- CHAPTER SEVENTEEN – IN-ROADS -
Inu-Yasha followed his nose, running after his second-in-command and the prisoners at a sprint. Brothers he passed gave him questioning looks, trying to see if they were needed, and several fell in line behind him wordlessly to make sure.
He snarled at them to leave, and most quickly fell back, save Shiori and Eiichi, who'd been arguing about the number of guards to keep at the large western gate when he had whizzed by.
"What's wrong?" Shiori whispered to the hebi beside her, stretching her folded wings to break into flight. "I don't hear anything amiss."
Eiichi kept in step with her, knowing she would fall behind if he ran too fast. After two weeks, his arm had fully regrown and no longer made his frame crooked and misshapen. "It must be the human girl. Something's wrong with her," he nodded to the drawn shoulders and curled claws swathed in haori ahead of them.
Shiori strained her ears, trying to pick up what was obviously troubling her leader so, but besides the sounds of their pounding steps and Inu-Yasha's ragged breathing, the mountain only teemed with its usual noises – the metal clang of striking weapons in the training halls, quiet conversations in stairwells and doorways, food simmering, and the splash of water springs. She sifted through it all, having learned long ago to wade down and uncover what she wanted to find.
Either the girl was too far away, or she had journeyed to a deep part of the range, where enough layers of rock muted her powerful hearing. Shiori wracked her brain, trying to think. "Maybe she's lost?" She opened her wings and swept them back and forth, lifting herself from the ground. "The only place deep enough in the mountain to block my senses would be the…," her already pale face whitened.
Eiichi shook his head, knowing the end of her sentence. "Why would she go there?"
Inu-Yasha shot a baleful glare over his shoulder. "She's watching over the taijiya," he answered. "And don't talk like I'm not right here."
The pair of subordinates fell silent, the only sound the soft swish of Shiori's wings.
Inu-Yasha continued to glower. "Leave me alone. I don't need your help."
The koumori gave an uncharacteristic scoff. "The mortal you love might be leading the skilled, hateful hunters who killed Fuja into a dungeon she's never been to before," frown filled her face. "Who wouldn't want to rush blindly into that alone?"
Inu-Yasha cursed and ran faster, muttering under his breath about "uppity sisters" who didn't have enough time outside guarding the mountain.
Eiichi started closing the distance between them, no longer needed to temper his strides. "Don't be unfair. You know she's right," he called.
Inu-Yasha ignored him, racing for the dark tunnel his clan avoided at all costs. The last thing they ever wanted to do was imprison others – many of them had felt the sting of cages their whole lives. His heart leapt into his throat as he thought of the girl he cared for with alarming clarity.
What the hell is Miroku doing?!
"Why are we doing this?" Kagome called to Miroku through the deepening shadows, grabbing Sango's elbow and pulling the hunter to a stop. "They don't need to be behind bars."
Kohaku paused, nodding in agreement. "The slave is right. She—."
A blur of purple and black flashed before him, and rematerialized fingers reached for his throat.
"She's NO slave," Miroku hissed, fury dancing in his usually-shuttered eyes. "Call her that again, and your head will be rolling at your feet!"
Kohaku jerked back, skirting out of range. "I only meant—."
No trace of lightness or amusement graced the wind demon's features. "You meant that she doesn't matter to you, so her title is inconsequential," he finished.
Kohaku's jaw dropped. "N-No," he started. "I just—."
Sango cleared her throat beside Kagome, giving her brother a pointed glare. "He just means we shouldn't be put in your forgotten dungeon," she clarified, hoping the suddenly seething hanyou couldn't hear her racing heart. "I'm sorry he said that," she ducked her head, the motion only partly-feigned, and glanced to the girl holding her fast. "You are not what Naraku made you out be," speech was easier now that her lip was going numb.
Kagome snorted. "I don't need some stranger to tell me that," she said dismissively, looking past to Miroku. "I already have plenty of people in my life who know otherwise," a tender note entered her voice, and Sango watched as the instant indignation bled from the hanyou.
"Thank you," Kagome said to him softly. "When did you get on my side?" Her eyes shone with gratitude and edging affection, and Sango's widened as Miroku dropped his gaze and arm, letting the limb fall inert at his side.
"When I understood why Inu-Yasha rescued you."
The taijiya felt an unexpected pang – akin to jealousy, except not of course, because that was ridiculous – and quickly pushed it away.
Kagome offered a small smile. "I would never have guessed. You pretend as well as I."
"Maybe," Miroku's returning smile was mirthless. "But we're not nearly as skilled as our friends here."
The girl shrugged. "They aren't as good as they think," she nodded to Sango. "This one just apologized because she knew her brother had made a tactical error, and has been trying to endear herself – poorly – to me since the main hall."
Miroku's grin strengthened. "Sharp girl," he tapped his temple. "If this isn't where they belong, then where?" He watched for her answer, flicking from her stance, to jaw, searching for telltale tenseness or reserve.
Annoyance buoyed up in Sango at his study, and she clamped her teeth tightly together. She didn't like being talked about like she wasn't there. And the looks the wind hanyou were giving Kagome were pitiful. Didn't he know how obvious he was being?
Her brother felt equally vexed, but showed a rare caution, folding his arms instead of speaking up.
Kagome crossed her own arms, the corners of her mouth still turned up. "We should let them go. If we can't change them, then they don't belong here."
"They attacked you and the children. We can't just release them."
Her expression faltered. "We can. It will be the best way to prove who the Ouja really are."
"They work for Naraku," Miroku muttered. "He would know where you are."
"Only if they report back to him."
"Which they will."
Kagome shook her head. "Then it'll be a test for us both – maybe neither of us are as bad as we seem."
Kagura swam up from the dizzy mire of pain and disorientation that had consumed her vision, spotting a young, mortal girl leaning close.
"Are you alright?" The girl asked, reaching out to palm her forehead.
Kagura drew back and attempted a snarl, but – to her mortification – managed only a whimper. "Don't touch me," she ground out, blinking to try to rid her eyes of their haze. "I'm fine."
The girl sat back on her heels, a bowl of steaming water at her hip. "Rin knows you are fine," she slipped into a different tone of voice, decorous and respectful. "But she would like to ease your headache anyway."
Kagura instantly recognized the demure stance and words – this mortal knew the great Lord of the Western Lands. She might have even been one of his attendants. She was a human who recognized the value, and gave the esteem, to youkai families of pure bloodlines.
"Have you washed your hands?" She managed to ask.
The human – Rin – her mind recalled – shook her head forlornly. "No, my lady," she admitted. "The man who holds us captive has not allowed me access to bathing water for my insolence over my hair. One of the women in the sleeping place beyond," she gestured back to the harem doorway. "Smuggled this basin out to me."
Kagura appraised her anew. "Insolence?"
Rin began to tremble. "I would not serve his delights, for I knew he was not worthy."
The youkai sat up, reclaiming some of her lost self as she left the floor. "And how do you know I am not equally unworthy?"
The girl lowered her head until her chin touched her chest. "You spoke of Lord Sesshomaru. If he will be angered that you too have been stolen, then you are valuable to him," she fumbled for a dry cloth beside the bowl. "As Rin endeavors to be."
Kagura pulled her eyes from Rin and surveyed the room, taking in a pair of guards along the far wall, a trembling servant by the high, gilded doorway she assumed was Naraku's harem collection, and another man in a well-pressed uniform by the main door. She had a vague recollection of being brought through said door, on a roughly-made stretcher – and gritted her teeth without realizing.
The young woman before her – little more than a child – watched her wandering gaze. "You are upset Lady Kagura," the towel paused over the water. "Tell Rin what she can do to ease your burden.
For a second, the wind witch considered ordering her to tackle the man at the door. The little thing was obviously obedient to a fault, and completely devoted to Sesshomaru. If she thought her actions would benefit or please him, she would carry them out without question.
But Rin had saved her from more of that demented man's abuse, with no agenda other than that he was being sadistic and unfair. Kagura appraised the creature, realizing she knew her place, and truly felt no malice for youkai. She had simply acted when she saw a wrong being done.
"I could use a compress," she touched her forehead briefly, and small hands shot to the bowl, submerging the towel, wringing it, and lifting it up in the blink of an eye.
"Of course," Rin said, dabbing gently.
Kagura allowed the care, continuing to watch both the room and the girl. "Why do you serve Sesshomaru?" She finally asked, making sure to keep her voice low.
The girl was not brainless, as her blind servitude suggested. She dunked the towel back into the bowl, taking her time before pulling it free and wringing it of excess water. "He saved Rin," she whispered back. "Lord Sesshomaru is the only family the girl has left."
Kagura pressed, momentarily forgetting the pain in her sides from Naraku's scroll. "Why did he keep you?"
The towel returned, wiping her cheek and neck for a moment before Rin pulled it away with a small smile.
"Because Lord Sesshomaru takes care of those in his lands. He protects Rin because she loves him."
Kagura shot a glance to the guards at the wall. "Does Naraku know of your devotion?"
The girl shook her head. "Rin would never reveal Sesshomaru," her face fell. "Except that she… did."
The wind witch reached out and palmed her shoulder, surprised that she had both initiated the gesture and followed through with it. "You didn't."
Rin peeked back up. "Your kindness is as vast as Lord Sesshomaru's, Lady Kagura. Thank you."
Kagura cleared her throat in discomfort – she had done little to earn such regard.
The girl's stare turned curious. "Who is this Kagome the evil man wants? Will Lady Kagura really go fetch her for him?"
The youkai sighed. "He's put a spell over me, young one," she leaned closer. "It controls my heart somehow. If I don't return the creature who's been stolen, he will kill me."
"Will she be like me then?" Rin's lower lip quivered. "A prisoner of his?"
Kagura closed her eyes and nodded, wondering what the strange pang in her chest was. Maybe Naraku's minion had done permanent damage to her insides. "She was taken by a pack of hanyou mutts who injured me and allowed me to be captured."
The girl processed her words. "So… she's… bad?"
Kagura took the towel from her lap and dabbed her own forehead. "I suppose so. The male she's chosen as a mate is an unsuitable, irrational braggart, who wields a power he didn't earn, but had bestowed," the lingering heat in the cloth felt good against her clammy skin. "He wounded me gravely."
Rin nodded solemnly; her loyalty faultless. "Rin is sorry Lady Kagura had to wind up in a place like this. She hopes you retrieve Kagome and are able to break free from the spell."
The wind demon nodded. "So do I," she swallowed down all she wouldn't say – that her hatred of Naraku was rivaled only for her loathing of Inu-Yasha, and that she would do anything to make both men pay. For some reason, she didn't want the girl to know.
