Age of the White Dawn
Chapter 7: Presents!
Many days were spend peacefully within the safe walls of the Bendela camp. Kagome took to wandering the courtyard, ducking out of the way of intensely fighting Bendela. Most of them were clad in yellow or blue with an occasional green or orange, but rarely any red. Eventually she found her way up to the watch tower, where most of the red-clad Bendela's were staying, and viewed the sandy expanse of desert while chatting with Sango. As the days passed, Kagome noticed that the oni and neak sightings were becoming more frequent, thus signifying that the time to leave was drawing close. Inu Yasha had, much to her surprise, quietly confided to her during a particularly loud dinner that, when they left, they would sneak out on foot. It puzzled her as to why they had to sneak out, but she figured that him telling her his plans in the first place was a miracle enough, and didn't want to push her luck.
It was about mid-morning one sunny day when Inu Yasha looked up from his journal and stated,
"Today, we leave." He was sprawled lazily in a chair in the corner of Kagome's room facing the window. The shutters had been flung open to let the bright sun and warm breeze in. Kagome sat on her bed, studying from a book she claimed was on the required reading list at her school. Looking up from it, she wore an expression of faint surprise.
"Oh, okay then." was all she said, though.
Sango was in the room too, dressed in a simple yukata now that her guarding shift was over. She was sitting on the floor next to her the window and had turned at the sound of Inu Yasha's voice. Displaying no signs of surprise, she softly voiced, a wistful look o n her face,
"I wish I could go with you."
Kagome threw an uneasy look at Inu Yasha. Throughout their stay at the camp she and Sango had grown very close and a Bendela would be a very comforting companion to have when traversing east. Inu Yasha just shook his head, they had gone over this before. Unaware of the silent conversation that had passed Sango continued,
"Oh, wouldn't it be nice to see something other then the desert. Go on an adventure, save the world...but," she sighed, "I'm greatly indebt to her highness, and it would be treason and unfair to abandon her, especially now." She turned back to the window, her dark eyes focusing on some distant, probably non-existent object in the distant.
Falling back into silence, they each resumed what he/she was doing: Kagome studies, Inu Yasha wrote, and Sango gazed out the window while absently stroking Mr. Toodles who rested on her lap. The peaceful silence was broken by a sharp rap on the door and, without waiting for a response, two grim-looking Bendela entered the room.
"Come with us."
It was Sango's turn to look surprised, "Shelleta? Marina?" what's going on?" There was no response, only a repeat if their earlier command. Kagome looked worriedly at Inu Yasha who just calmly closed his journal, placed it on the chair, and walked towards them.
They were lead through the labyrinth of corridors to the vast chamber they were brought to the first time Inu Yasha and Kagome had entered the Bendela camp.
"Hello, it's nice to see you again. Forgive me for not seeing you more often. I've had urgent business to attend to. I trust your stay has been comfortable?" the Queen greeted them, a serene smile on her face. There were a few fresh flowers tucked behind her ear that day, and an attempt at a festive air that failed miserably once one noticed how gaunt her face suddenly seemed to be, and the delicate lines fringing the corner of her eyes.
Both Kagome and Inu Yasha nodded while Sango surveyed the Queen, a grave, confused expression etched in her features.
"Good, good," the Queen murmured, "and I supposed you're wondering why I called you here. Well, to get straight to the point, I know what you're going to do. Don't interrupt me yet," she smiled, holding her hand up to keep Kagome from rushing to explain. "I'm not going to stop you. What I'm going to do is further express my gratitude to you." she waved towards the two stern Bendela who had escorted them there. They now carried various objects in their arms which they placed in front of their respective owners.
The one called Marina placed, much to her confusion and surprise, a quivers of arrows and a bow at Kagome's feet. 'I've never shot an arrow in my life,' she thought in dismay. 'I'm probably going to end up breaking this...' She ran her hand over the curve of the bow and was, once again, surprised. 'The wood is...textured?' Bringing the bow about an inch away from her nose for closer inspection, she saw that millions of small runes had been intricately etched onto the surface of it. They glowed blue for a moment, and Kagome felt the wood of the bow warm under palm, but then she looked away and the runes returned to their original inconspicuous state. As for the arrows themselves, the feathers had been individually dyed dark greens, bright reds and pale blues. One of them had a pure white feather on it, and Kagome unconsciously resolved to avoid using that one if possible.
Inu Yasha received a new haori, much brighter and clean looking then his old, battered one. He felt the cloth and smirked before pulling it on,
"Nice. It's fire rat fur. Better and stronger then any metal." Kagome didn't get a chance to see the next item that was placed in front of Inu Yasha. As soon as it was placed at his feet he didn't hesitate to swipe it off the floor and turn his back to Kagome. She guessed by how long he took that he had taken the item, whatever it was, and had tucked it carefully into the folds of his new haori. But what item could be so important that he would hide it from her?
Meeting Kagome's questioning gaze, he merely reddened before scowling and tossing his head. Rolling her eyes, she turned to the Queen and, rather shyly, clasped her hands behind her back.
"Thank you so much, your highness. These gifts are wonderful, but it should be us expressing gratitude to you. We," she hesitated, "We did as anybody would in that situation. Either we killed Yura, or she killed us so...yeah..." she finished, bowing humbly like a naughty school girl apologizing to her teacher.
Smiling at her sincerity the Queen soothed, "These gifts are in gratitude for the tasks you will accomplish in the future. Sango," her voice was suddenly sharp and commanding as she addressed the Bendela for the first time.
"Yes?" she stepped stiffly to the base of the throne.
"There has been word that you wish to leave us. Leave me--"
"Oh no, your highness! I would never leave you!" Sango said hurriedly, a distressed look on her face.
"Not even if I allow you to?"
"What?"
"I'm letting you go," the Queen smiled, then froze and seemed to re-think her statement, "No," she mused, "I'm ordering you to escort Mistress Kagome to wherever she goes." Looking piercingly into Sango's eyes she said, her voice low,
"Protect her with your life."
A/N: Ooooh. Uber dramatic man. Well, that was fun. But you know what's even more fun? SUMMER BREAK! WOOOT! Hey, people now that I got a sip from the "cup of review-receiving" I think I like the taste, so review some more bitte! While you do that, I'll type up the next chappy. I'm warning you though, there will be some fluff in a kind of erm...demented not really fluff but is kind of way. o.0 yeah.
~Qweeni