Hey peoples! Thanks for all the reviews! I think most of you will be happy
to know that this is the chapter where Inuyasha comes in!
Anyway, I changed Inuyasha's name TEMPORARILY for the purpose of the fic. The name I used is just what the circus calls him, okay? Don't be confused by it. It'll change back to Inuyasha in the next chapter.
Review responses:
Duragan: Thanks! I luv your reviews!
Dog-eared hanyou: Thankies! Don't forget to review this chapter for a cookie and an Inu plushie!
Tippi: Thanks! You know, I have a goldfish named Tippi. Keep reading and reviewing!
Inuyasha Mistress: Ooh! *tries to do new story dance* *falls in a tangled mess on the floor* Oh, well. Update soon!
Vorsith: Thanks for the review! ^-^
gilbertfan: I just luv your reviews! They're so funny! As to your question, kinda. Wait and see for yourself!
crazcat416: Yeah, they're gonna meet Sango, Miroku, and Shippo, though Shippo only appears in one chapter! ^-^;
Andene: Yep! She "meets" Inuyasha in this chap. Thanks for the review!
Lost Darkness: There is a WacDonald's, so suck it up! : P
~
Kagome filtered into the show tent along with a swarm of other people coming early to get a good seat. The tent was already starting to fill up, but Kagome managed to get a seat five rows back with a fairly good view of all three circus rings. Ayumi and Eri had left earlier with Yuka who had gotten a stomachache from eating too much cotton candy. After the seats were nearly filled up, the lights began to dim and the buzz of activity slowed and quieted. People started shushing their friends. Everyone eventually stopped talking and turned their attention to the center ring. The spotlight shone on a young man with his black hair pulled back into a knee-length braid. The light reflected of his blood-red eyes. In one hand, he held a two-pronged pike. 'Probably for show,' Kagome thought. The other hand held a microphone up to his face.
"Good evening and welcome to Naraku's Carnival, the best in the world! We welcome you and hope that you have already enjoyed your day here! Are you having fun yet?" A cheer rang through the audience. "Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, you haven't seen anything yet! The real fun is about to begin now! And now, without any further delay, we begin our show with our unrivaled tightrope walker, Yura!"
Kagome watched the show and cheered on the performers. She could see why this carnival had such a good rating. As the last of the acrobats left the ring, the lights suddenly went out. There was confused whispering and a few people screamed. When the lights came back on again, the three rings were gone, replaced by an enormous cage.
"And now, Ladies and Gentlemen, for the moment you've all been waiting for. It's time for the greatest animal tamers in the world to show you what they've got! Please welcome Kouga and his band of wolf tamers!"
A group of men entered the cage, each one accompanied by a brown wolf. One man was surrounded by about six wolves. He was dressed rather elaborately in brown furs. His black hair was tied back in a high ponytail. His blue eyes scanned the crowd as he waved to the cheering audience.
'That must be Kouga,' Kagome thought.
Kouga's eyes stopped on Kagome. He gave a cocky grin and blew a kiss in her direction. Kagome was wondering whether or not to be offended when Kouga and the other wolf tamers began their performance. Each tamer had their animal do a different trick. One jumped through a hoop. Another jumped over a six-foot high pole. One even found items that were hidden around the cage and brought them back to its master. Kouga had his six wolves stand on top of each other to form a pyramid.
'Geez,' Kagome marveled. 'They have them trained as if they were ordinary dogs.'
Suddenly, wolves and men alike, except for Kouga, lined up at one edge of the large cage. A much smaller cage was wheeled in. The door of the cage opened and a gigantic dark brown wolf bounded out, snarling and barking. Kouga produced a whip from inside his furs. The wolf lunged towards the audience, only to have its muzzle smashed into the bars of the cage. It then spotted a target it could get at. It charged at Kouga's men and was stopped this time by the snap of Kouga's whip just inches from its face. It turned to Kouga, snarling and baring its fangs. But before Kagome could think about it, Kouga had the wolf back in its cage. Kouga and his men began to exit the larger cage. A few of the men wheeled the wolf away again. Kouga winked at her as he left. The crowd cheered him for taming the large wolf.
"Kouga has tamed a most fearsome creature indeed!" the announcer said. "But to tame our next beast, we will need someone more skilled than Kouga himself!"
The spotlight shone on the entrance of the cage where two shimmering white tigers bounded in, side by side. Sitting sideways on the back of one was a man. As the tigers ran around the cage, he jumped from the tiger's back to the center of the cage. The two tigers ran to stand beside him, one on each side. Kagome looked the man over. His hair matched the shade of his tigers' coat. He had two magenta stripes on each cheek and a blue crescent moon on his forehead. He was dressed in an elaborate white kimono and he had something long and fluffy thrown over his shoulder.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome Sessho-maru and his tigers, Rin and Jakken!"
Kagome's view of the ring was cut off as people stood up to cheer Sessho-maru. Suddenly, she heard a collective murmur run through the crowd. She stood on the tips of her toes as she tried desperately to see what was happening. Through the crowd of people, Kagome managed to get a glimpse of another small cage. This one was covered with a red curtain, but the sounds of clanking chains and an unearthly snarling and growling came from the inside. Sessho-maru's tigers stepped forward and grabbed two of the corners of the curtain. They swiftly pulled it off of the cage. Kagome gasped at what she saw.
At first, he seemed human, until she saw the two dog-like ears on top of his head. The light shone off his long, silver hair and his golden eyes burned with hatred and fury. His slender fingers were tipped with pointed claws. His bared teeth revealed two canine-like fangs. The only thing he was wearing was what looked like the remains of what might have been pants once.
He was bound by chains around his ankles, wrists, and neck. His wrists and neck were caked with blood from his attempts at escaping his bonds. Suddenly, the cage door swung open and the electric locks on the chains opened. The "thing" immediately leapt from the smaller cage into the large one.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, watch and be amazed as Sessho-maru tames this half-human, half-beast freak of nature, Ikari!!!!" (A/N: Don't worry, Ikari is just what the circus calls him. It'll change to Inuyasha in the next chapter like I said earlier, in case you didn't read the author's note.)
Ikari gave a half-crazed, killing glare to the audience, but didn't attempt an attack. Instead, he turned his gaze to Sessho-maru and let out a harsh growl. Then he launched himself at Sessho-maru. Kagome noticed that though he had a human shape, Ikari ran using both his hands and his feet. Sessho-maru easily dodged his attack. He pulled out a glowing greenish-yellow whip and snapped it across his attacker's back. Ikari let out a yelp of surprise and pain. Sessho-maru whispered something to the larger and stronger of his two tigers. The tiger leapt towards Ikari, roaring its challenge. Ikari turned and swiped at the tiger. The tiger stepped back, a thin red line slowly growing on its chest. Provoked, the tiger attacked again. Ikari accepted its challenge and managed to land a blow to the tiger's throat. The tiger fell to the ground, slowly bleeding to death. Sessho-maru knelt down next to it as its breathing slowed and stopped. Then, Sessho-maru's eyes burned with fury. He took out his whip and snapped Ikari right across the face. Sessho-maru prepared another blow, but when the whip was close enough, Ikari grabbed it in his teeth. He yanked the whip from Sessho-maru's hands. He then launched himself with incredible speed towards Sessho-maru. His claws sunk into Sessho-maru's left arm. A collective gasp ran through the crowd as they all watched Ikari tear Sessho-maru's arm from his body.
At that moment, a curtain was drawn around the ring, cutting off everyone's view.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we ask that you please leave the stadium due to difficulties. We are sorry for the inconvenience."
Kagome was swept along with the crowd of people leaving the stadium. As she stood outside the show tent, her only thought was that she had to find a way to see that boy, Ikari, again. She somehow felt that there was more to him than she saw. She wandered over to a bench to think of a way to see him again.
~Meanwhile, in the ring~
"Master Sessho-maru! Are you alright?"
Sessho-maru barely noticed the concerned crowd of people flocking about him. He kept his burning amber gaze fixed on Ikari, whose own eyes reflected the same gaze of hate.
"Master Sessho-maru! Your wound needs tending!" a man said.
"See that this beast is locked in a cage and chained tightly!" Sessho- maru said, completely ignoring the concerned man. "Do it now!" he ordered.
"Yes, Master Sessho-maru!"
A group of people with chains closed in around Ikari. Ikari growled and swiped at them with his claws. Someone snuck up behind Ikari and slipped a chain around his neck and pulled it tight, causing the chain to cut into his already bloodied neck. The others moved in and slipped chains around his wrists and ankles, locking them tightly. Then they threw him into a cage.
"Put him out back!" Sessho-maru ordered. "It seems this animal has forgotten its place. In that case, I shall just have to remind him," Sessho-maru said as he picked up his whip with his remaining arm.
Completely oblivious to his bleeding stump of a left arm, Sessho-maru followed the cage as it was dragged outside.
~
"Idiot fool of a freak!"
Ikari yelped as the whip cut into his flesh again. His back and chest were already riddled with whip marks.
"You nearly ruined the show, you've permanently disabled me, and YOU KILLED RIN!!!"
Ikari bit back a cry as the whip struck him again. Sessho-maru reached through the bars and picked him up by the neck. He winced as Sessho-maru's fingers dug into his neck.
"Don't you EVER try to be so bold again, or I will leave you so miserable, you'll wish you were dead!" Sessho-maru hissed.
He threw Ikari against the far wall of the cage and stormed away. A group of circus workers moved in and heaved the cage onto their shoulders. Ikari didn't even growl at them like he usually did as they loaded his cage onto one of the semi trucks.
~
Kagome stared at the ground, trying to form a plan in her head. Nothing was coming yet. She sighed in frustration and looked up...
...Just in time to see Ikari's cage being loaded onto an eighteen- wheeler.
'That's it!' she thought.
She leapt up and made her way toward the truck, being careful not to be seen by any of the workers. The circus finished loading the truck with Ikari on it and moved on to the next one. When she was sure no one was looking, Kagome slipped into the cargo area of the semi. She had to wait a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the dim light. The sun had gone down already and the only thing lighting the semi were the lamps outside, their light shining in through the back of the truck. When her eyes finally did adjust, she began searching for Ikari's cage. She walked past many cages with tigers, lions, and wolves, but none with Ikari. She eventually found his cage near the front end of the truck. She walked up slowly so she wouldn't startle him. Only when she got close did she see that he was asleep. Even in sleep, his face still held a look of determination. She also noted the fresh whip marks that covered his back and chest.
'Poor guy,' she thought. 'Probably punishment for earlier.'
Unwillingly, her attention was drawn to the ears atop his head. Amidst all of the scars and dirt, those ears remained to points of perfection. She suddenly had and incredible urge to touch them, to see if they felt as soft as they looked. She reached through the bars of the cage, stretching her arm toward its prize.
'Just a few more inches...'
Suddenly, there was a loud bang and the dim light that there was went out. Kagome jerked her hand back and spun around. The door of the truck had been closed and she was trapped inside! There was a little sliver of light still peeking under the doorway. She ran desperately towards it, tripping over cages and various other things on the floor. She reached the door and began searching for a handhold to pull the door open. Finding none, she began pounding on the door.
"Let me out!" she called. "Please, someone-"
The truck suddenly lurched and began moving. Kagome lost her balance and fell backwards. A sharp pain shot through her head and the little light that remained went out.
~
YAY! 'Nother chappie done! Remember, a cookie and a virtual Inu plushie to anyone who reviews both the first and second chapter!
Anyway, I changed Inuyasha's name TEMPORARILY for the purpose of the fic. The name I used is just what the circus calls him, okay? Don't be confused by it. It'll change back to Inuyasha in the next chapter.
Review responses:
Duragan: Thanks! I luv your reviews!
Dog-eared hanyou: Thankies! Don't forget to review this chapter for a cookie and an Inu plushie!
Tippi: Thanks! You know, I have a goldfish named Tippi. Keep reading and reviewing!
Inuyasha Mistress: Ooh! *tries to do new story dance* *falls in a tangled mess on the floor* Oh, well. Update soon!
Vorsith: Thanks for the review! ^-^
gilbertfan: I just luv your reviews! They're so funny! As to your question, kinda. Wait and see for yourself!
crazcat416: Yeah, they're gonna meet Sango, Miroku, and Shippo, though Shippo only appears in one chapter! ^-^;
Andene: Yep! She "meets" Inuyasha in this chap. Thanks for the review!
Lost Darkness: There is a WacDonald's, so suck it up! : P
~
Kagome filtered into the show tent along with a swarm of other people coming early to get a good seat. The tent was already starting to fill up, but Kagome managed to get a seat five rows back with a fairly good view of all three circus rings. Ayumi and Eri had left earlier with Yuka who had gotten a stomachache from eating too much cotton candy. After the seats were nearly filled up, the lights began to dim and the buzz of activity slowed and quieted. People started shushing their friends. Everyone eventually stopped talking and turned their attention to the center ring. The spotlight shone on a young man with his black hair pulled back into a knee-length braid. The light reflected of his blood-red eyes. In one hand, he held a two-pronged pike. 'Probably for show,' Kagome thought. The other hand held a microphone up to his face.
"Good evening and welcome to Naraku's Carnival, the best in the world! We welcome you and hope that you have already enjoyed your day here! Are you having fun yet?" A cheer rang through the audience. "Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, you haven't seen anything yet! The real fun is about to begin now! And now, without any further delay, we begin our show with our unrivaled tightrope walker, Yura!"
Kagome watched the show and cheered on the performers. She could see why this carnival had such a good rating. As the last of the acrobats left the ring, the lights suddenly went out. There was confused whispering and a few people screamed. When the lights came back on again, the three rings were gone, replaced by an enormous cage.
"And now, Ladies and Gentlemen, for the moment you've all been waiting for. It's time for the greatest animal tamers in the world to show you what they've got! Please welcome Kouga and his band of wolf tamers!"
A group of men entered the cage, each one accompanied by a brown wolf. One man was surrounded by about six wolves. He was dressed rather elaborately in brown furs. His black hair was tied back in a high ponytail. His blue eyes scanned the crowd as he waved to the cheering audience.
'That must be Kouga,' Kagome thought.
Kouga's eyes stopped on Kagome. He gave a cocky grin and blew a kiss in her direction. Kagome was wondering whether or not to be offended when Kouga and the other wolf tamers began their performance. Each tamer had their animal do a different trick. One jumped through a hoop. Another jumped over a six-foot high pole. One even found items that were hidden around the cage and brought them back to its master. Kouga had his six wolves stand on top of each other to form a pyramid.
'Geez,' Kagome marveled. 'They have them trained as if they were ordinary dogs.'
Suddenly, wolves and men alike, except for Kouga, lined up at one edge of the large cage. A much smaller cage was wheeled in. The door of the cage opened and a gigantic dark brown wolf bounded out, snarling and barking. Kouga produced a whip from inside his furs. The wolf lunged towards the audience, only to have its muzzle smashed into the bars of the cage. It then spotted a target it could get at. It charged at Kouga's men and was stopped this time by the snap of Kouga's whip just inches from its face. It turned to Kouga, snarling and baring its fangs. But before Kagome could think about it, Kouga had the wolf back in its cage. Kouga and his men began to exit the larger cage. A few of the men wheeled the wolf away again. Kouga winked at her as he left. The crowd cheered him for taming the large wolf.
"Kouga has tamed a most fearsome creature indeed!" the announcer said. "But to tame our next beast, we will need someone more skilled than Kouga himself!"
The spotlight shone on the entrance of the cage where two shimmering white tigers bounded in, side by side. Sitting sideways on the back of one was a man. As the tigers ran around the cage, he jumped from the tiger's back to the center of the cage. The two tigers ran to stand beside him, one on each side. Kagome looked the man over. His hair matched the shade of his tigers' coat. He had two magenta stripes on each cheek and a blue crescent moon on his forehead. He was dressed in an elaborate white kimono and he had something long and fluffy thrown over his shoulder.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome Sessho-maru and his tigers, Rin and Jakken!"
Kagome's view of the ring was cut off as people stood up to cheer Sessho-maru. Suddenly, she heard a collective murmur run through the crowd. She stood on the tips of her toes as she tried desperately to see what was happening. Through the crowd of people, Kagome managed to get a glimpse of another small cage. This one was covered with a red curtain, but the sounds of clanking chains and an unearthly snarling and growling came from the inside. Sessho-maru's tigers stepped forward and grabbed two of the corners of the curtain. They swiftly pulled it off of the cage. Kagome gasped at what she saw.
At first, he seemed human, until she saw the two dog-like ears on top of his head. The light shone off his long, silver hair and his golden eyes burned with hatred and fury. His slender fingers were tipped with pointed claws. His bared teeth revealed two canine-like fangs. The only thing he was wearing was what looked like the remains of what might have been pants once.
He was bound by chains around his ankles, wrists, and neck. His wrists and neck were caked with blood from his attempts at escaping his bonds. Suddenly, the cage door swung open and the electric locks on the chains opened. The "thing" immediately leapt from the smaller cage into the large one.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, watch and be amazed as Sessho-maru tames this half-human, half-beast freak of nature, Ikari!!!!" (A/N: Don't worry, Ikari is just what the circus calls him. It'll change to Inuyasha in the next chapter like I said earlier, in case you didn't read the author's note.)
Ikari gave a half-crazed, killing glare to the audience, but didn't attempt an attack. Instead, he turned his gaze to Sessho-maru and let out a harsh growl. Then he launched himself at Sessho-maru. Kagome noticed that though he had a human shape, Ikari ran using both his hands and his feet. Sessho-maru easily dodged his attack. He pulled out a glowing greenish-yellow whip and snapped it across his attacker's back. Ikari let out a yelp of surprise and pain. Sessho-maru whispered something to the larger and stronger of his two tigers. The tiger leapt towards Ikari, roaring its challenge. Ikari turned and swiped at the tiger. The tiger stepped back, a thin red line slowly growing on its chest. Provoked, the tiger attacked again. Ikari accepted its challenge and managed to land a blow to the tiger's throat. The tiger fell to the ground, slowly bleeding to death. Sessho-maru knelt down next to it as its breathing slowed and stopped. Then, Sessho-maru's eyes burned with fury. He took out his whip and snapped Ikari right across the face. Sessho-maru prepared another blow, but when the whip was close enough, Ikari grabbed it in his teeth. He yanked the whip from Sessho-maru's hands. He then launched himself with incredible speed towards Sessho-maru. His claws sunk into Sessho-maru's left arm. A collective gasp ran through the crowd as they all watched Ikari tear Sessho-maru's arm from his body.
At that moment, a curtain was drawn around the ring, cutting off everyone's view.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we ask that you please leave the stadium due to difficulties. We are sorry for the inconvenience."
Kagome was swept along with the crowd of people leaving the stadium. As she stood outside the show tent, her only thought was that she had to find a way to see that boy, Ikari, again. She somehow felt that there was more to him than she saw. She wandered over to a bench to think of a way to see him again.
~Meanwhile, in the ring~
"Master Sessho-maru! Are you alright?"
Sessho-maru barely noticed the concerned crowd of people flocking about him. He kept his burning amber gaze fixed on Ikari, whose own eyes reflected the same gaze of hate.
"Master Sessho-maru! Your wound needs tending!" a man said.
"See that this beast is locked in a cage and chained tightly!" Sessho- maru said, completely ignoring the concerned man. "Do it now!" he ordered.
"Yes, Master Sessho-maru!"
A group of people with chains closed in around Ikari. Ikari growled and swiped at them with his claws. Someone snuck up behind Ikari and slipped a chain around his neck and pulled it tight, causing the chain to cut into his already bloodied neck. The others moved in and slipped chains around his wrists and ankles, locking them tightly. Then they threw him into a cage.
"Put him out back!" Sessho-maru ordered. "It seems this animal has forgotten its place. In that case, I shall just have to remind him," Sessho-maru said as he picked up his whip with his remaining arm.
Completely oblivious to his bleeding stump of a left arm, Sessho-maru followed the cage as it was dragged outside.
~
"Idiot fool of a freak!"
Ikari yelped as the whip cut into his flesh again. His back and chest were already riddled with whip marks.
"You nearly ruined the show, you've permanently disabled me, and YOU KILLED RIN!!!"
Ikari bit back a cry as the whip struck him again. Sessho-maru reached through the bars and picked him up by the neck. He winced as Sessho-maru's fingers dug into his neck.
"Don't you EVER try to be so bold again, or I will leave you so miserable, you'll wish you were dead!" Sessho-maru hissed.
He threw Ikari against the far wall of the cage and stormed away. A group of circus workers moved in and heaved the cage onto their shoulders. Ikari didn't even growl at them like he usually did as they loaded his cage onto one of the semi trucks.
~
Kagome stared at the ground, trying to form a plan in her head. Nothing was coming yet. She sighed in frustration and looked up...
...Just in time to see Ikari's cage being loaded onto an eighteen- wheeler.
'That's it!' she thought.
She leapt up and made her way toward the truck, being careful not to be seen by any of the workers. The circus finished loading the truck with Ikari on it and moved on to the next one. When she was sure no one was looking, Kagome slipped into the cargo area of the semi. She had to wait a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the dim light. The sun had gone down already and the only thing lighting the semi were the lamps outside, their light shining in through the back of the truck. When her eyes finally did adjust, she began searching for Ikari's cage. She walked past many cages with tigers, lions, and wolves, but none with Ikari. She eventually found his cage near the front end of the truck. She walked up slowly so she wouldn't startle him. Only when she got close did she see that he was asleep. Even in sleep, his face still held a look of determination. She also noted the fresh whip marks that covered his back and chest.
'Poor guy,' she thought. 'Probably punishment for earlier.'
Unwillingly, her attention was drawn to the ears atop his head. Amidst all of the scars and dirt, those ears remained to points of perfection. She suddenly had and incredible urge to touch them, to see if they felt as soft as they looked. She reached through the bars of the cage, stretching her arm toward its prize.
'Just a few more inches...'
Suddenly, there was a loud bang and the dim light that there was went out. Kagome jerked her hand back and spun around. The door of the truck had been closed and she was trapped inside! There was a little sliver of light still peeking under the doorway. She ran desperately towards it, tripping over cages and various other things on the floor. She reached the door and began searching for a handhold to pull the door open. Finding none, she began pounding on the door.
"Let me out!" she called. "Please, someone-"
The truck suddenly lurched and began moving. Kagome lost her balance and fell backwards. A sharp pain shot through her head and the little light that remained went out.
~
YAY! 'Nother chappie done! Remember, a cookie and a virtual Inu plushie to anyone who reviews both the first and second chapter!