Hi dudes, look another chapter. And this one I'm actually fond of YAY!!! So I'd like to thank all my reviewers, you're my favourites.
To Oni Guts: Severus will be a very important character throughout the story. So love him!! Lol.
Its great to have all my old watchers back, and anybody new is always welcome. I'd love to hear your ideas and opinions. Like if you find something in the story that you're not fond of … Tell me!! I may not do anything about it, but It's still good to know what others think.
Chapter 12: Mountains
Naraku watched the crescent moon with distaste from his balcony. The cool winter wind swept around his naked chest and loins, over the white marble of his villa, and around the body of the young woman lying in his bed. For a moment the general's eyes flicked over her luscious curves and round bottom. She had been his bedmate since turning fourteen oh so many years ago.
The moon again caught his attention; something about it had him there on the balcony in the cold, even with his Celt looking so exotic wrapped in the silk blankets. Those blankets were from his family in Egypt, and his happy little bitch was quite a treat to have in them. He knew that she could destroy him in an instant, but she never would. Her devotion was eternal to the man who had saved her from the hellish life in Britannia; here in Rome she was a queen in her own right. Even the Emperor's sorcerers respected her. A giant Raven took flight from the trees and brought him back from memories. "What secret does the moon hold that would make her come so close to the earth?"
His whisper went unheard amid the night wind.
The soft sound of the linen draperies hid the slither of silk. The warm hands that hit his cold skin sent ripples of shock through his body.
"What keeps you from my bed, Naraku of Alexandria?"
Her voice was a purr in his mind, and her hands travelled down low to sweep across the toned flesh of his lower abdomen. Soft, burning kisses trailed down the muscles of his back. "Kikyo… are you never satisfied?"
He turned in her grasp and brought up his hands to clutch painfully at her biceps. Her head fell back as he savagely attacked her collarbone and chest with his mouth. "Never."
Her words brought a sinister gleam to his eyes; she made him feel powerful. Always testing him for a single weakness, and never finding one. Slowly he lowered her to the cold marble floor – the bed was forgotten- tonight would be savage, and she would love every minute.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Soft light filtered over the mountains, birds were chirping, and Miroku grinned at Inu-Yasha. They sat in their tent on wooden buckets and chatted quietly amongst themselves. Miroku noticed that his friend kept sneaking glances at Kagome. She was sleeping quite contentedly in her master's blankets, oblivious to the morning's rays.
"We'll be leaving soon, you should wake her up."
His golden eyes flickered again to the female. Her black hair was tussled and lay across her pale face in strands of midnight darkness. The Roman turned back to his friend and ripped off a chunk of bread from the loaf that sat on the table. "She had a hard day, I'll let her sleep until after breakfast."
Miroku smirked in a way that had Inu-Yasha suspicious. Before he could ask a question, a quick snort from outside the tent had both men startled; Inu-Yasha was quickly standing over his slave's sleeping form. Kagome let out a quiet moan from where she lay and rolled onto her back. "Beacon… shut up."
Her unfocused eyes slowly began to clear.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Severus just about dropped her sword when a screaming mot of black hair nearly bowled him over. He quickly caught the girl and pat her head like he did with his own daughters until she quieted. "There now missy. Share with us what scared you into a tizzy."
Kagome clutched at his tunic and looked around, her large eyes gave the look of a frightened rabbit. Nearly everyone in the camp was watching at this point, and even Inu-Yasha and Miroku had stumbled out of their tent. Every man was puzzled at the cause of this young woman's fright. "It was horrible Severus."
"Come on girl, speak up." The Celt raised horrified eyes up to meet the older Romans black gaze.
He voice was so quiet that the soldier had to lean his head in to strain at her words. "Inu-Yasha doesn't wear a loincloth beneath his armour."
Severus couldn't help it. He hugged the girl close and let his head back in laughter. His twinkling eyes met those of his companions and then that of his captain and prefect. "Well boy's, it seems that the good master over there doesn't wear a covering under his armour. Sweet Jupiter sir, but are ye that small that I scared her to death?"
More laughter bubbled up and echoed around the camp at the expense of the now red Prefect. Even Miroku had a hand up, trying to hide the smile and snickering.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
The sun had risen and was now high above their backs. It had not taken long for the encampment to pack up and be ready for travel. Kagome rode with her head down, refusing to look at her recent master. Every time they made eye contact, she would turn away quickly and a pink hue would be dusted across her nose and cheeks.
He head finally rose when the grey stallion stopped mid-step and backed up. In front of her was Inu-Yasha, though he wasn't looking at her. Her gaze wandered up the ascending ground and stopped when the clouds blocked her view. They had been travelling for over a month, and now she knew that returning home was near impossible. A huge mountain line stretched past her view in both directions.
Beacon sniffed tentatively and snorted in disgust. Kagome scratched his ears and bit her lip. "I completely agree Beacon, there must be a better way to Rome."
Miroku rode up beside her on his chestnut; his hand was laid comfortably on her shoulder. Even his mount didn't look impressed at their obvious path. It took only seconds for Kagome to notice that Inu-Yasha had disappeared.
"He's gone to make sure all the soldiers and pack mules are ready for the crossing. We'll only be in those mountains for a few days since we tried to find the narrowest path through. Rome is another two weeks travel on the other side." Miroku's gaze was kind. "You know he isn't mad about this morning."
"I am a priestess. That was mortifying."
Miroku looked puzzled and then enlightenment shone through. "So you've never even seen a man before that experience Kagome?"
A few paces back, Inu-Yasha paused his conversation and tried to listen for her answer. He knew very little about the girl, and his experiences with her in the hut were not very informative. The only thing he really knew and remembered was that night when she had almost picked fire right from the burning logs. That, and the time she had tried to kill him, was still embedded in his mind.
"Of course not." Kagome rolled her violet eyes and dropped the reins of her mount. He wouldn't go anywhere with her sitting on him. "My parents were together on the will of the druids, so to create a weapon with the powers of two mystic blood lines. My Father was of the druid, a male descendant of the goddess."
Inu-Yasha noticed that she was hesitant to say more, and decided that now was the time to enter stage right. That reminded him, he'd have to visit Greece soon again. Samara pranced up on dainty hooves and flicked an ear. Her white body moved up against the greys. "Are you two ready?"
Kagome turned her face to her master though her eyes were looking far past him. "Yes."
"I wasn't asking you bitch, I don't really care if you're ready or not. I meant Miroku and his horse." Inwardly the Roman cringed at his harsh words, but she was his slave. He still needed to enforce his dominance, not only as her master, but also as a man.
Miroku looked shocked at his cousin's change in attitude but nodded a yes. He was ready, and a quick glance at Kagome's saddle proved that she was too. He prayed that she wouldn't comment on Inu-Yasha's rude remark.
"I see now!" Both Inu-Yasha and Miroku looked at the girl. She smiled wickedly and both men, as well as any soldiers watching, would have compared her then to cat that had a mouse in her claws. "The reason your man-part is so small, is because your ego is so big correct?"
Severus' boisterous laughter echoed around the mountains.
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Three days into the climb over the great mountains, Kagome was finally beginning to regret her comment towards Inu-Yasha. He had disciplined her by refusing to let her go off and hunt, though she wouldn't have found much in this snowy hell. On top of that, she had been forbidden to sleep inside the tent. Even on the second day when they had encountered a blizzard, Kagome ha still found shelter in the crevice of a cave. Beacon had kept her warm, and the next morning there had been something akin to guilt on Inu-Yasha's face when he had found her still sitting there frozen cold.
At one point she had been contemplating throwing herself down a crevice, it was a dramatic way to die, just to know – as a ghost of course- if Inu-Yasha would regret being so horrible to her. Of course knowing him, the cheap bastard wouldn't know whether he was sad or if getting rid of her was a blessing.
Kagome promised herself, that she would never make fun of Inu-Yasha's penis again if these were the consequences. He was still bitter around her and Kagome didn't understand why? It was just a comment. The man didn't have a beard so she couldn't insult his manliness like that, especially since none of the Romans had a beard. In Britannia, a beard was a sign of manhood… and she wouldn't dare insult these soldiers as less then men. She wanted to stay alive to see her home again.
HOME…
What was Etain doing? He still frequently visited her thoughts, and she knew that he would survive. Beacon was a wonderful mount, and she had grown to love him, but no beast could replace the savage stallion that made the earth tremble under his muscle.
Etain would have had none of this keeping to line, and Inu-Yasha would have been able to do nothing about their wandering. Although Samara may have been more distracted if her stallion had come. She had been blatantly disappointed when Etain had not joined her on deck, and ever since her behaviour had been less… obedient. Inu-Yasha had noticed that she wasn't responding to his signals as much, and Kagome could only snicker at his pain. She knew that the mare was hoping that the black Stallion would have joined along the rout. Inu-Yasha was just clueless to the female mind, of any species.
Kagome pulled the cloak closer around her face. It did little to block the fearsome snowflakes that pelted, with ice, against her skin. Beacon had a small ice age growing in his mane; there was probably more ice in his tail. Kagome placed a comforting hand on the flea-bitten neck and scratched. This horse loved the attention and it made Kagome wonder what his life had been like before Inu-Yasha had come across him. It was obvious that the old stallion had put on weight, and toned some of his weight into muscle.
Her long skirt was drenched but she had to be thankful. The soldiers were all in their uniforms, with fur boots, but twice she had had to use her magic to hold off frostbite. Her healing skills were seriously lacking, her grandfather and Kaede had only bothered to teach her defence and offence magic's. Maybe when she reached Rome, there would be a priestess of another temple who could teach her?
Of the horses that were travelling with the legion, only about three were even slightly content. Those three were little ponies that had come from far north of where Kagome lived, Hibernia. Beacon lost his footing and stumbled down. The ice was everywhere, and though Inu-Yasha had assured her that they were almost over the mountains, Kagome was sure they would all perish from the cold.
A beam of sunlight broke through the clouds and landed on her face. Kagome smiled up into the warmth and let the hood fall back. Around her the snow receded and swirled in a dainty way. Little breezes lifted her cloak up as the group reached the top of the ridge. More rays broke through the clouds and reflected off the snow. Below her feet, the Celt noticed, the snow was becoming patchy.
Inu-Yasha halted the group and kicked Samara into a jog. Kagome nudged her own mount into a slower pace. Miroku called out for her to stop but she paid him no heed. He wasn't her master, and she wasn't bound by magic to obey him.
As Beacon bounded happily up the slope she watched the changing scenery. Gone now was the snow, the ice, and even the small shrubs. Now it was all rock, with the odd pebble here and there.
On the top of the ridge she found Inu-Yasha just sitting silently. Her violet gaze swept across the land and then rested on the soldier. A smile was touching his lips and there was softness in his gaze that made her somewhat sad. His hand reached out and took hers in a very uncommon embrace and squeezed. "Kagome… I'm home."
She smiled and nodded, but inside her mind waged a war. This place was nothing to her; nothing but a vast expanse of green and hills. Below was a small village with thatched roofs and plaster siding. The Celt felt no tug to protect these villages, as she did in Britannia Superior. Once again Kagome's eyes flickered to her new master, and then down to their hands. She squeezed back and smiled widely. She would make this her home too, for him.
Together they turned and rode down to the waiting legion. Kagome let her gaze lift to the sky and she slowed momentarily to watch a single raven that was flying in circles above her. It cawed and flew down to land on a tree, green eyes that should have been black, smiled. "For you my lady I shall try."
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q: What is this mountain range now called??