AN: Thank you, THANK you to all you lovely reviewers out there. You're beautiful. I mean it. ^^ Big hug to Jurei-chan for making me feel so great, along with narco-shiskabob. You're welcome, menchi, and doomo to you too.^^

I'm excited... Tomorrow morning, I'm going to go get my restricted. ...I'm a loser, no? Seventeen, no license. In celebration, I'll try not to leave you guys hanging tonight^^.  I'm armed with a bottle of Mountain Dew Livewire and a bag of white chocolate morsels. This will be a long night.

Hanyou on the High Sea- Chapter 4

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Aggh! This isn't working!" The tajiiya slumped against the rotting wood of the cell that now contained her. ...It was a filthy little box, barely large enough for her to lay down completely stretched. ...For the twentieth time since the guard had left the room to... as she'd overheard... 'break the kegs', and since she'd managed to reach for a fallen, broken broomstick, she reached out, trying to reach the keys that hung on a hook a few yards away. ...But her arms weren't getting any longer.

'Honestly...' Sango thought, grunting and reaching... 'Who leaves dungeon keys in the same room as a prisoner? That's just... well... stupid.  She dropped the broomstick and reached for it again. ...Then again...  She answered her own thought a moment later.  These ARE pirates. ...Not the biggest coconuts in the trees, are they, now? ...Even so, it certainly offered her a glimmer of hope.

The broomstick dropped again with a clang. ...It... was just no use... No matter what angle she tried, it was always short by about a foot. ...She fell back against the walls, hope gone. ...She pulled her knees close to her body, hugging them with her arms. ...Man... It really stunk in here.

...The air was thick with rotting hay, wood, and urine. ...The only light in the entire room... came from a porthole just above her head and a flickering lantern over by the empty guard's chair.

"How did you get into this situation, Sango?" She began to berate herself out loud.  She knew they were incredible odds when she first set foot onto Inuyasha's ship, prepared to strike, but she just couldn't keep herself from feeling so useless.

"...With a hundred and forty million..." She told herself, trailing off... Her gloved hand slipped into the folds of her outfit, pulling out something small... and silver. She brought it close to her eyes.

With only a bit of a struggle, she pulled the locket open. Hidden inside were two small pictures. ...Both of the same brown-haired, brown-eyed, freckled boy.

...A tear came to her eye. ...With a hundred and forty million... I could have purchased your freedom. It streamed down her cheek ...I'm such a failure...

Her head leaned back against the wall.  She had taken the job aboard the Survivor, swabbing decks and taking tickets with the slim hope of coming across the infamous pirate Whiteclaw, terror to merchants, villages and the like. ...Not only was he currently the most valuable sea dog out there, he was her best chance of buying Kohaku back.

But how was she going to get out of here?

A shadow passed over the porthole, dimming the light in the room. Sango closed her eyes. ...Might as well get some sleep. Either way, she was probably going to walk off the plank tomorrow.

'Mew!'  There was a tap on the glass.

Her eyes snapped open. The shadow across the porthole was still.

"..Ki...rara...?"

~*~

Hrm...Miroku had just grown an extra head... Good... good.

Inuyasha hic'ed as his mug came crashing down on the table. ....This was... such a nice feeling... He was... a little bird. ...And there were little birds flying over his head... ...Now If only he could stay drunk, like normal humans. Damn his hanyou regeneration and hardiness.

He took another swig of ale as he felt himself beginning to sober up.

Like after any raid, the mess hall was well... a mess. Pirates hung from the ceiling like chandeliers. There was a game of drinking poker going on in one table, and bets for arm wrestling going on in another. Pleh... Inuyasha growled, looking at the beefy crewmen going at it. ...Weaklings. Somewhere... far off, a table collapsed.

Miroku plopped in front of him, a reddish tinge on his cheeks.

"Banzai, Captain Whiterawl!" He slurred, looking past him. "...Er....Whitecall... Darn it... Inuyasha!"

An amused smirk showed up on the hanyou's face. "...Heheheh... you have four eyes."

"Isn't it hard fer you to... eh... keep this stuff down? The houshi reached for Inu's mug.

"Fourteen pints and I'm still feelin' nothing." Miroku's head went sideways and sprouted a horn. "Well... almost..." he said tipsily.

The priest leaned in close, appearing to suddenly think of something.  "So... honestly, captain... man to man..."   

Inuyasha looked up at him lazily. "Aren't we're all fuckin' men here..."

A purple clothed arm went around Inuyasha's back, patting. "Well... we're all dyin' to know... an' by we, I mean ME..."

"Uh-huh..." ...*hic*

"Who the hottie-er... young lady..."

"...yeah...?"

"...With a nice ass...-"

Intoxicated, Inuyasha growled loudly and grabbed Miroku by the neck collar. The pint of ale spilled over the side of the table. "...Hurry it up, goddammit!!" He gave his friend a good drunk shake.

"-is? The one you tossed in the slammer today..?" Miroku looked sheepish, sweatdropping.

With a drunk pause, Inuyasha looked up, blinking, and carefully set the houshi back on the stool. "Some bounty hunter..." he hic'd. "I think I'll make her walk the plank... what'chu think?"

Miroku looked insulted. "...Before I got a chance to appreciate her beauty up close...? Nonsense, captain!" His head suddenly fell on the tabletop, as intoxicated as his superior.

...Inuyasha wrinkled his nose. ...One of his men hadn't made it to a toilet bowl somewhere in this room... Bad news for a sensitive doggy sense of smell. And, he could feel himself sobering up fast. He got up.

"Where are you going, Inura... Inusha... uh, captain?" Miroku rolled his head to the side.

"...Out fer a walk." The hanyou was suddenly feeling surly. ...Thank you, alcoholic mood swings.

He sauntered past the arm-wrestling table, stopping to give a squinting glare to the one winning. ...A wolf youkai with white spiky hair.  "...Weren't you supposed to be guarding the prisoner...?

This one also looked sheepish. He sweatdropped, answering in a whiny voice. "...But... it was Manten's turn to take over.." Grumbling, Inuyasha walked slowly to the door. Didn't any of these morons know better than to leave a prisoner alone in a room with keys?  ...He thought a moment. ...Come to think of it... or leave the keys alone, period?  ...He looked around the room. ...Thinking long and hard for a moment, he didn't recall seeing Manten since he dismissed him before the raid. How odd that he wasn't plastered to the keg.

Walking out of the room, he slammed the door. ...Blowing the cards from the poker table up in the air.

"Bastard! You was cheating!"

"Fuckin' oath..."

Miroku raised his heavy head from the table and looked around. Dang... Not a single curve in this room... ...Maybe... he should pay a visit below decks...

...Or... maybe...

His head hit the table a second time.

~*~

Kagome lay on the hay like a lamb for slaughter. ...At least, that's what she felt like.

Sheer, mounting horror at the fact that she was about to be violated by some grotesque head with legs sent her head spinning. 

He stood over her, leering. "You know, it'll only hurt for a second. ...Then you'll be riding waves..." A wide, toothy grin erupted with a laugh.  "Shall I tell you more, my raven-headed cherry?"

Oh, GROSS! He wanted to talk DIRTY!! Kagome gagged internally. It was going to take all of her willpower to NOT to toss her cookies. ...He set the lantern down on a crate and she looked down...

...Damn damn damn. Her hands were bound tight with cord. Her leg was red, and throbbing with pain. There was still that nasty burn lingering.

"Um..." she said, scanning around the room frantically, trying to buy some time. He looked up and she hesitated. "...So....um.... big guy.... Tell me, how exactly do you plan to... um... satisfy me?" Her heart pounded. ...She *REALLY* didn't want to hear the answer, but if this guy's ego was as big as his head, then, just maybe he'd be distracted from his... goal.

A surprised look from him, followed by loud, hearty laughter. "Ooh... The boys were right about this one... you are feisty..." He ginned. "...Well my dear..." Kagome fiddled around with the cords on her hands. Turned on her side, she hoped he couldn't see what she was doing. Her face was plastered to his, smiling weakly and nodding as she tuned out every lewd thing he said, trying desperately to get the bindings free.

"...And I always wanted a fresh girl from the coast... They seem so much wilder than the inland women... which is why you're such a prize, don't you see..."

Gods... Kagome was dumbstruck. ...For an excited pirate, he sure was very self-absorbed... She felt a loose end in the cord. There... I got it!

Manten stopped then, smiling cruelly at her. "...But enough about that.... I know you're just trying to buy yourself time... They always do." ...Kagome sweatdropped. He advanced..." ...Shall we?"

No, no, no, no, no... She shut her eyes tightly, fingers struggling with the cord. His evil-looking face loomed. ...no, no, no, no... yes!  They loosened! The gargantuan beast pounced.

Her hands fell free and came to her sides just as he tossed himself on her. Instinctively, they propelled her back as his hand made a grab at her shirt, ripping it with a sickening tear.

Both were stunned for a moment, wondering why the other wasn't touching them, but Kagome had the advantage on the larger, slow moving youkai. She kicked his face under the chin with as much strength as she could gather. Connecting solidly, she heard a crack. ...Ooh... teeth...

The monster lay kneeled on the floor with his hand covering his mouth. A few coughs later, he spit up blood.

Quick! Kagome, Find something! Her eyes darted around the room. There! A broken chair was in a corner not too far off. Manten looked up at her from the floor, any trace of a smile gone from his face. He coughed again, and a low, unearthly growl came from his mouth. "Bitch... I... am going to kill you..."

In the blink of an eye he rushed at her, and she ducked. She leaped at the corner and felt her hands grasp a heavy chair leg.

But... She looked around. Damn! She was trapped! Manten lunged again, grabbing her and lifting her up by the neck, pinning her against the wall. Without her realizing it, That was when the loud, piercing scream finally erupted from her chest.

~*~

Inuyasha wasn't feeling very pleasant. ...Mainly, because the alcohol was nearly entirely gone from his body. ...Secondly, because he had stopped by the kitchen to sample the cook's ramen, finding it tasteless and inedible. ...He wasted no time in grabbing him, and tossing him over the side of the boat.

Lastly, of course... was because Manten the Moron was nowhere to be found. ...And Inuyasha was very impatient. He stormed down the main hallway in the living quarters, slamming random doors open and close, much to the nervousness of come crew. ...A quick sniff told him Manten was nowhere in this hallway. ...The brute's scent was unmistakable. Damn it all. If it were anything, he'd swear he wasn't even on the ship.

...He punched a wall, heading for downstairs. ...Looks like he was going to have to look over the bounty hunter himself. ...What a waste of time.

Inuyasha grumbled all the way to the end of the hallway. Until... his nose caught a whiff of something... A little bit of Manten..? He paused at the stairs.

...There was an... unfamiliar smell here.

...Narrowing his eyes, in suspicion, he walked down the stairs.

...The deck below was dank and dark... made solely for the containment of prisoners and stores. It was an assault on his nose, and Inuyasha cursed the fact that he had to come down here. He looked down the dark, creaking hallway.  A pirate was asleep by his legs... Or drunk...

His eyes glanced over his side... He... thought he imagined seeing a flicker underneath the storehouse door...

Inuyasha shrugged it off... it must have been the lingering booze playing tricks on his sight. He made for the cell room.

...But stopped. ...There it was again. ...That smell. He could have been mistaken, but Manten's scent seemed to linger in this hallway as well. ...Perhaps... he was already in the cell room..?

No... He stopped in front of the heavy oaken door of the ship's prison. ....It would have been stronger.

Before he could have had time to stand and think about the situation, an ear-shattering, air piercing scream filled the air. Inuyasha was shaken out of any residual drunken stupor. ...What the hell?!  Her spun around.

THAT was NOT one of his men.

...He took another sniff, suddenly finding Manten's scent and the other strange one stronger. ...They'd had come from the storeroom.

"Don't... tell me..."

~*~

Kagome's lungs were empty. She was being held by the neck. ...For the third time that night, she knew she was going to die. Manten's angered eyes blazed in her face, his enraged, hot breath suffocating her even more than she already was.

No... I can't die... I can't... Kagome's eyes were clamped shut. Not yet... not like this... Flashes of memory passed before her. She thought of her family... Souta, Mama... and Grandpa. ...She thought of the Buyo, the cat.... purring around her legs. Her teeth were gritted. ....I'm not going to die.... She opened her eyes, glaring at the youkai. She managed a gasp. "...I'm NOT!!"

Her legs were still free. So, she kicked him. ...In the jewels. Manten instantly dropped her, doubling over in pain. ...Kagome made a beeline to the broken piece of chair and jumped up, bringing it up... and over her shoulder...

...And between the surprised Manten's eyes.

A frozen scene. ...You could have cut the sudden silence with a knife. ...At first, nothing seemed to happen. Manten looked blankly up at Kagome with slitted eyes. ...Then, those slitted eyes opened wide and bulged. The enormous face turned three shades of red, and Manten slumped over backwards.... out cold.

The makeshift club fell. Kagome didn't seem to notice how heavily she was breathing. Her chest heaved in both relief and lingering fright. She had done it. ...She had stopped him. ...Now, she needed to get out of here...

Her leg was throbbing even worse than before. ...She was sure her face was a least a quarter black and blue, and she had to hold her torn shirt together with her hand to keep from chest spillage. ...Even so, with the handicaps, she ran to that door as fast as she could... her life depended on it. For all she knew, the brute pirate would wake up next minute.

Without any inhibitions, she ran to the door, pulled it open, and ran out.

....Too bad she wasn't expecting someone to already be there.

Her body crashed against the firm chest of a pirate, and the next thing she knew, she had landed on the floor again.

...She was a messy heap in the hallway. ....This was getting tiring.

Inuyasha recovered quickly enough, smelling the person who'd rammed him before seeing her. ....Oh yeah... that was definitely it. The smoke from their hair and tender burned part of the leg was a dead ringer. ...And Manten was inside all right. His blood stunk worse than the hallway itself.  Inuyasha began to sort out what had happened.

"Dammit...." he turned his head to see the girl on the floor. She wasn't facing him, but rather had her back turned. ...She reached up and rubbed her head,

A chill ran down Inu's spine. ...That profile looked familiar.

Gathering his wits, he finally spat. "...Who the hell're YOU?"

...Kagome was starting to get a little angry... just a little bit...

 I mean... Here she was... lying in the bowels of a pirate ship, after being attacked by a demon that resembled an overweight toad. ...The toad had HAD her in the first place because she was on a bargain ship generously provided by grandpa... ...AND... Kagome's fist clenched..... to ice it all off, if she didn't have to marry that rich asshat Lord Kouga, none of this would have happened!!

Silently... she stood up and dusted herself off.  Inuyasha blinked. Maybe it was the buzz, but he suddenly couldn't think of anything rude or threatening to say.

"...I'm getting off this ship, now." Her voice sounded slow and steady. "I... want to go home."

Inuyasha's eyebrow twitched. "...Say, what?"

She turned around, eyes burning darkly. "I... want to go home. Thank you. Have a nice day."

Inuyasha was almost taken aback. ...Manten sure looked like he'd had his fun.  ..Speaking of which... he had to remember to kick his ass later on....

His golden eyes narrowed. "Oh YEAH?"

Her fists clenched tighter. "Yeah!"

"....Then I sure as hell hope you know how to swim."

~*~

"That's right, Kirara! Just grab it...! Good girl..." Sango's heart was about to soar.

The red-eyed neko hopped to her master with a jingle of keys and happy mew.  "...What a relief..!"

Turn. Click. The imprisoned tajiiya was out of her cage. Kirara jumped into her arms.  "Good... now let's find a way out of here..."

~*~

AN: ...Oh, wow.. I'm tired... I can't even think... but, I wanted to post this so badly, I HAD to keep writing! ..I'm sorry for the short, semi-poor chapter...

Well... Inu and Kag have finally met... but it doesn't look like love at first site...what'll happen next? Thank you once again to all my reviewers. You make me weep with joy.