OXOXOXOXO
Freedom
OXOXOXOXO
Chapter18: 14 Months Thereafter Part II
OXOXOXOXO
Sesshoumaru steepled his hands and rested them against his chin as he watched the members of the council argue back and forth. One of the elder members jumped to his feet and called order.
"Gentlemen! Let's hear Naraku out a little more shall we? There's no need to panic yet. Continue." He motioned for the red eyed man and Naraku smiled coolly at him.
Sesshoumaru's eyebrows rose and knotted together as he held in his disgust. Naraku's very person was enough to make the daiyoukai's skin crawl. The fact that he had managed to manipulate the council almost as well as he did didn't' help Sesshoumaru's opinion of him at all. The demon was, for lack of a better word, oily. He was slippery and deviously cunning. Already he had twisted this new council to gain power that rivaled his and that was a feat. Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed slightly as he listened to Naraku describe another rebellion attempt. This was the only sign of his anger. The bastard had once again found them out. That meant that they had less time than he had originally thought.
"I believe that the hyou clan is reasonable. They have been gaining wealth and power rapidly for a last few years and intelligence reported to me that they were planning on using their Shihitou as an army to attack the towns and cities surrounding Tsuyoi."
The council member that had spoken before raised his hand as the other council members began to mummer to themselves again.
"And what leads you to believe this?" Kibun asked sharply.
Naraku smiled at him again and began to pace around the circular council chamber. His eyes swept over each of the council members, seated in benches above him and rested on Sesshoumaru's. The daiyoukai gave him a cold glare but Naraku's smile only grew.
"I believe that in their possession they have the surviving son of Lord Hoseki."
Instantly the council erupted in chaos. The fifty men that made up the council jumped to their feet, arguing back and forth as the information that Naraku had fed them sunk into their heads. Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and gave a soft sigh of resignation. When he opened his eyes Naraku was still standing in the middle of the council chamber, ignoring the angry and fearful shouts around him. He smiled coldly at Sesshoumaru and got a glare in return.
OXOXOXOXOXO
OXOXOXOXOXO
No words could describe the way Touran felt. A horrible sick feeling had settled into her stomach. It made her feel nauseous, but instead of staying in one place she felt the urge to get up and break something. She wanted to see something bleed. She needed to kill something. The word 'fury' wasn't accurate; it didn't come close to describing what she felt. Shuuran watched her from his seat in one of the inn common-rooms. Her normally dark blue eyes had bled a dark red color. Her bare feet sounded loud and hollow as she stomped on the wooden floor of the inn. Her body was tight.
She needed to kill something.
Shuuran moved to chew on his pipe but stopped himself when he saw the marks left over from Inuyasha's fangs.
"What do we do now?" Touran hissed angrily. She stopped and turned to observe her younger brother. But he said nothing and offered her nothing with his expression. "This was not a coincidence! Raibaru was trying to get Inuyasha killed, and the little fool…" she turned her head to narrow her eyes at the hallway leading to the room Inuyasha currently occupied. "…he allowed Raibaru to do this to him."
"I believe Inuyasha was trying to prove a point," Shuuran said finally, still fingering the chips in his pipe.
"What point could he possibly have to prove that turns out him being half dead?" Touran collapsed down next to Shuuran and rested her head on his broad shoulder. "Shuuran…" she whined sadly.
"And you are the eldest?" he teased lightly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. He sighed. "He plans to run as soon as he can. You know that don't you?" Touran snorted. "That's a yes then. His father was never a Shihitou, so he wants to be the best Shihitou he can, if only to separate himself further from what he father was."
"I don't understand that," Touran admitted quietly.
"It a guy thing."
"That's not it…" a voice said weakly from the hallway.
Shuuran and Touran jumped and looked at the figure emerging from the darkness in shook and worry. Touran jumped to her feet and rushed over to Inuyasha's shaking body. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him to her so he could lean on her shoulder. The hanyou sighed in resignation and allowed her to do so.
"What the hell are you doing up?" Shuuran barked sharply as he stood from the divan and approached the two of them.
Inuyasha looked up at him with heavily hooded eyes. "Couldn't sleep…" he whispered with a slight rasp in his voice.
"You've been unconscious for five hours," Touran said, her voce weary.
"Couldn't stay unconscious then…"
Shuuran sighed and ducked under Inuyasha's other arm. He and Touran supported Inuyasha between them as they moved over to the divan and carefully lowered Inuyasha down on it. The hanyou leaned back with a long shuddering exhalation. He pressed his forearm to his stomach and allowed his face to twitch in discomfort. Touran sat down at his left and leaned over him worriedly.
"How did you manage to walk all the way out here?" she asked reaching up to rub one of his ears.
Inuyasha shuddered and ducked away from her hand. She smiled at him and he gave her an irritated look in return.
"Weren't Kagome and Jiru supposed to be watching you?" Shuuran asked from the hanyou's right.
Inuyasha shrugged and made a vague gesture with his hand. "They were asleep," he explained when they continued to look at him questionably.
"I suppose that defeats the purpose of watching you," Shuuran sighed ruefully.
Inuyasha made the same hand motion. The two hyou youkai took this as 'Don't worry about it.' They sat in silence of a while. The light from the candles cast shadows on the wooden walls. Cool autumn air blew in from the sliding door that sat ajar, allowing the breeze to blow in from the covered walk way. Inuyasha closed his eyes and when Touran reached up to scratch his ear this time, he allowed her to. Shuuran watched this like he would watch a mother cat grooming a kitten, a sort of gentle, slightly amused look. After a while it seemed that Inuyasha had dozed off under her gentle hands but he surprised them by sucking in a deep breath and stating in a soft even tone, "That's not why I allowed that bastard to do this to me."
Touran stopped rubbing his ear and turned to give Inuyasha a hard look, her anger returning.
"Then why did you?"
Inuyasha blinked open his eyes and stared at the wall across from him, his expression grave.
"I've heard…rumors," he started slowly, glancing at the two youkai sitting next to him. At their questioning look he continued. "Somehow it's gotten out that our camp is full of traitors to the state."
Touran wrinkled her nose. "Well we are." She received a blank stare from both her brother and Inuyasha. "Every Shihitou camp is subject to those rumors at one point. Think about it; a camp full of trained killers running around defying the government. Even the whole army would have trouble dealing with that and most of the slaves wouldn't be of any help, they'd just go join the rebels."
Inuyasha's sharp eyes flicked over her and he scowled. "That's your plan, is it?" Touran shrugged her answer. "Well word is those rumors have reached Tsuyoi and the council…" He paused before dropping the bombshell. "…As well as my identity."
There was a long silence as Shuuran and Touran stared at Inuyasha in horror before they both jumped into action.
"Shuuran!"
"I'll go awake everyone up," he interrupted already running to hallway, knocking on doors.
Touran turned to Inuyasha and gave him the hardest look she could muster. "Are you sure?"
"Pretty damn sure."
"Who did this information come from?"
"Bankotsu. Karan introduced him to me during a private fight a few weeks ago. I was out wandering and bumped into him. He looked surprised to see me and told me the letter he just got from his brother." Inuyasha gave a small smile that was really nothing more than a upturning of his lips. "He punched me really hard for Karan not telling him who I was."
Touran sighed and stood up. "You stay here. Do not move. If you move I'll beat you. I'm not above it."
"Yes ma'm."
Touran stared at him a minute longer before reaching down to muse the hair between his ears. "I understand now," she said softly. Inuyasha gave her that same smile again. "You can't run away now."
The hanyou's face twitched but other than that there was no change in expression. He just dipped his head slightly in acknowledgement and gave a lazy shrug. He seemed to say, 'Yes I know.' Touran gave him a sympathetic look before running off to ready their passage out of the city. The hanyou listened to the sounds of confusion and panic around him and leaned back with a weary sigh. He was tired and now he was trapped. But he was content with the knowledge that he had done the right thing, even though a small part of his mind was thrashing angrily as he thought over what he had just done to his future. Now he would have to lead an army against the state. He had just become what he had protested so ferociously. Was he truly his father's son now? Inuyasha slipped into unconsciousness, his mind spinning, his dreams unpleasant…always unpleasant.
Kagome came upon him a few minutes later. When Kouga had barged into their room, talking quickly about being found out and leaving as soon as possible, Kagome had paid little attention. Inuyasha had not been where she had last seen him and that was the only thing her mind could process. But she hadn't been able to go searching for him right away. First she had to help make sure everyone else was awake. When she spied Shuuran among the chaos, he'd only said. "Main sitting room. Make sure he is ready to be moved. Take Sango with you."
So she and Sango and fought their way through everybody and found Inuyasha sprawled out on the low divan that sat in the main sitting room of the inn. Kagome rushed to his side and smoothed his long bangs away from his face, letting her hand rest there for a moment. His forehead was only slightly warmer than it should be, but that was normal for a healing body. What really worried her were the bright red stains on the bandages around his thigh and side. Sango voiced their frustration.
"Shit."
Kagome just gave a sad sigh. "Well for whatever reason he moved, it must have been important."
"I will be very angry if he gets an infection and dies," Sango bit out as she began to roll Inuyasha's hakama up further so that they could have better excess to the wound on his leg. Sango unwound the bandage as fast as she could and as soon as the wound was exposed she shifted the hanyou's leg and peered at the re-opened wound with narrowed eyes. Kagome looked up from the astringent she was preparing when she hissed in displeasure.
"What is it?" she asked worriedly.
"It's hardly healing at all. If I didn't know any better I would say that the weapons were poisoned but that's not allowed during tournaments."
A cold feeling of dread crept down Kagome's spine and made her feel as if she were about to be sick. She reached up and cupped Inuyasha's cheek. He grunted softly and his head lolled to the side into her hand. She looked over at Sango and found the other woman staring at her gravely. Kagome swallowed.
"What are the chances that he's been poisoned?" she asked softly.
"Seeing as the lord of this city has known the whole time who Inuyasha was and had undoubtedly been ordered to kill him anyway he could, the chances are very high."
Kagome gave a short angry exhale before she spat, "Shit."
Sango looked up at her with serious eyes. "I agree."
OXOXOXOXOXO
OXOXOXOXOXO
The next time Inuyasha woke up he gasped and reached down to grope the wound on his side. His hand was caught before he could and he squeezed the person's fingers tightly as he screamed behind clenched teeth.
"I know it hurts. I'm sorry," the voice said soothingly.
Kagome…
"'t's fine…" he grunted, but he refused to let go of her hand.
"How's he doing?" A voice asked somewhere to his right.
Inuyasha's head lolled that way and raised one of his ears from its compressed position to be able to hear the voice better.
"He's in pain. Sango was right. His wounds aren't healing at all," Kagome answered. He felt her cool fingers on his cheek and shuddered. "He has a fever now."
He heard a few bodies shifting closer and couldn't help but frown in irritation. "I am not here for your entertainment," he intoned as loudly as he could. He heard a few half-hearted chuckles and felt someone ruffle his bangs.
"Of course you aren't," Tsuta's voice sounded from right next to him as the hand left. Inuyasha struggled to open his eyes but had to close them again when the soft lantern light seared his vision, causing him to see bright multi-colored dots. Instantly the lantern was muted by someone's hand and Inuyasha opened his eyes again. He looked up at Kagome and found that his head and his shoulders were resting comfortably in her lap. Tsuta sat next to her, his sword unsheathed in his lap. Kouga sat across from them, his hands and forearms covered in a pair of intimidating gauntlets. Raian sat next to Kouga, his sword also unsheathed. He settled back in his seat from having to get up and stuff out the lantern and sent Inuyasha a small fleeting smile. The rocking of the carriage let him know that they were moving and he gave a soft sigh.
"I guess you already know," Kagome said softly resting her hand on his shoulder. Inuyasha just hummed shortly, wincing right after as a particularly violent lurch of the carriage jostled his wounds. He gripped Kagome's other hand tighter and she shifted her fingers so that they were intertwined with his. "We're going back to the compound. We have to get ready for the state's attack on us."
Inuyasha frowned, obviously displeased. Another wave of pain branched out from the wounds on his thigh and stomach and he arched his back, gasping in pain. "Holy shit, that hurts. Poison?" he panted closing his eyes again.
Kagome frowned down at him as Kouga, Tsuta and Raian watched in silent worry. "Did you know the whole time?"
"I had a good idea," he breathed softly.
Kagome made an angry hissing sound but couldn't didn't get to say anything to express her displeasure. The carriages came to a lurching stop and she wrapped her free arm around Inuyasha to keep him as still as possible. She wasn't able to keep his wounds from being irritated completely and he gave another muffled scream. She looked to the Shihitou stilling in the carriage with her and they stared back gravely, before Kouga leaned over to stick his head out of the window. He cursed and ducked back in. He began fiddling with his gauntlets and talking very quickly.
"They've caught up to us. Touran and Shuuran are trying to fend them off but it doesn't look like they've going anywhere. There are about 25 of them, all on horseback." He looked back out the window. "The others are getting out."
Kagome paled. "What about Miroku and Hiroshi?"
Kouga looked again. "Them too." Then he pushed open the door and jumped to the ground, followed by Tsuta and Raian. Tsuta closed the door behind him and locked it with the key that Shuuran had given him. He nodded to Kagome through the window before joining the line of Shihitou that stood between the state officials and the carriage. She looked to Inuyasha, who lay panting in her lap, his pain growing with each passing second. Then she looked back out the window at the steadily growing conflict between Touran and the leader of the group of men from the state.
She squeezed his hand and he squeezed back as a number of shouts sounded from outside, followed by the clang of metal against metal.
OXOXOXOXOXO
OXOXOXOXOXO
(AN): Update! Fast update! Look at the plot moving! Squee!
Thank you for the reviews. They make me very happy. Please continue to do so.
Read and review. No I don't own Inuyasha but I do own all my original characters. You can't have those. If you take them there will be HELL! HELLFIRE! I'LL KILL YOU ALL! Okay lady. I love you! Bye-bye!