Author's Note: Yay! I updated this weekend just like I promised! See? All your wonderful praise really does make me work faster! Read on and enjoy, it's definitely longer than the previous chapter!
Disclaimer: Although I have tons of Inu merchandise…I…*sob*…don't own the real guy…T_T
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Mistaken Identity
Chapter 12
Preperations
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The waterfall continued to roar outside of the cave, reverberating off of the walls in a dull echo. Kagome rolled over onto her other side and opened her eyes. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't get comfortable.
She sighed and sat up, leaning back on her hands. The wolf skins Kouga had given her as makeshift pillows and blankets were very warm and the fur was deep and soft, but the stone floor still managed to remain cold and hard no matter how much padding she had. Dropping her head back, Kagome absentmindedly eyed the ceiling.
'I wonder what time it is…' she thought to herself. It felt like she'd been up for hours. Kouga had dropped off to sleep in what seemed like minutes, and he was the only other one in the cave.
He was being quite decent to her, not ordering her around much, or anything. And he had agreed to sleep on the other side of the cave, much to Kagome's relief. Still…she hoped Inuyasha would get there in time. No matter how nice Kouga was, she didn't want to be forced to marry him, or anyone else for that matter.
Shaking her head, she got to her feet and crept past Kouga's apparently sleeping form. However, when her foot passed his head, his eye cracked open, following her progress. His body tensed as he saw her heading for the cave exit, but relaxed again when she simply sat against the entrance wall and gazed up at the moon, her legs drawn up to her chest and her arms clamped around them to ward off the cold.
Kagome, still unaware of her silent watcher, frowned up at the glistening stars and wondered. Did her mother miss her? She didn't care much about what Kikyou thought, sometimes she doubted she had feelings or emotions anyways. But her mother…
Kagome sighed again and watched a silent shadow fly across the sky and over the treetops - probably some nocturnal bird.
"Lucky," Kagome mumbled enviously. "Whenever things get too rough, you can just fly off and start over again." Kagome knew where she'd fly off to if she had the chance. She'd go find Inuyasha.
Kagome played around with that fantasy for a moment, imagining his face when he saw her fly down from the starry sky like a wingless angel. She gave a small smile and stretched her arms out above her head to try and relieve them of some of their soreness.
The idea of trying to run away flitted across her mind for a second, but she quickly ditched that idea when she thought about how easily Kouga could probably catch up with her again. She didn't much want to get on the bad side of a demon, no matter how nice he'd been to her.
Maybe she should try to sleep again. The cool night air had cleared her head, and as she stood up, a wave of dizziness rushed over her.
So with shaky steps, she traipsed over to her blankets and snuggled into them, content for the moment.
Unknown to her, Kouga had closed his eyes again. More than just satisfied that Kagome hadn't tried to escape, he was glad that she had finally smiled again.
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"I can't believe she's still asleep!"
"She is a human, maybe they need more sleep…?"
"They can't possibly sleep this much! She's been out for well over ten hours!"
"True, if she sleeps much longer, Kouga will have to push the wedding back a little."
Kagome stirred in her sleep and tried to shut out the voices interrupting her dreams. Why couldn't they go away and let her finish up her beauty sleep?! Reluctantly, she opened her eyes only to be greeted by two other pairs of staring eyes not more than a foot away from her face.
"GAH!!" she shrieked, flinging herself back to escape the eyes.
"Oh, good! You're awake!"
Kagome rubbed her eyes so that she could clearly see who had given her such a rude awakening. To her surprise, it was Mohawk-Man and his friend: her guards from earlier who had been more interested in their card game than guarding her…not that she had minded much.
"What's the big idea?" she ground out, only half-angry. Her other half was still asleep.
"Kouga wants us to get you ready for the wedding!" they informed her matter-of-factly.
"But what if Inuyasha comes? Then I won't be getting married to anyone…" she pointed out.
The two wolf demons shrugged carelessly. "Kouga doubts he'll show up, and even if he does, Kouga will beat him to a bloody pulp!"
Kagome put her hands on her hips indignantly. "Humph," she snorted. "Besides, I can get myself ready myself." It was true; she'd had to do a lot of things herself with all of the attention on Kikyou.
That and the fact that she didn't want two guys who looked like they'd never used a brush or comb in their life to manage her hair on her possible-wedding-day thankyouverymuch!
The two exchanged uneasy glances before hesitantly agreeing with her.
"Alright then, I'm going to need to take a bath, do my hair, get clothes," she prattled on, ticking the items off on her fingers. Hey, if this was going to happen, then it would happen her way! Besides, if worse came to worse, there was always divorce…she really hoped it wouldn't come down to that.
Mohawk-Man shook his head. "Kouga already has your dress, and what's wrong with your hair the way it is?"
Kagome sweat dropped, noting her matted, just-rolled-out-of-bed hair out of the corner of her eye. "This is a great example of why you're not going to be helping me," she mumbled exasperatedly.
The two men exchanged confused looks. "Well…" Mohawk-Man's friend trailed off, "I suppose you could bathe in the waterfall pool…"
"Great! It's settled then!" Kagome got to her feet. "And where's my dress?"
Mohawk-Man handed her a parcel wrapped in brown cloth and tied with a thin rope. "But I warn you, the waterfall's kinda-"
"Nope! I'll be fine! Really, thanks!" Kagome called, already halfway out the door.
The other guy shrugged half-heartedly, "Can't say you didn't try."
Mohawk-Man nodded uncertainly, "I know I wouldn't set foot in that freezing water for anything!"
The two gave each other conspiratorial looks before agreeing,
"Must be a girl thing…"
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Inuyasha cursed furiously as he stepped on yet another pointy rock or splinter of wood. The stench of wolves drenching the area didn't help to improve his mood much either. He had almost lost Kagome's scent in all of the wolf smells that had seized his senses, but he had just managed to hang on to the one familiar scent that acted as his guide.
Crouching down, he leaped up into the high, spread branches of a tree and scanned the area with his sharp eyes. His sensitive ears twitched as they picked up a dull roaring sound.
"A waterfall?" he asked to no one in particular. He was getting kind of thirsty…
So with an agile jump, Inuyasha hurdled through the trees. As he neared the waterfall, the wolves' odor grew stronger, and he growled subconsciously.
At last, the tree-line came to and end and, peering through the leafy branches, Inuyasha looked upon a camp. A wolf camp. Every stinking wolf in there seemed to be doing something, obviously they were extremely busy.
Turning his head away, he tried to sift through the smells to find Kagome's unique scent, but was unable to. Shaking his head, Inuyasha prepared to leap away and continue his search. As long as the wolves hadn't bothered Kagome, then he had no quarrel with them.
However, it was then that he heard a high pitch, feminine screech coming from the base of the waterfall. Flinching back from the loud noise, it took him only a few moments to recognize that familiar voice….
Kagome.
She was in trouble!!
Wait…if she was by the waterfall, then she must have been taken captive by these wolves. If he wanted to save her then he needed a well-thought-out plan. He paused for a moment, contemplating his options.
"Oh hell!" he muttered before opting for the simple plan of barging out into the open and hoping for the best. Darting through the trees, he reached the waterfall and flew out of the forests' cover, making his presence known.
Scanning the rocky ledges and clear, blue water, he saw that there was nothing else there aside from a shivering girl and a brown parcel. He wasn't really looking at the parcel, however, because it was all he could do to not stare outright at the girl, who had been trying to bathe and, go figure, was naked.
In the end, Kagome simply let out a louder scream and threw herself into the freezing water in order to better cover herself up.
Popping just her head out, she hissed, "Inuyasha! What are you doing!?"
Inuyasha looked dumbfounded. "Keh!" he ground out irritably, trying to cover up the blush staining his cheeks.
Kagome narrowed her eyes, "You little peeper, you!! Go away! I'm trying to take a bath!"
Inuyasha bristled, "Hey, I'm here to save you, girl! I'm not going to just come back later after you're finished washing up!"
"Oh yes you are!"
"Oi!" came a new voice from the cliff overlooking the waterfall. Kagome groaned at her misfortune, as Kouga peered down over the ledge and took in the strange scene.
There was his bride-to-be, crouched as low in the water as she could go, and there was a white-haired, dog-eared guy glaring up at him scornfully.
"Who the hell are you?" Inuyasha called up to the new guy.
Kouga glared, "My name is Kouga! What do you think you're doing with my woman, dog-terd?!"
Inuyasha squinted at Kouga in disbelief, "Your what…?" He turned on Kagome, "His what!"
Kagome giggled nervously, "Eh…Inuyash! I'm not really his woman! See, you had until noon to-"
"So!" Kouga cut in, "You must be Inuyasha! Well, if you're ready, I'm going to fight you for Kagome…and win!"
Inuyasha growled and curled his clawed fingers into a fist, "Who do you think you are?!" he yelled up in rage. "You have no idea who you're messing with!"
Kouga smirked, "Kagome is mine! She'll learn to like me best as soon as you're out of the picture."
Kagome glanced at Inuyasha nervously, seeing if he had caught that implied hint on her feelings, but he looked too livid to really process anything besides the fact that this Kouga guy needed his ass kicked.
"She's mine! I had her first!" No matter how childish this sounded, Kagome couldn't help but blush. Here she was, minding her own business as she tried, unsuccessfully, to take a bath, when two guys popped up, both having kidnapped her, and started arguing over who she belonged to. She didn't no whether to be angry or flattered.
"Prepare yourself, dog-terd!"
"You'll wish you'd never been born!"
Kagome sensed a fight coming and called out meekly from her shivering position in the water, "Maybe we could just talk this over…?"
The two men ignored her.
Kagome sighed and mumbled, "Maybe not." She watched Kouga and Inuyasha glaring at one another, each waiting for the other to start with the first attack. Realizing just how distracted they were, Kagome seized her chance and snuck out of the icy water. Grabbing the brown package, she quickly opened it and, keeping one eye on the two arguing men, slid into it.
It was only then that she noticed that Kouga wasn't wearing his normal wolf skin and armor. Clearly he had dressed up for the wedding. Although he was still wearing a wolf skin around his waist, the normal dirty brown one had been replaced by a jet black skin that had been brushed until it shined. Kagome absently wondered if he had simply died his first one or gotten a completely new one.
He also wore a loose black shirt with a V-neck cut halfway down his chest, and it flapped lightly with the breeze. However, he was still barefoot with his hair tied in a tight pony-tail and looked perfectly capable of fighting in his new clothing.
Looking down at herself, she noted that the dress she wore was very soft and comfortable, obviously the makers had taken into mind the warm climate. It was all white except for a cream-colored, six-inch-wide ribbon that tied around her waist ending in a huge bow in the back, similar to a kimono's obi, and the dress had no sleeves. The front was cut in a scoop neck and remained open in the back. Below the ribbon flowed the delicate bottom of the dress to almost her knees. The hem was purposefully uneven, but seemed to be cut in an alternating pattern of long and medium lengths which swished when she twirled in a circle. Truly, the dress was quite beautiful, even it wasn't a very traditional one for a wedding.
Suddenly, she heard an animalistic growl and whirled around to see Kouga and Inuyasha pounce upon each other in swift fury.
Gasping in horror, she tried to avert her gaze so as not to witness such awful fighting. But she couldn't bring herself to look away. The only thing that processed in her mind was that Inuyasha might get hurt.
And it was all her fault.
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Author's Note: Sorry for the cliffhanger! I couldn't help myself, we hadn't had one of these in awhile! I hope you guys were able to picture the wedding outfits okay…I'm not the best at describing clothing. Please review, and I'll do my best with an update next weekend! ^_^