Inutori: Hey everyone, Inutori here: bringing you another chapter.  But before you go read the story, there are a few things I'd like to discuss.

Inuyasha: The first isn't really up for discussion, since it's telling you that the wench don't own the Inuyasha cast.

Inutori: But the second is a question I'd like ya'll to answer in yer reviews.  Should I keep Inutori as my penname or should I change it to Torineko so I get rid of some confusion between one of my original characters and me in some of my other fics?

Kagome: If you could just leave your answer in a review, that'd be great!

Inutori: Even if you don't want to say whether I should change my name or not review so I know if you like this story.  OK, NOW you have my permission to go read the story…

Chapter 3

The Beat of the Drum

Inuyasha looked curiously at the young maiden clad in men's clothing.  Her straight black hair fell down to just above her waist and there was a defiant look in her eyes.

"Who are you?"

"I am Tajiya Sango, a lady-in-waiting of Kagome-sama."  The girl looked up at him with her chin high in the air as Inuyasha gave her a piercing glare.

"Then what the-"

"Mikotu Inuyasha!  The pirate ship has turned around and is headed straight for us!"  The captain was looking down at the prince in alarm as he tried to veer the ship to starboard to avoid a head on with the other vessel.

Inuyasha shot a death glare at the stowaway before bounding up to join the captain.  "I'll deal with you later."  He watched in awed horror as the pirate ship came closer and closer.  Soon they were side by side and the pirates began flowing over onto the government vessel.

There were about thirty pirates aboard the ship before Inuyasha recollected his thoughts and managed to draw his Tetsusaiga.  He watched as his fellow men were run through with swords and collapsed to the deck of the ship covered in their own blood.

A surge of anger ran through him as he watched another man fall to his death.  Looking around, he saw the stowaway being held by the forearm by a petite pirate.  The feeling of anger pumped through his veins even stronger at the thought of what the pirates would do to the woman and his sword transformed into the silver fang of his father.

Inuyasha leapt down, charging straight for the seafaring thief that clutched the lady-in-waiting.  The pirate glanced up at him at the last possible moment and drew his sword to counter Inuyasha's blow.  Amazingly, it worked, and Inuyasha was stopped dead in his tracks.  This pirate held his sword with one hand yet he was still able to block the hanyou's attack.

The prince glanced around to see pirates closing in on him from all sides, swords and other various weapons ready to go in for the kill.  Just before they pounced, the first pirate Inuyasha had attempted to attack barked out an order.

"Wait, this one's the prince.  Don't kill him just yet, we'll get a ransom for him first."

Inuyasha looked back at the black haired pirate just before getting hit on the pressure point on his neck, knocking him out cold.

The prince furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he slowly came to after being unconscious.  Cold shackles held his hands together and kept him from attacking people easily while his feet remained loose.  That would be a big mistake on the pirates' part.

Darkness surrounded him, and he could smell the wet salt of the ocean all around him.  A light penetrated the dark room as a door at the top of some stairs creaked open.  Inuyasha glared up at the figure that lightly strutted down the stairs.

"So you're the hanyou prince that Kikyou almost married."  The man smiled at him smugly and looked him in the eyes.

Inuyasha recognized that voice.  That was Ookami's voice.  The hanyou emitted a low growl from his throat, glaring at the man that wore his black hair in a high ponytail.  "I demand the release of me and Lady Kagome."

"You're not really in a position to be making demands."  Kouga Ookami smirked arrogantly at Inuyasha.  "And if it weren't for the fact that the Captain told me not to kill you, I'd run you through right now just to prove my claim on your fiancé."

"What are you talking about?  You ARE Captain Ookami, are you not?"  Inuyasha tried to lean forward to get into the pirate's face, but the chains attached to his shackles prevented that.

"Ah, a typical land lover, thinking that I, Kouga Ookami is Captain of the Shikon no Tama."  Kouga sneered at Inuyasha, ticking a finger as if to tell the prince off.

Inuyasha merely blinked at Kouga.

"I am merely first mate.  The Captain hardly ever goes ashore to pillage and plunder.  You should be honored that Captain decided to come when we ruined your little wedding."

Silence ensued as Inuyasha blinked at Kouga through the dim light, trying to digest all of the information he had just been fed.  "Then if you're not the captain…who is?"

"Oh, Captain will come to see you.  Other than her, I'm the only other one you'll be seeing."  Kouga smiled triumphantly at Inuyasha and turned to walk away.

"Her?"

The proclaimed first mate didn't answer as he ascended the stairs back onto the deck.  Another person passed him descending the stairs towards Inuyasha and the prince got the impression that this petite pirate was the captain.

The person in front of him was the one who had been holding the lady-in-waiting before.  Inuyasha had mistaken her for a guy assuming that all pirates were male, but apparently he had assumed wrong.  This pirate standing in front of him was a girl, just wearing men's clothing.

She had long black hair that fell a few inches past her waist that was tied back in a low ponytail.  A red bandana was tied on to her head to keep down any loose strands.  There was a large scar covering her left cheek and her bangs hung low over her eyes.  The clothes she wore fit extremely loose and her sword's handle and sheath were made out of material that appeared to be gold.

"So, Inuyasha-sama," she bit out the title like it were a poisonous venom, "I hear that you thought you could beat me no problem."  She looked up and the most piercing blue eyes one could ever imagine met Inuyasha's golden orbs.  This girl looked like someone he had seen before; she looked like the pirate Kikyou.

~

Inutori: And…yeah…don't have much to say, so I won't hold you up.  Review for me and I'll update ASAP!  Don't forget to give you input on my penname!  Ja!]