A Never Ending Dream

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, the characters, stories, and other things that don't belong to me; belong to Rumiko Takahashi. Thanks for reading.

"Sango!"

"Miro--!"

The sun blazed on for what seemed like eternity, dehydration was at Sango's doorstep, but she knew she couldn't die here on this deserted island. She just had to finish her grueling task of collecting whatever rubble and wood boards she could find; but the heat was intense.

"So hot…" She murmured to herself as she wiped her hand unceremoniously over her face. At the moment, Sango was tried, irritable, and most of all, uncomfortable in the maroon rags in which she was wearing the previous day, or was it days, ago. She couldn't stop to think now though, she had already gone to the extent of collecting the wood, albeit it being wet, she now had the task of drying it was lighting it afire. That would be the trickiest part to do, even in the bloody heat.

"Hold on tight."

Sango started to lay out some of the pieces so they had air to breathe.

"Don't let go."

Closing her eyes, Sango grasped what seemed to be an oar piece broken in half, pulled it close to her bodice before letting it go.

"Sango!"

"I know Miroku! I screwed up! I shouldn't have helped! I'm an idiot!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, the voices continually bothered her with reflection to the stormy incident. If she hadn't of been careless, she probably would have been on the boat still, maybe even in dry, warm clothes.

Taking a moment to recollect herself, she slid down beside her pieces of wood, bent her head onto her knees, and cursed her luck.

"Stu...pid… me…" She murmured out, taking her right hand and wiping her face for the non-existent tears.

Minutes turned to hours as Sango waited, it was quite comical to watch in reality. She had jumped up in resolve at moments saying things like: "It'll be okay! They'll come!" or "If I get this wood dried faster, I could start the fire and get saved!" Though in the end, the young girl would collapse from fatigue and the lack of drinkable water. Once she thought of drinking the sea water, but when she logically thought about it, she knew it would be a very drastic and stupid action.

What she hadn't planned for, though, was that beyond the trees and grooves of bushes were pirates. They had known that there was a ship coming to their island, probably hoping to recover whatever they had lost in the storm, or even to repair. Both companies didn't know of each other's company until two female pirates stumbled upon Sango's frantic actions to dry the wood.

"What do you think, Kagura-nee-chan?" The soft voice from the younger of the two looked up at her big older sister. Despite them being relatives, they definitely didn't look like they were. For the younger one looked pale in every aspect, possibly even albino, with ghost-like eyes that could pierce through anyone's soul, while the older one, Kagura, had a fair complex with black hair wrapped into a tight bun with the help of her hairpins. Both opposites of each other in every form, but they both were very astute with each other.

"Hmm…" Kagura replied, tapping her right index finger on her chin, "Should we report to Naraku? Or capture the damsel, THEN report." They had to report to him either way, because if they didn't both would face a violent beating, which wasn't on Kagura's agenda for the day. "Kanna?"

"Observation before capture; Don't report to Naraku yet." Kanna replied stoically, and watched the young maiden bent over the pieces of wood with two sticks rubbing fervently.

"Sounds good to me." Kagura said leaning back against the tree behind her. She was actually thankful to her sister for the break actually. Babysitting the newcomer could have it perks, like not seeing Naraku's ugly mug for instance. That was a major plus in her book.

"Looks like she's trying to start a fire." Kagura mused to herself, bringing her left hand into her left chest pocket to pull out her new magic fan she received from a while back. "Shall I help her?"

"No need." Kanna replied, pointing oddly at the girl who jumped up in agony clutching her hand. Apparently the fire did start, but it also burnt the girl's fingers too. Kagura couldn't help but think that this girl didn't know how to start a fire properly, or even stay alive in the real world. A greenhorn compared to the normal average dimwit who worked as a pirate.

"Stupid… Stupid!" The girl yelled out, blowing on her fingers, "Stupid pirates! Stupid Miroku! Argh!"

Now that was a peculiar remark. Kagura thought to herself.

"Kanna, Alert Naraku, I think we found him the bait he needs to get that ship." Feeling no need to reply, Kanna got up stealthily, walking back toward camp past the trees, and disappeared. That just left Kagura to capture the girl before more pirates arrived.

"Such a creepy little sister… but our guest must be in pain from that fire business." Bringing herself to walk past the bushed, she walked on the sand quietly, not alerting the girl, but to make her presence noticed, she chuckled mysteriously. Raising her right hand, she clicked her fan open in a fluid motion and brought the girl's attention to her.

"Well, what do we have here?" She said with slow conviction, letting the words sink into the girl's mind that yes, she was in trouble.

The pain of being burnt ceased as the winds picked up around her to bring her face to face with an older woman, maybe five or six years older, but she could tell from her acidic tone, and fan waving ominously in front of her, that she was in a predicament. If she ran, the older woman would alert whoever else was there. Bringing with it more trouble, which Sango didn't want.

Hazel eyes connected with the older woman's red blood eyes, which resulted in a memory of That Man, Naraku. The man who sneered as he pleased, who killed mercilessly, attacking anyone he could get his hands on… including her family. Hate bubbled up inside her stomach as she backed up, almost into her own fire, but she managed to sidestep it before actually falling in.

"What's a young, naïve, innocent maiden like yourself doing on this island? Perhaps you could enlighten me? What's your relationship with Miroku? Or better yet, where IS he. I would love to speak with him again." Kagura ventured ahead towards Sango, waving her fan to whip the wind around the girl, and watched.

Sango felt her body being lifted under the winds strength, absolutely weightless, and was held in that spot. With her body out of control, she couldn't escape. The eyes of the predator were on her the entire time as she struggled under the wind's control.

"What do you care about that stupid pirate!" Sango yelled angrily at the woman, perhaps this woman was acquainted romantically with the perverted pirate, which wouldn't surprise her; he was always after girls… well from what she assumed.

"She speaks!" Kagura spoke, crimson eyes twinkling in mischief, wondering how she should answer that, though she was wondering if she would ever voice herself when she was already in the mud of things. Finally stopping right in front of the wind void, Kagura brought her fan out mysteriously in front of her face and laughed at the girl's dilemma.

"You see, when pirates attack pirates, they get even. Revenge is such a cruel way to handle things, but it is a rule for us. He has something we want, and we have the key to saving him. Of course we'd be locked into a bloody fight for the years to come, but that is to be expected." Sango felt her eyes widened at this, Miroku and these pirates were fighting, and they had something he needed? He did say that he was going after Naraku, but what about this woman… unless she was…

"You're… with…" Her fury ebbed off the words as she growled at the woman. No wonder the color of Kagura's eyes ticked Sango off. She belonged to the same band. The same pirate band that attacked her town; Kagura seemed to understand what the girl was getting at and tapped her fan against her chin, letting the winds calm for a moment. Taking in a breath, she breathed out the old Pirate Tune of their band:

"Welcome to the never ending Nightmare, forever shall you see, the bloody reigns of fire, and of me."

Abroad one of the finest ships around, Sesshomaru gazed out into the horizon before him. The steering wheel gracefully angled itself at fourty degrees to the starboard side as they came to his father's resting spot. The area was filled with many broken down boats, along with many vultures, surprisingly still in the area; His father battled many years ago oat this plane of sea, and that was his downfall. If he hadn't of gone to battle so foolishly, he probably would have been alive still, and Sesshomaru would have probably persuaded him at this point to give him his father's best ship: The Tesseiga; But it was officially called the Reincarnation thanks to his idiotic half-brother.

This thought brought him back to his ship. One of his father's yes, but if it wasn't the blasted sea that was cursing him, then it would always be this blasted creation of a ship. It was completely worthless to use except for voyages and cargo shipping. After his father passed away though, he inherited it, and Sesshomaru indeed gave it a few new upgrades providing it with military weapons such as the canons; but it still had its problems.

"Father, why did you give him That Ship." He spoke out to no one in particular but to the sea, presumably where his father now lay.

The Captain didn't linger on that thought long as he began to calculate the damage received from the bashing waves from the storm.

The previous night had indeed taken its toll on the ship; There were a couple of windows broken out, along with some leaking in the bottom hull, then to make matters worse, some bluthering idiot didn't bother to tie the canons correctly. Thus they ended up with two canons rather than four. Someone was going to hear about this, and that someone wasn't going to be around for very long.

"Captain Sesshomaru! Status update from the Lower Decks!"

Turning to the new voice, he noted the young lad was sweating bullets in front of him.

"What. Is. It." Sadly, Sesshomaru wasn't in the mood for moot conversations and wasting of time. Time was of the essence, and if they had to stop now, he would be damned if anyone on this ship would still be living by the end of the day.

"Uhh, sorry Captain, The lower decks hull on the lower left side has a couple tiny cracks from the supply boxes banging up against the walls. Someone didn't tie those boxes up properly and that caused major havoc down there. Luckily we patched it up before…"

The young lad droned on for what seemed to be another minute; Sesshomaru was definitely not pleased to hear the people on his ship lack the motivation to do their work efficiently. It was the canons, and now the hull, what else could have happened?

"On the right side of the hull, the food crates that were being stored there has become uneatable. We will need to go to port soon to stock up on more food if we should…"

With the slightly reflex, Sesshomaru flexed his hand over his sword and with the swiftest of strikes, struck the young lad diagonally across his torso. Blood started to billow from the wound, and the boy, still in shock collapsed into two pieces. Apparently it was a quick death for the lad.

"Imbeciles! All of you!" Sesshomaru spoke out in anger. Many of the deckhands shuddered at the agitated Captain. Well, it wasn't every day when it wasn't like this, but most of them continued to do their work, a bit more perfectly, and hoped the day would get better. Captain Sesshomaru had other things on his agenda.

"Get. Jaken. Now."

None of the deckhands bothered to move, afraid to get involved in the wrath of the Captain, but someone had to get the imp. Suddenly a hand popped out of no one. It was Rin, the young girl that was accompanying them for the ride itself, and following Sesshomaru, of course; But it was adorable how she had raised her hand with the toothy grin she always harbored with her.

"I'll get him Captain Sesshomaru! Jaken's probably sleeping anyways!!" And with that the little girl, unknowingly, probably ended Jaken career; the men kept quiet, nothing could appease the Captain now. Though the crew knew that the Captain had a soft spot for the young lady, they knew he could care less about Jaken. Poor, poor Jaken.

"Jaken! Master Jaken! Jaken!!! Wake up!!" The small imp rolled to his side as the young girl pulled on his covers. Jaken had about enough of this little impudent mortal who interrupted his sleep. The previous night she had come crying into his room saying that she was afraid of the Thunderstorm and that she couldn't find Sesshomaru's room. So, being that he had to watch over her, or his head would be on a platter, watched her all night long. Now he was trying to get enough sleep to survive today's voyage. That was until Rin popped into play again. Blast the stupid little girl.

"I say Rin! Leave me alone and play with someone else. I'm not waking up!" Came his impish reply, and covered his head with his cover. That was, until a huge blade came between his arm and head, barely scratching his scalp and wrist. If he had moved another inch, he probably would have been dead.

"Jaken. Get up. N.O.W." Withdrawing his sword, the Captain, even more irritated turned heel and walked towards the Co-Capt's door. "Rin, come along." Was his curt reply, as the chipper girl gleefully skipped towards him.

"Aye, Aye Captain!"

Slamming the door, Jaken was left to his musing and he cursed his luck for this trip. He knew they shouldn't have brought a lady on board. They always caused trouble. Always.

"I'm screwed… damn Rin, why did we have to save…"

"JAKEN!"

"Eep!!! Sorry My Captain!! I'll be there soon! Sorry for my incompetence!! I…"

Jumping around his room, Jaken pulled on his boots for the day, and also grabbed his navigating staff which he inherited from his own people. This staff was a magical item that caused burns, and also navigated to where the Captain wanted to go. Jaken, having yet to deem it a name, finally had called it the Staff of two heads, since it did have two faces, one of a male, and one of a female.

Crying out as Jaken stumbled and stubbed his feet in each crevice his feet could find, he managed to dress quickly and appropriately, only to crash into his door and pull the knob, causing the said knob to pull out. Damn this door! Kicking the door, Jaken finally burst out of his room and breathed a sigh of relief. Freedom. Well, at least for the moment.

"My Captain! I await orders sir!" Jaken shouted with heaving breaths and quick feet as he ran up the deck towards Sesshomaru and Rin playing with Ah-Un.

"I tried to wake him Captain Sesshomaru, he wouldn't get up…" Rin said quickly and played with Ah-Un when she had finished speaking. Why did this girl get better treatment then Jaken? Well, at least she woke up on time.

"Quiet Rin."

"…" And with that, the girl quietly saluted to Sesshomaru, then proceeded to pat Ah-Un for the duration of the time.

"Jaken, find out who the infidel was for not tying the canons correctly, find out who was in charge of food, find out who was in charge of the lower port side of the hull, and find out who is also in charge of the supply crates down below. That is all. My patience is wearing thin, and if you so much as fail be prepared to die."

Sesshomaru, always wanting to run a tight ship, turned on the Co-Captain then and found his way back to the steering wheel. He'd now have to turn around to another port and stock up… again. Damn the deckhands idiocy.

A couple minutes turned to two hours, and Jaken had finally found out who he was looking for: The people who screwed up. It was easy to find out, because there were always squealers on this ship. SO it wasn't that hard to find out. Bringing everyone from there stations to stand in a single file line, he summoned up the Captain.

"Captain, I have your report sir!"

Sesshomaru stood where he remained at the side of his steering wheel, and watched with a poisoness wrath. "Report then you idiot."

"Uhh, right, Captain, when I call your name, please step forward. These are the people in charge of those areas: In charge of canons was deckhand Tsukikotsu," The young male paled when his named was called, but he indeed stepped forward.

"In charge of Food Storage was food manager Suikikono," The man in question pulled himself forward next to the deckhand in front.

"In charge of the lower port hull was second handmen Rukatou," The man nodded and brought himself to the front as well. Seeing them together they all looked idiotic, but what ticked off Jaken the most was that he knew Rukatou had purposely failed to watch over the people working in his station. He tended to drink every now and again too, stupid drunkard.

"And finally in charge of the supply crates in the port side was deckhand Sestuzo, would these four please remain in front." All of them were now in a single file line, side by side, Rukatou, the slovenly one, was hiccupping slightly. Perhaps he was under the influence of alcohol now.

Sesshomaru looked at all four of them disapprovingly. If he hadn't of let Jaken hire these fools; scratch that, all of them, then they probably wouldn't be in this predicament. His eye twitched as he thought he'd have to recruit for his own ship. Once again.

Taking his hands off of the steering wheel, Sesshomaru glided his way to the stairway leading down to the main deck. The four people, along with the other crew members stood in fright as Sesshomaru neared closer.

"Get off this ship. All four of you."

Stopping just beside Jaken, he waited for the four idiots to go. Perhaps they would jump off, and hopefully die in Davie Jones' locker like the other morons in the world. He watched them as they walked to the side of the ship, and look over. Tsukikotsu 'eep'ed out as he saw the slushing waves beneath the boat, and the others behind him started to sweat.

Perhaps being the only one unaffected was Rukatou, he seemed fine, but it was when he opened his stupid drunken mouth that put the other three in trouble.

"But there's no land ta' get offa' on… How are we supposed ta' get offa' the ship?"

The next moment happened fast, Sesshomaru lunged at the lot, drawing his sword and horizontally swung his blade across each and every one of the fools. The slow red line on each of the men's shirts and chests began to pour and spray out blood; then all four of them fell off of the ship without a second to spare.

"Fools could have left with their lives, but they chose to doubt Captain Sesshomaru." Jaken spoke out indignantly, very displeased at how stupid some of the crew he had hired had caused such a ruckus.

"Jaken." Sesshomaru crisp voice pierced the air, everyone stopped, even the imp seemed to pale. "Yes, Captain Sesshomaru?"

"Get back to work. All of you." Turning on the balls of his feet, he saw Rin holding Ah-un's reigns. The big two-headed dragon seemed to enjoy her company, but was displeased with his mask. Though then again, anyone would have been displeased.

"Captain?" Rin said quietly, and everyone on board lay quiet for the second time. This was the moment of truth. Would Rin stay alive this time?

"Rin, forget what you saw and go inside." Walking past the girl, he made his way up the stairs and to the wheel once more. The young girl didn't seem to have a problem with his way of doing things, and she just smiled happily replying as always…

"Aye Aye Captain!" Then she and Ah-Un went into the lower decks successfully following Jaken. Thus ended the end, Sesshomaru hoped, of his problems that day. At least, of the ship, it didn't help to know that Inuyasha still had the ship his should have rightfully given to himself.

"Curse you Inuyasha!"

"Ah-Choo! AH-CHOOOO!" Inuyasha thought it was strange that his allergies were picking up, but when he thought about it, he never had allergies to begin with. His ears were burning too, but he knew that he wasn't running a fever… That only left one thing: Someone was cursing him.

"Well, good, let them curse me." He was slightly pleased that there was always someone cursing his existence, it just meant that he left someone with another impression of himself. Which never really hurt the pirate's pride in much, maybe it got him more reputation points in the following area too.

"Gehzunheit Inuyasha!" Cried out his new clingy mate, somehow, Shippou, in one way or another had now stuck to Inuyasha right hip. At least whenever Kagome was busy, and normally whenever Shippou was near him, the little tike would always cause problems for him.

For instance, that morning when he awoke from bed, he spotted the kitsune setting up something from the door, and from there Inuyasha got off of his bed, only to set off whatever Shippou had finally set… right into Inuyasha's sleepy, grumpy, irritated face.

It had taken Kagome a couple of minutes to placate the Co-Captain, but he was still mad at the little fox for pulling tricks on people so early in the morning.

Miroku, still bedridden, had found it quite amusing when his friend walked into his room with custard still in his hair and ears. Though the Captain didn't find the little fox a bother, he just had more issues to worry about. One currently being the young lady they had recently picked up; Sango. Still M.I.A. Miroku couldn't help but worry, and to make matters worse, there was an island nearby that she could have drifted out too… which if the rumors were true, was one of Naraku's many home bases.

As much as Miroku wanted to raid the island to find Sango, Kagome would have none of it, and that just left him, all alone to his lonesome, bedridden. That said, Inuyasha stepped up to the plate and manned the ship for the injured Captain.

"Thanks, Brat." Surprisingly enough, Inuyasha was trying to be grateful to the kitsune for being generous enough to bless him in German. Who knew the Kitsune could speak some of the other languages?

It took Inuyasha some time before actually admitting the young kid could prove his worth if he became the ship's translator for shipping and carting to foreign countries. That would be a significant improvement in jobs they receive as well, but the Co-Captain of the Reincarnation would never said that aloud.

"Hey, Inuyasha…?" For some reason, Shippou had this thing with hesitating before asking. It would be something Inuyasha would have to help him with. Communication was something they needed, and if the kid could speak fluently without hesitation, all the better. Though he was still annoying.

"What squirt?" Turning the wheel about 27 degrees to the starboard side, Inuyasha glided the ship around the island, in hopes of seeing a bonfire (if Sango was smart enough to start one), or to see if Naraku's goons-n-ships were drifting along. At the time, nothing was spotted, not even from the crow's nest where Big Myoga was viewing. Though Big was actually an oxymoron considering how small the man was. He resembled a flea almost, but he was always faithful to Inuyasha, since his father's death and on… except when there was danger, of course. He had a tendency to jump ships.

"Well…" The kitsune started; "Kagome was talking about the ship, and…" Shippou paused, hoping to find the right words, Inuyasha took it another way though and ruffled the kid's auburn red hair with his callused hand.

"What'd ya want to know? The bow? The Helm? Maybe you want to know the origin?" Normally he wasn't this talkative, but since this was a ship of great importance to him and his family; He couldn't help but glisten about his ship. Well… Miroku's ship currently, but he would win it back. He knew the Captain was cheating, but couldn't prove it. When he could get his hand on the man, he would finally get back what's his… but that was another story. So long as Shippou didn't ask about that, he was golden.

"Err, not so much the ship, I mean, it's very interesting and all, but Kagome gave me the ropes on what's what already. She mentioned something like: 'Inuyasha brags on and on about this ship, a five minute tour would end up being a three hour hour with how much he talks.' " Shippou mimicked Kagome's voice perfectly at the end, and smiled a white toothy grin at the Co-Captain.

Trying to abate his small anger towards the boy now, Inuyasha gruffed out some tangible noise and steered on. "Well, what was it you wanted to ask then? If not about the instruments, then what?"

"I heard Kagome talking about how you used to be the Captain of this vessel; At least until Miroku came… How come?"

Was the boy trying to have an early death wish? No, Inuyasha pinpointed the misplaced curiousity because of Kagome. He would have to have a word with her to keep her damn mouth shut on the issues on this ship. Tightening his grip on the wheel Inuyasha did the best thing he could in this situation. Blow his head off at the closet thing available.

"None of you Goddamn business, Runt!" Bringing his right hand off the wheel, he clenched it into a fist and swung it to hit at a ninety degree angle atop Shippou's head. Appeasing his sudden violence, Inuyasha grumbled inaudibly and returned his hand to the wheel, once again steering to the starboard side to about 27 degrees.

"Wahhhh!!!! You're mean! I was just curious!! Wahhhhhhhh!" The kid was fully crying, trying to softly place one of his hands on top of the newly formed bump on his head. It was still tender and the kid hadn't of felt that much violence in all of his life… well, from Inuyasha anyway. He always got clobbered when he was younger because he was an orphan, but Sango's family took him in as a servant, from which he worked and played with Sango and Kirara; The two-tailed cat that didn't exactly belong to Sango but remained ever so fateful.

On the night of the invasion Kirara was close to Shippou, and before any pirates got in, she had saved the both of them from their impending demise. Kirara was worried for her Master though, that she went back into the blazing castle and wasn't seen again. Did she survive? Shippou would never know.

Had about enough with the crying Inuyasha sighed out a remark to the boy, at least trying to advise him to buck up and be a man.

"Quit ballin', When I was younger I got hit all the time. Think of it as a form of love from one man to another. Ugh, now you're making me get into this sentimental crap, okay quit crying! A man doesn't cry."

Bringing his hands to his small face, Shippou wiped off some of the tears and growled out to the white-haired, amber eyed adolescent.

"What kind of stupid logic is that? A form of man's love? Are you gay?!" Shippou knew what Inuyasha meant about the whole friendly-battering from time to time, but he figured this would be payback for hitting him. Who hit's little kids anyway? Well, apparently Inuyasha did.

"What?! You little!" Raising his hand once more, he was about to bop the kitsune when he started to wail again, that was until Kagome came running up the side stairs to the main deck.

"Inuyasha! What did you do to Shippou?!"

Before formulating a correct response to why he was still frozen in an-almost-hit position above the little kid, Shippou jumped away from Inuyasha and jumped towards Kagome. Being small did have its advantages and that let Shippou be smug in Kagome's arms.

"I just… I just asked him…" Hiccupping slightly, Shippou continued his sob story. "Asked him a question and he replied it was none of my business, then he called me names and… he hit me! Wahh!" Shippou, bringing the tear element into play, played the girl's heartstrings and cried into her shoulder pointing towards Inuyasha. "He did it…" He cried again, and Kagome, being the little kid sap she was comforted Shippou with pats on the back.

"Poor thing! Don't you worry, I'll take care of the stupid, idiotic, moronic…"

"Idiotic and moronic have the same definition." Inuyasha remarked with annoyance as he interrupted the fiasco caused by Shippou. Collecting himself, he returned to the wheel and concentrated on the task at hand. Manning the ship. If only there was peace and quiet. Damn these two sometimes.

"Self-centered, egotisitical, ass hole who thinks he owns the place." Kagome finished turning a couple of dagger glares toward Inuyasha who happened to be ignoring her with his field of ice storms.

"Come along Shippou, I'll tell you everything that you need to know. I told you, Inuyasha does turn a five minute tour into a three hour one, didn't I? Oh, but you were trying to be friendly! I know, come along now." She cooed the kid, walking swiftly to the stairs. Climbing down two steps at a time, she looked up at the adolescent steering, the sun played with his features making him look dashing and vivacious. Well, beside from the vain sticking out of his forehead.

"Oh right," Kagome stopped abruptly in the middle of the lower deck, almost heading to the door leading to the lower sanctum. She suddenly turned heel to face the main deck and see a fuming Inuyasha looking down at her. "Inuyasha."

"What the hell do you want wench?"

Trying not to end this in a shouting match, she brought herself to smile, but her chestnut eyes were twitching in annoyance.

"I'm going to continue helping the crew members who are still a little out of it from the storm. As for you, I think you should… reflect on how you treat children. They are delicate creatures that shouldn't be shown violence." Probably because Shippou knew this would annoy the hell out of Inuyasha, just becoming slightly teary-eyed, began to nod slowly and effortlessly.

"Even Shippou agrees with me." Feeling finished, Kagome quickly turned once more and headed to the door, but Shippou had other plans, leaning over Kagome's shoulder and stuck his tongue out towards Inuyasha. Then to make matters worse, Shippou brought his left hand over Kagome's arm to bring down an eyelid; that seemed to be the breaking point for the poor Co-Captain.

"You damn brat! You come up here and do that without your precious Kagome covering--!"

"INUYASHA!!!" Kagome seethed, chestnut eyes filled with aggravation at how Inuyasha still seemed to pick a fight with the young boy. She had turned to face the steering navigator to only see Inuyasha's provoked face.

Choosing to pick the high road, Kagome just clicked her tongue and started towards the door. She'd just have to think of something to punish the male in question, but currently she had nothing. Maybe she'd just stop talking to him for the next couple of days to come, but that would be bad considering Sango's predicament. It would have to wait until Sango came back…

"Come on Shippou, Inuyasha seems to have better things to think about, perhaps about previous engagementsprior to our meeting." There, she said it loud and clear. She'd hope Inuyasha caught what she meant, and even though it was a low blow; He'd just have to deal with it for the time being.

As they were walking towards the lower sanctum, Shippou could feel Inuyasha staring at the two of them leaving; but it felt different compared to the other stares. Trying to wiggle around Kagome's arms, he looked over to face Inuyasha, stunned at what he had witness cross the pirate's face.

Shippou couldn't exactly understand what Kagome had meant when she had said it, but he could tell it was meant to hurt Inuyasha; because just as the door to the lower sanctum was closing, Shippou could definitely see a clear emotion running through Inuyasha's face: Complete and Utter Hurt.

Pain. It wasn't something that one easily dealt with, but Sango could stand it for the moment. It was comforting to know that she was still alive, because if you still felt pain, then you were still alive. At least for the moment…

Her vision was groggy, from the lack of light presumably in the cell, and the chains constricting her arms and legs kept her from collapsing on the floor. She didn't have the strength to get up, nor the ability to straighten up, so she just let her body hang.

Occasionally, Sango would try to struggle, but in the end, she would just lose the energy and patient to escape. Only a couple words formed in her mind at the moment, and Sango didn't like it one bit: A massive impasse. Where everything was pretty much stalemate until she wasn't needed no more.

Kagura had mentioned previously when they first met that they had some sort of score to settle with Miroku, and possibly Inuyasha. Though why did they need Sango? Easy; For bait. Nothing more, nothing less; If Sango hadn't of said anything dealing with Miroku, she would have probably been dead, lying in that forsaken sand they call a beach. Even though there was a body of water, it felt more like a desert considering the heat.

Her eyes shuttered close, she really doubted they would be looking for her. Of anything, they'd attempt a rescue, assuming that they knew where to go. Which she highly doubted.

In the distance, Sango could hear a door closing, and footsteps. It had sounded like a group of men coming down, but in actual reality, it was about three people. Someone was talking, feminine, boisterious, and annoyed came into Sango's mind. It had to be Kagura speaking.

"Is our guest awake yet? I tire of your excuses."

"Err… no, I haven't seen her struggle for a time, so I presume she's asleep?"

"You fool! She could still be awake!"

The footsteps drew nearer and finally, they seemed to stop almost in front of her. The cell door, blocking Sango's escape opened long and wide, a tempting way to escape, but Sango knew better then to test her luck now. This impasse was going to end soon; Sango just hoped it would end well for her sake and not Naraku.

"Wake up."

"…"

Sango didn't bother to answer; she just hung there breathing slowly in and out. She'd just have to let this go on for some time. Using her ears, Sango listened to Kagura shuffling her clothing to bring out her magic fan, the one that she used on Sango to incapacitate her, and she felt the fan tip touch her chin.

With her head rising, Sango opened her mahogany eyes to stare vehemently at the wind sorceress.

"You are awake. Good, now I don't have to tell Naraku to wait. Take the chains off Goshinki."

The man in charge of the cells brought out a very long key, black in shape, with a huge circle at the top. It was a very intriguing key to see. Hearing the soft click of her feet being unchained, Sango stood waiting for her hands to be freed. After all, her arms were the only thing keeping her up. Her legs just felt like jello at the moment.

As the last chain came undone, Sango would have liked to charge Kagura and escape, and perhaps she even tried to attempt it, but her body crumpled in front of the pirate sorceress instead.

"How pathetic one becomes after a couple hours of confinement. Such a pity."

Opening her fan, Kagura manipulated the wind around Sango's body to bring her up to a standing position. The wind stayed like that for quite some time, but Sango seemed to get some energy somewhere. Her adrenaline was pumping like mad within her body, and she could stand on her own, with a little help from the wind.

"We're going for a walk."

Kagura didn't mention anything more, and made her way to the exit. The cell, being an old insubstantial room, had anything but the homely feel. It had no windows, only one way out, and the wall with chains on it. Sango could assume this wasn't the only prison here, but she couldn't really help anyone else in this pirate camp…. Though she wished she could.

Feeling the wind bring her through the door Sango grumbled bitterly, "I can walk on my own."

Bringing the wind to a halt, Kagura tucked away her fan and shrugged. "Suit yourself."

The weight of her body seemed to take away what little strength she seemed to have, but she wouldn't fall here. Especially when they started climbing the stairs towards the only wooden door around, perhaps it was the only one that led to the outside of this building?

Opening the door, Kagura turning left and Sango trudged also to the left. Many of the pirates were looking towards her as they both walked in silence. Many of the men kept to themselves, but others were quite the opposite. Some catcalled, some just brought their pocket knives to their faces and smiled evilly, and then there were the ones that stopped Kagura in her place. Unfortunately for them Sango was 'not to be touched' and Kagura rid of them using one method after another.

Sango's clothes seemed to be in even worse shape than before, the bottom that had flown in the wind had not rumpled and hung heavily against her calves. Shreds of maroon fabric dangled from her arms that used to resemble sleeves. The corset loosened rather easily, and it stayed where her waist veered out. Rips and tears could be seen everywhere along the dress, but as Sango walked towards the stock pile of wood she stopped paying attention to her raiment.

When they rounded the corner Sango could barely stop herself from lounging at the man in front of her. There sitting high and mighty in his chair was the Captain that haunted her nightmares for several nights. The murderer finally appears. A low growl emanated from her throat as her fists clenched. How her hand itched to get a sword and strike down her nemesis once and for all.

With a soft flick from Kagura's fan the wind picked up quite easily around the angered youth; Sango's hands began to sweat and she couldn't help but twitch in anger. So close, and yet so far.

"I wouldn't try to attack if I were you. Unless you want to be cut up?"

"Kagura."

Silence filled the space as the Captain finally uttered his first words. One stare from his blood red eyes and Kagura dismissed the wind cyclone that she created and huffed in annoyance.

"I'll be going then." And like that Kagura disappeared with the wind leaving a very agitated Sango and an over-confident Naraku.

"Ah, Lady Sango, how have you been in these last days? Not so well I assume from your casual wear." The laughing sounds from the man's throat could be heard after each pause he made. It kind of reminded Sango of a Baboon's laugh when they know something is happening.

"You..." Sango gritted out, taking one step forward on the sand. She had planned to lunge, but what ended up happening didn't exactly bode exquisite for Sango. First she was on ground level glaring Naraku down, next she found herself falling into a sand trap. As the sand buckled underneath her weight Sango coughed out wiping the dirt from her face.

The laughing never ceased as Sango rose up from her already degraded spot within the pit trap and grimaced. Pain shot through her ankle but she'd have to tend to the wound later. She had bigger fish to fry. The trap wasn't that big to get out of, but it did take her a while to hoist herself up from the pitfall.

When she made it to ground level once again she found no Naraku, but she could still hear the laughter from him.

"What do you want!?" She shouted out to the air. Sango knew that he could probably hear her from within the vicinity.

"Excitement? Thrill? Adventure? Who knows?" He unexpectantly replied to the fuming girl. "What do you want, Lady Sango? I'm sure it's revenge, is it not?" The last part was laced in malicious intent, that much Sango was sure of, but she didn't know how to retort to that. Biting her tongue seemed to be the only logical thing that could do at the moment.

"Perhaps a duel will settle things?" As if called on cue, a sword dropped in front of Sango. It landed with a heavy thud; the sword's edge resting equally in the sand. It didn't fall over since it was vertical, but what caught Sango's eye was the emblem that resided on the hilt. It was the emblem of her kin.

"You bastard!" She yelled, her emotions controlled her, blinded her as she took hold of the sword's hilt and righted herself. She had never held a sword in her life, but as her father's sword remained in her hands, she felt that it was the right thing to do. Even though a lady never carried weaponry Sango felt it was a part of her... and that was something she couldn't help. After all she was a Tajiya.

"Come and fight me you coward!" Rage consumed her and her arms began to shake violently. Perhaps it was because she was so furious? Perhaps it was because she was reminded of that fateful day. It seemed like it had happened such a long time ago... but realistically it happened two days before...

"Coward! Come out! Now!" Her teeth were gritting, her hands sweating. Was she already beginning to doubt herself?

"I'm a coward... Lady Sango, you wound me." Proving a point, Naraku's voice echoed in the area around her.

"Look at you, the mighty Tajiya shaking before your enemy, rage consumes you... I must be the epitome of pure evil to you right now. Though, as you stand there calling for me, I remember a certain time before... ah yes..." He chuckled to himself. Pausing for a dramatic silence. "You weren't afraid of death before. Your words said so, but when I was about to plunge my sword into you that day your family died... you ran away. Escaping my steel's touch, you decided to fall off the cliff... You escaped me that time, but you won't be so lucky now. Consider this punishment for being the coward yourself."

Sango's eyes widened as pain registered into her upper back. Steel connected with her flesh as she fell forward into the sand. She didn't realize that an attack was coming behind her, but before she could twist around she felt the cool tip of a steel sickle at her throat.

"You're the cow-argh...." She started to say, but the sickle moved closer to her skin, with just the slightest motion, she could have been decapitated.

"Sango, you aren't in the right kind of mind... After all I'm not the one you're fighting." The sickle that hung heavily at her neck released itself from her presence allowing Sango air to breath.

"Allow me to introduce your sparring partner..." His laughter once again filled the area. Pinpointing the source, she turned around to face two beings. One of them was Naraku that she assumed was playing mind games with her, and the other was of someone she thought she wouldn't have ever seen again.

Naraku smirked silently, allowing her to soak in the information that was buzzing through her brain, and watching the emotional faces crack and break once again on Sango's face. He couldn't have enjoyed a better show than this one.

Right beside Naraku came a young boy of about eleven. He had dark brown hair, that was long enough to be put into a high ponytail out of the way, but his bangs covered his eyes. She noticed that when the boy looked up to acknowledge her, she found that his eyes were emotionless. Completely and irrevocably empty. A steel ventilation mask covered the lower portion of his face, but he took it off as he stepped forward, sickle in hand and ready to kill.

"Ko....ha....ku....?"

Hey guys, sorry for not updating within an appointed time span... I'm currently dying in my college courses, so I figured I could vent some stuff out by writing some fanfictions. I'm not so sure if I'll finish in an appropiate time, but please stick with it whenever you can. I may update in a month, I may update in two years. Who knows how my crazy creative spirit will kick in. T_T

Thanks for reading like always! Reviews are greatly appreciated!

T.K.