Chapter Six:

Prison of Survival

Kasumi felt like cattle amongst these men. For a few weeks now she traveled with them, stayed behind when they raided a village, cared for these heinous men as if she were their mother. Granted they hunted occasionally, mostly they stole food from the villages they raided. Usually though they'd harbor themselves in the village for days at a time until they went through every woman, killed every man, and ate all the food, leaving the women and children to die.
This left Kasumi by herself, chained to some tree most times or with a guard watching her. It left her mostly without food or water, or even the ability to move closer to the fire or farther away. Truly she was a prisoner no matter where she was or whom she was with. When the group of men, who was actually quite a large amount equal to at least twenty or thirty men, would travel, she was treated as a slave. She was constantly bound in ropes, and was tied to the saddle of the chiefs horse, trailing behind him like a lost calf.
She hadn't gained much weight in the weeks, which she was grateful for. She was thin as a rail, her cheeks sunken in, eyes hollow, her fingers thin and bony. Her robes hung so loosely up on her narrow shoulders that she constantly had to pull them up, and her obi sash would tie around her twice as much as it would before. She was a sickly, pale looking child, and the men saw her only as a maid or servant. A slave. A hapless animal. Perhaps she was hapless, unfortunate since her birth. So long as they saw her as frail, and easily broken, none of them would lay a finger on her. No one... except the bastard chief who constantly sought out her attention and to monopolize all of her. The men had taken to calling her his whore, unknowing what went on when he demanded her presence within his tents. Most nights he demanded her attention, when she continued to refuse him, he yelled at her and sent her away. Oh how she wished she could fight them. Free herself quickly, but she found that her body had fallen so ill that even her demon blood hadn't been able to resurface. Which was helpful and frightening at the same time. She hadn't been able to hold up a barrier for some time now, it took away too much of her energy, energy she didn't have stored in her as she was offered very little to eat and drink.
One evening, the lady was awake, on the very edge of the large campsite, by the river bed. She could feel the ever watchful eye of her warden upon her back, but she had grown so used to feeling it, it no longer bothered her.
She had a basket full of blood stained clothes, and was currently washing them in the river that divided forest from mountain. She wagered they were half way between the north and east, the moons phase stating that she had been gone from her home for nearly two months now. The phases of the moon passing and fading and passing once more. Nearly sixty days of starvation and near starvation. The only thing that kept her going was the thought that she would soon see her father and her home, so long as they kept heading east.
She sighed deeply, drawing her attention to the cool water that enveloped her hands, and the stained cloth between her fingers. She tried as best as she could manage, and when she was satisfied with her work, she dried the men's clothes on the rocks lying around the river bed. She stood up, walking to where fire turned the surrounding forest a brilliant orange and red. Merriment and chatter filled the air, men gather around the fire, eating fried fish that had been caught, boar meat from the afternoon kill. They sloppily chewed, prying meat away from flesh and bones like wild animals.
Kasumi hid her disgust with her ladies mask, and settled in her corner, drawing her knees under her, and sitting properly and straightly.
Her guard went to bind her hands, but a gruff voice she was beginning to detest spoke up.
"Hold on there," the chief stood from his spot at the head of the fire, and walked towards her. "Woman, stand." He ordered.
"I believe I have told you previously, Kaneshi. I am not woman, nor girl, nor wench or whore. You will call me by name or not at all." She said, a bit arrogantly.
"I don't care for your name, stand up I said." His voice grew harsher, and at one look at him, she knew he was drunk. He swayed slightly as he blocked the light from hitting her with his wide frame, in turn hiding her view of the others. The camp had fallen silent, all thirty men listening to their conversation with intense interest. "Have you forgotten the debt you owe me? For saving your life not once but twice?"
"I didnt ask you to save me the first time." She said tensely.
"No, but you did the second time. So desperate to live, and here I am, your savior, yet you still do not obey." He crossed his arms.
"I wouldn't have asked you to save me the second time, if you hadn't decided to raid that demons body and items to begin with." She stared up at him with a blank expression but with cold, hate filled eyes.
"You would rather be dead then?" He shrugged. "So be it, one less mouth to feed." He took the ropes from the guards hand and took her wrists in his own.
He took one brief look at her wrists, bruised, red and raw from rope burns, being yanked forward from the back of a horse. "Humph, if you would just give in, woman, you wouldn't have such awful scars on that porcelain skin of yours."
"I wouldn't have these scars if you did not drag me behind a horse by leash, as if I were stray livestock!" She yanked her hand from his, and held them both to her chest.
"Because you haven't learned yet that we don't really need you, we can get any old woman to do what you do. You are a liability yet we chose to keep you alive. Still you resist us, after we've shown you so much generosity." He grabbed her hand and yanked it forward, tying it up, then the other, and then binding her to the tree like a dog. "Enjoy your rest, princess." He grinned, showing every bit of grimy decaying teeth in the gaping smile. He stood back, and went back to the merriment of the night, telling everyone to continue or he'd kill them.
Silently Kasumi cried, trying desperately to burn her ropes to free herself, transform into something, anything, and yet she couldn't muster up a single ounce of her demon strength and courage. She was a scared little girl, who wanted her papa, and didn't want to die.
The next morning, Kasumi was half dragged half carried to the horses, tied to the back of Kaneshi's saddle. They had rudely awakened her, and she had such a difficult time waking up that when he began to move the steed forward, she landed face first into the ground, and dragged across the ragged dirt.
Kaneshi released an annoyed gruff before he removed himself from the saddle and walked to her. "Stand up woman or you will be dragged." He idly threatened. She outwardly scoffed.
"If you wish to drag me, do so. I cannot possibly move in such a sorry condition anyway. Save me the trouble of moving myself and drag me across Japan if you must." She sat up just enough to look at him, half cocked. She didn't recognize the look in his eyes, but suddenly she was being dragged up, and over his shoulder. He unhooked her leash from the back of the saddle, and threw her over the horses shoulders and neck before he got on himself. He took the reigns in hand and the journey began a new.
"Do not throw me as if I am a sack! I am a woman! You should learn to treat me as such!" She looked up at him, but saw only amusement in the ugly mans face.
"If you truly wished to be dragged, hop off the horse and drag yourself. I will not tire out my steed by your inept ability to walk." He stated.
She kind of growled at him, and sat up further, just as the horse jumped over some fallen tree. She screamed in her surprise, and instantly latched onto the horses neck.
"If you don't want to fall, you should make yourself comfortable at the front of the reins." He stated.
"I'd rather be trampled beneath his hooves." She hissed at him, though she had a new bound fear in her. She had never ridden a horse before. When father left the estate for business he went without her. Suitors and visitors came to them, they never went to others. Of course she had seen horses, slightly tended to them when she felt brave, but they were large creatures, and she was unfamiliar with them in all manners. She looked around her, how the sky seemed slightly closer to her yet still was so far from reach, the ground moving beneath them as the horse cantered over the dirt road. She could see the eyes of some of the men on her, laughing at her childish fear of the horses back, and she felt her cheeks grow hot with embarrassment.
Not wanting to look like a further fool, she took Kaneshi's offer with regret, sliding into the front of the saddle as he caged his arms at her sides. She hated the closeness, but the steady rhythm of the horse made her fear die slowly.
They rode like that for several minutes in utter silence. She could hear the snickering and snide comments from the men, but neither she nor Kaneshi stopped them. She didn't see it her place, and Kaneshi didn't seem to care. He had long since claimed her as his property, constantly insisting she was indebted to him and he wouldn't let her go until the debt was repaid. That idea terrified her, but she was quickly being able to come up with plans to escape.
His horse favored her. Oh he wasn't aware of it, but the horse often sought her out when she was washing clothes or bowls. She gave him treats when she could find them, and brushed his mane when the others were asleep. He likely wouldn't care if she stole him in the night and ran off with him. He was an old stallion, but he still had a young spirit. A young spirit that was easily won over by food and brushing.
The group traveled for hours down the same long road, not running into a single village in the country for several miles now. They were surrounded by open fields of grass and tall dark green trees. The expanding pale blue sky looked ever brighter as the morning faded to afternoon, and the heat of the sun grew stronger. They stopped once near a river to water their horses and feed themselves, but before the hour was up they were traveling once again, with Kasumi placed firmly in front of Kaneshi, as if she was a prize and he intended to flaunt what he believed to have been won.
When the sun was still high above them, a young scout came running up to them. Kaneshi had sent him ahead long before they left to keep his eye open for any soldiers or potential raid spots. He was on his horse, and was in a full blown gallop when he slowed at the sight of his chief.
"Chief! Soldiers up ahead! They saw me and they are heading this way, quickly." He said, breathing hard as if he was out of breath.
"Which soldiers?" Kaneshi asked, and she could feel the deep rumble of his chest against her back as he spoke.
"Easterners. Lower class soldiers but they come from one of the neighboring eastern lands surrounding the main house."
One name came to mind for Kasumi, and it annoyed her more than the idea of staying with these bandits. Takami. It had to be Takami.
"How many men?" Kaneshi asked.
"Several dozen more than us sir." He responded.
Kaneshi scoffed. "Probably looking for their precious princess. Isn't that right, pet?" He looked down at her and she rolled her eyes.
"Highly unlikely. Despite all of us sharing the eastern plains, many lords fight to gain control over them. With their princess gone, it makes the fight excusable." She couldn't help but roll her eyes a second time.
"Then we'll take to the forest and hide out until they are gone." Kaneshi concluded.
Kasumi snorted. "That won't work. If this is who I am assuming it to be, there won't be a place for you to hide. If his men didn't see your scout running away, then the dogs will surely smell you out in your hiding spots. There's no use in hiding, he has well trained hounds. He may be a fool of a young lord, but make no mistake, he is an expert in war." She knew more about Takami than she liked to admit but it was coming in handy at the moment. Of all people to rescue her, she certainty didn't want it to be Takami . Maybe she was being picky. Maybe just cautious. She didn't want that disgusting man anywhere near her.
"Then what do you suggest we do princess?" Kaneshi asked dryly, staring at the girl seated on his lap with a brow perked.
"Honestly? Don't provoke him. He has a short temper. And he is quite the possessive man as well, worse than even you are, Kaneshi." She looked up at him before back down. "So long as you don't cause issues with him, he will probably ignore you. If you stay away from any up coming villages on our way, he'll continue to ignore you. Though there is that off chance he will be looking for a fight regardless of what you do. Defend yourselves and then flee, or don't." She shrugged her small shoulders. "It matters not to me, the way I see it, as much as he may detest me, the young lord Takami will want to take me away. And you certainty haven't expressed interest in killing me yourself, so my life isn't on the line here. Yours and your men are. You decide to treat me worse for my indifference, fine. It can't beat being starved and blinded for three weeks in that gourd. I can handle much more than you think I can."
"So you've continued to astound me with your vigor, woman." He said dryly, contemplating what to do. She seemed to know what she was talking about, and figured it was best to follow her advice. For now.
"Get me one of the larger robes, we can't have this young princely type seeing we have the princess." He barked out an order, and before Kasumi could even blink, she had a stinky, old robe thrown over her head, keeping her completely blocked from sight. It was a form of protection in its own right, he didn't want his prize taken away, and she didn't want Takami to touch her. It was convenient this time around, but she would leave tonight if she could.
She kept her head lowered, and her hands together while Kaneshi lead his horse forward to a slow and steady canter once again. The men followed their leader silently, and they trailed the path the scout had taken a few moments prior. It wasn't long before the group stumbled across a group of soldiers, about 100 or so of them in count, with Lord Takami leading them, heading right for Kaneshi's bandits with the eyes of a war hungry wolf.

Author Notes:

Hey everyone! So I'm uploading these chapters as quickly as I possibly can, however motivation is my enemy and it likes to get me in the ass.
I did however notice a review today (Which I wont lie, motivated me enough to post this chapter today which I didn't plan on doing right away), and I wanted to answer a question I'm sure some of you have, as I know its not clear in this story what exactly is going on with Kasumi's father.
Lord Ishikawa is in the early stages of Dementia. In case some of you don't know, one of the symptoms are mood swings, and huge bouts of anger. The highs are extreme and the lows are even worse. Ishikawa attacking his daughter when he did was the first sign of his condition, and the only reason why it's not explicitly said is because Dementia was first given its name in 1906, so the name technically doesn't exist given the time frame of the feudal era. I try to be as accurate as possible in these types of things, and planned on addressing the issue later in the story (when and if Kasumi ever meets our favorite group again).
The berries her father consumes in his tea is some magical crap i pulled outta my ass that helps relieve the symptoms so long as its taken regularly. I'm writing these chapters the way I am so everyone gets the full view of Kasumi's life so far, but I try to point out how much time has passed everytime i do a time skip without labeling it as a time skip (I hate doing that tbh).

As for the Sesshōmaru issue... I HAD NO IDEA HOW TO LABEL THE PAIRING I HAD TO LOOK IT UP.
But I fixed it so it should be up now, and worry not, We will see our faavorite silver haired Dog demon very soon, so look forward to it!