I will, and then you will all pay!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!...ha
Kikyo swept downstairs, silks rustling, as she surveyed her household. As lady of the manor it was her duty to make sure that things went as they were supposed to, but she despised it. She surveyed the undusted banister and tried to remember what servant was in charge of the dusting, but she knew so few names that it didn't work.
She hated to be a dutiful wife to her husband, in charge of paltry things like un-dusted staircases. Dai had never been a dutiful man, always off romping with a new tramp. She knew he was unfaithful, and it grated on her nerves. There just wasn't a thing she could do to stop it.
She walked into the kitchen and saw the new maid her husband had hired. New mistress as well, no doubt, said a devilishly cruel voice in the back of her brain. She was a young, pretty, slender thing with large, soulful eyes. Virgin material, the kind her husband loved to desecrate.
But hadn't Kouga wanted her for his wife? He most likely wouldn't want his father's leftovers, not to mate. The girl had to have been blameless when she was hired, but Kikyo had serious doubts as to her innocence now. She felt her nostrils flare and fought to control her temper.
So this girl would take away her son and lie with her husband, then? Not if Kikyo had anything to do with it. She'd already been given some of the more difficult tasks, and there were plenty more that needed doing. She would be driven out of the manor within the month if Kikyo tried hard enough.
Maybe a trip to the village daily, or weekly, to stock up on supplies, would chase her away. The long, difficult trek would wear her down quickly, and she would be weighted down on the way back. Of course, that could take her all day, but it was sufficiently difficult to drive her to exhaustion.
Kikyo turned heel and walked away. Who needed some little slut living in their house and sleeping with their mates? She certainly didn't.
~
Kouga was running with his wolves. He loved them and it helped soothe his normally wild disposition, which he had to keep in check with his family. He could become seized with a bloodlust if he wasn't careful, and although his family was a pack of dog demons, there were others in his house as well. Humans, who wouldn't survive if the desire to roam and feed wasn't sated.
As domesticated demons, his family didn't feel the need to rip and tear and kill and savage that could overtake him as strongly as he did. They could better control their demonic urges. The lower-level demons, the ones who seemed to lack intelligence, often went around blindly, in a destructive rage. The smarter a demon was, the more controlled his savagery and strength.
He made his way back to his dwelling, using his abnormally advanced speed and arriving minutes later. He walked in the back way and saw his mate on the floor, scrubbing the tiles. Her arms had to be stronger than they looked to clean so much of the floor so fast, he thought, noticing how most of the floor was wet and grime free.
He quietly shut the door and walked over to her as silently as he could. He wasn't loud enough to be detected by human ears, because of all the hunting he did with his pack. He scooped her up in his arms, holding her in the style of a traditional carrying-over-the-threshold position.
She gave a small gasp of alarm and her body immediately went stiff and defensive. She lashed out at him, and he knew that he would probably have a bruise where she hit him for at least a month. She catapulted herself out of his arms and was staring at him in shock and horror.
"OH! Oh no! Oh gosh, oh my god! I'm so sorry! I didn't know it was you, it was a reflex! I didn't mean to hurt you! Oh I'm so sorry! It was just...well; I thought that you were probably another sleaze-rapist or something. No, not you, I didn't know it was you! I just forgot to not be on hyper alert any more! I'm so sorry!" She was looking at him in shock and...was that fear he saw in her beautiful brown eyes?
He'd started to snarl when she'd struck him, but he stopped himself. He watched her pick scramble up from the ground where she'd fallen as she'd pushed herself out of his arms. Kouga sighed. He couldn't be mad at her, it had been an accident. She wasn't to blame. It had been instinct that had struck him, and he understood that. It was just more proof of the perfect mate she would be when he'd killed his competition.
~ ~
~ ~
Sango tried to force open her eyes, convinced that she was going to be late for duty. The commander and most of the soldiers already had it in for her, and she didn't want to give them ammunition in their little war against her. She often wondered why she put herself through the torture, but she was far too stubborn to let the pigs win. She would tough it out until her term was over. By then she would've proved that women can fight with men, so she wouldn't have to deal with their garbage anymore.
She gasped when she found herself on a stack of straw pallets in a small, sparsely furnished room. It looked like an attic room, or empty storage area. One thing was plain, however. She wasn't with her battalion anymore.
She closed her eyes and searched her mind for a clue as to why she was there. A flood of memories rushed back, along with a sharp but less severe pain in her side. The memories didn't tell her where she was, however. The last thing she remembered was riding away from the bandits, and then she assumed she'd blacked out. It was a miracle that outlaws or exhaustion, or even blood loss or fever hadn't killed her yet.
She carefully maneuvered her body so that she could look at her wound. It had been dressed and re-bandaged. It looked like a professional job, so she was pretty sure that the slim change she was a prisoner of war was ruled out. The people who owned the dwelling couldn't mean her any harm. If they did they wouldn't have treated her wound.
She heard footsteps on the stairs and took a defensive stance, ignoring the wave of pain that radiated from her side. She wasn't going to be taken off guard by anyone, especially not in her current state. She looked around for a weapon and to her infinite relief she had her dagger within reaching distance. She would have preferred Hiraikotsu, but she knew that she was in no position to lift the giant bone boomerang.
~
Hanii lugged her medicines up the stairs to treat the patient. She opened the door Kagome's room, wedging her bare foot into the crack while she struggled to get a better grip on the salves and bandages. She pushed open the door and walked inside only to drop her medicine as a fierce, wild woman wielding a dangerous-looking knife confronted her. She almost fainted.
She felt her grip slip and swore softly as the medicinal supplies she had struggled with fell on the floor and down the stairs. She didn't look away from the woman, however, or the knife. She was sure that to turn her back on the psychopath would be like signing a pact with Kikyo. Both would be fatal.
She ran through a list of possible actions in her mind and decided to try to talk to her. "Hi...I'm Hanii, I'm the one who bandaged your side...you probably don't remember, but I'm not going to hurt you. Promise! So please just put down the knife..." She held her breath and waited. If she had been the religious type, she would've prayed, but that had never helped her before when she'd been in unstable situations before.
~
Sango listened to the girl's voice through a haze of pain and somehow managed to glean that the girl wasn't a threat. She knew that she should put down the knife but somehow her finger wouldn't unbend. She grimaced and wrenched her fingers away from the knife with her other hand, earning a scream from the girl in front of her.
Sango was aware of how she must look, with her tousled hair and unsteady stance. She was sure the pain had done nothing for her complexion or her facial expression, and she hadn't bathed since God knew when. And it probably didn't help that she was carrying a very sharp, threatening dagger. She dropped it and heard it clatter dimly. She knew that she was about to pass out. She shouldn't have stood up, but she wanted to let the girl know that she wasn't going to hurt her.
"I'm...sorry, I didn't know who...was coming up the stairs, I didn't want...to be caught unpre-pre-pared," she managed to gasp out, fighting collapse. She lost the battle.
*~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~*~~~~~
Ok yes I know it sucks A LOT but I'm going to start the romances REALLY soon, I promise! Probably next chappie or something...anyways, please review and many thanks to the few who did!!!! I love you guys!!!! (Shame on the rest of you)
I still don't own Inuyasha but when I have taken over the world I will, and then you will all pay!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!...ha
Kikyo swept downstairs, silks rustling, as she surveyed her household. As lady of the manor it was her duty to make sure that things went as they were supposed to, but she despised it. She surveyed the undusted banister and tried to remember what servant was in charge of the dusting, but she knew so few names that it didn't work.
She hated to be a dutiful wife to her husband, in charge of paltry things like un-dusted staircases. Dai had never been a dutiful man, always off romping with a new tramp. She knew he was unfaithful, and it grated on her nerves. There just wasn't a thing she could do to stop it.
She walked into the kitchen and saw the new maid her husband had hired. New mistress as well, no doubt, said a devilishly cruel voice in the back of her brain. She was a young, pretty, slender thing with large, soulful eyes. Virgin material, the kind her husband loved to desecrate.
But hadn't Kouga wanted her for his wife? He most likely wouldn't want his father's leftovers, not to mate. The girl had to have been blameless when she was hired, but Kikyo had serious doubts as to her innocence now. She felt her nostrils flare and fought to control her temper.
So this girl would take away her son and lie with her husband, then? Not if Kikyo had anything to do with it. She'd already been given some of the more difficult tasks, and there were plenty more that needed doing. She would be driven out of the manor within the month if Kikyo tried hard enough.
Maybe a trip to the village daily, or weekly, to stock up on supplies, would chase her away. The long, difficult trek would wear her down quickly, and she would be weighted down on the way back. Of course, that could take her all day, but it was sufficiently difficult to drive her to exhaustion.
Kikyo turned heel and walked away. Who needed some little slut living in their house and sleeping with their mates? She certainly didn't.
~
Kouga was running with his wolves. He loved them and it helped soothe his normally wild disposition, which he had to keep in check with his family. He could become seized with a bloodlust if he wasn't careful, and although his family was a pack of dog demons, there were others in his house as well. Humans, who wouldn't survive if the desire to roam and feed wasn't sated.
As domesticated demons, his family didn't feel the need to rip and tear and kill and savage that could overtake him as strongly as he did. They could better control their demonic urges. The lower-level demons, the ones who seemed to lack intelligence, often went around blindly, in a destructive rage. The smarter a demon was, the more controlled his savagery and strength.
He made his way back to his dwelling, using his abnormally advanced speed and arriving minutes later. He walked in the back way and saw his mate on the floor, scrubbing the tiles. Her arms had to be stronger than they looked to clean so much of the floor so fast, he thought, noticing how most of the floor was wet and grime free.
He quietly shut the door and walked over to her as silently as he could. He wasn't loud enough to be detected by human ears, because of all the hunting he did with his pack. He scooped her up in his arms, holding her in the style of a traditional carrying-over-the-threshold position.
She gave a small gasp of alarm and her body immediately went stiff and defensive. She lashed out at him, and he knew that he would probably have a bruise where she hit him for at least a month. She catapulted herself out of his arms and was staring at him in shock and horror.
"OH! Oh no! Oh gosh, oh my god! I'm so sorry! I didn't know it was you, it was a reflex! I didn't mean to hurt you! Oh I'm so sorry! It was just...well; I thought that you were probably another sleaze-rapist or something. No, not you, I didn't know it was you! I just forgot to not be on hyper alert any more! I'm so sorry!" She was looking at him in shock and...was that fear he saw in her beautiful brown eyes?
He'd started to snarl when she'd struck him, but he stopped himself. He watched her pick scramble up from the ground where she'd fallen as she'd pushed herself out of his arms. Kouga sighed. He couldn't be mad at her, it had been an accident. She wasn't to blame. It had been instinct that had struck him, and he understood that. It was just more proof of the perfect mate she would be when he'd killed his competition.
~ ~
~ ~
Sango tried to force open her eyes, convinced that she was going to be late for duty. The commander and most of the soldiers already had it in for her, and she didn't want to give them ammunition in their little war against her. She often wondered why she put herself through the torture, but she was far too stubborn to let the pigs win. She would tough it out until her term was over. By then she would've proved that women can fight with men, so she wouldn't have to deal with their garbage anymore.
She gasped when she found herself on a stack of straw pallets in a small, sparsely furnished room. It looked like an attic room, or empty storage area. One thing was plain, however. She wasn't with her battalion anymore.
She closed her eyes and searched her mind for a clue as to why she was there. A flood of memories rushed back, along with a sharp but less severe pain in her side. The memories didn't tell her where she was, however. The last thing she remembered was riding away from the bandits, and then she assumed she'd blacked out. It was a miracle that outlaws or exhaustion, or even blood loss or fever hadn't killed her yet.
She carefully maneuvered her body so that she could look at her wound. It had been dressed and re-bandaged. It looked like a professional job, so she was pretty sure that the slim change she was a prisoner of war was ruled out. The people who owned the dwelling couldn't mean her any harm. If they did they wouldn't have treated her wound.
She heard footsteps on the stairs and took a defensive stance, ignoring the wave of pain that radiated from her side. She wasn't going to be taken off guard by anyone, especially not in her current state. She looked around for a weapon and to her infinite relief she had her dagger within reaching distance. She would have preferred Hiraikotsu, but she knew that she was in no position to lift the giant bone boomerang.
~
Hanii lugged her medicines up the stairs to treat the patient. She opened the door Kagome's room, wedging her bare foot into the crack while she struggled to get a better grip on the salves and bandages. She pushed open the door and walked inside only to drop her medicine as a fierce, wild woman wielding a dangerous-looking knife confronted her. She almost fainted.
She felt her grip slip and swore softly as the medicinal supplies she had struggled with fell on the floor and down the stairs. She didn't look away from the woman, however, or the knife. She was sure that to turn her back on the psychopath would be like signing a pact with Kikyo. Both would be fatal.
She ran through a list of possible actions in her mind and decided to try to talk to her. "Hi...I'm Hanii, I'm the one who bandaged your side...you probably don't remember, but I'm not going to hurt you. Promise! So please just put down the knife..." She held her breath and waited. If she had been the religious type, she would've prayed, but that had never helped her before when she'd been in unstable situations before.
~
Sango listened to the girl's voice through a haze of pain and somehow managed to glean that the girl wasn't a threat. She knew that she should put down the knife but somehow her finger wouldn't unbend. She grimaced and wrenched her fingers away from the knife with her other hand, earning a scream from the girl in front of her.
Sango was aware of how she must look, with her tousled hair and unsteady stance. She was sure the pain had done nothing for her complexion or her facial expression, and she hadn't bathed since God knew when. And it probably didn't help that she was carrying a very sharp, threatening dagger. She dropped it and heard it clatter dimly. She knew that she was about to pass out. She shouldn't have stood up, but she wanted to let the girl know that she wasn't going to hurt her.
"I'm...sorry, I didn't know who...was coming up the stairs, I didn't want...to be caught unpre-pre-pared," she managed to gasp out, fighting collapse. She lost the battle.
*~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~*~~~~~
Ok yes I know it sucks A LOT but I'm going to start the romances REALLY soon, I promise! Probably next chappie or something...anyways, please review and many thanks to the few who did!!!! I love you guys!!!! (Shame on the rest of you)