AN: Wow! How quick of an update is this?

Note: I am currently looking for an efficient Beta-reader to help me edit my chapters. If you think you're qualified, email me or leave it in a review, and I'll contact you.

Pirate Pash

Chapter 14 – Famish


"What do you think that sound was?" Kagome asked hurriedly, trying to keep up with the captain a couple paces ahead of her. What she had heard earlier sounded like a fairly feminine wail, but yet it was low enough to determine it came from a man.

"Who knows?" Inuyasha snapped and continued to run, leaping over three stone steps at a time. He snarled angrily when thoughts of Kouga flew through his head, "I just want to know what that asshole is up to now…"

"There they are!" The young boy pointed ahead of them, where they could see a great crowd gathered around two guys, both facing the other with frowns on their faces.

The only thing wrong with the picture was that one of the men was sprawled on the floor with his knees bent, and his arm was twisted beyond recognition. Hojo was quietly sobbing and refusing to turn to face his distorted body part.

"Oh my god…" Kagome breathed and practically had to shield her face at the sight of his mangled arm twisted ninety-degrees backwards. "Oh Hojo…" Despite him being an annoying guy who pestered her constantly, her feminine instincts made her want to comfort him at the sight of his pained expression.

She turned to glace at the captain next to her, and she gasped at his emotionless features. He didn't seem to give a rat's ass about poor Hojo writhing on the floor, but rather he was interested in the man who had done it to poor Hojo.

"Hey bastard…" Inuyasha growled at the pleased man, who looked to be in his twenties and very clean-cut. His blond hair was framing his thin face and he had on a conceited smile. "What are you smiling at?"

"I'm amused with this wimp you call your crew." He snickered again when Hojo started to whimper. "He's no better than a little girl! You are captain Inuyasha - I presume? I must say your delicate crew had me in for quite a surprise…"

"Bastard…what's your name?" He snarled. "Are you part of the Wolf Gang Pirates?"

"My name is Hiroshi. And yes, I work under captain Kouga, and for the strongest group alive."

"Don't get smug with me." Inuyasha fumed and stomped a few steps closer, ignoring the stares at his back from the opposing crew. 'Damn wolves…' He stepped even closer now and glared at Hojo with an unsympathetic look. "What happened?"

"Inu – Inuyasha...! I… I'm so sorry – I…" The pitiful man lowered his head and squeezed his eyes shut, attempting to block out the stern stare of his captain. A shock of pain ran through his right arm again and he naturally turned to look, almost throwing up at the sight of his zigzagged arm. "I…"

"Suck it up like a man and spit it out." He demanded. He would rather kick Hojo when he was down than show any sympathy in front of Kouga and his men, who were probably all watching to see what he would do.

"I'm sorry, sir… I… I don't know why…" Hojo could no longer contain the burst of pain and screamed again, and this time his deafening cries sent Kagome to her feet.

She scurried quickly past baffled prostitutes and pirates from both sides, and moved into the clearing at the center. Kagome slowly bent down and kneeled next to Hojo, who looked up at her with weepy eyes before turning away.

'He's embarrassed…'

"Hojo? Don't worry, I'll get you out of here."

"Hey sweetie, don't bother with him." The man who had inflicted the pain on Hojo in the first place chuckled at her, no doubt mistaking her for one of the harlot girls. "Why don't you leave him there and help me out later, beautiful?"

She had already brought her hands under Hojo's arms and was about to drag the poor boy away when she looked up in shock. "Excus - I'm sorry?"

Hiroshi paced forwards slowly and examined her face for a while before pressing his large boot onto Hojo's chest. "Oof!" He knocked Hojo's limp body out of her grasp and harshly onto the ground. Kagome, along with everyone else in the crowd, gasped at what he had just done. Kicking someone when they were down was not proper pirate conduct.

"Stop that!" She screeched, crouching down to check on Hojo, who was struggling for air after being knocked in the stomach. "Don't touch him!"

"Aww… he can take it, hey, wha-?" Hiroshi's smug smile was instantly wiped off his face when at once both his arms were pulled back and squeezed unmercifully tight. He spun around and gulped when he realized one hand was being grasped by his own captain, and the other by that Inuyasha guy.

"Hiroshi, you should know better than to hit a man when he's down." Kouga spat, tightening his grip extremely tight on his arm. He pointed at Kagome, who was staring in utter astonishment. "And keep your hands off her."

Inuyasha growled and tightened his hold as well, digging his nails into this filthy man's flesh. He seethed, "If you lay another disgusting finger on her or my crew… I'll have to kill you."

No one was expecting Inuyasha to grab so tightly onto Hiroshi's arm that when he twisted it only slightly backwards, a loud snap could be heard - followed by a menacing scream.

"You should be thankful I didn't break your right arm." He smirked and dropped the arm, causing Hiroshi to crash onto the floor next to Hojo, holding onto his left arm with his life.

Inuyasha barely gave the jerk another look before turning to his main opponent across from him. "You should teach your men what fair play is."

Everyone was speechless. The last time their captains conversed like this a huge battle broke out and dozens of men either died or flew overboard. What if it happened this time in the house?

"Listen, Inuyasha. Maybe you should tell this asshole here not to mess with another man's woman."

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. "Funny… I could say the same about you."

Since when did the captain openly consider her 'his woman'? He either really wanted to irritate Kouga, or he was already too drunk to know what words were accidentally slipping out of his mouth.

"Go on Kouga! Punch him!" His men were shouting behind him.

Not wanting to lose to the Wolf Gang, Hiten, Manten and a couple others began to root for their own captain with hoots and shouts, waving their hands madly in the air. "Kill the wolf, Inuyasha! Kill the wolf!"

"KILL THE DOG! KILL THE DOG!" The other side was starting to get even more ballistic in their vocal war. "SLIT HIS NECK! SLIT HIS NECK!"

Kagome stared meekly as the shouting erupted to an unbearable level, and she could not understand the excitement these people gained from shouting profanities at each other. Maybe it was just a male thing? It didn't seem like it… to her it looked like it was taking them on some sort of high.

"Hear that? My crew believe in a rematch between us after all this time. We don't believe we got a proper victory last time!" Kouga sneered and pushed his black hair out of his face. "I'm going to kill your men and bring Kagome with me."

"Like that would even happen in the first place!" He formed a fist and nodded at the crew backing his every move. "The day we lose to you crap is the day I lose my head!"

"I can arrange that… and with a smile on my face!" Kouga threatened, holding up some sort of a hand signal at his crew. His vicious-appearing pack grinned and reached for their weapons tied at their waists, and the moment Inuyasha's group caught sight of it, they also reached for theirs.

"Go to hell, you bastard!" Inuyasha commanded, pulling out his precious sword from his hip and holding the massive blade in front of him.

All the prostitutes were now quickly filing out the doors, but some were blocked by the packs of fuming men.

Kagome did not follow the girls. Instead, she stood there speechless when Inuyasha and Kouga went at it, as well as the rest of the crew. Inuyasha's crew seemed to outnumber Kouga's, so in a couple instances Inuyasha's men had two on Kouga's one.

Everywhere swords were clinging left and right, and she winced when bad memories of the first battle flew into her brain. 'I don't want to see anyone else die…' She backed up when a body flew to the right of her with a bloodbath pouring from its' stomach.

"Sango?" She called out, thankful Kouga already pointed her out so that no one from either side would purposely harm her. Although that blade got a little too close for comfort… "Sango! Where are you?"

She spotted her friend not fighting as she had expected, but rather helping a girl crawl up from the floor after being knocked down by the hilt of a sword. "Quick! Go out there!" Her friend yelled at the girl who quickly complied.

Oddly enough, she was the same girl Miroku was flirting with earlier.

"Sango!" Kagome took one last fleeting look at Inuyasha, who was having a pretty even duel with the leader of the Wolves. Miroku had occupied himself as well, defending a fair damsel who had been knocked down by a brute from Kouga's side. They were engaged in a dangerous swordfight as well.

She hated this. She despised this fighting. If anyone she knew got killed she probably wouldn't be able to contain her emotions. She couldn't stand this. 'Please stop…'

Sango didn't seem to hear or see her, as she was leading other girls out of the building as efficiently as possible. Both she and Kagome did manage to see one of the harlot women become an accidental target to a loose blade.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Kagome screamed and covered her face; a sword that had flown out of one man's hand by accident struck a woman through the back of her neck whilst she was trying to escape. Her friends began to scream and tear up as well.

The girl hadn't stood a chance. She coughed once before sputtering and crashing into a tangle, the red warm liquid oozing from her neck and washing onto the floors; the thought that she wouldn't live to see who killed her made Kagome want to burst out in tears for the unfortunate woman.

She quickly spun her head around again to check on Inuyasha, and this time the captains were not as even-handed as before. He had a huge scrape down his upper arm, and Kouga had a spot grazed on his thigh – although both did not seem to notice.

When another badly injured body flew past her head, she had had enough. Sango's beautiful clothes were splattered with droplets of blood, and everyone looked about as savage as a starved lion.

She took a deep breath. "STO - "

"The navy are coming!" She was interrupted by a lower voice, but his was definitely more efficient in getting everyone to stop what they were doing to notice him. "My business has been trashed, and I have already called the Royal Navy! They will be here in less than half an hour, so I suggest you all leave here peacefully and quickly."

Every face froze to stare at the bald old man standing near the bar table. "I hope you all understand."

"Taki? What is the meaning of this?" Inuyasha looked up from his exhausting fight with Kouga to shout at the old man who had promised him a good time with his crew. "How dare you report us to the navy! We had an agreement!"

Kouga stopped his attacks to also absorb the information.

"I would not call our agreement sacking my home and business, murdering my girls, and starting a full-on pirate war here! This was a mistake!" He shook his head sadly and spotted the still prostitute with the blade through her neck. "I should never have let pirates into my business…"

"Argh, forget it, old man." Inuyasha snapped and rubbed his neck. "I apologize for this. It was completely unpredicted."

"Well, I don't have any more time to waste here." Kouga said loudly, causing his men to back from their attacks and re-sheath their swords. "We need to get out of here!" He turned to the senior with a scowl. "Unless of course, old man, you're bluffing, in which case I might still have to kill you…"

Taki glanced right and left worriedly, a thin layer of sweat lined on his face. The captain of the Wolf Gang Pirates did not have a polite reputation around here. "Oh – of course I did! I telegraphed the navy five minutes ago! They'll be here in no time to - "

"Shut your mouth." Kouga sneered, grabbing a hold of the collar of Taki's shirt and throwing him against the wall of the bar. The old man groaned and slowly slid down the wall, his white hair shielding his face. "Now I won't get to finish my fight with this dog-shit and the navy are coming after us!"

"I had to – I… I…"

"If you had just learned to keep your mouth shut you would have kept your life." He threatened, his own men beginning to scurry out the doors toward their vessel. Kouga raised a fist blatantly. "Say your prayers, old man."

"Kouga, no!"

"What is it - ?" He spun around, pestered that he had only thrown his punch half-way. Who dared to tell him what to do?

"Keep your hands off the old man, asshole." Inuyasha stepped in front of Kagome, who had just called desperately for the wolf captain to stop. "I mean it."

"Inuyasha… we have to go!" Miroku nudged his friend from behind, in the midst of everyone running for their lives out the wooden doors. He had lugged the sleeping Hojo over his back and was preparing to run himself. "I don't think Taki was bluffing about the Navy!"

"Please, Kouga?" She interrupted, praying he would be gullible enough to fall for her sympathy act.

"Err… fine." He withdrew his hand quickly and spun around. "But only because Kagome wanted me to."

"Come on, Kagome. We're off." Sango appeared out of nowhere and snatched her by the arm. "Now."

Inuyasha nodded and followed the two women, leaving Kouga there with Taki in a confused and battered state. He hurried after Inuyasha and sped side-by-side. "Hey, dog-face! This is far from finished!"

"I'll finish you off next time. And if the navy stop us again then I'll just have to forget them and maim you first!"

"I'll see you to that." Kouga suddenly picked up his pace and waved two fingers in front of his face in a good-bye motion. "See ya, Kagome."

"Bye." She did not catch a second look at him, because within seconds he had caught up to the front of his crew, who were already quite far ahead of them.

"What an arrogant bastard." Inuyasha mumbled before running to the front to lead his pack of rushed men. "Sonofa - "

Once her captain was nowhere to be seen, she lifted her skirt slightly to have easier access on the steps. The thought that they were running for their lives was starting to feel a little uncomfortable. "Sango, if the navy catch us, what do you think - "

Sango forced a smile. "You'll wish you were dead if they actually manage to get their hands on you."

Kagome finally understood what cold-sweat was. "That's far from reassuring…"

"Don't worry about it. Inuyasha is famous for dodging the navy ships. And if worse comes to worse, our bombs are far superior to theirs, so we'd sink those white-suited snobs before you could even see them."

Kagome sighed. "I really hope you're not exaggerating."


"Miss Kagome, how was your outing?" Sogo asked in his most pleasant voice, or as pleasantly as a starved man hanging on a pole with feathers tarred onto his body could. Kagome stood near the bottom, resting against the pole while everyone hurried to their stations to get the ship started.

"Awful. Inuyasha and this man named Kouga started a huge brawl in the place and the owner called the navy - "

"Kouga of the Wolf Gang Pirates?" Another asked suddenly, "I'm surprised he didn't bite Kouga's head off!"

"He practically did. Hojo got badly distorted and he's resting up now in his bunk." She sighed and glanced at the five men again. "Are you okay up there?"

"We're alright. It hasn't been too long…"

"But you'll die without any water. I know from my own experience that a couple days without water and you'll famish!" She added frantically, relieved that no one else was aboard at the moment to spot her conversing with them. Everyone was scrambling madly below deck, revving up the ship.

She was long forgotten and left aboard with nil to do.

"We're actually wishing we had stayed behind in battle…" One man croaked out, his voice weak from the dehydration. "It would probably be less painful than this."

Kagome sighed and felt another heavy twinge of guilt. Oh, why did she have to get so involved in situations that had absolutely nothing to do her? Why couldn't she have learned to be as heartless as everyone else aboard? She cleared her throat, "I will be right back."

She sped past the corridors and found her way into the kitchen, checking left and right before stepping into the large room. Sango had told her secretly that the water was stored underneath the bread shelf, something the majority of men didn't and couldn't know.

"Here you are…" She mumbled to herself and crouched down next to the enormous water tank, grabbing a bucket from nearby and waiting idly for the clear liquid to fill. "Hurry up…"

If anyone saw her stealing this bucket of water, or in their case, life source, she was sure her punishment would probably be equally as degrading as the five men's were. 'Oh dear god… don't let anyone see this. Thank god they're all too occupied…'

The bucket was finally filled to the brim, and she quickly switched off the latch and hurried off. Unfortunately, running with an excruciating heavy bucket slowed her down, and she smiled in relief when she made it back to the top floor without anybody in view.

The men did not notice her arriving, because they were all watching with interest the ignition of the ship and the slow but steady takeoff from shore. Kagome gulped and sped up to them, realizing that within minutes somebody would return to the main floor and catch her in the act.

"Hey, I brought you guys some water!" She called out, dropping her bucket and beginning to stack the barrels again. "Quick, before anyone sees!"

They all turned to stare down at her in shock, but were not too proud to refuse the water. Their throats were almost completely devoid of liquid and their stomachs were beginning to cave inwards.

"Miss Kagome, why…?" Sogo pressed, staring blankly at the girl stacking the barrels as quickly as she could to reach them.

"I don't have time to explain." She looked up at the moon and prayed that nobody would be able to see her suspicious form in the shadows. "Just drink this."

The young woman managed to balance herself steadily and braced one hand on the pole, the other reaching for the bucket of water. When she finally reached them, she looked around one last time before holding out the water for the first punished man.

"God bless you…" He muttered silently and took a chug, the liquid slipping past his mouth and dribbling down his chin.

"Hey! Save some for the rest of us!" Sogo was quick to complain, and Kagome chose to give him the water next. After he was done drinking, she proceeded to do the same with the others, who drank so vigorously she felt a reassuring sense of pride. Maybe this wasn't a mistake.

She had spoken too soon…

"Who's up there?" Before the last man could finish off his remains of the bucket, a voice appeared from behind and startled her, causing her stack of buckets to shake unsteadily.

"Eep!"

The buckets could no longer support the girl, and she instantly grabbed hold of a man when they gave out below her. She tightened her hold on the man's waist, and turned to acknowledge the intruder.

Manten.

"You! What were you doing up there with the prisoners?" He demanded, storming up to the girl raised on the mast, a scowl drawn on his face. When she ignored him, he raised his voice. "Tell me what you were doing up there!"

She bit her lips and drew blood, praying that her muscles would not give out on her. But the pangs of soreness in her arms told her that she would not have a lot of time. "I'm not doing anything! Can you let me down?"

"The captain should know about this." He stated. "He should know that you're secretly up there mingling with the trash at night!"

"Inuyasha won't care! He's too busy trying to get the ship out of the harbour!"

Manten longed to know what this woman was up to. Was she going on secret rendezvous in the dead of night with these blokes? Or was she trying to set them loose? Either way, he had to make his captain see this girl for the tramp she was.

"Just tell me what you're doing and I promise to let you down!" The hideous man lied through gritted teeth. 'After our captain sees you up there, of course.'

"… I told you, I don't know! Please just let me down and I'll explain!" She called back, scrambling for an excuse and cringing when her sweaty fingers started to loosen their hold. Inuyasha could not see this. "Please, Manten!"

All of a sudden, fate was against her because the water bucket had fallen out of her grasp and made a soft 'crash' sound on the wooden surface. Oh no…

He grinned when the clear evidence landed by his feet. "I would love to help you out, my dear. But I have been getting my share of jagged rocks in the face lately. I think it's time I get a little payback, and what more perfect than an opportunity than this?"

"You're horrible." She muttered.

"Now if you'll excuse me, maybe Inuyasha can get the answers out of you faster than I can. I'll be back soon. Oh, and unless you want to break a leg, I would hold on tight."

'What a slimy snake…' Kagome cursed him silently as his round figure made its way back down the stairs to report her to the captain. She sighed. 'Shit. I should have minded my own business…'

"Don't worry, we'll back you up." She was already nearing tears when she heard the words slip out of their mouths. "But let's hope Inuyasha doesn't get as angry as he usually does with the theft of food and water."

"…." Kagome mumbled to herself, a little uneased with only the back-up assistance of five feathered men. They had returned to the boat for only moments and here she was digging her own grave again.

"Kagome, is that you?"

She spotted Miroku and Sango piling through the doors first, which was a little bit of a relief. Next followed Shippou, who was a couple heads shorter than the others but looked equally as bewildered. Manten and Hiten proceeded in next, and finally Inuyasha stepped onto the main level of his ship.

"Wait!" She could practically hear what they were going to say. "Let me explain first!"

"See, captain?" Manten asked with the most pleased smile on his face. "That's the water bucket she dropped over there. I believe this woman is sneaking out in the middle of the night with our precious water and feeding it to the prisoners! Can you believe it?"

"Miss Kagome?" Miroku asked hopefully. "Is what Manten saying true?"

She swallowed and shut her eyes securely, blocking out the invasive stares of the people. "I – I… I can't explain it, I.. I don't know."

"Shut up, bit - woman!" Hiten shouted, correcting himself when he remembered how his poor brother was beaten. "If you don't have a valid reason to defend yourself - than you have no excuse but to declare yourself guilty. Is that not right, Inuyasha?"

"She was an innocent!" Sogo and the others yelled. "We asked her to do this for us."

"Shut your mouths!" Hiten commanded, and the men did so at the strict voice of the second-in-command.

"Kagome." Inuyasha asked sternly, and she was unable to read his face. "Are you going to fall?"

She shuddered and felt a sense of disgust with herself. They had treated her with more than enough trust, and she had turned her back on them within seconds. Her hands shook slightly and she looked down. "Yes…"

He sighed and walked forwards, holding his arms out as he reached the mast. "Jump down. We'll talk when you're down."

"But…"

"I said," The captain repeated impatiently. "Jump down."

She decided to listen to him, and holding her old green skirt more tightly to her, she inhaled and released the man she was grabbing onto. 'What if he doesn't catch me?' At first her stomach seemed to sink when she dropped, but it wasn't long before she fell straight into the arms of the captain.

Any girl would have felt speechless had he not yelled at her straight afterwards.

"What the hell were you thinking? Did I not clearly say to keep away from the prisoners in their week of sentence? God, Kagome! I'm starting to think you're a complete moron!" He screamed, the angriest she'd ever seen him with her, which was saying a lot.

How come in every situation they ended up in an argument?

"…giving these idiots our water! Do you not realise that we're running short already? Sea water isn't exactly clean, Kagome. And thanks to that Taki bastard, we didn't get a chance to buy rations or supplies! Now our cupboards are bare! Is that what you wanted, Kagome?"

"What? Is that true, Inuyasha?" Shippou asked quietly. "But -"

"Of course it's true! Have you noticed how fucking empty our kitchen is now? Christ!" He swore, angrily tearing at his hair. A pirate's worst fear was not having enough food to last the voyage. "And we can't even stop at a town because the navy are just looming around somewhere!"

"Inuyasha, why didn't you inform me of this?" Hiten asked, offended that the captain had not shared that crucial piece of information with him. "Why did you keep it to yourself?"

"I didn't!" The frustrated captain screamed. "We were supposed to get it from the neighbour town next to the harlot house, but who knew that wolf-crap was going to show up and get us butted out?"

"Well, I believe this woman should be punished to the full extent of your own rules, Inuyasha." Manten pointed out and Kagome gaped at him. "After all, if we tie her up there with the others we can set aside some provisions."

"But Inuyasha," Kagome convinced, "I had to give them water! When I lived on my island I saw people living only on water but those without it died within days. I was only stealing the water so that the men could last without dying…"

"Are you finished yet?" Hiten snapped, and Kagome stared at him evilly. "Your excuses are of no good to us." The way he said it made her feel all the eyes on her were suspicious and loathing ones.

"Inuyasha, I swear I would not take any extra for myself…" She pleaded, although that was a half-truth. Her mouth trembled from the thought of having her skin tarred with the skin-burning asphalt. "I just didn't want to see anyone else die…"

He looked just as uncomfortable as she did, and in front of his most important crew, he had to watch what he said. It was a well-known fact that Hiten was waiting for the precise opportunity to knock him off his high horse.

"Are we really going to starve now, captain?" Miroku asked to distract him from making his decision.

"Everyone shut up!" He shouted, turning around to yell at him rather than the worried girl. "I still have to figure something out. This day has been a fucking disaster. First Kouga, now this."

"Inuyasha, the girl - " Manten repeated, obviously still holding some sort of a grudge against her.

"Oh yea." He smacked a fist into his hand and walked up to the alarmed girl, who was holding her hands in front of her as if she could push him away. Inuyasha smirked. "I'll have to take care of you first."


AN: I have decided to answer a few questions from my readers to clarify the story a little, because I think I owe the reviewers an explanation:

How long does it take for you to update?

It really depends. Like this chapter for instance, I just sat down and finished off the 19 pages in one sitting. Other times I can't seem to write until I find the inspiration lurking around somewhere.

What will happen with the Kagome-Inuyasha-Kouga love triangle?

Inuyasha will definitely be hooking up with Kouga in the next chapter. No, Kouga is gone for now but he should be making another appearance soon.

Are Sesshoumaru and Naraku going to be in this?

That depends on my sluggish imagination. I'll see when the story progresses if they're necessary. In the end, your question is still not answered.

The boiling hot tar would char their skin, leaving it raw and painful, especially after the tar is peeled off. The feathers of course are meant to be embarrassing, but the burning in combination with the being tied to the mast for so long would likely kill them, and if they did survive, would be good for absolutely nothing for months on end. Right?

I don't suppose I would know, seeing as I have never been tarred before. I read that up on pirate information website somewhere, and according to them, that is what they used to do. But have you considered maybe Inuyasha is trying to kill them?

And (drumroll)… the question of the day:

When Kagome didn't know what the men were doing pulling the women away how did she know what a whore or prostitute were?

:Laughs nervously: Um… that is a great question. Very thorough. Kagome knows what a prostitute is, but was confused at first when she arrived at the whorehouse because she had yet to see a real one.

And remember, if you are interested in beta-ing my stories, drop a line and let me know!

Next chapter is called "Assassination Attempts", Will Hojo attempt to murder Shippou? You'll just have to see for yourself.