A/N: I'm so sorry for the delay, but I had an idea and needed to find a way to add it to the current plot, and I'm having some second thoughts about some past chapters. Anyways, I personally don't like this chapter too much, too much filler. I'll edit it later, I'm sure you'll want to read the little plot piece. Sorry for the cliffie by the way.
Chapter Started: 10/4/04 Chapter Ended: 10/11/04
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters that go by the names of the Inu cast. I own all other characters and this universe is intellectual property of me and a bunch of other people who I've probably forgotten. The point- don't copy it!
Kagome blinked sleepily, her eyes still heavy with sleep. She was vaguely aware that she wasn't in her own bed, and that she was cold. Instinctively she leaned against the only heat source she had, some soft black material.
She nearly yelped when her 'pillow' shifted.
With a shock that drove the rest of the sleep from her system she moved back, nearly falling off the tree she had been sleeping in. That soft black stuff hadn't been a pillow, it had been hair, Inuyasha's hair.
The half-demon turned to watch her and she flushed realizing that she was in her nightgown and that she had slept with him in a tree, a tree of all places!
"Inu... yasha... Um... yeah..." she tried to say something, anything, to cover for her blush. Surprisingly it was Inuyasha who broke the silence, taking off the top half of his yukata (He still had another shirt under it) and tossing it over to her.
"You're shivering." he said simply.
She took a moment to recover from the shock and then another moment to realize the fire-rat fur she was holding was warm. She slung it immediately over her shoulders, glad for it's warmth. Immediately she was surrounded by Inuyasha's musky-forest scent, so different from the rancid odor of ruin that had coated him a few weeks before.
"Aren't you cold?" she asked, squinting slightly as the very edge of the sun peaked over the horizon, casting Inuyasha in shadow.
The half-demon shrugged and turned, facing Kagome's window as the sun rose higher. It was a half circle over the horizon when Inuyasha seemed to pulse. It caught Kagome by surprise and she scooted back, taking a sharp breath as Inuyasha pulsed again.
He was changing, there was a slightly orange glow around him, and his hair was turning silver, starting from the roots and reaching to the tips. The now silver tresses flapped aside in the wind, blowing freely against his face as the human ears disappeared and his normal, dog-like ones sprouted from his head.
"You'd better not tell anyone." he growled, facing her again, he eyes glowing amber instead of the brown they had held a few moments before.
Speechless she shook her head, but that appeared to be enough for him, or maybe he was just distracted by some noise because his ears twitched.
"You'd better get back into you room." he said pointedly and she understood, realizing it would be pretty embarrassing to be discovered in a tree with her supposed 'slave'.
"As long as you don't tell anyone about my dreams." she replied and carefully slid back into her room where she quickly dove into her bed, pretending to be just waking as Shippo knocked on the door.
"As long as don't tell anyone about my dreams." she said before slipping back through her window as if she did it every day.
Maybe it was the fact that she hadn't used a command, or maybe because he was just tired from staying up all night, but he decided to keep his word, for now.
With a masked yawn he got to his feet, leaping lightly to the grass damp with dew, his feet barely feeling the cold and instead relishing it. He could never do this on a new moon, how he pitied mortals, so susceptible to these tiny things.
After pausing a moment to wiggle his toes he headed off to the kitchens where the early risers were already getting breakfast.
Kaede spooned him a steaming bowl of porridge, adding a generous portion of chopped ham to the mix before turning to another slave, a hint of a smile on her aged features.
It was his first meal since yesterday noon, he had purposely missed dinner to tend to his wounds from Kouga and his cronies. They wouldn't heal overnight like they should so he had to take advantage of the situation.
He wolfed down the porridge, his empty stomach, seeming to have enlarged after a night as a mortal, growling for more but any more and he'd attract Kaede's suspicions. The woman, no matter how old, was a priestess and without another word he placed the nearly clean earthenware bowl into the sink.
"Inuyasha, hold on one moment." Kaede called as he headed for the door. He turned, glancing at her over his shoulder.
"Yesterday Kagome was out herb picking, she was looking for Rockfern, but she came back empty handed." Kaede continued, spooning out another bowl of porridge. Inuyasha knew where this conversation was going.
"So you want me to get this 'Rockfern' for you." he said dryly. It wasn't a question.
"Ahh, thank you for volunteering." Kaede said, moving much faster than a woman her age could have moved, grabbing a basket with a white cloth blanketed over it and stuffed it into his arms, returning to the kettle before he had even realized she had given him the basket.
"You're looking for a plant that grows in the shadows of rocks. It's leaves grow in threes along the sides, you want the top half so the bottom half will grow back. Most of it grows on Kouga's lands but there is some on ours, stay clear of Kouga by the way. He's a bit territorial."
Didn't he know that.
- - -
An hour later he was sniffing in vain, leaping between the tree tops, his basket completely and totally empty.
He remembered the scent of Rockfern, Kagome had had some on her when she had broke up the fight between him and that bastard Kouga. So far he hadn't found a whiff of the elusive plant, he could see why they needed it so much. Even his nose couldn't find it, and Kagome could?
It must be their powers, he thought with a sigh, refusing to admit a mortal would have better luck finding Rockfern that he would.
Suddenly his nose twitched, a scent as familiar as the night stars wafting past him. He knew it like he knew his blood, demon blood human tainted.
He turned at once, racing against the wind as he ran for the house, his nose filled with the aroma of an almost metallic hue, mixed with wood and oil. He knew that scent.
How many times had the aroma filled his past, his ancient home before he had been enslaved.
How many times had he buried his face into his mothers arms, inhaling her scent and that of another.
How many times had he seen that glorious fang unsheathed, felling a hundred men in a single blow.
The name rang in his head, the scent was embedded in his mind.
Tetsusaiga, the demon fang, deadly in all ways.
Tetsusaiga, father's sword.
With a yawn Kagome finally got to the kitchens where Kaede was spooning porridge out of a nearly empty kettle.
"You're late, Kagome." the elderly priestess said, spooning out the last bowl and giving it to her.
"Your dream bothering ye again?"
"No, mom, I actually slept quite well last night." Kagome said, starting on her porridge. It was the truth, she had slept quite well last night compared to the rest of her dream filled nights. It must have been the fresh air, she decided.
"So ye didn't dream about such nonsense as a Kouga abduction?" Kaede asked, sitting down across the table.
"No." Kagome said, uncomfortable under Kaede's close scrutiny.
"Mom, where's Inuyasha?" she asked, quickly changing the subject.
"I sent him out to gather Rockfern, seeing as you came back with nothing." Kaede replied. "Poor soul, always having to obey orders. Thought that he'd enjoy a stroll through the forest."
"Yeah, I should have thought of that." Kagome murmured. Poor Inuyasha, if she made even the smallest error, the smallest slip of the tongue, and he'd be waiting on her hand and foot. She'd never want to condemn anyone to a life like that.
"Where are ye going, child?" Kaede suddenly asked as Kagome, her bowl only half empty, got to her feet.
"The library, I'm not very hungry." was the only reply Kaede received before Kagome set the bowl before one of the cats and left the kitchens, heading for the library. Her uncle in law, lord Higurashi, had always thought power was built around knowledge and their house incorporated the design, having the library at its center.
A servant was dusting one of the shelves as she arrived and quickly bowed.
"Lady Kagome, may I help you with anything?" the woman asked politely, pausing in her dusting.
"Yes, do you have any books on demon collars?" Kagome asked, curtsying in return though she wasn't required to do such a thing to a servant.
"I'm afraid I don't know about that specific material, but I would suggest reading about demon slavery in the history books. There might be something there."
"Thank you, you may continue with your work now." Kagome said and left before the servant could finish bowing.
"History, history, history..." she murmured under her breath as she strode down the corridors of shelves, finding the row that held as many history books as Lord Higurashi could spare to them.
"Demon slaves..." she paused and pulled out a book, reading it's title. 'The Demon Wars and the House of Higurashi'
It was worth a shot and she took it to one of the large floor cushions she had dragged over and opened it, thumbing through the pages.
'And the Higurashi name spread through the demons, mostly after the slaying of the lord of the west, Inutaisho....
.... the demon wars continued for many years...'
No, that wasn't slavery, that was just the war of her grandfather's time, as if she had expected anything better.
With a sigh she returned the book to the shelf, about to select another when a piercing scream broke the afternoon silence.
- - -
She threw open the doors to the courtyard, seeing that the servants were going crazy. The source of the commotion seemed to be coming from the forest entrance and she ran hurriedly through the crowd, using her rank to get herself through the terrified servants. As she pushed the last two servants aside she could only gasp with shock.
Inuyasha stood before the forest wall, snarling with fury. In his left hand he clutched the sheath of a sword, in his right...
In his right he held the collar of the servant that had been polishing the swords in the armory. The weapons were littered on the table and ground around them. The servant's clothes were ripped and she could see blood seeping through a shoulder wound.
"Inuyasha, stop it!" she cried, charging forwards. What could have made him so angry all of a sudden? The Inuyasha she knew didn't run around attacking servants.
With a growl of frustration and no little fury Inuyasha let the servant go, who immediately stumbled into his peers who herded him back to the house. Kagome waved the others aside, assuring them it was alright while grabbing Inuyasha's wrist and dragging him into a clearing she knew was located behind the trees. That was when she turned around, or tried to.
Inuyasha had grabbed the throat of her kimono and yanked her into the air, glaring at her with narrowed amber eyes, eyes that she was forced to meet.
"Inuyasha... what's going on?" she asked awkwardly, feeling her kimono stretch at the seems.
"You killed him..." was her reply, a deathly whisper of fury.
"What are you talking about?" she asked again, the collar of her kimono starting to wear into the back of her neck, it hurt!
"You killed my father!" Inuyasha roared, glaring at her.
She was starting to feel a little light headed and barely registered his words.
"Inuyasha... put me down, I haven't killed anyone and most certainly not your father... I don't even know who he is!" she tried, grabbing at his hand to loosen his grip. She had shifted and now her collar was cutting off her air supply. Maybe Inuyasha noticed it, or the impracticality behind his attacking her, because he set her down, though not exactly lightly.
She staggered backwards, landing flat on her bottom. She stayed there to catch her breath for a moment before looking back up at Inuyasha. He had turned away from her, his eyes shaded by his brow, staring at the sword he held in his left hand.
She remembered that sword. As punishment once Kaede had made her clean it. It had taken her hours to realize the thing was always rusty, no matter what she did to it.
"Inuyasha, what happened?" she tried again, glad that she had decided to stay on the ground as Inuyasha shot her an anguished look.
"You should know, it was your family who killed him." he said, his words hidden entirely in a growl.
"First you kill my father and then you neglect his sword!" At this point he drew the sword, revealing it's dull blade and rusted metal. It was chipped and dented in places and the hilt was terribly worn.
"We didn't do anything to that sword, it's always rusty! Kaede even tried to clean it with a spell, nothing works. As for you father, I don't even know who he is, let alone if we've killed him or not!"
"Isn't this proof enough? He never was without the Tetsusaiga" growled the half-demon, brandishing the rusted blade at her head. It couldn't hurt her and they both knew it.
"Well maybe it was a coincidence, we've received many gifts from other houses before. What was your father's name?"
"He was Inutaisho, lord of the west."
Kagome gasped and recognition shone in her eyes. Had she been upright she probably would have stumbled backwards, but it hardly mattered to him.
He had hoped, somehow, in some way, his father had survived. A full-blooded demon would have lived until now and probably for many centuries to come. He would have gotten free from this stupid collar and find the lord Inutaisho and wreak havoc on the humans. Yet another false hope, cheated out of him by this girl who tried to be so kind...
...and was in turn so cruel.
With another growl, more of frustration than anger, he leapt into the forest, disappearing into the shadows. He heard his name but kept going and Kagome did not order him to return.
- - -
He sat in the nook of the tree outside Kagome's window, glaring at the rusted blade of Tetsusaiga. All he remembered was the massive fang, so deadly that it could kill a hundred men in a single swing.
Now the darned blade could barely cut the wood of the tree he was sitting in, and he slashed at the tree for good measure.
Tetsusaiga's blade bounced off the bark, barely leaving a dent and he sighed heavily, sheathing the sword back into the sheath he had hung at his waist.
His stomach growled but he wasn't hungry, perhaps it was because the servants all started and shivered whenever he came by, perhaps because he didn't want to face the rest of them. He should just pretend to have been asleep, but he wasn't tired either.
And he smelled the scent of a rogue demon on the winds.
It was going to be a long night.
With a sigh Kagome strode through the forest. The moon was out and cast silvery shadows around her. She walked on a memorized path, having taken it not too long ago for the same reason. They had run out of Rockfern last night tending to the wounded servant's injuries, and she had to pick them now.
"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 taken far too long to get here, she had to go back now. They would all be worried about her, not including Inuyasha of course. He probably wouldn't bat an eyelash if she wasn't in bed.
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. The scene was so familiar, so eerily familiar. Taking a deep breath she pulled aside the branches....
Two pincer-like jaws reached for her, blood dripping in falls from them, the rancid breath of fresh meat wafting over her, the owner of it all so close she couldn't even see what it was. All she could see was the gaping hole of a mouth and the jaws, reaching for her...
Inuyasha's eyes snapped open as a high-pitched scream filled the night air.
A/N: I will try to update faster next time, it's hard when I think my story just got a chapter longer to focus on just one event. Anyways, I want twenty reviews this time! I'll probably get it within the week, but just in case I don't. I'll try to update within two weeks then. ((And Inuyasha got another red shirt if you want to know, he has more than just one.))
Neko-Yuff16: I can't stand her either, she's just an icy evil side of Kagome. Creepy, but a friend of mine is obsessed with her. It must be the bow and arrows...
DimmingBlackRose, Jewely, :)), Anime-Devil-101, , Amaya Mitsu, Animefreak321654, Liarra, Sango-no-kawaii-taijiya: There, I updated, really sorry for the wait. -cringe-
Inuyashaonly1: Well, I don't think I did that scene too well. Oh well.
Copperline Kitty: Peace!
cheli81: Yes, some things on are just freaky. I'm crazy about keeping the Characters in Character, though Miroku is fine if he stops acting perverted.
Inutashio: So... do I still get a cookie?
The Ying and Yang Twins: Lol, I tend to do that too sometimes.
Shardz: Thanks, as said above I don't like OOCness very much, and of course I'll keep writing!
Aoura Maiden: Of course I'm writing more, I have an ending in mind after all, though the story will be extended. I'm giving Sango a part, though a small one, since my next fic will tie into this one a little. -hinthint-
Yeah, well sorry for the delay and all, I just hope the chapter's decent enough to make you all forget about it. Give me about two weeks, I'm being bombarded with homework, for the next update.
Darkwolfgal