Dark Jewel
Story #: 0070
By Kaline Reine

WARNINGS: This is somewhat of a dark/angsty fic, and its written in AU not the world of Inuyasha. Everything is different, but I will try my best to keep everyone as in-character as possible. This fic is rated M for a reason, there is violence and bad language throughout, and later on there will be graphic (extremely graphic, as you will know if you've read my other fics) sex later on. This is my first Inuyasha fanfic ever, so please be nice. I'm new.

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha and I make no profit from my writing.

Chapter 5:

Her song was done, and Kagome could not continue with it any longer. The creature flew down, descending like some terrible dark angel into the meadow. It looked down upon her, and because no melody was heard, it attacked. Kagome looked eye to eye with the fearsome creature. 'B-but... dragons aren't real!' Her mind couldn't even form any coherent thoughts.

Forunately, Inuyasha knew she wouldn't be able to complete this impossible task that he had given her. He drew his sword, and this time it became much larger and sharper than was normal. Kagome looked in his direction him, completely frightened.

'How did that happen? His sword... it changed!'

The dragon reached forward with enormous claws, and attempted to bite Kagome. She was paralyzed with fear. She forgot all about the bow and arrows she had brought with her. The helpless girl fell backwards onto the ground, cowering in fear beneath the dragon.

Swiftly, Inuyasha moved in on his prey. The dragon was taken by surprise, when he leapt out from his hiding place.

It growled at him, swinging it's tail around and almost hitting Kagome in the process. But it's attention was focused on the demon coming at him with his sword drawn. It looked completely different than before. The blade was wider, longer, and it didn't look like the same sword at all. There was a bit of fur near the hilt as well, nothing looked the same!

She'd never seen that look in Inuyasha's eyes before, and it scared her. The dragon put up a good fight, and lunged at the demon a few times, but Inuyasha was faster and managed to dodge it's attacks. He tried to pierce it through the heart, but he missed by just an inch.

"Aaagh!" He cried, when the dragon's claw tore into his chest. "Damn it..." His sword was thrown from him, and the beast had the clear advantage.

Kagome knew he was in trouble. At first he was handling it on his own, but now it was clear that he needed her help. Grabbing her bow, Kagome shot an arrow at the dragon's head. It just barely scraped the side of it's face, but it was enough to distract the thing from Inuyasha long enough for him to get to his sword.

"Kyaaah!" With a triumphant cry, Inuyasha's blade sliced through the mighty dragon's neck, completely removing it's head.

The decapitated beast fell to the ground with a crash. Inuyasha was splattered with blood, but at least he was the victor.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome voiced her concern, rushing to his side. "Are you alright?"

"First thing's first..." He climbed on top of the dragon's lifeless body, and took something from a small harness on it's back. She hadn't noticed that before... "Got it!"

"What is it?" He showed her what looked like an ordinary, blank piece of paper. "There's nothing special about that. But you're hurt. Here, let me-"

"Psh, I'm fine. Don't worry over me. I'll be healed in no time. You did great, by the way. Let's just hope this is the real thing, and not a fake! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm starving."

He crouched down beside the slain dragon, and used his claws to tear into the flesh. The dragon's scales were no problem for a demon like him, and Inuyasha began greedily devouring it. Kagome felt uneasy around him now. It was a disgusting sight, and she looked away, but chose not to comment on it.

"What did you get?" She asked, without turning around.

But he didn't answer her, he just kept eating the dragon, and drinking it's blood. When he was finally done, he led them to a stream so he could rinse off some of the blood that stained her perfect skin.

"This is a map... Or it's supposed to be, anyway."

"Wait, I'm confused," She asked, joining him for a quick drink. "What just happened? What was with the singing? And the dragon, and-"

"Those are questions better suited for asking Lady Kaede, don't you think?"

"I just asked you!"

She tried snatching the paper away from him, but he wouldn't let her. Inuyasha slowly unfolded the map after he was clean enough to do so without ruining it.

"Feh, this is useless! I knew it... There's nothing written on it. All that trouble for nothing!" He crumpled the page and tossed it away.

Kagome went to retrieve it from where it was thrown. "This isn't blank!" She held it up. "Look!"

"You can see something?" Inuyasha took a closer look. "I don't see anything. Hmm... Interesting. Why don't you let me hang onto that until we get back?"

She gave it to him, without thinking much about it. "We're going back?" He just nodded, already leaving, and she sighed and followed him.

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It was another day's travel before they reached the castle again. Inuyasha left Kagome under Shippo's care until he returned from his bath. He also had to look into the matter of getting a new kimono.

"Wow, so you slayed a dragon, Kagome?" The little fox demon was so excited about it. It was cute.

"No, I just helped. Inuyasha did it, really. I hope he gets back soon. I have so many questions I want to ask him."

"Like what?" Shippo sat next to her on the sofa in the den.

"Well he told me to go into the middle of the clearing and sing. And I couldn't stop no matter what happened, or we would both die. Only I did... and that's when the dragon attacked. But he was ready for it. Any idea why he would do that?"

The little fox thought for a moment. "There was this story that my Mom used to tell me a long time ago... It was about a beautiful maiden who tamed a dragon by singing."

"Aye," Lady Kaede had entered the room in the middle of Shippo's story. "I have also heard of this legend. It was said that her love possessed a piece of the dark gem. And he hid it in a place where it could never be found, then made a map. He tied it around the neck of the dragon that she had tamed, so that only she could retrieve it for him."

"Aww that's so sweet... But what happened to them?" Kagome was spellbound and very interested in this story. "I wonder if it's the same dragon that we- Oh my gosh!"

"Wow, neat!" Shippo exclaimed.

"Indeed... Her lover was killed in battle, and the maiden died long ago, leaving only the dragon behind. It is said that only someone of their bloodline can read such a map."

"But I-"

Inuyasha burst into the room. He thrust the paper in Kagome's face, and glared at her. "What does this say? And don't lie to me!"

Kaede interrupted before she could speak. "Do ye really think it necessary to be so harsh on the girl, Inuyasha? And what makes ye think that she can read it?"

"Because I can," Kagome announced.

"Is this true?" Kaede couldn't believe it. "But the only only person that's ever had the ability to do that is K-"

"Don't!" Inuyasha stopped her. "Don't say her name! Just shut up and get out of here, you old hag!"

"Uh oh..." Shippo grabbed Kagome's hand and led her out of the room. "Looks like master Inuyasha is getting angry. We'd better leave now, before it gets worse."

"But we can't just leave her h-" She was dragged away by the little kitsune anyway.

"Don't call me an old hag!" Kaede shouted. She knew better than to shout at her master, but it was just so pointless! Why was she supposed to like like Kikyo never existed? "Simply erasing my sister's name does not erase her memories, Inuyasha!"

"You forget who is the master here, and who is the servant!" He snarled at her. Getting lost in his anger, he slashed her across the face.

Droplets of blood spilled onto the carpet, which she herself had just cleaned. Kaede was taken by surprise. Never had Inuyasha struck one of his servants. The slaves, yes. But never Kaede or Shippo!

"That should teach you!" His voice was laced with venom as he left her alone.

She called for Shippo's assistance once Inuyasha was gone. Kagome came rushin into the room too, and was horrified at what she saw. He had sevred Kaede's eye, blinding her on one side.

"What did he do?!" Kagome shrieked.

"He struck me. But it's no big deal... I suppose I deserved it. He has his father's temper..."

Shippo had scampered off to get her some towels to clean the wound, and the mess they had made. Kagome sat with her until he got back. She was really angry that Inuyasha would do this to someone. He was a vampire and a demon but still! She had been nothing but kind to him. The way that Kaede was so dismissive of it bothered Kagome, but now was not the time for that. They had to help her.

"I'll take over all your chores for today," Kagome told her. Already she could tell the others were about to protest. "And don't try to argue. I'm doing it. You just take it easy, and... go see a doctor or something. Shippo, can you help her?"

He nodded. "I think so. It doesn't seem to be that bad. The bleeding's stopped. But she'll be blind."

Kaede kept her proud face on, no matter what happened. She didn't flinch away if it hurt, just allowed them to bandage her eye. Kagome didn't know much about medicine. But she knew the basics.

"Do you have any antibiotics or anything? It might get infected."

They looked at her like she was crazy.

"You know! Gauze pads, or band aids, or peroxide, or anything?"

"We don't know of any such thing, child," Kaede just looked at her with her one good eye. "Are ye sure ye are feeling well? Perhaps ye should be the one to see a doctor."

Kagome was just beginning to grasp what was going on. 'Oh no... Did I somehow end up in... a different time period than my own? Or could this be another dimension? I wish I could remember what happened to me before I woke up in the cage.' But she kept her thoughts to herself, for now.

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No one saw Inuyasha for the rest of the day. They assumed he was cooling off somewhere. Shippo helped Kagome with her chores, the same way he would assist Lady Kaede. It was horrible what their master did to her, and they were all really upset about it.

Kagome was relieved when Shippo finally told her they were done. "She has a lot to do every day, doesn't she?"

"Yeah but at least it keeps us busy!" He wore a kind, upbeat smile. He was always so positive about everything.

Inuyasha showed up around dinner time, still with the map in his hand. He sat down across from Kagome at the unecessarily huge table, and didn't say a word. For a long time, no one said anything.

"Who said you could eat in here?" He shot her a glare when she was halfway done with her meal.

She tactfully decided it would be better to change the subject. His room was cold, and she hated staying in there all day anyway. "You weren't trying to read that map, were you? It's obvious that you can't do it yourself."

"No. I was working on a way to bring back the only person that I know of that can read it."

"But I told you I can read it," Kagome argued.

"Yes, but you will most likely lie to me. At least Kikyo was trustworthy..."

"Who's Kikyo?"

"Nevermind! She's none of your business! And if I ever hear you speak her name, I will personally see it that you are killed. I have no problem killing slaves, believe me."

That shut her up. Kagome just sat and looked at him, not daring to speak. She wouldn't have believed him to be that way; she didn't want to believe it. But she had seen what he did to Kaede already. It was best to just listen to him. Despite that fact, Kagome just couldn't help but try to get the last word in. She had alweays been that way, for as long as she could remember. Stubborn.

"Well I don't care what happened anyway! As if I would talk about someone I don't even know. And just for the record, I would not lie to you about what the map says. I have no reason to! You didn't even give me a chance..."

Inuyasha sighed angrily. He was losing patience with her, and fast. If she didn't leave right now, there was no telling what he might do to the poor girl. "Leave. Now, Kagome!" he pointed to the exit. "Go to my room, and wait in there."

"Fine!" She yelled, before storming off to do as she was told. She picked up her plate to take her dinner with her.

"No, leave it," The demon snapped at her. "Girls who get bitchy with me don't deserve to eat."

'Fuck you!' She wanted so bad to tell him that, but she couldn't.

Kagome left the room, but on her way down the hall she overheard two of the other servants talking.

"When does it start?" One of them asked.

"I'm not sure. I know it's sometime this week, or next week, though."

"That poor girl... Do you think that's why he bought her?"

"No idea," The two girls giggled. "But probably. Why else would he purchase a new slave the week before he goes into heat?"

Now she had a reason to escape. There was no way Kagome was going to let that happen. She was adamant about leaving anyway.

But she really wished she hadn't heard that conversation. It kind of hurt to know that's what the other people here thought of her. At least it wasn't Kaede or Shippo, or worse Inuyasha himself, taking about her. But it still made her feel almost as bad.

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A/N: Oh and just to let you know I really was joking about making this fic T-rated. It would have to be M-rated anyway, for all the violence and language in it. (And other things later.) I am working really hard on this, so I hope it is enjoyable. There are adult scenes eventually but there is a good bit of plot planned out first. Besides, I just can't see Inuyasha and Kagome jumping into bed with each other right away. It doesn't work like that. Well I hope you enjoyed it, and this chapter should have answered some of your questions.

-Kaline Reine