Shikuro: A Caribbean Fairy Tale

by Inuma Asahi De

Inuyasha was as bad as pirates came, according to his legend. Kagome was a woman of propriety, destined to marry for her family's honor when all she wanted was to live on the sea. What happens when their eyes meet by chance or perhaps by daring fate?

61. The Demon Inside

Blanket Disclaimer: The writer does not own any characters created by Rumiko Takahashi but like everyone else wishes she did. All original characters or concepts are the author's Inuma Asahi De's (with the exception of historical figures).

**Unedited**

Chapter Sixty One

The Demon Inside

Naraku Morgan laid in his bed or what once had been Hiten's bed with his hands behind his head and his dark eyes positioned on the ever rocking ceiling above him. Absently, he closed his eyes as his mind began to turn: a scene from only a few days before playing over and over again in his head. He saw the shocked face of the old woman, saw the bullet as it entered Mr. Dresmont's body, saw the man fall to his knees blood oozing from both the opened wound and his own mouth—he saw the light leave his eyes as he died.

"What a pathetic man." He whispered into the darkened room just before he opened his eyes affectively erasing the images that had compiled on the back of his eyelids. "To die in such a way; to save a woman such as that—." He snorted and brought his hands out from the back of his head to rest on his stomach while the sea gently lulled him to sleep. "Truly he was weak."

Naraku chuckled into the airy night around him before closing his eyes once more ready to sleep however, another image stopped him. He could see that old woman, see her one good eye as it stared him down looking into his very soul. Something always seemed so strange about her stares, the way she seemed to look through you and not directly at you all at the same time. It made one, even one such as himself, feel downright uncomfortable. That irritated Naraku to no end.

"Who does she think she is?" He thought as his hands tightened around his stomach and he growled low in his throat. "To look at me, speak to me as if she knows me." He frowned darkly, perhaps it was not her look that threw him off the most. No. It was her words which bothered him far more.

He watched as the old woman stared him down, her old eyes not showing the least bit of concern for the gun pointed in her face. "So," She spoke softly her voice irking to his ears as the people all around them watched helpless to the sight. "You don't want to know the truth then?" She said calmly causing Naraku's eyes to narrow as he gazed at the old woman hatred bubbling in his stomach.

"Is this the thing about my mother again?" He smirked as he held the gun right in line with her forehead, the old woman didn't seem to notice. "What is there to know," He asked her with a breathy laugh. "She birthed me and then she died. I heard the story a million times growing up." He felt his voice turn bitter before he even felt the bitterness leave his heart. "No one ever let me live it down—I killed my own mother." He hated the youth that crept into his voice making him sound like the child he knew he wasn't. "I killed her—the first horrible deed I ever committed in my life, my brothers," He glared at the old woman his anger at his own youthful voice swelling and spilling over from himself to her—this was all her fault. "My father; they never let me forget it." He hissed out as he took a step forward placing the end of the gun directly on Kaede's skin.

He glared hard at the old woman but she didn't even flinch before she spoke. "Is that what you chose to believe?" Her voice was even as she looked down the bridge of her nose at him.

Naraku stepped back involuntarily away from her and glared darkly as the gun lowered just a hair. A curiosity was building in him from her words; one he couldn't possibly understand. "What do you mean?" He found himself asking; memories already starting to surface that had long ago been forgotten.

"I mean what I say," Kaede told him her voice cool and her expression almost distant. "And I say what I mean. It is up to you to actually listen."

Naraku came back to the present his teeth gritted as her words ran over and over again in his mind. "What the fuck does that mean?" He asked himself as he sat up in the bed feeling as if all the hairs on the back of his neck were prepared to stand on end. "I know the truth—." He whispered harshly into the dark as he threw his feet over the edge of the bed, his bare soles almost wincing as they made contact with the cool wood. "I know what happened to her—I know." He wrung his hands together as he began to pace the room.

Memories were surfacing, ones he had long since tucked away in the recesses of his mind, of a childhood that often felt hazy and unbelievable.

The tiny Naraku stood upon the staircase of his house looking above him at the giant portrait that hung above the landing. It was beautiful, wonderfully composed in vibrant colors that seemed to be an utter insult to the woman in the painting. Her hair was a striking silky blond color almost platinum and was curled upon her head in a tight crown with little pink periwinkle flowers surrounding every curl. Her skin was as white as a high full moon and her eyes as blue as the deep blue sea. She was gorgeous with her full red lips juxtaposed with a strangely sad almost lackluster smile—she was stunning, stunningly melancholy.

"She looks unhappy." The little boy thought as he stepped up one stair so he was actually standing directly on the landing, his little hands clutching at his clothes as he wrinkled his nose. His eyes followed the curve of her arm as she folded her hands delicately in her lap, looking so regal that she might as well have been a Queen or at the very least a Duchess, the wife of a Count or perhaps an Earl.

"What are you doing, child?"

The boy jumped at the intrusion of the gentle yet firm voice and turned around to look at the tall man behind him. "Papa?" He whispered, looking into his father's troubled eyes—watching as the man looked down at him with a mixture of emotions he was too young to recognize. "I was lookin' at the painting." He informed as he watched his father climb the stairs slowly, his large clawed hand on the banister running along it smoothly.

"This painting?" He parroted as he glanced at the woman with truly gloomy eyes before looking back at the child. "It is a lovely painting." He whispered softly (almost under his breath) as if he wasn't talking to his son but was instead talking to himself.

"Who's in the painting, the lady?" He pointed at the beautiful woman his tiny mind not aware of her significance. "Who is she?"

His father sighed long and low as he gave Naraku a strange tense smile. "That is," He hesitated, the words not wanting to leave his lips as he glanced up at the woman. He looked at her with so much sad love that if Naraku had been older he might have felt the twinge of sympathy for the widower that all others felt when Mrs. Morgan was talked about by her husband. "Well," The man grunted and turned his eyes away from the woman whom he had been married to for over ten centuries. "That was your mother." He informed as his eyes grew distant before he cleared his throat absently. "She died six years ago."

"So before I was born?" The boy deduced, after all, he was just a scamp of five and nine months, and she had died six years before.

"Yes—," His father whispered scant emotions crossing his face before he shut them all down and looked at Naraku with a stern, yet gentle glare. "You're late for your studies Naraku." His father turned him by the shoulders and nudged him up the stairs. "Up to your room, your tutor waits."

"Yes Papa." Naraku complied and ran up the stairs only briefly stopping to look back at his father, watching as the man studied the painting with a mixture of both misery and something else entirely.

"I always wondered why Father looked at Mother that way." The present Naraku grumbled to himself as he stopped pacing and looked over at the window absently, he could see the moon. "I could never tell if it was grief or hate." The young man scoffed and walked towards the window before leaning over the sill and looking out across the ocean his mind subconsciously undertaking a journey all its own: one he could never stop.

"Gaven!" The little Naraku yelled as he raced into the parlor where his brother, a man nearly three hundred years his senior in human years but in demon years barely sixteen, had just entered.

"What do you want pest?" The older demon questioned as he turned around to look at his younger brother.

"Um—." Naraku twirled his thumbs not wanting to interfere with his older brother but desperate for some answers. "I was wondering—um," He paused and looked up at Gaven's face watching as the malice formed on his features only to be quickly quelled as he motioned for Naraku to continue. "Fernando asked me why I don't have a mother—I told him my mother died," He twiddled his thumbs as he spoke not looking at the older demon for fear of what he would find in his blue eyes. "He said that's impossible that no demon mother could die." He cleared his throat and looked up at his brother seeing the pain clearly written across the man's face. "So I wanted to know—how. How did she die?"

Gaven didn't say a word as he looked at his brother as if the child had grown two heads. Anger flashed before his eyes and a coldness settled over him as he clutched his hands at the side of his hips. "She died because of you." The boy ground out his vision seeming to turn from the crisp blue he had inherited from his mother to a denser almost black cobalt. "You're the reason she died." He whispered sharply as he grabbed Naraku by the shirt and shook him slightly.

"What?" The little boy said confused as he looked up at his brother ignoring the hands on him even as a small voice in the back of his head snarled because of the intrusion. "I wouldn't kill mother." He whispered as he watched his brother's eyes flash with adolescent pain just as that strange voice in the back of his head began to chuckle. Furrowing his brow he ignored the sound and touched his brother's hand gently. "I wouldn't."

"But you did." Gaven growled and shoved Naraku away from him sending the boy backwards into the wall with a slight thud. "I saw it—," The boy's lip quivered as pain formed in his eyes so intense that it should have caught everything in its path on fire. "I was there!"

Naraku winced as his head began to throb from where it had hit the wall. His mind was starting to feel a little fuzzy, whether it was from the hit or something else he didn't know. "I—," He started to say as he pushed himself forward away from the wall and extended a pleading hand towards his older brother. "Brother—you know I wouldn't."

"Shut the fuck up!" The boy blinked back tears and growled low in his throat as he batted the tiny hand away with a hiss.

"But Gaven—." Naraku tried as he took a step forward.

"You don't even deserve to say my name you murderer." The older demon lost his control whirling on his baby brother and grabbing his neck. "You killed my mother." He screamed as he backed Naraku into the wall his hand pressing down on the small delicate neck of the seven year old. "You killed her, you're the reason she died!" The boy continued to scream as his eyes flashed red while his grip grew tighter on Naraku's fragile neck.

Naraku felt his mind go completely numb as he tried to get out any words he could against the pressure on his windpipe. "Bro—th—er." He tried to gasp but the constant compression was interfering with his ability to speak. His tiny clawed hands reached up to grab at his brother's arms scraping against the older boy's skin in an attempt to stop him.

"Murderer!" His brother continued to scream completely unhindered by the tiny claws that barely left a mark on his wrist as he continued to press down blinded by his rage. "Fucking cock sucking asshole." He yelled as tears ran down his face, tears of youth, of pain, of blind hate. "You took my mother away from me. If only you hadn't been born!"

Naraku watched his brother's face not understanding why it was starting to blur, why black spots were forming on the other boy's skin. "Is he sick?" He thought as the lack of oxygen started to mess with all his senses. He could no longer hear the struggle or his brother's hate filled words, could no longer smell his brother's irate yet woody scent, and slowly but surely he couldn't even feel the hands on his neck. It was like he was drifting off to sleep. "Sleepy." He thought as his hands subconsciously fell to his sides no longer able to hold onto his brother—no longer able to fight back.

"Kill."

The voice was loud in his head but not loud enough to actually bring him back; not loud enough to reach dying ears.

"Kill."

He heard it again louder this time and more commanding. "Kill?" He repeated to himself just as his vision went completely blank and his mind started to drift away from himself. "Why would I—do—tha—."

"Put him down! What the fuck!"

Naraku felt himself awaken to the sensation of being thrown and hitting the wall not even remembering having fallen asleep. The scent of blood filled the air and he watched in horror as his father held up his terribly bleeding brother searching frantically for a pulse. The little boy's eyes widened at the sight of the room: the broken table, the trail of blood leading from the wall he had been pinned against to his brother's body, the sight of his brother's clawed up face, torn shirt, bleeding neck, and gushing wrist.

"What did you do!?" His father screamed at the top of his lungs as he turned back to the small boy who was looking at the sight with complete horror, blood covering his body from head to toe.

Shaking badly Naraku tried to open his mouth as he looked down at himself at the blood on his claws, legs, shirt, everything. "I don't—," His voice sounded every bit the part of a little boy completely petrified. "Know."

"Father?" Another man entered the room, the eldest of the brothers—a man of over eighteen demon years. The man froze at the sight that met him, looking from his nearly dead brother to the younger one covered in blood. His mind appeared to quickly deduce what had happened and just as Gaven had moments before he lost it. "Naraku!" He screamed as he grabbed for his tiny brother and shook him hard. "What did you do to Gaven?"

Naraku felt his head nearly snap back from the force of the shake and started to cry, gasping for air as large tears streamed down his face. "I didn't do anything Steffan." He barely managed to get out before he was thrown hard against the ground.

"You see Father—," Steffan screamed as he turned back towards his father in a blind rage. "We never should have kept this fucking brat, not after—."

"Shut up Steffan!" His father hissed through clinched teeth as he held onto his middle son, praying silently that his demon blood would soon stop the bleeding. "This is not the time to fucking panic and point fingers." He chastised attempting to stay calm, despite everything he would not lose two sons today if he could help it. "Get your ass out the door and go get the doctor."

Just then the door to the small room opened a tiny woman walking into the room with a duster in her hands. "Pardon." She whispered not at all alarmed by the screaming that was going on in the house, which was normal. The scent of blood hitting her nose however, was not and she froze for all of a second as the duster fell from her hands onto the ground with a small clang. "—oh my dear sweet lord." She whispered her knees visibly trembling even through the layers of her dress. "Gaven!"

"Mrs. Westen," Mr. Morgan interrupted as he continued to hold his middle child's wrist unable to move for fear of the boy bleeding to death if he removed the pressure. "Get Naraku out of here now." He commanded the old woman before turning to his other son. "Steffan, get the bloody doctor!"

"Oh no, no, no, no," Mrs. Westen whispered as Steffan ran passed her out the door finally listening to his father. "—Gaven."

"Listen you fucking old bat." Mr. Morgan screamed bringing her out of her daze. "Get him out of here, now!"

"Yes Master." Snapping back to herself the woman practically scurried across the room picking up the small Naraku despite the blood that instantly took to her clothes. "Come child."

The last thing Naraku remembered as he was drug from the room was the sight of his father looking at him. His eyes had been intense and livid, filled with revulsion. His father had looked at him as if he was no more than a common rat carrying the plague.

Naraku came back to himself slowly, leaving the parlor in favor of the ship. It should have been painful to go from the bloody parlor to the place he was standing now but for Naraku it wasn't in the least. The memory of his brother's blood did not faze him, the sight, the smell, the texture, even the taste—blood was blood, natural and part of the ever turning cycle of life. Thus, to remember it was also natural.

Absently, he looked down at his clawed hands imagining how they had looked back then covered in Gaven's blood. It had been red, deep dark red, he had tasted some of it by accident—it had the flavor of metal with an almost sweet after taste. Naraku smirked at the thought and brought a claw up to his face to study. He could almost see the blood on it still: shiny and red. It seemed to call to him, draw him in and before he knew it he had bent his head and licked the claw half expecting to get a little taste. His tongue was disappointed when it encountered none.

"Tsk." He snipped and dropped his hand back to the window sill with a sigh as he ran the memory over in his head again. "Funny how we reflexively unleash our demon when we're about to die." He commented as he recalled the voice in the back of his head. "It saved my life—and Gaven did live." He frowned narrowly as his whole face became taunt and tense.

Yes, Gaven had survived the ordeal but just barely. He had stayed in the doctor's house for weeks recovering, his wrist having been sliced very precisely, as if whoever had done it had planned for him to bleed to death. His face, despite his demon blood, had been scarred permanently as well as some spots on his chest and arms. For three years afterwards, Gaven had refused to be seen by anyone except his family, excluding Naraku. The boy had never once looked at his brother again after the attack. Even on the day of his wedding (he had married a childhood friend who had once fancied him and thus easily agreed to marriage despite the malformity) he had refused. Naraku hadn't even been allowed to attend so that Gaven would not have been uncomfortable on such a joyous day.

"Not once—he never looked at me again, not once." Naraku whispered to himself as he clutched the window sill tightly. "And father—Steffan—they looked but always with hate." He growled and pushed away from the window looking back at the inviting bed. "I can't fucking sleep." He ground out even as he turned and fell sideways onto the comfortable covers. Laying there he looked across the room at his desk absently his mind not giving him a moments peace as the memories continued to flow.

Naraku sat in the lukewarm water of the small bath tub his eyes circled with black from constant crying. He had just now managed to get even the last of his whimpers under control as Mrs. Westen lifted his hair off his neck to scrub at the small traces of blood that rested there.

"Don't you worry." The old woman whispered softly as she allowed the hair to fall back down. "You'll be clean in no time." Her voice was tense as she spoke as if she wasn't all too sure if she could actually clean away all the blood or not.

Nodding his head Naraku glanced at the woman out of the corner of his eye. Even at his age he knew something was wrong. "She won't look at me." He felt his tiny heart clench in his chest. "Why won't she look at me?" He hiccupped and resisted the urge to reach for the woman, wanting the comfort of her hug. After all, she was the closest thing he had ever had to a mother. "Mrs. Westen?" He asked as the old demon cleaned the blood from his hands while shaking.

"Yes dear?" The woman whispered back as she dipped the wash cloth into a clean bowl of water before bringing her hands back into the tub continuing to scrub him even as she tried not to look at him too hard.

"Is Gaven," The small boy sniffled trying not to cry over the subconscious rejection. "Gonna be okay?"

Mrs. Westen slowly lowered her hands and looked at the small child watching as tears ran down his face landing in the bath water. "He should be." She bluntly lied as she forced herself to remember that the boy before her was just a boy: not a monster.

"Okay." Naraku nodded his head slowly and quieted as he watched the old woman's hands scrub away the blood. The smell was filling his nose, making him feel a strange almost twisted heady sensation he had never really known before. Growling low in his throat he shook the feeling off and licked his lips slowly as his mind ran back to the original question he had asked his brother. He had received an answer but in his brother's frazzled state it seemed impossible that it could have been the whole truth. "My mother—," He spoke without thought, the suddenness of the words causing Mrs. Westen to jump. "Gaven said I-I—um—that I mur-der-ed-ed her," He whispered raising his head to look at the old woman. "Is that. Is what he said true?"

Mrs. Westen gulped as she looked at the black intense eyes of the tiny boy. "Oh dear child—," She whispered out sounding unsure. "No—," She shook her head and turned around hastily so the small boy couldn't see her face. "Your mother loved you very much and like all good loving mothers," She hesitated, dipping the rag into the basin and wringing it out slowly so she could keep her back turned. "She gave everything so that you might have a chance to live." Her voice was smooth and came accompanied by the little droplets of water, which chimed in the air as she wrung the cloth. "When you were born, she took this oath so seriously that she gave her life so you could live, child." She finished seeming to sigh in relief before she dropped the cloth into the basin and turned back towards him without looking at him.

Carefully, she put her hands underneath his arms and lifted him up from the shallow basin. She turned around with him outstretched in her arms, away from her still bloodied blouse so she wouldn't have to wash him again. Gingerly, she sat him down upon a towel that she had left on the floor before the bath began. Smiling somewhat strained she grabbed for another towel and dropped it onto his head before beginning to rub him down.

Naraku stood frozen as she began to dry him off, his tiny eyes closing against the towel on his head. "She died for me?" He realized even being as young as he was, he understood what his mother had done—he understood that she had died so that he might have had a chance at life. He had heard of this happening on several occasions. Women dying in child birth—it was a sad truth and part of the world he had been born into. Even if it was normal however, that didn't make him feel any better. "I wish she hadn't." He spoke softly almost to himself.

Mrs. Westen's hands abruptly stopped drying him off as his words filled the small room. "Oh don't wish that, your mother would be sad for such a wish to be." She told him as she started to dry him once more, not daring to look him in the eye. "She was a sweet and gentle woman. The most gentle I had ever known." She told the boy softly as she remembered the woman with great fondness—she had not seen her in so long, she missed her. "She would be most unhappy to know you felt that way."

Naraku felt his heart warm at the old woman's words. "What was she like?"

Mrs. Westen stilled her hands as she dried his legs and finally looked up at Naraku giving the boy a gentle grin. "She was sweet and innocent." Her voice was honest if not a little off. "She had the most beautiful smile." She giggled slightly and dropped the towel to her side before reaching for his nightshirt.

"Really?" Naraku questioned as he instinctively held his arms over his head preparing for the shirt.

"Oh yes," Mrs. Westen confirmed briskly as she pulled the shirt over his head. "When your mother smiled Naraku—," Her voice was distant as she stood and started to gather up the towels and the destroyed clothes he had been wearing before. "The whole world slowed down just so it could watch."

Watching her absentmindedly, the boy frowned. "The lady in the painting though—," His voice was quiet and contemplative. "Her smile's not like that."

"Oh yes." The old maid stopped what she was doing, a bundle of bloody clothes and wet cloths and towels in her hands, her eyes becoming distance as she seemed to stand there looking into nothing. "The woman in the painting never smiled." She stopped for a second as if in thought before turning back to Naraku sadly."It's almost like she was another woman when the world painted her smile. They never quite—captured it—your mother's smile." She gave him a soft smile of her own. "I suppose it's an impossibility. No painter's that talented."

Naraku nodded his head accepting the explanation with ease. "I wish I would have gotten to see her smile."

Mrs. Westen frowned and walked across the room putting the used towels, cloths, and clothes into a small wicker basket. "So do I sweet boy," Her voice was so soft that Naraku almost didn't hear it. "—so do I."

Naraku stared at the ceiling of the Thunder as the memory faded away. He could feel the anger boiling in his blood as he imagined what his mother's smile would have looked like. Judging just by the memory of her painting alone, he could only assume it would have been dazzling, the single handedly most beautiful smile he had ever seen. He clutched his fist tightly into the sheets as he bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. "It's my fault." He heard a very angry voice in the back of his head say. "It's my fault I never got to see her smile."

-break-

Down below and slightly to the right from Naraku, Kaede looked at Kagura sitting across from her with both anxiety and surprise. "You did what?" The old woman questioned as she blinked several times trying to determine if she had in fact heard Kagura correctly of not.

"I," The wind demon huffed and crossed her arms over her chest as she spoke. "Talked with Hiten-sama."

Kaede folded her hands neatly on her lap as she tried to comprehend what Kagura could possibly have been thinking. "You talked with him—," She glanced at the wind demon out of her good eye sternly. "About Inuyasha as well as the shards?"

"Um," Kagura nodded her head firmly and pursed her lips as she thought back on the conversation with Hiten, about his odd words. "But Kaede-sama," She shook her head as the image of his haughty face left her mind. "Yuu have to understand-o, I did not want to," Her words were the truth: she wouldn't have said anything to the man unless provoked. "Hiten-sama—ano—overheard Kaede-sama's conversation with me."

The old woman's eyes grew wide as she licked her lips ever so slowly. "What did he overhear?" Her voice was somewhat shaky as her mind flew in several directions. She was positive that Hiten would do them no harm but, at the same time, she knew better than to trust that his kindness towards Kagura and herself would transfer over to Inuyasha. "Hiten wants Inuyasha dead," She felt her throat tighten not from the thought but from the knowledge that this was a fact. "—because of the incident with his brother." She frowned darkly knowing the danger that could await should the two men met again. "Why would Kagura unleash that on Inuyasha—she seem to care for him, so why?" She narrowed her one good eye on the other woman watching her with burning intensity.

Kagura cleared her throat as that one old eye stared into her very soul. "Hau does Kaede-sama do that?" She wondered as she bounced one of her dangling legs nervously. "There is not a person, a man, a woman on this earth who can make-u me feel the way Kaede-sama can—like I'm a chirud in need of disciplin-u." The wind demon shuddered before working up the nerve to speak again. "Almost-o everything," She told the older woman as apprehension filled her despite her own building trust in Hiten. "Hiten-sama overheard, ano," She paused for just a second and licked her lips. "Everything from Kaede-sama's conversation the other day."

"Oh dear lord," Kaede whispered as she clutched at the bed sheets with shaking fingers her mind trying to wrap around what Kagura was telling her. "He knows that we're connected to Inuyasha—could his lust for revenge hinder everything?" She shook her head and looked up at Kagura with one wide eye. "Tell me everything—," She stressed each word as she gave Kagura a motherly eye she had inherited from her sister. "Everything he said."

"Alright." She nodded her head and look a deep breath as her mind went over the conversation. "Hiten-sama tourd me, he overheard Kaede-sama and myself talking." She closed her eyes in thought for only a second. "And that—," She inhaled deeply and looked at Kaede with a firm taunt mouth. "Hiten-sama wanted to heurp."

Kaede narrowed her eye at the words and leaned back slightly on the bed. "What do you mean," She paused and tilted her head to the side slightly. "Help?"

"Hiten-sama wants," The wind demon looked this way and that apprehensively before coming to Kaede's side and knelling down in front of her, leaning forward to speak softly. "To heurp—with Naraku."

"You mean," Kaede leaned closer to the other woman in amazement. "He wants to help us—get rid of him?"

"Um," Kagura confirmed softly as she broke down and stood from her knelling position to walk over towards the desk chair. Pulling it out she drug it the very short two feet to Kaede and took a seat right in front of her, leaning in close so she could speak just a hair louder without being overheard as easily. "Hiten-sama said he cannot forgive-u Naraku for the things done," She whispered into Kaede's ear softly. "But aurso Hiten-sama is not strong enough to kill Naraku without heurp."

"That is certain." Kaede nodded as she glanced with her good eye above her head and frowned darkly. "I'm not even sure Inuyasha can—if anyone, for that matter, can truly destroy him." The old woman bit her lip. "Or if it should be done." She frowned darkly watching as Kagura shifted in the chair before her, "This isn't the time."

"Hiten-sama believes," Kagura continued on as her ears twitched slightly on the side of her head listening for any sign of someone standing outside: they had been overheard once because of her carelessness, that wouldn't happen again. "That joining up with Inuyasha-sama can accomplish that goal-u."

Kaede's eye widened at the words. "I didn't see that coming." Her heart pounded in her chest. "That's not good, not good at all. Why would a man want to team up with his brother's killer?" Kaede glanced at Kagura with a firmness setting in her chin. "Does Kagura know this? Or," Her brow furrowed dangerously making her wrinkles look even more distinguished. "Does Inuyasha's life not matter to her? All I know about her is that she was paid to find Inuyasha but I don't know why." She narrowed her eye into a dark glint trying to see something that was not meant to be seen, trying to look past something that a normal person could not look past. "What are her intentions?" She asked herself as she pushed that thought farther, as she pushed herself farther towards the girl in question wanting to see what cannot be seen. She was surprised when she came up empty. "Strange." She thought as a sinking feeling filled her stomach but she ignored it for the time being. "Regardless, I can't let Hiten get near Inuyasha yet not if he wants the man dead, it's not an option, Inuyasha is far too important," She nodded her head curtly and took a deep breath. "They can't join up." She spoke firmly leaving no room for argument. "That's not an option yet."

"Demo—," Kagura blinked, so surprised by the old woman's words, that she had unwittingly spoken in her native language. "Inuyasha-sama wa," She shook her head as if just now realizing that she was no longer speaking in a language Kaede could understand. "Inuyasha-sama is bound-o to be strong."

"No Kagura," Kaede paused for a moment knowing she needed to word her sentence carefully: She needed Kagura to feel absolute trust in her, she needed the girl to feel as if the truth lied in her. "You don't understand. Naraku is," She paused again and took a deep breath. "Not something you can merely beat by teaming up with another strong person." She raised her head to look at Kagura with tired old eyes—legitimately tired old eyes. "No matter how powerful Inuyasha and Hiten are, even together, it will not work."

"What-o yuu mean?" The demon woman leaned back looking at Kaede completely baffled by the words.

"Both men are far too young—." Kaede started to explain only to be cut off by Kagura crossing her arms over her chest and huffing.

"Naraku is but a chirud." She informed Kaede briskly as she felt a little bit of her anger raise in her heart at the very thought of the man boy. "Inuyasha-sama is a man aurready." She spoke firmly even as images of that tiny little pup toddling after his older brother filled her head. A soft spot in her heart twanged at the memory but she pushed it down hastily. "I can't be distracted." She told herself even as she saw his tiny ears in her mind's eye, adorable just like his overly large sunburst eyes.

"I know Kagura—Naraku is a child," Kaede agreed with a patient smile as she watched the strange look of anger and fondness go across Kagura's face. "Hmm, what was that about?" She thought to herself as she correlated the looks to the specific words Kagura had been saying at the time. "Anger when she mentions Naraku but fondness when she mentions Inuyasha." The old woman pursed her lips. "Maybe I was too hasty to judge her—maybe she does care for his well being and life. Hm—," Her eyes narrowed on the other woman. "It's almost as if she knows him." She wanted to ask but knew that now was not the time for such a conversation. "But we have to remember that Naraku is an exceptional child."

"Exceptional?" Kagura drew out the word slowly with a rather unladylike snort. "Kaede-sama, to call-u Naraku such a thing as exceptional."

"Kagura." Kaede smiled slightly at the woman's huffy attitude. "Perhaps," She amended. "The word exceptional is not fitting however," She raised her hand posing it before her to keep Kagura's attention focused on her. "Naraku is not an ordinary child. Ordinary children have regrets, have control," She let the hand fall into her lap as she took a deep breath. "Naraku has neither control nor regrets. He is simply a killer and nothing more and nothing less." She paused for a moment as her fingers fidgeted in her lap as if there was something else more she wished to say but held back. "For you or even Hiten to believe they could kill someone with absolutely no remorse," She lifted her one good eye up to look Kagura dead on in the face. "Is nothing more than arrogance."

The demon woman felt every bit the part of a five year old being scolded by an angry mother as she shifted away from Kaede in her seat and looked off to her left out the small porthole. She could see the darkness that was settling outside, beautiful yet somehow empty.

"Our first priority should be the jewel—," Kaede continued as she straightened her back and groaned softly as it popped a few times. Kagura turned back to look at her with a puzzled frown but the older woman waved her off before speaking once more. "We need to ensure that Naraku cannot become any stronger. To do so we must destroy it." She felt as if she was repeating their conversation from a few days before: the one Hiten had somehow overheard. "It's going to bother me until I figure out how he did it." Kaede scrunched up her nose, she may be no demon but she did have a talent for knowing when people were close by her, in her range so to speak, the fact she had missed him was significant in her eye. "We must find Inuyasha and tell him to make haste of this mission—if we can, we should even give him the shards on this vessel to ensure its quick completion," She tapped her chin at the thought, just now thinking of the possibility for the first time. "After that, we will dare to worry about Naraku."

"But," Kagura looked from her hands to the floor and back to her hands in thought. "Can Kaede-sama dare to wait that long-u?" She brought her eyes up to look at Kaede with worried etched on her face.

"We must," Kaede's old voice was raspy as she spoke and somewhat far away as if she was becoming lost in her own thoughts. "I can't let Naraku near that jewel—I can't let Hiten near Inuyasha—," Sheinhaled deeply and looked at Kagura. "This has become a very big mess in a very short amount of time." She furrowed her brows and sighed as she pulled herself back farther on the bed, her back beginning to ache from sitting in such a strange position for so long.

Rolling her neck, she continued to watch Kagura, noting every movement the strange wind demon made. Once again she narrowed her eyes at the other woman wanting to see the secrets that were buried inside her heart but just as before she came up with nothing. She could not see a thing in this woman and that worried her.

"I wonder—who sent her, where she came from, how she knows." Kaede's eyebrow raised as she studied the girl wanting to ask her for the truth, debating if she should. "Would a question as simple as that do any harm?" She wondered before opening her mouth without giving it another thought. "Kagura—how do you know of the shards?"

The wind demon raised her head in surprise and licked her lips. "The shards?" She repeated the words as she leaned backwards on the foreign chair feeling slightly uncomfortable in it, as if she was about to fall. "Well," She began not sure if she should reveal all too much to this old woman. "Kaede-sama did tell me about her past-o, about how Kaede-sama knows of the shards." Kagura reasoned with herself. "Kaede-sama even tourd me about her father's mission." She clicked her tongue. "What's the harm in telling her just a little about myself?" In all honesty she saw none. "I was tourd of them many years ago." The wind demon answered truthfully. "By the same man who paid-o for this job-u."

"This man," Kaede began respecting Kagura's silent decision to not admit the man's name. "Why does he want the shards?"

Kagura took a deep breath as she ran that very question through her mind. It really was a complex question when one got down to it. "On the one hand, because of Inuyasha-sama." Kagura slowly licked her lips. "But on the other, to stop them because of the wars so many years ago." The demon frowned tightly as she tried to remember any more clues she might have been given as to why he wanted the jewel: truthfully, she came up with none. "I believe," She started slowly as she tried to collect all her thoughts speaking only after deliberately telling herself to omit his name from the conversation—Kaede did not need to know his name. "He wants the same thing-u as Kaede-sama," She lifted her head thoughtfully tilting it to the side as she imagined that tall brave man sitting on his thrown as if he were a god. "—to destroy the shards as was tourd to him."

"So he is doing it to fulfill the wish of another?" Kaede ventured to ask as she attempted to process the information being feed to her.

"Exactly." Kagura nodded her head looking solemn. "He never tourd me specificaree," She admitted as she remembered back to her days spent with the man in question training for the very moment she was living now. "But I had aurways assumed based on rumors that went through the court-o."

Kaede frowned at the use of the word. "Court?"

Kagura's eyes widened and she snapped her mouth shut. "I'm sorry, ano, I think I have the wrong-u word." She covered up quickly as she moved her hands in a distracted circle trying to panimime what she had wanted to refer to. "What-o word for a place people live—ano together?"

"A town," Kaede spoke slowly as she watched the girl's every move. "Or village?"

"Yes, the village—," Kagura latched onto the word needing it to get her out of her near slipup. "Rumors went around the village."

Kaede eyed the girl suspiciously but didn't call her on the obvious cover up. "Tonight," She began redirecting the conversation back to their earlier topic. "I think you should talk to Hiten and inform him of the plan."

Kagura didn't hesitate to nod her head at the other woman. "I'll talk with Hiten-sama about gathering the shards," She leaned her head back and looked at the wooden floorboards/ceiling above herself absently. "And destroying the jewel-u" She quickly lowered her voice so as to not risk even being slightly overheard. "Before teaming up with Inuyasha-sama to stop Naraku."

"Good—," Kaede smiled as the list came to a conclusion. "Hopefully you can make him understand."

"Make Hiten-sama—." Her voice trailed off as she thought of the old way she made men 'understand' what she meant. Deviously she smirked to herself as her body began to heat up ever so slightly at the very thought. "I'm sure," She told Kaede as she stood from her spot on the chair and walked it back to the desk. "Hiten-sama will."

Kaede frowned once more at the girl's almost taunting smirk but allowed it to pass. "It's not my place to question her methods." She shrugged as she watched Kagura leave the room. "As long as it works, what does it matter?"

-break-

The Shikuro bobbed up and down in the water, anchored down a good four or five leagues away from where the actual raid had taken place only a few hours earlier. The sun was not quite setting yet however, and the still somewhat warm air of late summer/very early autumn in New England was wafting through the tightly tied up sails. Many men milled around the deck, some playing cards between barrels and others sleeping amongst the many ropes they coiled to make beds. In the corner of the deck back where the entrances to the Captain and Quartermaster's quarters were located, surrounding a small table that was heaped with not only gold but silver and a few precious gems, was Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Kagome.

The two women leaned against the table watching idly as Miroku examined each gem with expert eyes attempting to determine their authenticity and value. Every few seconds he would write a figure down on one of his brand new actual ledgers (not parchments)—courtesy of his majesty's royal navy—before handing the gem over to Shippo who then carefully stored it in little pouches designed to cushion the ore so as not to diminish its value with scratches.

"I love this ledger." Miroku commented absently as he wrote down the last gemstone value and smiled at the neat and organized book. "Whoever printed it actually put lines and columns for the specifics: weight, price, name." Miroku blew on the drying ink carefully and smiled. "And its brand new, never written in, I should have taken all of them." He glanced at Sango leaning on his left hand side. "There were at least five—why didn't I just pick them up?" He groaned lightly before releasing a depressed sigh. "I'll never have a book this nice again."

"That's nice dear." Sango grumbled distractedly as she looked towards the side of the ship where distinctive splashes could be heard down below. "How long do you think he's gonna be?" She growled as she forced herself not to look over the side of the ship and glare, even though she was rather tempted.

"No idea." Miroku replied back as he surveyed the table before him trying to decide what to catalogue next. Eyeing the rather nice pile of gold coins they had managed to find in the navy ship's storeroom—carefully hidden in a chest shoved under a bunch of barrels of salted pork, which they had also taken—he decided they were best done next. Quill in hand, he absently began tailing how many there were on a separate parchment from the ledger, not wanting to dirty its margins with tick marks. "The Captain's kind of weird about bathing." He mumbled to Sango as he continued to pick up a coin from the pile, put it in a new pile, and then mark its movement with a tick mark.

"But the water must be freezing, won't he get sick?" Kagome questioned from her spot on Miroku's right hand side, leaning against the table with Shippo now perched on her shoulder waiting for Miroku's next command.

"Well, I've seen him do this hundreds of times and he's never gotten sick, so I'm not worried." Miroku narrowed his eyes as he finished his tick marks and began to add them up. He had done them in sets of five, which made the task easy but luckily for them there was quite a collection of coins to mark, "Five, ten, fifteen, twenty—." He mumbled under his breath until he reached the grand number of thirty-two much to his delight. Turning back to Sango as he reached for the scales in order to juxtapose the tally amount with the weight, he added absently, "He likes to be clean."

"Ain't that weird though." Shippo commented as he jumped down from Kagome's shoulder to the table grabbing for the weights so he could begin putting them on the scale for Miroku.

"Isn't Shippo." Kagome gently corrected but was overall ignored as Miroku gestured towards the scales.

"Put the gold on." He muttered as he waved the quill's feather towards the gold in question.

Shippo complied with a brisk, "Yes sir," before putting only five pieces of the gold, as he had been taught, onto the scales. Both Shippo and Miroku watched the scale bob up and down with the sudden change in weight before it finally settled once again just slightly off. "Take off a weight?" Shippo guessed his small green eyes looking at Miroku expectantly.

"Yeah—go ahead." The quartermaster agreed as he studyed the scale that was slightly off center carefully.

"Yes sir." Shippo reached for one of the small weights removing it with his tiny hands and setting it to the side.

Miroku smiled as the scale righted itself standing nice and level now. "Gold's a decent weight." He told Shippo as he motioned towards the weights he used to measure the density of the gold. "Not the best—but if we use it in a port no one will know the difference unless they have a scale like us—and not many do." He smiled when Shippo nodded vigorously at the lesson before starting up his conversation with Sango and Kagome once again. "When I was young," He glanced at his wife making sure he had her attention before he continued. "He always made sure I bathed at least once a week."

"That habit stuck." Sango murmured as she eyed her husband's calculations over his shoulder. "You bathe more than anyone I know other than the Captain." The woman rolled her eyes before pulling herself up to sit on the edge of the table, crossing her legs and leaning back on her hands as she watched Miroku weigh the coins with mild interest. "I know Captain Inuyasha likes to be clean—hell I even kind of understand it, who wants to be covered in spit and blood?" She flicked her wrist and looked at Kagome who nodded in agreement. "But this is ridiculous, it's been ten minutes—who can't get clean in ten minutes?" Sango raised her eyebrows as she questioned her husband looking exasperated.

"My father." Miroku muttered off handedly causing Kagome to giggle just slightly as she leaned against the table on his other side. "Myoga and Totosai are the same way." He continued on absently as he took all the gold he had been working with off the scale and set it aside. "When I was little and we stayed primarily in the Caribbean not up here, we would all go to this hot spring in Costa Rica together at least once a month—more if we stayed close." Miroku shook his head as he spoke, even he who had been raised by the man didn't really get it. "You should have seen those three." He snickered and leaned back in his chair ignoring the parchment for a second as he looked at the two girls. "They would just—I can't even describe it, it was like taking a bath in that water was better than sex to them or something."

Kagome blushed at the bluntness of his words, while on Miroku's other side Sango laughed loudly. "Why haven't you gone back?" She questioned thoughtfully once her laughter died down. "I don't think we've ever been to Costa Rica since I came on board."

"You know I'm not sure." Miroku tapped his chin lightly. "I'll mention it to the Captain, I'll bet he'd go for it.

"Well if the water's as good as you say I'd like to at least take a dip." Sango uncrossed her legs allowing them to swing back and forth from her place on the table. "I don't understand this need to bathe once a week, that's just unhealthy," From somewhere nearby a rather loud splash sounded. "But it might be fun to visit a hot spring I've heard great things about them."

Down below Inuyasha (who had been listening in on their conversation while he cleaned his clothes in the ocean) struggled to grab a hold of the soap he had dropped in the water upon hearing Sango's words.

"Unhealthy?" He whispered to himself right as he grabbed the slippery object, all the while his stomach actually turning, "Disgusting—I can't even listen to that conversation anymore, there's something wrong with westerners." He thought as he finished washing his shirt, hanging it up over the side of the small boat he had lowered down so he could wash his clothes and bathe. "Hopefully those will dry by the time I'm done." He thought as he stood and stretched his naked body loving the warm feel of the sun against his skin.

Popping his neck he dove off the side of the boat without preamble the cold water biting into his skin as he dived down trying to get as much of the grim out of his hair as possible before he started to scrub it. After a moment, he directed his body back up to the surface and, kicking his feet expertly, rose back up out of the water with a giant gasp. Feeling better and less disgusted with his own hygiene already, he swam back towards the small boat. Grabbing hold of the side, he pulled himself up just enough to grab a small bucket that contained both a wash cloth and a small bar of scentless vegetable oil, not animal fat derived, soap.

Wadding in the deep water beside the little ship he put the small water tight bucket beside himself to float knowing that in their current position hidden in the channel there would not be a large enough wave to take it too far away. Grumbling, he continued to run his hands through his hair looking for spots tainted by blood and washing them out in the sea water, watching as the Kermode and fox blood stained the water an unsightly color.

"Good thing this isn't shark territory." He mumbled to himself as he leaned back, planting his ears firmly to his head in order to keep any traces of water out of them.

Reaching blindly for the bucket, he plucked the bar of soap out of it and brought it to his hair running it over the wet ends vigorously for several minutes. Once satisfied he had enough soap to penetrate the entirety of his thick hair he dumped it back in the bucket with a small clunking sound before bringing his fingers up to saturate and spread the soap all the way to his scalp.

A cool breeze washed over him and Inuyasha actually shivered with a scowl. "Not a fucking hot spring for leagues," He grumbled as he continued to work the soap into his scalp. "So I have to bathed in the fucking freezing ocean—next chance we get we are gonna go to Costa Rica so I can have a proper bath." He growled low in his throat before shaking his head sending little suds flying into the water before he took a deep breath and dove down himself.

Hovering just underneath the surface he began to work the soap out of his hair keeping his eyes closed tightly because, as experience had told him, soap stings when you get it in your eye. After several minutes of holding his breath he pushed himself back above with a gasp and shook his head like a dog as he continued to tread water. Spluttering a little from water nearly going in his nose, he reached for the bucket that should have been beside him only to find it gone.

"Damn it," He ground out as he threw some water in his face to remove the remaining soap before looking around for the bucket.

It had floated only a little ways away from him luckily so he was easily able to swim the short distance and yank it back towards him. Grabbing for the wet cloth and the soap again, he brought the two together lathering the wash cloth with plenty of the scentless soap before throwing it back in the bucket. Bringing the cloth to his right shoulder he began to scrub all the way from shoulder to elbow to wrist to hands and finally claws, making sure that all traces of blood were completely gone before he did the same on his other arm. All the while his feet continued kicking in the deep water holding himself up.

"If I was thinking," He muttered to himself as he continued to scrub. "I would have done this closer to one of the islands, water would have been swallower—but." He glanced around absently at the strange opened space between two of the smaller islands. "We're way safer here, closer to the opened sea." Nodding he looked down at the claws he had been scrubbing and blanched at the sight of more blood. "Disgusting." He grumbled as he continued to scrub at the fingers of his left hand his mind only vaguely registering the origin of what he was currently cleaning.

"Leave this to me hanyou."

Inuyasha paused as the words seemed to magically run through his head against his will. "It spoke to me." He thought as he inhaled deeply unsure what that meant. His hands stilled just as they reached his chest and his feet stopped kicking causing him to start to sink. "I've never actually heard it speak like that—yeah grunts and words like mate and kill and shit but never a complete grammatically correct sentence." He opened his mouth as if to add to his thoughts out loud only to nearly choke on a mouth full of water.

Coughing he started kicking his feet again, soft curses echoing in his head as he realized he had actually stopped swimming because of his memories. Spluttering as he forced all the water out of his lungs Inuyasha forced himself onto his back so he could float while he continued to bathe, figuring floating took a lot less thought than threading water. Successfully safe from a drowning risk, the dog demon lifted one of his legs out of the water scrubbing at it as well before his thoughts turned back to the strange incident hours earlier.

"Calm down." He told himself as he scrubbed at his left knee wondering how blood had even gotten under his pants leg. "It's not like this is the first time I've lost myself to my demon blood." He snorted as memories of several instances throughout his life started to run through his mind. "There was that time when I was little—I guess four." He clicked his tongue remembering the incident very vaguely. "I don't even know why I transformed—but Sesshoumaru," He snorted at the name but didn't let it get to him. "Stopped it. I guess that was the first time."

He lifted his other leg gently scrubbing at the backside of his thigh with the little cloth.

"The next was after Okaa-san's death." His fingers stilled on his calf for only a moment before he cleared his throat. "I need to apologize to Myoga again." He dipped his leg into the water removing the soapy suds. "I nearly killed him when I transformed." He shuddered and busied himself with trying to reach his back with the cloth.

Unlike his first transformation, he remembered every detail of that incident. He remembered feeling the rage enter his system as he stood in front of his mother's grave, he remembered Myoga trying to comfort him, remembered feeling misunderstood and angry and full of malice, remembered his mind going fuzzy, remembered the demon in him releasing a lamenting cry, remembered beating Myoga to a bloody pulp before passing out. It haunted him to this day.

"Still," Inuyasha pushed his guilt away in favor of his present predicament. "The demon didn't talk to me like it did today. It just got pissed and went off on the closest passerby." He winced and silently vowed to apologize to the flea again, for probably the millionth time since the incident some three hundred and eighty some odd years ago. "I guess then the last time I transformed before becoming a pirate was in Russia when I was sixteen." He frowned at the humiliating memory. "I should have never picked that fight with that boar." He grumbled to himself in hindsight. "I don't even know why I did."

In truth, the reason behind the fight wasn't important, what was important was the fact the then sixteen year old had been stupid enough to pick a fight with a rather large boar demon in a bar over some grievance he could no longer remember. The boar demon, much older and stronger, had easily punctured his side with one of his tusk leaving him bleeding to death. He had transformed without thought or intent seconds after the wound was inflicted; beaten the shit out of the boar demon; then everything went dark.

"Even then," Inuyasha finished up on his back moving down lower to finish up with his most vital parts. "It didn't speak, not one word." He snorted as he tried to remember any time when the demon might have actually spoken. "It didn't even speak that time with Miroku in Argentina." He frowned heavily. "And he almost died—he was just a little pup too."

That incident had been completely unexpected. Miroku wanted to know what Argentina looked like and Inuyasha had nothing pressing to do so had indulged the boy's whim. Unfortunately, another pirate ship had been lurking in the water waiting for a good chance to attack. Instincts, running wild Inuyasha had done whatever he could to protect the small boy—and when that failed—the demon took over. But like every other time before, it had not spoken, not one solitary word.

"Why would it speak now?" Inuyasha wondered to himself. "It's like it had more control—or was more aware—or could it be because of—," His thought trailed off for a moment as the image of Kagome popped up in his mind. "Kagome." Her name came out as nothing more than a small barely heard whisper. "Could she really make a difference?" Inuyasha sighed low in his throat as he grabbed the bucket once more and tossed the wash cloth inside of it before throwing it into the boat. "I should talk with Miroku—he's seen me lose it before, maybe he has some insight."

Swimming back over to the small shore boat Inuyasha looked at his clothes that he had cleaned first, they were still wet. Rolling his eyes he pulled himself up into the boat and grabbed just his pants putting them on hastily and barely tying them into place before he called up onto the deck for someone to hoist him back up. Within seconds, the boat began to raise up and Inuyasha leaned back waiting until he was close enough to the top to see whoever was hoisting him. Soon enough the brown hair of a human came into view and he smiled at the face.

"Thanks Nathan." He nodded his head and the human male gave him a slight smile in return.

"Would ya like me ta tie 'er down Captain?" The man indicated the boat as Inuyasha jumped out and gathered the wooden bucket filled with the soap and cloth as well as his shirt and jacket into his arms.

"Go for it." He commanded without a second glance as he walked a little ways from the boy and looked at the sopping wet jacket and shirt, the pants currently clinging to his skin because of their own wetness. "I don't wanna put on more wet clothes." He mumbled to himself as he sighed loudly and glanced at the rail beside him. "Hm? I'll hang 'em on deck, they're be dry by sunset." He reasoned as he moved towards the railing and carefully maneuvered the clothes around until he could easily lay them on the side of the railing. Grabbing a rope, he draped it over them so they wouldn't fly away in the wind. "Works for me, guess I should find the pup now."

Stretching gingerly, he looked around for Miroku only to come up empty handed. Dropping his hands to his side he stared at the work station where the pup had been when he went down below to wash. The gold and silver were no longer there or the gems, only a few scraps of paper.

"Guess he finished." Inuyasha reasoned with a shrug the feeling of his wet pants sticking against his skin making him grit his teeth. "I gotta change." He thought before setting out towards his cabin in a hurry the sound of wet fabric scraping together actually making his eyes water and his ears twitch violently on his head. Shoving his ears to his skull he darted towards the hallway where his cabin rested and grabbed for the door handle to his room. "I'll just changed and then go bug my pu—." He started to think as he opened the door only to come face to face with the man he had been looking for plus some he hadn't.

He blinked as he watched Miroku and Shippo digging around in the drawer of his desk for whatever reason, and then blinked again as he redirected his vision to Kagome and Sango. Both girls were sitting on Kagome's bed their eyes wide as they looked directly at him. Well, Sango's eyes were wide for all of five seconds before she seemed to come back to herself; Kagome's on the other hand were huge, nearly twice the size that they should have been as she stared at him her mouth slightly opened.

Inuyasha blinked at the sight of her as the realization that he was virtually half naked and dripping wet started to sink in. Absently, he glanced down at his body looking at the sopping wet material of his pants and the way they clung to him. "You can see everything." He thought to himself as he looked down thanking every god in heaven that the water was cold and not warm. Lifting his eyes towards Kagome Inuyasha actually felt a blush creep onto his face as he watched her continue to stare her face the most wonderful shade of crimson.

Across from him, Kagome felt her heart lunge into her throat as her eyes roamed the wet chest of the very fit Captain. She watched as little beads of water dripped from his beautiful silver hair all the way down his firm chest, to his tantalizing sculpted demonic abs, and then to his sopping wet pants disappearing underneath the wet fabric. Her heart stopped beating in her chest as she studied the wet material with naive interest, her mind trying to wrap around exactly what she was seeing. Of course she understood the outline of thighs, she even understood the sloping dip where little silver hairs glistened in the diminishing natural light of the room; what she didn't understand (at least not completely at first) was the outline of something else that the wet pants were clinging to.

"Is that—I've heard but—it it?" She started to think as she noticed the particular shape his pants took between his legs, her lack of experience in the area leaving her to draw a blank. "I wish I could—." She tilted her head to the side as her heart rate seemed to increase. "See it better." Her entire face lit on fire as the words echoed in her mind. "I did not just—no, no, no, no, no." She turned away quickly as she felt the pit of her stomach catch on fire. "I cannot think that!"

"She can't even look at me." Inuyasha thought to himself as he watched her turn away, a bright blush brushing the bridge of her nose. "Damn it." He flushed with his own embarrassment at the situation surfacing in his strained golden eyes. Suddenly, for perhaps the first moment in his life—he felt modest.

"Otou-san." Miroku's voice broke up both individuals thoughts as the man straightened turning around to look at his father unaware of the situation. "I ran out of ink and I can't find yours—." His voice trailed off as he raised a brow at his father. "Where's your shirt?"

"Drying." Inuyasha barely got out as he walked into the room and closed the door trying to appear completely nonchalant even as he felt the overwhelming urge to cover up with the first thing he saw. "It's no big deal." He told himself. "Sango's seen me naked before, and I just laughed that off." He fought the blush down even as his mind taunted him. "But that was Sango—." He gulped. "This is Kagome." He glanced at Kagome who was still busying herself with running her hands over her pants avoiding him at all cost. Clearing his throat he glanced at Miroku idly. "I'm just gonna change." He grumbled towards the pup.

"You do that." Miroku grunted as he turned back towards the desk realizing that he wouldn't get any information from his father until the man was comfortable and in dry clothes. "Keep digging Shippo."

"Aye!" Shippo acknowledged by thrusting his fist in the air before literally diving head first into one of the drawers his small body able to fit.

"You don't need to burrow Shippo." Sango laughed lightly from her place on the bed, her eyes only vaguely watching Kagome with interest. "Seems like somebody's gettin' a pretty good eye full." She laughed silently to herself as she took a moment to appreciate the demonic body before her. He did look downright dangerous as he stood there just before the door, his pants hanging down way too low to be appropriate and his lean yet muscular body glistening with the remaining droplets from his bath. "That should be illegal." She thought to herself before turning her attention back towards her husband who was bent over. She raised an eyebrow as she took in the slop of his firm hip and ass. "So should that." She blinked lightly with a smirk forming on her face. "Well, he is his son." She giggled lightly while watching the tiny Shippo disappear even further into the desk. "Miroku get him outta there."

"But it's funny." Miroku interjected with a snicker as he pointed at the bushy tail that was sticking up out of the drawer: the only evidence that Shippo was even in the room.

Inuyasha watched them with only half an eye before he turned away embarrassment and insecurity immediately beginning to tear into his stomach as he tried to walk tall and proud across the room. With his chin sat firm, as if none of this was bothersome, he kept the blush from forming on his face. He was in complete and utter control as he reached the small chest where his spare clothes resided. Reaching inside he pulled out his spare pants and shirt only then realizing that to change he would have to actually be completely naked.

"What the fuck!" He screamed at himself as he felt his body hesitated. "I've never been shy—." He thought of the girl who couldn't even look at him. "But—what if—I want her—this is Kagome, I want Kagome to like what she sees." He growled low in his throat feeling every bit only eighteen years old as he stood there cold and wet but unwilling to change. "Come on!" He yelled at himself again. "I'm Inuyasha the famous pirate Captain." He puffed out his chest with pride at the thought. "I'm not some little bitch who's scared of being naked, I know I'm impressive, let her stare!" He finished his pep talk and nodded his head briskly reaching for the ties on his pants to undo them.

Kagome blinked in surprise from her spot on the bed unable to take her eyes away as she watched the Captain fiddle with the fastening of his pants. "Is he?" She gulped as her hands began to shake and her stomach started to knot. "No way—he's not—." Her voice trailed off as the sound of wet fabric hitting the ground met her ears just as her eyes took in the sight of the most well sculpted perfect ass she had ever seen. "Oh my—." Kagome felt her mouth go dry. Her eyes widened while she watched the smooth skin of his tight behind ripple as he bent down putting one leg into the dry pants before shifting his weight so he could put in the other.

For reasons Kagome would probably never be able to explain it was at that point that she literally screamed.

"What the—!" Inuyasha started to yell as he slipped his pants on completely and turned around just in time to see Kagome throw herself into Sango's embrace, hiding her beet red face in Sango's side.

"It's okay Kagome." Sango comforted trying to keep her amusement out of her voice as she looked at the shell shocked Captain. "You know if I wasn't used to it I'd scream too." Sango commented to Kagome even as she sent a smirk in Inuyasha's direction before glancing at the timid girl.

The dog demon spluttered at the comment and looked about ready to yell at Sango but stopped when a sudden smell hit his nose, a spicy heady smell he would recognize anywhere. "No way—." He started to think but his voice was cut off by the sound of Miroku's laughter.

"This is priceless." Miroku laughed as he leaned against the desk looking highly entertained.

"What's ta big 'eal?" The small boy spoke from his position in the drawer, only his head poking out so he could look at them. "He's just naked."

"Shippo." Kagome's voice was muffled against Sango's body. "You'll understand when you're older." Her voice was a little shaky as she pulled herself away from Sango and looked at the older woman. "Um—," She deliberately kept her eyes on Sango's face.

"Why don't you come sleep with me tonight." Sango supplied as she stood abruptly from the bed and dragged Kagome up as well. The younger girl nearly lost her balance, slamming her face into Sango's shoulder as the other girl drug her across the room. "We have so much to talk about." She smirked wickedly not giving either man a sideways glance.

"What?" Kagome sounded panicked as she was yanked out the door leaving the three men behind.

"What was that about?" Shippo mumbled confused as he looked to the adult males who were staring at the closed door. One looking absolutely stunned and the other looking as if he had just been shot in the foot.

"What just happened?" Miroku whispered almost to himself as he watched the door click closed softly. "Where are they going?"

"It sure was weird, huh?" Shippo commented with a shrug as he finally pulled himself out of the drawer and hoped up on the desk to sit down. "I wonder why Sango wanted Kagome's ta stay with 'er tonight."

"She actually said that?" Miroku felt his hands shake.

"Maybe it had somethin' to do with ta Captain being naked?" Shippo tilted his head back and tapped his chin before glancing at the still shell shocked and frozen Captain. "I donno why though."

Without any explanation Miroku whirled around and looked at his father with the fire's of hell in his eyes. "This is all your fault!" He yelled and even with his still slightly injured leg lunged and grabbed the Captain shaking him. "Kagome there because of you. I'm not gonna get to sleep with my wife—because of you!." He whimpered and continued shaking his father who didn't appear the least bit fazed. "Why?"

Inuyasha didn't move as Miroku shook him, his eyes were stilled glued on the door from which Kagome had left, his nose still focused on the scent that would haunt him for weeks to come. At first, he had simply smelled arousal but as Kagome had been dragged away by Sango another scent had begun to form. It was the smell of anticipation. She was waiting for it, she wanted it, he had never thought he could smell that particular scent coming from Kagome's every pore. "She wants me." He felt himself whisper so quietly that no one in the room could hear him. "She's lusting for me, waiting for me." He thought feeling dizzy. "She probably doesn't even realize it but it was there—it was there." He felt the demon inside him smirk as if to say I-told-you-so."

"Are you listening to me?" Miroku questioned as he dropped his hands from Inuyasha's shirt to look at the man expectantly.

The dog demon didn't say a word for some time. He didn't even look at Miroku for several minutes as he watched the door as if expecting Kagome to appear from behind it. Finally, he shook himself and closed his eyes inhaling deeply for several seconds before opening them once more. "I'm gonna," He whispered ever so faintly as he tried to look at Miroku but failed. "Go bathe again."

"What?" Miroku raised an eyebrow not sure what was currently going on in his father's head.

"Inks in the bottom right drawer." Inuyasha pointed absently at the drawer as he started towards the door completely out of it.

"Otou-san!" Miroku turned watching him go with worried eyes. "Why are you taking another bath?" He asked but Inuyasha wasn't listening. "Otou-san." He tried again but the dog demon continued to ignore him simply walking out of the room without another word.

"What's with him?" Shippo questioned as he looked over at Miroku with big green curious eyes.

Miroku's shoulders slumped as he tilted his head to one side and frowned darkly. "I have no idea."

-break-

"So we're just gonna wait?" Hiten whispered into the thick humid night air as he looked at the girl standing right in front of him on the other side of the wheel he was directing.

"Yes," Kagura told him from her spot sitting on the railing across from Hiten. It was dark out, way past three in the morning. The majority of the crew was fast asleep including Naraku who as a young demon had not yet gained the stamina that demon's such as Kagura and Hiten possessed. Both older demon's could go a few days without sleep if need be, the now just barely fourteen year old Naraku was lucky if he could make two. "Kaede-sama thinks it best-o."

Hiten snorted at the sound of the name and gave her a firm look with a raised eyebrow. "And you're gonna go along with what that human says?"

"Yes," Kagura narrowed her eyes not really liking his tone. Although Kaede was an old human woman she was still very nice and wise. Kagura could see listening to her when it came to many facets of life not just their current predicament. "I trust Kaede-sama."

Hiten frowned slightly and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not saying she's not a nice lady or anything." He began as he looked out across the opened sea. They had long ago departed from the lower Florida islands and were now somewhere in the vicinity of the upper Cayo Islands, apparently very close to the shard Kagura could see. So close in fact they were bound to reach it sometime tomorrow morning. "But why?"

"Kaede-sama is old and wise-u," Kagura frowned absently as she looked out across the sea the shimmer of the shard growing brighter and brighter with each passing second. "And Kaede-sama has a way with knowing things," She stressed her words as she turned away from the shard back towards Hiten. "Important-o things." She raised an eyebrow at the man who grunted in response before reaching down for the rope that would hold the wheel steady so he could give his hands an hour's break. "Kaede-sama is the only human I've ever seen actually manipulate-u a man like Naraku."

"That is true." Hiten agreed sourly as he remembered all the way back to the first time he had met the old woman—she had indeed manipulated Naraku easily with strange words about his mother. "The truth about his mother? I wonder what that was about." He snorted softly as he arched his back and tried to pop it. "Probably just meant to fuck with his head." He concluded with no sympathy for the man at all in his heart. "So I guess—we're gonna follow Kaede's plan and wait?"

Kagura smiled at him brilliantly. "I didn't even have to do anything." She smirked to herself and from her position perched upon the railing crossed her legs.

Letting go of the railing, she controlled the air around her to maintain her balance for just a moment while straightening out the very short kimono she was currently wearing. In anticipation for making Hiten agree to the plan, she had worn only the inner kimono with her obi, cutting the soft white material off at the thigh so it was more alluring.

"What a waste-u." She grumbled to herself as she smoothed the fabric before dropping her hands back to the railing. "Yes, it best-o listen to Kaede-sama," She agreed with him even as she gave him her most devious smirk. "Hiten-sama and myself should wait but there are many things to do during that wait."

"Such as?" Hiten questioned as he walked around the wheel towards her and plopped down on the ground at her feet.

Kagura looked down at him from the bridge of her nose and frowned. "He's sitting very close." She told herself as she watched the man lean his head against the railing a scant foot away from one of her exposed calves. Inside of her, the primal demon began to emerge: the part of her that longed to mate, that longed to mess with any males head she could. It was the part of her that truly could be labeled with the human connotation of the demon word 'bitch.' Absently, she bobbed her foot watching Hiten as the movement caught his eye. "Naraku has shards—," She began as she followed the line of his vision carefully. "Right?"

"Yeah." Hiten agreed as he raised an eyebrow at the creamy skin of her legs. She was so pale, so delicious looking as she bobbed that foot up and down, her toes curling and uncurling as she did. "She's taunting me." He realized only inattentively, the more instinctual demon inside of him not really carrying if the girl was taunting him or not. It only wanted to enjoy the show.

"Hiten-sama needs to get those shards." She continued as she looked down at him watching his slowly changing face. "He looks—lustful."

"And what do you propose," He asked as he took his eyes off of her leg and gingerly brought them up to look into her face, delighting in the heady look that was over taking those dangerous ruby eyes. "We do to get them?"

"Naraku can't tell the difference between the real-u ones," She looked directly into his eyes licking her lips slowly as she stared into those dark orbs while she explained her idea. "And the fake ones, ne?"

Hiten raised a brow at the strange sounding word on the end of her sentence but ignored it in favor of the sentence's content. "No." He clicked his tongue and pushed himself away from the railing, turning his body so he could look up at her easier while still sitting on the floor. "We had to keep them in specific pockets to make sure he didn't get them mixed up."

Kagura smiled ruefully. "Then it's simple-u." Her voice was almost playful as she swung her feet. "Hiten-sama will switch-u them out."

"Kagura-hime," Hiten laughed into the night air the sound actually causing the wind demon's smirk to change to a charmed smile. "You are surprisingly maniacal."

Kagura raised a brow at the strange word she had little to no idea what it meant. Venturing a guess she pushed herself off the railing and landed on her feet next to him. "I take that," She straightened her clothes out of habit. "To mean sneak-i?"

The demon man smiled and looked at her long legs. The strange dress she had been wearing when he first met her had been virtually destroyed. All that was left it was the upper part of the inner robe and the belt. "Sure—," He got out as the demon inside of him growled in pleasure watching the girl as she stood before him even her knee caps visible to his probing eyes. "You're surprisingly sneaky."

"You thought-o I wouldn't be?" Kagura frowned at him dryly as she watched the expression cross his face. She knew that look all too well, she had seen it on the face of many a man as they gazed at her body.

"Well—um," Hiten actually stuttered as he looked up at her in shock. "No—I knew you were sneaky." He offered as he stood up from the deck's floor in one swift motion and leaned an elbow on the railing as he looked her up and down slowly all his charm and arrogance returning to his face. "But to see it in action," He drew out the words showing off his fangs as he spoke. "Is sexy as hell."

"So you like maniacal-u women?" She began to flirt openly her accent making Hiten smile.

Something in the thunder demon liked the way she talked, enjoyed it even. There was something adorable about the extra letters, the words he had never heard, and the endings she put on people's names. It made her even sexier, exotic, a foreign beauty. "Yes," He leaned closer to her his body reacting to her scent, to that gleam in her eyes. "Yes I do."

Kagura nodded and gave him a bright yet dangerous fanged smile. "I shouldn't do this." A small voice of reason sounded in her head. "I don't have-o to but—." She bit her lip drawing her teeth over it slowly more for his pleasure than for her thoughts. "I aurmost can't heurp it."

"Well," He licked his lips and allowed one of his hands to venture out and grab onto the front of her shirt ever so slightly. His eyes watching not her but the movement of his hand as he ran his fingers over what had once been very smooth fabric. "You know I like maniacal women so tell me Kagura-hime," He lifted his eyes up to look at her, they were hooded and heady. "What kind of man do you like?"

For all of a second an image flashed in her head from long ago of a man with a charming glare and bright golden eyes. She felt her heart drop ever so slightly in her chest before pushing the feeling aside. "It's too late," She told herself as the image of a black haired women with the softest, gentlest chestnut eyes she had ever seen entered her mind instead. "He made his choice," She smiled gently. "I can't change that."

"Kagura-hime?"

"I like," She spoke giving him a predatory grin as she stepped a little closer to him, her experience telling Hiten that she knew exactly how to get a man hot. Carefully, she positioned her mouth right next to his ear, licking the lobe and listening as he inhaled sharply and then growled low in his throat. "Tall men," She supplied as she pressed against him her body heating up at the prospect of things that could come. "With bad attitudes."

Hiten practically snarled at her words and threw his head back with a whine before throwing it back forward and looking at her. "Fuck." He whispered out as his hand that had been gripping the front of her shirt let go in favor of grabbing her and pulling her towards his body, pressing her against himself needing friction to quell the tightness that was overtaking his neither regions. He could smell the anticipation on her, smell the willingness in her scent, the experience—she was a woman who had seen many matings and was always up for another.

Kagura let out a small whine in response, her stomach tightening into knots as the heat between her legs grew. It had been many years since her last encounter and man was her body ready, willing, and wanting. "Hiten-sama." She whispered just as she felt his hands on her hips tighten and his lips make contact with her throat, sucking on the skin there.

"Shit." He cursed loudly as his hands snaked around her waist pulling her tighter to him as he backed them up and practically threw her against the railing.

Kagura gasped as she felt the wood dig into her back but didn't fight it. The demon in her did however, make her growl low in a silent warning to not be hurt.

Hiten looked up at her his ears twitching only slightly on the side of his head as he listened to the warning growl. He smirked and released his own growl from the back of his throat, a growl of appreciation and anticipation that hovered in the air as his chest heaved. "Kagura," Her named paused on his lips as he licked them slowly before adding. "-hime."

Kagura's chest rose and fell with the intensity of such a look and she licked her own lips tantalizingly slow before turning her head to the side and tilting her chin upwards. The male in front of her whined in the back of his throat and accepted the submission without thought first licking her chin before nipping at her throat with sharp fangs. Kagura gasped with delight from the action and closed her eyes as she enjoyed the sensation of fangs just barely nicking at her flesh. It was a very naughty ritual he was performing—the teasing and taunting of his fangs, almost seeming to mark her without actually even beginning to undergo the task.

"Hiten-sama—." She whispered airily as the gentle scrap of his fangs turned her on even more.

"Hmm—," His vice hummed in the back of his throat as he slowly moved one hand off of her hip, leisurely bringing it around to rest on her ass, squeezing it as his fangs continued to work against her skin.

Kagura moaned at the action and brought her hands up towards his shoulders, gripping them tightly as her body shuddered against his. "It's been too long." She told herself as she arched into him right as his hand on her ass came back up towards her hip, traveling along her side until it was in the vicinity of one breast.

A slight tickling at the base of her spine made Kagura lose focus on Hiten's ministrations and she frowned only slightly before succumbing to his clever mouth on her ear lobe. Before she could lose herself in the sensation however, the tickling sensation came to her again this time stronger and easier for her muddled mind to understand. Snapping her eyes opened she turned away from his probing mouth as something sparkled just out of the corner of her eye.

"The shard?" She thought as her mind went completely away from Hiten's now lapping tongue to the faint glow in the distance she could see.

"Kagura?" Hiten whispered as he brought his lips away from her neck, realizing that she had stopped responding to him. "What's wrong?" His voice was raspy as he spoke, his hands gripping her hips as he looked at her expectantly.

"The shard—." Kagura whispered into the dawn light. "It stopped moving."

His hands dropped away from her side in surprise as all arousal left his body. "What?"

"It's right-o in front of the Thunder and it stopped moving-u," She whispered as her hands still on his shoulder gripped him tightly. "Like it knows we're here."

Hiten blinked confused and looked around the ship, even in the dark his demonic eyes could pick up the smallest of movements. "I don't see anything." He told her as he gently put his hands back around her waist pulling her towards himself as if he wanted to comfort her and perhaps just get back to what they had been doing.

"It's there—but—," Kagura's eyes widened just as a ship seemed to materialize from nowhere in front of them.

"Holy shit—." Hiten whispered into the night as he looked at the old style vessel that was coming up alongside them.

It was large but nowhere near as large as the Thunder. Its sails were as see through as a white cotton nightgown as they blew in a breeze that didn't exist except for in that vessel's supernatural air. The wood of the deck, of the mast, of the booms, of the wheel, of the haul were all a strange misty brown color and just as see through as the sails allowing Hiten and Kagura both to see all the way through to the ocean behind them. High above the vessel, towering even above the bird's nest a flag waved—an old flag which Hiten recognized.

"The Cross of Burgundy?" Hiten whispered as he subconsciously pulled Kagura a little closer to himself watching the flag as it waved.

"What?" Kagura whispered as she watched the vessel seeming to hover next to them with completely horrified and disbelieving eyes.

"It's the old Spanish Flag," Hiten informed in a breathy whisper. "The flag my father flew for the king." His voice was shaking as he spoke, his dark black eyes never leaving that flag as it flapped.

"It's a Spanish vessel-u?" She inquired just as the ship seemed to solidify before their very eyes becoming darker and darker with each passing second. "What's happening?" She questioned but Hiten could not think of anything to say in response as he too watched the flag become darker, more real, the squared sails of old Spanish style changing consistency from transparent to concrete.

And then, the formation of something smaller on the deck. It was the outline of a human man with his hands on his hips and a wide brimmed hat over his head. "Preparate." A voice seemed to call from nowhere as the outline became more and more solid showing off a fine boned face with dangerous dark eyes. Chapped white lips smiled just as color seemed to bloom across them while the corners of his mouth raised.

"How is that possible-u?" Kagura whispered as Hiten held onto her even tighter.

"I don't know." The old Captain whispered as he felt his eyes widen into saucers his brain not yet able to comprehend what in the world it was seeing.

"Ah, English you speak but a Spaniard you are." He changed languages much to the astonishment of the two watching him. "Funny how in death all languages are in my reach." The man took a step forward just as other men began to form behind him. "Well, prepare yourself demon of thunder." His eyes bore right into Hiten's face. "I've come for your shards."

"Fuck no." Hiten whispered as he hurriedly disentangled himself from Kagura in horror. "Damn it." He yelled and turned towards a medium sized brass bell that hung just beside the staircase. "Wake up!" He screamed into the night as he rang the bell hard sending the sound of it echo throughout the night and into the ears of every crewman including the master Naraku.

End of Chapter

Please Review

Congrats to Lady Dog Demon for being reviewer 1600!

A/N: Sorry we're off schedule, I had a cold last week and I don't like to write when I'm sick. I tend to make a lot of mistakes and I can't concentrate so things get a bit—weird—really quick. Well hope you enjoyed the chapter!

P.S. Someone asked when Inuyasha claimed Kagome as his mate. He has not claimed her fully. He only gave her the courting mark back in chapter 9: The Mark of the Dog. However, the demon in him has already decided Kagome is his mate regardless. I guess you could say it is just a formality for his demon really...anyway thanks for the review!

Japanese Accent: I'm toying around this chapter with a different way of giving Kagura a slight accent. Please let me know if you prefer this version of the accent or have any suggestions to add. Thank you.

1. She doesn't use many pronouns. The Japanese tend not to use pronouns but instead replace the concept of he/she/it with the name of the person/thing itself.

2. She has a habit of finishing words with –o or –u. In Japanese a syllable must always consist of a consonant/vowel pair or just a vowel. In other words, you can never pronounce a consonant alone (with few exceptions). Therefore, when a native Japanese speaker speaks English, they might add a common vowel sound to an English word that ends in a consonant because to them it sounds weird to hear a consonant on the end of a word.

3. She uses common Japanese words in place of common English words such as –demo for –but and –ano for –um.

4. She still has some trouble with 'l's but only in specific words where the 'l' in English is pronounced with a little more of a 'u' sound.

Bonus Point:

How did Kagura die in the anime/manga?

Last Chapter's Bonus Point:

The answer is of course, Sesshoumaru-sama! Congrats to the winners:

Jessiedancer, 14 inu-kag, Team D0bby, Bonus Point, ravenraymoon, Leo-Mae, Guest, Little Margarita, SweetHuniiBunnii, Shrouded Rose, HeavenlyEcipse, scorpioprincess18, Sahora, Menarie, Jemzet A Heat Broken Angel, ananymous (DBZ anyone?), AnimeNerd1, Coka Cookie Cola, Chronos-girl, Litle C, AniManga Fangirl, Suyurilrig, Shamy001, Sharp 8394, Lady Dog Demon, Word Doc, TheRealInuyasha, HentaiLemon, NicoleLikesToRead, Glon Morski, Empis, Guest, L.C., kawaiiemichan,

Notes:

Ghost Ship - Modeled after the Santa Margarita. A Spanish ship that wreaked off the Florida West Key Island in 1622 during a hurricane.

The Cross of Burgundy – the Spanish Flag for the king and military from 1506-1701. It is likely this was the flag on the Santa Margarita although I was not able to figure out in my research what the flag on the ship actually was.

Preparate usted mismo – 'Prepare yourself' in Spanish

'Funny how in death all languages are in my reach' – Some people theorize that ghost are able to speak in any language they chose because of the Universal Consciousness Theory proposed by the Psychologist Carl Jung. Jung believed we had our personal conscious and then our universal conscious that was connected to all living things. In other words, every person on the planet is actually interconnected. Ghost hunter's propose that Carl Jung's theory can explain facets of the afterlife. For one, ghost are able to speak any language in the world because when a person dies they are submerged back into this universal consciousness that allows them to know everything that has ever been known by every human being including languages.

Next Chapter:

The Ghost Ship

See you then!

UNEDITED

POSTED 9/16/2012