Author's Notes: Bwahahaha! I got four reviews! I'm so happy! Thanks a lot for those who read and review! Especially to dragon-tears who was the first one to review =D!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or any of its characters!

Previous Chapter: There, staring at him stood a girl, about a year younger than him. She had long raven hair and she had dark chocolate eyes. She was...pretty.She looked like a slave, but before he could study her more, he was carried into the castle.

In the Shadows

Chapter Two: The Journal and the Locket

---=!=---

When the boy was out of sight, Kagome left to find Sango. She looked around her first, but then decided that Sango probably went back to water the plants.

Kagome hurried across the gardens to find Sango.

She found Sango watering the plants, but when she saw Kagome, she grinned like a maniac.

"Did you see the guy with the silver hair!?" She exclaimed

"Yeah, his ears were so cute!" Kagome squealed

"Ummm, yeah...didn't notice that, but he's a hanyou!" Sango's face was filled with excitement.

"And?" asked Kagome.

"He might be able to beat Naraku!"

Kagome's face suddenly turned similar to Sango, except she started jumping up and down, squealing happily. Kagome ran to Sango and hugged her.

"Oh, and did you see the other boy in the purple robes with a staff? He had a mini ponytail at the back of his head. He looked like a houshi!" said Sango.

Sango was an experienced demon exterminator before she became a slave. Sango had been captured by Naraku when she was 14. He had killed her father and her younger brother the day before. She was so blinded when she heard that they had died, she tried taking him down right away, but she failed, and he captured her.

Sango knew way more than Kagome, because Kagome had been a slave her whole life.

...a slave her whole life...

Kagome was slowly drifting away in thought when what Sango said hit her.

Sango looked over at Kagome for a response when she saw Kagome's content face turn into a surprised face.

"Really? You saw a houshi? I only saw the boy with the silver hair!" Kagome exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'm positive. Maybe he got carried into the castle before you saw him," said Sango.

"Yeah...maybe..."

They started watering the plants again, but the silence was starting to get to Sango's nerves, but when she looked at Kagome, she saw that Kagome was deep in thought. So she decided to leave her be.

---=!=---

Meanwhile in Kagome's mind...

...a slave her whole life...

Those words still rung in her mind.

'I don't know anything about my past...'

'I wish I did, and if Kagome really is my real name...'

'I wonder what being a princess is like...'

She caught herself before she even wished she was a princess.

She had dreamed of being a princess so many times before, but she knew better than to get her hopes up high.

Because she knew that everything that you got in life had a price.

Being a princess would mean manners, fancy dresses, rules, and most of all, you'll most likely end up marrying someone you didn't like.

That was why she often convinced herself that being a slave was better. You work by cleaning, watering flowers, sweeping, doing all that stuff and you get food and a place to stay at.

Kagome decided to leave it at that and keep on watering the plants when her thoughts travelled to a certain hanyou...

'That golden eyed guy was so cute...'

'And that hair...it's amazing!'

'I have to stop thinking about him; I've just seen his face and this it what happens!'

'I wonder what he thought of me when he looked at me...'

'Ok! Stop thinking about him Kagome, and get back to work!'

With that settled she hummed to herself and concentrated on the rest of her work.

---=!=---

"So, what have we got here?"

Naraku's voice rung through the whole room.

Inuyasha and Miroku were standing in the middle of the room.

The guards would have made them kneel if Inuyasha didn't send them a threatening glare.

"Bastard," Inuyasha said.

"Kukukuku, don't use that against me, Inuyasha. You're the one who is being held captivity."

Inuyasha growled.

"That's pretty funny, the prince of the Inu Youkai Kingdom is in the hands of, I, Naraku."

Naraku started chuckling again. "Kukukuku"

Inuyasha growled louder.

"Well, let's see how you can handle the torture I'll be giving you," said Naraku with a serious face.

For a moment Miroku and Inuyasha had fear pass through their eyes, but it soon disappeared.

"Let's see then," Inuyasha said.

"What he said," said Miroku, pointing to Inuyasha.

Naraku stared at them and smiled.

The smile made both Inuyasha and Miroku mentally shiver.

"Both of you will be slaves!" Naraku stated proudly.

Inuyasha and Miroku eyes' widened in shock. They had expected more than this!

There was only one word to describe this guy.

He was creepy.

Before they could even utter a 'what', Naraku motioned the guards to carry them to get their new clothes and to get ready for tomorrow.

---=Kagome=---

In the slave rooms...

Kagome rolled around in her bed restless. She couldn't sleep. She had just finished dinner about an hour ago, and the earlier events didn't help her sleep at all.

She sighed, but she stopped half way through it.

'I could write in my journal; I haven't done that in a long time! Besides, it's only about seven o'clock. I can still get up early tomorrow since it isn't that late,' Kagome thought with excitement.

Kagome looked up from her pillow and looked around the room.

First she looked at Sango who was beside her. Sango was asleep. Although it didn't really matter if she was awake or not since Sango already knew that Kagome kept her life's events in a journal.

Then Kagome looked at the other slaves. They were sleeping peacefully. Good.

She got off her bed and pulled a journal out from under her mattress.

It was a beautifully made journal. The base colour was green and there was a gold lining around the edge. There were dried flowers stuck on the cover. There was also an ink pen that was attached to the book and there was a lock that kept other people from opening it.

Then Kagome took a locket from around her neck and looked at it. It was also very pretty. It was pink and there was a rose engraved in the middle of it. Kagome opened the locket and took out a gold key.

She looked at the book and the key.

---=Flashback=---

A young girl about 11 with long raven hair was planting flowers when something caught her eye.

She quickly dropped everything that she was doing and picked up the shiny object.

She looked at it.

It was a gold key!

She looked at where she had found the key and saw something green underneath some bushes.

She quickly picked up the object and examined it. It looked like some sort of a book.

She gasped as she ran her fingers along the dried flowers that were stuck on the cover. She could only think of one word to describe the book.

It was beautiful.

Then she noticed the lock on it. She thought of how she could open it, when it suddenly came to her.

The key she had found earlier!

She hurriedly stuck the key in the lock and turned it.

The book opened to reveal plain paper, but there were two entries on the first page. It read:

I bought this book when I was out of this nasty, cruel castle. I don't think I will write that much in here...I don't have enough time too. Well so far, fate has been cruel to me. I escape from my arranged marriage and I get caught by Naraku only to become a slave.

I'm going to sleep before I get ratted on.

Anne.

Kagome gasped, 'Anne is the old slave that died yesterday...How come this is here?

Kagome started reading the second entry.

I am slowly dying from an old age. The next morning I am going to hide this journal. Whoever finds this, I hope you the best of your luck with Naraku. I wish I had a better life, but I don't really regret it much. This life didn't have good times nor bad times...

Anne.

Kagome flipped through the book. There was nothing but plain pages.

Her face showed sadness, but it was soon replaced by a smile.

'Anne was really nice to everyone. I think if she went to the arranged marriage; she wouldn't be as happy as now, but I don't know...' Kagome thought.

She thought of what she could do with the journal.

"I know! I can write what I do each day in here, and since this is going to be important to me. I'm going to keep the key somewhere I know it'll be safe." She said to herself happily after awhile.

Suddenly, she felt something cold around her neck. She looked at her neck and remembered that she had a locket with a rose carved into the middle of it. She had the locket since she could remember. It had meant a lot to her since it was probably from her parents.

"That's where I'm going to keep it! The book is going to be...under my bed mattress!" She stated happily.

With that she continued planted the flowers...

---=End of Flashback=---

'Well, I should quickly write an entry before I go to sleep...I'm getting tired,' Kagome said, yawning.

With that said, she quickly took the ink pen from the cover and wrote down her day's events. She closed the journal and put it underneath the mattress. She fixed her bed blanket and slowly drifted off...

Though after she fell asleep, two men came into the room and fixed their selves' a bed, then, they too fell asleep soon after.

One of the men had one thought that ran through his head even though he was asleep.

'Maybe this is worth it since there are so many slave girls,' he thought with a grin pasted on his face.

Pervert.

---=!=---

A/N: Pretty long chapter huh? 6 and a half pages. Sorry if it was boring, the next chapter will be when Inuyasha and Kagome meet. =D Fun fun! Please R&R! Thanx!

Also, the next chapter most probably will be out by Thursday!

Cya,

purity.starz —July 27, 04---Redone August 6, 04.