Chapter 6: Paris
He could feel himself being carried. There were times when he would feel himself stop, and he would try to wake up, but it only made him fall into a deeper sleep. After this repeated several times, the moving finally stopped and he thought he heard voices, but…they sounded so far off and he couldn't tell what they were saying. As more time passed, he began to slowly regain his senses, and after awhile, he could feel a soft mattress beneath him and the faint smell of death. He woke with a start and jerked into a sitting position, cold sweat on his forehead. He opened his eyes but everything was a blur and he felt dizzy, like he was going to throw up. Soft hands gently pushed him back down and soon there was some kind of liquid entering his mouth. His muscles worked and he swallowed. He could hear a voice saying something in a soothing manner as he slipped back into unconsciousness. There was nothing in his drugged sleep, which proved to be a blessing since he was temporarily free from his nightmares.
The kitsune raked his hand back through his hair, smiling softly as he watched Naraku fall back into his drugged stupor, "Poor darling, you've been plagued by your nightmares for so long that you don't even fight the drugs anymore." He let his fingers glade down the pale Kumo's cheek, "Well… I guess I can give you some release after all…If it is only in your sleep." He chuckled softly and stood, returning the vile of poison back to the drawer in the dresser.
Rabe cawed from her perch and shifted her weight, her yellow eyes boring into DeVos'. "You know Rabe, it'll be quite suspicious if someone hears a Raven cawing this deep in the heart of Paris… We don't want to join the others at the gallows, now do we?" he said coldly, reaching out and stroking her head. "Now, remain silent and watch him…I have some things to do in town…" He smirked. "After all, it's been such a long time," he said softly, making his way towards the door, "Since I've taken a human life…" And with that, he slipped out the door, locking it behind him so curious mortals wouldn't barge in.
Meanwhile, Naraku continued to sleep without further problems. The sleep, however, was lighter than it had been and he was dimly aware that he was inside an unfamiliar place. His demonic ears could hear people above and below him talking in a foreign tongue. This place he was in was new and didn't feel quite right, but with the poison clouding his mind, he didn't care; all he felt and cared about now was the peaceful dreamless sleep.
DeVos replaced his gloves after licking the last of the blood from his hand as he looked down at the mangled corpse of the whore he picked up off the streets. "Ah, no one will miss you, my sweet…such a pity…" He shrugged. "Oh, well! Like I said, no one will miss you." He chuckled and exited the room of the inn.
"I think… I shall have to buy my beloved some new clothes…" he said quietly to himself as he passed tailor shops along the streets. So he made a few stops, buying the best—stolen—money could possibly afford and took the parcels back to his flat.
The kitsune took a moment to admire the soundly sleeping man on his bed before deciding he'd take the liberty of redressing the unconscious kumo before he woke up. "Oh this is going to be fun…" he said while removing the clothes from their packages.
He slowly opened his eyes. It was daytime but the room in which he was confined had all curtains drawn. A mental sweep of the room told him he was alone. Naraku carefully sat up and looked around the room. Strange, he thought. The room was fairly big, though not nearly as grand as the rooms in Sesshoumaru's castle, and it was filled with an array of the most peculiar pieces of furniture—most of which seemed to serve no purpose other than to clutter the room.
Naraku swung his legs around and stood up. Seeing a door, he went to stand up and quickly make his way across the room but was stopped short as he fell flat on his face. It was then that he noticed the uncomfortable fitting of his clothes and that he was wearing some kind of restraints on his feet. He pushed himself off the ground and then caught sight of a mirror nearby and was dumbstruck.
"Nani..?" He was shocked at his own reflection; his kimono and yukata completely done away with, he was now clad head to toe in the most bizarre fashion. He had on a black silk shirt with puffed sleeves and lacy cuffs. And over this was a violet satin vest with a golden chain that draped from one pocket to another, and attached at the end was some tiny clicking disk with arrows and unfamiliar characters on its face. Naraku was appalled at the tight-fitting satin pants, which only went down to his knees, (their maker was obviously someone who couldn't measure a man's proportions correctly), and his calves were covered in some kind of dark stockings that clung to his legs like a second skin. The restraints on his feet were unique as well; he'd never seen anything that remotely resembled these strange black leather things that covered nearly all of his foot, and had ridiculously high heels, complete with an oversized buckle that had no use. And his mop of long, auburn hair was thoroughly combed and tied back in a low ponytail that reached his waist. Naraku leaned in for a closer inspection to find that the color above his eyes was now a lilac!
"Admiring your new appearance? As you can see, I do have quite a fine taste in....oh just about everything..." DeVos said in a suggestive tone.
Startled, the kumo looked behind him in the mirror to see the scarlet-haired demon from before! Naraku spun around but the blasted heels he was perched on caused him to lose his balance and he'd nearly fallen to the floor again if it wasn't for the demon quickly catching him in his arms. "Why, you…release me!" Naraku tried to reclaim some dignity, and he demanded that his foot restraints be removed.
"Foot restra--you mean your highly fashionable shoes? Well...you know it does take a truly skilled man to walk in heels..." he said with a wolfish grin. "Like me for example, but I'm sure you know that all too well, dearest." he whispered into the kumo's ear, giving his earlobe a little nip before pulling back.
Naraku was stunned. This was all too much at once, and for once he was lacking for words.
"I can make a better use for your tongue if you aren't going to use it." the kit said with a lecherous grin and a wink.
"UGH!!!" Naraku angrily shoved the brat-fox into the opposite wall and bolted out the door, wobbling and tripping a few times along the way. He reached what was presumably the front entrance, and he ripped the wood from its hinges and ran out into the thronged Rue Flambeaux. There were so many filthy humans everywhere that Naraku could hardly mask his disgust, and the smell! But now wasn't the time, and he began walking down the crowded sidewalks hoping he'd blend in and lose the kit.
The crimson haired youkai merely snickered before rising to his feet and smoothing out and readjusting his clothes. "Silly little kumo thinks he can outfox a fox." He chuckled and set off at a jaunty pace to chase after Naraku. After all, it wasn't that hard to track him when his scent was so clean and the rest of Paris was so dirty.
Meanwhile, Naraku was making poor progress with the difficulty of walking in the "highly fashionable shoes." When he could take no more of people laughing when he stumbled, he veered to a nearby bench and set to work removing the cumbersome objects from his feet, and was surprised to find that they came off rather easily. However, now that he could walk properly, he received several queer looks from passersby as they saw he was without shoes. He soon found out why so many people wore the odd shoes when his stockings were completely ruined in a matter of minutes. 'It's just so filthy in this city! Does it ever end?' he commented silently, 'And the stench of these humans is unbearable.' He couldn't stand smelling their foul odor any longer, and he slipped into the first secluded garden he could find.
Nearly exhausted, Naraku leaned against a tree to breathe in the semi cleaner air. His stockings were now soaked with a grimy slime--the composition of which he didn't care to know-- and he was nauseous from all the intoxicating smells. He closed his eyes, concentrating on keeping his stomach down, when he heard the soft footsteps of someone approaching. Naraku's eyes flashed open and he looked towards the sound but it was gone. Not to be toyed with, the kumo stood clear of the tree and said in a bold tone, "Whoever you are, do not think that you can hide from me, Naraku. Show yourself!"
"Oh never again would I dream of hiding from you..." DeVos said slyly, stepping out from behind the very tree Naraku was taking refuge under, "I should hope it'd be the same with you, but...alas, I'm proven wrong yet again." He smiled and advanced towards the wary kumo, "Come now, Beloved, you're a long way away from Japan... I've taken you into a prison you can't escape from." He looked him over and then noticed his lack of shoes. "What on Earth? You didn't honestly walk the streets of Paris without shoes!? Oh, my..." he made a clucking noise, "And those stockings! I'm going to have to give you a sound lashing..." He smiled dangerously, "Come along now, Naraku. As demons we may have all the time in the world, but no one stands a chance against Parisian Aristocracy."
"Look, DeVos—"
"Oh please, call me Raposa." He said with a smile.
He glared before beginning again, "Look, you impudent like brat, I don't know where you've taken me, but you'd best leave me the Hell alone and run back home to your mommy before it gets too dark to play."
That remark wiped not only that smile off his face, but his whole pleasant demeanor as well. A cold rage hardened the kit's features, and he was quite frightening to look at in such a cold rage. "Oh I don't think my mother would have anything to say in disagreement...much less anything at all." he said in one of those quiet voices one gets when the anger is too much for any volume, "..Seeing as how she's dead." He set his jaw and sized Naraku up with his cruel, jaded eyes. Unexpectedly, his hand shot out and took Naraku by the throat and slammed him against the wide tree trunk, bringing their faces dangerously close, "And I'd advise you to be on your best behavior from now on, my sweet... I can break you with far more than my bare hands."
His nerves totally shot from recent events, Naraku didn't stop: "Touch a rough spot, did I? Well since your mother isn't alive to lick your wounds anymore, I suggest you grow up and learn your place in the world!" His arms turned into their branch-like appendages and wrapped around DeVos tightly, forcing the youkai to release his neck and try to pry his own free from his death grip. "I grow tired of your games, DeVos…" he said in a boorish tone as his coils were now wrapped around the kit's whole body, "So why don't I make this easy for you? How about you point me in the direction of my homeland, and I let you continue to live in your repulsive city you so lovingly call Paris?" He tilted his head, "What's it going to be?"
DeVos, taking advantage of his hands being free, brought his claws down into the branch-like appendages, sinking them in as deeply as he could. "It was foolish of you to assume I was all bark and no bite!" he shouted as he let out a torrent of foxfire and watched with delight as the branches caught in the flame. "You know, I've always known how much spiders loathe fire! I'd imagine that you'd hate it worst of all with that scar on your back!"
Naraku glared at the fox through the wince of his pain from being burned, "What does a lowly demon like you know about ANYTHING!" he roared as he threw him into the building adjacent to the garden. He recoiled his arms back into their human shape, healing the burns as he walked over to where DeVos had fallen along with a heap of broken stone. "Just look at yourself. You pathetic excuse for a demon, lying amongst the ruble of your precious city…how fitting."
"I'd rather be in the ruins of my home than amongst a thriving city of strangers, wouldn't you agree?" he said caustically. "But then, you've never really had a taste for your home, have you?!" He leapt to his feet, quickly dodging a few of Naraku's attacks; the ones made out of anger were always the easiest to dodge. "..Especially after they set you aflame, no!? And surely no one but a lowly stinking priestess would take in a hideous thing like you back then, would they!?" He laughed sarcastically, "Now who's struck a cord, my dear hanyou?!"
He was seething with rage now. How could he know that?! He glanced to his left at the garden's entrance and noticed that a crowd of people had gathered and were watching the whole thing, and when they saw him look their way, they were like deer in a headlight—wanting to run but not daring to move—and he also saw out of the corner of his eye that DeVos saw them, too, and looked a little worried. Naraku grinned devilishly and sent a section of the garden wall flying towards the onlookers. There were screams, but there was no time to run as the stones broke apart and hit a handful of the people—two of them died instantly—more screams. Naraku laughed at their weakness.
DeVos growled and barreled into the kumo. "Do you realize what you've done!? This is the age of religious persecution, and WE could be persecuted!!" He could not convey the proper amounts of frustration and rising fear. Instead, he let Naraku charge him and then he quickly leapt above him and brought his elbow down on the back of the Kumo's neck, fairly surprised that it did not make a delightful crack afterwards. However, his blow did manage to successfully render the kumo unconscious. DeVos looked around at the damage and shook his head in dismay when he noted that things were beyond the point of illusions being able to save them. So, he hoisted Naraku up and ran faster than the human eye could see, past the bewildered crowd and back to his flat where he unceremoniously dumped the unconscious kumo on his bed.
He'd just crossed over the Himalayan Mountains. Exhausted, wind-battered, sun-beaten, and deathly frozen, Sesshoumaru tried to push his tattered body a few more miles past his limit. "I….must f-find…Na..Naraku…" he tried to urge himself, but his body could take no more, and little by little his senses started to fail him; his ability to feel had left him long ago over the snowy peaks of the Himalayas, and now his vision was giving out on him. He'd now been traveling almost nonstop for weeks, taking no food or water, and it was catching up to him.
Due to his weakened state, Sesshoumaru started slipping in and out of consciousness. Every time he would drift off, he'd lose a little more altitude. It wasn't long before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he lost consciousness.
And like a fallen angel, he fell from the sky….
Author's Note: I want to thank everyone for their reviews..however, you guys forget that I am not the only author of this story. DerrangedBlonde and I love all your reviews--good or bad--but please keep in mind that there's two of us writing this, so don't just praise me, (although I do adore the attention. )
ANYway, I hope you've been enjoying the story so far--gotta love the cliffhanger ending. (grins) As the story progesses, you can be sure to expect more yaoi, angst, and evil villains up to no good...Also, we totally plan on reverting Naraku back to his cruel and evil self--and to appologize for getting him so ooc. And also let me take this time to inform you readers that this story will take on its rated R qualities with the next chapter and those following. You've been warned, so read responsively! Thank you, come again. ---TheGiftedTen---