Love and War
Disclaimer: I do not own, or make any money from, the stories of Inuyasha.
All Inuyasha characters are the sole property of Rumiko Takahashi, Sunrise and Viz
All original characters belong to me.
Chapter Five
Evil Incarnate
Sango assisted Miroku to a sitting position and helped him lean against the wall of Kagome's hut. Inuyasha, having suffered a gunshot wound that ripped his right lung, was awake, but still too weak to sit up. Suki helped feed him his breakfast gruel,
"Yuck!", he complained, "Couldn't Kagome make something with a little more flavor?"
Sango chastized him,
"Just be glad you're eating at all. Kagome said another inch and you would have been mortally wounded."
"Bah!", Inuyasha responded, but finished eating his food.
"Where is Kagome-sama?", Miroku asked.
"She's assisting villagers by repairing huts. Her powers can come in handy in times like these.", Sango smiled.
"As long as she doesn't overdo it.", Inuyasha muttered, "I'm not having my unborn pup put at risk for her powers."
Kagome walked into the hut, with Shinta, Kai and Izayoi following like ducklings following the mama duck,
"Mama's kewl.", Shinta commented, sitting down and pulling out a rounded cloth. Opening the cloth, he started eating the berry bounty inside. Inuyasha's mouth watered,
"Hey, kid, share some of that with your old man, will ya? I'm starving over here."
Kagome knelt down and patted his stomach,
"Yup. You're just wasting away to nothing.", she commented, "If your appetite is back, I guess you'll be fine."
"You GUESS?", Inuyasha stared at her, "What kind of a god are you?", he kidded her.
"Inuyasha ... I am still amazed at the way you heal.", Kagome said, watching Shinta feed his father berries.
Izayoi walked over to her mother carrying a corncob doll,
"Maya needs new dress, mama.", the little girl said, as she sat in her mother's lap.
Kagome kissed the little girl, "Mama will make one after lunch, ok sweetie? Go and play with Tae for right now."
The toddler kissed her mother back, "Okay.", she started to stand up. Inuyasha stopped her,
"Don't I get a kiss?", he asked, "I'm the injured one."
Izayoi wrapped her arms around her father and placed lots of kisses on his face. Inuyasha responded by wrapping his arms around her and burying his nose into her neck, inhaling her sweet scent,
"I love you, baby.", he whispered to her.
"Luv you, daddy.", she responded, before standing up and skipping to the back of the house, dragging her doll on the floor. Kagome just shook her head,
"No wonder she needs a new dress."
Once the kids had left the room, Kagome turned to Inuyasha nad her friends,
"I need to talk to you guys.", she said, softly.
"What is it, Kagome?", Sango asked.
Inuyasha felt a chill run down his spine. Kagome's look concerned him,
"Kagome?", he questioned.
"It's Nishimura.", she responded.
"What about him?", queried Miroku.
"He's not what he says he is.", responded Kagome.
Miroku perked up, "Really, Kagome?"
"Yes. He speaks Japanese fluently, but ... he .. has an accent. It's not a native accent ... it's foreign.", she started.
"What else?", Miroku pushed.
"He doesn't look Japanese. He looks, I don't know, European."
"European?", Inuyasha, Miroku and Sango chorused together.
"What is ... European?", asked Sango.
"Is that another country?", asked Inuyasha.
"More like a continent full of countries.", replied Kagome.
"Like China.", Miroku said.
"Actually, Miroku, China is on a continent that it shares with Europe. The part of the continent that China is on is called Asia. In this era, it's commonly referred to as Eurasia."
"I'm confused.", Inuyasha complained, holding his aching head.
"That's not important, though.", Kagome continued, "He mentioned Halloween ..."
"Hallo ... what?", Inuyasha looked at her.
"It's a holiday for kids in my era. In this time, it's a pagan religious holiday where people dress up in weird clothing to frighten evil spirits away. But, it's not celebrated in Japan ... or even China. It's strictly a holiday in the European countries."
"So, what you're saying, Kagome, ", Miroku concluded, "Is this Nishimura is from another country?"
"Exactly.", Kagome agreed, "And, that's not all. He's not even from this time period."
"WHAT?", the three chorused together,
"That's impossible.", scoffed Inuyasha.
Kagome looked at him with a bewildered look as Miroku laughed,
"Oh, it is, is it, Inuyasha? And Kagome is a figment of our imagination?"
Inuyasha realized the stupidity of his comment but refused to say anything. Instead, he looked at Kagome, "How dya know this?"
"Because,", she replied, "That gun he used ... the bullet I took out of Miroku ... is from a firearm not created until the late 1800's."
"You know that much about guns, Kagome?", Miroku asked.
"Yes. My father collected antique firearms.", she responded.
--
Later that night, Nishimura ordered a feast for his loyal samurai and guards. As the food was served, the Japanese present were appalled to see Yoshimaru, still bound, brought into the eating chambers. The lord announced,
"We have entertainment for the evening, my friends"
He clapped his hands twice and a group of guards wheeled in some strange objects. The guards and samurai looked at each other and spoke in hushed tones. Nishimura ignored their bewildered comments. He waved another group of guards in. Yoshimaru's heart sank when he saw his parents and grandparents being forced into the room,
"Now, my loyal friends,", Nishimura spoke, "Our entertainment."
He motioned to one of the guards. The guard dragged a woman towards a flat machine,
"MOTHER!", Yoshimaru cried out, "No, please, don't hurt her."
Nishimura attached the woman to the strange device, with her hands ove her head and her legs straight,
"This, my friends, is called 'The Rack.'. It is a device used for torture and will be used for punishment."
The lord ordered the guard to work the device, while he sat down and began to eat. As the woman screamed in pain, even the seasoned warriors cringed, while Nishimura smiled and happily ate his meal,
"Come on, friends, eat.", he urged the disgusted soldiers.
Yoshimaru wept at his mother's tortuous destruction. General Ashikawa could only stare at his lord, sickened by the man's enjoyment of the screaming, bloody events while munching away on his food. Nishimura introduced the other torture devices after the woman was torn apart,
"That one is the Maiden.", he explained, as he ordered Yoshimaru's father placed inside the huge, coffin-like structure full of spikes.
"This is my favorite,", Nishimura said, "It's called the Judas Chair."
Another guard forced Yoshimaru's grandfather into the Judas Chair and strapped him down.
The screams of anguish were becoming too much for the some of the soldiers, who were used to quicker, cleaner deaths. Some of them vomited while some of them just got up and left the room. Nishimura ignored them and ordered the young samurai's grandmother to The Rack. As more blood was spilled, the lord continued to eat. General Ashikawa could stomach no more. He had killed many people, even civilians, but, that was war, not entertainment,
"My lord, please, do we need to continue this?", he pleaded with Nishimura.
Nishimura stared at his general,
"You're not enjoying the entertainment I've lined up, general?"
"Not ... really, my lord."
"HMPH! And you call yourself a warrior. You are nothing but a pathetic weasel.", Nishimura waved him off as he went back to his meal.
--
Yoshimaru was brought back to the lord's bed chambers and tied to the wall again. This night, after watching his family tortured and murdered, he had to watch Nishimura humilate and rape his second sister, 10 year old Eka. He tried to drown out her cries, but her wails only mixed with the memories of the screams of his parents, grandparents and baby sister. He begged the lord for death,
"Soon. Very soon.", the lord said, before falling asleep.
Yoshimaru suffered through one more night of having to watch and listen to his last sister, 13 year old Wakana, being attacked by Nishimura. Before his final sentencing, he learned that all three of his sisters had suffered the same fate as his lovely fiancee ... used and abused by the castle guards and samurai before being sent to the stake and burned alive. Nishimura had an even more sinister plan for Yoshimaru,
"This, my friend, is called a Sprinkler.", he told Yoshimaru and those present.
Nishimura filled the device with molten ore and allowed the substance to drip out of the holes. Yoshimaru watched in horror as the lord brought the object closer to him and lifted it over his head, allowing the molten metal to drip into his eyes ...
--
Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku and Kohaku worked hard with the villagers to restore the fields. Kagome prayed to the gods and called on her powers to get crops growing at an increased rate. Life slowly returned to normal,
"At least until the next time they demand taxes.", Kaede commented.
--
Visitors and refugees from other villages brought disturbing news to the inu-tachi,
"The Hojo and Uesugi clans have been decimated.", Miroku told his friends.
"That's an entire region.", Shippou spoke quietly.
Kagome shook her head. Her history ... her entire world had changed.
"Inuyasha.", she said to the half-demon as they readied for bed,
"Yea?"
"I need to go home.", she told him, "All these changes ... I need to find out about my family ... my friends."
Inuyasha took her in his arms,
"Ok.", he said softly, "We'll leave the pups with Miroku and Sango and we'll go over tomorrow.", he kissed her softly.
"Thank you, Inuyasha."
--
Sesshoumaru walked into the clearing. Facing him was a human on a horse and an army behind him,
"Lord Sesshoumaru.", the man called to him.
"What is it you want, Mori?", Sesshoumaru questioned.
"I come here on behalf of myself, Lord Hosokawa and Lord Ouchi. We wish you to join forces with us."
"And, why would I want to do that?"
"To fight and destroy a common enemy and keep the Western Lands from falling into dispair, my lord."
--
A/N: All the torture devices I mentioned are actual Medieval Torture Methods, unknown to Feudal Era Japan. For more information, you can Google the names I provided.