A/N: :D There's a twist in this chapter! Please review and let me know what you think! I hope you like it!

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My Only Hope
Chapter Fifteen

"How does it feel, Kagome? Is it too heavy? On the other hand, you wouldn't want it to be too light either…What do you think?" Totosai asked her. "I can fix it if it needs fixing…" he added after a moment.

Kagome shook her head. "No, Totosai. Everything is fine. It feels perfect as far as I'm concerned." She smiled. "How exactly does it work?"

"That I can not tell you. The sword is yours. It will submit to you…but it must be you who figures out how to use it."

Kagome nodded. "All right…" she sheathed the sword, and like Inuyasha's, it transformed back to its puny form. "When are we leaving?" she asked her father.

"Right now," he answered. "We need to be back to Kaede's village by tomorrow night." He told her. "I don't like wandering around for too long…there's too much going on right now…"

"What do you mean by that?" she wondered.

"Neither of us are sure yet," whispered Inutaisho.

"Inutaisho…" Izayoi frowned. "Has something happened? Something is wrong. I can tell."

He shrugged. "It's nothing. We can discuss it when we get back…although we may not have to once we get back into the forest."

Inuyasha frowned. "Huh?"

"You'll see." Jin sighed. "Let's go."

They were back into the forest by midday, and yet, there was nothing out of the ordinary as far as they could see. Kagome began to walk slightly ahead. She could hear her father talking to Inuyasha's father about something…but she didn't really listen to their rambling. She could smell something odd up ahead. It was something that she found familiar. She somehow knew this scent from somewhere, although from where she could not identify.

"Hey, Inuyasha…" she whispered. "Do you smell that?"

"Smell what?" he asked, speeding up to join her.

"I don't know what it is! If I knew what it was, do you honestly think I would have asked you about it? It's not a demon…" she quickly ruled out. "It just doesn't smell natural…"

Inuyasha thought about this a moment. "Maybe it's a human smell? We're getting pretty close to that stupid village…" he reminded her, and she visibly cringed.

She shook her head. "No…it's not that. I know humans have an odd scent, but that's not what this is…"

"What's wrong?" demanded Jin. Inutaisho and him had began to slow their pace when they realized that Kagome and Inuyasha were looking for something.

"I don't know!" Kagome replied. "Do you smell it?"

"Yes."

"What is it?"

"I don't know." He answered.

Kagome stopped in her tracks. "I want to find out." She decided. "You guys can continue on ahead if you want to. I'll catch up later…" Kagome started to take off when she felt someone grab onto her arm.

"Oh, no you don't!" Inuyasha growled. "There is no way I am letting you go off into the forest on your own! Besides, you're heading north…"

"What's so bad about that?" Kagome groaned, annoyed.

"People are weird up there. Kind of cruel…" he frowned. "I don't want you going up there alone…"

"But Inuyasha!" Kagome whined. "Something is wrong!"

"Why don't you go with her, Inuyasha?" Inutaisho suggested. "We'll head back to Kaede's and wait for you there…your mother is looking rather tired."

Inuyasha thought about this for a minute before he nodded. "All right, Kagome. You can go, but I'm going with you." He turned to his father. "If we aren't back to Kaede's in three days, come looking, all right?" he asked.

Inutaisho nodded.

"What are you doing letting them go off on their own?" Izayoi demanded, hitting him hard in the shoulder. "Have you lost your mind?"

"I have my reasons," he whispered. "And besides, they need the time alone…"

"Oh…" Izayoi nodded. "I see."

"Exactly."

"We're going to go now," Inuyasha announced. "We'll see you soon."

Inuyasha took Kagome's hand, and the two of them ran off in the opposite direction that their parents were going. After nearly an hour, the scent became stronger, and the two of them came upon a small mountain, and, atop that mountain, a rather large village.

"There's where your smell came from," Inuyasha pointed. He moved to turn around, but Kagome wrapped her hand around the top of his arm to stop him. "What?" he whined.

"Hold on, Inuyasha…we still don't know what it is…"

"You want to go up there?" Inuyasha gasped.

Kagome nodded. "Please?"

Inuyasha knew he wouldn't be able to argue with her for long. She always managed to make him cave in one way or another. He sighed. He was in no mood to argue, and if it would make Kagome happy, he could live with it. He nodded. "Come on. Let's get this over with…"

"There are two coming this way, milord." The small girl nodded. "Might I ask what you plan on doing with the hanyous once they are here?"

The man laughed. "What do you think I plan to do with them?" he smirked at her. "They will serve me in my castle…"

"Milord, demons and hanyous are very proud creatures. They will not submit to you just because you managed to lure them up the mountain…" the little girl reminded him.

"Are you sure of that, Kanna?" the man grinned.

She nodded. "Yes, sir."

"I don't think so. You see this?" he held up a beaded necklace. It was identical to the rosary that was once around Inuyasha's neck.

Kanna stared without emotion. "What do you plan to do with that, milord?" she demanded.

"I will make them submit…"

"But milord…the hanyou female is the reincarnation of the Priestess Kikyou. The male is the son of Inutaisho…they helped defeat Naraku. I think you are most definitely playing with fire…" she warned him.

"That is even more of a reason for their enslavement. We can't have them meddling when I start my campaign. They will get in the way of my plans."

"But you can not take away their free will…" Kanna frowned.

"Maybe not, but I will make sure that they submit to me. Then, I can get the old priestess out of the picture, and get my plan underway…"

"Why the old woman?" asked Kanna next.

"You shall see soon enough. You are dismissed." He growled. "Leave now, before I change my mind about keeping you alive."

"You are very bold for one who has been dead twice yourself," Kanna spat before quickly leaving the room.

"You may be right…but I don't plan on going down so easily this time. Enslaving Inutaisho's son would be like the ultimate insult. If I get him angry enough, I could wipe out his entire clan before he realized what was happening…" Takemaru smirked to himself.

Meanwhile, Kagome and Inuyasha had finally reached the village. The village was bustling with activity, and their presence barely stirred a ripple. The people in the village were hurrying through the streets, shopping, cleaning, or otherwise occupied. Kagome and Inuyasha quietly and carefully came into the gate, and walked seemingly unnoticed to the center of the town.

"The smell…is gone…" Kagome realized. "I wonder what it was?"

Inuyasha spun around in surprise. The gate to the village had slammed shut. The villagers had surrounded them with bows and arrows. Inuyasha grabbed Kagome to jump out of range when a dark gas started surrounding them from seemingly every direction.

Kagome coughed. "What…is this?"

"Hold your breath, damn it!" Inuyasha commanded. His legs were becoming heavy, and his lungs were on fire. Despite his orders, he soon felt Kagome go limp in his arms. It was only seconds later that Inuyasha felt himself falling into darkness.

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"I really hope nothing goes wrong," frowned Jin. "Something didn't smell right back by that mountain, and if anything has happened, it will take us three days to get back there…"

"Which leaves Kagome and Inuyasha alone for at least a week…" Inutaisho sighed. "I think that they will be fine."

"Where have they gone?" asked Sango.

Izayoi sighed. "They thought it would be okay to let Kagome and Inuyasha go off exploring on their own," she explained to Sango. "I don't think it was a very good idea…especially since you two seemed to think something was wrong up there…"

"Maybe Inuyasha and Kagome will use the alone time to their advantage?" Miroku smiled.

Sango hit him in the head with her boomerang bone. "You lecherous pervert!" she screamed at him. "Get those thoughts out of your head right now!" she commanded.

"What thoughts?" asked Shippo and Kohaku in unison.

"Well…" began Miroku.

"Nothing!" Sango cut him off. "Don't you dare tell them stuff like that! They're too young!" she scolded.

"All right…" whined Miroku, slightly afraid.

Jin and Inutaisho could not help but laugh at the arguing couple. The old woman Kaede stuck her head outside her hut door in curiosity. "What's going on?" she asked.

Jin smiled. "Do they always argue like this?"

Kaede nodded. "Aye. Almost as much as Inuyasha and Kagome." She grinned. "Ye will get used to it. Trust me."

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Kagome screamed when she woke up. The last thing she could remember was the villagers surrounding her and Inuyasha. After that, everything went black. She looked around. She was leaned against a wall in a room with no windows. About ten feet from her lay Inuyasha. He was still unconscious. She studied his form for a minute. Something was different about him. She stared for a moment before realizing it.

"The rosary…" she whispered. "But I…I took it off…" She crawled over to him, shaking him gently awake. "Inuyasha…" she frowned. "Wake up, Inuyasha. We're in trouble…"

He groaned. "What happened?"

"I don't know…there's a rosary around your neck…" she sighed.

"You too." He pointed out.

"What?" Kagome gasped.

Inuyasha sat up. "You have one around your neck as well," he repeated.

"Why?" Kagome frowned. "Who are these people?"

"I don't know…but I don't think this qualifies as good…" Inuyasha admitted.

Kagome nodded, taking a deep breath. They were stuck in a small space. There were no windows. And now, for some reason, she and Inuyasha had a subduing necklace around their necks. She was trying her best not to become upset. She took another deep breath. Her methods of calming herself weren't working.

"Inuyasha…" she whispered. "I'm scared…"

"It's okay, Kagome. I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you." He promised.

"I think you're a little late for that, Inuyasha." The voice was familiar, although neither of them had heard it for nearly a year. When Takemaru came into the room, their worst fears were confirmed.

"Takemaru! Didn't we get rid of you already?" Inuyasha growled. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he demanded. "Let us out of this box right now!"

"No. I don't think so. The only way the two of you will come out of that room is if you're working for me."

"Working for you?" Kagome nearly choked. "What makes you think that we'd want to do something like that?"

Takemaru laughed, and it echoed throughout the room. "Because, my dear Kagome…you don't have a choice. I control you now…"

Kagome looked at the necklace around her neck.

Takemaru nodded. "You catch on quickly…" he smirked.

"We won't do a damn thing for you!" Inuyasha yelled.

Takemaru nodded. "Fine. I'll just leave you here then. I will force you to come to your senses eventually…" he vowed. "That is a promise." With that, he slammed the door.

Kagome once again allowed her defenses to crumble. "Inuyasha…how? How is he alive?" she whispered, shaking slightly.

"I don't know," Inuyasha answered truthfully. "We've got to find a way out of here. He's going to kill us…"

"No, Inuyasha. What he's going to do will be much worse than that. He doesn't want us dead. He wants revenge. There's a difference…" she sighed. "How long do you think it will take our dads to find us?"

Inuyasha shook his head. "I don't know. If they managed to mask the human scent and lure us up here, we really have no idea what else they can do."

"I could have guessed that," Kagome nodded solemnly.

The shoji was pushed open in front of them with such force that it bounced back before coming to a halt. In front of them for a second time stood Takemaru, an evil glint in his eye.

"Kagome…come here!" he commanded.

"No." Kagome frowned defiantly. However, despite her best sour face, she found that she was getting up and heading towards the door anyway.

She gasped. "What the hell? Inuyasha! No! I said no!" She tried to stop herself from going towards Takemaru, but found that her feet wouldn't listen to anything that her brain was telling them.

"You son of a…" Inuyasha growled.

"Inuyasha…sit!" Takemaru smirked, and Inuyasha hit the ground with ten times the force that a normal 'sit' command from Kagome would have given him. He did not move.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome whispered.

"Kagome, follow me!" Takemaru ordered.

Inuyasha jumped awake. He could hear something going on in the other room. He heard snapping and screaming coming from the other room. And worse…he could smell Kagome's blood.

"Kagome!" he screamed, jumping towards the door. He was thrown back at the wall. There was a barrier to keep him in the room.

"You will do as I say." Smiled Takemaru.

"No…" Kagome choked between sobs.

The whip came down again, and Kagome yelped. "Inuyasha!" he yelled. "Come here!"

Inuyasha jumped up. He felt himself being pulled towards the next room, and he could not control his own limbs. When he reached the next room, all color drained from his face. "Kagome."

"Inuyasha…stay." Takemaru smiled, bringing the whip down on Kagome once more. He laughed. "This can all stop, Inuyasha. Remember what we talked about? All you have to do let me know…"

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A/N: Haha….not. If you review, I shall update quicker. I hope you liked this chapter! Please let me know!