INUYASHA
I
had no idea what to do next at the end of this, but the beginning's
pretty cool. I like the idea, and I'll probably use it later, once I
decide what I'm going to do with the story. Might rewrite it a bit,
though.
Mercenary Princess
He kicked at the stone walls in the dungeon. He was getting bored. He didn't have anything to do. What was he waiting for, anyways? Were they going to kill him? Or worse . . . sell him?
He wasn't going to know until they got there. And until then, all he could do was wait. And he was bored.
A hand reached through the bars and clasped in his hair. He barely opened his eyes, and glared at the guard with disgust. He didn't even flinch.
"Come on." he said, dragging him to his feet. He unlocked the door, and pulled the prisoner out. "The council wants you, now. I think they've found a buyer."
Internally, the man shuddered, but he wouldn't let his captors know that. As they pulled him through the low door and he crouched slightly to get out, he stepped into the light. His silver hair, though he hadn't bothered to try fixing it in days, was tidy. It was always tidy. His golden eyes caught and reflected every shard of light flung his way, and the fur-covered dog-like ears on his head twiched with every sound in the dungeoun. His old red kimono, though tattered and torn, fit his personality and apperearance perfectly, and maybe that was why.
There were a dozen more guards waiting in the hall outside the cell, and they didn't leave until the first had bound his hands behind his back and had the point of a spear aimed to the more sensitive site of skin, just between his shoulder blades. Then there were only four of them left, and they guided him to the top of the stairs and down the hall to the council chamber.
He was shoved to a stand-still just outside the shoji doors, and he could here voices coming from inside, and see shadows of figures moving.
There was the council, on the stand over to the side where they always sat. Nine of them, he knew, even though he could only make out the complete profile of two or three. Then there was another figure, in the center, standing. He couldn't make him out, but from his stance, and the flowing disposition of his clothes, he figured he was rich. 'Some mercenary, probably.' he thought disgustedly. 'Yuck, I'm going to get sold to a mercenary! '
One of the council members moved, as though speaking, and he heard a voice. "Will you assist us in our mission?"
'Guess I was right with the mercenary bussiness.'
But what surprised him was when the mercenary spoke.
"I will." he said. But it was most definately a she. She flicked her head, and he could make out her hair gliding down her back and swinging side to side with the movement.
Another figure from the council nodded. "Then we have something to further appease you."
The guard standing beside him reached out and opened the shoji, and as soon as it had clicked, the point of the spear bit painfully into his back, not hard enough to cause blood, but enough to get him to move.
He stumbled forth into the center of the chamber, and another soldier shoved him to the ground, pressing his head down with his foot. He barely caught sight of the woman mercenary before he fell to his knees.
She was certainly beautiful. The blue garment that clung gently around her torso was only a lighter shade of her deep, cerulean eyes. She had dark violet peices of armor on her shoulders, and the white clothe that hung down before and behind her legs almost seemed to be a pale blue. The sides of her legs could be seen, as the clothe didn't go all the way around, and was instead two garments that went to her ankles. She had silvery boots, trimmed in white fur, and a belt of braided strings of silver which held up the white clothe when it came around her waist, which was as far up as it went. Her sleeves were only sheer peices of clothing that fell to her wrists. Her hair was a long braid that went to her knees, and her shirt didn't cover her back. She had a small, furry tail mounted on her shoulder, and he assumed it was to show she was powerful, and could defeat many opponents, or some mercenary thing like that.
"He is a prisoner of war," one of the members of the council was saying. "and he is yours now. I hope this will help you keep your promise to help us. If not, well, you can have him anyways. We have no use for him."
He raised his head slightly to look up at her again, but before he could look at her face, the soldier behind him stomped his foot down on his head.
"You're a slave." he sneered. "What gave you the idea you could look at your master without permission?"
"Nagiko!" he heard the mercenary cry. "What gave you the idea I wanted you to punish my slave? You have not become my personal slave-driver!" The foot on his head lessened it's pressure, and he looked up into the woman's face. "And besides, I'm not sure if I want to take him on as my slave, anyway. I have to travel, and I don't know if I want to lug around another being."
He was surprised when the little furry thing on her shoulder, which he had mistaken for a warrior's symbol of victory or something, twiched and uncurled to reveal it as a kitsune kit.
The little kit leaned over and whispered in her ear. The man could hear, because of his excellent hearing and dog ears. "Come on, what could it hurt? Bring him along, he may be able to help. Even if he is only a lowly hanyou."
A dangerous growl began low in the man's throat. The kitsune yelped and leapt behind the woman's neck, peering out from behind her hair, but continued to whisper in her ear. Only now, even with his advanced hearing, the man couldn't hear them. But he heard the woman. She nodded, and acknowledged whatever it was he was saying with short, one word questions, and even a smile. Then she turned to the council.
"Will I be given a room in your palace, or will you force me to sleep out in the cold?" she asked.
He could tell the council didn't want to let her in, but when she said it like that, they had to. The one seated closest to the front stood. He motioned to a guard, and whispered something in his ear when he was near. The man nodded, and walked out.
"There will be a hall for you, and a band of maids to attend to you while you are here." he said, and the council left. The merecenary walked out through the shoji on the other side of the chamber, down the hall, and walked with the guard waiting for her to a hall down on the other side of the palace. Far away from the dungeons, he noted.
She walked into one of the rooms, and shut the door behind her. What was he supposed to do now? Then he noticed she had only pulled it after her, not shut it, so he followed her in, shutting it himself.
She walked into the room, and heard the slave walk in behind her and shut the door. She went over and sat on the window seat.
"What's your name?" she asked after looking out the window for a while. The moon was out, it was night, and the stars were so much more beautiful here then at home.
A moment of silence, and then a soft bang and a muffled sound from near the door. She turned back to see the little kit that had come in on her shoulder bouncing around on one foot, crying under his breath, "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! "
She stretched out her hands to him with a smile. He leapt into them quickly enough, babying his foot. "You need to be more careful." she said playfully, hugging him lightly. Then she turned back to the hanyou slave. "What's your name?" she repeated.
He hadn't sat yet, but was hovering dangerously close to the chair by her bed. She almost told him to sit down, but decided he could wait until he told her his name.
"Inuyasha." he mumbled, not looking at her.
She smiled at him, even though he didn't look. "Have a seat, Inuyasha." she said. "It must be uncomfortable to stand around all the time."
"Like you'd know what uncomfortable was." he muttered.
"What was that?"
"Nothing. Is he yours?"
"Who?"
"The kitsune. Is he yours?"
She blushed. "Is . . . Shippo . . . my . . . what? "
The slave looked over to her, almost annoyed. "Is he your kid? " He spoke deliberately, as if she was too slow to understand.
"Ah, no! Of course not! He just travels with me, is all." Then her expression got sad. "His parents died over three years ago, before I became . . . a mercenary, I suppose that's what I am now."
"You weren't always a mercenary?" the slave asked, surprised.
"No, of course not. I used to live in a very poor village. I only became a mercenary after my father died, and my brother couldn't help support us. I worked out in the small feild behind our house, and then I went to my grandfather's shrine to work there. That's where I found out that I had priestess powers, and people began to come to me for everything from curing ilnesses to dispelling demons to helping children sleep.
"Then there was a battle, and a hoard of youkai attacked the village in which my grandfather's shrine was. I...destroyed them. Purified them, if you wish, but they're gone. About two hundred or so, I think. I'm stronger now, though, and I defeat youkai. Only youkai. The only reason I don't destroy human warriors is that my powers don't work on humans, but if they did, I would attack their throngs of military as well." She looked angry, and he heard her mutter under her breath, "I hate war."
A few moments of silence to allow Inuyasha to take in what she had said, and Shippo chimed, "I help her out. She took me along, and I've been with her for a long time."
Inuyasha only nodded, lost in his own thoughts and memories.
"They said I was a prisoner of war." he said after a moment. "I've never been even in a battle before, only trained and dueled. They stormed my home, and took me and my mother and sisters to their castle. I...they're all dead now."
"I know." she said slowly. "I...I know. I'm sorry."
"What are you apologizing for?" Inuyasha sneered. "It's not like you did it. And besides, you shouldn't act like that to a slave."
"I told them I don't want a slave, and I still don't. You can travel with me if you like, but you are not my slave. Once I leave, you're on your own." She smiled at the moon. "That's not to say I wouldn't enjoy your company. I would, in fact, but you may leave if you wish. Just wait 'till we're out of here, okay? So they don't get suspicious or something."
"Keh." Inuyasha muttered, turning away.
"By the way, what did you do?"
He looked up, startled. "Wh-what do you mean?"
"They certainly were eager to get rid of you, don't you think?" She smiled over at him. "So I was just wondering what you did."
"They're scared of me. I...my father was a great warrior. He didn't do anything to them, either, but when he got too angry..." He didn't finish his sentence. "The only way they could make him stop was to have him killed by their priestess, and she's dead now. So they've no way to defend against me, if I'm like him..."
