A/N: Wow, that was the fastest I've ever gotten any reviews, so I'm working my tail off (no, I don't have a tail, but just play along) here trying to get new chapters up, thank god I have plenty of scenes for the plot already. It's a miracle, I actually have a plot! -happy grin-
What's going to happen: Basically Kagome gets introduced and she meets Inuyasha.
Chapter Started: 9/17/04 Ended: 9/17/04 YAYNESS!! Now everyone can commend me on my fast writing!
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Kagome, though I do own this alternate universe and other characters that do not bear the names of any of the Inu cast, including those who don't have names at all.
'Moonlight glimmered off the wet grass, skimming across the rain puddles that rippled as microscopic creatures hit their reflective surfaces.
With a happy sigh Kagome breathed in, enjoying the earthy scent that lingered after the rainfall. It seemed to magnify the normal things that she couldn't smell and she, being a lover of nature and of the forest, loved it as well.
She walked forwards, bare feet moving quietly through the grass, going slowly. For one who loved the forest behind her home as much as she did it would seem strange that she was looking down at the ground, particularly the little shadows beneath the trees or rocks where little grew. She was looking for herbs, for their shop's stores were low once again and it was cheaper and more fun to pick the herbs that grew in the forest. She had already found most of them that she needed, which the basket that hung, carefully arranged, from her left arm proved.
"There you are, little one!" she exclaimed softly to herself as she knelt down to snap a few leaves off hidden plants, careful not to take too many leaves from one plant. That would do, she had enough now. Besides, she was tired and she would have to get up early tomorrow to deliver the herbs she had just gathered.
A bush rustled behind her and she turned, somehow on edge though part of her mind was still telling her it was just a fox or a raccoon. Perhaps it was because the pleasant chirping of crickets and other nightly creatures had suddenly stopped.
Her heart beat fast in her chest as she got as quietly as she could to her feet, cautiously sneaking up to the sounding bush. Taking a deep breath she pulled aside the branches....
Blood... A scream... Jaws coming ever closer....'
Kagome woke with a start, her heart beating so hard she could feel its frenzied rhythm even as she lay in her bed.
It was just a dream, she told herself quickly, just a dream... Yet it had seemed so real. The smells, it was like she had really been there, and the plant, the one she had been gathering.... She could swear she had felt its leaves and stem against her finger tips. And the blood and huge pincer-like jaws coming closer and closer, already so close she couldn't see their owner...
She shook herself, hard. It was only a dream, Kagome. She thought fiercely, rolling over in her tangled, sweat soaked sheets. Only a dream... She would love to have believed that.
"Kagome, wake up!" cried a young, high pitched voice.
With a groan Kagome turned, or tried to. Her sheets were so tangled she now found herself wrapped tightly in a cocoon of blankets. She must have rolled one to many times after having her dream... again. That same dream had been plaguing her for weeks now.
"Kagome, you don't look so good. You've got bags under your eyes." the voice said again, pointing at her face.
"I'm fine, Shippo, and it's not polite to point." Kagome said taking on a falsely cheery voice. She tried to get up but found her mobility restricted with sheets, and the small kitsune kit that was sitting on her chest.
After a weak struggle Kagome gave up and Shippo giggled.
"Why do you always roll around so much?" Shippo said, hiding his laugh behind his hands.
"Could you just get me out of here?" Kagome retorted, blushing a little and carefully avoiding his question. No one knew she was having bad dreams and she didn't want everyone worried over her.
With another chuckle Shippo began quickly to loosen the sheets, ordering Kagome to move about a few times before her could get the under covering, her main blanket, and the cover sheet out from under the girl.
"The servants are going to throw a fit when they see you bed." Shippo said, trying, and failing, to sound reproachful as Kagome hopped easily out of bed, her white nightgown swishing around her.
"The servants threw many more fits when you kept wetting your bed." Kagome said, grinning playfully when Shippo's face turned an embarrassed red.
"I'll see you at breakfast Shippo, I need to change now." Kagome said, quickly hiding a yawn.
"I'll save some cookies for you!" Shippo said, his face clearing as he darted out through the door, his tan tuft of a tail bouncing from side to side as he went.
With a tired sigh Kagome moved mechanically to her closet, quickly selecting the closest kimono within reach and her most comfortable pair of shoes. Truthfully, she wasn't very hungry, just tired, yet it seemed she could never sleep for long before her dream-no nightmare- started again. It was always the same scene over and over, picking herbs, hearing noises.... Why didn't the darn thing stop?
"Kagome, ye don't look so good." Kaede said as Kagome stepped through the door.
"I'm fine, mother, what's for-"
"Now don't try to I'm fine mother me!" Kaede said, turning from the pot of porridge and waving the ladle at Kagome. "Something's wrong and I want to know what it is!"
For a petite woman the age of sixty Kaede could sure look menacing when waving a ladle at someone, particularly because of the eye patch that covered her left eye. She never removed it, ever.
With a sigh Kagome sat down at the kitchen table, across from an empty bowl with a few grains of porridge in it as well as a small plate with the crumbly remains of Kaede's famous cookies. Apparently Shippo had forgotten his promise, but she wasn't too hungry anyway.
"Now tell me," Kaede said, planting a bowl of steaming porridge squarely in front of Kagome. "What's been bothering you?"
"Well... I..." Kagome bowed her head, looking desperately through her raven-black hair for some way of distracting Kaede. Somehow her dream seemed to be something she needed to keep a secret.
"Look, the kettle's boiling over!" she cried quickly, scrambling to her feet, but Kaede's strong gnarled hands pulled her right back down.
"Now don't lie to me, I'm not your mother for nothing, now tell me, what's wrong?" Kaede said, her one eye locked firmly on Kagome's two.
"I've been having a bad dream." Kagome said after a long pause where she again tried to search for a way to distract Kaede.
"For all these weeks on end? Perhaps someone has cursed-"
"No, mother, it isn't a curse, or at least I don't think it is. It's just that every night I have this horrible dream and I can never get more than a few hours of sleep." Kagome said quickly, hoping to soothe her mother's fears. Kaede was old, though she didn't like to admit it, and it wouldn't do for her to be running crazily after some bad dream demon.
"What's your dream been about?" Kaede asked just as quickly.
"Well it's terrible really, it's about-" she stopped herself then, or her throat suddenly refused her to tell.
"About what?" Kaede asked intently. Kagome, seeing the woman wouldn't give up, quickly made an excuse.
"It's Kouga." she said, pretending like it was hard for her to say.
"Kouga, that foolish wolf demon?"
"Yes, I'm being taken away from all of us, from you and Kikyo and Shippo and the forest." Kagome said, her words coming out fast.
"So, he's invading your life so much that you've started dreaming about him! Well I'll show him, I'll show him what I can do. After all, I am a preistess-"
"No, no it's fine!" Kagome said, seriously regretting that she had decided to use Kouga as her excuse. The entire household knew Kouga had a 'thing' for Kagome. She would hate to cause an unwarranted dispute between them, even though Kouga was a bit of a pervert.
"It's alright, I'm sure it has nothing to do with him."
"Are ye sure, child? Ye still don't look too well." Kaede said, frowning. "Take the day off today, I'm sure Kikyou can manage the shop without you, you've made enough remedies and medicines so you don't need someone out gathering herbs, and Kikyou is the one with the better doctoring skills."
There was no way of convincing Kaede out of it once she reached an opinion on something. With a sigh Kagome nodded and quickly ate half of her porridge before determining herself full.
"Go to the market." Kaede said as four servants started to drag the kettle towards the servants kitchens where they would have their breakfast. "You've got plenty of savings to enjoy yourself for a little while."
Kaede was right, again. All she had to do was relax and do some shopping, she'd feel better and that darn dream would stop bothering her.
The door to the musty, horse-drawn cart was finally opened and light shown in among the slaves that were about to be sold, revealing many grotesque features on most of them but also a nearly human face.
This was it, Inuyasha thought. He was finally going to be rid of the master and the master's stupid punishments, for the collar would need new punishments set into it after the slave changed hands. Of course, for now the slave master was his master and the slave master had liked the master's 'bad dog' command and had kept it. Darned bastard of a human.
"A'right all of ya, g't up!" the slave master ordered, glaring at them all. Inuyasha felt his collar buzz in warning of impending pain and stood up at once, allowing the slave master to take up his chain and tug mercilessly, jerking his head forwards. He growled angrily but the slave master gave him a look.
"Cut that out!" the master barked, one of the orders he had imposed on the collar. At once Inuyasha felt pain start in his collar and immediately stopped growling, lowering his eyes and trotting after the master.
He was led down rows of slaves, most demon but some human. The demons had collars, the humans wore chains. Many of the humans were still young, hardly in their teens. It made Inuyasha sick and he watched his feet as he was led jerkily down the way. He was handed over to another servant as the master turned after ordering him not to attack it. With a growl Inuyasha sat down, glaring at the people who were already gathering around the auctioning platform. Many of them wouldn't be auctioned off at all, no one would want them, and then they would be put in the cells for as long as it took to get them sold at a set price.
Three full blooded demon slaves went at high prices, the auctioneer knew how to sell apparently. No . Now it Inuyasha's turn and at a jerk he got to his feet, trudging along after the servant up to the platform where the slave master was waiting.
"And here we have a half-demon, start the bidding at 100!" the auctioneer said. Many in the crowd groaned, some almost left right there.
"He can do quite well for stress relief for any of you and he comes with a set collar." the auctioneer said, reading off the sheet.
"He can do hard labor too, and manual work. He'd make a good watch dog as well!"
The auctioneer continued to list jobs that Inuyasha would be useful for, much to his disgust. The list lasted forever, the master must have been desperate to get him sold or else he wouldn't have even tried.
"Lastly, you could just torture him over and over again. His wounds heal over- AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"
Inuyasha had risen and launched himself at the auctioneer, the only one he hadn't been told not to attack. Quick as a flash he had the man up by his robe, his amber eyes narrowed with hate. He raised his claws and was about to bring them down across the man's vulnerable throat when the slave master recovered from the shock.
"Die, half-breed!" he shouted, calling on one of the most torturous punishments he could give.
With a gasp of pain the half demon let go, his knees buckling under him. His head ached with pain, his vision blurry and distorted. Once again his pain filled claws rose to his neck, sending waves of nausea and agony through his body. Yet still he tried desperately to break the collar's hold on his neck, which had started to bleed. A wave a fresh pain overwhelmed him, he had come to close to the jugular and he was under strict order not to kill himself. With a growl that masked a whimper he admitted defeat and the master jerked him up, the pain slowly receding, and kicked him back off the platform.
Kagome had meandered down the streets, eating half of a spiced roll as she did so, which was all she had purchased so far. She still had the dream on her mind, as much as she tried to distract herself. So much for relaxing, she thought, when someone screamed. She turned and ran down that way, finding a large crowd taking quite a few steps back.
Using the manipulative powers of her elbows and fists she managed to get through the receding crowd and saw the source of their screams. A demon, a slave judging by the collar, was preparing to kill the auctioneer. As much as she hated slavery she couldn't help but feel pity for the auctioneer, though that quickly changed to the demon, who turned out to be a half demon, as the master spoke the words of control and the demon collapsed with pain.
The demon looked young, in his very late teens most probably, though he was probably decades older. He had silver hair, matted with dirt and blood, and atop his head were two dog-like ears, which were currently pinned back. He had gleaming amber eyes that had been flashing with fury and now raged with pain, especially as he started clawing at his neck, trying and failing to destroy his collar.
Finally the demon gave up and the master took him away, kicking and jerking. Kagome followed at a distance, hiding behind the corner as they turned down a deserted alleyway, but as she peaked out again she found that both master and slave had disappeared.
She ran out, looking to both sides and even up but she found no trace of them. Scurrying quickly up and down the lane. Suddenly she paused, sniffing something. The smell was horrible, of decay and mold, of piss and rotted carrion. It made her want to puke, but she grabbed her nose and plugged it shut and searched for where the scent was coming from.
It didn't take long to find the little sign on the ground, hidden by dust. She actually had sneezed a few times before uncovering it.
Slaves Below, Set Prices
Said the rusted metal plaque. Kagome peered down, but saw nothing. She read the sign again but found no clue to how to get down. After searching around and knocking below the sign for some kind of trap door she decided to wait for someone to come by. With a sigh she got up and stepped over the sign to sit above it....
.... and her foot slid right through the rock. Of course, she slipped, and her entire body followed, bouncing ungraciously down worn steps.
The stench had definitely come from below, she thought at once as she rubbed her sore bottom and elbows. As soon as she was sure nothing was broken or sprained her left hand went immediately to plug her nose again. Looking up behind her she saw light peering through, though she was sure that there had been stone there.
So it was an illusion, and a good one. Apparently you had to read the sign before the illusion gave way, but she didn't have time to work out the more complex part of the spell.
Kagome looked around, seeing most of the cages rusted and deserted. She was loathe to go deeper into this prison but she went anyways, careful to keep from tripping on the uneven floor. She turned one corner and nearly collapsed at the sight she saw. A demon, a bull demon, was slumped on the ground, flies buzzing around him. The flesh was decaying badly and the bull's sightless eyes had already rotted completely.
With a gasp she whirled around, fear and hate running through her, and ran the other way. This time she found who she was looking for, the half-demon, or at least the gleaming amber eyes of the half-demon. They were the only part of him she could see, for he was buried in the shadows that the weak torches couldn't penetrate.
Carefully she pulled a torch down from it's holder and held it up to the cage, intending to make sure she was looking at the half-demon. She was shocked to say the least.
The half-demon was chained from head to foot, the chains overlapping whip marks and bruises. His collar was attached to two chains that were attached to both walls of the corner and his legs and wrists were shackled together in pairs, their chains attached to the floor and wall allowing little room to move.
His eyes narrowed as the light fell upon him and he growled with pure hatred at her. Kagome quickly reached into her bag and pulled out what remained of her spice roll, tossing the remaining half through the bars and towards the demon. It landed in his hands and he jerked with surprise then devoured it hungrily, licking his filthy hands to catch all of the crumbs and resuming his angry glare. Kagome returned the torch to its proper place and turned the demon who was cast in shadow.
"I'll get you out of there, I promise."
A/N: Now doesn't that last line sound lame? -big sigh- Oh well, I hope you all enjoy and press the purple button! Press it, you know you want too! And I hope you're all happy that I managed to add a new chapter the day after I created the story.
Note: I want at least two new reviewers before I post a new chapter, please? -even larger puppy eyes-
Replies to Reviews:
UnlovedBandNerd, Romaan: Thankies, glad you liked it!
Inutashio: Thanks, I'll look forward to reading them.
Sailor-Knight Shadowstar: You do? I was worried this plot would be horrible.
San: Well, you see, it's supposed to be like that. His job would be like a whipping boy, being tortured all the time.
Starfire26: Wow, how did you even find my story? You reviewed only a few hours after I created this, how on Earth did you discover it? -huggles-
Anyways, I'll try to update by Wednesday. The weekends might not give me time, and then I have to juggle middle school, so I think this deadline is reasonable. Don't kill me if I go over, okay? I won't though, as long as you keep reviewing! -huggles her reviewers-
Darkwolf