Disclaimer: I don't own the Inuyasha characters, and I sure don't own the
idea of pirates. I did do some research on them prior to writing this
story, though! ^_^
Summary: On the way home with her brother's medicine one evening, Kagome is attacked and abducted by heartless pirates, and is sent to be killed by the captain of the ship himself. Will Inuyasha be cruel enough to throw her off the plank? AU IY/Kag
Why a new story, you ask? Firstly, nobody worry, this is not a sign that I've slowed down The Red Card, it's just that once I do something repeatedly, my interest for it fades away over long periods of time. I have no means on giving it up at all, I just want to start another story to maybe re-spark my interest and maybe speed in writing fan fictions.
And on pirates, no less? For some reason, I find pirates to be really romantic, adventuring on the seas, you know? I know, I'm weird ^_^... I've also wanted to use this idea ever since the beginning, but I wanted to sharpen my writing skills before I began my most anticipated fiction.
Tons of inspiration from a great author, Bishonen no Hime!
That's all for now, and I hope you guys enjoy! Don't worry, this isn't an anguish fiction, it just starts out a little dark, but it lightens up very soon.
Pirate Pash
Chapter 1 - The Worst Day
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"We will be arriving in approximately fifteen minutes, so everyone please remain seated until then to avoid tipping the boat." The plump man standing before the front of the wooden boat announced in a monotone-voice, before sighing and plopping back down onto his seat.
It had been a painfully gruelling eight hours aboard this wooden rowboat, and of the ten passengers groaning from the seasickness, three of them had already regurgitated their breakfast into the water. The weather didn't seem to be picking up any either, the clouds were a dark, greyish colour and it looked like it was about to start pouring soon. Nothing was going right these days...
'I wonder if Souta's alright...' The woman in the back of the boat pondered worriedly, gripping her hands tightly onto the fabric of her long, green skirt. 'If something happens to him now I don't know what I'll do...' Just remembering that made her panicky, and her muscles were beginning to tense up in her throat, and it was becoming worriedly difficult to breathe. She kindly asked the man to speed up the sea craft, but he pretended not to take notice of her and continued looking off at the water.
Living on an island was terribly inconvenient. Her and her younger brother would have to board one of these tiny rowboats for hours, not to mention pay quite the expensive fee whenever they had to buy necessities not sold in their village. It was too bad nobody was dumb enough to buy anything on that damned island, or they would be selling that house and catching the next boat before you could say, "Go."
She stared in envy at the abundance of people and excitement in the town not too far away. 'If it weren't for them...Souta and I would have been able to move here. And maybe then he wouldn't be sick. Maybe then Souta could have gotten the right medical care...'
In the time she had been thinking about their lives, the boat had jerked to a halt aside a dock, and the rude man who had been ignoring her before sprung up from his seat and hurried all the passengers to step out. She took this opportunity to dash before the crowd as if it was a race. Every second was precious now.
When she finally reached the town centre after running like a madman, she was out of breath and was panting choppily. She spotted a bench and decided to rest shortly to wipe the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand before she proceeded again. As she stood up to leave, she was surprised to see practically every person in town gathered around a raised wooden platform. The crowd seemed to be enjoying themselves, as there was a wave of clapping and hooting from the excited audience.
Of course, she could never resist temptation of that sort. She stalked up quickly to observe with the massive crowd of people, only to hear their screams clearly. The ones that stood out the most sounded something like:
"Assholes!"
"Rot in hell, you demons!"
They were shouting rude curses at the people on the platform, but along with their comments were big smiles plastered on their faces.
'What's going on?' She thought and squinted slightly to get a clearer look at the source of this weirdness.
There was a man standing with a black sack covering his face, revealing only his dark eyes. In his hands rested a shiny axe, already soaked at sharp end with blood. Some tough-looking, bearded men covered in grime were standing in a line with their hands secured dead tight with rope. From the expressions on their faces, they were obviously lining up for no prize.
"What's going on?" She whispered to a fellow woman, who gripped her son with one hand, and a bag of groceries in the other. She was staring up at the platform with sheer delight, a wide smile on her lips.
"You don't know?" The old woman asked, not bothering to pay the girl much attention. "They're finally executing the pirates they've captured! About damn time too, if I may say so myself! Didn't see the point of them rotting in those cells."
Her eyes widened and she took another glance at the prisoners. "Oh...so now they're going to cut off their heads?"
The woman stared at her like she was the biggest moron in the world, nodded oddly and proceeded back to shouting insults at the pirates.
"Okay then..." Suddenly, the thought of her brother's serious illness immediately jumped back into her head, and she wanted to slap herself for her stupidity. Here she was, watching some execution and talking like an idiot, when her brother's life was winding down.
Without bothering to take a second look back at the crowd, the young woman sped with all her might towards the medicine store she'd been so many times before.
And unfortunately for her, she swore she caught a glimpse of a man she recognised from a few years ago, waiting in line on the platform for a split second before she turned to leave.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Welcome." The old man greeted when he heard the bell ring, signalling a new customer. That was always good news. "How may I help...why, is that you, Kagome?"
He stared for a long time at the longhaired woman who entered the store; nobody could ever forget a beautiful face like hers. Strands of her dark hair stuck onto her pale white face, and her eyes...they were the most mysterious colour he'd ever seen. A greyish-blue shade, but today for some reason, they seemed to be filled with fear and anxiety. She had visited once in a while in the past few months to pick up medicine for her younger brother, but it was hard for her since they lived so far away.
"Are you alright, dear?" He asked as she made her way to the counter hurriedly, a huge frown on her face.
"Hi Myouga, I...I...Souta's sicker." She mumbled, now shaking with fear at the thought of her weak brother. "He's been like this for the past week, and I- I've tried everything! From chicken soup to lots of rest, b- but it's not working...he's getting worse by the day. Oh God, please help me...I'm afraid he's going to die, and...the doctor didn't know what to do either, I- I..."
"Slow down, girl." Myouga interrupted Kagome calmly while pulling out a piece of paper and a pencil from his desk. "Now tell me what happened. From what I remember, your brother is not a healthy boy, is that correct?"
Kagome dropped her head sadly and pulled the annoying piece of hair out of her eyes. "Yes. I used to rush here every time he started acting up. His eyes swell terribly, and his temperature rises so badly that he turns red, and I don't know what to..." She had a tear running down her cheek now, and that was rarely seen from her. She'd always stood strong, tried acting happy for her brother. She'd had to, or he'd think something awful was going to happen to him.
But it was so hard to act...he'd only gotten worse by the hour. Kagome could never sleep some nights at her brother's coughs and wheezes, and the relief she could offer was limited. She'd have to be strong and embrace him while her only sibling was suffering...and manage not to cry at the same time.
"Here." Myouga handed her a napkin and cleared his throat. "Why is today different from the other visits you've paid me? You seem much more distressed than usual."
Kagome blew her nose and wiped her eyes before speaking up. "Yesterday night, I...I was just coming home from work when I saw him lying on the floor, his breaths were shorter than usual and he was steaming. Normally his forehead is warm, but it was practically on fire! I asked Dr. Mack from the Island," She trailed off, "but he's pretty much given up on Souta..."
"Could it be he's given up because you can't afford to pay for the medical care, if you don't mind me asking?" Myouga pressed, trying not to accent the issue. It wasn't that he didn't want to help these poor kids, but nowadays, free assistance was unheard of. Everyone had to make a living in this rough world.
This was exactly what Kagome didn't want to hear. "Myouga, I understand perfectly well myself that I don't make a good income from selling flowers, and I'm not at all asking for your pity. I just need to get the medicine now, but I PROMISE I will bring over the money I save up the second it reaches my hands. No matter how long it takes. I'll starve myself more if I have to...please, I'll even sign a contract." Her voice was stern as she continued. "Look, I'll even write in blood if that's what it'll take."
He sighed and looked deeply into her determined eyes. The medicine she was acquiring today was fairly expensive, not anything at all like the cheap painkillers she normally purchased with her limited change. 'This woman...she has starved herself down madly, but she still uses every penny she earns on her brother's food and medicine.'
"Oh...alright." He dropped the pencil back onto the counter. "But just this one time, Kagome. But I still need a contract from you." Myouga knew he was going to get a beating from his wife tonight, but if it could help save a youngster's life, even he was willing to help.
The colour faded back into her face and it took her a second to grasp what she'd just heard. Souta was going to get better! And they were going to live normal lives! And he was going to be able to go out and make friends! And this kind man was going to help them!
"Tha-thank you so much, Myouga! I-I promise I will pay to you every cent of the amount I owe, and I..." She couldn't help herself anymore and she leapt forward to give the short, old man the biggest hug imaginable. "You don't know how much this means to us. I'll never forget this, ever! You must be the nicest soul on this Earth, and I don't know how I can ever repay this kindness, and I..."
He smiled and handed her the bottle with the pills inside. "Don't bother. Just remember to bring me the money someday, and if it's possible, I'd like to meet Souta. If he's anything at all like you, Kagome, he'd be an honour to meet. Now go off and feed it to him! Two times a day! Make him well again, young boys can't sleep inside all day!"
She grinned brightly and gratefully took the package from him. "Thanks again, Myouga!" And with that, she stormed out the door to try to make the returning boat trip as soon as possible. She had to hurry, too. There was only one more departure for the night...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kagome reached the dock minutes before they were about to take off. When she had passed the wooden platform on her way here, not one person had remained at the site once the execution was over. She was rather disgusted at the sight of the heads of the pirates dangling on rope from a large pole. Pools of their blood gathered beneath them.
"Serves those bastards right..." She'd whispered to herself as she passed them.
Sadly for her, it was the same annoying fat man at the front of the boat. But as long as she didn't have to stay another night in this town, she'd be fine. She needed Souta to swallow these pills immediately, and she didn't want to think of what would have happened if she'd missed this ride.
"Get in the boat, lady. We ain't got all day." Was the rude comment from the man. Sighing, Kagome stepped into the boat, past the other passengers who were giving her mean looks, and finally settled down in the back without a word.
"We will be departing now! I REPEAT, we will be departing now!"
This was going to be one looong night...
And before she even realised it, the rocking motion of the boat had caused her to shut her eyes and fall into a deep slumber at the back of the boat, huddled under a pile of blankets. They smelt like seaweed, but at least they were warm.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"I still don't know what the hell we're doing on this dinky piece of shit. Not even this fat ass here has much money on him. I don't know what Inuyasha was thinking..."
Kagome's eyes snapped open suddenly at the sound of a new voice aboard the boat. There had been a ruckus a while back, she'd heard. But she had been so tired she instantly assumed it was a nightmare of some sort.
Her blankets had covered her entire body whilst she was asleep, and all she could see when she opened her sleepy eyes was a big blur. Automatically, she pulled the blankets out of her face to see what the problem was. The sight of it alone almost made her pass out.
There were two men with their backs to her, leaning over the other passengers sprawled out on their stomachs. From what she could see, they were rummaging through their possessions. What was even scarier about this picture was that the fat man and every passenger except for her were lying in pools of their own blood. It had been a real slaughterhouse in the time she was asleep and dreaming of dancing cows...
Unable to hold back the fear anymore, Kagome tried with all her might, but she could not hold back the tiny squeak that emerged from the back of her throat as she covered her entire body with the blanket again. Though this time, she was shuddering and gasping for air unnaturally.
'Oh please don't find me here...I have to stay still, and they might leave me alone. I hope my hair's not showing...' Kagome thought while holding the blanket over her head as still as possible.
"Well, let's leave this piece of shit. Nothing here worth taking except for some small change from the fat ass." One voice said to the other, and Kagome could hear their feet stomping towards the opposite direction.
'Thank you lord!' Kagome breathed a sigh of relief and started to relax a little more. When she did so, her leg slipped off the wood it was resting on, and made a slight banging sound.
'Oh shit!'
"What the hell was that?" She heard the other man shout suddenly, and she just about passed out when she heard both men's heavy footsteps quickly heading towards her.
'Maybe...if I stand up and jump into the water I can swim back to town and, wait...I've been sleeping for so long that I don't have a clue how far away we are from town and...' Before Kagome could even finish her thought a strong force of pressure hit her in the stomach, hard, and she groaned and bent over from the pain....it felt as if a truck had run over her stomach, considering she had never quite been hit that hard before, or at all, rather.
The blankets slipped off her injured body unnoticeably as she was bending over and hugging her stomach from the discomfort. She raised her wobbly head slightly to get a better look at people who had done this to her. And when she did, it was like her worst nightmare before her eyes again.
They were PIRATES...surrounded by dieing people.
"Well, lookie what we got here! We've got ourselves a hiding woman!" The man with the long, black braid laughed loudly as he inspected Kagome with his eyes, seemingly enjoying the image she was projecting: grabbing onto the sides of the boat so tightly her knuckles turned white, and her eyes were bulging wide with fear.
'I'm...I'm going to die, and so is Souta if I can't get this to him. I can't die now! I just can't!' She looked at the other man, who had a long beard and was grinning slightly. The sight of it was enough to send even more of a sick feeling straight to her stomach.
"Hey Hiten, she's a pretty one, she is! Can I have a little fun with her before we kill her?" He asked innocently, and it took every last thread of Kagome's persistence not to plunge into the water to her death.
"Wait..." The Hiten guy walked up to her and stuck out a hand to yank her up by pulling her hair sharply.
"Owww..." She moaned and her body hung in the air with no persistence, it was still frail from the kick she had received earlier.
He spotted from the corner of his eyes a little bag she was trying to conceal behind her quivering thigh. "What the hell's that?"
Kagome swallowed a little too obviously and wheezed, "What?"
"This." And with that he reached behind her and in an instant snatched the package from her hands. She barely had time to notice as he ripped open the packaging with one hand, the other still holding her up by the hair, until he reached the bottle inside with the pills for Souta.
"What you need drugs for, little lady?" The bearded man inquired with a chuckle, "You sick or something?"
Finally, Kagome caught her breath and screeched whilst shaking her body frantically, "I don't have to tell you pirates anything! And you can't make me!"
Personally, she wasn't sure herself what was slipping out of her mouth. The smell of the seawater was making her a little bonkers...because she was pretty certain that if they decided to resort to torture, she would be spilling her guts like a grandpa telling a story.
A tip of a sword was brought up to her neck suddenly, and it was so dangerously close that Kagome feared swallowing would cause her throat to graze the blade. The bearded man smiled proudly at his accomplishment and Hiten took this opportunity to peer into the bottle again. He turned it this way and that in his hands and read aloud on the bottle, "Souta: take twice a day with water." He grinned and tossed the bottle in the air before snatching it again, making Kagome almost lose her breath. "So it's probably not for you, huh? Souta doesn't sound like a girl's name. A father maybe? Or is it a brother? A lover?"
He was toying with her, waiting for her to talk or do something to scratch her neck on the blade. She knew he couldn't care less who Souta was. He seemed to pick up the fact that she wasn't responding, and asked, "So what is your name, pretty lady? And answer me. You'll regret it dearly if you don't."
"No." Kagome gasped as loudly as possible, her heart pounding a mile a minute. She was about to die anyways, so she might as well die with pride. Anyways, she wasn't half as worried about herself as she was about Souta. No one would take care of him now, and he would be sick, and so alone...
"Oh really? So will you still be so strong when I do...this?" Kagome watched with terror as the satisfied pirate threw the medicine she was treasuring so much flatly into the dark ocean. The 'splash' of the water sent Kagome's stomach on a mad flip-flop.
That was it...it was all over for them. Souta was as good as gone, as well as herself. Why bothered trying anymore? Pirates were really out to ruin the world...hers in particular.
She didn't hold back anymore as she screamed, "Nooooooo! How could you? HOW COULD YOU? I NEEDED that you bastard!"
Hiten's amused face was starting to bother her just then, so uncontrollably she slapped him one across the face with all her might. "I hate you!"
Okay, so now she was officially going to be tortured and beheaded.
"BITCH!" The bearded man shouted and lunged at Kagome after he saw what happened, but stopped halfway when Hiten held out a hand to stop him. Hiten had an intrigued look on his face, along with the red mark on his cheek.
"But Hiten," He asked worriedly at his partner's unusual behaviour, "She slapped you!"
"True." He nodded and turned back to face a now-panicking Kagome. "But just killing her now wouldn't be half as satisfying as taking her to our captain to be taken care of. Girl, you'll wish you were killed by us a hundred times rather than meet this guy."
The bearded man chuckled madly all of a sudden and gave Kagome a wicked smile. "Great idea, Hiten!"
Kagome gulped as they tugged her by the hair into their own tiny rowboat while muttering, "Come on, we're going someplace."
The bearded man tried hard to shade his mysterious smirk from Kagome as he started rowing, but he failed as she caught a clear glimpse of it. It was only making her more terrified. Was their captain as horrible as they described? But in a weird sort of way, Kagome now felt as if she could do anything...after all, Souta couldn't be helped anymore, so what was the point of carrying on herself when she was going to be living a guilt trip for the rest of her life alone?
But it would have been nicer if she could have said goodbye to him first...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After an awkward and uncomfortable boat ride with Hiten still holding the sword against her neck, Kagome found it was easier this time round to breathe, simply because he wasn't quite paying attention to her. His mind was noticeably on something else. Kagome had noticed that people liked to ignore her a lot...
"We're here."
They had drifted for a while and had slowly entered a grey fog. It was so thick that Kagome could barely make out anything. The only thing that stood out was the bright lights shining from the ship standing grandly before them. The music was blasting from the inside, and there were cheerful shouts and people singing drunk, from what it sounded like.
The bearded man tied the boat they were in to the large ship, and preceded to grab the rope ladder hanging from the side of the boat. If it were under normal circumstances, Kagome would have complained about it looking, 'quite unsafe.' But this was considered anything but normal.
"Follow me up the ladder." The bearded man demanded and started going up the wooden steps one at a time carefully, as if he was afraid to fall. Some pirate, killing people like mad and scared to fall into the water himself.
Deciding not to protest because she REALLY didn't want to be thrown into the ocean here, or anywhere, Kagome sadly obliged and grabbed the dangling rope ladder and followed the bearded man. Halfway up one of her hands slipped on the bars because it was slippery, and she ended up accidentally...well, sort of...whamming Hiten in the face with her shoe.
"What the...fuck? Bitch! I'd kill you right now if we weren't handing you over to Inuyasha, woman." He growled from beneath her, and from the tone in his voice it was more than enough to make her veins pop out.
Kagome didn't reply, and continued grumbling quietly to herself. 'I hate pirates...I hate them! They must be out to destroy my life because just when I think I'm lucky for making the last boat, pirates kill everyone on it except me so now I get to be special and sentenced to be killed by their insane captain! My day just keeps getting better...'
"What are you dreaming about up there? We don't have all day on this ladder!" Hiten called up rudely only to have Kagome ignore him one more time, as she continued to step up the ladder one step at a time painfully slow. The bearded man was long up at the top and looking down, a huge frown on his face.
"Oh yea, and I can see up your skirt from here..." Hiten added jokingly, and it seemed to work quite efficiently. Kagome stormed up the ladder immediately, or as quickly as she could manage with one hand doing the climbing and the other holding down the back of her skirt.
"Pervert." She mumbled as she brought her leg over the side of the boat.
He chuckled while jumping over the edge himself. "Nope. Just honest."
"Well, well. Look what Hiten dragged in..."
"What?" Kagome turned to locate the source of the voice, and saw what she thought was the only thing possibly worse than these pirates.
More pirates. All staring at her as if she was the first woman they had ever seen in their life. The loud music was still blaring, but the singing was long gone. Instead, around eighty pairs of eyes pierced into Kagome with interest.
"What'd you bring a woman on board for, Hiten? You should know they're bad luck!" A man hollered from the back of the crowd, but Kagome couldn't see his face. Then, he muttered ever so faintly, "One's bad enough as it is..."
He was cut off by a loud bang, followed by a pained groan. Kagome wasn't paying too much attention to it because she was too busy absorbing that piece of information. 'What did he say? There's another woman aboard? Maybe I can meet her and convince her to let me go...sounds crazy enough but it might just work.'
"I know why! He wants to keep her, bastard!" Another man shouted from the crowd. "You think WE don't want women with us? Why do you think you can have one with you?"
"Shut the fuck up, guys!" Hiten raised both hands in the air to quiet them slightly while Kagome just stood behind him to avoid the stares. "I don't want nothing to do with this bitch! She dared to slap me, so I'm handing her to Inuyasha to be taken care of!"
A sigh of relief was the reaction of the crowd of pirates.
"But Hiten...she's such a pretty one. Won't that be a waste?" Once again another man asked.
Kagome didn't know whether to feel complimented or to be frightened to her death just then.
"Nah." Hiten stared at her coldly. "Who likes violent women anyways?"
All the hands on the boat rose immediately.
"Knock it off, guys! Watch this..." He smiled and turned around to shove Kagome backwards with some force. She pushed right back at him instantly. "See? Wouldn't you guys just love to see Inuyasha take care of a girl like this? Who knows? She might just slap him back!"
Everyone on the boat roared out in laughter, including the bearded man from earlier and Hiten. Trying to use this time as a distraction, she peered over the side of the boat and was planning ways to jump into the tiny rowboat when...
"What's going on here?"
The group of pirates quieted in a matter of seconds as they noticed the arrival of a stern-looking man, with long black hair down to his back and a scabbard at his side, walk onto the deck from inside the boat. He noticed right away that everyone seemed to be surrounding Hiten and somebody else behind him, so he stalked right up to them. "Well, Hiten? What the hell is going on?"
"Well, Captain. We've got ourselves a troublemaker here. You see, this woman..." Hiten didn't seem to get a chance to finish his explanation.
"A woman?" Inuyasha growled suddenly and Kagome felt a firm hand wrap around her neck. "I thought I told you morons NOT to bring any women onto this ship!" He shoved Hiten aside with his arm to take a closer look at what wench he had chosen to bring aboard when his expression completely changed and he began to stare at her blankly.
Kagome's face had paled while he held her in the air by the neck without a care in the world, and he was being so rough with her already- battered body that she felt like defiance was probably out of the question.
It didn't help matters with Inuyasha screaming in her ear while shaking her around in the air to emphasize his point. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE? WHAT RIGHT DO YOU HAVE TO COME HERE TO FACE ME? BITCH!!!"
He was practically snarling now, ready to tear her apart with his hands. Kagome was so terrified now that she even started praying to the Gods for help. But why was he so angry with her? It was as if he had met her before on horrific terms. "I didn't...ask to come here..." She breathed out, "I was captured...and brought here..."
Sighing, Inuyasha dropped her, causing her to land on her stomach loudly, practically ripping the wood by the sound of it. "I don't want to hear it. Miroku! Sango!"
Two people ran out from amongst the group watching excitedly, and Kagome could tell from the legs of one of them that one was most likely a girl. Or a man with very feminine legs. "Yes, Captain?"
"Lock her in the dungeons. She'll be thrown off the plank tomorrow." He said firmly before taking his leave back into the room he came from.
Kagome was so worn out from the harassment throughout the day that she didn't even protest when the two people dragged her away by the arms.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
AN: So, how'd everyone like it? I would LOVE to get some feedback on this story, and I'm really hoping you guys like it. I have so much to go with this story and I'm really excited about writing it. ^_^
And let's all hope Inuyasha lightens up in the next chapter!
So please review, and until next time!
*~Sorena~*
Summary: On the way home with her brother's medicine one evening, Kagome is attacked and abducted by heartless pirates, and is sent to be killed by the captain of the ship himself. Will Inuyasha be cruel enough to throw her off the plank? AU IY/Kag
Why a new story, you ask? Firstly, nobody worry, this is not a sign that I've slowed down The Red Card, it's just that once I do something repeatedly, my interest for it fades away over long periods of time. I have no means on giving it up at all, I just want to start another story to maybe re-spark my interest and maybe speed in writing fan fictions.
And on pirates, no less? For some reason, I find pirates to be really romantic, adventuring on the seas, you know? I know, I'm weird ^_^... I've also wanted to use this idea ever since the beginning, but I wanted to sharpen my writing skills before I began my most anticipated fiction.
Tons of inspiration from a great author, Bishonen no Hime!
That's all for now, and I hope you guys enjoy! Don't worry, this isn't an anguish fiction, it just starts out a little dark, but it lightens up very soon.
Pirate Pash
Chapter 1 - The Worst Day
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"We will be arriving in approximately fifteen minutes, so everyone please remain seated until then to avoid tipping the boat." The plump man standing before the front of the wooden boat announced in a monotone-voice, before sighing and plopping back down onto his seat.
It had been a painfully gruelling eight hours aboard this wooden rowboat, and of the ten passengers groaning from the seasickness, three of them had already regurgitated their breakfast into the water. The weather didn't seem to be picking up any either, the clouds were a dark, greyish colour and it looked like it was about to start pouring soon. Nothing was going right these days...
'I wonder if Souta's alright...' The woman in the back of the boat pondered worriedly, gripping her hands tightly onto the fabric of her long, green skirt. 'If something happens to him now I don't know what I'll do...' Just remembering that made her panicky, and her muscles were beginning to tense up in her throat, and it was becoming worriedly difficult to breathe. She kindly asked the man to speed up the sea craft, but he pretended not to take notice of her and continued looking off at the water.
Living on an island was terribly inconvenient. Her and her younger brother would have to board one of these tiny rowboats for hours, not to mention pay quite the expensive fee whenever they had to buy necessities not sold in their village. It was too bad nobody was dumb enough to buy anything on that damned island, or they would be selling that house and catching the next boat before you could say, "Go."
She stared in envy at the abundance of people and excitement in the town not too far away. 'If it weren't for them...Souta and I would have been able to move here. And maybe then he wouldn't be sick. Maybe then Souta could have gotten the right medical care...'
In the time she had been thinking about their lives, the boat had jerked to a halt aside a dock, and the rude man who had been ignoring her before sprung up from his seat and hurried all the passengers to step out. She took this opportunity to dash before the crowd as if it was a race. Every second was precious now.
When she finally reached the town centre after running like a madman, she was out of breath and was panting choppily. She spotted a bench and decided to rest shortly to wipe the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand before she proceeded again. As she stood up to leave, she was surprised to see practically every person in town gathered around a raised wooden platform. The crowd seemed to be enjoying themselves, as there was a wave of clapping and hooting from the excited audience.
Of course, she could never resist temptation of that sort. She stalked up quickly to observe with the massive crowd of people, only to hear their screams clearly. The ones that stood out the most sounded something like:
"Assholes!"
"Rot in hell, you demons!"
They were shouting rude curses at the people on the platform, but along with their comments were big smiles plastered on their faces.
'What's going on?' She thought and squinted slightly to get a clearer look at the source of this weirdness.
There was a man standing with a black sack covering his face, revealing only his dark eyes. In his hands rested a shiny axe, already soaked at sharp end with blood. Some tough-looking, bearded men covered in grime were standing in a line with their hands secured dead tight with rope. From the expressions on their faces, they were obviously lining up for no prize.
"What's going on?" She whispered to a fellow woman, who gripped her son with one hand, and a bag of groceries in the other. She was staring up at the platform with sheer delight, a wide smile on her lips.
"You don't know?" The old woman asked, not bothering to pay the girl much attention. "They're finally executing the pirates they've captured! About damn time too, if I may say so myself! Didn't see the point of them rotting in those cells."
Her eyes widened and she took another glance at the prisoners. "Oh...so now they're going to cut off their heads?"
The woman stared at her like she was the biggest moron in the world, nodded oddly and proceeded back to shouting insults at the pirates.
"Okay then..." Suddenly, the thought of her brother's serious illness immediately jumped back into her head, and she wanted to slap herself for her stupidity. Here she was, watching some execution and talking like an idiot, when her brother's life was winding down.
Without bothering to take a second look back at the crowd, the young woman sped with all her might towards the medicine store she'd been so many times before.
And unfortunately for her, she swore she caught a glimpse of a man she recognised from a few years ago, waiting in line on the platform for a split second before she turned to leave.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Welcome." The old man greeted when he heard the bell ring, signalling a new customer. That was always good news. "How may I help...why, is that you, Kagome?"
He stared for a long time at the longhaired woman who entered the store; nobody could ever forget a beautiful face like hers. Strands of her dark hair stuck onto her pale white face, and her eyes...they were the most mysterious colour he'd ever seen. A greyish-blue shade, but today for some reason, they seemed to be filled with fear and anxiety. She had visited once in a while in the past few months to pick up medicine for her younger brother, but it was hard for her since they lived so far away.
"Are you alright, dear?" He asked as she made her way to the counter hurriedly, a huge frown on her face.
"Hi Myouga, I...I...Souta's sicker." She mumbled, now shaking with fear at the thought of her weak brother. "He's been like this for the past week, and I- I've tried everything! From chicken soup to lots of rest, b- but it's not working...he's getting worse by the day. Oh God, please help me...I'm afraid he's going to die, and...the doctor didn't know what to do either, I- I..."
"Slow down, girl." Myouga interrupted Kagome calmly while pulling out a piece of paper and a pencil from his desk. "Now tell me what happened. From what I remember, your brother is not a healthy boy, is that correct?"
Kagome dropped her head sadly and pulled the annoying piece of hair out of her eyes. "Yes. I used to rush here every time he started acting up. His eyes swell terribly, and his temperature rises so badly that he turns red, and I don't know what to..." She had a tear running down her cheek now, and that was rarely seen from her. She'd always stood strong, tried acting happy for her brother. She'd had to, or he'd think something awful was going to happen to him.
But it was so hard to act...he'd only gotten worse by the hour. Kagome could never sleep some nights at her brother's coughs and wheezes, and the relief she could offer was limited. She'd have to be strong and embrace him while her only sibling was suffering...and manage not to cry at the same time.
"Here." Myouga handed her a napkin and cleared his throat. "Why is today different from the other visits you've paid me? You seem much more distressed than usual."
Kagome blew her nose and wiped her eyes before speaking up. "Yesterday night, I...I was just coming home from work when I saw him lying on the floor, his breaths were shorter than usual and he was steaming. Normally his forehead is warm, but it was practically on fire! I asked Dr. Mack from the Island," She trailed off, "but he's pretty much given up on Souta..."
"Could it be he's given up because you can't afford to pay for the medical care, if you don't mind me asking?" Myouga pressed, trying not to accent the issue. It wasn't that he didn't want to help these poor kids, but nowadays, free assistance was unheard of. Everyone had to make a living in this rough world.
This was exactly what Kagome didn't want to hear. "Myouga, I understand perfectly well myself that I don't make a good income from selling flowers, and I'm not at all asking for your pity. I just need to get the medicine now, but I PROMISE I will bring over the money I save up the second it reaches my hands. No matter how long it takes. I'll starve myself more if I have to...please, I'll even sign a contract." Her voice was stern as she continued. "Look, I'll even write in blood if that's what it'll take."
He sighed and looked deeply into her determined eyes. The medicine she was acquiring today was fairly expensive, not anything at all like the cheap painkillers she normally purchased with her limited change. 'This woman...she has starved herself down madly, but she still uses every penny she earns on her brother's food and medicine.'
"Oh...alright." He dropped the pencil back onto the counter. "But just this one time, Kagome. But I still need a contract from you." Myouga knew he was going to get a beating from his wife tonight, but if it could help save a youngster's life, even he was willing to help.
The colour faded back into her face and it took her a second to grasp what she'd just heard. Souta was going to get better! And they were going to live normal lives! And he was going to be able to go out and make friends! And this kind man was going to help them!
"Tha-thank you so much, Myouga! I-I promise I will pay to you every cent of the amount I owe, and I..." She couldn't help herself anymore and she leapt forward to give the short, old man the biggest hug imaginable. "You don't know how much this means to us. I'll never forget this, ever! You must be the nicest soul on this Earth, and I don't know how I can ever repay this kindness, and I..."
He smiled and handed her the bottle with the pills inside. "Don't bother. Just remember to bring me the money someday, and if it's possible, I'd like to meet Souta. If he's anything at all like you, Kagome, he'd be an honour to meet. Now go off and feed it to him! Two times a day! Make him well again, young boys can't sleep inside all day!"
She grinned brightly and gratefully took the package from him. "Thanks again, Myouga!" And with that, she stormed out the door to try to make the returning boat trip as soon as possible. She had to hurry, too. There was only one more departure for the night...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kagome reached the dock minutes before they were about to take off. When she had passed the wooden platform on her way here, not one person had remained at the site once the execution was over. She was rather disgusted at the sight of the heads of the pirates dangling on rope from a large pole. Pools of their blood gathered beneath them.
"Serves those bastards right..." She'd whispered to herself as she passed them.
Sadly for her, it was the same annoying fat man at the front of the boat. But as long as she didn't have to stay another night in this town, she'd be fine. She needed Souta to swallow these pills immediately, and she didn't want to think of what would have happened if she'd missed this ride.
"Get in the boat, lady. We ain't got all day." Was the rude comment from the man. Sighing, Kagome stepped into the boat, past the other passengers who were giving her mean looks, and finally settled down in the back without a word.
"We will be departing now! I REPEAT, we will be departing now!"
This was going to be one looong night...
And before she even realised it, the rocking motion of the boat had caused her to shut her eyes and fall into a deep slumber at the back of the boat, huddled under a pile of blankets. They smelt like seaweed, but at least they were warm.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"I still don't know what the hell we're doing on this dinky piece of shit. Not even this fat ass here has much money on him. I don't know what Inuyasha was thinking..."
Kagome's eyes snapped open suddenly at the sound of a new voice aboard the boat. There had been a ruckus a while back, she'd heard. But she had been so tired she instantly assumed it was a nightmare of some sort.
Her blankets had covered her entire body whilst she was asleep, and all she could see when she opened her sleepy eyes was a big blur. Automatically, she pulled the blankets out of her face to see what the problem was. The sight of it alone almost made her pass out.
There were two men with their backs to her, leaning over the other passengers sprawled out on their stomachs. From what she could see, they were rummaging through their possessions. What was even scarier about this picture was that the fat man and every passenger except for her were lying in pools of their own blood. It had been a real slaughterhouse in the time she was asleep and dreaming of dancing cows...
Unable to hold back the fear anymore, Kagome tried with all her might, but she could not hold back the tiny squeak that emerged from the back of her throat as she covered her entire body with the blanket again. Though this time, she was shuddering and gasping for air unnaturally.
'Oh please don't find me here...I have to stay still, and they might leave me alone. I hope my hair's not showing...' Kagome thought while holding the blanket over her head as still as possible.
"Well, let's leave this piece of shit. Nothing here worth taking except for some small change from the fat ass." One voice said to the other, and Kagome could hear their feet stomping towards the opposite direction.
'Thank you lord!' Kagome breathed a sigh of relief and started to relax a little more. When she did so, her leg slipped off the wood it was resting on, and made a slight banging sound.
'Oh shit!'
"What the hell was that?" She heard the other man shout suddenly, and she just about passed out when she heard both men's heavy footsteps quickly heading towards her.
'Maybe...if I stand up and jump into the water I can swim back to town and, wait...I've been sleeping for so long that I don't have a clue how far away we are from town and...' Before Kagome could even finish her thought a strong force of pressure hit her in the stomach, hard, and she groaned and bent over from the pain....it felt as if a truck had run over her stomach, considering she had never quite been hit that hard before, or at all, rather.
The blankets slipped off her injured body unnoticeably as she was bending over and hugging her stomach from the discomfort. She raised her wobbly head slightly to get a better look at people who had done this to her. And when she did, it was like her worst nightmare before her eyes again.
They were PIRATES...surrounded by dieing people.
"Well, lookie what we got here! We've got ourselves a hiding woman!" The man with the long, black braid laughed loudly as he inspected Kagome with his eyes, seemingly enjoying the image she was projecting: grabbing onto the sides of the boat so tightly her knuckles turned white, and her eyes were bulging wide with fear.
'I'm...I'm going to die, and so is Souta if I can't get this to him. I can't die now! I just can't!' She looked at the other man, who had a long beard and was grinning slightly. The sight of it was enough to send even more of a sick feeling straight to her stomach.
"Hey Hiten, she's a pretty one, she is! Can I have a little fun with her before we kill her?" He asked innocently, and it took every last thread of Kagome's persistence not to plunge into the water to her death.
"Wait..." The Hiten guy walked up to her and stuck out a hand to yank her up by pulling her hair sharply.
"Owww..." She moaned and her body hung in the air with no persistence, it was still frail from the kick she had received earlier.
He spotted from the corner of his eyes a little bag she was trying to conceal behind her quivering thigh. "What the hell's that?"
Kagome swallowed a little too obviously and wheezed, "What?"
"This." And with that he reached behind her and in an instant snatched the package from her hands. She barely had time to notice as he ripped open the packaging with one hand, the other still holding her up by the hair, until he reached the bottle inside with the pills for Souta.
"What you need drugs for, little lady?" The bearded man inquired with a chuckle, "You sick or something?"
Finally, Kagome caught her breath and screeched whilst shaking her body frantically, "I don't have to tell you pirates anything! And you can't make me!"
Personally, she wasn't sure herself what was slipping out of her mouth. The smell of the seawater was making her a little bonkers...because she was pretty certain that if they decided to resort to torture, she would be spilling her guts like a grandpa telling a story.
A tip of a sword was brought up to her neck suddenly, and it was so dangerously close that Kagome feared swallowing would cause her throat to graze the blade. The bearded man smiled proudly at his accomplishment and Hiten took this opportunity to peer into the bottle again. He turned it this way and that in his hands and read aloud on the bottle, "Souta: take twice a day with water." He grinned and tossed the bottle in the air before snatching it again, making Kagome almost lose her breath. "So it's probably not for you, huh? Souta doesn't sound like a girl's name. A father maybe? Or is it a brother? A lover?"
He was toying with her, waiting for her to talk or do something to scratch her neck on the blade. She knew he couldn't care less who Souta was. He seemed to pick up the fact that she wasn't responding, and asked, "So what is your name, pretty lady? And answer me. You'll regret it dearly if you don't."
"No." Kagome gasped as loudly as possible, her heart pounding a mile a minute. She was about to die anyways, so she might as well die with pride. Anyways, she wasn't half as worried about herself as she was about Souta. No one would take care of him now, and he would be sick, and so alone...
"Oh really? So will you still be so strong when I do...this?" Kagome watched with terror as the satisfied pirate threw the medicine she was treasuring so much flatly into the dark ocean. The 'splash' of the water sent Kagome's stomach on a mad flip-flop.
That was it...it was all over for them. Souta was as good as gone, as well as herself. Why bothered trying anymore? Pirates were really out to ruin the world...hers in particular.
She didn't hold back anymore as she screamed, "Nooooooo! How could you? HOW COULD YOU? I NEEDED that you bastard!"
Hiten's amused face was starting to bother her just then, so uncontrollably she slapped him one across the face with all her might. "I hate you!"
Okay, so now she was officially going to be tortured and beheaded.
"BITCH!" The bearded man shouted and lunged at Kagome after he saw what happened, but stopped halfway when Hiten held out a hand to stop him. Hiten had an intrigued look on his face, along with the red mark on his cheek.
"But Hiten," He asked worriedly at his partner's unusual behaviour, "She slapped you!"
"True." He nodded and turned back to face a now-panicking Kagome. "But just killing her now wouldn't be half as satisfying as taking her to our captain to be taken care of. Girl, you'll wish you were killed by us a hundred times rather than meet this guy."
The bearded man chuckled madly all of a sudden and gave Kagome a wicked smile. "Great idea, Hiten!"
Kagome gulped as they tugged her by the hair into their own tiny rowboat while muttering, "Come on, we're going someplace."
The bearded man tried hard to shade his mysterious smirk from Kagome as he started rowing, but he failed as she caught a clear glimpse of it. It was only making her more terrified. Was their captain as horrible as they described? But in a weird sort of way, Kagome now felt as if she could do anything...after all, Souta couldn't be helped anymore, so what was the point of carrying on herself when she was going to be living a guilt trip for the rest of her life alone?
But it would have been nicer if she could have said goodbye to him first...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After an awkward and uncomfortable boat ride with Hiten still holding the sword against her neck, Kagome found it was easier this time round to breathe, simply because he wasn't quite paying attention to her. His mind was noticeably on something else. Kagome had noticed that people liked to ignore her a lot...
"We're here."
They had drifted for a while and had slowly entered a grey fog. It was so thick that Kagome could barely make out anything. The only thing that stood out was the bright lights shining from the ship standing grandly before them. The music was blasting from the inside, and there were cheerful shouts and people singing drunk, from what it sounded like.
The bearded man tied the boat they were in to the large ship, and preceded to grab the rope ladder hanging from the side of the boat. If it were under normal circumstances, Kagome would have complained about it looking, 'quite unsafe.' But this was considered anything but normal.
"Follow me up the ladder." The bearded man demanded and started going up the wooden steps one at a time carefully, as if he was afraid to fall. Some pirate, killing people like mad and scared to fall into the water himself.
Deciding not to protest because she REALLY didn't want to be thrown into the ocean here, or anywhere, Kagome sadly obliged and grabbed the dangling rope ladder and followed the bearded man. Halfway up one of her hands slipped on the bars because it was slippery, and she ended up accidentally...well, sort of...whamming Hiten in the face with her shoe.
"What the...fuck? Bitch! I'd kill you right now if we weren't handing you over to Inuyasha, woman." He growled from beneath her, and from the tone in his voice it was more than enough to make her veins pop out.
Kagome didn't reply, and continued grumbling quietly to herself. 'I hate pirates...I hate them! They must be out to destroy my life because just when I think I'm lucky for making the last boat, pirates kill everyone on it except me so now I get to be special and sentenced to be killed by their insane captain! My day just keeps getting better...'
"What are you dreaming about up there? We don't have all day on this ladder!" Hiten called up rudely only to have Kagome ignore him one more time, as she continued to step up the ladder one step at a time painfully slow. The bearded man was long up at the top and looking down, a huge frown on his face.
"Oh yea, and I can see up your skirt from here..." Hiten added jokingly, and it seemed to work quite efficiently. Kagome stormed up the ladder immediately, or as quickly as she could manage with one hand doing the climbing and the other holding down the back of her skirt.
"Pervert." She mumbled as she brought her leg over the side of the boat.
He chuckled while jumping over the edge himself. "Nope. Just honest."
"Well, well. Look what Hiten dragged in..."
"What?" Kagome turned to locate the source of the voice, and saw what she thought was the only thing possibly worse than these pirates.
More pirates. All staring at her as if she was the first woman they had ever seen in their life. The loud music was still blaring, but the singing was long gone. Instead, around eighty pairs of eyes pierced into Kagome with interest.
"What'd you bring a woman on board for, Hiten? You should know they're bad luck!" A man hollered from the back of the crowd, but Kagome couldn't see his face. Then, he muttered ever so faintly, "One's bad enough as it is..."
He was cut off by a loud bang, followed by a pained groan. Kagome wasn't paying too much attention to it because she was too busy absorbing that piece of information. 'What did he say? There's another woman aboard? Maybe I can meet her and convince her to let me go...sounds crazy enough but it might just work.'
"I know why! He wants to keep her, bastard!" Another man shouted from the crowd. "You think WE don't want women with us? Why do you think you can have one with you?"
"Shut the fuck up, guys!" Hiten raised both hands in the air to quiet them slightly while Kagome just stood behind him to avoid the stares. "I don't want nothing to do with this bitch! She dared to slap me, so I'm handing her to Inuyasha to be taken care of!"
A sigh of relief was the reaction of the crowd of pirates.
"But Hiten...she's such a pretty one. Won't that be a waste?" Once again another man asked.
Kagome didn't know whether to feel complimented or to be frightened to her death just then.
"Nah." Hiten stared at her coldly. "Who likes violent women anyways?"
All the hands on the boat rose immediately.
"Knock it off, guys! Watch this..." He smiled and turned around to shove Kagome backwards with some force. She pushed right back at him instantly. "See? Wouldn't you guys just love to see Inuyasha take care of a girl like this? Who knows? She might just slap him back!"
Everyone on the boat roared out in laughter, including the bearded man from earlier and Hiten. Trying to use this time as a distraction, she peered over the side of the boat and was planning ways to jump into the tiny rowboat when...
"What's going on here?"
The group of pirates quieted in a matter of seconds as they noticed the arrival of a stern-looking man, with long black hair down to his back and a scabbard at his side, walk onto the deck from inside the boat. He noticed right away that everyone seemed to be surrounding Hiten and somebody else behind him, so he stalked right up to them. "Well, Hiten? What the hell is going on?"
"Well, Captain. We've got ourselves a troublemaker here. You see, this woman..." Hiten didn't seem to get a chance to finish his explanation.
"A woman?" Inuyasha growled suddenly and Kagome felt a firm hand wrap around her neck. "I thought I told you morons NOT to bring any women onto this ship!" He shoved Hiten aside with his arm to take a closer look at what wench he had chosen to bring aboard when his expression completely changed and he began to stare at her blankly.
Kagome's face had paled while he held her in the air by the neck without a care in the world, and he was being so rough with her already- battered body that she felt like defiance was probably out of the question.
It didn't help matters with Inuyasha screaming in her ear while shaking her around in the air to emphasize his point. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE? WHAT RIGHT DO YOU HAVE TO COME HERE TO FACE ME? BITCH!!!"
He was practically snarling now, ready to tear her apart with his hands. Kagome was so terrified now that she even started praying to the Gods for help. But why was he so angry with her? It was as if he had met her before on horrific terms. "I didn't...ask to come here..." She breathed out, "I was captured...and brought here..."
Sighing, Inuyasha dropped her, causing her to land on her stomach loudly, practically ripping the wood by the sound of it. "I don't want to hear it. Miroku! Sango!"
Two people ran out from amongst the group watching excitedly, and Kagome could tell from the legs of one of them that one was most likely a girl. Or a man with very feminine legs. "Yes, Captain?"
"Lock her in the dungeons. She'll be thrown off the plank tomorrow." He said firmly before taking his leave back into the room he came from.
Kagome was so worn out from the harassment throughout the day that she didn't even protest when the two people dragged her away by the arms.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
AN: So, how'd everyone like it? I would LOVE to get some feedback on this story, and I'm really hoping you guys like it. I have so much to go with this story and I'm really excited about writing it. ^_^
And let's all hope Inuyasha lightens up in the next chapter!
So please review, and until next time!
*~Sorena~*