A/N: Okay, sorry for the delay in this chapter--I was having a little trouble getting it to sound the way I wanted it. I really like this story and how it's unraveling. I don't think it will be all that long, but it will be getting more exciting--honest! You guys really make me happy that I decided to go with this idea and write this story. I like my ideas to be unique and I am so glad that there are people who enjoy a good AU. Speaking of which--my Inuyasha AU 'A Fighter's Story' has been nominated for an Elimination award (the address is on my bio page) so please everyone vote for me! Also, it has been nominated by the Inuyasha Fanfiction Guild for best Drama and Best Romance. Keep your fingers crossed for me everyone!
Solin: Here is that chapter you were waiting for. I'll try to get 7 out in the next two weeks so bare with me!
Demonmiko: Lol, here it is! The next one will be out soon, I hope!
Remix-69er: Well thank you very much for the review and for reading. I hope you stick around for more!
Drake220: You're becoming one of my serial readers, aren't you? I try to give enough detail to make it visible without going overboard because too much detail slows down the story. Yes, I do read that--but I do it like once a month so there are like 4 to read at once. I've loved Kagura since she's been introduced, I think she has a lot of spunk, lol. Thanks for reviewing!
MNG: LOL, I'm so happy that you can review a chapter without reading it! Yeah, I was going to do a Princess-fairy tale kinda story--but I was sad because a lot of people do really stupid versions on that. I decided I was going to do a gypsy story because I am half of a gypsy--and my grandmother sent me a few pictures from Romania and I knew I just had to write a gypsy story. Sorry, this story's chapters won't get much longer than they are right now--I'm very bad with that. Thanks for reading!
Miko Sakura-sama: Thanks for the support! Like I said before, I try to keep my details enough to get a good visual but not so much that they slow down the story. Don't you just love Kagura? She's so cool, I just adore her. I get out in about 3 weeks so all I'm worrying about now is finals and finishing projects--so that leaves me a little extra writing time. I hope your end of school is going well!
Maru Maru: Well, eagerly await no longer because here it is. Thanks so much for reading and I hope you stick around for more!
Brlousee: Hi, and thanks for the review, lol. I'm glad I can hook you--and I hope you are still enjoying BtRs too! The curse will be explained in the next chapter--promise! You'll discover Rin's Gift in the next chapter as well, so just hold on to your hat!
Jschu25: Sorry it took me so long to update--thanks for the review and enjoy!
Vereia: I'm glad you like it--here's the next chapter.
PixieStix: Yes, I am Gaelic and I love everything Gaelic. My father is very Irish--and his family is very Irish. I can't speak Gaelic very well, but I can understand it fairly well and I love the music. I am very honored that you like my story and I do hope you'll continue reading!
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha--if I did, do you think I would still be taking Physics?
Curse of the Gypsy
Chapter 6
The performance went on into the night, until even the last villager grew weary and had to retire for the night. The gypsies went about the task of cleaning up, changing their clothes and eating their meals before bed. Rin and Shippou had long before fallen to sleep near Inuyasha in the back of the cart, so Kagome had to carry them off to bed. She didn't mind, of course.
Inuyasha, when he was alone again, stared up at the stars with a sigh. The camp was now silent--even the crackle of the fire silenced by Hojo. The hanyou had always liked sleeping out of doors, even though he'd never admit it. He had been doing so since his childhood. Still, as the young boy grew into a man, he maintained his love of the wild. It always made him feel free, unbound by the rules and expectations others placed on him. He felt un-tethered, like his own man, and that was a feeling he didn't often have.
In the guild, one did not often get his own choices. The chief told them where to go, what to steal, and how much of a cut they would get. When there wasn't a job that required a particular talent; they were free to come and go as they please. The catch was that if you stayed at the guild home, you had to abide all of the guild's rules. Inuyasha had never been much of a rule-abiding citizen.
As he fell into the darkness of sleep, he wondered what it would be like to be a young leader in charge of the lives of others. His mind wandered to Kagome, as it often did when there was no one around him. What Miroku told him had made him think, and when he watched her dance, it made him realize just the kind of spell she wove over the people around her-- what she was beginning to weave over him.
Sleep took him before he could continue on this train of thought, and he fell once more into dreams of a faceless girl and ancient destinies. The kind of dreams he had had since a child. The kind of dreams that left you to wonder where the line between fantasy and reality blurred.
When Inuyasha opened his golden eyes to the world again, he was surprised. There were no gypsies fixing food around a burning fire. There were no gypsies arranging tents and cleaning spaces or hitching carts. In fact, there were no gypsies anywhere in sight.
He sat up abruptly, jarring his shoulder in the process, as he swiveled his head around. There was no one in the camp, apart from him and the horses. At least, he thought there was no one there. That was when he picked up her scent and turned around.
Sitting on the driver's bench of the cart was Kagome, head bent over clasped hands, her mouth moving to form words he couldn't hear. He noticed she clutched something in her hands, but couldn't say what it was. For a moment, he simply watched her, wondering what she could be doing. Then it occurred to him-- she must be praying.
As if sensing his revelation, Kagome ended her prayer and looked up. Turning until she saw him watching her, raven hair framing her face and falling unbound around her shoulders messily. She smiled. "Good morning."
After the initial moment of silence, where they were both intensely studying one another and trying desperately not to admit such a fact, he spoke. "Were you praying?" he asked. No sense beating around the bush. Inuyasha arranged himself so that he was now facing her.
"Yes," Kagome answered with a nod. Her midnight eyes were clear and honest; her entire demeanor seemed relaxed and open. Inuyasha was at once drawn into a lulling sense of safety. It took him a moment to catch himself.
"Where is everyone?"
"Today is the Sabbath," Kagome explained. "Our day of rest. No one will work today. Instead Mushin and Miroku conduct a sermon, and since it's a dishonor to address the congregation inside of a camp, they do it in the forest. But you don't have to worry, they aren't far away."
"I'm not worried," he said with a frown, but his thoughts were elsewhere. Inuyasha had heard about such things-- congregational sermons where monks and priests talk to the people about God and their duties and such. Religious acts, where the men of the cloth suckered peopled into believing what they believed. He had never gone to one since he did not believe in religion. "Why didn't you go?"
"Someone has to protect the camp," Kagome commented, hopping down from the driver's seat. He watched out of the corner of his eye as she tucked whatever she had been holding into a pocket. It was then he noticed she wasn't adorning her usual long skirt, but a pair of patched leggings instead. She noticed his gaze and grinned. "I went riding this morning. It's hard to ride in a skirt."
"I wouldn't know," Inuyasha commented with a wry smile of his own.
"I could get you some breakfast if you want. There is left over venison strips or some bread I purchased yesterday."
"No fresh food?" he whined. Already he was becoming spoiled.
"No," she said while shaking her head and digging out a few strips of dried meat. "No one cooks or works on the Sabbath. It's considered unholy."
"Gypsies and your crazy religion," he sighed while grabbing the food from her hands.
"We simply have strong faith," Kagome explained. "We believe that one should follow God's law in life, not just in death. This is how we are able to enter Heaven when we die, and it's the only way to see those we love after our souls are freed."
"Is everyone in your camp that religious?" he asked with an arched eyebrow. He couldn't imagine people being so devoted, no matter if they were gypsies or not. No one in the guild gave anything about religion apart from Kagura-- who held strict to her penance and attended a sermon once a month.
"Some are," Kagome explained. "Mostly it is out of routine more than faith. That's why Kouga always wants to guard camp on the Sabbath." She smiled a little, linking hands behind her back and rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet.
"You two fight over the job?"
"No!" Kagome said with a laugh. "I always love attending the sermons, especially when Miroku speaks. It's like he's another person when he talks about faith and God--you can just tell that he was born to carry the faith. He has such a voice for Gospel, you would not believe it of one such as him." She paused to giggle a little to herself, then shook her head. "I just stayed behind today so I could care after you when you woke up."
Inuyasha narrowed his eyes. "Why?"
Kagome pointed to his shoulder. "Kaede says that needs to be changed, and I seriously doubt Kouga would have done it-- or you would have let him for that matter. Would you allow me?"
Inuyasha was a little confused by her manner, asking permission and being polite and happy. It made him feel off guard. He was not the kind of man who enjoyed being off guard. "If you want."
Kagome reached around him and grabbed a small basket with two jars and a roll of bandages. "Kaede left this for me," she said as she helped him out of his shirt. "It might hurt a little, but that means that it's working." Expertly, she began unraveling the bandages. Once the first layer was gone, she bunched them up and tossed them in a pile to the side. She could wash them in the river later and reuse them again.
"Are you a healer?" he asked while watching her.
"What do you mean?" she responded, looking up as she finished with the last layer.
"Miroku told me that all gypsies have a Gift. Do you have a healing Gift?"
The question was innocent enough, but Kagome seemed to grow darker and silent. "I don't have a Gift," she said quietly. "I heal because Kaede taught me." It was the kind of tone that one used when they wanted a subject to be dropped. Inuyasha decided to do just that.
They were silent for a while as Kagome looked over his wound. It was healing nicely-- in fact, she would give it another two days before it would be completely healed. Opening the jars, she applied the salve from the first jar to the wound. Inuyasha twitched-- it was cold and stun. The second was warm, and soothed the pain out of his muscles. In fact, it began relaxing his entire body. He sighed a little, letting his shoulders slump and hanging his head to relax his neck. Kagome's hands were cool and gentle on his wounds.
"For one who asks so many questions," she commented, breaking the silence after a while. "You say nothing of yourself."
"What would you like me to say?" he countered, watching her carefully, suspiciously. Kagome looked back at him innocently. She had no ulterior motive, no desire to harm or trap him. She was kind, though some could interpret that as weakness. Inuyasha saw it as a great strength. There were people who would die to protect such a person-- an entire camp full of them.
"Where you were born is a good beginning. Perhaps a little of your parents, or of how you became a thief. Just a little of yourself, nothing more. I will ask nothing of you, Inuyasha, that you don't want to give freely."
He thought about this for a few minutes and, with a little sigh, decided that she deserved a little. She had saved his life after all. What could it hurt?
"I was born in Malay," he began, his clawed hands twitching as she began to wrap his shoulder again. "My mother was the youngest daughter to a wealthy family and my father was a great demon lord. I don't remember my father at all, he died not long after I was born. My mother died when I was about eight-- I was raised in her house in the city. After she died, I was cast out as some kind of abomination, so that was when I started stealing." It wasn't as melancholy as it all sounded. Inuyasha had long since been over his past, though mentioning his mother did strike a bittersweet chord in his heart.
"I have a half-brother," he commented after a moment, as an after-thought. "We don't get along that well. He thinks he's better because he's a full demon, and he's just an ass." Inuyasha paused to ball his hands into fists as thoughts drifted to his older brother, and his smug regality that left Inuyasha sick to his stomach. "But I guess he thought it was shameful to have someone of his relation wandering the streets alone, so he brought me to the thief guild where I still work."
"It must be hard," Kagome whispered. She had finished her task and was now seated beside him, knees drawn up and being hugged to her chest as she listened. Her eyes were sad, but not with pity. If she had pitied him, Inuyasha was afraid of what he might have said or done. Kagome was not the kind of girl who would pity someone who would not want it.
"It's not all that hard," he admitted. "I have a few friends from the guild. There's Kagura for starters. She's a classy girl, for a demon, and she's the object of my brother's affections. Basically the only one who can get anything out of the icy bastard. We usually work together, me and Kagura. Then there's her little sister Kanna, and Yura and Hiten and the chief. There are a bunch of us-- most I don't get along with-- but there are some that I consider friends."
"That's good then," Kagome agreed. "I wouldn't want you to be lonely."
"Why do you care?" he countered again. It was somewhat fun to have a conversation with the gypsy girl.
"Because, I never want anyone to feel lonely," she said with confidence. "That is why I bring so many stray people into our clan."
"You are rather strange, aren't you?" he asked with a smirk.
Kagome fixed him with a level gaze. "Perhaps I am," she said slowly.
"Are you going to give me your life story now?" he asked with a smirk of his own. He was getting that tingly feeling in his stomach, the kind he always got before he'd steal a kiss from a pretty girl in the guild home. He'd have to be careful to keep it in check.
"Only if you tell me how you got shot with an arrow," she countered with a smirk of her own.
"I asked first," he taunted.
Kagome conceded. Her head back, face upturned to the sky, she closed her eyes and thought of a place to begin. "I was born on the road, halfway between the mountains and Malay. My mother said it was under a lucky star, so that I was blessed. It was not long after that when my father took us away from our clan. Papa, Mother, Grandpa and I traveled around on our own or with caravans, selling wears and living our lives. Souta was born in Chahaira, the market city in the East. Only a few seasons later, when Souta was barely four years, Papa was killed in a fire. My family tried to settle and start a new life, but we were gypsy and welcomed nowhere. So she traveled, and picked up others as we went until… we were here. That is just how things are."
"Why did your family leave your first clan?"
"Uh, uh," Kagome said while shaking a finger at him. "It is your turn."
"The chief sent me to steal an enchanted arrow from a priestess who lived near the mountains. She caught me before I had been able to get away and shot me. I was lucky that it missed my heart, but I don't think she was trying to kill me. I got away, without my treasure, but with my life. The chief will be disappointed when I get back to Malay."
"Such is the way of things," Kagome spoke softly. "Karma catches us all."
"Is this another religious thing?" he asked crossly.
Kagome hopped up from her seat and stood in front of him now. "Religion is not something to be scorned," she said in all seriousness. "It is either embraced, or it is ignored, but it should always be shown respect."
Inuyasha always liked the way the angry and passionate emotion flashed across her face as she yelled at him. For some reason, her statement forced one from him as well. "I don't believe in God."
Kagome paused and reached into her pocket, pulling out what she had been holding before. Inuyasha now saw that it was a rosary, with a small gothic cross. Kagome surprised him when she lopped the rosary around his neck and poked him in the chest. "God believes in you," she stated. Then she smiled, and Inuyasha was tempted to believe her.
"Why?" he asked, voice no more than a whisper.
"Because he can," Kagome said simply. "A person can be anything their heart desires, and He will love them no matter what they choose to be. And if that is not enough, then I believe in you." Such an honest and innocent statement. She could never understand how much those words meant to him, how his life changed in that one moment-- he only knew that it had. Without even noticing it, without even meaning to, without any explanation as to why or even and thoughts with which to ponder such a thing, Inuyasha leaned forward just enough to kiss her. What surprised him the most was that she even kissed him back.
Kagura strolled casually through the guild home. There were people sleeping on the ground on either side of the hallway, some were children. There were a few sitting awake together, chattering about this and that score. She paid them little mind, ruby red eyes flashing from one side to the other. She was on her way to see the chief, and a distraction would only slow her down.
The chief, the man who owned the Thief Guild Home, lived in a small portion of the house amidst his wealth. A person would only see him if he sent for them, no other time. Reclusive, and known to be very vindictive, the chief was a man who demanded respect and fear. He commanded the thieves with an iron fist, and those caught stealing from the home have been known to mysteriously disappear.
Kagura was one of his pets-- for reasons she didn't entirely understand since she could barely stand the man. Her allegiances were to herself, those she considered family, and the man she loved. However, it was little surprise to her that she had been summoned the moment she returned to the guild house from her search of Inuyasha. The young hanyou was also a pet for the chief's-- but that was because Inuyasha was probably the most skilled thief of them all, and that was saying a lot.
Her thoughts stopped their onward motion when Kagura paused in front of the large wooden doors that led into the chief's private chambers. Squashing all of the annoyance from her gaze, she pushed open the door and strolled in as if she owned the place.
"Naraku!" she called out, never being one to stoop to the familiar name of 'chief'. "You called, I have come."
"Kagura," a smooth voice said from before her. And there he was, lounging on a couch, eating grapes and dressed in expensive garments. All the finery denied from the children sleeping on the floor outside those very doors. His hair, long and thick and black hung loosely around him. His eyes, as black as pitch, surveyed the demon before him as she tapped her foot on the floor and her hands on her hips. "I'm rather surprised to see you."
"You called for me," she retorted.
"Yes, but I did not expect you to return without Inuyasha. Tell me, where is my favorite hanyou?" He paused in the sentences to pop a grape between his lips, always watching Kagura. She hated how he always seemed to know what she was thinking just by looking at her.
"Inuyasha is working on a new assignment, because of his failure to attain the Arrow of Life for you."
"Really? What is he working on now?" A smirk of amusement crossed his features. Inuyasha was always scheming, always think of new ways to pull the wool over the eyes of common folk. The answer was simple-- because the boy was resentful and bitter. Naraku knew how to use bitterness to his advantage, so Inuyasha was always a good pawn to move around the chessboard.
"He was wounded by a priestess," Kagura explained, a light of worry in her eyes. Naraku's smirk grew until she glared. "But he was rescued by a small clan of gypsies. He believes, and I do as well, that this clan might be in possession in part of the Shikon Jewel."
The laughter in Naraku's eyes died. Instead, his gaze grew hard. "Higurashi," he growled.
"Naraku?" Kagura asked, becoming slightly fearful in spite of herself.
"Go," he barked. "Get Inuyasha and bring him back here now. Jewel or not, I need him in Malay."
"Inuyasha said he's be in the city in less than two weeks, can we not simply wait from him to--"
"No! I want him back here now." The fire in his eyes and the anger in his voice caused Kagura to balk. She bowed her head and turned to go.
"As you wish," she said in submission, hating herself with each step taken in retreat.
Once she was gone, Naraku fumed silently to himself. This was not a good thing, not at all. If he had been taken in by the Higurashis, it was easy to assume that the girl would find him sooner or later. Given enough time… they could discover what he had spent 500 years trying to prevent.
Naraku got up from the couch, shifting his clothing until he could walk freely across the room. He reached a table and on it was a small box with a lock. He easy opened it using his magic-- a magic no one else could use to open it. Laying inside, on a bed of black velvet, shone a violet jewel. It glowed with an inner light, feeding off of his age-old malice. Naraku run a finger over the flawless surface.
"Half of a whole," he mused aloud. "Half to the enemy, half to the daughter, awaiting rebirth and the herald of the end to evil." He slammed the lid of the box down. "She will suffer my curse before she can get within a hundred yards of this jewel."
With a sweep of his hand, the box was locked once more and the Jewel was sealed away.