Chapter 9

The Lord's Displeasure

"She's in the Oubliette," Sesshoumaru smiled, swiping his blond locks from his face. The goblins around him all laughed with pleasure, but Sesshoumaru's smile didn't last very long. He suddenly didn't like the idea of the girl being in there. "Fools!"

Jumping back in surprise, the goblins stared at him.

"Idiots!" He cried, throwing the crystal orb against the wall so hard that it shattered into a million pieces. "I want those four guards in this room right now!" Looking absolutely infuriated, Sesshoumaru strode towards his throne and plopped down, his golden eyes tiny slits in his anger.

"M-master…? If I may ask…" Naraku waited until Sesshoumaru turned the hard, unpleased gaze in his direction before continuing. "What is wrong with the girl being in the O-Oubliette?"

"Nothing!" Sesshoumaru hissed. "There wouldn't be a problem at all if she hadn't fallen into this particular Oubliette!" He pointed towards the shattered crystal and shouted a command that it be cleaned up quickly. The goblins, every one of them in fact, scrambled to do his bidding, but their blundering and clumsy steps only made the mess worse, much to their master's quickly intensifying displeasure.

"HOLD!" One of them finally shouted. "You're making it worse!" Naraku scrambled forward. "Let me do it! I shall get it clean for the master!"

Sesshoumaru leaned back in his chair, looking furious, but at least a little pleased that one of his minions had some kind of sense. Something squirmed at his feet, grasping the white fluff with an excited vigor that alarmed him. When he looked down, Shippo was smiling up at him, nestled comfortably in the fluffy cloud of white. Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes at the child before lifting him into his lap to get a better look at the sleepy creature. "Oh, child, soon you'll be one of us and your darling sister will just waste away into nothingness like every other senseless human who was stupid enough to venture into my labyrinth. Although, she is making things quite exciting…up until now! YOU!" He pointed at the two guards as they waddled into the chamber, carrying their twin counterparts at their waists. "You blundering fools!" He leapt up, plopping Shippo down into the fluff that remained in the seat of his throne. "How could you be so careless!"

"We don't understand, master! You wished her to be lead in the wrong direction…"

"You wished for her to fall into the Oubliette!"

"Yes, idiots, but you forced her into the wrong one! Have you any idea what you've done?" Sesshoumaru paced, glaring at them each time he turned by them. Shippo clung helplessly to the fluff as it was dragged along behind its master.

"Forgive us, master! You did not specify—"

"SILENCE! I did not specify? FOOLS! IDIOTS! I should toss you heads first in the Bog of Eternal Stench for such carelessness! INUYASHA WAS TRAPPED IN THAT OUBLIETTE!"

"But m-master…You ordered us to f-forget…"

Sesshoumaru glared so hard, the guard could swear his hair, had he had any, would have caught fire under the stare. Both guards, and their upside down twin counterparts trembled in horrible fear. They hadn't seen King Sesshoumaru this upset since the time Inuyasha, his half brother, had almost solved the Labyrinth. If Sesshoumaru hadn't been able to trap his half brother in the Oubliette at the last second, he would no longer be their king.

"You will be punished for this! You!" He spun on his heel and pointed at Naraku. "Send Jaten down there at once to lead her back to the beginning!"

"Jaken, master?"

"JUST GO NOW!"

Kagome groaned as she moved back against one of the walls, her mood growing dismal. "Where am I?"

"The Oubliette,"

"Who's there?!" Jumping up, she struck her head on the low rock ceiling and grumbled under her breath.

"Me,"

"Oh!" Kagome started at the light that struck up suddenly from the other side of the small chamber. "It's you…"

"Of course it's me!" Jaken turned and faced her, shaking his head. "Stupid girl, getting stuck in an Oubliette. I told you it was a stupid idea to try to solve this labyrinth,"

Kagome glared at him and prepared herself for a harsh retort to throw at him, but movement in the shadows caught her attention suddenly. "Something else is in here…"

"What are you talking about?" Jaken turned around and grasped the lantern.

"Over there…"

Kagome pointed and Jaken carried the lantern and his funny staff in that direction. The moment the light fell on those shadows, chains jangled loudly and the creature shackled to the wall leapt at the goblin, growling and hissing.

"AUUH! IT'S INUYASHA!!!!!" Jaken fell back to the ground and scrambled behind Kagome, ducking behind her body. "You stupid, stupid girl! Falling into this Oubliette of all Oubliettes!!! Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

"Hey!" Kagome protested, prying the vile creature off of her body. "I told those stupid hands that I wanted to go up but they dropped me down here! It's not like I wanted to be stuck in here!" Kagome crawled away from Jaken and glared at him, turning to look at the smirking half demon chained to the wall. "What did he do?"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHAT DID HE DO?! Daft woman! He's the highnesses' half demon brother! He tried to overthrow King Sesshoumaru but the great King trapped him down here!"

"Like me?" Kagome muttered as she moved towards the lamp to relight it.

"You are daft! Don't get near him! He'll tear you apart with his claws!"

"Haven't you ever heard that saying, 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'?"

"What kind of a saying is that! DON'T UNCHAIN HIM!"

"I think I stopped listening to you at the front gate, you icky goblin," Kagome moved forward again, watching as Inuyasha's eyes narrowed as she did so. "And even if I am wrong, isn't this cheating? It's not our fault Sesshoumaru can't handle competition,"

"Hush your mouth!" Jaken shouted, outraged. "You can't talk about the king like that, foolish girl! Have you no sense at all!?"

"Enough sense to continue to ignore you," Kagome edged around the red robed demon and wrapped her fingers around the first shackle binding one of his wrists. When he growled at her in protest, she just growled right back. He stopped, studying her and then turned his yellow eyes back towards Jaken, still shouting protests for Kagome to stop before she was killed.

"Be quiet, troll!" Inuyasha growled, hissing. "Your annoying voice is doing murder to my superior ears!" Inuyasha turned his eyes back to Kagome and he flexed his claws. "You might want to listen to him,"

"I think I'd be better off not doing that," Kagome grumbled. "And I tell you what; If you promise not to hurt me, I won't make any protests or voice any opinions of you tearing into Jaten,"

"JAKEN!"

Inuyasha growled as the goblin cried a retort in his outrage that she still could not get his name correct. Jaken jumped backwards, seeing the flash of anticipation in the yellow eyes of his current enemy.

"Don't let him kill me!" Jaken squealed as Kagome finally unbound his right arm. Inuyasha needed no more help to get free and used his free hand to rip his last shackle from the wall, then turned his attention to the shackles at his feet.

"Are you hungry?" Kagome inquired of him as she turned a disgusted look to Jaken. "I wouldn't want to eat him, but I suppose after being trapped down here for God only knows how long, you'd eat anything,"

"I'm starving, but even I can't bite into that disgusting creature," The white dog ears atop his head swiveled and folded down, and Kagome's attention was caught by them.

"Dog ears?" She reached up and tweaked one, much to her new companion's distaste.

"Stupid girl! You're going to get yourself killed!" Jaken looked indignant about the whole situation, and thumped the small of Kagome's back with his odd staff. She shrieked in outrage and lunged at him, catching him by his pointy ears.

"That hurt, you little twerp!"

"Lemmie go! Lemmie go!"

"Give him to me! I'll shut him up!" Inuyasha offered, trying to ignore the pressing hunger he was feeling. "Maybe I will eat him after all,"

"No, no, no!!!" Jaken twisted away from Kagome and ran for the other side of the small hole in the ground, but Inuyasha pounced, pinning him to the dirt. "NO! DON'T LET HIM HURT ME!"

Kagome watched Inuyasha raise a hand and those long sharp claws to tare through the goblin, but she stopped him. "He got in here somehow and it wasn't the way either one of us got in here, right?"

"Yeah, so what?"

"Then that must mean there's another way in. And if there's another way in, there's a way out!" Kagome pointed at Jaken. "He can get us out of here,"

"Yes! Smart girl! Wise girl!"

"Shut up!" Inuyasha snarled, lifting his hand again.

"No, don't!" Kagome didn't dare try to grab his arm for fear he'd turn on her, but if that vile goblin was their only way out, she couldn't just let him kill him! It was time for some quick thinking, but there wasn't much around them that she could use to stop him, and she doubted Inuyasha would appreciate it much if she whacked him on the back like Jaken had done to her. She knew one thing with certainty and that was that she didn't want to find out just how sharp those claws, or his pearly white fangs really were. Kagome had no choice but to think of something else, but what?

She studied Inuyasha very carefully then, everything from the posture to the claws and the dog ears. An idea came to her, but she wasn't confident that it would help any, but it was worth a shot. At the least, it would distract him for a few seconds.

Gathering her courage, Kagome took a deep breath and shouted, "SIT BOY!"

End Chapter!

Sorry for such a late update, but I've been so busy with my move from Pensacola to Miami and then adjusting to my new job and surroundings that it's taken a lot of my time and a lot of energy out of me. But I'm finally getting completely settled and more at ease at work, so I've gotten a little of my life and free time back. Sorry this was short, but I just couldn't resist that ending! More to come soon!