Chapter 7 Author's Note A.k.a. JTTY... (Just To Tell You)
Arrgh. I'm taking my standardized testing right now. Hold on...
"Number 15: Julio ate dinner at a restaurant. He wants to leave a 20 percenttip for the waitress. If Julio's dinner cost $15.00, how much should he leave for the tip?"
A $2.00
B $2.50
C $3.00
D $3.50
You do the math. Rat-boy's breath is so intoxicating. And he keeps yawning. (He sits off to my right, and you get a good view of his mole-rat profile...) I want to measure how many inches his teeth stick out...) Well, on with the story!
Chapter 7: Time flies. Time stops. Time likes messing with us. --- What I intended title to be. Oh well.
With that, Inuyasha got into a true diving position, with his hands stretched out above his head. He heard the shouts of the soldiers at the cliff, but ignored them. He heard one voice apart from them in the device in his ear: "Inuyasha..."
Kagome.
He hit the water with a splash and the current pulled him toward the river's edge, sending him crashing into a rock. His elbows scratched from the impact, a single layer of skin held on desperately to his elbow by something like two centimeters. Under, he was bleeding a clear tinge at first, then a bold red came on center-stage and they mixed. To clean it in the easiest way, he rolled up his sleeve higher, cupped his hand, placed it in the river, and splashed water onto the scratch. He scrambled up on the top of the rock and lay there, breathless, as his life seemed to drain from him through his blood.
----------
"Grandpa!" Kagome said, her voice hushed, but still with every ounce of worry. She and Miroku had been caught by the soldiers, and to Miroku's delight, not killed. They were being handled roughly by the men, who were talking amongst themselves: "More spies?"
"They think I'm a spy," Higurashi said. "And also a man who can see the future."
"But..." Kagome said.
"Is it just the two of you?"
"Inuyasha came too, but Kouga stayed behind."
They walked on in silence, the sound of horses' hooves plodding in the mud with an uneven beat.
"Where are we headed?" Miroku asked.
"The castle. Ling Sheng," Higurashi said.
33:12:51
"Up, filth. Up, I say!"
Ech. Damned soldiers. Chinese ones, too. Inuyasha thought.
Inuyasha grunted as the soldiers pulled him off the rock, now somewhat blood-soaked.
"Spy, yes?" The earpiece comes in handy. I think I'll keep it in a while.
"Yes!" the soldiers roared.
Inuyasha shook his head out, not particularly in response to their question, but because he was dizzy.
"Why do you not comprehend?"
Inuyasha glared at the soldiers blankly.
"Yes, spy. He is a spy."
"The lord requests all of them to be in one group."
Inuyasha perked up at the phrase "all of them." Perhaps Miroku and Kagome had found the Professor. But had theybeen caught already?
--
Inuyasha struggled to get out of the grip of the one burly soldier, the one that seemed to find Inuyasha sickening. Kagome, Miroku, and the Professor were not far, but at least now he had sight of them.
It relieved Inuyasha to know that they had not died trying to find him.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted, seeing him for the first time. She then yelled at the soldier, "Let go of me", struggling. Briskly she ran to Inuyasha and hugged not him, but moreof his arm.
It was brief, but it was hard.
"We thought you were dead!"
"You, filth," Another soldier grabbed her.
They marched through the village, ignoring the prolonged stares of the Chinese men and women. Stumbling up a hill to the castle of Ling Sheng, Inuyasha looked for the boy who had helped him earlier.
Peering a little bit behind them, Inuyasha saw that "he," in fact, was a she.
--
"If you run again, we will kill you. Cremated, we will spread your ashes to be trampled by our men and yours on the battlefield."
She spat at him. "I do not fear death. When I escape, Onigumo, your ashes will be spread first, your name overly famous in every Japanese man's head and tongue. Onigumo: the traitor, the spy. And to thing that the lord my father trusted you," She scoffed defiantly.
By this point, Onigumo was fuming, his face red with fury and eyes intent on killing the girl. Instead, he slapped her on the cheek. "My Lady Sango, know your place."
--
"Lord Kagewaki! Higurashi and spies alike, as you requested!"
"Very good,"
They were being brought to the feet of the Lord Kagewaki, one who had been traitor to the Japanese as well. He, eventually, worked his way up, taking Onigumo with him, to become the lord of the village. Onigumo was his right-hand man and general.
"I am told that you can see the future, Higurashi," he said, speaking fluently in Japanese.
"No man can,"
"Oh? But, already, after two days of staying at the monastery, you have gained your position as magister. Is this word not true?"
"…You called me for battle counsel, not interrogation,"
"True, true. But you and these," he motioned toward the other three, "are spies, nonetheless. I should not trust your word at all.
He sighed. "Now, magister. You are wise, and I need much wisdom in this war. You have heard of Eien no Honoo?"
"Yes, lord."
"You can make it?"
"With help and all the materials, yes. These are my assistants. But I will need yours as well."
"Good."
"My lord! Onigumo-sama and the Lady Sango of Fukui!
Onigumo, at that moment, came in with the struggling girl.
"She's the one that was in the clearing in the woods earlier," Inuyasha whispered to Kagome. "Sango-hime."
Kagome's eyes grew wide in admiration; Miroku's even larger.
Kagome turned to look at Miroku after he had sighed. She tilted her head in question. Geez… He likes her already? Will any woman do just fine?
She scoffed at his stupidity and turned her attention back to Lord Kagewaki.
Onigumo, who had handed Sango to the nearest soldier, came up to the lord and whispered something in his ear. The lord smirked and nodded his head then mumbled something like "let's see how they do".
"Soldier!"
"Yes?"
"Take Higurashi to the prison. Make sure he is guarded well. We will take him out later at the correct time.
"As for you," he said, pointing to the soldier holding Sango, "Keep the girl here with me, and then take her out to the arena. After it's finished, take them all to the prison. After our discussion, she will definitely not try to run again. Higurashi's assistants here, we will have some fun with them. See how well they can brandish a sword."
The soldier left the Professor, who had given up on struggling.
Sango herself tried to get out of the soldier's grasp, her long, once elegant-flowing robes in bad shape; their ends frayed and muddy. Though her hair was very neatly tied up in a high ponytail, it seemed to fit her rage perfectly.
Inuyasha waited impatiently as Onigumo came towards them slowly, threateningly, removing one gloved finger at a time, in exact time with his heavy, plodding steps.
After each of his fingers on one hand had been uncovered, he held both gloves in one hand and reached for his blade. He unsheathed it swiftly and pointed it at Inuyasha's face dramatically.
"I do not believe you have enough courage to face me one-on-one, with only a second. If you escape with your life, your title of spy will be erased." He looked at Kagome and Miroku. "As will yours. Otherwise, you will not be killed, but labeled a spy, and the title will bring disgrace to your kind."
"He lowered his sword slowly, looking straight at Inuyasha, as if looking for his reaction in the bold hue of his eyes.
No, Miroku thought. We won't survive this.
Onigumo's sword dropped at Inuyasha's feet and clanged, echoing in the silence of the room.
Holy... Inuyasha thought, He's challenging me!
Would he stand still-decline? Or pick it up and point it to Onigumo's turned back in acceptance? Onigumo was waiting for him to leave it and be humbled, he knew… So…
He bent down, picked up the sword by the blade-side, and tapped Onigumo's shoulder with the handle casually.
"You dropped this."
--
"Oi, Miroku! Look at this katana!" Inuyasha held up a blade, sheathed with ivory. Next to where it had been buried lay the body of a man, who was no doubt royalty, for weapons were buried with lords. But they would leave it up to Kouga to dig him up. "It's nice-looking, huh? Not too scratched up, either."
Miroku came over to Inuyasha's dig area, and crouched to admire the craftwork.
"There's two more on this guy." He worked with a brush, uncovering the sheath, then the hilt, of both katanas.
Miroku was gaping, still, at the sword in his hand. Ever since he had gotten his katana lessons, he had admired all swords. Then and therehe decided to get someone to make replicas.
--
"Sirs, choose your jian." A young boy pointed Inuyasha and Miroku to the rack of the different swords.
Miroku gaped as his eyes fell on one sword in particular. "Inuyasha, this is it! This is the sword, the one we uncovered at home… This... Boy- to whom does this belong?"
"We believe they were robbed from Fukui's lord…" the Chinese boy stumbled with Japanese.
"So… if you have that one…That must mean…" Inuyasha searched the rack, and picked up a specific sword he recognized. "…that they have mine," He looked at the katana he held in his hand, the one he called his own at home, and smiled.
--
"Be careful, out there, guys," Kagome said, rising from her waiting crouch on the dirt.
Inuyasha was determined to win. He smiled at Kagome. "Don't worry. We'll be out of here with your grandfather soon."
It was hard for Kagome not to smile back at Inuyasha and Miroku. Ever since they had been reunited, she had noticed that Inuyasha had had a better level of morale.
A cheer from the crowd pulled Inuyasha away from their moment, but it was Sango, as well, coming into the tent, that made Inuyasha blush, from the fact that he was smiling at Kagome, and bow.
Acting as if it were comforting, he said, "Worry about yourselves."
--
Onigumo was announcing the consequences to the crowds, who were still filing into the arena's seats.
"Now, man," he spoke to Inuyasha, "Who will be your second?"
"I am the second," Inuyasha said, "and this is my first,"
The slits at the waist of Inuyasha's pants proved to be useful as he tucked the sword through the thin binding strip of cloth through the open slit.
Onigumo mouthed, Coward, and Inuyasha smiled back devilishly. With that, he turned to become a silent spectator behind the fencing.
Spectator or not, Inuyasha didn't want to watch. Miroku was a good swordsman, all right, but people in this time were bred for battle, especially because there were demons lurking around any possible corner. Onigumo, obviously, was a general for a reason.
He stood, gripping the sword's sheath, and closed his eyes.
"Um, sir… Tessaiga, sir..."
He opened his eyes, shaking away the thought, as the clang of katanas signaled the start of the fight.
Both were in good shape for start, but Onigumo seemed to be blocking all of Miroku's hits with incredible ease.
At one point Miroku came out of a lock, and, sporting a determined face, turned and swiftly swiped at Onigumo's neck, leaving a faint line of blood.
Yet Onigumo seemed oblivious.
Thinking quickly, he came forward, pushing Miroku back, throwing a series of high hits and low hits in a pattern unseen to Miroku's eyes.
Miroku saw it coming too late.
He had just risen from a crouch that had helped him dodge Onigumo's last attempted hit. When he had jumped back up, the same head-aimed hit was coming at him, sharp edges sleeping while the flat sides fought.
--
Inuyasha watched as he fell, blood covering his ear, his head glistening while the sun shone upon him. A cloud of dirt rose as Onigumo nudged him aside with his foot in what seemed slow motion.
He glared at a satisfied Onigumo, telling himself that if Miroku were dead, Onigumo would have to suffer. Their glares lingered, closely followed by silence.
--
A tear rolled down her cheek as she watched a trickle of blood flow down Miroku's. Inuyasha roared as he ran out to fight Onigumo, pulling out his sword at the same time.
The clang of swords was not at all pleasant. How men lived to see the first day of their lives that they would fight in battle was horrifying, but that was the lifestyle of all nine-year-old boys in the Sengoku Jidai.
She fought away her tears, shaking her head, as she tied back her hair to watch Inuyasha fight.
--
Sango herself had only had an encounter with one of them, yet she felt like they could help her get back to Fukui, back to her father.
She felt like yelling the injured man's name, though she knew none of it. To rouse him, to get him off of the arena, she felt as if she might be accomplished.
--
"Umm, sir… Tessaiga, sir…"
The newly honed and sharpened Tessaiga was handed to Inuyasha by the boy.
"Use her well,"
Inuyasha nodded as determination filled him, as if the sword had lust for winning.
--
He dodged the horizontal stomach-aimed hit unsuccessfully, but was unaffected. The kimono from ITC was so baggy that the sword only touched the cloth, while Onigumo cursed.
Inuyasha aimed the same hit Onigumo had done to Miroku at him, flat edges bound to do little damage. Onigumo saw it and ducked before it could hit him, which gave him the chance to slash low at Inuyasha's legs.
He felt himself bleed, but could not see it, for the color of his kimono was already a blinding red. Blood stains could not do much to intimidate him. He shook out the leg that was cut and started at it again, pushing Onigumo back until he would have to step aside.
Inuyasha had a plan made already. He came in more daunting from the left, while keeping his sword at his right after every attempted hit.
Onigumo seemed to be going at super speed. He dodged every one of Inuyasha's attempted hits successfully, but luckily did not get a chance to hit Inuyasha.
Soon Onigumo was pushed back into the railing, and had not other choice but to step out to his own left, where Tessaiga waited.
In a quick slash all the way down his forearm and a duplicated hit to the head that had put Miroku down, Onigumo fell, on one side of the arena where Miroku stirred slightly.
Onigumo's second was slow to rise from his seat. He was an incredibly burly man, name unknown to Inuyasha, but he looked scarred to fight Inuyasha after he had defeated Onigumo.
Using the same trick on him, he was down fast, though Inuyasha was a few inches short of reaching his head.
Sporting three minor cuts and a face of relief, he sheathed Tessaiga and briskly jogged over to Miroku, helping him up, as few scattered cheers arose.
As soon as he and Miroku had gotten off of the arena and under the ten t Kagome was in, soldiers had grabbed all of them: Sango, Kagome, Inuyasha, and Miroku, and were hauling them away. They fought as they walked through the halls of the castle, passing the main one that Sango had been in shortly, "discussing" something with Lord Kagewaki; trudged up a flight of stairs and into a small room.
A soldier was waiting inside, and the three that held them stopped, obviously waiting for something. The soldier originally there rose from his seat and opened a hatch in the low ceiling. The soldier nearest Miroku provided a chair.
They all waited, expectantly, as if they would walk into the prison all by themselves without an explanation.
"You have brought harm to our general, the famed Onigumo."
"Against law…"
"You have injured our general badly,"
Inuyasha scoffed as he helped Kagome up into the hatch. "As it was fated!"
With that, he waited until Miroku was up, and then helped Sango up into the hatch. Climbing up, he slammed the hatch behind him.
--
"Fools…" she mumbled, glaring at the ground, as if it were transparent. She pulled her robe under her, settling down.
Kagome found her grandfather in one corner and sat down next to him, leaning on him and the stacks of hay behind them. Everyone seemed sluggish, as if time had no existence.
She bolted upright, after many moments of silence, remembering Miroku and Inuyasha's wounds.
"Come here," she said to Miroku, putting her hand on the spot in front of her.
Ripping off a piece of her skirt, she dabbed at his head, wiping off dried blood until no more came oozing out.
Sango looked up, suddenly appearing to realize her surroundings. Looking at Inuyasha, she said, "Your friends?"
"Yes…" he said, bowing his head slightly as Kagome pulled him over to wipe his cuts. After a while, he said, " Osewa samadesu hayaku wa, hime-sama… Goshinsetsu arigatou. Iroiro arigatou gozaimasu."
The Fukui princess shook her head, smiling. "Yorokonde."
...-¡Finito!-…
Hehe. Sorry. I felt like adding that lil' Spanish exclamation. If it shows up on is kinda slow-paced, huh? Tell me if I need to hurry my $$ up or if it's just fine.
I know that I only did the countdown once, but I got around to not using the book as much, so I didn't look back at the countdown times. By the way, if you were all like "WHAT THE $ WAS THAT!" at the time you were reading the countdown, it was the time they had left to get the Professor (which they already did) before they blew up. KABLOOIE!
I'm kidding. It was the countdown of the time they had left until the machines left back home altogether without them. Then they would be left there. I would have blown up a long time ago if it were a countdown of the time I had left for the chapter update. KABLOOIE!
When I first started writing this, I was taking the standardized testing. They suck. So does rat-boy.
TRANSLATIONS
Eien no Honoo. (Eh-EE-enn no HO-no-o)
Eien no Eternal; Honoo Flame. Origin Greece. Fire that spreads because of water. Called "Greek Fire" in Timeline.
Jian. (Ask someone Chinese.)
The Chinese word for a sword.
"Osewa samadesu hayaku wa, hime-sama… Goshinsetsu arigatou. Iroiro arigatou gozaimasu."
"Thank you for you help earlier (himeprincess!)… I appreciate your kindness. Thank you for everything."
"Yorokonde."
"With pleasure."
"ALRIGHT! IT'S SUMMER VACATION TOMORROW!
Whatever will I do? Whatever will I do?
"I shall make…an illustrated journal!" Tomo Takino
"If you're going to make a journal, you should-…" Chiyo "Chiyo-chan" Mihama
"SUCKER! I ain't makin' no stinkin' journal!"
"Will you relax already?" Koyomi "Yomi" Mizuhara
Bwahahaa. Cracking up. That's exactly how I feel about my fanfiction right now.
By the way, that was a strip from Azumanga Daioh called "Losing it"… Book 2 of thy almighty mangas… It SO doesn't kick Inuyasha's $$ though…
I am taking a break for 3 weeks to Europe (much to my friends' hatred for me ((coughKatherinecough))) and thus will not be updating anytime during the three weeks. (7/2—7/23.) I guarantee, though, that I will have my FFF (FanFiction Folder) drafts with me (as well as my flute, my music binder, Timeline, The Subtle Knife, and perhaps a diary to record reviews, if I'm that bored. Not likely. And again, Tomo comes to mind). I will write when I have free time, but pray that Simba doesn't eat my homework.
Have a good vacation, guys!
xkumaxchanx
p.s.… Wish my sister a happy birthday in a review! Her b-day is going to be when we're at Europe! Plus, it will make her review numbers go up!
My cousins have a Shih Tzu named Simba.
Review mine, too, you butts!