A/N: Really sorry for the delay, holidays and vacations and all. Happy new year!! Unless you're chinese of course. Oh, I'll be changing my pen name toYoukai of the Seven Stars sometime after I publish this, so everything should change... I don't know how it works.
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, and the idea of the dragons is based on Mercedes Lackey's Joust and a bit of Anne McCaffrey's Pern. The Curse is all mine, so no sticky fingers!
.:Curse of Dragons:.
.:By: Darkwolfgal:.
.:Chapter 2: The Silver Dragon:.
She shuddered and pressed herself into the corner, her arms crossed over her head in neck, just as Kaede had told her to do if there was any trouble so long ago. Now she clutched to her memories, shivering with fear and sweat, waiting for the dragon to finish her off.
He was lashing at her, falling short each time because of his chain, but cornering her nonetheless. If she tried to move he would kill her, if she stayed where she was she'd eventually die. Enchanted stalls or not, the chains would have to break under this strain eventually, and the dragon had all the time he needed.
His jerking was rhythmic, a straining and jerking with the rubbing of leather against scales and then a jangling of chain. A lunge and then a pause before the dragon lunged again, and so it continued for what seemed like an eternity, thought it was really only a few minutes, and then silence, except for the panting of the dragon.
She moved her arms away, feeling her forehead wet with sweat, and looked up at the massive silver beast, larger than most of the other dragons that she'd seen. He was glaring down his long silver snout, his amber eyes narrowed with anger and no little annoyance. She thought she even saw a pang of hurt, but it must have been an illusion.
"Pah, you wouldn't go by the name Kikyo would you?" It snarled, its jaws snapping together with a clack.
It was speaking again, how could it be speaking? Dragons did not speak, they couldn't, they weren't smart enough, but she wouldn't argue with those fangs and talons.
"N-no, my name's Kagome." She managed to stutter, staring at him.
His talking wasn't the only thing that separated him from the other dragons. He was missing the two whisker-like appendages that sprouted from his snout, ahead of the nostrils, and his ears were not the small indents of the other dragons but elongated and sleek, more like long, thin fox ears. His claws were longer and seemed less able to sheathe than the other dragons', and his tail was long and lean, whipping around behind him and occasionally hitting the wall.
"Keh, then I suppose you're the new dragon girl." He growled stomping forwards again. She recoiled but he reached for the barrow instead of her, grabbing it with his jaws and dragging it towards his claws, which brought it back towards him. He reclined back on his haunches and sniffed the meat delicately before growling again, shoving it away, though catching it before it went flying towards Kagome and kicking it into the wall instead.
"What's wrong?" she asked, seeing the barrow slam forcefully into the wall and losing at least half of its contents in the journey.
The dragon eyed her in an almost curious fashion before snapping at the air.
"What's wrong? Well you should know, you were the one who prepared the meal." He rumbled, lying back down with his head on his forepaws again.
"I don't see what's wrong, I followed the instructions to the letter." She pointed out, getting cautiously to her feet.
The dragon snorted, its tail lashing.
"And what might these 'instructions' have read?" He growled.
"I put in beef, the porridge, and herb 3." She replied, dusting her kimono off self-consciously. The dragon snorted again, making her look up.
"Herb 3." He rumbled. "Sedative."
Wait, Rin had told her herb 3 was a sedative, but dragons weren't supposed to be able to detect it. How had this one done so? Add that to why it was talking, why it was silver, and why it looked different and she'd have a good quiz question.
"What are you?" she managed to say at last.
"A dragon." The dragon snorted, his eyes half closed.
He was hiding something and she could feel it.
"No, what are you really?" she persisted, taking a step forwards. Big mistake.
In a nanosecond the dragon's languor disappeared and he lunged at her, grabbing at her with a forepaw, his talons sheathed but still dangerous since they did not go all the way.
She screamed as he brought her up into the air, sitting on his haunches again.
"I am a dragon, that's all you need to know." It growled, it's claws shifting their grip on her, a show of dexterity.
"Now then, who are you?"
"I'm Kagome."
"Now you're the one who's hiding something. Speak, girl, or I'll eat you. You don't have a sedative on you." He rumbled threateningly. She decided to oblige.
"I'm Kagome, orphan adopted by the laundress Kaede who passed away five years ago."
"That's better." The grip on her waist loosened a little, though not enough for her to wriggle free.
"Why are you here?"
"I was captured by Naraku's riders, they were hoping you'd keep me quiet."
The dragon snorted at that, a breath of hot air that streamed through her hair.
"I don't eat humans, except when one's not answering my questions." He growled. "Why were you caught?" His claws tightened in a threat.
"I-I was carrying the S-Shikon Jew-"
"The Shikon no Tama?" At once the dragon snapped to attention, his muscles tensing, including those of his claw.
"Yes, the Jewel of Four souls-"
"Where is it now?" The dragon rumbled, cutting her off harshly.
"I have no clue, now could you please set me down?" She said, pushing at the tightening silver talons. He dropped her and circled, neck arched and swishing.
"Why do they want it?" He growled.
"Why do you want to know?" She countered.
"I have my reasons, human, now speak before I make you dinner."
"I don't know." She said, it was the truth and the dragon growled.
"Why do you want it?" She asked but the dragon just grumbled.
"I have my reasons." He said again and lay down, his head resting on his forepaws yet again. Was she mistaken or did he look tired? His eyes were already half-lidded.
"Can you tell me where my room is?" She asked again, deciding it was time for her to rest as well, and she was hungry too, darn it.
"At the back on the right." The dragon rumbled. "A door, a slightly different shade. Push it to the side." His eyes closed.
She nodded and examined the wall, finding that there was a patch of different colored wood. Pushing in and to the side she slid the door away, revealing a small room with a small window over a bed, a real bed, a drawer and a table. There was a rug on the floor and clean blankets on her bed, and a door that lead outside but after trying it she found it locked.
With a yawn she decided to explore in the morning, she was too tired, and she fell into the bed, falling asleep just as she pulled up the covers.
Outside the silver dragon lay, eyes closed, his mind submerged in thought. Who was this girl, for starters, and why did she look so much like Kikyo? There was only one thing different, their smell. Kikyo was cold, rushing water, with an earthy touch to it. She was the flowers and the fresh spring air, mixed with the scent of a fresh rain. They differed in personality, where Kikyo was etched in ice she was the flare of a newly struck fire. So why were they so much alike? And the Shikon, the girl had possessed the Shikon, and she had power too, much like Kikyo's power but he saw it. It wasn't Kikyo's icy blue, it was a flare of pink and violet. He could see it in her eyes.
With a rumble he shifted, trying to spread his wings and failing because of the chains, before deciding he'd worry about it tomorrow, proving he got something to eat without a sedative added into it. He was just too tired…
---------
She awoke as the light shone through the window above her head, hitting her square in the eyes and making her squint. It was probably what the window was for.
Well done, she congratulated herself; you've survived the night.
Amazing really, considering the dragon had gone from ready to eat to passive, unless throwing threats could be counted as passive.
With a sigh she threw on her kimono, or perhaps it was a uniform, and tried the outer door again. Locked, again, so there was only one way back to the feeding rooms, through the dragon's stall.
With a worried sigh she pushed the door open a bit, calling out.
"Dragon?"
There was no response and she opened the door before gasping in fear and staggering back.
She had thought he'd look menacing the night before when he had threatened her and nearly bit her head off. She had been mistaken; it was as if the dragon had changed overnight. Before her a massive silver dragon crouched, muscles tensed and chains tight. How could she have not seen the layers of rippling muscle beneath that supple hide, or the way his talons gleamed in the lamplight? He looked positively feral, a wild untamable creature, and the rumbling snarl that came from his chest made her yelp.
Where had that nice, or maybe not so nice, talking dragon gone? There was barely a shred of that human intelligence left; she could barely see the gleam of recognition in his wild amber eyes.
Readying herself for a bone crushing snap she stepped slowly out of her room, on the balls of her feet.
Nothing, no reaction at all, not even a halfhearted snap. The dragon just watched her, watched her and let her pass.
With a push she shoved the door opened and closed it, barring it tightly, just in case, and then ran for the feeding room, where she was supposed to meet Rin. Instead, two guards snagged her on her way there.
"Lord Naraku will speak with you now." One of them growled as he grabbed her wrist.
"Wait, I'm supposed to be-"
"Lord Naraku's orders are law." Came the growl, this time from the other guard as he seized her other wrist. "Come quietly."
With that they were off again, through the grounds to the palace, into the maze of corridors and then out again, in the place where she had first met Naraku. She supposed it could be called a throne room, though there was only a comfortable mat for the Lord, not a throne.
She bowed.
"Get up, I see you've survived the night."
She unbent and nodded.
"Your observations?" It was a command.
"He was wild… he tried to eat me…" She paused; she didn't think she should tell them he could talk.
"And then I started talking to him, and he stopped and I showed him the food, which he went mad for. Afterwards he got all sleepy and I found my room." The truth, he could not say she had lied.
"Good, you've outlived your usefulness." Naraku said, nodding to a scribe who left with Kagome's words on his scroll.
"Kagura."
His adviser strode forwards and bowed.
"Have her brought to the brothel, she will be an excellent addition to the stock."
The woman nodded, her crimson eyes staring, no glaring, at Kagome, though there was a flash of pity there.
Kagura nodded to the guards and lead the way, leaving her only to follow helplessly, condemned to her fate.
Again they strode through courtyards and corridors, so many it made her dizzy, before they came out in a room full of perfume and incense. A woman stood there, doing some paperwork while that same young lad that the dragon man had summoned waited at her side.
"Akara, this new girl will serve you nicely. Lord Naraku's orders, she goes by Kagome."
Kagura said curtly before turning to leave, the two guards dropping Kagome and following.
The woman scribbled once more on the parchment before handing it back to the kistune, who took off like a shot. Then Akara turned to her.
"Kagome, is it?"
She nodded.
"Alright then, as soon as Shippo gets back he'll escort you to the dining hall. Eat, wash up, business begins at nine." Akara said curtly before turning to sign another few documents.
With a worried gulp at the mention of 'business' she nodded and waited. A few minutes later there was a knock on the door and the young fox demon, Shippo, returned.
"Shippo, this is Kagome, get her cleaned up for business." Akara said without looking up, the little demon nodded and motioned for her to follow. She did, seeing there was nothing else to do.
As soon as they had left the room Shippo turned to her.
"Hi!" he chirped, she stopped and stared not expecting a demon-a youkai!- to be speaking to her in a friendly fashion.
"I'm Shippo, I'm in charge of doing all of the errands around here. Why are you here?" He asked, his words coming in tumbles from a childish high-pitched voice.
"Naraku wanted to keep me quiet about something, so he sent me to the brothel." She grimaced but Shippo looked delighted.
"Oh it'll be so much fun! You can play with the other girls, and then every night other people come and play with you!" he looked ecstatic. "You'll love it here!"
She grimaced, not liking the sound of that, but quickly hid it.
"Shippo, do you know what a brothel is?" she asked, trying to sound gentle.
"Yup, it's like a playhouse, but for grownups." He replied, grabbing her hand and leading her down the hall.
She fell silent, her suspicions confirmed. Shippo didn't know what a brothel really was.
And she hoped he'd never have to find out.
- - -
There was a knock at the door of her new room, which was a smallish cell like space with only a pallet and a small stand in it.
With a feeling of dread she got to her feet and opened the door, allowing herself to be chained by the guards and led out into the hallway, guided down the corridor and into the meeting room, where she was tied to a beam on the stage and made to wait.
Her stomach squirmed with disgust as the men entered, drunk, fat, smelling of sweat and bulging with coins, coins used to the buy the services of the brothel's woman. It made her want to retch, and now there was actually something in her belly to throw up.
It could have been worse, she knew. She could end up in a city brothel, hardly clothed, hardly fed, and a whole lot worse. Naraku's private brothel was better, but she still hated it.
The bidding began as Akara came up to the podium. She could see why Akara was managing the brothel; she was completely homely, not pretty at all. Nothing about her attracted the eye; though she wasn't so ugly none would like her presence. She was hardly noticeable, just noticeable enough to be paid attention to when the time came.
Four girls were auctioned off, their bidders fat and nearly buried in gold, before it was her turn. Shivering, she allowed Akara to lead her up to the podium and the bids flowed in.
Apparently the men wanted to test 'the new girl'. See what she could do, and it revolted her even more. They were fat, lousy, rich, spoiled, and defiled-
Her thoughts were interrupted as the doors burst open and two guards entered the room, one of them carrying a scroll.
"Lord Naraku orders the custody of the girl, Kagome." The one with the scroll read.
There was a murmur, a few angry cries, and then a demand for a refund as Akara released her chains and the guards grabbed her arms. She could still hear the din as she was towed out of the room and into the night.
"Why does he want me?" she demanded as they strolled down the torch lit path. The two guards exchanged glances.
"The Lord said not that we could not answer her questions." One said.
"Alright." Agreed the second. "He doesn't exactly want you, he needs you."
"Why?" Lord Naraku needed her? What on Earth was going on?
"The Silver Dragon. He sort of…"
"He savaged three of our best dragon boys who went in after you. He wouldn't touch the breakfast they brought." The other guard finished with a grunt. Her face paled, savaged was obviously a less gruesome word for eaten, but just as bad. "We got the two out before they were devoured, but they were only fit for death afterwards."
"So why me?" she continued, trying to ignore the scenes of blood and gore that entered her mind.
"Because you were the only one who went in there and came back, alive." Replied the other. "The silver dragon is too valuable to kill, and would become a wonderful powerhouse in battle if it would cooperate."
She nodded since it made sense.
"Don't tell the Lord, but I overheard him saying he'd make you a dragon rider if it would get the Silver dragon into his ranks." The first guard mumbled.
Her, Kagome, a scourge off the streets, become a dragon rider? Naraku must be desperate, but if the Silver could talk, sense what other dragons couldn't, and heal he would be a valuable asset.
"You know what to do, girl." The second guard said as he swung open the door to the dragon compound.
"Actually, I don't." Kagome mumbled.
"Do whatever you have to do to get that beast to calm down." The first said in answer as they shoved her in and closed the door. She didn't hear them move away, so she knew they were standing guard.
"Might as well give it a shot." She said to no one and turned to the feeding room, loading a barrow with huge cuts of meat, managing to get an ox leg onto the pile without anything toppling over. First she'd bribe him with food, un-sedated food, from what the guards had said and from how the dragon acted he hadn't eaten for over a day, and considering that wild dragons hardly got good game he could have gone without sustenance for a week or so.
She wheeled down the isle and towards the end, unbarring the door and pushing it aside, pushing the barrow before her.
She was met immediately with a clash of sharp teeth, a flurry of straw, and a gust of heated air from the dragon's breath before he stepped back. She could still see the faint recognition in his eyes and hoped it would last.
"I'm back." She said.
Her response was a snarl as the dragon took in the barrow and inhaled deeply, his muscles tensing as he recognized the smell of pure meat without anything else in it. The feral feeling in his eyes was growing and he lunged, though his chain was shorter than before and he fell back, snarling.
With a shudder she realized she couldn't get the food to him like this, he'd probably hurt her before he realized it. She turned to the wall, hoping there might be some sort of trough. There was.
She dumped the meat into the trough letting everything slide in before moving the barrow aside. She could see the dragon jerking towards the meat, his silver scales grating against the collar, his chain taunt with ravenous hunger. He couldn't reach; she'd have to loosen the chain.
Taking a deep breath she approached him.
"Hey there." She said, taking a few steps forwards. He snapped at her, recognizing fresh meat.
"I don't taste good you know." She said again, taking another few steps. Her talking was stilling him, for now, but he snapped his jaws at her.
"Hold still, there's good meat in the trough. You can have it all, I'll even get you more, just don't eat me!" It was more of a plea then anything else, and with a quick inhalation she ran for the chained hook on the wall, unclipping it as fast as she dared and ducked.
Immediately she felt the chain lash at the air above her as the dragon ran for the food trough, bedding scattering as he dove into the meat, which was quickly becoming bulges in his throat. He slurped and snapped like a mad thing and she knew he'd need more.
Quickly she grabbed the barrow and ran for the feeding room, loading it full again before heading back, at a slower pace, and reentered the pen. The dragon was stripping the meat from the ox bone but as she dumped the meat into the trough he got back to his feet.
"Thanks." He grumbled and she noticed the feral look to him had died down. He looked much more like the silver beast she had been talking to the night before.
She gulped and nodded as he plunged into the rest of the meat, the metallic tang of blood filling her nose until she wanted to retch. She took a few steps back and the dragon lifted his head, his eyes glinting in annoyed amusement.
"Can't stand the scent, huh?" he said, one eye blinking at her as he continued to eat.
"No, I can't." was her reply.
"You get used to it." Grumbled the beast, between mouthfuls. It took a few moments before she really registered what he had said.
He was new, caught 'wild', so he couldn't possibly know that the dragon boys got used to the scent. Sure, they probably did, but how was he to know they even cared about it? Dragons, according to fact, had never paid that much attention to humans.
"You're not just a dragon."
The words were out of her mouth before her mind was even made up, but it sounded right and the dragon lifted his head, eyes narrowed, mouth curling into a frown, or what resembled a frown.
"Shut-up." He snarled.
"You're not just a dragon." She said again, the almost human expression on his face assuring her at once that she was right. Dragons didn't speak, to humans at least, dragons couldn't tell the difference between a sedative and straw. Dragon wounds didn't heal overnight, dragons didn't have human-like intelligence, and dragons were not silver.
There was a moment where the golden eyes just stared at her, catching her gaze and holding it. She didn't look away; she stared back, pretending to be steady even as his jowls dropped, the remnants of his meal dripping from the long white fangs.
And then he lunged at her, again, and this time there wasn't a chain to hold him back.
A/N: I really must love nearly killing my characters, huh?