A Tempting Fate
Chapter Two
By Kaguya's Chaos
Kagome sighed as she stared up into the endless expanse of starry sky. Her sapphire orbs glistened as she delighted n the fact that she could see the stars so clearly, now that she was away from the smoggy city. But, no matter how she found excitement at the clear sky, she couldn't get over the fact that she was stranded with a bunch of childish morons, excluding the children.
Her face turned red in anger at the memory of the day, or rather evening, after everyone had introduced themselves and settled down on this hunk of metal flotsam that allowed them to float on the water. The children had stayed in a sleep-like state the whole time, apparently worn out and trying to repair their emotional trauma from earlier, through said sleep. They of course, didn't hear the idiotic arguments.
:flashback:
"So, your like, this major rich chick, right?" The ever so 'smart' Kouga asked as he ogled the way Kagome's clothes stuck to her body. 'Pervert.' Was her brief thought as she nodded. Beside her, Inuyasha let out another of his now famous, "Feh"s. Sesshoumaru remained quiet and yet he couldn't quite keep the warning growl from entering his throat. It rumbled out lowly and the only one's who heard it were Inuyasha and Kouga. Both looked to the silver-haired business man and smirked.
So it was going to be like that, huh? Between the three there was a flaring challenge, and Kagome remained blissfully unaware of it. The rest of the afternoon proved to be the same, as Inuyasha and Kouga bickered back and forth and Sesshoumaru remained a silent statue, looking over the damn horizon as if waiting for a ship to pull right up.
'If only we had that kind of luck!' Kagome moaned in her mind as she again yelled at the two men to "shut the hell up!" Jeez…this is going to be one long nightmare.
:End Flashback:
So here lay Kagome with two snoozing children on either of her sides, a stoic Sesshoumaru on her left also laying down, Inuyasha on her right sitting up and staring into nothing, and Kouga at her feet who was staring at her. Rolling her eyes and deciding to ignore the lecherous idiot, she fell into a dreamless sleep.
Sesshoumaru's eyes opened the minute he was sure she was asleep. As he sat up he was met with a growl of irritation. "Damn, I thought she'd never fall asleep!" Inuyasha muttered as he let out a breath of relief. As the air rushed from him, so too did the human appearance he had maintained. Silvery dog ears perched on top of his head and his hands became claws. Across from him Kouga changed too.
His eyes became more primal and his ears tipped up into what most humans would describe as elf-like. His dark hair became less tamed and his bare feet became slightly clawed. His hands grew long claws and a tail sprang from behind him. Beside him Sesshoumaru let out a disdained sniff and his own appearance changed.
His height increased and his hair became a lighter shade of platinum, growing past his waist. His ears tipped at the top like Kouga's and his hands changed into deadly delicate claws. His face, unlike the other two, grew maroon markings and on his forehead shadowed a deep purple-ish blue crescent moon, showing his standing in youkai society. Maroon stripes also attached themselves to his wrists and a tail appeared over his shoulder. In the bright moonlight he was clearly a striking figure to behold. (Too bad Kagome's asleep through this whole thing, huh?)
Kouga glared at the obviously proud Taiyoukai. 'Heh, stupid pretty boy!' He growled to himself as Sesshoumaru smirked back. Inuyasha bit off his own growl as he too glared at his half-brother. Ignoring the two other youkai, Sesshoumaru turned his attention to the blue-eyed girl who had caught his attention earlier.
Her long raven hair spilled about her heart-shaped face, bringing out the pale silky look of her skin under the moon's loving beams. She had captured his attention the minute she had turned to glare and yell at Inuyasha. Showering both brothers with her unusual scent. The smell of jasmines and juniper caused both to stare in shock.
Inuyasha admitted to himself, that no human had ever smiled like that before, not even Kikyou smelled half as good. Not that he would ever say that out loud. Kouga, on his part couldn't get enough of her smell. At first, he thought it was the breeze from an island that caused the smell, but as he focused on it, he realized that it came from the human woman, snuggled close to the inu and two children.
Sesshoumaru brought himself out of his musings as the girl, Kagome, moved in her sleep and brought the two children closer to her. He smiled a fleeting half smile before correcting himself and unwrapped his tail to drape over her. She let out a smile and snuggled closer. Lost in his own thoughts once again, the Taiyoukai was dragged out of them when an agitated growl reached his sensitive ears from both sides of him.
"What the hell do you think you're doing? Get your tail off of her, jackass!" Inuyasha nearly shouted and Kouga growled again. Sesshoumaru smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Don't you already have your own bitch, Inuyasha? Why would you care about this one?" He taunted and his smirk widened as Inuyasha just growled in answer.
Kouga, of course, was a different matter as he restated the hanyou's demand. "Get your filthy tail off of her." At this point Kagome moved once more and groaned, earning herself the stares of all males. They stiffened and held their breath, hoping she wouldn't wake up. Instead they were greeted with her groggy voice.
"Dammit, Souta. Stop it!" She muttered before falling asleep again. All three males glared at that statement and blinked. 'Who the hell is Souta!' Was the dominant thought in all of their heads.
:DF:
Kagome opened her bleary eyes and groaned as she remembered where she was and why her clothes felt stiff, due to the salt of the sea. They had been on the floating war zone, aptly named because of the two hot-headed males she was forced to listen to, for about two days now. Hunger had raptly set in and the two adorable kids stuck there without their parents, quickly made it known.
"Kagome-neechan?" Rin asked as she snuggled closer to the older girl. Kagome looked down at her and rubbed her bleary eyes.
"Yes Rin-chan?"
"When are we going to…"
"Get back to dry land? I don't know, sweetie."
"Oh. Um…I…" At this Rin leaned closer and a slight blush stained her cheeks. Kagome leaned down and allowed the little girl to whisper in her ear. "I have to go potty." Kagome's eyes widened and she too realized their predicament. She too had to pee and for a while too. Oh dear…
Kagome turned to the males in their little party and glared. 'Lucky bastards.' She thought as she watched them. They were able to just stand up and pee over the side, without having to…you know. She looked into the cold water and shuddered over the fact that it was either dive in and go to the bathroom that way or…embarrass herself.
She looked to Rin and realized the girl knew what they had to do too. Together their eyes turned to the water and their faces heated up in embarrassment at the thought of what they were going to have to do. 'Oh, Lord.' Rin turned her head back to Kagome and a look of desperation crossed her face. Well, they were going to have to…but the thought racing through her mind was to either take off her pants or not…
Shippo, having been privy to the conversation had turned bright red as well, seeing as he too realized just what the girls were going to have to do. He turned his head to the older males and realized they were looking over at Kagome in confusion, turning back, Shippo realized why. Kagome was now standing with a determined look on her face, staring at the water.
Rin stood up to and grabbed the older woman's hand. Kagome turned her face to the guys and felt it heat up. Without saying anything to their confused silent question, Kagome stripped off her pants and stood there with nothing but her blouse and her underwear covering her. Kouga's and Inuyasha's mouths dropped open and Sesshoumaru's eyes widened. Taking a hold of Rin's hand she turned to the eight year old girl and nodded.
Before anyone could react, both females leapt over the side and into the water. Kouga and Inuyasha jumped up and over to the side, thinking both had gone mental. Their heads resurfaced and both were grinning sheepishly. Inuyasha was the first to say anything.
"What the fuck are you doing!" he yelled out and Kagome just smiled slightly. "We wanted to go swimming." She said simply and swam closer to the drifting hunk of metal. She heft Rin up and over the edge, just as she was about to leap over the side herself, she felt something brush against her leg. Her whole body stiffened as the thing brushed against her again.
Trying not to panic, she looked down at the water and let out a scream when she saw exactly what was brushing against her. There, barely seen under the waves, was a whole school of sharks. Her heart leapt into her throat and she barely registered the shouts coming from those on the make-shift boat. Trying not to draw attention to herself, she swam closer to the floating boat and tried to heft herself up. Just as she had gotten half up with the help of numerous hands, her leg scratched against a jagged edge of the boat and blood streamed down into the water. She let out a shout of pain and nearly fell back in.
The blood colored the water and drew the attention of the sharks. Turning around, mid-swim, they came at her with a vengeance. She was pulled onto the boat just as a shark had rushed at her previous place. Scared beyond words, filled with immense pain, and completely tired, Kagome let out a cry of relief. She barely felt the two small bodies grasping onto her or heard the shouts from Kouga and Inuyasha. She did, however felt when Sesshoumaru inspected her leg wound.
Letting out a hiss of pain, she stared down at the wound herself. It was long and seemed to be pretty deep. Blood splashed out of the torn skin and trailed over the edge of the floating piece of junk and into the water. It attracted the sharks and drew their attention to the floating hunk. Kagome's head grew fuzzy due to blood loss and pain.
Too far gone, she didn't notice when Sesshoumaru's eyes tainted pink and became narrowed. She also didn't notice the nails on Inuyasha's hand lengthening as he held her shoulders. She didn't see Kouga's eyes become darker and she didn't notice Rin and Shippo stiffening in her slackening embrace. With a final groan of pain, Kagome fainted from the world, hoping this wouldn't be the last time she got to see it.
:WTF:
Sesshoumaru stared down at the wound, trying not to notice the enticing smell it produced or the way his inner youkai demanded to taste said blood. He tried to evaluate the damage and what could be done about it. He did, however notice the way the other two grown males reacted to the scent of the metallic blood. Stifling a growl at the slight arousal he found in both of their scents, not to mention his own, he delicately prodded the torn flesh.
This was a mistake. Blood rushed from it anew and only the whimpers from the two children kept Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha and Kouga from leaping at it.
Rin looked to the girl she considered her new sister and let out a soft sob. Blood had quickly rushed from the wound and it seemed this white-haired youkai only made it worse. Yes, she knew he was youkai. They all were except for Kagome. Shippo and her were kitsune. Brother and sister. Rin knew the two silver haired inu-youkai were brothers and that the other one was a wolf.
Shippo wrapped his arms around his younger sister and held back his own tears. True, they had only known the human for a grand-total of two days, but they felt like she was family. With resolute eyes, Shippo turned to Sesshoumaru.
"You have to lick the wound to close it up." He stated in a small voice, "You should have healing stuff in your saliva, right? M-my dad always said that inu-youkai did." The startled eyes of the Taiyoukai met his own before he nodded and bent down over the wound.
Sesshoumaru let go of his control over the desire to taste the blood. His tongue swept over the wound and he suppressed a groan. Inuyasha stiffened and growled as did Kouga. Both hated the fact that it was Sesshoumaru who got the first taste of her.
Kagome stiffened and tried to thrash around, announcing the pain she felt. Inuyasha kept a hold of one of her arms and Kouga held the other. Rin and Shippo sat on her abdomen, keeping her virtually still. Sesshoumaru finished licking the blood off and sat back as the saliva became a coagulant, stooping the blood and semi-healing the wound.
Kouga tore off a part of his shirt and offered it as a bandage. Inuyasha had done the same and both glared at the other. Sesshoumaru dismissed both of them and used his own shirt, smirking when his scent lingered on her. 'I think I like the way my scent mix's with hers.' He grinned to himself and ignored the heated glares the other two sent him.
Just as Sesshoumaru was about to pick her up and deposit her in his lap, she was lifted and held in Kouga's. Rin and Shippo sat by and watched as the adults fought over their new friend. Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha growled and Kouga grinned as Kagome turned over in her sleep to grip onto his shirt. Kouga snuggled her closer and gave both inu a look of superiority.
Rin looked to Shippo and both sighed. It was indeed going to be a long…whatever you wanted to call this. Both looked to their still ashen-faced friend and remembered their own parents, just before the crash. Their father had buckled them in and told them under no circumstances were they to leave each other. Not really understanding this, and afraid of the jerking motions of the plane, both nodded quickly.
Shippo had grabbed onto Rin's hand and they watched as their father stumbled over to their mother. As he seated himself, both kitsune turned to their beautiful children and smiled a warm, loving smile. That was the last thing either saw of their parents, because the plane had just decided to crash into the water.
As the cold water blew over them, Shippo turned and used half of his body to shield Rin of the powerful force and closed his eyes. Rin grabbed a hold of his shirt and clung to him tightly. When the water stopped rushing passed them as much, Shippo opened his eyes and turned to look at where his parents were supposed to see.
What he saw would haunt him for the rest of his life. His mother was peaceful looking, holding onto his father. But his father, had a metal pole, the one from the door that served as a railing, impaled through his chest. Dark red blood billowed about them in thick clouds. Upon closer inspection, Shippo would have seen that his mothers neck had been broken, but not wanting to see anymore, he turned to Rin and yanked her out of her seat. He kept his body in front of her blocking their dead parents from view, protecting her from seeing the horrible sight.
And even though he tried, he couldn't keep her from seeing. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of the blood and knew her parents were dead. All of this was done in a matter of seconds and the children were running out of air. Keeping their breaking hearts from stopping them from swimming, they reached the surface and gasped for air.
The rest was a blur, ending with the warm embrace of a sapphire eyed woman named Kagome. Now said woman was wounded and in trouble of dying herself. Tears once again welled up in the kids eyes as they crawled over to the girl. Not even caring what the wolf said, they crawled into his arms and rested on Kagome, hugging her for all they were worth. Because to them, she was their last remaining family.
Though they had known her for such a short amount of time, their bond with her had grown quickly. Cause you know what they say. Bonds of love form quicker in the face of a tragedy.
:RD:
Kagome once again opened her bleary eyes as she took in the fact that she felt utterly suffocated. 'What happened? Where am I? Whose on me?' She looked down and her eyes softened as she took in the fact that Rin and Shippo were clutching to her like two lost puppies. And perhaps they were. She smiled and went to lift her hand but found it restrained by a pair of arms, held tightly around her.
Turning her head, Kagome stared in surprise to see Kouga's handsome face lax in sleep. 'Handsome! What the hell are you thinking, Kagome!' She slid her blue gaze over his features and admitted to herself that he was attractive….for a pervert. She turned her face back to his arms and tried to unlink them so she could sit up. A low growl and the tightening of said arms was her reward.
'Did he just…growl?' She asked herself quietly as she again tried to sit up. When she produced no results, she gave up and stared down onto the sleeping children. They looked so peaceful. 'Poor guys. Losing their parents.' She sighed. 'I just hope they will be able to recover from it fully. They were so-' Her thoughts cut off as a cold nose found itself placed against her neck.
Startled by the sudden contact and unable to stop herself she let out a squeal. This provided instant results. Rin and Shippo sat up sharply, breaking Kouga's hold on Kagome. Kagome shot out of his arms and nearly fell into Inuyasha's arms. Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru had also shot to their feet and Kouga was stuck on the ground with two confused kits on his stomach. Kagome sat down and blinked a couple of times.
Her hand fluttered over her leg and stopped when it touched the oddly wrapped bandage. She looked at it blankly before her memory came back to her with startling clarity. The sharks, the jagged edge of the boat thingy, and then passing out. 'But who had-' Her thoughts cut off as she realized the bandage was bark blue, the same color as Sesshoumaru's shirt.
She looked over at him to see that one of his sleeves was indeed gone. Strangely enough, so were one of Kouga's and Inuyasha's. "What happened?" Inuyasha demanded as he regained his bearing's and realized that he had actually fallen asleep last night. Sesshoumaru turned cold eyes to Kouga to see him just as confused as the rest of them. As one, they all turned to Kagome, to see her staring at the horizon behind them in a sort of demented happy-shocked look.
Before any of them could turn to see what she was staring at, they heard her whisper, "Land!" There eyes met a tropical looking island with trees up by the beach. It looked absolutely gorgeous. But something felt off about it. Maybe it had something to do with the strange crucified skeleton near the water.
:AN:
Hey ya'll! Done with the second chapter, aren't you happy? Thank goodness it's spring break! I have more time to stay up to ungodly hours of the night to torture my brain by thinking of intelligent things to write down on this story! Yay! No, seriously, I love to write and I am a night owl anyway! Thank you to all who reviewed, I have just now checked my email and I will send my love to you right away!
Anywho, you know the standard procedure! READ, REVIEW and RATE! Thank you and have a pleasant day/night. Whenever you read this!
