Chapter Seventeen: No way back
Immer vorwärts, Schritt um Schritt,
es gibt kein Weg zurück
und was jetzt ist wird nie mehr ungeschehen.
Die Zeit läuft uns davon,
was getan ist, ist getan
und was jetzt ist wird nie mehr so geschehen.
Wolfsheim – Kein zurück
Sesshoumaru's Castle, Western lands
The relationship between Myouga and his master was odd to say the least. His master was foulmouthed, had a horrible temper and always refused to listen to him. Needless to say, it made him angry quite frequently, but he knew it to be the same the other way round. Still, he dutifully served his master as he had done for many years.
But it was at times like these when he found himself almost worshipping that same master.
The tiny flea sat on a windowsill, looking out into the distance towards the south. Had Sesshoumaru been his master, he would've been in Jaken's position now… most likely right in the middle of the battle.
With Inuyasha being his master, however, it meant he sat in his beloved castle, safe.
He had no idea how long he had been sitting there until a rather unusual and shocking sight made him jump to his feet, his heart racing and his mind quickly sorting trough all kinds of memories before he came to a conclusion.
A bright purple light erupted seemingly from nowhere and began to expand steadily in all directions. He felt enormous power, and it was all familiar.
In but a few seconds he was on his way to the library. All the way there, he could be heard muttering the same mantra to himself.
"I have heard of this before…"
Somewhere in the mountains, Southern Lands
Kikyou let out a sigh as she could see the sunlight shining some distance away from her. It meant they had finally reached the end of this tunnel and would soon be standing somewhere in the middle of the mountains, where they had to travel a bit further to reach a human village where they could shelter.
If everything was alright, her mother and sister would be waiting for her there, along with their people. Although the elves would do everything to keep their castle away from Naraku, if it was lost, it was lost and they wouldn't stay and let themselves be slaughtered.
Kikyou felt an enormous anger deep within her, one that she didn't show on the outside but was still there. She had sworn she would protect their castle and their people just like her father and those before him had done. She would show them that even she, a woman, could do it. She knew their enemies and even some of their people had been sceptical about her leading their army, but eventually, she had proven to be quite good on her job.
But now she had failed everyone. Although everyone during their flight from the castle kept reminding her that no one saw this coming, she still blamed herself. Wasn't she brilliant in battle? In tactic? In her anger, she began to blame the Western Lord for everything. Surely he had told the others some interesting facts about their castle and his stay there. Maybe now her mother would agree with her about locking him up in the first place, even if it was too late.
The one thing she comforted herself with was that at least their people and the Shikon no Tama were safe. She hadn't failed entirely. Castles could be taken again, but if the Shikon no Tama were to be lost, everything would be over.
She hurried on. It was nearly impossible to discover the hidden entrance to this tunnel, but she wouldn't take any risks. They had to get away from this place as soon as possible. As they reached the end of the tunnel, torches were thrown away as even the humans could see clearly again.
But as Kikyou stepped out of the tunnel, she and the others at the front stopped walking. They all blanched when they realized the mountainside wasn't as empty as they had expected it to be. Those at the back of their group began muttering some curses, urging the others to walk on since they couldn't see what was happening at the front.
As Kikyou saw her mother standing there, surrounded by a few guards and a frightened kitsune clutching her leg, she knew something was wrong. They were supposed to be ahead of them, or already at the village.
"Mother, what are you still doing here?" she asked worriedly. "You should move on, it is not safe here. Did you send Kagome ahead with the others?" As the kitsune whimpered in fear and looked at her with teary eyes, it suddenly hit her. Why else would her mother still be here? Why else would the kitsune be so panicked? But before she could voice her suspicions, a certain taiji beat her to it.
"Where is Kagome?"
Elven castle, Southern lands
It was too light. Too cosy. Too… happy and joyful. Inuyasha wrinkled his nose and turned away from the painting he had been busy admiring for the past ten minutes or so. However, as he looked around the room, he had to state the same: it was all far too happy. Paintings of animals, landscapes, some portraits of former kings and their families. All just happy faces. Gods, these elves were just too cheerful if you asked him.
He just ignored that sudden pang of jealousy and the simple thought: what wouldn't I give if our castle would look somewhat like this?
He left the room and proceeded on his inspection of the castle. Climbing yet another pair of stairs, he altered in his steps as soon as the paintings that graced the walls came into view. There were four of them, but his eyes, at least for the moment, kept lingering on only one of them.
He climbed the stairs further until he was at the top, positioning himself in front of the painting and narrowed his eyes, bestowing the woman that held such a calm and serene expression with a nasty glare. "A puppy huh," he growled, grinding his teeth. "Well you bitch, you can kiss my ass."
He almost expected his brother to be standing behind him, giving him a bored look as he would utter that one stupid sentence he had come to hate: "Language little brother". But, even though it was a rather childish act, talking to a painting, it was quit satisfying to him right now. To him, it was as if she could hear it. Or was it just that he wished her to?
Shaking his head, he walked on, every now and then flinching at the sound of windows breaking, shouts and other ruckus. Surprisingly, they still hadn't been on this floor, so he took the opportunity to look at everything, as it was still whole. He almost regretted the castle being ransacked, but hey, what could he do against it? Nobody listened to him anyway.
He passed numerous doors, but opened none, until he sighed and berated himself. "What is the use of walking along this corridor and looking at those blasted doors, but not open them?" His mind set, he opened the first door he came across.
A bedroom.
'Figures' he thought distractedly as he eyed the room. To his surprise, it was not as happy as he was used to seeing so far. It had a colder and distant tone to it, but despite that, it was still a lighter room than he was used to. As he moved further, he caught an old scent lingering. Someone had been here this morning. Someone familiar. He had the feeling he recognised this scent.
He sniffed a bit more. It appeared this person had been crying this morning. As he walked around the room, he noticed that it may look cosy, but if you were here a bit longer; there was also a feeling of sadness here. Or was he just being paranoid? Damn, whose bedroom was this?
In an attempt to get the matching face with this scent, he just took one of the pillows and held it to his nose. As he sniffed lightly, it suddenly clicked in his head. He dropped the pillow and looked at the bed as if someone was sitting there.
"Not you again…" he muttered with a frown.
He narrowed his eyes as he saw something black sticking out under one of the other pillows. Bending down he snatched the next pillow away before picking up a small, black book. It looked rather old, and curious, he threw the pillow back and opened the book.
A small gasp left his throat. "Shit," he cursed, but still clutching the book in his hands. Eyes wide, he sat down on the bed as his eyes scanned the page. As the impatient and curious person he was, he turned the entire book and looked at the last page.
A sudden sadness fell over him as he read the words. The scent of salt still lingered on the pages, and he could not help but wonder why he found this, of all people. But if the rest was anything like this, it would certainly change his opinion on at least one person. A drastic change indeed, because it was not just a book he was holding here.
He was holding the diary of a certain elven princess named Kikyou.
It was dark. There was only a little moonlight illuminating the room in which she stood. She backed away into the corner as soon as her eyes fell on the bed with the silver haired person in it. A wave of nausea washed over her as she realized who this was; what she was about to see again. She raised her hand and looked at it. It was shaking.
She let her hand fall to her side and looked around the room. Something was different. There seemed to be just a little more moonlight, the furniture, the person, everything seemed to be a bit clearer. She could see everything better.
She jumped suddenly when she heard rustling and she realized she wasn't alone anymore. There was a third person in this room. Someone she'd rather not meet in real life.
She gasped as this person too seemed to be a bit clearer. She could at least make out his form. She almost made a disappointed noise as she noticed, the person wore a cloak, and she couldn't see its face. But it was a man, she was sure of it.
She knew this wasn't real, she knew they couldn't see her, but still she began to panic as she saw how the man raised his arm. She knew what he would do, and she was NOT going to stick around and see this again.
She tried to turn around, just like last time, and run out of the door, but she found that she couldn't move. She struggled to move her legs just a tiny bit, but it was all in vain.
"And so it ends here…"
Large brown eyes widened and she screamed as she was forced to see it all… again.
With a loud scream, Kagome suddenly sat upright, wide awake. Breathing hard and with her heart thumping like mad, she pulled her hands trough her hair and groaned. Why did she always have to dream like that? But she still hadn't recognized the murderer. She didn't see his face, but there was something about his voice… it seemed familiar. Had she heard it before?
After awhile she stopped shaking, and with a sigh she finally looked up to see her surroundings. She frowned when she didn't see her own room, as she expected. Instead, she saw a small room, with more sober walls, not as much decorated as hers. Simple furniture, nothing overly expensive.
A servant's room?
She sat up a bit further as she tried to remember, how she got here, why she would wake up in a servant's room, and not her own. Had she been sleep walking again? She had done it before. In that case, she'd better get back to her own room. Oh this was so embarrassing.
She removed the blankets and moved to stand up. That's when she noticed she was still in her normal clothing, but they were dirty and torn somewhat. She clasped her hand for her mouth as she suddenly remembered everything. She began to shake again, and all sorts of questions rang trough her head. Instead of answering them, she focused on the fact that she was still in her castle. Maybe she could escape?
Her feet barely touched the ground as she suddenly tensed. Now that she remembered what happened, she had become extremely alert. She gulped as she sensed two youkai right outside the door and… the fact that she wasn't alone in the room. She stayed put, not daring to move or even breathe. There was a heavy silence and tension in the air.
"So, you're finally awake…"
She had started to shake again, but she closed her eyes briefly before holding her head high and looking the youkai straight in the eye. Bright blue eyes looked back at her, and her breath left her in a whoosh.
"I have seen you before…" she stated, almost forgetting this was an enemy.
The youkai chuckled. He straightened himself and leaned away from the doorpost which had been supporting his weight up till now. "Yes, I dare say you startled me somewhat earlier on… you are quite a sight to behold."
She blushed at his obviously flirtatious behaviour and charming smile. Although an enemy, she had to admit he didn't look bad either. He was tall, not as tall as the other youkai she had met so far, but still taller than her. He had shockingly blue eyes, and black hair, which was pulled up in a ponytail. His skin was darker, as if he had been out in the sun a lot. He kept on smiling, showing of his fangs, and as he moved further into the room, she almost shrieked as she saw… a tail?
He laughed out loud at her expression, but didn't stop moving. The further he came, the more she crawled back on the bed until her back met the wall. Despite his behaviour which, at least at this moment didn't seem to be very hostile. She didn't trust him one bit. Her body began to glow blue again, and she saw with satisfaction how he finally stopped advancing on her, opting instead to keep at least some distance between them. It appeared he had learned his lesson about elves and their magic.
In the mean time, she tried very hard to remember where she had seen this youkai before. Had he been outside, on the courtyard? She didn't know, as she hadn't paid attention to all the youkai surrounding her. She was too panicked at the time.
"Well," the youkai before her sighed. "I must compliment you. It does not happen so often somebody manages to scare me." He ignored her snort. "I have to ask, was there some special reason you didn't purify me? You surely didn't go easy on the others in the halls."
Suddenly it hit her where she had seen this youkai. "You!" she hissed. "It was you in that room, wasn't it?"
Another charming smile. "Yes, it was me in the study. It pleases me to know that you remember my face. It must mean you don't think of me that badly."
She raised a single brow at him. "You sure have some self confidence," she muttered softly, before remembering he was a youkai and so he probably heard her. So this was the damn youkai who prevented her from escaping. She felt angry, but not as angry as she had expected herself to be. It had happened, and she felt like she should concentrate on the situation at hand.
"So…" she coughed and tried again. "So, who are you exactly?"
"Ah," the youkai winked at her. "See, you are interested!"
She suddenly had the strong urge to growl, but she silently counted to ten. She had to keep her temper in check, this was not the time to get angry. "No," she finally sighed. "I just wish to know to what idiot I'm speaking too."
She didn't know where the courage came from to insult the youkai, but before she could panic, he just started to grin all over again. "I understand if you are too embarrassed," he declared. "so I will just tell you who I am. My name is Kouga, and I'm Lord of the Eastern Lands."
She gasped at this bit of information. He sure was a lot different from the other Lords. One was so damn arrogant and proud, and the other was just plain evil. This one didn't seem to be very bad. Well, he was a bit slimy and rather self-confident… but at least he wasn't trying to kill her yet. (something the other two Lords had already tried before.)
Unfortunately, she saw no way to escape right now, which annoyed her a lot. The Eastern Lord kept blocking the way towards the door, and she knew that just outside that door were two guards. Plus their castle was probably crowded with youkai.
She held her head to the side when she found she could make out a lot of noise, somewhere in the distance. The youkai noticed her frown and he sighed, looking at his claws as if they were the most interesting things in the world. "I am afraid that in war, a lot of things are destroyed, whether we like it or not," he stated.
She took a moment to process his words and then she had to swallow hard. They were destroying their castle. All their personal belongings, all the paintings, the library, centuries of fine artwork were going to be lost if they kept this up. With her strong emotions, the blue flames surrounding her body intensified somewhat, and the youkai took a step back, holding his hands up in front of him in an almost friendly gesture.
"Now, now, don't get all angry at me." He snorted. "This is just how it goes, you know? It isn't anything personal, at least from my side." He gave her a blinding smile. "It's a pity you are an elf, but I have to admit, I think you're rather interesting."
"I don't care," she said, sending him a look she hoped would make him pity her. "Please, can't you let me go? All you want is the Jewel, isn't it? So what use do you have to keep me here?"
He scratched his head somewhat uncomfortably. "Eh… well… I hate to admit it, but you're not my prisoner, and I doubt they would let you go. You see, Naraku… he kinda lost it somewhat when you pulled of that little stunt – amazing I might add – and so I think he is not quite done with you." He gave her an apologetic stare. "Let's just say, I'm glad I'm not you. I've never seen him that pissed and out of control. Although… it is kinda understandable… he was so close to getting the Shikon no Tama… Tell me, what did you do with it? What kind of trick was it?"
He seemed rather curious, but she didn't know herself what happened there. She tried to destroy the Jewel, and it seemed as if she succeeded, but she wasn't sure. There was just this… feeling… like something had gone wrong. After all, years ago the elves had tried to destroy it, but they had failed and stopped trying. She forced herself not to think about an angry Naraku, and coughed somewhat. "I… I think I destroyed it," she whispered.
Kouga let out a whistle. "Wow… now I definitely don't want to be in your place."
She started to shake again, and tears came in her eyes. She didn't even want to know how she got here, and why she wasn't dead yet. As far as she knew, she was not injured in any way. But just the thought of Naraku made her panic. Add Kouga's not so tactful comments, and she had some pretty good reasons to be scared.
The youkai's blue eyes softened somewhat. "I'm sorry," he offered, coming closer to her. "I'm sure it is not all that bad." He looked a bit more panicked as she let out a sob. "Oh no, don't cry!" he muttered. "I don't know what to do with crying people."
She tried to glare at him. "Tell me what you really want!" she pleaded. "If you want to kill me, just do it!"
The other snorted. "I already told you, you're not my prisoner. A pity really," he shrugged nonchalantly. "since that means it is up to Naraku whether you'll be killed or not. But don't worry," he flashed her an arrogant grin. "I'll talk to him."
Despite her tears she still managed to look somewhat sceptical at him. "And Naraku would actually listen to you?"
"Of course," He looked rather confident. "so, do you want to tell me a bit more about yourself?"
Her jaw dropped as she looked at the arrogant youkai. "Excuse me? Tell you about myself? Are you crazy! I'm a prisoner, they are destroying my castle. This is war, and YOU want ME to tell you about myself? Well let me tell you something, I am a very quiet person, but right now, I am sooo angry! What do you want anyway!"
Her little outburst didn't seem to faze him the slightest bit. Instead, she could only blink as suddenly, he was right in front of her and his hands were clasped around hers, his face with those blue eyes very close to hers. Suddenly nervous, she tried to back away, get her hands back, anything, but he had a very firm grip on her.
She cracked a nervous smile and tried another tactic. "K-Kouga?" hearing his name spoken by her seemed to startle him somewhat, but as the charming smile returned tenfold, she realized this might not have been such a good idea.
"Yes, my dear Kagome?"
Her eyes widened and she felt herself get angry again. "Did you even listen to what I told you just now?" She sighed at his frown. "Probably not… I want an answer; what are you, or Naraku, or… arggg, what are you going to do with me?"
He chuckled. "I can't tell you what Naraku is going to do, but I'm going to talk with him and I'm sure I'll eventually convince him to let you go. And as for what I am going to do… well, I already heard how powerful you are, and I've seen it now… plus you are quite a beauty… I like strong women, and I realized almost immediately that you should be the one."
Kagome swallowed hard. "The…the one?"
"Yes," looking deep into her eyes he boldly asked; "Kagome, will you become my mate?"
A strange noise left her throat, right before she really lost it. She really was a quiet and kind person, but this… this was too much, even for her. Her eyes narrowed, she lifted her hand to give him one hell of a slap which he wouldn't forget that easy.
He must have seen it coming, as he already began to duck, but suddenly, he froze, and so did she. Her hand still in mid air, a shiver ran trough her at the low and feral growl that clang trough the room. It sounded familiar, and she felt her knees go weak.
Very, very slowly she turned her head to look at the youkai who stood in the doorway. All sorts of thoughts went through her head, but only one word made it past her lips.
"Se…Sesshoumaru…?"
Somewhere in the mountains, Southern Lands
"Hiraikotsu!"
Almost no sound clang, no warning, and the huge crowd around Sango backed away with a gasp as the first tree fell under her boomerang. They backed even farther away as the boomerang came back, was caught by the enraged girl and flung away again.
Some distance away, a young monk was sitting under a large three in the middle of the human village. Next to him sat a young kitsune, obviously very distressed, but trying to imitate his calm behaviour.
But Miroku was anything but calm. He needed something to let his frustration out, but instead he decided to be the calm one for once. Or rather, try to act like it. Even Kikyou had lost it somewhat after she heard what happened. After seeing her face, everyone scurried out of her way. She had locked herself into one of the huts and was now probably thinking of a way to get Kagome back.
Miroku let out a sigh as the sound of another tree falling reached his ear. "Oh Sango, Sango," he muttered. He turned towards Shippou with a false smile. "Let me tell you something, and remember this well. You will need it for the rest of your life."
The child's innocent green eyes blinked up at him. "What?"
"Never make a woman mad. You don't want to do that, trust me…" Miroku flinched at another loud bang. "… and definitely not a woman like that," he whispered, indicating the boomerang-throwing taiji.
Shippou frowned. "But… you make Sango mad all the time. She always hits you… if you shouldn't make a woman mad… then… why do YOU do it…?"
"Eh…eh…" Miroku fidgeted somewhat. "I'll tell you that when you're somewhat older."
They both jumped at another loud bang. "Is it just me or do they seem to get louder every time?" Miroku muttered.
BANG!
"Ah!" Shippou screamed and ran to hide behind Miroku's back. "Is she coming for us too?"
"Nah… if we were a youkai, then she would come after us. After all, they have Kagome now…"
Miroku looked over his shoulder as it suddenly became very quiet. Shippou seemed to have shrunk somewhat in size and he looked timidly up at him. "What?" Miroku raised an eye brow.
"I am a youkai," the child pointed out in a grave voice.
"Ah… true," Miroku shook his head. "I forgot that." He stared ahead and flinched as another tree fell. "You know what?" Shippou looked curiously at him. "I think you don't have to worry about being chopped up, skinned alive and all that sort of things." Miroku eyed the now green looking child and gave him a cheery smile. "I think you should be worried if we still have a forest by tonight. And…" he slowly stood and dusted himself off. "…if I am still alive, because I am going to stop her."
It was a very heroic moment, and he looked rather confident. As there was no response, he turned and looked at the kitsune. "Well? Don't you want to wish me farewell?" he grinned.
Shippou eyed the way that lead outside the village, where Sango was currently letting her temper get the best of her. Then he looked at the monk again and felt himself getting sick again.
"You're dead," he squealed before he ran to take cover as another loud bang clang.
Miroku coughed, then straightened himself and began walking. "Right," he sighed. "Talk about encouraging people. 'You're dead…' As if I didn't know that…"
He walked away from the tree where he had been sitting for some hours now, following the road outside the village. It was nothing impressive, a few dozen huts surrounded by a huge wooden wall with gates completing it. Even though it was located high up in the mountains, the humans still built the gates in case the elves ever had to flee their castle, they would hide here.
Currently, the walls were guarded by their army should some youkai manage to discover the secret way out of the castle. There was no doubt, however, that if the youkai did, they would have a huge problem. Compared to the Elvin castle with its huge stone walls, this village seemed rather poor in its defences.
Miroku couldn't help but eye the wall critically as he passed it. Somehow, it didn't comfort him as much as those good old stone walls back home did. With everything that happened in the past few hours, he couldn't get rid of the feeling that one need only tap these walls once and the whole structure would come crashing down, leaving them absolutely defenceless.
Once he was outside the village, he looked at the crowd with a sigh. They blocked his sight so he couldn't see the enraged girl, but he certainly saw her boomerang as she released it, and he saw those poor, poor trees coming down. He inhaled deeply before plastering a cheerful smile on his face and approached the humans gathered to see this spectacle.
"Now now people, the show is over. Why don't you all go home? I'm sure you all have more important matters to deal with," he said in a happy tone, trying very hard to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.
They all stared at him for a minute, and when his cheerful behaviour didn't seem to work, he glared at them. They finally they backed away, but still wouldn't leave. There was a tense silence, until he raised his brow and they finally seemed to get the message and began to walk away.
Relieved that he didn't have to deal with a whole crowd of onlookers, he turned to discover that Sango hadn't noticed their departure at all. She still threw her boomerang away with as much force as she could handle. The look on her face was so murderous that he involuntarily began to think about a young kitsune's previous words. It was looking more and more possible. By the looks of it, she would kill anyone who would interrupt her.
He coughed once. "Eh… Sango?"
No reaction.
Swallowing once, he began to approach her. She just threw her boomerang again, and he brought up his arms to tap her on the shoulder. Just then, the boomerang came back and Sango caught it, taking a step back from the force of which the boomerang came back. Unfortunately, it was at that exact moment that he was directly behind her.
He could only utter a strange sound as Hiraikotsu collided with his upper body and knocked him over.
There was a silence, before he noticed someone kneeling beside him and felt hands on his shoulder. "Oh my god, Miroku, are you okay?" Sango voice sounded slightly panicked. "Oh god, what did I do! I only made things worse, I'm such an idiot! Please Miroku, just say something." His mind was still too shocked to say anything that would be more than just one word, and he heard a sharp intake of breath as he remained silent. "Are you dead?" he heard her whisper.
But Miroku's mind was only shocked for a short amount of time, and he felt her stiffen next to him, seconds before a fist collided painfully with his cheek. "You bastard! It is all just some stupid act, isn't it? Making me believe you were hurt! Hentai!"
He opened his eyes slowly, sitting upright while clutching his cheek. "Actually, my dear Sango," he noticed with satisfaction how she glared at him as soon as she heard the word 'dear'. "It did hurt. A lot actually."
Instead of her fighting back as usual, pointing out he was a pervert none the less, all the adrenaline seemed to have left her as she just fell flat on her rear and stared ahead of her with the most broken look he had ever seen on someone's face.
He let his hand fall to his side and looked at her with concern in his eyes. He hesitated only slightly before he let his hand rest on her shoulder. She tensed somewhat, before she relaxed again. That showed him something was definitely wrong. Normally she would have removed his hand already, if not cut it off in her anger at him for groping her.
"Sango, what is wrong?" he asked her calmly.
That question seemed to bring the fire in her spirit somewhat back. "What is wrong? Our castle has been taken, the Shikon no Tama is lost, even worse, Kagome is out there all on her own and you ask me what is wrong? I failed her Miroku! She…she…" he listened hard, and he could swear she was crying, something that shocked him. He had never seen this woman cry before. "She is like my sister, Miroku! She was there for me when I had nothing left but the clothes I wore, my village, my whole family, everything I owned, gone! If it weren't for her, I would still be depressed and lonely. She is such a kind person, and she is all alone right now. I don't even want to think about what they will do to her… and it is all my fault."
Miroku frowned. "Why? You have no power over what happened. You are not Naraku, who attacked us. You can't change what happened, and you couldn't have done anything about it in the first place."
It seemed that what he said made her even angrier. "I couldn't do anything about it? Why do you think Kikyou is so pissed off? Because we could've stopped her Miroku! We were the last to leave the castle, remember? And somehow, Kagome came back, because she had left the castle, but she is not here! So, if she went back, it means she…"
"… must've passed us somewhere…" Miroku whispered, finally realising what was bugging Sango, besides the fact that her best friend probably had been captured and all.
"Exactly," said girl cried out. "Were we that blind to not see her? Damn it, we could've stopped her!"
She was trying to hold back her tears, he could tell, and he felt his heart aching as he saw her like this. After all, he liked the confidence and strength this girl always showed; he hated it seeing her like this. After awhile, the young monk did something which was extremely weird for him to do. He touched a woman somewhat intimately without groping her.
She struggled a bit at first, but a few seconds later Miroku found himself embracing the girl, telling her to just let it all out, that he too didn't notice Kagome, and neither did the others. They all were in a hurry to get away from the castle, they all thought Kagome safe with the others, how were they supposed to know she would turn and walk right into the enemies arms? But as he sat there with the sobbing girl in his arms, he could not help but share her worries. Would they ever see Kagome again?
What would happen to her, out there all alone, surrounded by enemies?
Elven castle, Southern Lands
"Lord Sesshoumaru!"
Despite all the noise and destruction around him, Sesshoumaru still managed to walk around like his normal, stoic self with such an impassive look on his face that one would believe nothing was wrong. He also managed to refrain himself from killing the annoying toad like creature trotting after him like a dog would after his master.
"My Lord, do you not want to rest? Should this lowly servant get you some food? Should…"
He did the one thing he always did when around people who talked to much nonsense. He just tuned them out, concentrating instead on other things.
It felt so… weird… to walk around this place again, not as a prisoner, but as a free man and as a victor. But why did he feel more like a prisoner than he ever did? While the others where busy destroying everything, he went up to that one tower, somehow feeling the urge to see that place again, where he had spent so many days. He had stayed there for awhile, until he could take it no longer and finally convinced himself that this was rubbish.
Now he was walking along those familiar corridors again. Although he didn't want to admit it, he regretted the fact that all this beautiful artwork would soon be history. As he came close to the main hall, he suddenly stopped walking all together to face a pair of impressive wooden doors.
His vision began to swim as he remembered the days he had spent there, reading, by his side a quiet, dark haired woman.
Focusing once more, he didn't stop to question his actions; he just acted on instinct as he opened the doors and gave the youkai inside a cold look. One was already reaching towards the first bookshelf, intent on ripping it down, destroying everything.
"Out," he ordered in a cold voice, not trusting himself to say anything more than that.
Of course, they had to act like complete idiots and protest. "What?" A dark haired youkai looked at him in anger. "Naraku said we could destroy all we wanted."
He couldn't stop the growl from leaving his throat. "Your lord's need to let his frustrations out is no concern of mine. Leave. If I hear this library has been destroyed, I will find you."
He bared his fangs at them, and they quickly left the room. He looked around one more time, before he turned sharply and walked away with long strides, leaving his little servant, who couldn't keep up with him behind.
He had made a decision. He would have no rest until he had gone trough with this. His feet took him trough one corridor after another, his face set in a determined expression. He walked all the way until he came at a room with two youkai in front of it. They looked rather curiously at him, but one look was enough to make them snap their heads back and look in front of them once more, like they were only dolls and not living beings.
He stiffened once he smelled the occupants of the room, and this time he really had to keep himself from barging in like a little child with no manners at all. But he had more control than that, and instead he softly opened the door and slipped inside the room, none of its occupants noticing he was there.
But then again, they did seem to be rather interested in each other.
Unbeknownst to him, the dark haired woman that had been on his mind a lot lately had just intended to slap the wolf youkai, but as he entered, all he saw was said youkai, holding the girl's hand and her reaching out to touch his face.
It stirred a new feeling inside of him, one he hadn't felt before, but it was enough to make his eyes bleed red and let a low and feral growl leave his throat. And he would've attacked the youkai, there was no doubt about it, had the girl not whispered out his name in a soft voice.
He regained his control of himself in a matter of seconds, and instead of attacking, he just gave the other lord one of his famous glares. The wolf was no idiot, he recognised such a look from him, so he quickly released the girl's hand and plastered an arrogant smile on his face.
"Lord Sesshoumaru! What are you doing here?"
He still couldn't decide who was worse, his brother or this one. "Kouga," he didn't even bother to call him a lord. "I believe I could ask you the same question. I do not see a reason why you should be here."
Being the same idiot as always, the wolf didn't know when to stop. "And I don't see a reason why you should be here either. I just came to see this interesting elf, and I decided she should be my woman."
Everyone looked at him as if he had grown another head. "Your woman?"
Kouga just smiled confidently at the Western Lord. "Yes, I love Kagome, so, why not?"
'He says he loves me…' For a moment, Kagome could only stare at the wolf youkai. Then, she stared at Sesshoumaru, but either he didn't notice her staring or he just refused to look at her. In fact, he hadn't looked her straight in the eyes ever since he entered the room. It frustrated her, and it made her feel nervous. What was he up to?
Again, she turned her head to look stupidly at the wolf youkai. Then, her right eye began to twitch, a sign that finally, Kagome's patience had reached an end.
Using her now free hand to stab the youkai in the chest, he all but cowered under her angry gaze. "I have asked you before, who do you think you are! I want to know what is going on, and all you can tell me is that you love me and that you just decided I should be your mate! Well, let me tell you something, you don't just fall in love with people like that. You don't even know me! You…"
"Out."
They both started at the cold voice that interrupted them and looked hesitantly at the taiyoukai standing close to the door, afraid of what they would see. His face was still rather impassive, but for Kouga, his voice had been enough, and for Kagome, it wasn't that difficult anymore to recognize that he was irritated, probably even angry. To her annoyance, he still kept avoiding her gaze, instead glaring at Kouga.
"W-what?" Kouga not so intelligently asked.
Sesshoumaru crossed his arms in front of his chest. "You, wolf, will remove your presence from this room, or else, I will be forced to take some drastic measures."
Kagome noticed how Kouga opened his mouth to protest, and knowing he was somewhat arrogant and naïve, she felt the need to do something. Sure, she barely knew him, but she had the feeling she should interrupt him before he could say anything stupid. Sesshoumaru appeared to be relaxed, his arms were crossed in front of his chest and he was leaning against the wall, but she somehow knew that he was alert and would react immediately if Kouga offended him.
Quickly and without thinking too long about her actions, she touched the wolf's arm before he could say anything. He turned to look at her, and she gave him a pleading look. "Kouga-kun, maybe it would be better if you left," she quietly suggested.
At first his mind only seemed to register the fact that she just called him 'Kouga-kun', then he finally seemed to understand her and he left. But it appeared to be impossible for him to just walk trough that door, no, first he had to grasp her hands again and place a kiss on them, promising her he would come back and that she would be safe.
She was positive her head couldn't be any redder than it was at that moment. After she realized she was yet again alone with the proud taiyoukai in one room, she became even more uncomfortable. Unsure of what to do, she just stared at her feet and fumbled somewhat with her dirty and torn dress. A silence followed, for ages it seemed, but in truth it was a few minutes before Sesshoumaru finally moved.
He leaned away from the wall and took one step towards her before he stopped. She began to stare even harder at her feet, all the while telling herself that this was just a dream. Just as she felt she couldn't take it anymore and she finally decided to look at something else but her feet, the youkai in front of her suddenly spoke.
"Guards."
She frowned somewhat, curious and also afraid of what he would do. Two guards, whom she had sensed from the moment she remembered what happened to her came into the room, completely ignoring her and instead looking at Sesshoumaru, waiting for his order.
"Bind her."
She froze, and for the first time, her gaze left her feet and instead concentrated on the silver haired youkai. All the time he had been carefully avoiding her gaze, and it was no different now. He seemed to be staring at something just past her head, and it annoyed her a lot. What did he want from her? Why was he behaving like this? Do not trust anyone, he had said to her. Did this mean she could not even trust him?
One of the guards disappeared and came back again with a rope in his hands. She stared at it for a moment, but it did not disappear, instead, the youkai came closer and closer, until he finally reached her. Quickly, the other one grabbed her hands and a minute later, they were bound in front of her.
She didn't struggle, all her hopes of escaping had vanished into thin air. With free hands it was already impossible to escape, now that she was bound, her chances had lessened even more. It was hopeless.
The guards moved away from her and one look from the not so talkative taiyoukai was enough to beckon the two guards out of the room. And again, her feet seemed to be so interesting.
She stiffened as she noticed Sesshoumaru moving, but she kept her head low, not daring to look at him. She waited, but nothing happened. The silence and tension in the room were suffocating her, and as suddenly a hand touched her arm, she literally jumped at the suddenness of it.
But it was no gentle touch. Her arm was being squeezed, a rather painful grip, and she was yanked forward. She stumbled, but managed to walk on and follow the youkai who was quickly leading her out of the room. She didn't know what he was up to, she wanted to ask him, but he ignored her struggles, instead he just looked in front of him with his golden eyes.
They walked – or more like, he dragged her – down several hallways, before they left the servant's wing and entered the main castle. Her eyes widened as soon as she noticed the destruction all around her. Paintings were ripped from the walls, furniture was smashed, windows broken. A small sob left her throat, before she ducked her head again, too anxious to meet the hostile looks from the youkai present.
They neared the main entrance, and they only stopped for a few seconds before the huge doors were thrown open and they walked outside. The courtyard was filled with thousands of youkai, the sound of their voices was heard all over the place.
They walked a little further, until Sesshoumaru suddenly stopped. He didn't release her, and she began to fidget somewhat, he really hurt her the way he was holding her right now. But his whole posture was so stiff, and as she sneaked a glance at his face, she noticed his jaw was clenched very tightly, so she didn't dare to make any sound.
"Jaken."
He suddenly called out in a low but very demanding tone. Still very frightened, she kept her head low and looking trough the bangs covering her eyes, she studied the youkai surrounding them. She was still looking out for this 'Jaken' as suddenly a tall, dark haired youkai stepped in front of Sesshoumaru. He had a smug look on his face, and Kagome found she didn't like him. Was this Jaken?
"Ah Lord Sesshoumaru! We all wondered where you've been!" the youkai exclaimed, while looking intently at Kagome.
Sesshoumaru, as usual, wasted no time on idle chat. "What do you want?"
Apparently this was not 'Jaken'. Kagome began to get very uncomfortable with this youkai looking her all over.
"You have quite a beauty there Sesshoumaru. Care to explain where you are taking her?" The youkai carefully scrutinized his claws. "I could be wrong, but if I recall correctly, Lord Naraku ordered earlier today that she should remain in her room."
Kagome could swear the air just froze. Sesshoumaru's look certainly didn't look good. "Do not presume that I would listen to anyone's orders. I will be taking her with me."
The youkai's hand began to travel lower, towards his sword. "I am sorry, but Lord Naraku is not done with this girl yet." He grinned. "To say she angered him somewhat would be a huge understatement. So, I suggest you just let her go now."
Being so close to him, Kagome could sense Sesshoumaru was very alert now. "I will do no such thing. I will have my revenge, and no one will get in my way, not even Naraku. She is my prisoner."
The youkai moved towards his sword, but before Kagome could panic or even think something, she was suddenly held by Sesshoumaru's left hand. His right hand began to glow, and a second later something, which she could swear was a whip, lashed out at the youkai.
She watched, horrified, how the whip cut straight through the youkai. His lifeless body fell to the ground in heaps, blood flowing everywhere. There were gasps heard around them, but Kagome didn't notice, she could only stare at all the blood in front of her. Despite her always treating the soldier's wounds, she was still not used to this amount of blood, and it brought back painful memories. Vaguely she could hear Sesshoumaru's voice, talking to someone.
"Bring her to Ah-Un, now."
When someone tugged at her sleeve, she didn't follow. She found that she was unable to move at all from shock of what she just witnessed. The tugging increased, but she was not aware of it. Her eyes could not leave the body on the ground.
All she felt was the pain at the back of her head before she passed out.
Sesshoumaru's Castle, Western lands
As her eyes fluttered open, she was not happy. For the second time that day, she woke up to another room and she didn't like it one bit. What had happened now? Wincing, she tried to sit upright, but it soon proved to be a very difficult task.
She was feeling dizzy and her head hurt. As she moved to touch the back of her head, she had to suppress a whimper. Somebody had knocked her out!
She looked around the room, but there was not much she could see. It was dark; the only light came from a few candles on a table. She was lying on a large bed on covers of some dark red silk, or so she thought. With her eyes, she could make out more furniture and paintings, but the squinting against the dark made her dizzy again. After awhile she just gave up trying to see anything in this darkness.
She decided she should look if there was a way out of this room, or even better, to find out where she was. She moved to stand up as suddenly the sound of rustling made her jolt upright and promptly fall over, her legs entangled in the sheets. She sat up quickly and her eyes scanned the room again. She felt no aura, but she was convinced that someone was in the room.
"As clumsy as always I see…"
She moved her head to the right, where the voice had come from. She could still see nothing, but there was no doubt who this voice belonged to.
Then, there was some more rustling and a pair of golden eyes was seen in the dark. Soon, Kagome was facing the exact person she thought she would never see again in her life.
She knew that there would be no warm welcome, but she hadn't expected this either. She could almost swear the taiyoukai was angry. Angry at her? It seemed so.
She didn't trust her own voice so she just continued to stare at him. But as he just stared back, she became nervous and started to look at the darkness behind him.
"I want an explanation."
Her eyes darted back to his face, a frown on her face now. "W-what for an explanation?"
His fist came down on the table next to him with a loud crash. "Don't act all innocent." His gaze hardened. "I want to know what you did with the Shikon no Tama. Now."
She shrank back against the floor, terrified of his gaze. His eyes seemed to be on fire. She knew she should say something, but when she did, she could've slapped herself. "W-why?"
A low growl was her only response. Then, the beautiful being in front of her closed his eyes and breathed deeply once. She could swear she had never seen him give of so many emotions. It was scary.
"Why? You even dare to ask why? Do you want Naraku to get the Jewel? I need to know what you did with it! I…"
"I destroyed it," she whispered, not expecting him to hear her, but he did.
An incredulous look was bestowed upon her. "Destroyed? Do you even know how to destroy it?"
"N- no…"
"Are you sure you destroyed it? That there is nothing left of it? Nothing Naraku could find and get his hands on?"
"I don't know!" she suddenly yelled at him, willing him to shut his mouth. "What did you want me to do, just give it to him? It was the only option left for me to keep Naraku away from it! Or do you know something I could've done instead, surrounded by thousands of youkai? It was the best I could do!"
"You could've done better. You could've kept the Jewel away from that castle in the first place!"
Silence filled the room as Kagome realized she had nothing to say against that. "I know," she whispered, staring at the ground before her. "It is my fault he almost got the Jewel. I was so foolish to loose it." A wry laugh left her throat. "He didn't have to fight for it at all. I lost it, and he could've just picked it up from the floor had I not realized it in time. I'm such an idiot." Tears filled her eyes, but she couldn't stop herself from asking a question which had been bugging her for a long time now. "Why Sesshoumaru? Why did you attack us?"
He seemed indifferent, but she could almost swear he was a bit uneasy about her crying. His answer however, was clear. "We are enemies."
"Oh," she fidgeted somewhat with her torn dress as she looked at the floor again. "and I thought we were friends."
She didn't see how the taiyoukai's eyes widened and he seemed almost guilty. She could only think about the conversation she once had with her mother. She warned her that he would be different once freed, but Kagome wouldn't believe it, until now. He seemed very different from the last time she had seen him. "Did you knock me out?"
"You failed to obey."
"I did? What are you going to do with me? Where am I?"
"You are my prisoner and that is the only thing you should concern yourself with."
"Didn't you throw your prisoners into the lowest dungeons or cut their heads of?" she asked in a bitter voice.
"You are annoying."
"Is this your revenge for what my sister did to you?"
"Perhaps."
"Could you tell me a bit more then just one word?"
"Could you be anymore annoying than this?"
Kagome's temper began to flare again. "I am not annoying! I want to know what is going to happen to me! Nobody wants to tell me!"
His eyes seemed to be on fire again. "You're alive, aren't you? What are you complaining about?"
She cast her eyes downwards in shame. "I'm sorry…," she blinked away a tear. "I suppose I should thank you."
"For what? Who says I am not going to kill you?"
"Are you?" She tried to overcome her fear and look him directly into his eyes. "If you had the choice, would you kill me or would you spare my life?"
No answer.
"I won't complain," she added in a soft whisper. "I am grateful that I am still alive, although I don't know how that is possible. But I will never forgive myself for what happened to our castle and to the people defending it. So many dead, everything destroyed… all our belongings, all the beautiful art work, everything… will our castle ever be rebuilt? Will there ever be peace again? When will everything be like it used to be again? Or have things changed forever?"
She heard a soft thud as something fell on the bed, but she didn't look up from the ground. She kept watching how her tears fell on her hands, again and again, trying to convince herself that this was just some weird dream of hers again. She heard Sesshoumaru's voice, but the words didn't seem to register.
"Not everything was destroyed."
"Why didn't Naraku kill me?" she whispered, lost in her own world. It seemed so odd, she had been right in front of him, she destroyed the thing he was most after and then she fell unconscious. Why was she still alive? Again, a voice disturbed her thoughts.
"You were lucky."
Then she heard the rustling of clothes, before a door opened and closed and the sound of a key turning was heard. She was locked up, again.
His words kept sounding in her head, again and again. 'You were lucky…' Was it possible that some of her home survived? No. No way.
'You were lucky…'
'Not everything was destroyed.'
For the first time truly hearing his words, she carefully untangled herself from the sheets before standing upright. Faintly she could see the moon trough a high window. She followed its light downwards, until her eyes fell on a small black object on the covers.
Her diary.
Not so far away from the very room Kagome was currently staring at the bed with large eyes, a tiny flea sat in an enormous library, surrounded by dozens of books. How he could find anything in this chaos will probably remain a mystery forever.
His brow was furrowed in concentration, and he kept on muttering something in a low voice. A candle was lit, and any book-loving person would ask him how he could possibly put a candle between such valuable books. Or they might just strangle him for his behaviour, who knows?
A sudden yell interrupted the silence in the room, and one would question how such a tiny being could make so much noise. A tiny hat was thrown in the air, along with some papers as Myouga celebrated the happy ending of his little quest. A safe quest one might add. His little voice declared his victory for all to hear.
"I found it!"
A small village, Southern Lands
A soft breeze blew through the tall trees surrounding a human village. The sun had already began to set as the days were getting shorter and colder. As another breeze blew, a few slightly brown coloured leaves slowly fell to the ground.
A few humans were still working on the fields close to the village, and in one of the gardens, a woman was busy gathering herbs while looking at a few children who were playing close by. Every now and then, she would look up and see if they were alright, a soft smile on her face as she heard their laughter.
As it suddenly became very quiet, the woman looked up in alarm to see all the children huddled down on one spot, close to the forest. Apparently, they were looking at something one of them kept in his hands. Convinced that it was just some stone or something, she looked back down and continued with her work. However, the silence remained and looking up again, she still found the children looking at something, their faces somewhat excited.
Curious, the woman stood and approached them. Now that she was getting closer, she could hear them whispering among themselves. As they heard her quiet steps, they suddenly silenced and stood, facing her with huge fake smiles.
She lifted an eyebrow and looked sceptically at them. She had enough experience with these children to know they were keeping something from her. Her eyes travelled over each child, one by one, until she found one boy who had hidden his hands behind his back.
She grinned and looked him right in the eyes. "Now, now, why don't you show me what you've found…"
The boy gasped and then looked at the ground. He sighed once before he extended his hand towards her. "We found it lying on the ground." He looked up at her with a hopeful smile. "Can we keep it?"
The woman patted him on his head. "Perhaps, we will see. Now, let us see what you got there."
The boy opened his hand, and a moment later the woman was staring at an object which she hadn't seen before. It seemed to be a piece of something; the edges were sharp and rough as if it had broken of. She pondered on the possibility that it was just some stone.
'Weird…' she thought as she took it and lifted the tiny, pink object close to her eyes to examine it. 'Very weird…'
A translation of the lyrics at the top (which was in German by the way) Not a perfect translation, but you'll get an idea of what it says.
Always forward, step by step,
there is no way back
and what is now, will never be undone.
Time runs out on us,
what is done, is done
and what is now, will never happen like that again.
And that was chapter 17! I'm soooo sorry for letting you wait so long. Actually, I thought I would be able to update in April already -.- Only something came up again. Ugh. Anyway, there is some good news, only a few weeks left of school and then… summer holiday! This means, no homework and lots of time to write! Whoho! I really hope I can update sooner once the holiday started. It won't take three months though, that's for sure.
I plan on finishing 'Changes' during the summer holidays and maybe this story too, but I think it'll take a bit longer than that. I already know what I am going to write after this, so if anyone wants to know a summary of it, just tell me and I'll put it on my bio, k? It's going to be pretty original (I think it is safe to say that) so I hope you're going to like it. But first, I need to finish my other work…
So, I just want to thank you for all the reviews and emails! As usually I really appreciate them! So please, review again?
I am going to enjoy the day now (big, BIG surprise… I have no homework… I double checked…!) It is 30 degrees over here, so I'm going to enjoy the weather. I hope you all have a nice day!
DemonWicca: Ah yes, did she destroy it or shatter it? I think you'll be able to answer that now….
Robin's-hope: Oh you saw the Phantom of the Opera? Me and my friend wanted to see it too, but we had no time… not fair… tell me, is it good or not? I'm curious…
Fay-sheik-kikyou-chan: Really I'm creepy? You don't know my best friend, do you? (she always says that too…hehe…) And I'll be happy to join you in burning some books… really… I'll burn my physics book… and maybe Dutch? Definitely economics…. Ok, I think you know what I mean. Let's just hope my teachers don't read fanfiction, or else I would be dead.
Raine84: Mmm yes I have this thing with fainting… it was not dying though, just fainting. Next chapter will probably show some more about Kagome's family and their reaction about her being captured.
Lady Lydia: I didn't forget Inuyasha, and you are right, Naraku definitely wanted to kill her. What exactly happened after she passed is not explained in this chapter yet, you'll have to wait for that.
Tsuki Yume: Yes, it is not original, but the Shikon no Tama is always either complete, or shattered and they are shard hunting… it gets boring…
ElvenYoukai (or should I say x.Miserable.Bliss.x… hehe..): As I already told you, no need to feel sorry… and yes, poor Kagome… I hope you're doing well
FireKitsune: Mmm I could do that… I assure you, my writing is much better when I do it in my own language. But I would write a different story…
Inu Youkai Gurl: I know, cliffies are evil. But if people get frustrated about it, at least they worked… I'm afraid I left some sort of cliff hanger again… I can't help it…
Duzzie: Ah yes that is the question… destroyed or shattered or…?
Mayukagurl: Eh…please don't die? At least I know you like the story!
Ayame9111: Good feeling you have…
TiAaRiEl: Ah yes, it can get frustrating if you would write him all lovesick after four chapters or something. I agree on that. And don't worry, I will confess, I always forget to review… ok… now everyone can get pissed at me… oops…
IcyAsh: Ah…sugar… starry eyes
Kagome21: Nope, Kikyou is very much alive…
psychoDraGon: Eh… I learned it nowhere… but I always had to do a lot of writing in school… actually, I just had to write an article for some boring subject and I had to write it 'so that you couldn't distinguish it from some piece of work written a professional journalist'… the things they torture you with… But I got a 10! Whoho…. And as I told another reviewer, my writing would be better in my own language (I would know more words, formulate things better and so on) but well, thanks for the compliment!
White Plum: Sesshoumaru to the rescue scene… what do you think, was there such a scene? Don't worry, I will tell it eventually…
Ele: Aus Deutschland? Das ist ja eine Überrasschung! ‚... Now I am ready with reading' Wie lange hat es gedauert bis du die ganze Geschichte gelesen hast? Ich bin neugierig… Und eigentlich kann ich auch nichts über mein Still sagen, denn ich komme aus den Niederlanden, und mein English ist nicht perfekt (genau wie mein Deutsch... zumindest die grammatik) Weisst du, das hier ist eine schöne Abwechslung... ein einziges mal kein English... whoah... und es heisst ‚patiently' ... oh nein, schon wieder English...
Serenitygirl13: One thing I will always do is writing a happy ending... I hate it when it's not happy... winks back
Foxdemon113: Wow, midnight? Actually, I should shut up because I'm always reading at midnight too... ok, I'll shut up...
Silverdragondemon: Nope, it's not the end. Hey, my friend would like your name... or at least the first part. Her penname is ‚silverdragon'... funny...
FoxyFlower: Ok, you wrote this review on: 2005-03-19… and you had spring break? Not fair…
Me: Yes, many questions… and the last one is always a mystery to me… when will I update…. Ugh…
OniyuriGaaru: Nope, I didn't get all the awards (too much concurrence out there… ) but I was nominated…
Jinenji: I already have a solution for beta-ing, but if I ever need someone, can I still ask you?
C: Uhm… right now?
Mary: Yeah, I would like that too…
Naomi T: Eh…good question! is checking her hair colour Nope, not blond… although it kinda feels like it. Mmm… well I haven't really thought of this… let's say, he made it after her death but it was still too late to resurrect her? Hehe I doubt the almighty Takahashi would read this… it would be fun though.
Mori'quessir: Great!