Chapter 14 - Trapped

We've been here in this dark cell for several days already. Right after we were thrown here, I checked my jewel shards, only to find them gone. I wasn't really surprised by that, but I was afraid about what could Naraku do with them.

The more shards he's got, the more dangerous he was and I could only imagine what he would be able to do with them. Every time I've been thinking about it, I felt really bad about letting him to get the shards, and the truth was, that I had a lot of time for that.

There were no windows and the only light reaching this place was coming from the corridor in front of our cell. I guessed it must have been a torch or something, but I never really got to see it directly to confirm it.

There was no way for us to determine whether it was day or night or how much time passed at all. Kagura was only bringing us some food once in a while and I concluded that she came here probably just once a day, because the delays were quite long, but I could've been mistaken.

The food wasn't from the best ones I've eaten, but it was edible. Though, we were given only small portion each rime, which was just enough to keep us alive, but nothing more. I usually passed most of my ration to Rin, so at least one of us wouldn't be starving. Thankfully, I realized that I didn't need to eat that much at all and I deduced that it had probably something to do with the half-demon thing.

I've been also trying to find some way out, but there was a barrier all around the place, and even with my new powers I wasn't able to break through. Well, I didn't really try it, but I knew it wouldn't work anyway and I didn't want Naraku to know about who I really am.

I kept on mind what Kagura was thinking about and I hoped that if I would manage to keep this secret from him, then it could help us somehow. I didn't know how, but just for once, it would be nice if we surprised him instead of the other way around as it always was.

"Kagome?" Rin said quietly, interrupting me from my thoughts.

"What is it, Rin?" I turned at her, but she just lowered her head looking at the ground.

"Do you think that Lord Sesshoumaru will come to save us?" She asked and I held back the sigh. It wasn't the first time she asked me this while we've been here, but I knew how important it was for her and I couldn't just ignore it.

"I'm sure he will, don't worry." I told her with smile, though, unlike the times before, this time she didn't seem to be convinced by it.

"But it's taking him too long." She stated quietly and this time I sighed for real. What was I supposed to tell her at this? I wanted to get out of here as well and I wouldn't mind whoever would come to save us, but I've realized that it could take some time. I doubted anyone had even the slightest idea about where we were and without knowing our location, they hardly could come to save us. But I couldn't tell her this.

"I know, but I'm sure he'll come sooner or later. You just have to keep the faith. If you will stop believing then you will do exactly what Naraku expects and you don't want that, do you?" I asked carefully and she looked at me, tears starting to show in her eyes again.

'But I'm scared' She thought and I quickly took her to my embrace to calm her down. I hated how was Rin reacting at this place and situation. I didn't like seeing her worried, scared or just sad, but there wasn't much I could do.

After a while of silent sobbing, she drew away from me and looked straight at me. She had a small, unsure smile on her face as she was drying her tears out.

"I will keep believing." She then said and I smiled.

"Good girl." I ruffled her hair and she giggled. I was glad that I was able to raise her mood at least a little, though I couldn't be sure for how long it would last.

"What do you think Naraku wants from us?" She asked again and I thought about it for a while.

"No idea, but knowing him, we will find out when the time comes." I stated truthfully and she just nodded. At the same time Kagura came in, bringing us our food.

"Enjoy your meal." She snickered. "It's probably your last one." With that, she walked out laughing. I exchanged a quick look with Rin, before we looked at the food. One didn't have to be genius to deduce that there was probably something wrong with it. If it wasn't clear from the way Kagura commented it, then it would be clear from the bigger amount of food which was brought to us and the fact that it was also much finer.

I tried to smell it, but I didn't find anything unusual about it, though, I couldn't be sure if it was because of my lack of experience with such things or if it really was harmless and Naraku was just mocking us. I took a small bite, but still didn't find anything wrong with it.

"So how is it?" Rin asked, knowing what I was doing. I thought about it a little more and then sighed.

"Well, I didn't find anything suspicious about it and I don't think that Naraku would keep us here for so long just to kill us with food." I stated and Rin nodded.

I was pretty sure that whatever plans he had, it certainly wasn't to poison us this way. That just wasn't his style and if he wanted to do it for some reason, he wouldn't keep us here for such a long time, so I was pretty sure that the food wouldn't kill us.

Though, I still had doubts about some other possible effects, but we weren't really in a position where we could just decide not to eat it. The last meal didn't have to mean that it would harm us, but exactly what the sentence itself meant. That we just wouldn't get more anytime soon.

We finished the food in awkward silence and then we could just wait if it was a good idea to eat it, or not. We were just sitting there, looking at each other, waiting for some answer and then it happened.

Rin suddenly collapsed on the ground and I quickly rushed to her. I was worried that I was wrong in my assumptions, but I sighed in relief when I realized that she was just sleeping. I looked towards the empty plates, deducing that it was the food which made her fall asleep and then even I started to feel tired.

I still managed to stay awake though, because whatever was in the food, it seemed it wasn't strong enough to make fall asleep a half-demon. I wondered what I should do and decided that I should also pretend to be sleeping, hoping that it would give me some advantage later, so I laid down, and pretended to be sleeping as well.

A little while later I heard the door open and I felt as someone picked me up. I opened one eye just enough to see what's happening around me, but not to give myself away, and looked towards Rin to see how's she doing. I saw that she was also being carried by someone, but I didn't think that her life would be in danger. Though, if anyone did one wrong move which could endanger her, I would drop this act right away and rushed to save her, but for now we were relatively safe. As safe as one could be as Naraku's prisoner.

We were being carried through some dark corridors, but in a little while we reached the daylight. I had to close my eyes tightly as I wasn't used to such strong light anymore and I heard some voice. It was Naraku.

"Lay them on the ground." He stated and I felt as I was set down. I opened my eyes again slightly, and I saw that Rin was laid down not far from me.

"Nankan, you know what to do." I then heard Naraku say and I wondered what did he mean and who was this Nankan. Could it be some of his new incarnations?

I felt as I was being lifted from the ground and this time I couldn't take it any longer and quickly sat up, looking around to see what was happening. It weren't hands what was lifting me and when I looked at what it was, I saw that I was inside of a pink, spherical barrier, which was now slowly raising up with me inside. It stopped a few feet above the ground and then I looked towards Rin. She was also in a barrier, but hers was pure.

"Oh, I see you're already awake." Naraku commented and I looked at him. He was standing confidently a little away from both of us and I saw Kagura, Kanna and Hakudoushi with Entei standing beside him. There was also a strange black cloud floating above them and I wondered what it was.

"What are you planning, Naraku? What are these barriers for?" I more hissed then asked, but he just smirked.

"I'm not going to repeat myself, so you'll have to wait until all the participants will gather here to get your answers." He snickered and turned with his back on me. He started to give some orders to his minions, after which Kagura and Hakudoushi set out in different directions. Kagura on her feather and Hakudoushi on Entei. Kanna stayed motionless standing beside Naraku, while Naraku seemed to be talking with that cloud. I couldn't make out what he was saying, so I looked towards Rin again and saw that she already started to wake up.

When she opened her eyes, I could see her shock as she noticed the change of her surroundings. She calmed a little when she saw me not far from her, but it didn't make her fear to disappear completely. I tried to look as calm as possible, because if she saw me panicking, it certainly wouldn't help her in the least, but as the minutes went by without any information about what should we expect, I felt as I was slowly loosing it.

"They're coming." Naraku stated after a while with smirk, which drew my attention back at him and I saw as the black cloud rose higher up, probably in attempt so it would stay unnoticed. I looked the way Naraku was looking at and I saw Hakudoushi and Entei running towards us, followed by a huge whirlwind.

"Kouga!" I shouted surprised.

Why would Naraku bring him here? I thought at first, but didn't stay with it for long and instead decided to watch what was going to happen. Hakudoushi stopped beside Naraku, while Kouga stopped right in front of him, watching him cautiously. Just when Kouga was about to say something, Rin's voice rang through the area.

"Lord Sesshoumaru!" She squeaked happily and I saw as Kagura was also flying closer, followed by Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha and the others. They stopped close to Kouga, all of them cautious about their surroundings, probably trying to figure out what was Naraku planning.

"Watch out!" I shouted when I noticed that that black cloud started to move strangely, but it was already too late as some bubbles flew out of it and each of that bubbles took in one person. The bubbles turned out to be the same barriers as me and Rin were in. Though, each barrier had different color for some reason.

Inuyasha and Kouga were trying to fight their way out, shouting all kinds of curses at Naraku, but each of their attacks was immediately absorbed by the walls of the barrier and in the end it had no effect at all.

"It's pointless, you can't break Nankan's barrier. It's rather the opposite. The more you'll attack it, the stronger it will become." Naraku snickered, making Inuyasha and Kouga stop and growl at him.

"Now when you've calmed down, we can start the show." Naraku smirked, shooting two of his tentacles towards Kouga's legs.