Drifting Desires

----

Disclaimer: Inuyasha doesn't belong to me.

lostdreams: Okay...sorry for the super long wait. I wasn't sure where I was going with this, but now I'm pretty on track again. I already have an entire chapter written in my head, but it's a ways down the road. Anywho I hope you all enjoy and here's your pigeon...

----

Chapter 8

----

The darkness seemed exceptionally so. The moon was completely gone for the night, leaving the ocean and everything on it draped in darkness. The lone ship was cast in long shadows, earning exceptional camouflage from the inky blackness.

Not a sound could be heard from the crew of the 'Youkai' as the ship approached Kagewaki Island. Kagome stood on the helm, near Inuyasha. Sango and Miroku were along the starboard side, taking turns with the telescope while Shippo and Kohaku begging for a look. Mushin and Myouga were at the bow talking in hushed voices. Jinenji and Tanuki were still below deck, preparing ropes for later use. Nazuna was making trips between the deck and the scullery, bringing hot tea to those facing the cool April night.

"Kagome?" Sango's soft voice called to the younger girl. She had left the rail to come stand at the steps below the helm.

"Yea?" Kagome peered down into the darkness. She could barely make out Sango's face in the dim light.

"Can you come here for a sec?" the older girl asked. Kagome shot a quick glance at Inuyasha who nodded for her to follow Sango. Making a careful trek down the stairs, Kagome let Sango lead her over to the railing where Miroku still stood. "We need to see if you can identify anything from the ship to the men that attacked the 'Hime'. See none of us have ever seen Naraku, so you're the only one who can recognize him or the 'Onigumo'," Sango explained. Inuyasha watched the raven haired beauty protectively. A part of him wanted to rip the telescope out of her fragile hands. Why make her look upon the men who kidnapped her sister and left her for dead? However he also knew that they had to be sure they had found the right men, and only Kagome could confirm such information, as Shippo was really too young to be accurate.

"I don't know if I'll recognize anything...it all happened so fast..." she said softly, clearly nervous. She took the telescope from Miroku, her hands trembling lightly. Looking uncertainly at her two crewmates she raised the device to her eye. Staring over the dark water she focused on the light dotting the shores of the island.

The scene she witnessed was appalling. Pirates...over a hundred of them...falling over drunk, dancing, and singing loudly. "How can they celebrate after all the lives they took?" Kagome hissed, hot tears beginning to form in her eyes. The bodies of the crewmembers from the 'Hime' flooded her memories. Captain Yoshiro's kind eyes then cold and glassy...staring at nothing. Letting the telescope fall from her eye, Kagome forced herself to calm down. She even pulled away from Sango's comforting touch. "There are so many of them," she whispered quietly, looking back at the shore again. "There weren't that many when we were attacked..."

"That's not surprising," Miroku said sullenly.

"He's right...pirates are like roaches. Fore every one you see, there are ten more nearby," Sango added bitterly. Kagome looked at them both like they were crazy. They had hypothesized the pirates' great numbers, but they went after them anyway. Deciding not to press the issue right now, Kagome tried once again to produce the confirmation they needed. It was easier than she would have thought...

As if she were drawn to him like a magnet, Kagome had not trouble picking out the cause of all her misery. There was no mistaking him, not even with the distance. The dark tangles and black aura...Naraku stuck out like a sore thumb. Kagome drew a sharp intake of breath as she studied him. His face was impossible to make out, but it was imprinted in her mind. She would never forget his soulless eyes and thin, cruel mouth. A mixture of emotions coursed through her body, anger and fear being the most prominent. She loathed that man more than anything else in the world. Before that day on the 'Hime' Kagome hadn't been aware one could hate so much.

"He's there," she hissed. Without her realizing it her body had started shaking more violently, enough so that Miroku and Sango could tell.

"That's all we needed," Miroku said quickly, trying to take the telescope from Kagome before she scared herself silly. But Kagome had seen a flash of something that didn't belong on the scene and pulled away from Miroku's hand.

"Wait...there's something else," Kagome said sharply. There it was again. Naraku's body was blocking something...if only he would move.

"Kagome..." Sango tried this time, but once again the younger girl twisted out of the way.

"Move damnit! Just move..." she muttered softly. Both of her crew mates raised their eyebrows in surprise. What was she looking at? By this time Inuyasha noticed the small commotion on the side. Something was wrong with Kagome...or so it seemed. Jumping down from the helm, he crossed quickly over the deck towards the three. As he neared, Kagome suddenly gave a strangled cry, a sound of despair mixed with relief. Strong arms came down on her shoulders, and she nearly dropped the telescope turning to face Inuyasha.

"What is it?" he asked softly. He had never seen such a paradox on anyone's face. Joy and sadness mixed, tears with a tight smile.

"Kikyo...Kikyo's alive..." she whispered softly. She had seen her, her sister. A feeling of utter joy had flooded through her body, but at the same time she was very much upset that her sister was still subject to Naraku's sadistic torment. Sango, Miroku and Inuyasha all looked surprised, despite their assurance of the very thing days ago. Easing the telescope from Kagome's trembling hand, Sango looked back out over the dark water to catch a glimpse of what Kagome had seen, Miroku heading back up to the helm, leaving Kagome alone with Inuyasha.

"We'll save her Kagome..." he said softly, knowing that thought was running through the young woman's mind. Kagome looked up at Inuyasha, her eyes expressing her doubt.

"But..." Inuyasha put a finger to her lips before she could continue, shaking his head lightly.

"No buts. I promise you Kagome, I will make sure that both you and your sister make it safely back to your father." Inuyasha's tone left no room for argument and his eyes so reflected his resolve that Kagome could help but believe him. Her arms slipped around his neck and she embraced him tightly, her tears subsiding.

"Thank you so much Inuyasha..." she whispered softly, her words muffled in his chest. Inuyasha smiled and stroked her hair lightly before pulling her away by the shoulders. Looking her full in the face, the young captain could see the exhaustion outlined in the girl's features.

[She's slept less than even me...] he thought sadly. He had caught her only earlier this night in the middle of a nightmare that had been haunting her since her attack. She was still beautiful, but there were dark circles under her stormy hued eyes a gaunt tiredness hung in her gaze. Running a rough thumb gently over her cheek Inuyasha looked sternly down at the girl.

"Go and get some rest," he told her, his voice not leaving her the option for argument. "I'll have someone wake you when we get to shore." Despite the finality in his words, Kagome opened her mouth to protest, but Inuyasha cut her off. "You won't be any help in saving Kikyo if you're too tired to stand..." he told her. He actually didn't have any intention in letting her help at all; Kagome would stay safely on the ship throughout their visit to Kagewaki Island...even if he had to lock her in her room.

"Inuyasha." Sango called him quietly. Leaving Kagome to go sleep, he stepped down toward the railing where Sango stood. "He's not hard to spot...even if you don't know what he looks like," she said grimly as Inuyasha stopped beside her. "Wanna look?" Innocently enough Sango held the telescope out for Inuyasha, but he couldn't bring himself to take the instrument from her. He wasn't ready yet. Naraku had killed his father and destroyed his life...no...the first time he saw Naraku he wanted it to be from the other side of a sword so he could see the fear in the bastard's eyes as he realized his life was over. Sango watched his struggle, though she pretended not to notice. They all had their reservations about Naraku, and she didn't even know what exactly had happened to the man in front of her.

"I'll meet him later," Inu said finally, pulling away from Sango. His past was creeping up on him fast, now the question was would it over take him or would he bring the guilt and self-torment to an end?

"Aye Aye sir," Sango answered moving away from the edge. "How soon will we be landing?"

"Not sure yet, I have to check with Miroku." Sango nodded and walked off to finish her own preparations. Staring back at the dots of light that marked the pirate's camp Inuyasha could only fume at the thought of their celebration. It wasn't right...and it was about to stop. A noise behind him caused him to turn quickly finding Kagome still on the deck, though she wasn't looking at him. Her blue gray eyes were latched on the pirate village as well, though her expression was unreadable.

"Kagome? What are you still doing up here?" Inuyasha asked softly. She didn't look well at all. She said nothing for a long moment, before finally seeming to register that he had spoken to her. Turning absently her strange look hit him full on and he found it hard to keep eye contact with her. There was still a something plaguing her...even after all of his reassurance.

"Inuyasha?" Her questioning tone caught him off guard and he could only gaze at her expectantly.

"Yea?" he prodded finally, realizing that he had been quiet for too long. Kagome seemed to struggle internally for a moment, though it was clear the words not coming anytime soon. Finally looking embarrassed she shook her head and force that same strained smile he had seen on her earlier...it was eerie.

"Never mind..." she mumbled quietly, scurrying off down towards the cabins. Remaining on deck, Inuyasha could only stare after the young woman. There was a lot on her mind at the moment, more so after finding out that her sister was alive. He expected her to be a bit frazzled, though the sadness in her eyes bothered him. It had almost been a look of pity, but that didn't make any sense. She was going to have a harder time with this than anyone else. She had a lot more on the line. Walking slowly back up to the helm, Miroku nodded to him as he approached.

"If we keep along this current, we should come around as low tide hits, meaning we'll be able to get up as close as possible and still stay well within the boundaries of making a fast escape if it would happen to come to that," he explained as Inuyasha walked around to see where Miroku was pointing. "There's another bay on the opposite side of the pirates' bay which where we'll be docking." At this point Miroku began sifting through his stack of maps. "I wish there was a more detailed map of the coastline," he muttered. "It would be nice if we had some rock cover. Though it looked like Naraku keeps to the one side of the island, there is no saying that he doesn't have scouts or lookouts...just to deter the sort of thing we're trying to do..." Miroku's blue eyes were hard as he stared at Inuyasha, letting the other man absorb all this information. "We may have the element of surprise now, but how long will that last? In a straight up fight Inuyasha we don't stand a chance. We're outnumbered at least ten to one and that's counting all eleven of us." Inu said nothing, though his expression was grave. The thought had crossed his mind. The odds were very much stacked against him considering only five of their eleven could actually fight. Shippo and Kohaku were really too young to get caught up in this sort of thing, just as Mushin and Myouga were too old. Nazuna didn't know the first thing about combat and Kagome was just flat out not going to get involved...plain and simple.

"Are you suggesting we should turn back now?" Inuyasha asked accusingly. Miroku only rolled his eyes.

"Of course I'm not. I'm in this till the end, regardless of what that may be...you know that," he said quietly. "I'm merely asking if you have a plan as for when things turn sour. I don't care how good we are Inu; the fact of the matter is we cannot beat over a hundred pirates on our own." Inuyasha knew he was right, but he hadn't let himself think this far ahead yet. Before his main concern had been finding the stupid island, not about what they would do when they got there.

"I know, but I don't have a plan...so for the time being we won't get caught," Inuyasha said lightly. Miroku didn't look impressed.

"That's not good enough Inuyasha. We'd be risking everyone's safety...especially Lady Kagome's." Miroku had taken a chance with Kagome's name, but as far as he was concerned it was obvious that the captain was smitten with the young girl.

"Naraku isn't to know that Kagome is still alive...to him she's dead and it'll stay that way," he said quickly. "I promised her that much..." Miroku said nothing. Inuyasha had put a lot on the line for this girl; promises from the young man didn't come very easily.

"So...how are things between you and Kagome?" he asked quietly, letting the subject of fighting pirates drop. If Inuyasha wasn't overly concerned then there was no reason for him to be. Besides, it would more entertaining to bug him this way...

"What are you talking about?" Inuyasha asked far too quickly to not raise suspicion.

"Oh come off it buddy, you can't lie to me. Not that I blame you...if not for Sango, I might have tried my luck with the young lady as well..." That got a rise out of him.

"You just try it," Inuyasha snarled taking hold of the front of Miroku's jerkin. Raising his eyebrows in surprise a grin swallowed Miroku's face.

"I did say if not for Sango Inu," he answered calmly, still smiling. Slowly Inuyasha realized how his actions may have been interpreted, and quickly let go of his friend. "Besides, I think you two are good for each other, well...she's good for you anyway..."

"Too good," Inuyasha corrected absently, his hands back on the wheel of the 'Youkai'. Miroku looked up sharply at his friend's comment, though he knew he wasn't meant to hear it. Sighing, Miroku turned back to his charts. Though he always tried to be optimistic, he rationalized that Inuyasha could wait to see if they survived their visit to Kagewaki before finding a way to spend the rest of his life with Kagome.

----

Kikyo watched in disgust as the party ensued around her. It was repulsive, the laughing, singing...without an ounce of remorse. These bastards had watched her sister die, had ultimately been the cause of her early death, and they didn't even care. She was nothing more than a pawn to them. And vile beast on her left was their ring leader...without him these hooligans would have been nothing more than harmless drunks...

"Are you enjoying yourself my dear?" the aforementioned 'beast' asked slyly leaning over so his mouth spoke directly into her ear. A stoic as she had forced herself to be, Kikyo had to pull away from him, uncomfortable shivers flying down her spine in response to his voice. It was a rather difficult task as her wrists had been tied to the chair in an attempt to keep her docile. "This party is really in your honor you know. Thanks to you I will soon be the most powerful man in the world."

"Over my dead body!" Kikyo snapped viciously. Naraku only laughed, beginning to draw the attention of some of his more sober men.

"You should be thankful my dear that it is not that simple...for otherwise your stay might not have been as...'comfortable' as it is now." A hand fell to her thigh, gently pulling up the fabric of her kimono teasingly. Many of the men began to hoot and holler, laughing at Kikyo's revulsion.

"Get your hands off of me you bastard!" she screeched, stomping hard on his foot. Her wrists may have been tied, but her ankles were quite free. Kicking him again as he stood to give her some sort of retribution, Kikyo knocked him off balance. A roar of rage went up among his minions at this wench who dared to strike their leader. One drunk in particular rushed her, sword drawn.

"You'll pay for that you stupid bitch!" he shouted, swinging the weapon dangerously close to her person. Screaming as a rather dehabilitating blow came her way, the rampage was suddenly cut short as the unlucky pirate found a sword through his stomach. Gasping in shock the mate looked pleadingly into Naraku's soulless eyes before dropping dead at his leader's feet. Kikyo's eyes were wide with horror, her heart pounding in her chest. Without looking at her, Naraku held up the bloody blade for all of his men to see. No on made a sound as the tainted sword was brandished.

"Regardless of how rude our guest may become," he started, shooting a withering glance at Kikyo. "...she is still needed for our objective. After we have the jewel me boys you all may take your turn with her!" A thunderous cheer went up among the mean, drowning out the Lady Higurashi's cry of outrage. The party soon began again, the dead pirate quickly forgotten. Turning back to the struggling woman Naraku slit the bonds at her wrists with the bloody weapon. Before Kikyo could react to the sword, Naraku's hand closed painfully over her upper arm. Half pulling half dragging, he took her back to her hut. Throwing her forcefully to the ground inside the shack he stared down at her from the door a look of utmost contempt on his face.

"It would do you well to remember, 'my dear', that it is I and I alone that ensures your safety on this island. I of course cannot demand that you be fond of me and quite frankly I don't give a damn if you do or not. However you will show me proper respect. Your life belongs to me Kikyo Higurashi. There is no one that can save you...no one left to save you." He didn't slam the door, but rather closed it slowly, watching her spirit break in her face, taking immense pleasure in her growing despair. "Sleep well my lady," he whispered as the door creaked shut, the lock clicking into place.

Kikyo didn't move from the floor for a long while after her captor left. She desperately wanted to cry, to just let loose in a torrent of emotion...but she couldn't, there were no tears left. He was right...no one was left to help her. Her father had probably already found the wreckage of the 'Hime' and deemed his daughters dead...lost at sea. Kagome was dead, the crew of the 'Hime' was dead. As of now no one other than Naraku and his minions even knew she was alive. She was dead to the outside world...dead to reality.

The sounds of the celebration were beginning to drive her mad, the yells and singing just another reminder of her predicament. Sleep or any kind of rest was impossible and since she had never been the tantrum type only the small window which faced away from the pirate town offered her any sort of distraction. It was exceptionally dark, the lack of a moon very evident. The world seemed to end at the edge of the island, as though instead of ocean it was just a sharp drop off.

"How could you leave me like this Kagome? How could you have acted so foolishly? The pirates were stronger than you...so why did you try to fight them? Why did you have to go and die on me?!" Kikyo screamed the last question resting her head on the sill of the window gaze still set forlornly on the impossibly black sea. Snapping up quite suddenly, Kikyo squinted into the night. She could have sworn she had seen a ship, barely visible in the darkness, some ways off shore but clearly heading toward the island.

"Oh stop it!" she scolded herself, turning away from the window. It had been a figment of her imagination formed out of desperation. Curling up on the musty bed, Kikyo willed her mind to clear and her body to relax. She tuned out the sounds of the pirates, managing to convince herself that it was just a bad dream...if she could only sleep it would end soon enough.

----

Kagome had gone down to her cabin but there was no intention of sleep on her mind. The question she could bring herself to ask Inuyasha was still raging through her mind. 'How?' How would they be able to save her sister from all of those pirates? She wasn't stupid...she could do the math...they were outrageously outnumbered and pity wasn't something Naraku was good at. He would take what he wanted and kill the others without so much a blink of an eye. There was no solace in the fact that she would more than likely be spared...death might be less painful than enduring whatever it was Naraku had in store for her and her sister. Still the thought of anyone getting hurt because of her was overwhelming. Scenes of Sango, Miroku, Shippo all bleeding, wounded, dying...but none were so bad as the ones with Inuyasha...

"It's not right..." she whispered. "There's no way we can face these kinds of odds...what are we going to do?" she asked quietly, staring out the window to the tiny lights that marked the pirate village.

"Don't tell me you're doubting us already?" a teasing retort came from the doorway behind her. Whirling around Kagome came face to face with a smiling Sango.

"Sango! Oh I didn't mean..." Kagome tried to correct herself quickly, but the older girl just laughed and shook her head.

"It's okay Kagome...I have my doubts as well...but it's not like we really have a choice in this now is it?"

"You do, everyone here on the 'Youkai' does...I'm the only one with a need to get Naraku other than just revenge."

"Don't say 'just revenge'," Sango corrected. "Naraku is the reason that the only family I have left in the world is Kohaku. If it wasn't for him I would be safe in my village, surrounded by my friends and family...that's a lot to take from a person." Kagome nodded, looking upset that she had even brought up the subject. Sango seemed to notice and smiled again. "Besides, I don't think there is anyway Inuyasha would give up on this now...not when he's so close."

"But Sango you saw how many pirates there were! This is suicide! Naraku isn't the merciful type! He'll kill us all without a second thought!"

"Actually he probably won't kill you..."

"Sango!"

"I know, but I'm just saying." Looking rather dejected, the older woman sat down on the edge of the bed facing away from Kagome. "I know things don't look good, but...well...you have to trust Inuyasha. He's pulled himself out of some impossible situations and I'm sure he has some kind of plan."

"Well you could always offer to give him me..." Kagome said half-heartedly.

"That's not even an option Kagome, don't say that. Inuyasha would never let you do that!" Sango berated sharply. Kagome half smiled at the admittance that 'Inuyasha would never let her...' She didn't doubt Sango's words. Inuyasha's actions towards her, though sometime gruff were border-lining on kind and downright caring. He had promised to protect her, promised to save her sister, promised to take her back home...

"You like him don't you?" Kagome snapped back to attention, glancing at Sango stupidly for a minute.

"What? Who? Inuyasha?"

"It's totally obvious...you get goo goo eyes when you think about him."

"I do not!"

"Oh you so do. Come on Kagome, the only person you aren't completely obvious too is Inuyasha himself," Sango said with a laugh. Kagome looked stricken for another moment, before she had to admit Sango was right. She did care an awful lot for Inuyasha...

"Okay fine...I like him...a lot...but..." Kagome was blushing fiercely as she remembered the kiss, the random passionate though completely fulfilling kiss she had shared with Inuyasha. But she couldn't suppress the guilty feeling in her chest. Inuyasha was wonderful and she did care for him a lot, but she was betrothed, or rather promised to a man back home. Everything was fine and dandy now, but when she returned home she would have Koga waiting. She had to suppress a shudder just thinking about the over zealous man...

"But what?" Sango pressed noticing the guilt passing over her face and confused by it.

"Well...I...you see I am..." Kagome couldn't seem to spit the words out. "It would never work out between us..." she finally finished lamely, becoming instantly interested in the floor. Sango narrowed her eyes.

"Never work? Why? Because he's not a noble?" Sango didn't believe that Kagome was so shallow as to be that way, but the answer she had been given surprised her. Kagome quickly corrected her though, the mere appalled look on her face more than enough for Sango to know she had been way off course with her remark.

"Of course not! That has nothing to do with it!" Kagome said almost sounding angry. "Nobility means nothing to me...do you honestly think I would care about something stupid like that?"

"No I didn't, but your answer confused me and that was the only reason I could think of..." Sango said apologetically.

"Well it's not that."

"Then what is it?" Sango didn't want to continue pressing the girl, but Kagome had intrigued her. She admitted to liking Inuyasha...so what wouldn't work?

"I'm engaged..." Sango's mouth dropped.

"What?!"

"It's an arranged marriage," Kagome said with a huff, sitting down on the bed with a flop.

"Do you love the guy?"

"Koga? Not a chance. He's nice and all...but way too possessive. However if you can imagine it really wasn't my choice to go ahead with it. Father merely thought it was a good idea as our union would help to unite the Northern and Southern empires. He's a prince..."

"A prince?!" Sango squeaked, till she realized it wasn't all that strange. Kagome was practically a princess herself... Kagome shot her a dry look.

"It's not as glamorous as it sounds I assure you. The last thing I want in the world is to be royalty..."

"Why?" Sango couldn't help but be curious...who wouldn't want to be royalty.

"Because there are too many rules and you have to be so proper and lady- like. Kikyo could be a queen...but I'm just not cut out for that sort of life. Father says I'm more like my mother. She had a very hard time adjusting to the sort of life he led, but she loved him enough to make it work..." Kagome sighed and lay down on the bed, resting her eyes for a moment. "I suppose I'll have to just hope I fall in love with Koga otherwise I'll just be miserable..."

"Kagome can't you get out of marrying him? I mean would your father really make you marry someone if you really really didn't want to?" Sango asked quietly.

"If someone better came along I suppose he would allow me to back out of marrying Koga, but it would have to be more advantageous than being with him." Kagome sighed. "Kikyo told me I was lucky to be able to marry a guy like Koga, that I didn't have to marry for prestige like she did. But I'm in the same boat...I didn't get to pick him, and I don't get any say in whether or not I stay with him..." Sango nodded, and looked away.

"So even if you were in love with Inuyasha..."

"Even if I was in love with Inuyasha I couldn't do anything about it...so it's better to just keep my feelings out of it..." Kagome said sadly. Sango nodded, realizing that it was already too late for the girl beside her.

----

lostdreams: Okey dokey then...the next chappie will include a meeting with Koga as well as a touchbase back with the girl's father. Maybe even a hint of Inuyasha's past...See ya then! Keep reading, recommending and reviewing!