Here it is.....the long awaited (at least I hope it was long awaited...) third chapter. I haven't a clue what took me so long to write this. It's like inspiration just died. Meh....anyways. enough talking. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: me no own-y
Ch. 3 - Nothin' but a Hound Dog
At some point, Kagome had fallen asleep on a bale of hay, and was only aware of this when she was rudely awakened by an antsy Inu-yasha.
"Come on! We gotta go!"
Kagome moaned and rolled over. Which landed her face-flat on the floor. "Who said you could be so awake this early?" She couldn't see exactly what he was doing, but it involved the rather large side door.
"It's not early, it's 1:00!"
Kagome jumped up. "In the afternoon? Why'd you let me sleep so late?" She proceeded to hastily brush off any dust and hay that stuck to her clothing and hair. "Wait," she paused in her ministrations. "It's still dark out."
"Yeah, yeah. 1:00. Weren't you listening?"
Kagome opened her mouth to argue, but Inu-yasha finally finished what he was doing and the side slid open with a loud bang, accompanied by the deafening sound of the air rushing past the train.
"Come on! We're leaving!"
Kagome stared at him incredulously. "You're kidding, right?" Her gaze flickered from Inu-yasha to the dusty night speeding by. "You want me to jump out of here?"
"What else?" And before she could resist he had grabbed a hold of her wrist and leapt from the relative safety of the car. Kagome could have sworn time froze in that instant. Her hair billowing around her face, the tight pressure of Inu-yasha's hand around her wrist, the squeezing feeling of fear in the pit of her stomach; it all rolled into one thought that blared loudly across her conscious.
I'm going to die!
The sun was rising over a bustling Dodge City, already awake and active before the sun rose. Dodge City was just like every other western city, except for the very important fact that it actually prospered. It was situated right where the cow paths hit the train tracks and that provided big business for the residents. Despite being earthy dirt, Dodge City actually had a street and it was lined with general stores, saloons, hotels, and on the far end, holding pens for cattle when they arrived. The sweltering heat of summer gave the illusion of a lake surrounding the city, when in fact, the only water could be found in wells.
Shortly after sunrise, two figures stumbled into town, both glaring angrily at one another, but one was discretely rubbing a red mark on his face. As they drew closer, parts of their conversation could be heard.
"At least you could have warned me!"
"I did warn you! And you didn't have to slap me."
"I thought I was gonna die!"
"From falling out of a train? Please. That'll hardly kill anyone."
"Yes it would! Especially at the speed it was going. And also--!"
Kagome looked down to see a small child tugging on her now rather tattered dress. He looked to be around the age of eight with bright red hair and an almost too innocent pout. Her heart melted immediately.
"Excuse me Miss, but do you have any change?"
"Aww," she couldn't help cooing at him, "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I don't have any."
"So beat it kid."
Instantly, that cute pout disappeared and a full-blown glare took its place, which left Kagome wondering how much of the kid's appearance was an act.
"Fine, but if you ever need money, don't come cryin' to me."
Inu-yasha was ready with a retort, but the kid ran off, so he just settled for growling and kicking some dust in the direction the kid went.
"Why do you always have to do that?" Kagome muttered, talking to the ground. She sighed and absently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, then slowly walked off in the direction the kid went.
"Do what?" Kagome jumped nearly three feet into the air.
"You HEARD me?" Her reply was strained, seeing as she was still trying to return her breathing to normal.
"I hear a lot of things." Inu-yasha's usual cocky smile was plastered to his face, but his voice didn't hold the same confidence it usually did. Kagome gazed at him intently, trying to figure out if he was pulling something, but his expression changed too quickly and he stalked off. "Whatever. Let's eat."
Kagome followed, not missing the abrupt change in subject.
Twenty minutes later found them sitting in one of the less respectable saloons in the area. Needless to say, Kagome was not happy about it.
"Why are we here?"
"Important stuff. You wouldn't get it."
"And why wouldn't I?"
"Do you ever shut up?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. At least I don't drag helpless people with them on and off of trains without even warning them."
"Are you still going on about that?!"
"I could have died!"
"But you didn't!"
"Doesn't change the fact--!" Kagome stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She glanced at it and her gaze followed up the arm to the shoulder and finally to the face of the man beside her. She swallowed hard when she saw it was the rather burly saloon owner.
"'Scuse me miss," he began in a rough voice, "I don't have no problem with the shoutin' but if you're gonna keep up such a racket I'm gonna ask that you at least order somethin'." Kagome sent a questioning look to Inu-yasha, but he just shrugged.
"Um, yes. Chicken sounds good. How about you Inu-yasha?" Once again, he just shrugged, attention focused elsewhere.
"Sorry, just got beef," the owner said.
'Not really surprised.' Kagome gave a small laugh and what she hoped was a passable smile. "Beef is good too. Well cooked please."
While all this had been going on, Inu-yasha had caught sight of the redhead from earlier. He was dashing between the bar counter and the piano in the corner and had been doing so for some time. Then he disappeared behind the piano and didn't come back out again. Curiosity was about to get the better of Inu-yasha but the smell of cooking quickly reminded him of why he was here. That, and Kagome decided to resume her interrogation.
"Why won't you tell me why we're here?"
"You don't need to know."
"Is it one of those 'I'm a tough guy doing tough guy business with other tough guys'?"
Inu-yasha gave her a look. "You're odd."
"This coming from someone with dog ears."
"Just shut up!"
Thankfully, the food came rather quickly and the pair was quite for the good fifteen minutes it took them to eat. The whole time Kagome was mentally scolding herself for ignoring the etiquette her mother had taught her, but she was simply too hungry. Now that she thought about it, the last time she had eaten was yesterday morning. Just as they were finishing up, some scuffling noises came from below them.
"Inu-yasha, do you hear that?"
"Someone's fightin' in the food cellar."
Kagome looked at the floor with curiosity, but couldn't discern anything more than what Inu-yasha just told her. The noises grew progressively louder and drifted over to the far corner.
"C'mon, we're leaving." Inu-yasha stood and motioned for Kagome to do the same.
"What, now?!"
"Yes now! Or else I leave you here."
"Fine." Kagome huffed.
Just as they stepped out of the saloon, Kagome caught a glimpse of the redhead shooting out from behind the piano and straight towards them, trailing various papers along the way.
"Inu-ya—!"
She didn't get a chance to finish. Just as the kid got to them, Inu-yasha grabbed him by the back of the shirt and Kagome by the waist and jumped onto the roof of the saloon. Just in time too, for the owner appeared a moment later, face red and soaked with sweat. He glanced around looking for the child, and when he was nowhere to be found, kicked at the ground in anger and stormed back into the saloon.
Kagome let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.
"What was that all—"
"Let me go!"
She spun around to see Inu-yasha holding the kid at arms length, and the redhead thrashing about in his grip.
"What are you doing? Let him go!"
"Just wait!" Inu-yasha leveled a glare at Kagome before turning back to the child. "Alright, kid. Give us some of that money and those two train tickets and I won't turn you in." He paused for a moment. "Or kill you."
The redhead stilled for a moment, thinking it over. "How much money?"
"Twenty."
"Five."
"Fifteen."
"Eight."
"Ten."
"Done." The kid dug into his pockets and pulled out two train tickets and a few bills. Inu-yasha took them then let the kid drop down. Upon hitting the ground, the redhead immediately began collecting all the papers that had fallen from him in his struggles. Inu-yasha confirmed he had gotten all of his money, then grabbed Kagome, who had been observing the activities in shock, around the waist again and hopped down.
"Pleasure doing business...," she muttered absently.
A half hour later they were sitting relatively comfortable aboard a train (in passenger cars this time) headed east. And now that they were no longer in immediate danger, in a crowded area (the kid had stolen nice tickets; they had gotten their own little cabin), and Kagome had collected her thoughts, the questioning had begun again.
"So, can you tell me what this important business was now that we're leaving?"
"No!"
"Just tell me!"
"No!"
A red blur passed by their door, disappeared, returned, and then dashed into their cabin without so much as a word. Kagome looked down at the small child who was currently clamped onto her arm like it was a lifeline.
"Hello?"
The boy looked up, revealing that he was the thief from the saloon.
"You again!" Inu-yasha shouted.
"Shhh! Just let me stay here and be quiet and I promise you won't regret it!" The boy pleaded.
"No way."
"Inu-yasha!"
"I'm not gonna let this kid just hang around!"
"Why not? He gave us our train tickets and money. The least we could do is help him out a little."
Inu-yasha 'hmphed' and turned away, so Kagome took this as a 'yes'. Glad that something finally went her way for once, she turned to the boy to make idle conversation in the most cutesy voice she could conjure at the moment.
"Hi there! My name is Kagome."
"I'm Shippo."
The hours passed uneventfully, and Shippo eventually fell asleep. Kagome and Inu-yasha were both quiet, neither seeing any point in talking. Inu-yasha was getting close to nodding off when Kagome sat up straight with a startled gasp.
"What? What is it?" Inu-yasha had immediately perked up.
"I figured it out!" Kagome replied with a smug grin.
"Figured what out?"
"Your important business." Inu-yasha just gave her a look. "At first I thought you just wanted food, but then I thought..." Inu-yasha flinched, and Kagome trailed off. "You're kidding." Inu-yasha pointedly avoided her stare. "You're not."
The cabin was quiet for a full minute.
"I cannot believe you made jump off a train for food!"
"Stop screeching!"
"I am not screeching!"
"What's goin' on?"
"Nothin' shrimp! Just go back to sleep!"
"I'm not a shrimp!"
"Inu-yasha, be nice!"
And thus, another hour passed.
By the time the sun had gone down things had quieted inside the small cabin. Shippo was sleeping again, but now he had stretched himself across the seat. Because she didn't have the heart to move him, Kagome had to share with Inu-yasha, who had nodded off as well. Kagome felt sleep weighing heavily on herself; it had been a long day. Her eyelids began to droop and her eyesight got fuzzy. She saw faint blue lights that didn't go away when she rubbed her eyes. Deciding it was due to exhaustion, Kagome gave in and fell into a much-needed sleep.
When Kagome awoke, the sun was high in the sky and the train had stopped. She took a moment to collect herself and realized her head was resting on Inu-yasha's shoulder. She sat up quickly and prepared to verbally defend herself, but it seemed as though Inu-yasha was still sleeping. Moving carefully, she stepped around him to peer out the window. She couldn't see the station sign from where she was, but some of the businesses across the street had 'Wichita' in the name.
She was tired of being cooped up in the small cabin, so Kagome decided to chance a little exploration trip. Going outside was a little risky. As much as she wanted to get back to her family and relative safety, Inu-yasha was holding all the money, and, a small part of her had to admit, this adventure was an interesting change of pace.
It wasn't an elegant train by any stretch of the imagination, but still provided enough interest to satisfy Kagome's curiosity. It was when she was walking through a dining car that a well-dressed gentleman with dark hair got up from his seat and blocked her way. He looked at Kagome and gave her a friendly smile that Kagome returned. He turned to go, but stopped and turned back to her.
"Excuse me, miss, but I was wondering if you could do me a small favor. If it's not too much to ask, of course."
"Oh, no! It's no problem at all!"
Without further explanation, he took her hand and kneeled in front of her. Kagome blushed. 'It's almost like a proposal!' She giggled inwardly.
"Would you do me the honor—"
Back in the cabin, Inu-yasha and Shippo were awakened by a distant shriek.
There you have it. A little bit shorter than the first two, but at least it's here, right? Right? Not a lot of plot here, mostly just gathering the characters, but I haven't forsaken the plot. There's a bit of it lurking in there. X3 try and find it! Mwahahha. Inu-yasha's so disagreeable. shakes head stop arguing Inu!!!