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Chapter 12 ; Damsels in Distress

I don't own Inuyasha or anything else in this fan fiction.

Angel and Pagan had tried to help, but the two hanyous were no match for a hundred guardsmen. Gagged, hands and feet bound by the soldiers, Kagome and Sango had expected death or something worse from their captors. To their surprise, they had been gently placed on the laps of two men on horses. The young lords began making many promises of wealth, privilege, loyalty and love while they rode to the lords' large castle. After dismounting, they were carried into a large room and left there. The female servants in the room untied them.

"My name is Hisa," spoke the woman beside them. "Is there something you need?"

"Why have we been brought here against our will?" Sango demanded.

"The old lord is ill and he wishes for his sons to marry before he dies. So, Lords Ryoichi and Zinan brought you here to become their wives. They are both very kind and very handsome and you must be honored to be chosen by them! I will fetch food and drinks, My Ladies."

Kagome and Sango looked around at the room they had been left in. It was beautiful and lush, a young girl's dream come true. Silk throws and plush silk cushions adorned the futons, adjacent to a small table with jars and bowls filled with scented oils and lotions. Yet another table held bowls filled with nuts and other snacks. At the far end of the room was a door, halfway open. A small dog padded up to Kagome, barking for attention. Leaning down, she rubbed his ears and wondered, 'Where are you Inuyasha?'

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII the pack searches IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Inuyasha followed the girls' smell while the pack followed him. After running up and down hills barefoot in the hot sun, the group finally came to a large castle. Guards patrolled the area, ready to fend off any attack. "Bastards! They have Kagome in there."

"What should we do?" Shippo asked, sitting on Miroku's shoulder. 'This is my fault. I should have stayed with Sango and Kagome. Mommy!' Shippo started to cry.

"We should sneak in so as not to alert the kidnappers. Perhaps there is another, less guarded way into the castle." The worried monk said, watching the hot-tempered hanyou storm off to the main gate. "Or, we could fight our way in like we usually do. Come on everyone." He sighed, beckoning Shippo, Kirara, Angel and Pagan to follow.

"Stop, demon!" The castle guards yelled. They formed a line between Inuyasha and the entrance gate. Holding out their spears, they stood bravely against him. Ready to defend their lord and his castle, they charged at Inuyasha.

"Get out of my way now!" Inuyasha swatted away the solders like flies. Knocking them left and right, he charged at the gate door and knocked it down. "KAGOME." Sniffing the air for her scent, he turned and followed her sweet smell deep into the castle.

Miroku knocked the remaining guardsmen out of his way as he and the rest of the pack followed Inuyasha through corridors and rooms, down pathways and up stairs until they came to a large red door. An old woman stood in front of it holding a broom.

"They're through that door, I can smell them." Inuyasha told Miroku and the group.

"Why are you here, Demon?" Inuyasha growled and sniffed the air. He walked up to the door and was hit on the head by the broom. "I'll not let you harm the lords' future wives."

"What?"

"Wives?"

"Sango is…"

"Kagome?"

Everyone cried at once. Inuyasha lost his temper and, ignoring the constant swatting on the head with the broom, he picked up the old servant and moved her away from the door. He pushed it open, took a few steps into the room and came to a dead stop. There, lounging on several silk pillows and throws were Kagome and Sango. A few older female servants kneeled beside them waiting to see to their needs and comfort while two other servants holding large fans stared at him in shock. The rest of the pack ran in and came to a stop beside him.

"Kagome!" Shippo cried and ran over to her, jumping into her arms and startling the servants around her. "I'm so glad to see you."

"What is it?"

"Is it her child?"

"The child has a tail!"

"Is that a demon cub?"

The women around her mumbled on, staring at the two. Kagome ignored the servant's words and stares. She and Sango had been so worried for awhile. They were upset until one of the servants started to talk to them. After everything had been explained and they were sure they were in no danger, they decided to wait for the boys.

"Are you two all right? They didn't hurt you did they?" Shippo asked. Both girls reassured him that they were fine.

"The soldiers just left us here. Apparently, the lords of the castle need wives and when they saw Sango and me they figured we'd do. So, they kidnapped us, but we're fine."

Beside her, Sango nodded. "Yes, we're fine, but Pagan . . . you have an arrow in your arm. Come here and I'll pull it out." The hurt hanyou walked over and sat down. Sango quickly pulled out the arrow as Kagome asked the servants to bring water and bandages.

"Are you hungry Shippo? There's lots of food and candy." The miko held out a plate of treats. The fox cub sat down in her lap and started to eat. When the servants brought her the requested items, she bandaged up Pagan's arm. "Thank you, very much, Little Sister. No one else seemed to care, the boys were so worried about you two."

While this was happening, Miroku looked around at the lush surroundings. 'First a young king offers for her hand in marriage, and now one of the young lords of this castle. She is a rare beauty who attracts men of noble rank. How can I compete with them? What if she wants to stay here with this lord and be his? NO Dammit! She can't marry anyone else, she's MINE.'

"Come, Sango. We're leaving." His harsh tone of voice caused everyone in the room but Inuyasha to look his way. Miroku began making his way over to Sango, only to find himself facing a wall of elderly female servants. "Laaadieees, laaadieees . . . pleeease. Allow me to pass for I mean them no harm." This declaration was, however, met with some resistance. The monk sweatdropped.

Since Miroku could never bring himself to shove or harm a female, he decided instead to attempt to charm the older women into letting him pass.

Inuyasha encountered no such resistance though, as the servants were far too afraid of the growling inu-hanyou to stand in his way. He slowly walked up to Kagome as she sat there calmly rubbing the small dog's ears. 'I rush over here and fight through dozens of solders for her, and she doesn't even rush over to thank me. She acts like nothing happened! She never rubs my ears like that.' He suddenly found himself jealous of the attention the small dog was getting from Kagome.

"Come on. I wasted enough time rescuing you…again."

"I had no idea that I was such a pain, Inuyasha." Kagome spoke in a tight voice. 'I can't believe him. He doesn't ask if I'm OK. No, the first thing he says to me is, 'I wasted enough time rescuing you'. Why can't he ever NOT be a jerk! Well, I'll show him.'

"Ano, I don't know if I should leave my own wedding, Inuyasha. What do you think Sango?" Kagome smiled at Inuyasha's look of abject horror. 'HA! He just can't believe that someone actually likes having me around.'

"I don't think they'll let us go. They have the wedding planned and they already sent someone to the village to invite everyone." Sango was pissed off from watching Miroku flirt with the servants. 'Some of them are old enough to be his mother. Baka hentai! It would serve him right if I did stay…but then he might not even care if I do.'

"Sango, now is not the time for such games."

Sango turned her back on him and started mumbling under her breath, "Talks to me like a child! Who does he think he is? Why I should . . ." But her thoughts trailed off as she watched Miroku approach her and hold out his hand.

'What is he doing? I don't trust the look in his eyes. He's a crafty one, after all!' But, he had such a serene look on his face that Sango was mysteriously unable to resist taking his hand in hers, albeit reluctantly. She should have trusted her first instinct though, because the next thing he did was pull her to her feet and toss her over his shoulder before calmly walking out of the room. Everyone stood around in shock listening to Sango call Miroku a hentai and demanding to be put down.

It took a moment for Inuyasha to process what he'd just seen, but when he did it gave him a devilish idea. 'I wonder if that will work on Kagome?' Said girl was still staring off in the direction Miroku had carried Sango away in, so Inuyasha took advantage of this distraction and took the opportunity to walk up to her, pick her up and toss her over his shoulder. Sporting his best rakish grin, he walked out of the room, ignoring the servants shrieking for the guards. Then Shippo, Pagan, Kirara and Angel followed him, the latter quite noisily.

"God you two, misogynists much! Why don't you just club her over the head while you're at it! Maybe you think you're making some grand romantic gesture, but all you're really doing is perpetuating the complicity of patriarchal tyranny inflicted upon females for eons. You should be ashamed. . . "

"Uh, Angel . . . " Pagan interjected, " . . . I really don't think now is the time for one of your feminist rants. This is the feudal era, remember? Gloria Steinem would be darning her man's socks just like every other woman if she were here. So quit it."

Kagome pretty much felt the same way Angel did, "Inuyasha? What are you doing? Put me down! Inuyasha!" She pounded her fights on his back. 'What is wrong with him? First Miroku and now this one. Where does he get off carrying me over his shoulder like some movie villain dragging off a maiden to ravish her. Nani?…'

"Inuyasha, what are you planning to do? What are you thinking of?" Kagome didn't like the angry hanyou's uncharacteristic sinister giggling. Miroku and Inuyasha carried the girls through the village on their way back to the Inn. Soon the laughter of the villagers reached the captive girls' ears.

'Mou . . . this is so embarrassing. I am going to sit him so hard when he puts me down. I can't believe this. Stuck like this over his shoulder with his hand resting on my thighs. Oh . . . my . . . hell . . . what part of Inuyasha's person did my foot just intimately acquaint itself with? Eeeee, I think it was a boy part! Oh, no. I'm starting to blush.'

Once inside the Inn both Inuyasha and Miroku set Sango and Kagome on their feet, and promptly regretted it.

"Hentai!" SMACK

"Sit boy!" Whack.

Both girls stormed into their room and shut the door.

"It serves you two right, you know . . . treating them like a sack of rice." Shippo lifted his little chin and calmly walked into the girls' room.

"Was the Makeover plan supposed to end like this?" A dumbfounded Pagan asked her baby sister. Angel answered her older sister by pushing her into a bush and storming into the Inn.

P.s. ; ; Sorry but I couldn't log in to fanfic. I have been trying for two weeks and finally I figured out why I couldn't log on. I am so sorry about it taking so long. I posted a notice in the review explianing why I hadn't posted in such a long time. I don't know if anyone read it. Again sorry. I will try to update sooner.