R&R!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On the Sea

Chapter One: Flight and Fight

All Kagome ever wanted was to be free. Free of the strict rules of society that was placed upon someone of her rank and class. At sixteen Kagome wanted nothing more then to run away from the iron chains of society that ruled her world. Kagome was a pretty girl, with long raven black hair that she almost always wore down, even though her mother told her that it was "un lady like" to do so. Her honey brown eyes always sparkled with life and joy. And her rosy lips were almost always turned up into a smile. Kagome was indeed very pretty, at sixteen she was just coming into womanhood. She was becoming more slender and curved in just the right places. And that, Kagome decided, was where her problem started.

Kagome was a sixteen year old girl living in an upper class family. The Higarashi family were well known for their wealth and prosperity. Mr. and Mrs. Higarashi had two daughters, Kikyo and Kagome. Kikyo was the older of the two girls. She was 17 turning 18 in about two months. Kikyo could be what you call the "perfect daughter". Kikyo was slender beautiful and curvy. She was polite and sweet, and caring. She knew the rules and she followed them. She looked almost identical to Kagome only the way Kikyo carried herself made her seem years older then Kagome. And Kikyo was engaged to one of the richest men in Elvirdale. Of course Mr. and Mrs. Higarashi were ecstatic about the news. They loved both of their daughters very much, but they also loved money. And now that Kikyo was getting married and ready to move out of the mansion on High Hill, Mr. and Mrs. Higarashi decided that it was about time Kagome got married as well.

"But Mama."

"Nonsense Kagome. All young girls of your age and class get engaged at this age. It is only normal." Mrs. Higarashi said daintily, waving a dismissive hand at her daughter.

"Kikyo wasn't engaged when SHE was sixteen, can't I wait a couple of years too?" Kagome asked hopefully. This discussion had been coming up more and more frequently as of late and Kagome already knew what her mothers answer would be.

"No you certainty may not. If you have not noticed YOU are not Kikyo. You're father and I are getting older Kagome, we only want to see our youngest daughter safe and secure financially with her husband." Mrs. Higarashi said smiling gently at her youngest daughter.

Kagome sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. "But I don't want to get married mother, I want to see more of the world before I get married!" Kagome protested. But her protests fell upon deaf ears.

"That's a nice dream Kagome, but a dream is all it is. You WILL get married and soon. Mr.Chaksuki's son Houjo is coming over for dinner tonight. He is a very nice young man, and very rich as well. I suggest that you start to get ready now and be prepared for dinner, you will want to look your best." Mrs. Higarashi said.

Kagome sighed, there was no way that her mother was going to listen to her, she never did. Kagome curtsied to her mother before leaving the room.

She marched down the hallways, a slight pout on her normally cheerful face. 'This isn't fair! I don't want to get married! And especially not to Houjo! The most he could ever be to me is a friend! Nothing more!"' Kagome thought angrily. Kagome was so caught up in her thoughts that she did not notice the hulky figure coming around the corner. Kagome crashed into the figure and tripped, face first on the floor.

Kagome let out a pained groan.

"Rufus!" Kagome moaned rolling over to rub her hip. A large wet tongue bathed her face and Kagome sputtered.

"Hahaha, stop it you lug." Kagome cried, pushing the furry brown face of her dog away from her face. Rufus let out a small whine and sat obediently next to her, his big pink tongue dangling out of him mouth as he watched her with animal fascination. He was a big dog, about "the size of a small horse!" as Kikyo put it. And Kagome loved every bit of him.

Kagome sat up laughing. Leave it to Rufus to cheer her up when she was feeling down. Kagome had gotten Rufus as a present from Uncle Mark for her twelfth birthday. At that time Rufus could fit in Kagome's open palm. Rufus was a light chocolate brown dog. His muzzle was white as well as his front left paw. When he was a pup he had big floppy ears that he would always trip over and run into things because of them. Mrs. Higarashi hadn't approved at Rufus at first, but with the encouragement of Uncle Mark and Father she had reluctantly let Kagome keep the dog. Rufus had long since grown into his long ears, but that didn't stop him from causing a ruckus wherever he went.

Rufus nuzzled Kagome's hand by her side. Kagome smiled and scratched the dogs head fondly, one of the things she hated most about getting married was that she would not be allowed to take Rufus along with her. And her heart wrenched at the thought of losing him.

"Oh, Lady Kagome! You really shouldn't be lying down there on the floor!" a startled voice cried. Kagome smiled as she looked up into the large brown eyes of her hand maiden Rin. Rin was the same age as Kagome and was also one of Kagome's dearest friends. They had known each other ever since they were little and they were more then ecstatic when Rin became Kagome's Hand Maiden. When Kagome got married Rin would be coming along as well. That thought alone made Kagome smile.

Rin rushed to Kagome's side offering her a hand up. Kagome took it thankfully.

"Thanks Rin, I wasn't looking where I was going and ran right into Rufus." Kagome said sheepishly. Rin chuckled, her light brown hair was pulled back into a high bun, as was customary for women servants to wear their hair.

"Come now Kagome, I must help you prepare for dinner. I hear that this man will be your fiancé." Rin said ushering Kagome down the hall.

"WHAT!!" Kagome nearly shouted, her voice echoing down the vast hallways of the mansion. Rin flinched visibly.

"Kagome, you mean to tell me that you did not know you were engaged to Lord Houjo?" Rin asked shocked.

"I'm already engaged to him! Gee, thank you mother for telling me!" Kagome nearly shouted. Her parents had gone behind her back and arranged a marriage for her without her consent. 'That is just wrong!' Kagome thought angrily.

"Oh dear." Rin gasped as she ushered Kagome down the hallway towards Kagome's chambers.

Kagome felt numb all over. She couldn't believe that her own parents had gone behind her back like that and arranged a marriage without even asking her what she thought about the man. At least Kikyo got to pick who she was going to marry. Kagome thought numbly. And Kagome knew for a fact that there were MANY young men who were more then willing to ask for her hand in marriage. As a matter of fact, dozens of letters came everyday from all over the country, requesting that Kagome take their hand in marriage. And out of all those men, her parents had chosen Houjo, Houjo the richest spoiled brat on this side of the earth, Houjo. Her parents didn't care about her happiness; they only cared about money and profit.

It was a while before Kagome realized she was sitting in her chambers on the stool before her vanity mirror. Rin was combing Kagome's hair with a wide brush, smoothing out all the snarls.

"I can't do it Rin, I can't marry him." Kagome whispered shaking her head and staring at her self in the mirror. Kagome's eyes were wide in her pale face. Shock creased her face and she looked almost frightened.

Rin looked up from her work and took one look at her friends pale face and sighed. She continued brushing Kagome's hair, without meeting her eyes.

"Then don't." Rin said firmly, refusing to look at Kagome.

"W-What?" Kagome sputtered in disbelief. Was her friend Rin, who she had known since childhood as being very strict and an avid rule "follower" suggesting that she, Kagome, not marry Houjo?

"I said don't marry him if you don't want to Kagome." Rin sighed, placing the brush down on the table.

Kagome frowned "Yeah and how am I supposed to do that. You heard it yourself, mother and father have already made up their minds on the subject." Kagome whined.

"Oh dear Kagome, you don't look well at all. You are as pale as death and" Rin put her hand to Kagome's forehead "and you're running a temperature."

"What are you talking about Rin? I feel fine." Kagome protested at her friend's worried expression.

"No this will not due at all!" Rin huffed propping her hands on her hips. "There is no way that you can go to dinner in this state. I will have to inform your mother that you are not well and cannot attend dinner tonight." Rin sighed.

Kagome felt a small smile creeping upon her lips.

"And because you are so sick I will have to personally fetch the medicine from Doctor Minku's office and bring it back here. But in that time that I'll be gone so much could happen. Why maybe someone could even sneak out the back by the kitchen and leave the premises without me knowing. Good thing you will be in bed sick." Rin said with a mischievous smile.

Kagome yipped and jumped for joy hugging Rin to herself. "Thank you so much Rin! This is just the opportunity I needed!" Kagome squealed.

Rin gave Kagome a tight hug before releasing her.

"You are sick Kagome you should be getting to bed. I will go inform your mother of your sickness and fetch the medicine right after. Goodnight, Kagome. And goodbye." Rin said as she stepped away from her life time friend.

"Wait Rin?"

"Yes?"

Kagome sighed ringing her hands nervously "Could you please give Rufus to Sango, I think he will be safer with her." Kagome said, her eyes full of tears.

"Of course My Lady, I am and will forever will be in your service." Rin said with a curtsey. But Kagome saw the tears that streamed down her best friends face.

"Goodbye Rin" Kagome said Hugging her best friend one last time.

"Goodbye Kagome." Rin whispered as she left the room and closed the door behind her.

Kagome was all alone in her chambers. The sky outside was quickly fading into darkness as the sun sunk behind the horizon. She would have to leave now, under the cover of dark. Kagome rushed over to the closet where she kept all of her clothing. There were dresses upon dresses but none of them would help her now. If she wanted to escape she could not be tramping around through the town in an elegant dress. The local authorities would pick her up in minutes and bring her back. No, she had to get away so that those who were looking for her would never suspect her to be well . . . her.

"I have to dress like a . . . like a boy!" Kagome said with a decisive snap of her fingers. Kagome looked down at her curved womanly figure. It would be a couple of years until she was a FULLY developed woman but still, there was no way that she could pas for a boy. No boy she knew had breasts.

"Greaaat." Kagome sighed as she stared down at her body. "Its times like these that I hate being a woman." Kagome grumbled as she stripped off her dress.

She had found the riding pants that she used only last summer when she went riding up in Port Calby with Kikyo and Father. They were the only pair of pants Kagome owned and seeing as how it was last summer that she wore them they should still fit. Kagome slipped into the pants and found with a satisfied smile that they fit, with room to spare.

"Now to deal with these." Kagome mumbled, glaring at her breasts. Kagome fumbled in her closet until she found what she was looking for. Kagome pulled out a long white silk sash. Sash's like these usually went around the waist but this once Kagome was making an exception. Kagome wrapped the sash around her chest, effectively flattening her breasts. Once she was done with that she pulled a white cotton shirt over her head. The shirt and sash hid her breasts and the shirt was big enough that in came down to her mid thigh so that it hid the curves of her hips as well.

"Perfect." Kagome said with a satisfied smile. Kagome walked over and stood in front of her vanity mirror to see how she looked.

"Oh dear." Kagome sighed. Kagome looked as flat and as skinny as a reed, there was no way to tell that she was a girl, that is except for her long raven hair that flowed down past her shoulder to the middle of her back.

Kagome fingered a strand of her long raven hair and let out a discontented sigh. It had taken Kagome four summers to grow her hair this long, it was in fact, longer then Kikyo's and Kagome took great pride in it. But there was no way that she would pass for a boy if she kept her hair this long, Kagome closed her eyes and took a deep breath. 'It must be done.' She thought grimly as she searched through the drawers by the vanity. Finally Kagome pulled out a large pair of scissors. Grabbing a handful of hair Kagome brought the scissors to her long raven black tresses.

"Here goes nothing." Kagome said wincing as the scissors went *snip*snip*.

When she was done Kagome opened her eyes slowly, refusing to look into the mirror. Her head felt so much lighter without the familiar weight of her hair to weigh it down. 'God I miss it already.' Kagome thought wistfully.

Kagome bent down and scooped all of the hair on the floor into a large pile. She made sure she got every strand, she did not want someone figuring out she cut her hair to look like a boy. She brought the pile over to the fire place and threw it in there, watching with satisfaction as every strand burned. Though as she watched she felt as if she was losing a part of herself.

Kagome sighed and stood up running a hand through her now much shorter hair. She went to her bed and lifted the mattress, reaching a hand under she pulled out a small cloth sack that clinked merrily on its way out. This was where Kagome had stashed away her money. It was in fact a small fortune; more then 60 gold crowns filled the bag not to mention about 10 silver crowns as well. Kagome slipped the bag of money into her pocket and pulled on her cloak. The cloak was given to her for Christmas by Rin, and was in fact something that many of the higher up peasants wore. Kagome loved it, she was never allowed to have the same clothing as the peasants wore because her mother thought that wearing such clothing was "below her". So when Kagome received the cloak she was more then happy.

Kagome walked towards the door and nearly screamed. Standing before her was a boy about her height though he looked much younger. He had black hair that fell into his face shading his eyes. His lips were a light pink and set into a surprised frown. We wore a dark cloak with dark brown breeches and a white shirt underneath. He was cute, not handsome because he had not grown out of that awkward state of adolescence but he looked young and fit.

Kagome nearly laughed when she realized she was standing in front of her mirror, looking at her reflection. She raised a hand and ran it through her soft short black hair. She glanced back at the boy in the mirror one last time before quietly slipping out into the hallway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kagome sneaked out of the mansion on High Hill easily enough. She had gone down the corridor to the servant's stairs to reach the kitchens. There she found Gladys, the chef, asleep on the table, her hand clutched around a knife and chopped up carrots before her. Gladys was known for taking short naps in the kitchen, Kagome couldn't blame her the woman was OLD. She came up to about Kagome's shoulder and had silvery white hair which she always wore pinned back in a bun. The woman was short and had a fiery temper, anyone who set foot in her kitchen who didn't belong there was tossed out. So on this night Kagome was grateful that the old woman was asleep when she made her escape out the back door.

It was mid morning now and Kagome had been walking along the road all night. She was tired and her feet were sore not to mention she was hungry. Kagome licked her parched lips and ambled on not stopping. She wanted to put as much distance as she could between her and High Hall. She had passed through three towns already and no one gave her much as a sideways glance. Kagome stopped so abruptly that she nearly fell flat on her face.

"Where am I going?" Kagome wondered aloud to herself. For this whole time Kagome had not once thought about where she was going and what she was going to do when she got there. Kagome sighed and sat down on the damp morning grass.

"I want to see more of the world, how am I supposed to do that?" Kagome wondered. She couldn't just ride a horse around through the country, for one she didn't have a horse and two she didn't have enough money to support herself AND a horse for more then a month, two months at best. Then there was the fact that she couldn't use a horse to travel across water, so what was she to do?

"That's it!" Kagome smiled. "I'll buy a boat and sail it all over the world!" Kagome said happily. There was only one problem with that however. Kagome knew NOTHING about boats, or rather ships. She also didn't have enough money to buy one, or so she thought anyway. She might have been able to afford a ship but a crew as well? Not going to happen in this life time.

"Oh Coddle sticks!" Kagome cursed as she begrudgingly sat back up and continued her path down the dirt road.

"Guess I'll just have to travel wherever my feet take me." Kagome said with a shrug.

A few hours later~~~~~~~~~~

Kagome stood in front of a tavern, staring up at the sign that was messily painted on a board.

"Micho's Tavern" the sign read in barely distinguishable letters. Kagome had finally ended up in Notsob, down by the wharf. Notsob was known for being one of the biggest ports in the country. Ships frequently come and go out of Notsob, bringing in all types of people. The streets were crowded with all types of people. Tall, short, fat and skinny, White, black and Kagome could have sworn she saw someone who looked green, at least around the edges anyway.

Father had told Kagome about Notsob and its notoriety for its crime rate. That's why Kagome had moved her bag of gold from her pocket into her boot and wrapped it in spare cloth so that it wouldn't jingle when she walked.

Micho's Tavern wasn't that far away from the wharf as a matter of fact Kagome could clearly see all of the incoming and out going ships in the harbor. She sighed at their beauty. The ships were tall and grand, flags flapping in the late morning breeze. People hustled and bustled about, most of them sailors or merchants.

Kagome sighed as her stomach grumbled in complaint. She was hungry and this was the only place she had seen so far that she could buy food. Hopefully decent food but at this point she didn't think her stomach cared much.

Kagome walked towards the doors and with a sigh stepped inside.

She was nearly blown away buy all the noise. It surrounded her, filled her to the point where she just wanted to cover her ears and yell for the people to shut up. But she didn't, no, she restrained herself and walked through the crowd. There were people everywhere, mostly men and the few women Kagome did she were not the "respectable" type. There was yelling and drunken laughter as well as a couple of fights going on towards the back of the room. Kagome avoided those places and found an empty table in the corner of the room and sat patiently waiting to be served.

After about twenty minutes a very large man approached her. He was wearing a greasy apron that almost looked as greasy as his face and hair, but not quite. He had a big fat face with three rolling chins that jiggled when he walked. He had a big bulbous nose and small square looking eyes.

"Wha'da ya want brat." The man growled as he gave Kagome a hard stare. Kagome's eyes widened in surprise. Never had anyone been so blatantly rude to her before. 'It must be a male thing' Kagome thought with an inward sigh.

"Just some food mister." Kagome said, imitating one of the kitchen boys she knew well at High Hill.

"Well the food here aint for free you know." The fat man growled out, hands propped on hips.

"Yes of course sir." Kagome said nodding her head eagerly. 'Gods I'm hungry!' Kagome thought with a wince.

"Then what'll you be having, and hurry it up I aint got all day." The fat man said tapping his fat food repeatedly on the ground.

Kagome nodded and told the man that she would have whatever was on the menu as the "daily special" the fatter man laughed at this and told Kagome he'd "fix you up right quick" and left back through the crowd.

So now Kagome was sitting by herself in the corner watching the crowd of noisy men and obnoxious women talking to one another. Kagome didn't even notice it when a couple of men sat down in the table next to hers, bent over and talking in low voices. One of the men had brownish red hair and seemed a little younger then his companion who sat across from him. The other man had jet black hair that was pulled back into a small ponytail at the nape of his neck. He was dressed in a long dark blue coat and his deep blue brown eyes surveyed the crowd carefully, resting every once in a while on Kagome.

It was about ten minutes later that the fat man came back with a bowl of gray mush that he called " 'me home made stew" and left. Kagome stared quizzically at the stew, if you could even call it that. It was gray and mush and had bits of white things floating around in it. What those white things were Kagome didn't even want to know.

She let out a sigh and dug in. Hey, she was hungry enough to eat a horse from all that walking, not to mention tired. The stew went down her throat pretty easily and it didn't taste half bad, but it didn't taste good either.

Kagome finished and fished a silver crown out of her boot. She knew it would be more then enough to pay for her meal so she didn't worry about it. The fat man could keep the change too!

Just then a fight broke out near Kagome and a man was sent sprawling backwards into her table knocking her off her chair and the table over as well.

Kagome landed on the ground with a painful smack and rolled over quickly, making sure that no one landed on her.

When she stood up her hand was still clutched around the silver crown and her hair was slightly tousled. There were at least six men fighting in an all out brawl by her table. Kagome backed up so she could stay out of the fray and found herself backed up against a wall.

'This can't be good.' Kagome thought as the fight seemed to move closer and closer towards her. Suddenly one man was thrown into the wall next to her where he made a sickening crack against the wood. Surprisingly he got up on his feet and grabbed Kagome by the collar of her shirt and lifted her up into the air, her feet dangling in mid air. Kagome clawed at the mans arm, choking for breath. Her feet swung wildly, trying to catch any part of the men that held her suspended in mid air. But her attempts were futile.

"Who're you!" The man barked drunkenly.

"Let go of me!" Kagome yelled kicking madly, hoping to catch the man. Her foot connected with his stomach and the man dropped Kagome to the floor. .. .into the middle of the fight.

The men above her yelled a stream of curses as they swung wildly at each other. Kagome crawled in between legs, narrowly missing some of the well aimed kicks meant for her. 'Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.' Kagome chanted over and over as she made her way out of the fight. A couple of the kicks caught her in the ribs and one blow to the head made her see stars but she kept crawling away. Kagome was towards the edge of the fight when one man tripped over her and fell flat on his face. Booze and blood were flying as well as some curses that could make a sailor blush . . . even though some of these men probably were sailors. Kagome crawled over the fallen man and was just about out of the fight when a heavy hand grabbed her fiercely by the ankle and pulled her back in.

The man who she had tripped pulled Kagome to her feet and raised her into the air by her neck. His eyes were red and bloodshot. And Kagome could smell the alcohol on his breath.

"La little shit! Where d'ya think you're goin!" The mans drunken voice growled. Kagome clawed at the man's hands as she fought for breath.

"Put me down!" She rasped. Kicking her feet in attempt to free herself.

"Not until you say please." The fat man sneered. And Kagome knew that this man would make her beg to live, beg not to be beaten and then just as quickly kill her anyway. So Kagome gathered all the dignity and courage she could muster and looked the man square in the eye.

"Go lick a toad jerk!" Kagome spat, glaring at the man. The man's face turned a bright cherry red in anger. And he cuffed Kagome upside the head with his free hand.

"What did you say you little bucket of slime!?" The man roared.

"You heard me." Kagome rasped. Her head throbbed from where the man had hit her but she would be damned if she was going to beg for mercy. Higarashi's did not BEG for anything.

"Why you. . !" The man growled enraged that she wasn't cowering in fear. The man raised a fist to rain another blow upon Kagome when a cool, calm voice rang out through the crowd.

"Put the boy down."

Kagome turned her head to see the two men who sat by her table standing and glaring at the man that now held her suspended in mid air.

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Ok that has to be one of the longest chapters that I have ever written. ^_^ This is my new Fanfic under my spanking new penname so tell me what you think. I know it was a little slow in the beginning but I PROMISE the next chapter will be so much more interesting.and shorter. That I can promise you *rubs sore fingers* So please review and tell me what you think! Thanks

~Kitten = ^.^=