Inuyasha looks at you for a moment in weird silence. Everyone in the room, made up of Kagome, Miroku, Sango, Keade, and of course Inuyasha, all looked at you in wide-eyed confusion. Keade had finished up picking up the dishes and other wise she would have dropped what she was carrying when she heard what you said. Inuyasha continued to grip your wrist tightly as you weep down in front of him.
"Keishi, you can't possibly mean what your saying!" Kagome said after a time of silence breaking it harshly. "You, you can't be a demon?! I mean look at yourself; you're as human as human looks!"
"Kagome, ye should know by now demons can take most any form" Keade says half calm. "Keishi what do you mean by what you say?"
You just stare down at the ground for a few moments cursing yourself for letting the tears brimming at your eyes out for even a moment. The hand Inuyasha grips just hangs loosely and your other hand holds up the rest of your weight as you lean forward. 'why am I crying, thats it I know that I have no reason to!' you think to yourself angrily 'I've known that this has been happening so no sadness then!' you finalize it to yourself as you sit up and no more tears run down your face as they had been just moments before.
"I can hear nearly everything, smell nearly anything, even if they are miles away! I find that I can see more clearly in the dark than most of the times before now than I could even during the day!" you say tiredly "I'm tens of times stronger and I have powers that I've never seen or even heard of before!" you think back to the time with Naraku and you close your eyes for a moment to rid yourself of the sudden frustration welling up in your stomach.
". What kind of powers." Keade speaks again before anyone else could,
"Well all I can remember is." You pause wondering whether or not to bring up the fact it happened while with Naraku "Well it happened while I was with Naraku."
"And when was this?!" Inuyasha fought to keep quiet.
"Just last night when you guys came to Aki's camp. Before I had been running from Sesshomaru. I ran into Naraku and well I ended up using this weird light shield thingy." You said as a few smirked at you vague wording.
"we had just been heading that way because Inuyasha had caught Naraku's sent, but why hadn't he noticed his smell on you?" Miroku said calmly sitting with his legs crossed.
"Well actually I had noticed." Inuyasha noted, "But we were told that Naraku wanted her and we didn't want her to get caught again. So I just assumed that, that was why. Also, a lot of things happened last night."
After a long conversation with the group that you did not participate in, everyone headed for bed. Kagome, Miroku, and Sango slept in Keade's hut as another hut was prepared for you. You lay in a small bed with a single blanket as you inspect the wound you had received from Inuyasha one of the nights before. It had already started to heal, and it surprised you to see it that way. 'It must be my new demonic blood thats starting to heal it faster.' You think to yourself as you start to fall deep into thought.
'I wonder where Sesshomaru is; what he's thinking?' you wonder to yourself 'wait no, why am I think about him again but why didn't he come after me' you think just as your mind falls to sleep slowly. All of outside is now dark and the moonshines brightly onto the hut that you take refuge in.
Inuyasha sits off almost one hundred feet from the hut you just fell asleep in. He watches the area surrounding the village so that no threatening demon may enter and cause trouble to you. The light glows onto his hair that nearly matched it in color but not brilliance. He sniffs the air to find if any demon scents were passing through the area.
Sesshomaru's POV
You reach your castle in the morning with Rin still fast asleep. Servants come out to take Ah and Un back to their stables, and at the same time you tell one of them to take Rin to her room. The servants do as they are commanded of and you head to your study.
'Where has that onna gone?' You think with frustration 'how could her scent have just disappeared like that.' Though through all your frustration non-seems to leak out onto your youki calm face as you continue to your study.
'I have to find her,' you tell yourself 'for my sake and Rins' thinking back to Liana when she told you that you were to take care of her. Also there was a constant feeling in the back of the strong demons mind that kept reminding him of her, but just making the excuse of his demon blood he brushed aside the feeling.
He makes it to his study and lightly takes the door and slides it to let him access the room, and then walking past the low writing table that was set there to his right. He walks to the sliding doors that were drawn open to the outside so that the sun seeped in and the view of the many gardens surrounding the castle were breathtaking. Then taking a seat on the wooden walkway that bordered the castle he leaned his head against one of his hands lazily to think.
'What if Naraku has already found her,' he thought to himself.
your pov
You dream the same dream again, and upon hearing the words spoken by the shadow in the moon you wake up once more. You're sweating and your heart beats strongly in your chest. Then sitting up you look out the open window to your left. You see nothing in the foreign beauty of it and you look down to your blanket. 'The sun sets and the moon rises just as the sun will set with in casting a long shadow upon you till as last the moon with rise on the final day and you will have to save yourself' you review the words that were spoken through your dream.
"Save myself" you whisper and you get up from your bed and slowly make your way over to the door.
Then peeking out of the flap you see no one, but before leaving its safety you sniff the air out of almost instinct and find that Inuyasha was sleeping in a tree not far away from you. Sighing you snuck out of the hut being as quiet as the night would let you. Turning to look over to Inuyasha you find him still asleep but through turning your sights to him you failed to notice what else was blocking your path, and running into the mass you gasp.
It was a man you feel as you ran into his chest with the side of your face, and just as you are going to say something he covers your mouth and drags you into the darkness of the forest beyond the hut. Then letting go of you, you whisper furiously.
"Taiki, what are you doing here!"
"What I've no right to visit?" He smiled as you give him a serious eye "fine I'm here to take you from these people."
"And why is that, may I ask?" You ask concerned but happy that had remembered you.
"I highly doubt that these humans and a hanyou could protect you if Naraku ever had a chance to find you again." He said seriously, "I smelled you yesterday and you reeked of him, why?"
He seemed slightly angry by the fact he had gotten to you once again and you thought back to the moment and shuddered. It had been also the moment you found out that other strange power you had. You bit your lip as he awaited an answer.
"Can we not talk about this now?" You asked him almost pleading as you look through the trees to see if Inuyasha was still asleep, and finding he was you were grateful " So you're kidnapping me?"
"Uhh yea kind of" He said and smiled "You up for it, or are you going to stick here with these humans."
Still looking towards Inuyasha you go deep into thought. 'Save myself' you repeat in your mind 'being with these people will bring me no where; I'm basically waiting for Naraku, but if I go with Taiki, he might even be able to mask my scent with his and I can escape till we find out something else that can save me from that murderer.
"Yes, for sure I'm up for it." You say and you smile happily up at him
You and Taiki take off into the forest just after he asks you if you needed to grab anything. Of course you didn't have anything, all of your things were with Sesshomaru's castle. You climb onto Taiki's back once again and he takes off through the trees jumping from tree branch to tree branch. Gripping him tightly only slightly afraid of falling this time because you trusted Taiki more. His grip on your legs was tight and reassuring and you needn't worry.
Forgetting to ask where you were going you decided to ask when you and him landed next. Also he was warm and you were still sleeping, so a nap seemed in order. 'I don't think he'd mind if I' you think right before falling fast asleep.
Rins POV
You yawn widely and toss in the covers of your bed, it seems that someone must have brang you in when lord Sesshomaru had gotten back from the journey. You sit up and stretch feeling fresher and full of energy, and you hop out of bed happily intent on finding Keishi-san. Sliding the door open you run down the hall to your mothers room.
"Mommy, are awake?" You call to her through the paper door.
Hearing no reply you open the sliding door to reveal the room empty. The bed was clean and not slept in and no clothes were lain anywhere like it had been when Keishi had last used the room. So you just shrug it off and run to find Jaken to see if he knew where Keishi-san was. Skipping through the halls to find where Jaken-sama was you come past an open door, Lord Sesshomaru's study. You notice him sitting on the step across from you and you decide to go inside.
"Lord Sesshomaru?" You ask smiling from the door, "Where is Keishi-san?"
"…"
"Lord Sesshomaru?"
Taiki's POV
You soon feel Keishi lay limp on your back and you realize she has fallen asleep. The sun is still down and the moon has reached the middle of the star lit sky; the night was beautiful as you put up your invisibility guard. Both yours and her bodies become transparent and invisible to the entire world below, as you have started jumping higher to make more distance and to have a look at the sky above the clouds mist.
Taiki's POV /center
Your destination was set and your mind was just as sure, or at least you thought it was. A ping of guilt would stab you strongly as she slept against your back. Your eyes would warily check the grounds below you as an excuse to distract yourself of the guilt whelming up inside you even though it was sure not one below could sense you at all. 'This mission is essential; its no different than any other. I'm working for the well being of the Utama clan!' he told himself as another pang shot him harshly where in reality he knew that he was working for selfish reasons.
'Though what of that taiyouki?' your thoughts flashed back to the calm face of Sesshomaru as he held you by the throat, suspended from the dry grass of the field miles away from Naraku's stead. 'What has happened to him; why does she no longer take refuge in him as she just did in that village.' The image of her leaving you in the field stained your thoughts as another wound of guilt infiltrated your soul. 'Well, its no sin against me, what ever it might be.' You think to yourself finalizing it and you tighten your grip on the back of Keishi's thighs as you realize you weren't paying attention.
Still on course you sniff the air for demons or any potential enemy, and landing on the crown of an old tree you look for what your senses granted you. A wolf demon, but heading in the same direction as you, and with a higher speed. 'If this man is heading for Naraku's castle I might want to lie down and wait till what ever he's doing blows over.' Of course if any one thing might destroy your chances that are at hand you will do anything to keep it from happening. 'I must go slow; be careful.'
You fall through the trees landing on the forest floor. Keishi was still fast asleep as you continued through the forest to find a better place for camp. Spying a small cave at the side of a small mountain you begin your climb keeping a firm hold on the invisibility that hide both you and Keishi from sight. Reaching the top you take a quick look into the small cave finding that it did not continue tunnels or anything of the sort reassuring you that there was no danger hiding within the dark beyond your vision.
"Taiki-kun?" a tired voice called from behind you where you had set Keishi down as you inspected the newfound shelter.
You turn around and smile reassuringly down at your companion. She was sitting down at the wall of the mountain outside of the cave, and noticeably she had just woken up. Yawning she smiles back.
"Yea?" you ask wondering. "I was just finding somewhere to spend the rest of the night. I spied some demons below and thought it better to stop for the night."
"Where are we going anyway, you never told me?" she asks stretching admitting a small groan.
"Its a surprise," you say earning another smile and a stab in the soul.
Back at the castle
In the servant's quarters, a large room at the far end of the castle laid many blankets orderly on the floor of the room each occupied by a single female servant. Whispers could be heard at the far end in half giggles and quietly spoken words. Two servants lay in their blankets talking amongst themselves and gossiped.
"The lord has been even more distant than usual, have you noticed Sakura, at least since he got back today?" The tiger demon of the twos ear twitched as she brang up Sesshomaru.
"What do you mean?" The other girl asked, a cute cat demon.
"A few of the other girls that work in the kitchens told me that he hasn't eaten since he's gotten back. Also that girls gone, the one that got Fuji killed." She shuddered at the remembrance of the moment the lord decapitated her fellow servant in the diner room right before her eyes.
"Are you still thinking about that Kiki?" says the cat demon to her friend, she had been there to, and the slaughtering didn't seem to faze her and she took up the cleaning duties over for her friend. "You are a spoiled girl, my friend."
"Shhhhhhh!" One of the other girls demands from the other side of the room trying to get to sleep.
Kiki opens her mouth to protest but only for Sakura to cover it quickly.
"That was Kinae-san, be quiet, she's in charge of chores. She can make it even worse for a newbie like you in the long run." Sakura whispered into the ear of her friend and she nodded her understanding, and the two of them laid their heads down to their pillows allowing only silent giggles to erupt as they whispered amongst themselves.
Rin's room
In a room on the other side of the castle a girl lies in her bed. Her eyes looked distant, and a lot different from her usual self that played loudly in the gardens. Earlier she had gone to find Keishi-san, but found it fruitless. She stumbled in on Sesshomaru-sama in his study and had asked where she was only to get no answer and him demanding her to leave. Knowing that her mother was gone again she just sat in her bed that night thinking. She wondered where Keishi could be, and if she was okay.
Sesshomaru's room
'Where is that woman' Sesshomaru thinks to himself as he laid in his bed his calm face undisturbed, but his mind tangled with many different wonderings. If Liana would realize that Keishi was no longer with him what would become of it? He sat there wondering to himself, as the window to the side of his bed was drawn wide open and the light of the moon shown brightly upon his sheets. He sat up in his inability to sleep leaning an elbow on his knee.
'I have to find that moron,' he thinks to himself, 'but how, her sent completely vanished.' His face kept to its usual unmoving expression, but his mind contorted in confusion. He stood up from his bed wearing only his hakama. Growling softly he stands at the window searching for her sent. 'What if that woman has already been found by Naraku?' His eyes narrow slightly and his eyes suddenly widen coming across a sent looked for.
'There she is...' Sesshomaru thinks to himself and sighs silently to himself and leans against the windows border. He argues against himself weather to go or not, and he sits there for a moment bathed in silver light. Eyeing the beautiful gardens surrounding his castle he remembers Rin just hours before all of this.
Rin sticks her head through the sliding door to your study finding Sesshomaru sitting on the wooden walkway and smiles unseen. She was look for Sesshomaru to ask him where Keishi was and finding out that she was gone, Rin fell quiet. Even though he hadn't said it out loud that Keishi wasn't there Rin guessed correctly from Sesshomaru's avoidance. Her mother figure had left her once more and she questioned it quietly to herself.
'That oona is coming back to the castle, Liana would not allow this, and I surely don't either. What was that moron thinking.' Sesshomaru finalizes to himself and turns to receive his shirt.
Back to Taiki, Keishi's POV
You watch as Taiki works at lighting a fire in the center back part of the cave as you lean up against one of the rocks to the side. It was still unknown to you where you were going with him, but you worked at trusting him. He seemed trustful enough, but those eyes that he gave you moments before made you question it, they seemed almost forced. Something was on his mind and you couldn't seem to figure it out as you continued to watch him at work.
The cave smelt damp and with your new found senses you went to bored work picking apart the smells to pass the time. You could smell the plants that took life on the ledge just outside the entrance and the forest below it. Though there was something odd. A familiar smell came along with it though you couldn't seem to put a name to it so you decided to lay it away thinking it was nothing to worry and, slowly fell asleep just as a single spark from two rocks that Taiki was hitting together lit the bark and began to burn the few logs that he had found near the entrance. You smiled just before falling asleep reassuring yourself that Taiki was trustable.
A familiar dream flashes through your closed eyelids and just as the expected ends a new part of the dream reveals itself and you are surprised. Liana and Henru sat across from each other in a field of endless dirt and burnt forests. Their eyes were clouded over and didn't seem to be all there and the hoods of cloaks coved most of their faces. Between the two feet of distance between the two a single white Iris blossomed prideful in its beauty. The sun was gone and the moon stood right above them in the sky, right above the Iris so that there was no shadow.
Henru leaned forward as he sat cross-legged and wrote in the dirt 'one year'. He finished and went back to his original sitting position, unmoving. Then as if the written words were finalized by the earth time started to turn quickly. Days and days passing in quick moments and the sun and moon passing above head till finally it suddenly stopped and the moon was once again in the middle of the sky, but the Iris was dead. It wilted and was blown away by a nonexistent wind. Liana now leaned forward from her kneeling position and wrote on the other side of where the Iris once was and wrote into the dirt, 'nine months to go.'
You wake up from your dream. Liana's voice echoing through out your whole mind endlessly. Your eyes were drawn wide and you gasped for breath. 'What was that all supposed to mean, am I supposed to, no way!' you think to yourself your eyes blank and staring into the ceiling of the cave.
"Keishi-san?"
Taiki's voice brings you back for the moment and you rip your eyes away from the ceiling to gaze widely over at him. It was nearly morning and a cool breeze was coming in through the entrance of the cave.
"Keishi-san, are you okay?" Taiki asks again leaning over you.
He was kneeling and you were laying on the stone floor; he was poised helpless as though your had been struggling in your sleep and he had no idea what to do. Your face grows calm and you relax and let your head lay back down to the hard floor. Silently you smile.
"Keishi answer me!" Taiki said, persistent, and slowly getting ticked off. "You're acting really weird."
"I'm fine Taiki-kun, didn't know you cared so much," You say playfully, a smile still set.
"You were just-Wait! Who said I cared?" Taiki said moving from his kneeling position to site a couple feet away from you.
It goes silent for a moment and you smile up at him, and he blushes looking down. The sun has just begun to rise outside of the cave. All is silent except for the world awakening, and your want to change the subject. Taiki coughs.
"So-" Taiki starts but only to be cut off by you.
"I'm really happy you took me away from that village." You say smiling over at him, "I mean it wasn't going all that well and Inuyasha seemed on the verge to kick me himself with all the crud I was putting him through. I was doing everything wrong. Dealing with everything wrong, and all I was doing was whining. Taiki, I'm turning into a demon and I don't know what to do; I'm glade you took me away I need to start over even just for now." You say; it was all true and you easily kept some tears in.
Taiki's POV
A surge of guilt stung you hard as you listen to Keishi speak. You knew more than her and you were selling her out. She trusts you and your going to give her to the man that she hates the most. Feeling disgusted with yourself you turn your gaze to the rocky cave floor. 'I should tell her, I should take her somewhere else; I should save her, I should-'
"Why hello," an eerie familiar voice came from the mouth of the cave and the two of you turn to see a shadowed figure as the sun came up just behind him shading his face almost brilliantly, "you know, Taiki that there is a time limit this girl is going to die in nine months, and I need to get things done."
Keishi's jaw drops as she hears of her death as Naraku comes into view.
"Thanks for taking her all this way, but I'm going to take from here," Naraku says with a malicious smile.
Your POV
You can hear your heart now, and it seems only to get louder. 'What does he mean nine months! Does it have anything to do with that dream, okay well duhh it does, but why!' You blink a couple times as Naraku comes into view and tells Taiki that he will take over. 'Okay, what! Taiki? What was he doing! That basterd he was selling me out! I trusted him!' You look over to Taiki a loss for words and all he does his keep his eyes to the floor.
"Taiki! What did you do!" she cry as Naraku takes a firm hold of your upper arm, "Taiki, I trusted you. Taiki!"
Desperately you try to push away from Naraku and you manage it, or more he seems to let you go. You start to run, run out of the cave and down the side of the mountain. The forest has woken and the sun has just risen. The dew on the ground is cold as you break into a run through the forest. Back where you left Naraku he seems to laugh to himself as miasma comes billowing out from under him entering the forest floor beyond the cave reaching you slowly. Heaving loudly you try to keep conscious, but only seems to get harder and you fall to the forest floor.
"At least give me my sister Naraku!" Taiki demands back in the cave, "as part of the deal!"
"Boy, the deal was that you deliver Keishi to me, at my castle. Then I would give you your sister back, but you didn't give me her at my castle. We are five miles from the destination, and I grew impatient of waiting for you. Our deal was not fulfilled and you will not get your dear sister." Naraku says and jumps out of sight to retrieve you.
The next morning
A piercing pain radiates from your head as you struggle in a new bed the next morning. Your eyes are still closed, but you are fully awake and last nights events came nothing to mind. You grip your head painfully and curl up into a ball on your side in the bed. 'Ahhh yea the miasma,' you think to yourself finally getting a grip on reality as the pain starts to subside. 'I as running and NARAKU!' you swing up from your position in the bed to sit up. The room is dark and there is no lighting or window. There is breathing next to you.
"Lie down, everything is fine."
You fall off the bed bringing the blankets with you.
Sesshomaru's POV
Youve been traveling for half a day now and something surprises you. Then suddenly her sent mixes with another and you curse loudly, Naraku's. You speed up.
Your POV
'Stay away from me basterd!' you yell inside your mind but you are so tightly curled up that you can't get out a single word yourself. You hear a snicker from above you and a shift in the bed. 'He's looking at me, I must be pathetic,' you conclude to yourself scared he might touch you. 'Wait what am I wearing,' you shift a little side to side and you realize that your kimono's gone and you're naked. 'How come I didn't notice that before, it's not like this happens every day well not often, or more lately,' you think to yourself feeling incredibly like a slut comparing the last couple months.
"What are you doing?" the voice above you said with emphasis on the 'are'.
You just groan and curl up closer.
He laughs again and climbs down next to you. You feel the blankets move around you as he searches through the large mass. He finds you and pulls the covers away from, and you cover yourself and wonder if he can see in the dark.
"Won't do much good now my lady, I've already seen you."
You raise a hand to slap him, but you only stop yourself, "Why!"
"Why what?" a half laughing Naraku says through the darkness as he sits unwelcome, and very close to you, so much you can feel the warmth of his skin.
"What do you need me for, and like you said before what's with this time limit," you bark at him and he just snickers again and through a smirk he answers you.
"I guess I have to tell you since this whole plan revolves around you," he says closing the distance and pushing you so that he was uncomfortably leaning over you, "and I wouldn't want you feeling left out would I?"
"Back off Naraku, Liana wants me protected." You say as he pushes you down further till your back was on the floor and he was nearly horizontal.
"You know actually I don't think your dear mother would mind," Naraku says with a smirk that could be felt and your mouth falls limp and you forget everything, and you mouth 'mother?' "You see there was this curse set upon the moon goddess who knows how many years ago. It said that she would bear a child every year and every year that child will die unless it falls in love or bears a child, and if that child falls in love or bears a child the curse is broken and no more dieing children.
"" You remain silent, as he laughs at you unknowing and comes down on top of your still unmoving body.
'I am liana's daughter' you think to yourself almost completely unaware of Naraku. 'I am the curse child of a goddess, I will die by years end unless I bear a child,' a lone tear escapes your eye and rolls down your cheek and your neck. Naraku smells the salt and looks up from doing business to smirk at your awed figure. He moves up towards your face and licks the tears path from your cheek and you cringe silently only to earn yet another smirk from the half demon. Then he returns to kissing your neck and he continues as the two of you lye on the floor next to the bed.
The Next Morning
Visions of last night plague you as you wake the next morning before you open your eyes. You find that you are now lying in the bed, but still with out any clothes. Though opening your eyes you seem to find something a whole lot different, a real lot of reddish brown.
"who the heck are you?" you ask to the woman leaning over you inspecting deeply.
She looks at you with reddish brown eyes that seem to just graze across yours wonderingly and open. She wears leather shinned black in the shape of what you do not know is a corset. Shoulder length red brown hair is lying limply but some how gracefully over her shoulders.
"Ohh me?" the woman says standing straight and gives a look as if she was pondering that herself, "I'm Senka, and you must be Naraku's latest whore."
"What!" you bark
"Shhhhhhh, he's right there!" she says quickly to quiet you.
Surprised you slowly look to where she pointed, and at the side of the bed a sleeping Naraku lied.
"Apparently he's even more tired than usual, what happened last night. No wait I can guess," Senka said with a half smile, you could barely believe this persons forwardness.
You just stare at her slightly off and you remember last night again, 'what the heck, why didn't I stop him!' you think to yourself, 'well maybe I don't want to die...'
"Hey what's up you just went quiet?" Senka asks as you thought and you look up at her again.
"How come youre here?" you say simply nearly cutting her off.
"Well, actually my father gave me to Naraku through their peace agreement, I was what my father didn't mind giving away," she said half laughing.
"How can you laugh about something like that!" you say concerned for this near total stranger.
"Well living with Naraku, thats nearly all I have, or we have." Senka says, and she notices Naraku shift on the other side of the bed, "Well got to go, seems the lord is waking up, see yea!"
She leaves before you ask whom this 'we' is and you are left alone with a slowly waking up Naraku. The room is now lit with two candles one on each side of the room emitting an eerie sort of light. Other than that the room was just as dark as the night before.
"Hmmmmnn are you pregnant yet?" Naraku murmurs half asleep.
You realize that he must only act like that when he's half asleep and you suppress a misunderstood laugh.
"How am I supposed to know,"
"Well we're going to try till you are, there's only about half a month" Naraku said still half asleep and murmuring through his pillow.
"Wait, no it's only been like two hours, isn't there like a rule or something?"
"Hehe love, I'm half demon, I think there's a half a difference."
Naraku left, but not after something else happened. You lie their depressed staring at the ceiling. 'Hopefully this won't take to long,' you think to yourself, 'but should I just be giving in like this?' A lone tear falls from your left eye and you blink it away burying your head in the pillow. You groan loudly. Now that you had lost your virginity while you were conscious there was no use to it anymore. You had been trying to keep it from that, but it seemed inevitable.
Lying there for about an hour you drown yourself with self-pity till you were just fed up. You get up and search fruitlessly for your clothes, and bringing the sheets with you, you take to the dresser across form the bed. Taking the candle that was on the bed stand you use it to take a look inside of the dresser other wise you couldn't have seen anything. You find many different kimonos and obis of different colors. Feeling you needed layers at the moment because the disgusted feeling Naraku had left with you, you chose three kimonos and dressed yourself in them, but made sure they matched. After dressing you peek your head out of the door to see if anyone was there. Though you knew that no one was, you hadn't sensed anyone.
You sneak through the halls uncomfortable with the silence that came with this seemly dead castle. The halls were empty of anyone and you couldn't seem to sense anyone at all except Naraku on the second floor and a little bit of Senka in the basement. Other than the two of them you could sense only one other person, a demon on the third floor. 'She must be the other person Senka brought up, I'll see her later I guess.' You think to yourself and continue down the hall. At the moment you were on the first floor, which was vacant. There were many empty rooms and you assumed that all of Naraku's 'people' were out on business of some sort.
While walking you come to the end of the hall that you were in and there was a large beautifully carved window like the one in your room back in Sesshomaru's castle. You look down to the scenery below to see a whole lot of miasma collected along the borders of the castles. 'I bet so I don't escape' you sigh and turn back down the hall just before another sent comes to you. 'Sesshomaru!'
You turn right around again to look out the window, and sure enough you could sense him nearly a mile off. Then just as if Naraku sensed him to, and he probably did, he started his way to the ground floor where you were. You smile if only a little at the hope of Sesshomaru coming to save you and the curse comes back to you. 'What if Sesshomaru took me back to his castle with Rin?' The thought over-joys you, but the thought you couldn't stop thinking about was your death in April if you didn't have Naraku's child. 'It might not even be true that Sesshomaru's even here for me at all.'
"Woman, come here," Naraku called from down the hall, and you obeyed with out a thought.
When you reached him your eyes were to the ground and your hands fidgeted with your kimono as you could sense a prideful smile radiating from the half demon above you. You feel his hand wrap around the small of your back and bring you into him. Surprised you tense up, closing your eyes, and your face stays downward as it is forced in his chest.
"I will speak with him, and I shall not hear another word out of you." He said, his breath grazing your ear warmly and you nod your head as a shiver runs down your back.
His free hand comes up to cup your chin so that you would face him. Two red eyes pierce through what seems like your soul and you can't help but not to breathe. His comes up from your chin and goes up to your forehead lightly. You notice something glowing lightly in his fingers and you close your eyes, as it seems to enter your forehead with a simply kind of poke on your forehead. Opening your eyes you see him smirk before stepping away and motioning you down the hall.
You can sense Sesshomaru gaining on the castle at only about half a mile to go. Sighing you realize this would be a long day, and you decide it would be better to follow Naraku. He is down the hall and you speed up to catch up to him just as he slides the door and steps inside a plain room.
"Sit down," Naraku says simply pointing to the far end of the rectangle room and you do as he leaves again.
Sitting there is utter silence you sigh to yourself and decide to see what Senka's doing. You sense that she's still in the basement, but now the other sent is now down there, with her. 'Who is that!' you think to yourself confused. Her sent is a mix of flowers and blood, and something like pain.
There is a loud crash from the other side of the castle on either the second or the third floor, you don't know. 'It must be Naraku and Sesshomaru.' You conclude to yourself as the noise stops and you look around the vacant room. 'Sesshomaru better not do anything stupid,'
Sesshomaru's POV
Five minutes earlier
Coming upon the castle you catch a whiff of Naraku. 'Her' sent was all over him, almost like cement on your brain as you came upon the castle. 'What the hell did he do to her!' fury builds up inside yourself.
You reach the castle your eyes a faint red and your teeth bared, and you see Naraku sitting in an expecting way. He sees your anger, almost feeling it also, and smirks silently to himself as he stands up from his seat on the wooden walkway close to the forest you quickly came out from. Naraku's mouth seems to open just a little as if he was about to say something, and your fist collided with his face before he could. You growl loudly as his body flies through the wood and paper of the castle walls. Sensing Keishi at the other end of the castle your mind relaxes, but the anger remains strong as ever. Walking slowly towards Naraku he begins to get up from the rubble a smirk dripping with mocking signs plastered to his lips.
"No violence, please Sesshomaru. We can resolve this easily only if you would be available to listen, and not to cause trouble." Naraku said wiping the dirt and dust from his clothing, "Though if you don't want to listen, would you rather me take the young Keishi's life? I have implanted a shikon jewel shard into her forehead, and I can kill her at any time I please, but that would probably mean war on both of us by Liana, wouldn't it Sesshomaru."
You stop walking towards the half demon and your anger abates only slightly to be taken over by confusion. 'How does he know about Liana?' you barked from inside you mind. Frustration you let only fill little of your mind as you wiped your face clear of emotions. 'And how dare he use Keishi's life against me, basterd, I'd rather take his instead,'
"So if you could, Sesshomaru, please come in," Naraku said and while he said it you could only tell that he was enjoying this command over you as you obediently followed.
Your POV
You could sense the two enter the castle with out struggle and you wondered what Naraku had to say to manage Sesshomaru to do this. The door slide open and Naraku stepped in, and with a wink in your direction came in. You winced at his motion and remembered you were not to say anything. Sesshomaru soon then stepped in, closing the door behind him. His eyes glanced over at you, and his nostrils seemed to flare at your sent. You looked down, displeased with yourself.
Sesshomaru continued to look at you as Naraku told him to take a seat on the floor like he had opposite to you. He kneeled down hesitantly and ripped his eyes from you anger staining his mind like blood. Looking up you observe your lord quickly. A strong feeling of anger was radiating from his making the room tense even though his face remained calm and unmoving.
"Well then," Naraku started calling your attention, "Mitsuko!"
A few moments passed as you looked on in confusion towards Naraku. 'Must be the other girl staying here that Senka mention and I sensed earlier' you think to yourself. Sesshomaru doesn't look away from Naraku. His eyes are emotionless like his face but you know that he is angry; it drips from him.
The door slides open calling your attention away from Sesshomaru. A shorter girl walked in, but she was obviously your age or even older. She was holding a scroll, which she handed to Naraku, and after she bowed to her lord she looked up and your eyes met with hers. She smiled and winked almost wishing you luck, and surprised you don't return her smile with yours.
She leaves the room and Naraku lies the scroll down on the floor and unties the string keeping it from unrolling. It was an old piece of parchment and it was worn at the edges; it was yellow and faded but the paper was strong and thick like it was made from hide. Naraku unrolled it fully and you could see what was inked onto the thick parchment.
It looked like a long story; you could swear that you could see a 'once upon a time' at the top. You look of from the paper to see Sesshomaru eyeing it also. The room was bright, but when the walls slid to show the outside when Mitsuko appeared once again it smelled wonderful. Naraku's miasma was gone and the air was clean. After opening the walls up to the outside she bows to her master once again and leaves the room.
Mitsuko wore what looked like a bunch of cloths tied together giving her a look of being exotic, and all you knew was she probably was. She did not look dirty as you would have thought as she wore ripped pieces of cloth, but they were clean, she looked clean.
"This is the curse and story of the moon goddess Liana," Naraku said smugly as he pushed it over to your lord so that he may read, "I found it with the help of the northern lord, Yoshimitsu."
Sesshomaru read it leaving the room in silence, other than the birds calling to each other outside. His brow furrowed, but other than that stayed the same as he finished the read. He set the scroll down in front of him and closed his eyes. You knew what it was about. Naraku had said it was about liana so it spoke of the curse, how you were supposed to die. Sesshomaru opens his eyes remaining silent and looks over to Naraku. Studying him he looks Naraku over; he wonders if this is a trick.
"What is this," Sesshomaru growls through what seems like clenched teeth.
"Ohh don't you understand?" Naraku laughs, "Keishi is the curse child,"
"Prove it!" Sesshomaru says remaining calm through his anger.
Naraku gestures for you to come forward. You sigh feeling depressed, and you stand up. 'Now I'm no better than a servant whore!' you scream inside of your mind as you try to suppress your rush of feelings. Sesshomaru doesn't look up to you as you pass and continues to look to Naraku who is smirking mockingly up to you. Naraku gestures for you to sit in front of him and you do so; he unties your obi and you jump.
"No worries kitten just want to' show Sesshomaru here your curse mark," Naraku and you could nearly feel his smile through your back as he removes your top.
Sesshomaru growls as he does so and the top of your kimono and all of your layers lie at your waist. You look down, shoulders hunched as you cover yourself with your arms. Naraku touches your back and you feel him pause for a moment feeling the warmth of your skin. You close your eyes hunching your shoulders up a little more, suppressing tears. He turns you so your back faced your lord and parted you hair. Sesshomaru growled and you guessed he saw your tattoo.
"Keishi!" Naraku growls and you open your eyes.
You find that your body is flickering from in visibility and back again, and you try to control your emotions. Though your body becomes completely transparent when you turn to see Sesshomaru's eyes grab yours. You sit there screaming inside your head that your body will appear again, and it does in just a moment. Naraku sighs, and you think back to Sesshomaru. His eyes took you by surprise, and it confused you. There seemed something more to his gaze.
"So this means" Sesshomaru said quietly suppressing any emotion he might be feeling.
"Keishi is going to die in nine months, by April she needs to have a child." Naraku says simply, leaving your top bare.
"What about the other part of the curse?" Sesshomaru says simply, causing you to look up from your knees.
"Ohh no I don't think we could do that," Naraku says harsh and for some reason it struck a nerve and you turned to him.
"What's that supposed to mean?" You snap your eyes angry and your lip pouting.
He ignores you and turns to Sesshomaru. Naraku starts talking about an agreement as you stare at him angrily. 'What's that supposed to mean! I'm extremely lovable!' you think to yourself as the two converse beside and behind you. You cover yourself tighter as you hair covers most of you back. 'But by the way I've been acting lately hasn't been myself, how is anyone supposed to fall in love with that?' You look sadly down to your thighs as you think and the two men stop talking.
Naraku gets up beside you and you whirl you head to look up at him, "where are you going?" you say as Sesshomaru also stands up.
"Weren't you listening at all woman?" Naraku sighs, "Sesshomaru is going to leave for these nine months and you are going to give birth to my child, everything works out."
"Excuse me?" you say, 'not for me at all, I'm the one going to be giving birth here!'
"You heard perfectly well now go to bed, I will be over to see you later." Naraku says simply and smirks your way, and then turns back to Sesshomaru, "come back in nine months or I'm going to keep her, deal?"
Naraku's smirk caused your lord to snarl and turn around to leave. You wished you could stop him, but what would you say, 'stop Sesshomaru; take me with you, I'd rather bear your son!' but no that would be totally weird. Even though the whole idea seemed a whole lot better than what you were going through at the moment, and also you wanted to see Rin.
"Sesshomaru" you speak softly.
He turns around and stares you down with out emotion; Naraku also looks your way, confused at what you might say. You stood there for a moment staring at your lap still covering yourself, and you bit your lip. Tears were coming, but you held them back.
"You better come back Sesshomaru" you say simply, wanting to say so much more, like, tell Rin I love her or, bring me with you., but you kept it all in.
July 6th, 8 months 24 days
'Sesshomaru better come back,' you think to yourself as you lie in bed that night another undesirable session with Naraku. The half demon lies behind you as you faced away from him, starting intently at the wall. 'I don't know what I'd do if after I had this child I'd have to stay here with Naraku.' The mere thought of it plagued your mind as you lie there silently.
You wonder what the two other girls had done to find themselves here. Senka had told you that it was due to a peace treaty that she was staying with Naraku. 'What kind of idiot would give away their child?' you think back to the face of the girl. She had smiled happily, but you really wondered if she was truly smiling.
Thinking back to when Sesshomaru was at the castle you remember his sent. Rin's sent was somewhere in there and you smiled thinking. You had promised her that you wouldn't leave her again, 'I'm horrible,' you tell yourself. Tears are held back as you lay, the sun just rising.
Sesshomaru's POV
You arrived back at the castle the next morning after talking with Naraku. 'Why bother going back to get her?' you ask yourself and you see a flash of her back at Naraku's castle, sitting on the floor, half crying. Your brow shrinks at the flashback, 'Rin would die if I left her there.' You conclude to yourself and you walk to your study as the sun is rising upon your land.
The western lord sat down on a cushion behind his low writing desk and called for a servant. The female servant drew the shoji (sliding paper screens) for him and bowed to her lord before leaving. Sesshomaru looked down to the table and found a letter/scroll unlabeled except for the crest of Fujiwara Akira. He unrolled it and took a look at its contents.
Lord Sesshomaru,
You may be aware of the happenings between the south and myself. Being the eastern lord I must be fully able to protect my lands if any threat is to come onto it, and there is a great possibility that there may be. Ever since the incident that a few of my samurai joyriding through his lands he has taken a cautious eye to me, he believes I may be the one to create war amongst our lands and knowing Kazuki he may want to turn the tables in this feud.
To get to the point I am asking your assistance. I have received certain imformation that points to an invasion to my lands, I ask you for assistance in this matter. We will talk further on this if only you approve of helping me in this war. If you do accept my asking you will receive half of the lands, once we have forced Kurokawa Kazuki out of leadership.
, Fujiwara Akira
Lord of the East
Sesshomaru sets the scroll back down on his writing table and sits up, thinking.
Your POV
The hours sped by as you lie in the bed after Naraku left. You sigh and roll over to your other side; you weren't even thinking about anything anymore, just being lazy. Closing your eyes you search to see if anyone else was on the floor along with you. That Mitsuko girl and Senka seem to be on the floor below you along with Naraku. You smell food, and you realize how hungry you really were. Your stomach growls and you sit up in the bed stretching your arms high above your head, and rubbing your eyes you step out from under the sheets and over to the vanity.
You got dressed and exited the room, and quietly you head down stairs. The floorboards creaked and the air was warm; summer was ending. You find the stairs at the end of a hall and you take them down stairs. Sensing that the two girls were in a room on the other side of the castle you decide to check them out. 'I wonder how long they've been here' you wonder to yourself. You realize that they must be very close knowing that there must not be very many people staying at the castle or even working. and as you stand outside the door to the room you pause. 'I'm probably going to be staying here for eight months, I'm going to be getting to know these girls, might as well start now.' And you slide open the shoji.
"Ohayou Keishi-san!" Senka called from the other side of what looked like the kitchen.
She was sitting on top of a barrel inspecting her nails when she had heard you come in, and Mitsuko was preparing some Domburi, rice with toppings of meat or other foods. You give a half smile over at Senka as she took to hopping off her barrel.
"Sooooo, how are you think morning?" Senka smiles as she comes to stand next to you in the middle of the ordinary room.
""How good could I be in this kind of place," you sigh and Senka smiles wider.
"What do you mean?" she said to you and you looked up from the floor before fully drowning yourself in pity, "Me and Mitsuko will make it better for you here, I promise!"
Mitsuko turns to look up at you nodding and flipping you an energetic thumbs up. The two of them seemed to be the only support you could get here and you were grateful for their good moods because it seemed to rub off on you. You smile and closing you eyes you nod.
"Good, because you need to be happy." Senka said still smiling, "because Nar-"
"Senka shut up," Mitsuko quickly cut her off
"What I was just going to say that she needs to keep in a better mood because Naraku is going to have his way with her again, and again, and again-"
"Shut up Senka!" Mitsuko says quickly covering Senka's mouth and looking over in your direction as you looked crestfallen in the corner of the room with your knees drawn to your chest.
The Village of Utama
"How dare you endanger the curse child?"
Taiki kneeled before the six villages elders his face contorted in frustration. When he had come back from being with Naraku and Keishi his village found of his treason to the goddess liana from the mere sent of him. Taiki admitted to his disgrace and he sat trial with the elders as they would chose of his punishment.
The demon that had created this clan was the demon Adorufu, the wolf demon. The dark demon sought power, and it nearly consumed him and his mate in his search for it. Though when the goddess liana caught sight of his wreck of mind she called out to him, and granted him what he craved for, but there was only one consequence. He and all of his descendents would serve under her so that his newfound power was put to no good use.
Taiki had broken that oath and with that came great consequences.
"I did not endanger her!" Taiki protested he said tearful, "Naraku claims he will break the curse to gain Liana's favor!"
"Silence!" The youngest of the elders burst and paralyzed the boy with a flick of his hand, "We heard you already, but the point is that you had no call from Liana to do so."
Taiki held back tears. He had betrayed Keishi-san and his whole village in the same day, never less the main goddess of his clan. His fists were clenched and his eyes closed; his head ached fully and all his pride had diminished. He found that he had no right to ask for forgiveness, all he could do was earn it, and try to explain himself and his actions. His paralysis wore off.
"Yes Fuma-sama!" Taiki cried and bowed till his forehead grazed the floor, "Please grant me mercy I only wished that-"
"To bring Nokota back to us yes, but Taiki you need to forget about your sister," One of them said off to the left as he could hear, "See what it has brought to you, your vengeance can only spout pain."
Taiki nodded and began to cry.