A/N: To my readers thank you for your interest and your patience and that you get to see our story come together. The second chapter is up! :D
Warning! May contain both vulgar and sexual content.
Enjoy!
A Life to Bargain
Fear
The wind blew gently on the lake's water, creating a gentle current that traveled and spread the echoed waves throughout the large body of water. A boat, old but fair, tarnished and eroded by years of servitude, sat quietly in the middle rocking with the water's current with the tenderness that of a lullaby.
Peaceful, relaxing, but not a mood Rin found herself to be in at that moment.
Small fingers slapped the water, disturbing the tranquility that which had taken hours of nature's precision to mold all into a silent rhythmic harmony.
Which also served the small child a rather painful thump on the head.
"Itai!" Rin squealed, rubbing the growing bump under thick locks of black hair. Her pout extended with a whine, "Kaede-babaaa..."
"Hush, child," Kaede chided sharply, "ye've rustled the fish. If all these lines aren't snagged by evening the orphanage will have to ration."
With a high-pitched grumble Rin melted back into a lazy stretch against the wall of the boat, finding a slight interest in playing with her small chubby fingers. "How long will this take, Kaeda-baba? Can't I just catch them with my nets?"
"No, and hours more with your rustling."
Another high pitched grumble. Rin's eyes soon caught the sight of a frog on a nearby patch of lillypads, frozen still in the midst of a few brave flies, watching, waiting as if this frog saw many generations, many live and many die, have developed such stunning patience throughout years of hardship and learning.
Like Sesshoumaru-sama...
"The frog has learned in time to discipline himself, to decipher when he must play, hunt, or mate, to learn restraint over his hunger driven mind and become stronger." It seemed Kaede caught site of the frog as well. Rin blinked, her eyes switching from the old priestess to the frog. Those old, forever knowing eyes squinted with a smile.
"This old priestess was young once, child. Like ye, I had no time for sitting around when there were good people to heal, new potions to learn, new flowers to pick," she ended with a wink.
There was a small foreign sound followed by an object hitting the water. The frog had caught its meal and descended into the waters below to the shore.
"Someday child ye will grow into a patient woman, full of wisdom and strength. And it all starts with a fish."
A deadpanned silence then, and it took a few muffled chuckles from Kaede for Rin to erupt into a fit of giggles.
A thump to the back of the head popped my eyes open, and I could have sworn two old knuckles had something to do with it.
Much to my dismay when my eyes finally adjusted to the dim light around me the sight I saw flushed the warmth from my mind and all the comfort my subconscious had tried to give me. I was in that dark dank carriage feeling every bump and groove of the road under the wheels.
Explains the rocking of the boat in my dream...how real it all felt.
I attempted to sit, only to be engulfed in a stomach lurching headache that sent me back to the floorboards with a whine.
"You okay?"
A splitting headache had nothing on a random voice in the dark only a little ways from my right ear. I screamed before I could think of doing so, through aching feet and sore muscles my body scrambled to one corner. The sounds around me began to sink in; the mumbling, the whispers, and someone sobbing through all it...a strong steady background noise too hard to ignore.
"Don't ask silly questions. Of course she's not." Another voice farther to the front. High pitched, female by the sound. Two small barred windows adorned both sides of the carriage allowing enough light to slip through highlighting pale frightened faces of young women. I couldn't tell how many. More than five easy just by the small amount of light given.
Another voice chimed in quietly from the other side. This voice sounded quite young. "There's no more room on the benches so you'll have to stay on the floor."
Benches? Just how many women could those two men round-up all on their own? Were there more the them?
"How..." a groan escaped from my lips as I adjusted against the wall, "how many of us are in here?"
"Too many." Sobbed an older voice.
I grasped one side of my head trying to stop the swirling. That incessant sobbing in the background; one of these women were obviously in hysterics. Perhaps it was the throbbing in my head but I began to grow a slight agitation for whoever they were.
"Sold, like livestock. We're nothing but cattle."
"Kami-sama will help us through this. He will..."
"You're god won't save us, stop being a fool!"
It seemed the sobbing woman wasn't the only one blinded by emotion. All these stages of fear were only adding to the pounding in my head.
"Sinful women like you won't be saved!"
"My husband...I want my beloved Kisano...he's out there searching for me."
"Don't worry, we'll get out of this. We just need to stay calm."
Finally, some sense out of one of them.
"Calm? I'll tell you what being calm leads to. Sold to some bandit or...or a demon! Night and day being raped mercilessly-"
"SHUT UP!" Yeah, I roared. Even the sobbing woman shut her mouth.
"Shut up, ALL of you! Brainless women, letting your emotions get to you at a time like this! Have any of you at least thought of some plan?"
No one had piped up, the only answer I was given was the moans and shifts of the moving carriage.
I huffed. This was ridiculous.
"How can we...the chains always get us," a new voice chimed in. "A few of us have tried, and every time, it's like they come out of the forest!"
"You never see him, the other man, just the chains."
The other man.
The rotted teeth. The black wiry beard.
"Sorry, dear. Is' just bid'ness."
I stood, a few times thinking my legs couldn't battle both standing in a moving wagon and the burning pain of muscle exhaustion but now wasn't the time for worrying about sore limbs and wounds. I can rest when I'm dead, I kept telling myself, and I'm not dying any time soon!
My legs scrambled around for balance until I reached the doors of the carriage. The pitiful gleams of light couldn't reach this area so the darkness was a thick borderless pit. I brought my hands up to the doors feeling the hard wooden boards, the nails, a few aged spots, until they rested on one specific part of the door. Metal hinges, a lot of nails, the locks. Of course they would have barricaded the door with locks and harnesses. I continued to feel around careful not to fall as the carriage took a more rugged path.
"What are you doing?"
Pausing to take a breath I looked back meeting the wide fearful eyes that had watched me the entire time.
"Trying to find something to use as a weapon, even if I have to tear the wagon's boards apart. There's two of them as far as we know but there maybe more. But there's countless amounts of us! We double their amount! If..." Ah! A weak spot in the wall! I could tear a layer off if I had some help.
"If...if you all want to live, I suggest you help me. Forget about anyone or anything that's going to help you, and help yourselves and each other." I turned back to continue my work, my hands, swollen and covered in scratches, grabbed hold of the aged plank and pried as hard as I could. Their reactions meant nothing to me if they were just going to sit there.
A cry bubbled in my throat. Damn splinters. A wet substance coated the tips of my fingers and I could only guess the splinters had brought on bleeding. Tears began to spill down my face. Tears from what? Aggravation? Fear? I couldn't tell which.
Golden eyes flashed through my mind. My heart began to race.
Not now...
I was terrified, beyond furious, and exhausted.
Red honey combs, skin as pale as the moon. Somewhere inside me a spark of hope, and at the same time a jolt of pure fear.
It's been ten years since I've seen you, three since I've stopped thinking about you. Please, don't plague my thoughts now.
My breath came in ragged quivers, my grip on the wood fierce. Another row of splinters and my grip began to slip against the bloody board. Why aren't you here...why are you never here...
A shift at my side jolted me out of my thoughts, thankfully. Cold hands covered mine adding to my strength and I peered through the darkness trying to match a face to the action. My heart lifted for a second as the woman's strength greatly improved our favor. The old board began to snap and groan. Yes!
"My name's Miyu."
I blanched for a moment, but hurried to answer. "Rin."
For a moment I could feel eyes boring at me through the darkness, hot and angry.
"Rin...I want to live."
I smiled. Her voice, the sensible one from earlier.
Just then I felt movement all around me, shuffling, shifting, hands searching and grabbing and pulling. We began to exchange names then, all of them repeating their name with an angry "I Want to Live!" I would never forget that empowering moment, nor will I ever forget their names.
Kaede-baba forgive me, but I really wanted to be the first to beat the shit out of Tite.
-:-
Abandoned roads were the roughest paths to take through forests, but when attempting to haul a carriage driven by four horses untraceable from one place to the next one shouldn't be particular about terrain. Steering the horses became one of the hardest parts, the straps rubbing agitated blisters through layers of callous. However rough the paths were the horses normally had no problem handling rocky chopped roads.
"Whoooa, easy ladies!" Goro gripped the reins tight pulling the horses back in a more formed order. They bucked back, which was strange, as if they were on edge? Cautious?
"Goro my brother, I've got great feelings about all this." Tite shifted excitedly in his seat next to his partner, blinded from reality by his fantasies. All the profit...he could just see all the luxuries waiting for him. Drinking high-class wine from golden cups, top dollar geisha from only the most scandalous red light districts. A greedy shiver ran up his spine.
"Hehe yeah we gon' make lots'a money," replied Goro, although his attention was mainly set on the restless horses. At one point the carriage wheels hit a large rock sending the massive wagon on two wheels. "Ah! Steady!" He yanked the left side keeping the horses together.
"H-Hey, I think somethin's wrong with the horses, Tite."
"They'll be fine. Probably all the weight in the back, must be throwin'em off." With a wave of his hand he ended the conversation preferring to indulge in his own world.
And as soon as his fantasy started it ended when the horses began to neigh and wail, running catawampus down the dirt road causing the carriage to nearly miss some large trees. "I gotta slow'er down, Tite! Ther certn'ly scared'a somethin!"
"Go ahead we'll break for a little while, get them fed and all. I just don't want our cargo hurt."
"You betcha." Slowing the horses took some time and eventually they were pulled to a stop just short of a clearing up ahead, seeming as though they wouldn't go any further. Goro jumped off the carriage first to tend to them. How peculiar; if their low desperate neighs or anxious dancing feet were anything to go by he'd say their was an aura in this part of the forest that didn't meet even his senses.
Tite paced around excitedly in the background. Rambling to his brother the wonders of living successful lives flooded out of his mouth and warped his own senses. "You can just picture Mother's face when she see's her "screw ups" outdo her! It'll shut her mouth right up!" He rubbed his long bony fingers together at the greedy thoughts, unbeknown to the altercations of the forest since their last stop. All the rich sultry foods he could almost taste blinded him from the silence of the birds and insects, the erotic fantasies of the smooth porcelain skin of a high dollar female under his fingertips dulled the sensation of still air on his skin, never realizing how thick the air felt around them with visions of whores and lavish treasures dancing in his head; so lost in thought he walked around the carriage and through the underbrush leading to the open field ahead vanishing from sight.
"Hey Tite, we should hurry'n hightale it east, this place's dudn't feel right..." he waited on a reply only to realize Tite had wondered off. "Tite?" He cocked his head around the carriage, finding no one he began to gaze around the area. Perhaps he walked through to the clearing?
Goro's question was answered, for he heard his brother's weak reply. "Goro..." it sounded cautious, scared, something his brother never was.
"Tite!" He sprinted through the clearing, his hand gripping around the chains hidden in the folds of his robes. Holding up an arm to his face he dove through and stumbled at the unneeded momentum. Tite was there, standing as though he'd turned to stone. What was he looking at? He snapped a hand up waving in front of his brother's stoic face and gasped when those bright eyes beamed pure fear.
"Goro." Tite gulped.
Goro followed his brother's eyes, and he too became as stone still, gut twisting painfully as his eyes met with countless pairs of eyes. Demons. Large and small, all races and ranks, all colors, some horned, some hairy, and some slimy and scaly. All adorned in usual rags and robes but wrapped around shoulders and waists were red and white and gold sashes.
Because running into one demon wasn't scary enough, running into a demon army was possibly the worst happening that could befall a human, more so than any famine or bandit raid. In times such as this a miracle was the only thing to hope for to save your life. One didn't simply run into a demon or however many and walk away with a clean bill of health. Every vision of a perfect life had faded from Tite's mind as soon as that thought dawned on him. The gods weren't going to let him live such a life without trials and tribulations first, but this was madness, an inevitable end unless he didn't save himself and his brother.
"Look at that." one demon piped up, causing both brother's chest to clinch. The voice was deep vibrating through bones when it spoke. Large, heavily muscular and every inch covered in thick dark hair. By the size of the snout it appeared to be a bear demon of some kind. It stepped forward, threateningly playful as it let out a chuckle. "Didn't even have to catch em."
A rushing sound from all around the unlucky brothers sent their hearts racing. Scales, lots of them, surrounded them in a circle. A very large snake demon lowered its head until round yellow eyes set upon them, a fanged smile so sickening the venom dripped from its massive fangs. "Poor little humanssss, you will be a nicccce little meal."
"Don't even think about eating them on your own, or I'll cut em out of you ya damn snake." A growl emitted from an ogre who walked to the front. A few other demons voiced agreements and the snake hissed with laughter. "Then cut them out of me if you can, you worthlesssss exsscuse of ssssspace."
An argument broke out giving Tite and Goro enough time to plan. The coils of the snake's body closed in slightly as the argument grew more hostile.
"Tite...what'er we gonna do, we're gonna die, we're gonna die, we're gonna die-!" a slap to the face silenced his panicked wails as his brother grabbed his shoulders tight.
"If we panic now then we might as well accept death, and the Kurosawa family does not accept death so easily!"
"Y-Yeah, tha's right," a pathetic attempt to sound as hopeful as his more collected brother.
A roar split through the air, silencing everyone. "What are we, a bunch of starved animals?!" the demon bear roared.
"Well...technically..." muttered a smaller pigmy demon which earned him a menacing glare.
"We'll just have to divide them, but after we'll take the village they came from." And no one argued, whether it sounded fair or he was a terrifying force to reckon with on an empty stomach.
"WAIT!"
And all demon eyes landed on the humans in the small circle of the snake's coiled body.
Which caused Tite to freeze cold. "Uh...I mean, please...if I may...?"
"What's it saying?" A random demon soldier shouted out.
"I don't care I'm hungry!" replied another.
"No! Please, I beg you all to hear me out!" Tite flailed his arms dramatically.
"Pleassse, have sssome ressspect for yoursselvesss," chided the snake demon.
Goro could see the gears churning in his brother's calculating head. "What if," Tite responded calmly through body aching tremors, "I can offer satisfaction for another kind of hunger?"
A thick silence washed over the field. A few heads turned and exchanges of awkward looks were given. A scraggly boar demon cleared his throat. "What does that mean?"
The bear demon huffed. "You suggest, human, that we fuck you?"
Bellows of laughter thundered from every direction, and Tite couldn't hide the mortified reaction on his face. "N-No sir! What I mean is, m-my brother and I run a business...we...we..."
"Stop stuttering, fool!"
"We sell women! A traveling brothel! On-the-run pleasure, you see...young, fair-skinned human women..."
"...and they're all yers!" Goro finished.
That got their attention. All eyes widened considerably; Tite had struck a match in their heads and opened a window of hope to their disposition.
"Really?" chimed the boar demon brightly.
"How many?"
They were taking the bait. "At least 25. And you can have all of them, all I ask is that you spare our lives." Before Tite knew it the bear demon was in front of him, the snake thrown to the side letting out a strangled hiss as he was shoved aside like he weighed nothing. With a force that could break bones Tite was hoisted in the air by the collar of his robes which he was sure the force the demon soldier's knuckles met his ribs a few of them cracked on impact.
"Here me now, human filth. We've been at war for some time and our victory is sweet. Your fate is decided when we have what you've promised us." He released his hold and the poor man fell to the ground in a heap. Goro ran over to help him only to be shoved away indignantly by Tite.
"Go fetch em'." He choked out between painful breaths, and Goro raced off at his brother's command. The desperate thought of using his chains ran through his mind, an option, but a hopeless one. The second he took a whack at one or two him and his brother were goners. But Tite had a brilliant idea. While they were indulging in a pleasurable feast the brothers could make a dash, cut a few of the horses loose and high tale it for the east, start over and build from scratch.
-:-
We stopped when the carriage came to a halt and waited, once the coast was clear we began distributing the shrapnel and wood chunks we were able to pry from the inner layers of the wagon. As we waited we formed stances, crouched and weapons held tight. One of them were going to open the doors soon, and we'd be ready. Ready to take back our freedom.
The older women who couldn't fight were in the back, the younger more agile women were given makeshift weapons and stood in the front. As we'd attack the older ones would get a head start and we'd meet up with them later and recollect north of the river. Some of the women took the time to pray together, others were speaking lightly of good memories in their life. I looked down at the thick slab of wood in my hands for a second thinking how oddly normal everyone seemed compared to me. Through times of hardship and difficulty I kept my mind from running by running my mouth instead, ignorant of the true danger that lurked ahead of me. Years passed and I learned to take the caution and prepare for the unexpected staying focused ever vigilant.
I will forever be thankful for the lessons I was lucky enough taught in life. Kaede-baba, Kagome-chan, Inuyasha-sama...Sango-san...
...Sesshoumaru-sama...
The sound of locks shifting beyond the doors alerted everyone's attention. We readied ourselves and waited, all we could hear was heavy breathing among the most anxious of us.
"Okay girls," came the frantic voice beyond the door. Though muffled I recognized the voice; the man with the chains. I gritted my teeth at the thought. Giving him a good whack to the cranium was going to be satisfying. "Yer all gonna line up and follow me, ya got that?!" Why did he sound so distressed? You could practically hear his labored breathing. "If any of ya think to dash I'll beat ya dead, got it?!"
I heard a few gasps behind me. "He won't have time to," I assured them, "we'll make sure he can't walk to chase us." Personally his change in tone startled me as well, but I would never let the others know that. The moral in this dark soggy room was high with rage and justice and I wasn't about to let them throw it away.
"Get ready..." I crouched.
The last lock shifted, and the doors began to open.
"Get ready..."
We met with the blinding light of day and a silhouette of a large man. Something primal inside of me snapped.
"Now!" I screeched, and the wagon shifted with our force. I pulled back the wooden slab and with as much strength as I could muster slung it forward. Blunt object met blunt object and my slab splintered against his skull. Before he had time to react he was brought down to the ground hard by five other attackers. Our outer flank observed the forest for any more offenders and seeing none we made a dash through the brush into what seemed like a clearing just on the other side. Dashing through a field may have not been the best idea for camouflage but once out it would be no problem sprinting straight through.
I was gaining hope with every passing second. So far so good it almost seemed unreal. "Let's go!" I cheered on as we headed for the clearing. My heart swelled with visions of making it home, to see everyone, to continue with life at my village. My warm bed, my friends, I just wanted to go home.
All these warm thoughts, however, dashed as soon as we made it to the field. The faces of my loved ones vanished with the worst stomach pain I had ever experienced, my heart thumping so hard I thought it would explode from my chest. I knew it wasn't a mirage when the rest of the women stopped dead in their tracks with me. They saw it too, I wasn't going absolutely insane...
There were so many demons...
All shapes, all sizes, all staring at us as we stared back. The silence that fell upon us was suffocating.
Why...
I prepared for a few rough human men, not countless amounts of demons. Their stares were making me sick, eyes so wide with what I could only guess was hunger...for what kind of appetite I dreaded silently. This was bad, very bad.
"Rin..." one of the women behind me whimpered, and I wanted to vomit.
Why...why was this happening.
An astounding clap sound emitted around us and my eyes locked on to a familiar figure slouched in front of one rather massive fur covered demon. Tite. From the grim expression on his face this was no planned arrangement. It all made sense now; they were in just as much trouble as we were. The bear-man looking demon clapped Tite's shoulder again, letting out a baritone chuckle.
"Tonite, we bask in our victories!" He roared to the rest. The ground shook as they all roared and rushed forward.
I threw myself back and screamed, "RUN!" dropping my weapon and started for the forest. Time began to slow then, sadly only for us. The demons were fast, too fast. A massive snake demon cut us off from the forest. His mouth was wide with a grin.
So we scattered, going every which way. Some of the more frantic women attempted to dash right past the demons, the majority caught within large clawed hands or slammed to the ground by tentacles. The field had turned violent. Screaming, laughing, begging, harsh breathing. A few women tried to fight back, and the few demons they faced only laughed harder as they slapped the insignificant pieces of wood out of their hand and knocked them to the ground with a swift slap to the face.
I sat in the midst of this terror, too frozen to do so much as blink, watching these women get thrown to the ground, some putting up the best fight of their life only to be easily overpowered, some had given up and begged for their lives, others were still attempting to sprint as far from possible with a few demons hot on their heels. These demons were having their fun throwing their catch around, ripping off pieces of clothing.
What have I done...
My hands balled up in fists so hard my nails cut through the palms of my hands, coating them in a small amount of blood.
I've sent these women to their deaths.
Our fates sealed to a humiliating death, to be tortured, raped, slaughtered, and eaten.
And it's all my fault...had I have just sat with them and kept my mouth shut.
I folded my arms around myself as a cold shiver ran through my spine. I suddenly felt eight years old again, scared and helpless and alone. No one would come for me, no one knew where I was. What was left of my butchered body would rot in this field in a dishonorable grave leaving behind the question of my whereabouts to linger for years. What ever happened to the village orphan Kaede-baba adopted from the silver-haired demon lord. My friends would search until one day they stopped and began to move on with their lives.
"Stop! Cease everything!" came a frantic high-pitched wail from across the field. My head shot up with the realization that the plea didn't come from one of the women, but from one stubby rodent demon scrambling clumsily through the midst of activity.
"No need to be greedy! There'll be plenty to pass around!" laughed one of the demons, but the rodent heard none of his pleasantries.
"Makibo, why ruin a wonderful moment with your ignorant whining?" grumbled a frustrated toad demon.
"B-Because the Commander's on his way!"
Commander? So they were a tribe? Or perhaps an army?
The intentions of the demons were instantly forgotten, as they scrambled away from the women they had brutalized only seconds ago as if we were suddenly tainted with poison. My mind went completely blank...what the hell was going on?
"Fuck! Why now?"
"He must have heard all the commotion!"
"Of course he's got good hearing, why didn't we think of this before?!"
I listened intently to their words. The leader of their gang was on his way...should I be as panicked as these demons? It would only make sense...wait...
...since when were they all wearing those sashes? So they were an army. And those colors...why did they seem so familiar?
An odd mist enveloped the area, an eerie still in the air. The temperature seemed to drop and I rubbed my arms for warmth. I could hear nothing but the whimpering of frightened women, and...heavy footsteps? Clicking and jingling of someone heavily suited was advancing in the area from somewhere in the mist. The demon soldiers stood up straight, quiet, and collected.
Who was this Commander? My stomach knotted painfully at the growing apprehension. A silhouette appeared in the distance and I was crudely reminded that my question would soon be answered.
"My lord." The bear demon fell to one knee.
A flash of silver hair came into view. My heart stopped.
Past the mist, the crying of the women around me, through the demons, and through the burdened pain my body was under...all disappeared when my eyes caught sight of stoic molten eyes I was sure I'd never see again for the rest of my human life; eyes I had trained myself to forget and cast out of my dreams and out of my life for good.
In that moment I came to know a new kind of fear.
-:-
A/N: not a bad cliffhanger if I do say so myself. This commander...I wonder who he is? :P stay tuned for the third installment of A Life to Bargain. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and for those of you who reviewed thank you so much for your support! I can't wait to hear more feedback!
-Joker and the Thief.