Part 1
Five days. She had been a prisoner in this stinking, rotted cell for five whole days! When were they even going to acknowledge her presence? When were they going to sentence her to her punishment? Did they really think that they could keep her in this prison for much longer? Did they really underestimate her that much?
Fools, she thought. Fools, the lot of them. Underestimation is their weakness. They had thought that they left her in the dark in this damp, stinking prison. Alone. But...she was never alone. The darkness was her company. Her most closest friend. It was all she had ever known since childhood. It made her feel some kind of comfort that there was something there for her. That wanted her. Even if she physically ached, sometimes, for a companion to hold her, the darkness was there. She knew it would always be there.
She gazed above her. Past the bars of this circular-whole-in-the-ground, she could see the sky. The moon was slowly creeping out of the clouds and the complete darkness surrounding her slowly gave way to its rays. Her eyes bore into the fluorescent globe, feeling as if it knew her every secret. As if it were searching through every crevice of her soul.
She smiled a little. As if it would find much light there, she thought bitterly. Pushing the thoughts to the back of her head, she searched around with her slitted, blue pupils piercing through the darkness. At night, her eyes seemed to glow with a flourescent shimmer, almost capturing the moon within them. In the day, her eyes still seemed to glow. It was strange. No demon was ever known to have such eyes, but those close to her chose not to ask. If they did, they would have found out that she was half of something that most the world feared. Even minor demons. She would be seen as an enemy to all if anyone found out, so she was glad no one asked.
As she gazed through the darkness she wondered what was outside the walls of this "dungeon." It seems more like a caged off well, she thought, amusing herself. Stone surrounded her in a circular way like a well. Except, the mouth of the well, above her, was covered by a grate. Her wrists began to hurt as the rope rubbed into her open wounds around them. A rope was tied around her wrists that hung her from the grate. So, she was hanging there for five whole days, waiting for the King and his family with some guards to sentence her.
The thought of it made her sick. She never liked the King and his sons. She never would. The way they handled their people with what they called "care." All they ever saw when they came into "their" towns and villages were the ones who had any kind of house, money, or businesses; they never looked beyond into the dark allies and crevices. Nor would they ever, she thought angrily. They never think to care about those who don't have the status or money. They only help those who do.
A tiny clink caught her sharp hearing. Her head instantly shot up. Small voices were heard, whispering commands and arguing with each other to "shut up." The grate above her slowly moved. The chafing of the rope against her wrists sent a shock of pain through her body. She bit her lip to stop herself from yelping. The clinking of metal against stone was heard. She listened carefully as she separated the different clinks into four different categories. Light weight dagger. Heavy broad-sword. Hollow...ax? Surely none of that idiot's soldiers got their hands on one of those. She seemed confused. There was no man, demon, or lord that carried such an ax that she didn't know about. And all the ones who did, she all knew them personally. Neither of them were soldiers.
Such an ax was crafted from the rarest metal around, titanium, and took almost one hundred years of skill to just study the art of it. Then another hundred to explore the molding of it. The product, in the end, is the finest weapon one could have. Cutting through the toughest, thickest sheet of metal was exactly like cutting through butter. Most thought it foolish to make it hollow, but those who had possession of such an ax found that the reverberation within the ax-head helped to compel it forward...or deeper, which ever you preferred.
Then, a familiar clink caught her attention. That all to familiar high pitched and usually-not-ear-piercing scream. Her eyes widened as the sound reverberated in her mind. No...the enemy...they can't have my sword! That's impossible! No way could they have killed all of them! she thought, somewhat panicking that her sword was in the hands of those filthy dog-demons.
She kicked her feet out furiously, pushing herself forward in anger. More pain shot through her wrists, but her anger blotted out the pain. She kicked forward harder, until her foot contacted with stone. She quickly released the knife hidden in the heel of her left boot and hooked the blade into the crevice of the stone. Her other foot searched around for a small ledge for her right heel to hook onto.
When she finally found one, she locked her knees and muscles to hold on, both braces holding her legs up. She calmly closed her eyes and let all the anger she felt earlier melt away. She began to take deep, soothing breaths, calming herself. She finally calmed down to her relaxed state of mind.
Calmly, she began to walk upon the wall as high as she could. Then, she did the unthinkable. She pushed herself from the wall with such force that her entire body was forced to follow. The next thing she knew she was hanging upside down, her ankles twisted around the rope that was above her, her shoe-knife sheathed, her hands gripping the rope. Her whole life she trained through the impossible and made it possible. Her body was a fine-tuned fighting machine and she needed it that way. Although, she was not hated, she stole, plundered, and murdered(when she had to), sweeping through villages. Most thought her to be a heartless criminal, but they never found out what she did with all the treasure, food, clothes, etc. that she stole. It remained a mystery to everyone...except for those closest to her.
She began to climb "upwards," upside-down in her view. She stopped when she felt her boots enter an empty, un-darkened space. Not wanting to be seen, she immediately stopped her upward ascent. She'd be damned if they were going to transport her "safely" to her "new prison" without a fight. She'd be damned if she was going to give up that easily.
Slowly, holding on to the excess rope, she flipped herself right-side-up and prepared herself for the movement when they lifted the grate. Her eyes bore intently upon the grate, searching for the slightest movement or vibration in it. She stared intently. Searching. Waiting. Then...There it was! She waited quietly in the darkness in anticipation. Waiting for that one moment where the entire grate moved, at least an inch, from it's bearings.
After a few tense seconds, the grate began to lift. She sprung into action. Using the rope as a brace, she gripped it tightly in one spot and tugged hard. The momentum forced the carriers of the grate to drop it. Then, she pulled on the rope once more and used the momentum to shoot upwards. Protecting her head with her arms, she shot through the grate, which forced it up, and jumped out of the "well." She landed as swiftly as she could on the ground and pulled the nearest person to her.
Placing a clawed hand at the throat of her hostage, she growled, "Let me free and this man will not be harmed."
"They warned us she was crazy. They didn't say anything about pulling a stunt like this," said a grizzly-haired man, hand on his sword hilt.
She watched all of them wearily. They don't look like soldiers, she thought. The man in her grasp began to tremble. She quickly stole a look at her captive. He was but a mere child, no more than 15. "Sending children to do your dirty work, now? Pathetic humans," she hissed, her voice cold, laced with some pity for the boy.
"Do not insult us, woman. Do not think you are any better than us, you whore," the grizzly-haired man growled.
A smile crept upon her calm features. The men closest to her stepped back. She could smell their uncertainty and fear begin to seep off them. She was not as insulted as she thought she would be when the man insulted her. She was rather...amused.
Her claws pressed deeper into the boy's throat, drawing blood. "I will kill him, young or not," she stated coldly. With that she dug her nail in deeper. The boy yelped in pain.
"G-Go ahead. H-he means n-nothing to us," the man said, a bit too nervously.
Her smile grew wider, bearing her sharp fangs. A small laugh forced its way through her mouth, and she said, "If your going to lie, old man, try to sound convincing."
The man's eyes widened a little as he held his sword steady. "Kagome, let the poor boy go," a deep voice growled.
The smile faded from her lips as she swung around violently, pushing the boy into the nearest man. She looked upon at the face that was before her. Her eyes widened to find herself looking into those violet, slitted eyes. He woresimple villager's clothing, a sword and daggers around his waste. His black hair was pulled up in a short pony-tail.
The smile grew back onto her features, as her eyes lost their menacing gleam in exchange for glee. "Matsuru! I thought I would have to have gone searching for you when I escaped! It's so glad to see you again," she yelled, throwing her arms around the man.
Matsuru returned her hug with as much force as she gave him. Kagome stepped back, confused. "Who are all these men? I don't remember them from the Command," she questioned her "step-father."
"They are new recruits. Some of the others secretly volunteered them while you were...away. Now we have at least one to two Leagues in each village. We were very lucky to get so many volunteers. You've missed out a lot since you were taken," Matsuru replied.
"Oh, well, that can't be helped. Glad to hear some good news," Kagome commented cheerfully. She turned around to face the crowd of men, their swords now sheathed. Walking to the closest man, she gazed intently upon him. His features seemed calm, but as she bore into his black eyes, she found a tinge of fear.
She smiled sweetly at him and said, "Don't be afraid. I don't bite...when I don't have to."
The fear grew a bit, but not so much that it spread through his features. She walked around to every face until she found herself staring into the face of the grizzly-haired man. Her eyes narrowed every so slightly, but not dangerously. "I resent that comment you made. As your leading officer I expect more respect from my colleagues than most. I would watch my step if I were you or you might find yourself...'accidentally falling onto your dagger,'" she growled ever so slightly.
The man immediately straightened as she turned away. "Kagome, I suggest we move out of this area before the villagers begin to awaken," Rei, her Co-Captain, suggested. "Yes, you are right. I believe we should. Let's head out," she commanded as the men quietly crept and disappeared into the forest. As an after thought, Kagome replaced the grate and erased any images of footprints she could from the dirt. The last thing she needed were palace soldiers chasing after them after she worked so hard to keep the Command a secret.
Kagome found her self in a small clearing, minor campfires lit. Tents were pitched all around the edge of the clearing. She counted at least thirty men. Not bad. We surely have grown a bit larger. she thought. She noticed Matsuru, Rei, and some other officers disappear inside of a larger tent. She began to head towards it when she heard someone yell, "KAGOME-CHAN! Your back!"
Kagome saw a young girl shoot out of a tent and run towards her. Kagome found herself not able to move as the girl hugged her legs tightly. Kagome grinned down at the girl and greeted, "Hello, Rin. It is so good to see you."
Rin looked up at her with large, chocolate brown eyes, grinning from ear to ear. "Rin thought that Rin would have to wait forever for Kagome-chan to come back. Rin is glad that Rin didn't have to wait forever," she said excitedly.
Kagome smiled as Rin let go of her crushing hold as Kagome kneeled down to her level. "I'm glad too, Rin. Forever is a very long time to wait," she answered.
"OH, Kagome-chan, I have something to show you. Rin was working very hard with Sango-chan so I could show you this when Kagome-chan came back, and here is Kagome-chan, so now I can show it to you," said Rin. She closed her eyes. Kagome watched as Rin's restless expression began to fade into a calm one. Rin cupped her hands in front of her. Silence lightly surrounding them. Then, before Kagome could shield her eyes, a flash of light surrounded them both. As she recovered from her blindness, she saw Rin holding a small ball of fire in her hands, its flame burning brightly.
Rin opened her eyes and her expression became the restless one once again. "Look, Kagome-chan! Rin was working very hard to master Rin's powers that you told me about and look! See! Rin mastered it! Rin did it," she exclaimed.
Kagome looked upon the ball of fire, wonderingly. It was a beautiful, red color. "Great job, Rin. I am very proud of you. Did you get to start all of these fires tonight," Kagome asked.
"YEAH! Rin got to start the fires tonight! Rin is so happy that Kagome-chan is proud of Rin!" Rin began to jump around, joyful. "Kagome-chan, Sango-chan is over there. Come on, let's go see her." Rin gripped Kagome's hand and tugged her along, heading toward the tent that the captains were in. As she passed some of the campfires, Kagome noticed heads began to turn her way. She looked upon unfamiliar faces and concluded that these were the new recruits. She nodded and smiled at those who smiled at her and nodded in greeting.
They were nearly to the tent when a hand gripped her other wrist. She quickly spun around to see who it was. Green eyes met her blue. "Let go of my wrist. I have somewhere to go," Kagome stated coldly.
"Who are you to be ordering me around? Go and get me some water, wench. Make it fast," the green-eyed man said. Kagome kept a tight hold on her temper, but Rin didn't. "Don't talk to Kagome-chan like that! That is mean, you big dummy! Wait till Matsuru-sama hears–"
"Rin, please, calm down. I will get the man some water as he has asked. Now, be good an get me his cup," Kagome interrupted, winking at Rin. The anger faded away from Rin's features and was replaced by a grin. "Yes, Kagome-chan," Rin answered obediently. Rin handed Kagome the cup and they walked off to the nearby river.
"Kagome-chan, are you gonna do that thing with the water again? The one where it tastes really yucky," Rin asked.
"Of course not, Rin. That would be...impolite. We're just going to give him some...medicine. He looked a little pale," Kagome said mischievously.
Kagome pulled some herbs from her pocket, found two stones, and began to mash it up. She kept mashing it until it was in tiny bits and had a pasty texture. "Rin, go and fill that cup with water please. We must not keep him waiting," Kagome asked nicely.
"Okay, Kagome-chan," Rin answered.She walked to the river and dipped the tin cup into the cold water. When it was nearly full, she pulled it out and walked shakily to Kagome, spilling some of the water. Kagome poured the herbs into the cupand began to swish it all around until there was no trace of the additive. "Rin, you need to keep it secret until we get there, okay? This is just a little joke we'll play on him. This herb is called 'Yaomi.' It is a spice used to...clear the senses when one is finished drinking heavy liquor. It's not harmful, but it has its...uses. No one must know about it until the joke is over, okay, Rin," Kagome asked.
"Yes, Kagome-chan! Rin will keep secret! Hurry! Let's go now," exclaimed Rin, as she once again began to tug Kagome along.
They walked back to camp and straight toward the campfire where they found the man laughing loudly. "There you are, wench. Hand it over, I'm thirsty," the green-eyed man demanded. He yanked it out of her grasp and began to drank greedily. A second later he spit the mouthful out, spraying some near him. "What is this hogswell, wench! What are you trying to feed me," he bellowed angrily.
He stood and looked down upon her. He was only a foot taller than she was, but she only looked up at him cooly and said, "Quiet. You are attracting attention to yourself. I wouldn't want much attention drawn to me in such a situation." The man quickly put his hand to his dagger and bellowed, "How dare –"
Before he could even draw the blade, in a flash she gripped his wrist and spun him around, his own blade to his throat, the other arm behind his back. In his ear, Kagome whispered, "I would be careful to whom you speak so vulgarly to. As your commanding officer, I prefer not to be talked down to, wouldn't you agree?" He nodded in agreement. "Good."
She pushed him forward and scanned her surroundings. The entire camp stared at her, some frozen in the action of doing something. "Listen up. I am your leading officer. My name is Kagome Higurashi. I would like to welcome and thank you all for volunteering your efforts to the cause. See this as an example of how much respect I expect from my soldiers. Now, all of you, go to sleep. We are leaving very early in the morning. As you know, we are deeper into the forest than most would expect, so we have a long way to be traveling to headquarters," she ordered, spun on her heel, and walked to the Tent in dignified strides, Rin following closely.
Walking into the tent was exactly like walking into a small hut. In the center a small pit was dug to house a fire, while cots and bedrolls were laid out in a corner of the tent. A low-elevated table was located near the small fire pit where Matsuru, Rei, Shiru, and Sango were sitting around.
The occupants of the room looked up from what looked like a map. They stood as she walked toward them. Sango was the first to embrace her in a hug. When she stepped back, Kagome saw tears brimming Sango's eyes. "Kagome, we thought that we would never see you again," Sango said, holding in her tears.
"Why is everyone saying that? Do they think that I am incapable of escaping? I did have a few days to actually plan you know," Kagome said, a little irritated.
"Well...this time...they were going to come personally," Sango semi-whispered.
"So? It's not like I wouldn't have time to escape. It's not that hard to," Kagome replied.
"That's just it. You wouldn't have been able to escape. When they come personally they would kill you on the spot. No time to use any plans, Kagome," Rei said in an advising tone.
"Well–...You got me there. sigh Well, let's just be glad I'm out of it. So, what were ya'll up to," Kagome replied, not wanting an argument.
"We were just planning on a way to capture the princes," Shiru informed.
They returned to the table, Rin sitting next to Kagome. As Kagome looked down at Rin it seemed as if Rin was trying to look like an important person, impersonating them. Kagome only smiled and said, "Rin, why don't you go and get some rest? I'm not sure if you'll be able to sleep as we are walking tomorrow."
"But I wanna help, too," she whined in reply.
"Rin," Sango said sternly.
"Alright. 'Night, Kagome-chan. 'Night, Matsuru-sama. 'Night, Rei-sama. 'Night, Shiru-sama. 'Night, Sango-chan," complied Rin as she gave each of them a hug and walked to her cot in the corner. Immediately, they could hear her small, soft snores.
"Kagome, may I ask why you personally watch over Rin? I hope I'm not sounding rude," questioned Sango, looking over at Rin.
"Sango...let's just say she could be my younger sister. To me, she is like family, like all of you are. Plus, I babysat her in our village," Kagome replied awkwardly.
"You...babysit? Oh, Kagome that's a laugh," commented Rei, holding in his giggles.
Kagome threw him a playfully angry look and said, "Alright, jokes over. Let's get down to business. What did you say? We were going to capture the princes? How?" Rei was about to answer her, but Matsuru interrupted him. "How do you think we should do it, Kagome?"
She thought about it carefully as she looked upon the map. "Well...," she started, "We can cut them off here and pass through this river to cover our tracks. Then, we can sneak through the Lost Forest to our campsite here. We should be able to journey safely from there on." Kagome looked up at them, seeing if she had their approval.
"Your planning skills never cease to amaze me, Kagome. That seems much simpler than ours," Shiru commented.
"It seems that working with a clean slate seems to open your mind toblocked regions," Matsuru replied.
All looked up as a commotion could be heard outside. Kagome looked over at Rin as Rin sat up, rubbing her eyes. "What's happening, Kagome-chan," she mumbled. She walked over to Kagome, who was standing up. Rin clutched onto Kagome's leg as she and the others walked out.
Pushing the tent flap aside, she peered out curiously. One campfire in the center of the camp was still burning very brightly as seven figures were illuminated by it. Stepping out of her tent, she walked towards them, her "family" close behind. "I demand to know what is going on here. I ordered you to go to sleep," Kagome said, a hint of anger in her voice.
The small group spun around and stood at attention as she stopped in front of them. "Move aside," she ordered. They did as she ordered. Behind them were three men, bound and gagged. The two other scouts pushed them at her feet, holding knives at their backs. "Speak," she ordered again.
"We found these two in a camp nearby. We merely thought that you wanted these men captured. We will gladly hand them over, at a price, of course," their "leader" said. Her eyes widened as she looked upon the captured faces. They stared up furiously at her, but she merely ignored them as she stared cooly at the "leader."
"What kind of price do you speak of," Kagome questioned, nearly hissing. "Why, we only want a small sum of money, and say...a few women..." he drawled.
Kagome's cold expression was replaced with a smile as she looked down at the hostages. Two of them she could see fear in, but the older one... She smiled more menacingly at this one. She leaned down and whispered to them, "Some things just can't be expected. Next time don't let your guard down."
The Leader took this as an answer to their deal. "Well, I would like to choose-" He was abruptly cut off as Kagome snatched his collar with such speed it startled most of the group. The ones who expected it were Sango, Rei, Shiru, and Masturu. She had startled Rin, who then jumped to cling to Sango. I'll apologize to her later, Kagome mentally noted. She stared cooly into the Leader's fearful eyes. "Who said we ever had a deal? Who said you could take any of my warriors? I don't remember agreeing to the deal. Rei, get me a sack, we wouldn't want too much blood seeping into the land's good soil."
She threw the man backwards, steadily stalking to his panicky form like a predator. All eyes were on her as she kneeled down to the man and warned, "If I ever see your face again I swear I will slay you on the spot. Do not insult me by making such vulgar deals. I'll give you and your...soldiers 11 seconds."
With that, the intruders scampered away, running for all they were worth. Kagome turned around, giggling. "I swear. Those who call themselves 'warriors' these days are so easy to scare."
"Kagome," Matsuru said in a warning tone. Kagome only sighed. "You always ruin my fun."
"What are we gonna do with them, Kagome," Sango questioned, nodding towards the hostages.
"Hmmm...Un-gag them and escort them into the Tent. I'll watch them tonight. Sango, get Rin back to bed," Kagome said. Seeing the protest on Sango's face, she added, "That is an order."
Sango hung her head defeated and escorted a very clingy Rin into the Tent. "You three can help me get these men inside."
As they did so, Shiru commented, "Well, I guess we didn't need a plan after all, huh, Kagome. I just never thought that Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sesshomaru would fall into our laps so easily."