Lessons Learned
Author Shortey 83
Chapter 8 – Like the rain
Disclaimer: I do NOT own InuYasha or Skyrim! I only borrow ideas because trying to drill them out of my head with power tools doesn't work! ^.^
Story Start:
It was night by the time InuYasha, Kagome, and Takara made it back home and Takara was sore from riding so long. It definitely wasn't something she planned on doing often. InuYasha and Kagome decided to go home for the night and for Takara to tell Kaede that they would see her tomorrow. She knew what those two were planning and smirked before she called out to InuYasha "Don't disappoint her InuYasha or she'll come running to me!" "Takara!" Kagome yelled at her and she kicked her horse into a trot so she couldn't be hit by anything Kagome threw at her while, laughing the whole time. She thought about letting Kaede know that she was home, but it was late and the old priestess and Rin were both asleep already. Shrugging, she led the horse to the stable and removed all its tack and gave it a quick brush down and a little bit of hay before she picked up her bag and started to head back to hut. But before she had even made it halfway, she felt something strike her on the back of the head before everything when black.
It was early when InuYasha woke up to the sound of Kaede walking up to their hut. She was still pretty far away, giving him time to dress as he slowly moved away from Kagome's embrace and covered her bare, sleeping form. He felt confident that he had convinced her last night to never even consider sharing him with anyone and smirked when he realized that had been Takara's motive. She really was a kind person, even if they argued all the time. She was fun to be around no matter what she was doing and you never knew what was going to come out of her mouth. He stepped out to meet Kaede who gave him a worried expression. "InuYasha, how late did all of you return?" InuYasha shrugged "I'm not sure exactly. It wasn't too late, but when we arrived everyone was asleep why?" Kaede's worry increased and InuYasha didn't like that at all. "Takara is missing. The horse is in the stable put away, but there's no sign of her."
"You're positive that she hasn't been home all night?" InuYasha asked and the old priestess shook her head. "Her things haven't been touched and her dog has been sitting at the door waiting for her all morning. He wouldn't even play with his toy when I tried to throw it to him. He just sat at the hut and was starring off at the road." InuYasha cursed before he headed back inside. "Kagome, wake up" he told her as he tossed her a clean kimono. "What's wrong, InuYasha?" she asked rubbing her eyes and yawning. "Takara's missing." As soon as the words left his mouth her eyes went wide and she began dressing in a hurry. In no time they were heading into the village to look for her. As they arrived in the village, everyone was awake and looking for her and Rin was in tears. "Calm down, Rin." InuYasha patted the girl on the head. "We'll find her." He tried to soothe herm but she continued to cry. "Find who?" When the half demon turned around, he found himself nearly face to face with his older brother. "Takara" he told him "She hasn't been home all night according to Kaede but her horse was put away." He began to head over to the stable listening as Sesshomaru followed him. "It's not like her to stay out all night or go somewhere without telling anyone."
Looking around the stable, InuYasha could smell Takara as well as the scent of the horse and a few other animals and her scent continued away from the barn, when InuYasha noticed it. It was the scent of Takara's blood and an unknown male. Looking at the ground he could tell that she had been attacked and someone had carried her off. "This way" he told his brother who was still following him. Another scent mixed in with the first two followed by a few more as they headed into the forest outside of the village. There InuYasha saw a few different sets of prints from both horses and humans alike and it seemed by the tracks if they had left in a hurry.
"InuYasha" Kagome called to him as she ran after them "What did you find?" "Someone kidnapped her. I'm going after her. You stay here and keep an eye on Rin. The kid is crying her eyes out." Kagome didn't look like she liked that idea very much but she nodded "Be careful, InuYasha." He nodded to his wife and took off in the direction of the tracks. He noticed that Sesshomaru was also following them. "What are you doing, Sesshomaru? We both know that you don't particularly care for Takara." He didn't think his brother would answer but he did. "That may be true, but Rin is upset." Now it all made sense to him. He didn't care about Takara, but Rin did so he would help get her back.
They had been running for a while when the tracks branched off in two directions. It was getting harder and harder to follow Takara's fading scent and the sky was growing darker as a storm drew near. "We have to split up," he told his brother "You take one path and I'll take the other." Without response, Sesshomaru took the path to the right and InuYasha took the other. He could only hope that Sesshomaru didn't take his time finding Takara. As long as he brought her back in one piece for Rin, InuYasha wasn't too sure that his brother was concerned as to what condition she was in.
A dull pulsing in her head is what woke her up as well as a dry cottony feeling in her mouth. Slowly opening her eyes, Takara noticed that it was now light outside, but her surroundings were unfamiliar. Trying to sit up, she realized that she couldn't move her arms. Pulling harder she figured out fast that her wrists were tied together behind her back. When she tried to speak, she realized that she had been gagged and fear began to creep up her spine. She remembered last night and putting the horse away before she felt someone strike her and that was it. Whoever had captured her knew what she could do which is why they had to sneak up on her and went through the trouble of gagging her.
She heard footsteps approaching before she recognized an all too familiar voice. "Are you sure she's restrained?" Isamu was the one responsible for this.
She tried to calm her breaths and closed her eyes, she'd much rather not let him know that she was awake. Taking deep, even, breaths was hard to do, but she forced herself to execute them and appear as if she was sleeping.
"We are, My Lord. Although we may have hit her too hard, she has yet to wake." Another voice answered her. She heard the screen door slide open before two sets of footsteps entered. "You fool! I told you not to damage her!" he scolded his henchman "I have no use for a damaged woman to be my wife."
Oh HELL NO! Takara mentally screamed. There was no way she was going to be this pathetic creep's wife. He was a moron and a coward. "We'll leave her for a little while longer. Perhaps by noon she will have woken up." Isamu paused "She is beautiful isn't she?" The man who was with him, chuckled. "Indeed my lord, and if you find that she has too much spirit then I would be more than happy to take her off your hands." With a chuckle, both men left the room closing the sliding screen.
Looking around the room where she was at. She noticed that her bow and arrows were lying right behind her. It seemed like those idiots hadn't thought to put her in a different room than her weapons. She only had to scoot back a little to grab ahold of one of her arrows. In no time at all she was sawing through the ropes that bound her hands, but there were a few of them.
She could feel she was on the last rope when she heard footsteps approaching again, but only one set this time. Turning so her back was facing away from the door, Takara watched it slide open to reveal Isamu. She glared at the man who smiled wickedly at her. "I see you are finally awake." He said moving in front of her. "I agree that I still owed you a favor, so I decided to repay you in the best way. I plan to make you my wife. What better way to repay you than to make you mine?"
If looks could have killed, Takara's would have slaughtered Isamu. She continued to use her arrow to saw through the rope as he reached towards her, but Takara kicked out at him, and she heard the sound of bones snapping before he cried out in pain. Her foot had connected with his fingers and bent them too far back. He snatched his hand back to him before he stood up. "You stupid bitch!" he yelled as he drew his foot back to kick her, but before he could move to kick her, someone outside yelled.
Isamu looked away from her while cradling his injured hand to his chest. Before he could open the screen door, someone came flying through it literally. Someone had been thrown through the door and hit the back wall with a groan. Fear was evident on the cowardly lord's face as he backed up away from the broken door and the most magnificent sight she had ever seen walked in the door. It was Sesshomaru and he looked pissed. The whites of his eyes had begun to glow red while his hand was glowing a toxic looking green.
She could have cried she was so happy to see him. He looked at her for a moment before he glared at the human cowering across the room. "What do you want demon?!" Sesshomaru growled at the human briefly before moving over to Takara. She sighed as his claws sliced through the last rope and she quickly removed the remnants of them away. She sat up, her arms aching as she reached up to take the gag out of her mouth. Before she could speak, Sesshomaru moved so quickly he had Isamu by the throat, holding him in the air. "You are lucky she is unharmed" Sesshomaru growled at the man. "Had you injured her any further, I would have taken my time killing you."
Forget "But soft. What light through yonder window breaks"… That was too sweet Takara thought as she rubbed her wrists where they were raw from being restrained. "Forgive me" Isamu begged the terrifyingly angry demon. "I swear I'll never touch her again!" She didn't buy that one bit and neither did Sesshomaru. The man was a weasel, but she didn't want Sesshomaru to just kill him. Her relief came in the form of the old man she had spoken to yesterday.
"My lady, what happened?" he questioned as he entered the damaged building. "We saw the demon attack the gates, but recognized him from yesterday. Tell me are you alright?" He was on his knees examining her injured wrists. "Well honestly, if it hadn't been for you lord I would be sitting peacefully at home right now, not tied up." She told the old man "He thought marrying me would be doing me a favor, but I take that as an insult." The old man looked to his lord, his expression mad before he stood up and waved some more people in. It seemed like every man in the village was there. "Lord Isamu, it is decided. You will no longer have any hold to this town or its people. All you own will be distributed in order to pay for the damages your greed has brought to this village." With that, Sesshomaru threw the sniveling fool to his former servants who drug him kicking and screaming out of the building.
Sesshomaru seemed to calm once the man was out of view and turned to look at her as Takara stood up. "Are you alright?" he asked, not making any moves to approach, but that didn't stop Takara. "I knew you'd come for me!" she shouted and hugged his fur. "Thank you fluffy!" Sesshomaru growled at her and she laughed. "Oh yeah you were great too Sesshomaru." His eyes narrowed at her and she smiled even wider. "I was just teasing you." He didn't think it was too funny it seemed so she moved in front of him and wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him. "All jokes aside, thank you for saving me, Sesshomaru; today and yesterday." He had stiffened when she first embraced him but once she thanked him she felt his body relax. She sighed and turned her head to rest it on his chest, not minding that his armor was incredibly uncomfortable.
"We must leave." He told her a moment later "A storm is approaching." Takara released him and nodded before she went to pick up her bow and arrows, placing the one she had used to saw through some of the ropes back into her quiver. Quickly she followed him out of the house and into the woods. He seemed to be avoiding the road.
She wanted to ask him an hour later why they weren't on the road as thunder cracked overhead, but decided not to since he had gone through the trouble to save her. The least she could do was avoid irritating him further even though she really wanted to ask if they were there yet every few minutes. It was tough, but she kept her mouth shut. He slowed down a bit as they began descending a pretty steep hill before he stopped at the entrance of a cave that overlooked the small valley below it. "It will rain soon." He informed her. "We will wait here for the storm to pass." Takara sighed but agreed with him. She didn't want to spend a couple of hours walking in the rain. She gathered an arm load of wood and set it down in the cave and got a small fire going before she went out to gather a little extra just in case.
She strayed a little bit away from the cave to pick up dead limbs, but made sure not to wander too far from Sesshomaru and to watch her footing on the hill. Going tumbling downhill probably wouldn't be so bad, but climbing back up the hill was what she worried about. She found a few mushrooms that were edible along the way and took those back too. She felt a few raindrops on her head as she headed back inside and set the mushrooms up to cook before she stepped back outside and looked up to the sky.
She closed her eyes and just felt the wind caressing her cheek as the thunder gently rumbled overhead. Sesshomaru was definitely right. She could feel the rain in the wind, not that she had doubted him, but it was nice to feel it for herself. "The rain will start soon." Sesshomaru told her from the cave. He had placed his fur against the wall and was currently leaning against the cave wall. "I know" she told him as she faced forward and the rain drops started coming down harder. "Then why are you still standing there?" he asked patiently. "I like the rain" she told him as several drops caressed her face. "When my brothers would upset me, I would go outside when it was raining so they couldn't see my tears. I know I could get sick from it, but being reckless is part of being human."
She shrugged and opened her eyes as the rain really started coming down and tears threatened to fall at the memories it held. She missed her family and she didn't want Sesshomaru to see her cry. The truth was, that stunt Isamu had pulled had really scarred her and she had wished then that her brothers were there to keep her safe. She sighed as the rain washed away the few tears that had fell and just felt.
The next thing she knew, Sesshomaru was beside her the rain soaking his silver hair, and pure white kimono while running over his armor. He turned her to face him, shocked at his sudden movements as he gently grabbed her chin, his amber eyes seemed to look into her soul. If she could've thought at that moment, she probably would have made some smart comment about the smell of wet dog, but she was currently mesmerized. She hadn't given him too much thought since their first meeting, but seeing him here in the rain, his silver hair wet and his bangs beginning to cover his molten, honey colored eyes made her realize just how devastatingly handsome he was; demon or not.
He lowered his head a little, not letting go of her chin as he continued to stare into her eyes and Takara realized then that she was melting in his hands. "I never liked the rain." He told her before his lips were on hers. She only hesitated a moment before she closed her eyes and answered his kiss. She wasn't sure if the rumble she heard next was the thunder or his growl as one of his clawed hands rested gently on her head before the other wrapped around her lower back and pulled her tighter to him. Instantly, Takara moved her arms to hold his strong shoulders, pulling him closer as well.
His kiss wasn't gentle, but intense. She felt as he used his lips, his tongue, and even his fangs against her. She shivered and it wasn't because of the summer rain. He ran his slightly rougher tongue across her bottom lip, then her top lip before he ran it across their seam and she didn't hesitate to open to him. Sesshomaru took complete and total possession of her mouth, his rough tongue caressing and dancing with her own, and the wild, untamed, and earthy taste of him lingered there. She pulled back slightly to catch her breath, but his fangs gently caught her lip ensuring that she didn't retreat far as she caught her breath. He didn't need to stop her, once she had somewhat caught her breath, she leaned back into him and he again took possession of her mouth with a snarl.
This time thought, he picked her up and carried her back into the shelter of the cave and out of the falling rain. She probably should have been concerned when he laid her down on his fur which had been warmed from her small fire, especially when he came down on top of her, never breaking their kiss until lack of air, again, had her looking away from him. A deep rumbling growl came from him as he panted and assaulted the exposed skin of her neck. She couldn't help but allow small gasps and moans to escape her as he showered her neck with small licks, kisses and gentle nips with his fangs.
She almost groaned in frustration when he stopped at her collar bone, but she didn't. Instead she turned to look back into his entrancing eyes and his mind seemed to be in turmoil. She could practically feel the ice returning to him with a vengeance and that worried her. "Please don't Sesshomaru" she pleaded, wrapping an arm around his neck, a feeble attempt to hold him to her on her part, and placed a hand on the side of his face to caress his cheek. He was so strong that it felt as if a knife pressed against her heart as the briefest flicker of pain flashed through his amber eyes before he closed them, taking a deep breath to calm himself.
Unable to help herself, Takara, wrapped both arms around his neck and held him tightly. "Who hurt you?" she asked him and even before he stiffened she spoke again "Never mind, don't tell me." He was silent but he didn't pull away from her. "It would probably just piss me off." She felt him huff, possibly a half ass attempt at a laugh. "Why is that?" he asked gently licking her neck. "Because you're so strong that it would piss me off to think that someone managed to truly hurt you." He still made no move to look at her. "You pity me?" he questioned sounding a little angry. "Never" she did her best to reassure him with the truth. "I admire how strong you are with your emotions. I wish I had the fraction of the control you had. If I did I wouldn't end up crying so much." She smiled "But alas, I am but a mere mortal and unable to contain your level of control." She felt that little huff again as she placed a kiss on his cheek.
Gently she gathered up his wet, silky, silver hair and wrung some of the water out of it while he kept holding her. It was like he refused to let her go and it didn't bother her at all. He wasn't a demon of many words, but he always threw her for a loop each time he decided to speak.
"The first time I saw you, I thought you were summoned up from my own personal hell." He told her, no emotion in his voice at all. She remained silent. "You look exactly like a human woman I knew a long time ago." Takara hugged him tightly; almost afraid of what he was going to say. "I was young at the time, still a pup in many ways. I was foolish and took her away from her home." He almost sighed. "I cared for her and we had a child together, but I was careless. Her father found them while I was away and burned them alive."
Shocked, Takara couldn't stop the tears from falling her eyes as she cried in earnest. No wonder he was so cold to humans. "Why are you crying?" he asked finally raising up to look at her. "Because you won't." The ice slowly melted from his eyes again as he placed his forehead to hers wiping away the tears yet again. "There is no point in shedding tears over what cannot be changed." Takara took a deep breath trying to reign in her tears. "You see, this is what I mean. I wasn't even the one who was hurt, but I still can't keep myself from crying." She smiled up at him "And, just so you know, not all tears are pointless. There are several uses for them." He arched a brow at her. "Are there?" he asked.
Takara smiled and nodded. "For instance, when I was afraid to go to school, I simply cried to my dad and he didn't make me go." She thought for a moment "Then when I hit my brothers and would go crying to my dad and told him I had been hit and of course he believed me." Sesshomaru smirked. "You sound like a troublemaker" and Takara shrugged. She couldn't deny that. "Then when my mom died, my dad told me not to cry, but my grandmother told me to cry because some tears cleanse the soul and ease some of the pain." She thought back on that. "I remember I told my dad that a few years later when my oldest brother was having a fight with his wife. I was sitting on the floor and listening to them talk and I'll never forget what my dad told my brother." Takara wasn't sure if this memory was happy or sad, but either way it was comforting. "He told my brother "You should get down on your knees and thank the stars that you have someone to go home to. You don't know about lonely, until it's chiseled in stone."" Takara shrugged. "I sat there for a little while after my brother had left and told my dad what my grandmother had told me. He gave me a hug and cried a little, but he wasn't as sad after that."
Sesshomaru seemed to think about that for a moment before he nodded. "Your father is right." He looked at her for another moment before he said with all honesty. "Do not expect me to change. It has been too many years and change doesn't come easy to demons." She sighed but nodded, she hadn't expected him to change. His eyes narrowed at her "You will say nothing of what I just told you to anyone." Takara realized then that he had kept this pain to himself for so long and her heart broke just a little more for this powerful dog demon. "I'm sorry. I seem to have had a lapse in my feeble mortal memory. Say anything about what?" He kept his eyes narrowed at her and she suppressed a laugh. "You know I could probably forget my name if you kissed me again. That's a very effective way for you to get me to shut up." He smirked again and leaned down to kiss her again. She hadn't been lying when she had said he could make her forget her name. If he could kiss this good, she could only imagine how skilled he was in various other activities.