Hey! Another update :) I'm still sick, but I'm still writing! Woo! Well, my finals are over, and I'm out of school...until next year. Grr. Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews! You guys rock! Well, anyways, enjoy the chapter!
(Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, and as all know, this goes for the whole story, but I DO own Seekou)
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Chapter 10: Secrets Revealed
Sango woke up, lying down on the cold ground, with her hair in a mess around her. She has been there for over 2 weeks, dealing with the man that comes in and checks on her everyday. He feeds her, though, and tells her that he won't hurt her, as long as she follows his rules. She hadn't been hit in over 8 days, so apparently he wasn't lying.
She had noticed that in the time she stayed here, the man who kidnaped her felt...odd. It didn't feel like a youkai, or a hanyou...but a human. A good human. She had no idea why she felt his way, but she knew something was up. He kept on mumbling something about 'apologizing' and 'enemies', so he obviously wasn't that bad of a person.
Except for the fact that he kidnaped her and stuck her in a grimy dungeon. He could at least had the dignity to put her in a room with an actual floor. This place was hard to sleep in.
She sat up, feeling every bone in her body crack, and looked around her. Nothing had changed at all. Maybe a few more mold spots, a few more cracks in the wall. But nothing new otherwise. She heard noises come from behind the door, and watched the door open. The same man came in, but this time he came with no food. She would smell the food every time he walked in, but this time he didn't. He did have the heart to give her a small nice meal everyday. At least he wasn't trying to kill her.
She watched him walk in, and stand in the place he always stands as he walks in. She waited for him to see what he was going to do, because this time he didn't have any food. Was he planning to kill her? She didn't care anyways, he had given her the feeling that she wasn't going to be rescued, so she gave no hope in it.
She heard the figure breathe, taking small breaths, like he was afraid of something. He finally walked up to Sango, and she watched him grab her chains, and unlock them. Was he releasing her? She gave a small glint of hope in her heart.
"Come with me."
Sango hesitated for a moment, not thinking what to do. Should she run away, and try to find her way out of this place? Or should she follow him, for fear for her life? She decided to just follow him. She was useless without her weapons or armor anyway, he could probably kill her in a cinch.
She followed him out of the room, glad to be walking, to be back on her feet again. She stumbled a bit, her coordination a bit messy from sitting down for an entire two weeks. She quickly regained it, and continued to follow the man. She realized that he was a head taller then her, and he had choppy black hair, that came from his ears to his shoulders, and he had pretty bulky arms. She was standing behind him, so she couldn't see his face.
She kept on following this man through the dungeon, it was an actual pretty big dungeon. They passed many cells, many torture racks, and other things she couldn't put a name on. They finally made their way to a door, and this one had light coming out from the small window in it. The light hurt her eyes, it had been a while since she had seen light like that, and it burned.
He waited for a minute, and he finally opened the door. It brought much light out of it. Sango closed her eyes, and rubbed them. She really needed to get used to this light. The man had gently grabbed her arm, and pulled her out from the dungeon. Sango was surprised that he was being so gentle with her. About a week ago, he was abusing her, and now he was being gentle with her? He was definitely an odd man.
Sango finally got used to the light, and she placed her bearings. She was in a enormously large castle. It had beautiful floors, all marble, large staircases, and other beautiful things. She turned her head, to see the dungeon door. It had closed, leaving a big black stone door in the way, just wiping a blemish on the beautiful castle.
Shr turned back around, and she noticed that the man had turned to face her. She for once saw his face. He was about 24 years old, and he had dark brown eyes. He had a scar on his right cheek, but it wasn't that big. Sango took in all of his features, his huge arms, his muscular frame, his appealing looks. Why had he taken her? She had thought it was the works of Naraku, but was glad it wasn't. She would probably be dead if he kidnaped her anyway. The man noticed Sango staring at him, and he made a small laugh. Sango jumped and blushed, then quickly looked away. She was developing a crush on her kidnaper! How crazy was she?
The man decided to introduce himself, and explain his story. He took a deep breath, and started.
"So, your name is Sango, right?" Sango stared at him like he was stupid. She nodded. How could he not know the name of who he kidnaped? She was dumbfounded. The man continued.
"Well, my name is Seekou. And I, am your kidnaper." Seekou took a deep bow in front of Sango, making her blush even more. Why was he doing this? He had kidnaped her, abused her, stuck her in a crummy dungeon for two weeks, and now he was joking with her? She thought that maybe he was schizophrenic. She planned on running away later if he was.
Seekou stood back up, and looked Sango directly in her eyes. She had beautiful eyes, ones that you could get lost in. She had the lost child look in her eyes, making him smile. Seekou sighed, and crossed his arms. He guessed that he should explain himself now. Sango looked almost too lost, so he needed to anyway.
"Well, I guess I should explain myself. As I told you before, my name is Seekou, and I own this castle, believe it or not. I may look human right now, but I am surely not. I was given the gift to mask my scents, make them seem human, and give myself a human image. I am easily doubted. But, aside from that, I am the Lord of the Northern Lands." Seekou stopped for a second, letting Sango take in what he explained so far. She seemed pretty ok, a bit lost, but he still continued.
"Well, about three weeks ago, a messenger came to my home, giving me the message that a man needed my presence. I agreed, hearing it wasn't too important, and arranged a meeting with him. Not knowing who exactly it was, I allowed him into my castle, and we made business. He told me that you, Sango, was a deep threat to his kingdom. He told me that you had destroyed most of his lands, and he needed me to capture you, and keep you here, in my dungeons, until he requested further assistance. I agreed to this, not knowing of the lies he told me.
I had not found out until yesterday, that the man who visited me was a follower of Naraku, and it was the work of him. I instantly felt bad, and demanded another meeting with him. He did not come back, he had disappeared. I then thought out the entire night, wondering how I was going to apologize to you. I feel so bad, kidnaping you, and keeping you here, when you really hadn't done anything. You do not have to forgive me if you wish, I would understand. But, please, take my offer of allowing you to stay here, in my castle, until you wish to leave. I understand that you were taken away from your friends, so I will allow you to stay here until you find them again. Will you accept my offer?"
Sango was hesitant. Had that really happened? Naraku had wanted her? Why did he want her? Probably for something to do with Kohaku, her younger brother. She growled in anger. Naraku wanted her dead, and she knew it.
Seekou had noticed her annoyance, and had felt even worse then what he felt before. He really didn't mean to kidnap her for no reason, but he couldn't do anything about it now, except give Sango this offer. He decided to re-ensure Sango of this offer, and make sure she knew that she didn't have to accept it.
"Sango, you know that you do not have to accept my offer. I know you are angry with me for taking you, and giving you no hope at all for life. I sincerely apologize for this. But please, know that I am truly sorry."
Sango immediately responded. "Oh, no, no, no! I do not mind, I know that you made an accident. I would greatly appreciate it if you would let me stay here, to let me get back on my feet, and find my friends, if you would allow me?"
Seekou nodded, and turned his back. "Naraku's follower also mentioned something about three others, ones called Miroku, Kagome, and Inuyasha. Do you know anything about these three?"
Sango's eyes grew wide. Naraku had wanted them too? Was he placing a bounty out for them? Did somebody get Kagome already?
"Yes, I know of these people. They are my friends. Do you know if they were taken also?" Sango was jittering with questions. She had really hoped that her friends were not in danger. She couldn't save all of them on her own!
"No, I do not know if they were taken already. But you say that they are your friends? So I'm guessing Naraku wants you all dead. This Inuyasha is a hanyou, right?" Sango nodded. "And he is a big threat to Naraku, right?" Sango nodded again. "Then I'm guessing that Naraku wants you all gone, so you will be out of his way. Great way to get rid of your enemies, getting other people to tell others lies to make you dead."
Sango nodded. She hoped everybody was all right. She would feel terrible if they weren't.
Seekou saw the despair in Sango's eyes, and knew he needed to act.
"We can go searching for your friends if you wish, but we would have to start tomorrow. It is getting late, and we would cover no ground. Do you wish to search for them?" Sango nodded her head rapidly, making Seekou laugh. "Ok, we shall start our search tomorrow. Now, let me show you to your room you shall be staying in. Shall we?" Sango laughed, and nodded. She was glad that her ex-kidnaper was now a friend. it was funny how things changed so quickly. She followed him in glee, glad to have some hope in her heart again.
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Kagome lay in her bed, with her puppy and Shippo in either arms. She couldn't sleep, she couldn't get her mind off of Sesshoumaru. She decided to take a small walk around the castle, to clear her mind from things, and hopefully make her sleepy. She functioned her arms in odd ways to free herself of the two pups without waking them, and she finally got out of bed. She grabbed her night gown, threw it over her head, put on some slippers, and walked out of her room.
Kagome started to walk around the castle, not really caring where she ended up. There were absolutely no servants on the grounds, only a few guards, on their night shift. She waved to them, and they smiled back.
Kagome found herself in the main hall, downstairs, next to the main doors. She decided to go back, having taken her mind off of Sesshoumaru, and she started getting sleepy. She turned back to go to her room, but she ended up running face first into Sesshoumaru's chest again. Did he just place himself in front of Kagome's face on purpose, to make her blush and feel embarrassed? She could have swore she did.
Kagome looked up to Sesshoumaru, who was staring back down at her. She gave him a small smile, and turned to walk around him, to go back to her room. Sesshoumaru stopped her with his low, but booming voice.
"Miko, what are you doing up in these hours, walking around my castle?"
Kagome had felt so stupid. Was she not allowed to walk around the castle at night or something? Was there a rule that she didn't know about or something? She figured there was.
"Ahh...well...uh..." Kagome studdered. Why had she left? She couldn't remember why she did.
"I...couldn't sleep, so I decided to take a small walk. I couldn't get my mind off of yo-I mean...some things." Kagome put on a small blush, and continued to walk up the stairs.
Sesshoumaru turned around, to meet Kagome's back, going up the stairs.
"Miko." Kagome stopped in her tracks, and froze. What did he want now?
"Come here."
Kagome turned, and walked back to Sesshoumaru. It was almost as if she was in a trance, like she didn't control her movements. She felt like a puppet. She walked all the way up to him, until she stood under his gaze. "Yes?"
Sesshoumaru looked down at her, not really knowing why he called her back. There wasn't really a reason why, so he just made one up.
"Walk with me, if you don't mind a little company."
Kagome was silent, but she nodded. Sesshoumaru walked, out from the main hall, and to the garden doors. He walked out them, and sat on a bench that was next to the fountain that lay in front of the flowers. Kagome followed in pursuit, and sat down next to Sesshoumaru. She looked up, and saw all of the beautiful stars above her. It was a sight to see. She wouldn't never be able to see this in her modern times, with all of the city lights and all.
Sesshoumaru looked over to Kagome, and noticed her staring at the stars. She seemed intrigued by such petty things, and he smiled. She was so easy to amuse. He joined her looking at the stars, and tried to see what Kagome saw. He saw nothing worth looking at, so he turned his attention toward Kagome. He was never a conversation starter, so he waited for Kagome to say something. They sat in silence a few minutes more, until Kagome started to talk.
"The stars are so beautiful...where I come from, you can't see the stars like this...so its pretty amazing to see them like this..." Kagome was lost in the stars, her voice carrying away in the breeze. Sesshoumaru simply nodded, and focused his attention on a flower that lay in the garden.
Kagome pulled her attention from the stars to Sesshoumaru, wanting to ask a few questions.
"Sesshoumaru...if you do not mind me asking, where did you get that puppy from? I thought there were only dog demons, not actual dog animals..." Kagome sat there, looking at Sesshoumaru, until he looked back at her.
"There are many kinds of youkai in this world, tiger youkai, dog youkai, wolf youkai, etc. There will always be the normal animal of that youkai also, just not many. We do not breed them a lot, so there are not many of them. Kouga, the wolf prince, breeds his wolves, so you will see many wolves around his area. I have some dogs in my castle, many you may not see though. They are not fond of humans, they were trained to keep humans away. This puppy, though, came from one of our pregnant dogs, an old one. She only had two pups, and one of them died. This is the other one. Its mother is now dead. You are its new mother, you may train it as you wish. you will come to find out that this pup is smarter then any other dog you will ever see though, coming from a line of demons. You may train it do almost anything you want."
Kagome looked at Sesshoumaru the entire time he explained where the puppy came from. 'Oh, so that's why I never see any normal animals in the forest...' Kagome had one more question regarding youkai and animals.
"So...how did the first animal youkai come into play? Did a regular demon...and a dog..." Kagome stopped talking. She finally realized what she was saying, and stopped. She really did not want to know how a youkai was made.
Sesshoumaru sighed. "That explanation, is for another day. Lets just say its not as easy as it may seem to be. And don't ask me why anybody would do that anyway..." Sesshoumaru did not know how the first youkai came into play either, he never really wanted to know. It honestly disgusted him.
Kagome laughed at Sesshoumaru's confused face. She had really put him on the spot. He was so funny when he was on the spot. He was dumbfounded. Kagome shook her head, and stood up.
"Well, I guess I should be going. I'm getting a little sleepy now, and I'm ready for bed. Are you going to stay here a bit longer?" Sesshoumaru nodded his head, never taking his eyes off of the flower that he was looking at earlier. Kagome shook her head again, and began walking toward the garden door.
"Well, I guess I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight, Sesshoumaru."
Sesshoumaru nodded, still eyeing the same flower. That girl really made him embarrassed. He didn't like that. That would have to change soon. Other then that, he enjoyed his time with her. He would have to think of what to give her next, to make her happy. He smiled, and came up with an idea. He stood, and walked toward the garden doors.
'Oh, this will be good...'
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Well, there you have it!Sango now has another part! Just like everybody wanted...right? Yurp. Hope you guys liked the chapter! Well, read and review, and until next time!
