Nightly Radiance

CH 3: The Need of Strength

"She's gone?" Roared Lord Sayoseke, his voice frighteningly scary.

His wife on front of him kneeled down to the floor, her hands covering her beautiful but weary face. "What do you mean gone! She knows of not to leave this place. Also, it is still daylight, my wife. How can she just leave, without being seen...into that - that thing!" He asked out loud, the room almost shaking from his anger. "How can you let this pass! You were supposed to be watching her!"

"I-I couldn't... I had so much more things to do..." She sobbed, as tears drop role slip down the side of her face. "My daughter..." She cried mournfully. "My Kagome..."

Realizing of the pain his wife must be in; Lord Sayoseke kneeled down next to her as one of his hands laid on her back caressing it gently. "I-I'm sorry Sekai. I am also horrified of our loss." He said soothingly. "We must find her."

She turned to face him. "Don't." She said suddenly. "I told you she wanted to be free. Let her be. She will come back if she wishes to. I wish that she didn't have to leave us like this, as if we are a prison." Her face contorted. "But we did imprisoned her. This was bound to happen. I know I wouldn't be able to take it myself." She insisted. "But Sayoseke, how can our daughter take it? How will she survive?" Once again she cried, her hand one again covering her face.

He stared at his wife and then looked outside the window. "It is only the start of the afternoon, yet here we are already sad for the loss of our daughter. I wonder how will she take it? When she is left to transform by herself?"

"My husband, she has longed gotten use to the pain of transforming." His wife replied. "I no longer have to watch her. My daughter knows only of bravery, courage, honour, trust, pride and friendship, but nothing of love." She mumbled on, pain taking in her heart. "Nothing of love whatsoever."

"Good," he replied, instantly seeing his wife turn to face him. "Then, she won't feel the pain that comes along with it."

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Far on the outer border of the land of the West many warriors of men came to camp. They had everything they needed, weapons, food, clothes, camps to stay in for sleep and a waterfall nearby for the men to wash themselves.

Some of these men were all rough and dangerous, while others are weak and could hardly be called a man. On the yellow tent, a figure of a man walked out. He had short, dark, brown hair and his eyes the colour of light brown. The way he stood showed no arrogance, but he was well built and his eyes held great knowledge.

Then another man walked out of the tent, he was younger, about the age of 19. He had black, short hair with only a little ponytail down on his back. His eyes black with a purplish glow, they were playful. The grin on his lips showed more of his playful attitude. He wore purple armour, but his body were not as broad like the man beside him.

"I heard that they are coming soon..." The black-haired man stated, his voice playful.

The other smirked. "You are right, my friend."

"Excited?"

"More than ever."

"Why do you wish to fight Lord Sesshoumaru so much anyway?"

"Why not?"

"Ah..." He said simply and looked towards the horizon. "Here they come."

A well-decorated carriage stopped on front of them. Gently, with grace, the door opened. However, it was not the powerful Lord Sesshoumaru they saw come out, nor was it Lord Inuyasha. It was someone else. It was an ugly man, to what they can see. A monster. The most hideous they have ever laid their eyes upon.

Instantly, weapons were drawn and the fighting positions were taken. They glared at the creature, all of their eyes demanding who he was.

"Do not fret," a voice from the background said. Beside the hideous creature, Lord Sesshoumaru stood, as he laid a hand on the creature's left shoulder. "He is one of us."

The crowd gave a curious look, as they look over at the creature. Questions were made and possible, mumbled answers came with it.

One would ask, "Who is he?"

Another would answer, "Probably a monster to threatened us with if we misbehave."

"Nah! He's probably our slave or something!"

"Something as scary as that? No way!"

"Don't be such a looser. I know what that is; he's that creature the rumours were all about. You know, the one about the monster who eats humans. The one that haunts everyone down at daylight, they called him The Monster of the Day!"

Kagome stared at the men. They were talking about her appearance, but it didn't matter. She would survive through this. After all, how can she give up now when she had just started? They can say whatever they want, but she would remain herself. She can't let their words put her down. She had to be brave, like those men in the books. She has to be brave, have courage, be honour and trust in herself. She didn't need pride. She didn't think of herself deserving enough to have pride.

He eyed Kaji, wondering what made the boy just stand there and take in all the insults. He waled towards the crowd, getting smiles of admiration from his army. They were powerful men, so why did he need more people? He looked towards closer and realized that they did. Not all of his men were powerful, some still lacked training, while most lacked discipline. He guessed that this is why Sesshoumaru was here. - To train them.

"Minna!" He said out loud, getting everyone's attention. "I wasn't aware it was to happen, but as you see my brother is here to train everyone, even me. My father's believes that his defence might be in trouble and everyone here lacks training." Inuyasha frowned as he saw most of the men in his army frowned. "When a battle is to arrive, we need to be ready." He let Sesshoumaru take over.

Gracefully, Sesshoumaru walked towards them. "No one is allowed to refuse my training sessions. And if any thinks of themselves different, then they will have to face me in a battle to prove it." He said clearly. "Now, prepare yourselves. I want everyone here lined up in his units in the midafternoon. Everyone is to be clean and armoured." With that, he left, heading for his tent.

All the soldiers and warriors started to leave, some in a hurry, some lazily and some of them half naked. The soldiers on front of Kagome grumbled something about her, while two of the ones in front walked towards Inuyasha.

"Commanding as usual, I see." One of them said.

The other shook his head, "I guess my battle with him will have to wait." He said, and then looked towards Inuyasha. "However, introducing Miroku and I to our new companion cannot. Inuyasha, who is this short but frightening boy?" He asked. "Come on, introduce him to Miroku and I."

Inuyasha snorted. "You don't really need to know them, but I guess it wouldn't hurt." Inuyasha whispered to Kaji. "Kaji. Well, this is Miroku, the pervert, but too bad, there is no woman for him to perve on." He said, pointing towards the shorter guy with the black hair. "And this, this is Tsuko, another perve. But don't worry, since you're not a woman, you won't have to be scared of them."

"Ah...Inuyasha, we're hurt!" Miroku said acting as if he was actually hurt. "I can't believe you think of us like that!"

"Yeah...whatever Miroku." Inuyasha replied.

Tsuko walked closer to the hideous boy. "He won't have to care about us perving on him, that's for sure." He said, looking at Inuyasha and giving a smirk. "You tend to forget, not only are Miroku and I perverts, but we're also gay perverts."

"Oh no, Tsuko, do not tell them so much! Or else we might never get the chance to bath with them!" Miroku said playfully.

Inuyasha's eyes widened. "Fuck! I'll never let you both get near me when I'm bathing you perverts! So that's why you both sleep in the same tent!"

"Yeah..." Both of them said at the same time, Miroku giving a wink to Tsuko, while Tsuko smiled back, and then added. "Lord Sesshoumaru knows."

The scene on front of her was different and interesting. She didn't know what they meant when Tsuko said 'gay', but with Inuyasha's reaction, she gotten a clue. These men were strange, definitely not like the ones she was expecting or have read about in the books.

"Hey, Kaji." Inuyasha said out loud.

"Yes?"

"That's your tent over there." He said, pointing towards a dark, green tent.

The tent looked ugly and uncomfortable. You could tell from the way it was shaped up that no one had taken care of it. But she didn't care, at least she one and wouldn't have to sleep with anyone.

"If you don't like that one, then you can sleep with Miroku and Tsuko for the time being, since they have such a large tent." Inuyasha insisted. "No one uses that one. It doesn't even have anything inside it other than armour."

"No, it's great."

"Well, I'll see ya. I'm going to get ready before the training starts. If you want escort to the waterfall nearby, just ask me. I'm in that tent over there." He pointed towards a large red tent, a little far away from hers. "Miroku and Tsuko's tent is over there." He then pointed left towards a larger, yellow tent. "And before I forget, Sesshoumaru's over there." He said, and pointed towards a blue and white tent. It was well decorated, larger than everyone's and also very far away from hers.

"Thank you,"

"Your welcome." With that said, Inuyasha headed for his tent.

After a few seconds, Miroku smiled at her kindly. "I'll see you, ok?"

Tsuko gave her a smile and patted her head. "See ya later shortie."

And they left, leaving Kagome by herself on the clearing. She took in a deep breath and looked towards the sky. The sunlight blinded her eyes and she closed them. This was the first time she was out on daylight, the first time she could feel the sunlight hit her skin. It made her feel suddenly all-different. Like a flower getting it's first sunlight since it was born. That's how she felt. And she liked it.

She started to walk towards her tent, but felt that the ground was much hotter at daylight. She didn't have any shoes. She had never really needed them. So now, she guessed that she had to suffer. But she couldn't let this little problem put her down. And that was not all, everyone she knew was actually kinder to her than she expected. With great speed, she ran towards the green tent.

When she arrived on front of it, she opened it and was surprised to find some armour. She could use the armour. However, she needed a bath, or else her scent would anger everyone around in training. Kagome knew that her scent in this form was disgusting, and it would become worst if she didn't bath.

It wasn't big inside the tent, only big enough for her and her things. She quickly cleaned it, dusting out the dust and dirt. She placed her stuff and got out her small flower base and the seeds. She took some dirt from outside and planted Nightly Radiance's seed in it. It doesn't take long for Nightly Radiance to grow. Actually, it only takes three days to grow fully. But she already had a full-grown Nightly Radiance in her bag, so she planted it as well. She was please to see that it was recovering quite fast. But she wasn't very surprised. For even in her room, Nightly Radiance didn't need much of the sunlight. There was just something...magical about it.

After a few moments of designing her tent, she looked around with a smile. "My tent..." She whispered. I like the sound of that. For once, she felt independent, free and natural. She was please to know that this was hers, no one else but hers. She could do whatever she pleases. It wasn't as though she was selfish; it was just that, it felt great to be independent.

Gathering all the things she needs for a bath, Kagome got her stuff together. She brought a few extra clothes, her armour and a petal from the Nightly Radiance flower. She just couldn't help it. She needed to have some part of it near her all the time. Because as the years passed, she realized that her only true friend and the only true thing that can understand her situation would be this flower. Even her mother won't understand her. She and this flower shared something, something that only the flower and her could understand.

She walked out of the tent and looked around. To the far right, she could see Inuyasha's tent. She guessed that she might as well ask. She walked towards it, her bare feet burning from the sun. She stood on front of it for a little while before talking.

"Lord Inuyasha?" She asked, her voice unsure.

He opened the tent, "Hey Kaji, come in."

"I wanted to know where the waterfall is."

"Well, I guess I can show you around." He walked out of the tent, his chest bare. "I was planning on swimming myself, but I'll go later. I bet that Miroku and Tsuko are still there anyway...doing their little games." He said as he walked.

"So you think they'll still be there?" She asked, not wanting to find out it was true.

Inuyasha looked over his shoulder. "Why scared or something?" He asked smirking. "Don't worry, they are probably gone."

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Inuyasha walked in the blue and white tent. He eyed his brother suspiciously, before sighing.

"Can you just tell me why you summoned me here?" He asked, annoyed that he might have to play mind games with Sesshoumaru, who always seems to win. He leaned his face on his hand as he closed his eyes.

Sesshoumaru looked at him, his eyes focused. "You know of Kaji's sister?"

The younger brother opened one of his eyes, "Yeah..."

"Little brother, I have decided to take her as my mate."

His eyes widened, as he gaped at his brother. "What?"

"I have decided to take her as my mate." He repeated, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

"What?"

"I will not say it again, brother."

"B-but... but... you WHAT?" The younger one screamed. He stared at his brother, disbelief in his eyes. "Look, Sesshoumaru, if you have finally decided to become a comedian this is not a funny way of joking around...seriously."

He stood up and looked down at his brother. "I am no comedian, it is true. She is to become my mate after the training is all done."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that." He replied, his voice true.

"B-but...WHY?"

Sesshoumaru stared at his brother for a few moments, then answered. "Why not?" He asked as an answer. "I do not have a mate and she also do not have one. It is only suitable."

"Men...I knew she was beautiful, but this..." Inuyasha said to him self, then looked towards his brother. "You know what this means for Kaji, right?"

"Yes," Sesshoumaru answered. "You will take care of him from now on."

"Shit Sesshoumaru, I have my whole entire army of men to take care of! Now because you suddenly planned to marry his sister, you wish for me to take care of him?" Inuyasha replied, his voice suddenly critical and cynical. "If that's the case, why should you marry her? I'm the one who's going to take care of her brother! I should be the one to marry her then!"

"Because if you do not take care of her brother, Inuyasha, then father will hear a lot of bad news about your army." Sesshoumaru replied coolly.

"You bastard,"

"Hn," he replied Sesshoumaru. "Now, let me train your army."

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

After the bath, she was feeling better. Miroku and Tsuko were not at the waterfalls. Inuyasha said that hardly anyone of the men bathed anymore, and that's why Miroku and Tsuko go elsewhere to perve on them.

Kagome stood in the middle of the field. She was sure Lord Sesshoumaru told everyone to meet here at this time. But she guessed that they were all just late. While they were late, she guessed she'd just have to do something else.

Sitting on the hard ground, she examines her bare feet. They were burnt and red. She touched them and felt the pain. She couldn't blame it on anyone. It was her fault that she forgot to bring shoes or something.

"Look what we have here," a voice said from behind her.

Looking over her shoulder, she was met with a man standing behind her. He was tall, with long hair and red eyes. His red eyes weren't like hers though. They were much more scary and piercing. They glowed the colour blood and screamed it.

"I can't believe that Lord Sesshoumaru actually expected for me to train with a monster like you." He said, his tone disgrading and mocking. "Yes, it's true. You're not human, aren't you? You're just another monster. Look at you, you stink."

She didn't flinch but merely stared at him, her eyes not holding a single pain.

"So?"

A laugh rose from his lips. "So?" He chuckled. "So, get out of here! Leave the fighting and training to the true men of this army. You're just here as another waste. You'll just take all the food. Probably you're here to feed on us too." He said, his mouth turning to a scowl. "So get out!" He kicked her on the back.

Kagome tried to stand up, but the pain behind her back prevented her. And another kick landed on her stomach, making her spit blood.

"Just another waste. Look at you, you can't even stand and defend yourself. And they said that you could hurt us? Ha. How pathetic." He walked towards the boy, preparing to kick him once again.

"Naraku," a remembered voice said.

The man turned around, and saw Lord Sesshoumaru. "It's not what it looks like, Lord Sesshoumaru."

"Quiet." Sesshoumaru ordered and then said. "Inuyasha,"

"I know Sesshoumaru, I know." Inuyasha said, behind Sesshoumaru. He looked towards Naraku, giving him a hard glare. "You idiot, do you know what you have done?"

"I'm sorry..." Naraku said, his eyes angry. "He doesn't belong here."

Sesshoumaru stepped forward. "Someone like you, Naraku, who lacks discipline, does not belong here."

"Easy Sesshoumaru, don't worry, I'll take care of him." Inuyasha said as he looked towards Naraku. "Sorry, Naraku, but sorry is not going to get you away from this one. You see, Naraku, Kaji has a much higher tie to ranks than you." Inuyasha glanced at Sesshoumaru and then looked back at Naraku. "Get out of my sight." He said in distaste. "You have hurt enough of my men. Go back to your family; you're out of this army. I can't risk you coming back for revenge to Kaji."

"B-but Lord Inuyasha!" Hissed Naraku, anger in his tone. "I'm one of your best man...don't do this, just because of some monster!"

"Out!" Inuyasha screamed.

"Fine," said Naraku as he started to walk away, leaving Inuyasha, the hideous boy and Sesshoumaru on the training fields.

Gracefully, Sesshoumaru walked towards the broken form of Kaji and kneeled down as he observed him. "Inuyasha," he said. "Where is his tent?"

"That one, Sesshoumaru." He said, pointing towards the green, lonely tent.

The older brother looked towards it with distaste. "And where is Naraku's tent?"

"Over there." Inuyasha pointed towards a purple and black tent. It was larger than the green one, but still small. However, it was much well decorated and less isolated. It was nearer to both Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha's tents. "You want me to move Kaji in there, don't you?"

"For once you have used your head."

Inuyasha puffed some air. "Fine, I'll get his stuff out of the green one." But before he could leave, a hand grasped his anklet. It was Kaji.

"Don't, I'll do it." Kagome said, as she tried to stand up. "I'll get my stuff out." She stood by herself, refusing any help from both of the brothers.

"If you insist."

"Do that later," said Sesshoumaru. "Do you have the strength to train?"

"Yes,"

"Then, we will begin."

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Kagome looked straight up at the top of her tent. She knew that she should be sleeping. But she just couldn't. Today the training had started and she was one of the weakest. Lord Sesshoumaru's training gave her more bruise than possible. However, she still liked him. Though, he was a hard teacher, he was still concerned for all of them.

He only trained them a few hours, and when the sunlight started to drift off did he decided they should all rest, which she was thankful of. She didn't know why, but she felt as if he could see in her eyes that she did not wish to continue training.

She actually had to run to the green tent, get her stuff out and put it in the purple and black tent. She had to do it all in a hurry, because of the fear of transforming on front of everyone. Everyone got ready for dinner, but she didn't want to eat. She couldn't eat. Not if she was in her normal form. She didn't know what she looks like exactly, but she knew she changes a great deal.

When she was finally finish with fixing her new tent, she was happy to know that it has some sort of rope to tie on it's opening, so for others not to just walk in. Inuyasha tried to visit her, but she refused to let him in, which he took as being weird. She faked her voice, saying that she is just a little sick. She could still remember it.

"Let me in!"

Doing her best act of a "manly" voice, "I'm sick, I can't."

"Look, you need to eat if you're sick."

"I'm not hungry." She replied her voice at it's deepest.

"Inuyasha just let Kaji be. Probably he has a new friend or something...you know?" Miroku insisted. "And you know...they might be trying to 'get to know' each other." As Kagome remembered, his tone was playful and perverted.

"Yuck! I'm leaving!"

"You owe for this one, Kaji." She remembered Miroku saying.

Now that she thought about it. It really was thanks to Miroku that she got away tonight. From now on, she guessed, that she'd have to bring food in here. She couldn't let herself get hungry at night, could she? Her stomach grumbled. No…I can't. She thought as she rubbed it.

She turned to the side, and her eyes saw the black boots. They were like Lord Sesshoumaru. Actually, they were Lord Sesshoumaru's. He gave it for her to wear, since she didn't have her own. He said that he didn't need them and that he had other ones anyway. She was happy to take them. Her feets were soar and she bet, that tomorrow will be much worse than today.

What Naraku did to her made her think about her own strength. She needed to get stronger and fight better. Just who knows how many Narakus are outside? So before she let sleep take over her, she promised herself one thing.

I will get stronger...

END OF CH 3 - Nightly Radiance

Demon Tenshi: Ok...a very short chapter - I know. But I can't help it. I am trying to update as soon as I can here. Doing chapters short will give me much more ideas for the next. Anyway, it's not exactly as short as other people have, right? I mean it is a little longer. And remember, I did update faster…

kagome of the western lands- Well, since this is going to be a shorter FanFic than my other ones, maybe the curse will be lifted soon. Anyway, I'm glad that you like it.

kari konoko- Maybe I should try drinking coffee, so then I can finish this FanFic faster…heh…you have inspired me to do something! Thank you!

Kimonolover- I thought she was ugly too… I actually feel a little sorry for Kagome right now. And that's not all, after this chapter also… Thanks for the review.

alchemistgrl09- After this chapter, are you going to stop reading… I mean she's such in a horrible position…don't you think? Thanks for the review.

Mirei Nochi- Don't worry, it'll get better for Kagome…somehow. For now, I guess all I can do is type. Anyway, thanks for the review.

Lil' InuTenshi- Are you so sure it'll end up good in the end? -.- I mean…I can turn evil and not have a happy ending….you know. Nah! I love a good happy ending, however, I don't I also love a good realistic, sad ending. Thanks for the review.

Vi3t Babii- So…you skim that bit, eh? Well, that's ok…I mean I hated typing it. She sounded so ugly…like a real monster. And I hate monsters. However, I'm not sure if Sesshoumaru would really want Kagome as a mate if he finds about her secret, you know. Thanks for the nice review.

teh one- What? She had to look like a man! So no one would suspect her! You knew this was going to happen…I told you about it, remember? And anyway, I got a lot of ideas for A Twisted Fairy Tale, but I need more time…like a week. I still have Maths Investigation to do…you know.

Touch Inuyasha and you die- Heh…I do like romance stories and also fantasy…Thanks for the review.

Skitzoflame- Me too… I also want to know what happens… Thanks for the review.

Kagome21- I like the last chapter too. How about this one?

RoxyBunny- Yeah…Kagome/Kaji is connected to Nightly Radiance. Well, I think I gave enough hints…but I don't know. Well, you'll figure it out soon. Thanks for the review.

KellyLuvsInu- I wish I could get a new mouse. This stupid mouse won't move properly… I mean, I cleaned it and everything. And right now, I'm broke. Anyway, is it that confusing…?