Well here we are, back for chappie 3, eh? Yup. Once again, I'd like to thank my reviewers: Geminidragon, loozer-09, Moonlight Shadow, and Shadow Wraith. Your reviews were awesome, as well as your suggestions on introducing Shippou and Naraku. And thanks for voting on when to have Kagome and Inuyasha meet. All of you voted for them to meet in this chapter so I'll give y'all what you want. Don't worry, I wanted it too! ^_^
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Inuyasha or any of the characters. Other, more fortunate people do. Aren't you envious? I am………………………………………………………………………………………..
A man walks down the street
It's a street in a strange world
Maybe it's the third world
Maybe it's his first time around
He doesn't speak the language
He holds no currency
He is a foreign man
He is surrounded by the sound
The sound
Cattle in the marketplace
Scatterlings and orphanages
He looks around, around
He sees angels in the architecture
Spinning in infinity
-You Can Call Me Al; Paul Simon (borrowed from Lyricsfreak.com)
It was dawn. A light mist settled languidly on the damp docks, blocking any view one might have of the ocean. The smell of decaying seaweed and salt wafted off the water and into the noses of any standing on the docks. At this hour, not too many youkai were working or even up, so King Inuki took advantage of that and decide it was the time for his son's departure.
At the moment, he and Inuyasha were watching a crew consisting of wolf demons make any last minute adjustments to the ship. The ship Inuyasha would sail on to Mythora. Inuyasha held himself up, but was having quite the time of it with sleep yanking at his eyes.
Noticing this, the King chuckled lightly to himself which earned a questioning glance from Inuyasha. "Will you make it, boy?"
"Yes," Inuyasha said while stifling a yawn. "I'm just waiting until I'm on the boat, then I'll sleep."
"Not surprising," King Inuki murmured. "I trust you'll be alright in Mythora. You should know it will be different than Girth, and even more opposite of Yogo. Watch yourself carefully."
"If that's what you want."
"Inuyasha, you know full well I will worry about your well being," he paused. "I know it sounds strange, coming from me, but your mother is dead so who else will be concerned."
Inuyasha laughed shortly and faced his father, "Sesshoumaru would."
King Inuki instantly snickered at the thought of his older, seemingly emotionless son fussing over Inuyasha and responded sarcastically, "Right, he would."
"Papa?" Inuyasha whispered while surprising himself greatly. He hadn't called his father "Papa" since his mother passed away. "Do you think I'll do alright? For some reason I feel as if my going is the end of something and the beginning of other things."
"Yes you will be fine," Inuki lightly griped Inuyasha's shoulder. "You always have, so I think now would be no different. But, I know what you mean about the strange sensation, and so I need to tell you something. Not even your brother knows it," King Inuki tried his hardest to suppress a smile. "Actually, it's about Sesshoumaru. I think I should speak to him of it when he gets back."
"What is it?"
"Well, you know that your mother, Nelik, was not my first wife. Sesshoumaru's mother was my first and my betrothed, though not too many know that. She kept to herself, hardly ever leaving the Midoki palace and rarely speaking to the servants. It took me years to figure out her mood and need of seclusion, but the answer came. You see, she loved another but was my intended," Inuki stopped to see if Inuyasha had kept up with him. Upon seeing his father's look, Inuyasha nodded for the king to continue. "So, I let her see her lover as often as she wanted if it would please her. It did, and one day she came to me with the news she was pregnant, and obviously the young demon was not mine. Months later Sesshoumaru was born under my name because my wife had passed away during labor. The main reason for me telling you this is-"
"Your Majesty, the ship is ready to set sail," one of the wolf demon crew members shouted.
King Inuki waved his hand in acknowledgement and turned his attention back to Inuyasha. "Where was I? Oh yes! Why I'm telling you this is that Sesshoumaru isn't really my son and so not really the rightful heir to the kingdom. Truthfully, his mother was a neko youkai as was her lover. Sesshoumaru is completely cat youkai, which is why he does not have dog ears," Inuki finished as he wiggled his perky, white dog ears.
"I never thought of that! Heck, I believed his was just born with a defect," Inuyasha exclaimed. "Sesshoumaru… He'll be so angry."
"Yes, well I would like it if I was the one to tell him and not you."
"I wouldn't dream of telling him since I don't have a death wish."
"Just as well…" the King trailed off, looking out to the ocean.
From around his waist, Inuki untied a sword sheath and held it out in front of him. "This is my sword, Inuyasha, as you well know. It's called Tetsusaiga. My father gave this to me when I was eighteen; your age and so I want you to have it. It is your birthright."
Inuyasha took the sword from the sheath and looked it carefully over. At first glance, it appeared as a useless sword with its numerous scratches and gouges, but when the right person used it, it transforms into a giant fang-sword.
"I… Thank you," Inuyasha bowed and put the sword back in its sheath.
"Of course," Inuki nodded and lowered his voice, "I knew you would appreciate it. Time to go, eh?"
"Yes..." Inuyasha trailed off and smiled at his father before allowing his feet to carry him onto the ship.
With one last grin and whole-hearted wave to his father, Inuyasha retreated to the bowls of the ship to sleep in his quarters. His room abroad the ship was tiny in comparison to the one in the palace, but homier. A four poster bed sat in the middle with navy blue sheets, which, he assumed, was nailed to the floor to keep it from moving. On the far end of the room is a cheery wood desk with rolled maps and documents strewn along its surface and in its cubbies. The walls had tapestries of the royal family crest: a transformed inu youkai howling with a silver full moon set behind it. Inuyasha had always loved looking at the crest and the dog upon it, for he knew such a state was beyond his abilities. As a hanyou, he could not become a large inu, but could fall into a trance of sorts that let his true youkai self out. This form is extremely dangerous for any hanyou because the youkai blood caused too much distress to a body not made for it.
He had experienced that trance once and was both terrified and impressed with it. Strength and speed like he had never possessed previously were in his grasp, and the nearly insatiable desire to kill, mutilate, destroy…
Inuyasha shuddered at the memory of all that. As much as he felt in control of his needs during such a state, he knew he was a slave to instincts and wished not to be ever again.
"Excuse me, your highness," a tiny voice interrupted Inuyasha's thoughts.
He turned around to be startled with the sight of a young kitsune youkai; no older seven. From appearance, Inuyasha assumed the new youkai was a male, especially with the certain way he smelt. Male and female youkais don't share the same smell. The little youkai was wearing a frock of deep blue –the royal family color- made of velvet with a black waist band with the royal crest on it. His rusty colored hair was pulled back into a hunter green bow, and his dark greens eyes not meeting his but focusing a notch in the wooden floor.
"Yeah," Inuyasha responded casually after surveying the kitsune.
"My name is Shippou, sir. It was the King's wish that you have a traveling companion since Lord Miroku is away right now," Shippou spoke, still not looking up at Inuyasha.
"So…" Inuyasha snorted and kneeled down to Shippou's level, "A child is to be my traveling companion?"
"Child!" Shippou immediately looked up, his eyes flaming.
"Yes, you are."
"Well… You're," Shippou fumed, trying to come up with something to enrage the prince. "You're old and I've heard to have a bad temper."
With Shippou's last comment, Inuyasha's mood instantly darkened. I do not have a bad temper, he thought angrily. Reaching over Inuyasha picked the kitsune up by his tail, flinching at the squeals Shippou emitted.
"Okay, where do you come off calling me old? And I do not have a bad temper, you impudent whelp!" Inuyasha hissed.
"Tch! Yeah you do," Shippou spat. He regretted saying that, for Inuyasha's fists contacted his head numerous times. "Waah! Someone help me."
Above deck, the wolf youkai crew could hear Shippou's pleas for help and Inuyasha's maniacal laughter. Two particular crew members stood above the stairway that led below deck, shaking their heads.
"The Prince is very immature," one piped up. His name is Sadvo.
"I agree. To pick a fight with a seven-year-old kitsune…" the second wolf youkai by the name of Tivee sighed. "And he's supposed to be Inuki's successor? All I can say is wow. Just wow."
"He you two, get to work!" yelled the captain from the stern of the ship.
"Jeez," Sadvo mumbled at the same time Tivee said, "Oh boy!"
************************************************************************
"Alright people", yelled General Loki of the Hathar army to the people who had responded to King Dion's call to arms. "You are all here either by choice or by accident. Either way, you are serving the Hathar army and so must act accordingly or you will be punished…"
Kagome rolled her eyes and stopped paying attention to General Loki and his threats. Ever since she got here –that was three days ago- she was forced to listen to basically the same speech from four different generals. She did not want to pay attention to this one. For some reason, General Loki struck her as the type of man who one would intentionally ignore. He is quite tall with light brown hair pulled into a ponytail at the base of his neck and a few wisps framing his face. From beneath bangs that reached well past his hard, straight cheekbones, steel grey eyes peek out and rested on everyone in the audience at one point. When those eyes met hers, Kagome shivered and let her mind settle back on his voice.
"-And so I assume you all are archers or think you are something along those lines. Our First Archer Division has been formed months ago and is ready for the fierce combat ahead. You all are going to be our Second Archer Division. Your roll will be to back the First Division. Once I am done speaking with you, we will start a tournament. The purpose is to determine which the best among you is. The winner will be leader of the Second Division and will be presented to King Dion along with other Division leaders and his Royal Highness's guests."
Oh great, Kagome groaned as General Loki paused and gesticulated to a woman on his left. She looked on the crowd as if they were worms with her nearly black eyes. Tied back with a white bow was her hair in the fashion of a priestess, as was her clothing of that rank. Kagome could not help but tense when she realized how much the woman resembled her.
"This is Lady Kikyo, younger sister of the King and leader of the First Archer Division. Whoever out of all you wins the tournament will share a barrack with her. To do so is a great honor, and so you should all strive to win. That is all, let the tournament begin."
With that, the crowd of close to five hundred people began to assemble in lines of six. Everyone took their turn in shooting an arrow into a bull's-eye. If they missed, they returned to their barrack, and if they made it, they were to stay. When it was Kagome's turn to shoot, she could hardly help but snicker at how inexperienced some of the people were in comparison to her. Stop thinking like that, Kagome scolded herself and cleared her mind to shoot. Here we go, she thought as she let her arrow fly, sticking right in the bulls-eye.
After an hour there were only four competitors left: herself, two men called Nallik and Sallick, and another woman by the name of Gense. The four of them took their positions fifty yards from a target. They went down the line with shooting, each hoping the others would miss and they would be the Second Division leader. Honestly, none of them cared about Lady Kikyo; especially with the dirty looks she flashed them all.
Finally it got down to Kagome and Sallick. Nallik and Gense had buckled and neither had come close to hitting the bulls-eye, which earned them shrill and ill-intended laughter from Kikyo. Sallick looked over at Kagome and winked as he let his arrow fly. Kagome snickered at his expression when he realized his completely missed the target and pinned a tree.
"You're the last one," Lady Kikyo spoke, her face contorted in a sneer. "Do hurry up so we can leave."
Kagome nodded and smiled as sarcastically as she could manage at the Lady. She inhaled deeply, keeping her eye on the red circle of the target. That's where she wanted her arrow to land; it would land there. She let her arrow go.
As soon as the arrow passed away from her fingers, Kagome closed her eyes and hoped for the best.
"You," the
General spoke, "I never would have guessed."
Apprehensively, Kagome opened
her eyes to look at the target. Her arrow rested dead center.
"Wow," Kagome breathed.
"I have to agree with you General Loki," said a voice that she had not heard before.
Kagome spun around to see who it was that spoke. She assumed it was the new man. He had long, silver hair which flowed almost elegantly over his shoulders and down his back. Bright gold eyes rested on her slight frame that held many emotions, but none she could read clearly. What she noticed most about him were the dog ears perched atop his head.
"Ah, Your Highness," General Loki bowed and Kikyo followed suite.
Assuming it would be the politest course of action, Kagome too bowed, though never let her eyes off his handsome face.
"So this wench you are going to trust with a whole archer division?" the Royal… whatever asked.
Wench, Kagome screamed in her mind and stood up. She could have sworn she felt steam pouring out of her ears. "Who are you to call me wench?" Kagome raged and marched right up to him.
Surprise crossed his features because, Kagome assumed, no one had ever gotten in his face before. Tch. Royalty…
"I am Prince Inuyasha of the Kingdom of Yogo and who are you to question… uh… What I call you?"
"I don't care who you are," Kagome pointed a finger in his face.
"Listen wench," Inuyasha scowled, "I have spent the last two days on a ship with a seven-year-old pain in the ass and I don't want to take my frustration out on a weakling like you."
"Why not?" Kagome laughed. "Afraid I might retaliate?"
"No I'm not!" Inuyasha shouted.
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"No," Kagome smiled mock-sweetly.
"Yes, and that's final!"
"Well," Kagome faked consideration. He fell for it. What a dolt! "Alright, I suppose it's final."
And with that, Kagome trotted off to tell Sango –she had come along mostly because Miroku said he was coming to Mythora- and Horaku.
"Wait!" Inuyasha shouted after her, realizing she tricked him into agreeing with her. "It's not final, you know. Come back!"
"Prince Inuyasha," General Loki coughed. Inuyasha turned to regard the General. "You will be able talk to her at the ball tomorrow night since she is the leader of the Second Division."
"W-why would I want to talk to t-that wench!?" Inuyasha stuttered. "She's just a stupid girl who doesn't know her place," Inuyasha stopped and crossed his arms. Just for effect, though. "And she's ugly."
Inuyasha mentally started punching himself for the last sentence. I think she's pretty…
************************************************************************
"My lord?" he breathed.
"What is it?" the Lord responded.
"Inuki is not here. His hanyou son is here in his place and Dion is quite impressed with the boy-"
"Your point, please," the Lord cut in.
"Do you think Inuki suspects?" he finished.
"If he didn't years ago he definitely won't now, so go through with the plan. Inuki won't suspect a thing and his eldest son is gone. If you fail, I'll personally kill you. Please keep that in mind."
"Yes, my Lord," he bowed and left
the room.
Well there you have it! Who are those two people at the end? And an evil plot against King Inuki? *gasp* And I had Inu-chan and Kagome meet. How sweet! *tee hee* Well, next chapter is the ball thingy and will Inuyasha and Kagome be civil towards each other? Probably not ^_^
Anywho, thank you for reading so far people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love your reviews!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
C-YA next time…….. Hopefully ^_^