Tainted Silver
- Chapter 4 -
A/N: My beta reader is great. She will beta this story for me, as well as a story I encourage you to read called Dancing Dragons that I'm thinking will come out later this fall. I also encourage you to read her stories, since I find them very well written. I do not suck up! I merely praise.
'An otaku can only dream but when that is taken… the Otaku is no more.'
-Me.
(Unless you already had it and I thought of it and you thought of it first and wanna fight me for it.)
This is her beta. I'm checking it right now. blinks Balalaika is a weird word. smiles
Kagome softly slid out of her bed, the red silk sheets not making a noise as they pooled on her floor. She carefully lit a candle by the moonlight and opened the door a bit. She heard a light creak as she stepped on the floor outside of her room. Looking both ways, she opted for the right. The light pajamas she was wearing, a black pair of shirt and pants, were a gift from Sango.
"This house is so big and nobody ever lets me explore," she whispered, justifying herself to the air around her.
She crossed the top of the stairs to the other side.
"All you'll ever find on the other side of the stairs is Sesshoumaru's room so don't go over there," warned Sango.
"Have you been there Sango?"
"No, but as Miroku told you, we rely on Sesshoumaru's judgment."
'They rely on Sesshoumaru's judgment. I don't.'
She quickly made her way to the first door and opened it. The door wasn't locked and she smiled in satisfaction. The room was dark and possibly had no window. She raised her candle and found it completely empty. The room was, more or less, like hers. She sighed and left the room, silently closing the door behind her.
'Next!' she thought cheerfully.
The next door was open and exactly the same as the one before. She entered it and, again, raised the candle to light the room. This one was also completely empty and devoid of any life whatsoever. Kagome shivered and closed the door quickly.
'I'll make sure to never go into that room again.'
She looked down the hall, ignoring the rest of the rooms. There was one that she wanted to see particularly. One that seemed to be a bit different than the others; though on the outside it was completely the same. She took in a breath, lifted her chin, and walked towards the room.
'This is wrong,' she thought stopping. 'I shouldn't go against what they said after they took care of me so well…'
You are curious.
'But then again they are keeping me here against my will.'
You have the right to know.
'They should tell me what's in those rooms. I mean, what if they're hiding dead bodies and I'm they're next victim?'
You'll never know until you see what's inside.
'Inside could be the answer as to how I can leave this place!'
Go inside and satisfy your curiosity.
She turned the knob softly.
He shot up. Somebody was up at this ungodly hour.
Her vision blacked out on her.
'What happened?!'
She looked around frantically. The flame had gone out, leaving her in total darkness.
'Somebody is being curious and going against my will.'
She felt her way around, the door behind her closed. She turned around, not feeling anything anywhere. She couldn't see, the room seemingly devoid of a simple window.
'That somebody is-.'
Caught.
"Human," he growled.
Your intentions masked by rage.
"S-Sesshoumaru," she said, trembling under his intent glare.
His rage was concentrated on her. So she was different? She was special? She was Rin's new mother? No. She was a conniving female that wanted to kill him during the night and steal away his precious possessions.
Believing evil is not in existence is not an option anymore.
He grabbed her by the arms, the wounds from earlier that night reopening. She let out a pained cry, panicked and afraid to die.
Will he kill you?
"I should've left you in the basement under lock and chain as I planned to do at first," he growled.
Will he let you live?
"Now you only deserve to die."
Does he scare you now?
"Sesshoumaru!"
Does it matter what he is now?
His claws dug into her as he pushed her out of his room. She hit the rail and crumpled to the floor.
"Tell me human. Are you afraid of what I am now? Of who I am?"
Will you run?
"Will you continue to deceive them? You don't fool me," he roared, "because I know what you are and how you think."
Will you drift into the never-ending sleep that threatens to claim you?
"Then you must know how much of a mistake I think Rin made in proclaiming you as a father," she sneered from her position at his feet.
Or will you fight back?
He kicked her in the stomach, her pained cries fueling his need to hurt her.
Will he break you down?
"Rin is my child," he sneered, "and does not need a mother."
Will anybody save you?
Sesshomaru looked up in to the eyes of his friends, his family.
Or will they stand there to see?
His golden eyes and usually impassive grace were gone. In their place was a blood thirsty demon with eyes of crimson and wrathful movements.
Will the innocence of a child be broken as you die broken?
He grabbed her by the hair, not caring when she screamed. Her head was bloody, his claws having scratched her scalp. He pulled her by her hair down the hall. Not once did he pause in his stride towards the stairs.
"STOP!"
He ignored the cry of his daughter, she didn't know better. She was deceived by the evil that had tried to kill him in the middle of the night. She was just as foolish as the rest of them.
He stepped down the stairs quickly, Kagome's body making awful cracks as she hit each step. Her horrified cries stopped halfway as she probably fell unconscious from the pain.
Are you afraid of the dark?
"MAMA!"
"SHE. IS NOT. YOUR MOTHER!" he screamed, stopping at the foot of the stairs.
The young girl ran down the stairs, ignoring everybody else's horrified expressions. She threw herself over the young woman's nearly mutilated body.
Or are you afraid of waking to the light of day?
"She is my okaa-san," she screamed in fury.
"You are foolish and don't know-."
"I know you almost killed my okaa-san and that's enough!"
He lifted his hand to hit his most precious possession, filled with rage at her disobedience.
"Don't… You… Dare…"
His red eyes returned to the still figure of the woman on the floor.
"It's no use to keep fooling them woman. You will die."
"She is my daughter," she said slowly, coughing up blood on his floor.
"She is not-."
Will you make him believe that you are strange?
"She chose me to be her new mother."
Will you make him believe that you are a stranger?
"She chose me because she knew I'd protect her from anything."
Will you make him believe that you are special?
"She chose me because she knew I'd be strong for her," she said, silently pushing off the ground, falling back several times. "And she chose me because she knew I'd forgive you for anything no matter what it was."
Will you make him believe that you are his savior?
His eyes clouded over with gold, feeling inhuman and emotionless. He was turning into the monstrosity he saw in the mirror earlier. He had been about to hurt his daughter and kill a female that had only spoken the truth.
Will you?
He looked up the stairs into the teary eyes of his friends, his family. Would they still be his friends? Would he still have a family? Was it an option?
But will the others forgive him as you have done?
Their looks gave him impressions of fear, distrust, maybe even hate. Had his judgment failed him with this woman? Would he be his own downfall?
Will he forgive himself?
He stepped back, looking at his bloody hands with bits of skin on the tips of his claws. Had he truly been a voracious animal that was excited by the smell of a woman's blood and fear?
"Rin," he started.
The young girl quickly cowered behind her new mother. He'd lost her trust, he realized, and there was not much hope of him getting it back.
"Kagome," he started, unable to look in her eyes.
"I know," she whispered.
She walked towards him, unsteady on her feet. She practically fell into his arms.
"Aren't you afraid?"
"Yes."
He hugged her, his face finding its way into the crook of her neck like he used to do with his mother.
"You should've let me go back when I asked," she whispered.
"No."
She sighed and fell limp in his arms.
"Kagome-chan!"
Kaede groggily stumbled into view at the head of the stairs.
"Something wrong?"
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"You can heal her, right Kaede?," Sango asked impatiently.
Kaede scanned Kagome over grimacing here and there at the bruises and cuts.
"Yes, but I can't heal her totally. I'm afraid I can only do so much. I mean, I don't have that much energy seeing as you guys don't need healing that often."
Sango nodded half-heartedly.
"Do what you can," she said softly.
Kaede nodded and set out to heal the larger wounds first.
"I can only heal so much of the ribs so we'll have to bind them."
Sango nodded again and set out to find the bandages. On her way out she bumped into Miroku.
"Miroku!"
"He locked himself up with most of the wine we had stashed in the cellar."
Her eyes widened and fell on Sesshomaru's room. Everything was a bit quiet, too quiet.
"Is she going to be okay?"
"Yes, but Kaede can't fully heal her. She doesn't have that much energy or practice."
Miroku nodded and entered the room. Sango sighed and left.
A/N: Don't kill me. I don't own Inu & Co. and certainly don't own Beauty and the Beast.