A/N: Yey, I got the next chapter! This is amazing me! I've never worked this fast with stories before. Poems are another thing entirely. This is a new set of pace for me. Not only that, but I got my poems up! Also, I have a poem for the beginning of this chapter. Tell me what you think of the poem as well.

Lonely Darkness

Lonely in Darkness,

It's all I see.

Home is where,

I want to be.

But here I must stay,

Till you come rescue me.

Chapter 16: Learnings of Truth

I groaned and sat up. My brain was still kind of foggy. I remember that Soso and Sakura were in a battle. And I was… I was stuck in the form of a neko mata!

Glancing around, I see that I'm in the middle of an extra king-size bed. A strand of hair fell into my eyes and I reached a claw up and tucked it behind an ear. I then froze and stared stupidly at me hand.

Wait a minute! My… hand? How did I get my hand back? And hair? The last I checked, I was stuck as a fire cat. How did I get my original form back?

That's when I noticed that I had extra markings on my wrists and ankles. There was a single black stripe on each. It started next to the hand or foot, on the outside, curled to the inside or underside, and came out on the other side. Both sides of the stripe were pointed, almost as if I had a blade bracelet or anklet on.

I then snapped my head up at a chuckle. There, standing half in the shadows stood Kakon. I became self conscious that I was nude and shook my hair down to cover my breasts and my tail to cover my other femininities. I hiss-like-growled at him and bared my fangs. This only succeeded in making him chuckle again and move out of the darkness and to the foot of the bed.

I suck in my breath and hold it with fear. He stared deeply into my eyes and oddly enough, I found myself drawn to them, and unable to move. He smirked, showing is deadly fangs that could stop a grown man dead within seconds, if he chose to inject poison. I didn't flinch away, although I badly wanted to. I was deathly afraid now, and I wanted to scream and lash out when he touched me.

He was mysteriously gentle and made only the move to caress my shoulder. I had no inkling of what his intentions were. That was until there was a burning pain above my right breast. With his claws, he lightly pressed down and drew a line. Then, smirking, he brought his lips to the slice and licked the blood away.

That broke the trance like state I was in. Crying out in horror, I pushed him away from me and propelled myself backwards until my back was pressed up against the headboard. Licking the little bit of blood off his lips, he rose from the bed and looked over at me.

Servants came flooding into the room as he turned his back and left the room. The servants were fast and silent, they were in and out and within seconds they had a bath set up at one end of the room and a black dress and undergarments laid on the bed, next to a black towel.

I decided that I was going to make use of the bath. I could feet the grime and cuts all over my body from earlier. Yawning, I got off the bed and slowly stretched my muscles before grabbing the towel and headed towards the tub. It was a decent size for one such as my extent. Although I deeply wished to stay in the hot bath for hours, I knew I daren't, for Kakon could return any moment.

I toweled myself dry and wrapped the towel around my body as I walked back to the bed. The towel was softer than even the ones in my father's palace. After I took it off, I dressed as fast as I could. Shrugging to myself, I sat on the edge of the bed and towel-dried my hair. While doing so, I tried to touch my magic to change the color of my clothing, not like the black at all, only to find it blocked.

Figures, he's probably taken every caution he could think of. I can't even break through the barriers, I'm so weak.

Kakon came in to find me in that position, which I quickly deserted to stand. I saw the lust briefly pass in his eyes as he took in my form. The dress was made of doeskin and linen and clung to the form of my body like a slightly heavy second skin. The sleeves were only on my shoulders, it was a simple dress, but it had a slit all the way to my hip on the right side. That was his mistake right there, I hit with my right side, kicking and punching.

"What have you done to my magic?"

The simple question made him smirk at me. I did not like this situation at all.

"I blocked it of course. And there's no use trying to breaks it. There's a special key to it. Now, let's have a civilized conversation."

"All right then, what do you want with me and why have you kidnapped me?"

"Why Princess, didn't your father tell you about the Deal? No? Well then, I'll just tell you. The three kings of the three Clans made a pact a long time ago. The daughter of one of the kings was to be Mated to one of the other two's sons, the heirs to be exact. Sosonokatsu had that chance and it was blown, for you were not Mated to him last full moon. Now you are mine to Mate."

"It is a lie! Soso would have told me!"

Cute pet name. There is a chance that Sosonokatsu could not have known about the pact. His father is a little too proud to have his son, his only heir, Mated to the enemy. Either that, or he was to trick you into falling in love with him so that you'd willingly Mate to him. I can give you a chance to do so willingly, but you will still be Mated to me one way or another."

I didn't like the idea of Mating to this Dark Prince, especially forced Mated. For if I was forced Mated to him, I wouldn't have any freedom at all. I was about to retort when doubts struck my mind.

It is a possibility. I know so much, yet so little of Soso. He could be hiding his true feelings and true nature from me. He's always so distant and sometimes cold. And I am slightly attracted to this man. Maybe I could- NO! This snake is playing games with me, and I don't like games.

I slammed an icy demeanor over my face and looked at him impassively. He had a slight smugness to him as he watched me, which slightly proved he was playing with my thoughts and emotions.

"No. I know Sosonokatsu."

I could see that cool mask slip as anger flared on his face and his eyes flashed. He rose as I did, not wanting to face what might come next sitting down. In one swift movement, he back handed me into the wall. He then held me against it, using speed I've seen none use before, to catch me before I fell.

"Now listen here wench. If you behave, I'll treat you nicely. Misbehave, and well… I'll let you ponder the consequences."

He let me drop to the floor and haughtily left the room. I stayed there some minutes afterwards and heard the servants enter and leave again, probably taking the cold, dirty bath out with them. I silently cried, wishing that I were home. Not at my father's castle, nor Mother's, but at the Palace. It had become more home than Father's, where I lived most of the time, and more than Mother's, where she would always play matchmaker.

After a while, I went back to the bed and curled up, my head on one of those extra fluffy pillows. I stared out the tinted window that made everything outside darker than normal. I had a view of a large forest. My hopes of escape rose… until I remembered that I had no idea where I was.

Here I am, in the middle of gods-know-where, with very little swords training, full bow training, and full dagger training… and I have not a single weapon. I can't even light a stupid candle with my magic, let alone try a transport spell. My only hopeless hope is that someone will come and rescue me.

The door creaked open, but still I didn't move. The door closed again, but I didn't hear anyone enter. Relaxing, I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I open my eyes and there was someone standing there. Hissing, I shot up to sitting position.

An aged youkai woman stood there. In here hands was a tray with some food and tea on it, and some bruise balm. Smiling slightly, she set it down on the bed.

"Come here, and I'll apply this to that bruise showing on your face. Do you have any other bruises that are hidden under that dress?"

I nodded timidly and little by little scooted over to her. When I got close enough, I stopped and she opened up the jar with a twist and scooped out a few fingers full of the stuff. She then applied it gently to the bruise on my face. At first touch it hurt and felt a little cool, but then it gradually numbed. My eyes widened a fraction in surprise, then I lifted up my dress until the huge bruise on my right shoulder to midback showed. The elderly woman's brow furrowed in disgust at the bruise on my back that I had gotten when Kakon tossed me against it, while she applied the bruise balm.

"Kakon has a temper. I'm sorry that you had to experience it. He used to be such a good boy, then he went off to his mother's."

"Why did he change? I see my mother all the time."

"I've said more than needed. There, you're done. Now eat up your supper. I made it myself so I know that Kakon hasn't done anything to it. Once you've finished, I'll bring up some clothes for you to wear and you can get to sleep."

With that, the old youkai left the room. Looking around the room more closely, I saw that it was smaller than I first thought it to be. It was probably because it was bigger than any room I've ever been in.

Deciding to get it over with so that I may sleep, I took a bite out of the food. It was actually good, even though I had no idea what it was. It looked like some kind of stewed meat, but I couldn't recognize the taste of either meat or herbs and seasonings. My stomach decided then to let me know that I was eating at much to slow a pace, so I started to wolf it down.

As soon as I finished, the old woman came in again. This time, sporting something more comfortable looking. Smiling at her, I rise to take them. She then led me out of the room and to a bathroom that was close by.

"This is where the bathroom is that you'll be using. When Kakon sees it fit, you'll eat at court."

"Court? But I don't want to eat at court! I never liked it at Father's! It'll probably kill me here! Literally!"

"I told Kakon that, but he has his own ideas. But don't worry about that right now, just go and change."

Sighing, I enter the bathroom a stared in wide-eyed amazement. It was huge. There was a bathtub in it, and a flushing toilet, and a fancy sink, and even racks to put towels and a laundry chute. Sighing, I strip out of that fowl black dress. I then slip into a grey-white soft cotton bottoms and shirt.

I stepped out and the lady smiled at me. She then led me back to the room I was occupying. Once there, she stayed only a moment more to make sure I was settled in and to tell me a few last minute details.

"All right, if you need anything, just pull that cord next to the bed. I'll be right here. If I do not come, just tell the servant who does to get Shaz'na. She'll come and get me. Are you all right now?"

"Yes, I am, thank you."

"Good, then I'll just leave you to sleep now."

She smiled kindly and left the room as quietly as she had come in. Yawning, I get into the middle of the bed and snuggle into a ball around a pillow and my head on another pillow.

Translations

Akutenshi: evil angels

Haku: white

Hanyou: half-breed

Inshi: shrine of evil deity

Inu: dog

Katana: a type of curved sword that Japanese samurai use, or in this case, Yamani samurai

Kimono: a Japanese outfit that the girls wore

Kobodou: fighting in close combat with weapons

Leiko: arrogant child

Neko: a cat

Obi: the sash around the middle of the kimono to hold it shut

Sakura: the blossoms of a cherry tree

Sensai: a teacher or tutor

Sensu: a flip fan used in Japan

Youkai: demon

Name Meanings

Akushou: evil nature

Amaterasu: sun goddess

Chinpou: sunrays

Jashin: evil god

Kakon: root of evil

Katsu: to convert, change, transform

Makurayami: total darkness

Soso: graceful and neat

Sosonokatsu: to instigate and/or to seduce

Tsukuyomi: moon god


A/N: Yeah, I finally got chappie 16 done. It was a real pain in the butt.

Kristiana: I know I got them up pretty close to each other. I'm on a roll. This time it took me… what… 3… 4… days. I got caught up in posting poems, but yey anyways! I was bored, and not meaning too, I wrote a poem for this chapter. Feel free to ask any questions. Well, having to do with the story.

Magic Crystal: Yeah, someone who actually knows who or what Inu Yasha is! Not counting my best friends and the people who I really knows who reviews my stories. It's one of my favorites. Naruto and Wolf's Rain ties with it now. Anyways, thank you for the support. Please review again.