A/N: I've made a decision, this is going to become a trilogy! This is the first story with Sorrows of a Demon Slayer (see my settings) being the second. The first focuses on Inuyasha and Kagome. The second focuses on Sango and Miroku. Both are about nine or ten chapters long. The third story will be a mixture of the two and unless I give away the ending all I can say is that the demons are tired of being enslaved and Naraku will finally have a role! And there will be all of the prophecy stuff, just to let you all know since you are my loyal readers/ reviewers.
--------- : Change of views. "......" : Spoken words
- - - : Time change. Italics on their own: Thoughts.
Chapter Started: 10/14/04 Chapter Ended: 11/3/04
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!
.:Forgotten Freedom: Coming of the Taijiya:.
.:By: Darkwolfgal:.
He didn't know exactly how long they sat there, though it couldn't have been more than a few hours since the sun had barely moved. It had been time enough, however, to make him think about what had happened, and what had almost happened.
She had tried to commit suicide, and probably would have if he hadn't stopped her.
It was hard to think of Kagome like that, the girl who was now sound asleep in his arms, the girl who had been so innocent just this morning.
He felt something of a pity for her, if you would call it that, but not so far as sympathy. Perhaps empathy was a better word. He knew how she felt, to have a mother torn away from her. He remembered it as if it were yesterday, when the tides of slavery were at their highest.
She had tried to protect him and in turn had been killed, and he enslaved. He had been young then, weak. All he had wanted was his mother's arms, anyone's arms, to comfort him. He hadn't gotten any, but he had supposed Kagome felt the same way. It was unlikely Kikyo or anyone else would know how she felt, or give her comfort.
So he had.
You're growing soft.
Shut up. I'm not weak, like her!
But she isn't weak.
He stared down into the raven locks that effectively shielded her face from his eyes. She was ready to leave, to lose it all. She had tried to run away from all of her worries.
Keh, then she's a coward!
Oh, then so are you.
It was true, he had wanted to go as well, and probably would have if he hadn't been under orders.
I'm not a coward.
Then what is she?
She's.... Kagome.
And that's answer enough, isn't it?
Be quiet.
Stupid voice in his head, always nagging him about stupid things, he thought with a sigh, deciding they would soon be missed if they stayed out much longer.
He got to his feet, lifting Kagome as well, careful to avoid the wounds on her back and arm, and started back to the house, planning to go back to Kagome's room and leave her there discreetly.
It was just too bad such a plan had to be shattered as a terrified servant nearly crashed into him. He dodged to the side, barely hanging onto Kagome. What was going on?
"Hey! Watch it!" he cried and the servant turned, eyes wide with terror.
"Lady Kagome, you-"
"She's asleep, moron, and you nearly knocked me over!" growled Inuyasha.
And that was when the second servant nearly crashed into him, skidding to a stop only a few inches from his feet.
"Inuyasha, Lady Kikyo wants you to report to the main doors, I'm to take Lady Kagome back to her rooms." the servant said. Inuyasha noticed he seemed to be taller and more muscled than the other servants, he was one of the slaves.
With a shrug he dumped Kagome, carefully, into the slave's arms and ran around the side of the house and forcing his way through the crowd.
"What's going on?" he cried as he stepped up to the wooden pavilion.
"Well you should know, mutt face." sneered a voice.
Inuyasha's ears twitched, he knew that voice.
"Kouga, what's a mangy wolf doing here?" he growled in response, all too aware of the way Kagome's scent clung to him. Nobody else would realize it, but to Kouga, and the wolf demons that made up half the crowd, it would be as clear as a coming rain.
"There will be no quarreling amongst allies." Kikyo's clear voice broke through the heated silence, her dark eyes cold with ice.
"There is trouble here, as Kouga has dutifully informed us." she continued, daring any of them to respond with a comment. Her authority was backed by the long bow she held in one pale hand and the quiver that was slung over her shoulder, no one said a word.
"Apparently an entire hoard of centipede demons has decided we're to be their next meal-"
"I wonder why." scorned Kouga softly, making Inuyasha bristle. It wasn't his fault that he'd attracted the attention of so many demons, if it wasn't for Kagome's stupid order.
Kikyo a look then continued icily.
"Lord Higurashi will aid us, however his army is at battle elsewhere and it will take days to assemble the warriors and another few to reach us, even with mounted men. Kouga," she gestured to the assembled bands of wolf demons. They stood in motley groups, dressed in furs, bearing a range of weapons from an axe to a bow.
"Will honor the alliance we made many years ago and he and his men will aid us, but even then we will need more power. There is but one other force that may aid us, the Taijiya or the Demon Slayers, but they lie to the far east of the village and we cannot spare neither servant nor mount to reach them." her expression was as hopeless as it could get, which wasn't very much, and the crowd around her sighed collectively but in that brief moment a voice rang out.
---------
"I'll go and get them!" Shippo said, squirming between the legs of one of the guards to stand in front of them all. Never before had he looked smaller or weaker.
"What's this... a squirrel?" Kouga sneered and his demons chuckled.
"I'm not a squirrel, I'm a kitsune, a fox demon!" Shippo said, baring his small fangs, glaring up at least four times his own height at Kouga's face.
"Oh really? Same thing, though I suppose foxes are easier for wolves to catch..." three wolves separated themselves from the front of the wolf demons, tongues hanging out.
He couldn't help it, he yelped, and Kouga's snickering made him flush.
"Shippo, we do not know what lies between the village and ourselves, this is a dangerous task." Kikyo said calmly, as if nothing had happened.
"All the more reason for me to go!" he said, wincing. Even to him his voice sounded shrill. "I can't fight demons here and I can't relay messages from place to place. All I can do is get in the way, I'm expendable!"
There was only silence as everyone stared at him and he was sure they weren't going to let him go, and then...
"He's right." Inuyasha said with a shrug. "He's worthless here."
Shippo knew the thinly veiled insult when he heard it but held his tongue, Kikyo was about to speak.
"Alright, all of you, get moving! Woman and children to the library, anyone with any healing knowledge prepare the storerooms, anyone who can handle the horses and distribute weapons get to the armory and the stables. Those that can wield a weapon are going into combat, bows and mounts for the best only, is that clear?" Kikyo cried out, still managing to sound icy at the top of her lungs.
"Kouga and his forces will take the west side along with Inuyasha, everyone else hold on to the east. Shippo, stay where you are."
With that obvious dismissal everyone scurried away, a few of them using the door that Kikyo had stepped aside from. Kouga passed him with a snort, his wolves snarling, his men taking off in rowdy lines. He stuck his tongue out at them, though quickly returned it to it's proper place as Kikyo turned to him.
"Shippo, I trust you know the way." she said, reaching into the folds of her yukata.
He gulped and nodded, going over the route in his mind.
"Take this then, as a symbol of my sending you." she said, pulling out a pouch and reaching into it. For a moment there was a pink glow and he wondered what that could be but a second later she had pulled out a small amulet with the Higurashi insignia etched in it. He took it from her carefully and put it around his neck.
"Go carefully Shippo." she said, not sounding at all as if she cared, but he was used to that by now and with a wave he turned and ran out of the gates.
- - -
Thank god he actually knew the way, left, right, right, left.... which way was east again?
With a start he came to a stop, blinking and turning his head from side to side. Oh great, he had forgotten which way was east!
Shaking his head he stood back up on his hind legs, he had been running on all fours, and peered around the abandoned forest path he stood on. It made no sense, he knew the way to the taijiya, he knew it! Why had his memory suddenly gone blank?
"Confused young kitsune............?"
A voice murmured, a little sleepily.
Shippo froze, jerkily turning around, the hair rising along his spine. He was afraid, he hated fighting and he wasn't good at it either.
"Who's there?" he squeaked, trying to sound brave and failing utterly.
"Only me young kitsune........ only me........"
With that the bushes stirred and in a flurry of motion Shippo found himself bound in the sticky thread of the elder spider demon's web.
"Let me go!" he shrieked, struggling as the demon crept forwards. It was old, with silver hair flowing down it's enlarged spider body, though it wasn't nearly as large as some of the other demons he had seen.
"Now why would I let lunch go.......................?" The demon asked, blinking it's many eyes and clicking it's pincers.
"I have plans for you............. it has been a long time since I feasted on a youngling's................. flesh."
With a slow, leisurely, scuttle the demon scooped up Shippo's bundle in his jaws and crept back into the underbrush with Shippo struggling hard.
"Let me go, I need to get my friends!" He screamed, struggling madly.
"Little kitsune............ spare me................. you cannot escape........ my binds are immune to your struggles......."
The spider demon hissed, blinking at him while continuing the slow pace. It was around that time that Shippo realized most of the spider's eyes were milky white and unfocused, and that the spider's graceful gait was jerky. The spider was old, it's joints were dead, and it was nearly blind. He had a chance!
With a growl he tried to reach the leaves he had in his yukata, using them he could create as many illusions of himself as he had leaves.
"Stop your struggling................... you do nothing but tense your flesh........... I want you soft........."
He couldn't reach, them, his hands were clenched into fists. All he had been able to do was open them and bring them closer together, and all this time he was getting farther and farther from his goal, or was it closer? Darn it, he still didn't know where they were going!
Kikyo... Kagome.... he thought, their faces clear in his mind's eye. I can't let them down.... but what can I do? I'm helpless!
No you're not....
I can't do anything, father was a master kitsune, all I can do is make tops grow and become a fat pink lump!
You can do something....
Like what?
You could try not to give up....
He couldn't give up, he could never give up! He wasn't going to miss the chance to be a hero, he wasn't going to let Kagome and the other's down!
With a growl he kicked out at the spider demon, his anger and resolve forming something tangible, that something being blue flames in his paws, burning through his bonds.
"What are you doing............ young- Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!"
The spider demon was caught unawares as the flash of blue fire hit him in the eyes, successfully scorching the ones that could see.
Shippo was thrown into the air where he promptly burned through the rest of his binds.
"Foxfire!" he cried, blasting the spider again with the blue flames that grew from his paws. He was about to finish it when a giant boomerang sliced it in half.
"Who goes there and what are they doing at the settlement of the Taijiya?"
---------
With a groan she awoke, her eyes blurred and feeling irritated. It didn't help that the light was dim and she had no clue where she was. The sounds of metal scraping and battle cries in the distance didn't help either.
Wait- battle cries?
At that Kagome sat bolt upright, much to the surprise of the servant who had been watching her.
"What's going on?" she asked the surprised servant, her tone steady though she was worried already.
"The centipede demons are attacking, they're angry." the girl said worriedly, shaking her short crop of dark brown hair.
"They say it's because the slave Inuyasha killed three of them." she shrugged quickly as Kagome's eyes blazed, showing she didn't care for that reason at all.
How dare they blame Inuyasha, he hadn't done anything he hadn't been told to do! Kagome was ablaze with anger and got shakily to her feet before falling back into the blankets she had been laid in.
"Lady Kagome, you must rest, you're in the library and Lady Kikyo has ordered us all to stay." the girl cried, clearly puzzled over what to make of the predicament.
Kikyo was right, as always, Kagome thought with a sigh, flopping back on the cushion. She just felt like a sitting duck, waiting for destiny to hand her their fates on a silver platter. She was helpless, she couldn't do anything, and it irked her to no extent.
She sat there for a few moments glaring at nothing in particular, before sitting back up and reaching for the lamp and removing the shutter, making it bright enough to read by.
"Please, I'd like some books to read, could you fetch me the history tomes on the Demon Wars?" she asked the servant, who nodded and left.
Well, at least she could do something, even if reading was the last thing she wanted to do.
---------
Shriiiiiiiiiiiiiing!
With a growl Inuyasha pinned his ears as Tetsusaiga scraped against the hide of another centipede demon, sparks flying off the metal until the blade connected with a slight groove where the armor overlapped, which was when he promptly leaned down on the sword's hilt and slashed, sending the centipede demon screaming with pain and whirling aside where others immediately set to it.
Those 'others' were getting less and less, that much he knew as he landed, panting, Tetsusaiga red with blood, fresh and dried. He didn't know how long they had been fighting, but the centipede demons did not seem to be stopping. There must be an entire nest at least!
"Hey muttface, managed to kill any of these things yet?" growled a voice as Kouga leaped to his side, dodging a wrigling centipede demon.
"Of course, you mangy wolf, they just don't seem to stop coming." Inuyasha snarled, leaping clear simultaneously with Kouga and setting Tetsusaiga to the demon's pincers, managing to hack one off as yet another gash appeared on his shoulder. Kouga had had similar luck, his sword was now lodged in the demon's tail while his armor clearly cracked.
"My men said we've killed enough so that the newest arrivals are youngsters, they'll be easier to take down." Kouga said as the two landed again. Inuyasha leapt for the tail, grabbing Kouga's sword while hacking off half of the twisting appendage. Kouga quickly freed his left hand of the strange sword and with another nails-on-stone sound they both met with grooves and slashed.
"There are a lot more youngsters than adults, idiot." Inuyasha snarled, having the honors of hacking off the head. The beast dropped dead with one last wriggle and the two landed on opposite sides of the body. Kouga only snorted before dashing off again while Inuyasha busied himself with another centipede demon, his ears ringing with that horrible sound.
It was the only thing that worked with the centipede demons, they seldom revealed the unarmored portion of their bellies so it was the only choice. If he was lucky this one would rear up an-
Clunk!
With a cry of surprise Inuyasha leaped clear of where he landed, stumbling and nearly crashing into a tree as a giant boomerang fell where he had been standing a few moments ago, having bounced off the centipede demon's hide.
"Hey, watch where you're aiming!" he cried angrily, waving his free hand in a fist.
"Yes, Sango, do not act so recklessly. That is why you have not earned your colors." called a deeper voice as a young girl, about the same age as Kagome, grabbed the boomerang and leaped back, stumbling and falling to her knees.
A large band of warriors, each carrying a different weapon, most with colored armor, a few with plain hardened leather. The girl, sango, wore leather and as the Taijiya ran past her she bowed her head sadly before getting shakily back to her feet.
"Sorry about that, I'm not very good at this." Sango said, hefting the boomerang over her shoulder.
That was obviously a lie, he knew she was accustomed to the weapon, there was an ease to the way she carried it that was lacking in some of the other Taijiya.
"Don't let what they say impact how you do." he said before he even completed the thought.
Sango stared at him and he flushed slightly.
"Trust me, I know, you're more than what they see in you."
and with that he heard another cry as one of Kouga's wounded men struggled for the safety of the house, pursued by a demon.
"Later." Inuyasha called as he leapt, Tetsusaiga meeting the demon's hide with another of those awful shriiiiings. He'd be glad when this battle was over.
He didn't see Sango smile and leap into the air, swinging her weapon with a force she should not have had.
With a thump a centipede head fell to the ground, its body following shortly.
---------
With a sigh Kagome closed the heavy book and set it aside, reaching for another one and opening to the table of contents, flipping half-heartedly through the pages.
There was nothing here that could help Inuyasha's predicament, she had needed something to do so she had decided on that. All of these books were on battles and glory filled times.
With another sigh she turned the page, following the trail of words before she actually realized what they said.
'And thus began the era of the demon slaves, kept with hideous collars made by the priestesses. However, the one who had created the spell, one of the Higurashi line, felt mercy for these demons and made a single counter spell...'
Holding her breath, as if the knowledge would be blown away should she breath out, Kagome turned the page.
A/N: Now that wasn't too bad, was it? The part with Shippo... that was really corny -cringe- but at least I updated, right? Anyways, I won't do a reviewer's response just because I need to do other things, things that have kept me from this story. Well, I want around 20 reviews again, this is going to be the second to last chapter, hope you enjoyed it.
Darkwolf