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The Path of Pins
By : girltype
Category: InuYasha > General
Views: 7423 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, nor make money from this story.
Chapter List
- 5
- 6
- 7
AN: so last time when I said it would be a while before you got an update? I was lying. Though I hadn�t known it at the time. See, you guys reviewed and I just thought
to myself, �wow, I�ve got a lot of people waiting for this next chapter. Hmm.� and then my muse poked me and it
HURT. Cause she�s a bastard. Anyways so you can feel all good cause I
loved you enough to actually get off my lazy bum, quite the feat I tell you. Also some questions made me go �hm� and I
incorporated some of them into my story.
Feel cool yet? I love viewer
participation. Oh I have a plot outline
now, which is fun cause my characters can ignore it completely and play all
wonky with the timeline as they see fit.
But I wrote it out anyway, no one really knows why but it makes me feel
all accomplished.
I need a beta reader . . . if no one has noticed I suck at
it. And I need me a human springboard,
no fun without one of those.
Bleah.
So here�s your story . . . way ahead of schedule.
Your reviews are adored and worshipped and when particularly
eloquent immortalized in song.

The Path of Pins

Chapter 6

~*~
Women have
burnt like beacons in all the works of all the poets from the beginning of
time.
-Virginia Wolf
~*~
The ride
home was silent, I was too tired and sore to keep up conversation and Kohaku
was too busy eyeing my new necklace with a sour look on his face. I did my best to ignore it but eventually
found myself staring back at him with my lower lip protruding dangerously. We reached home and Kohaku helped me from
the carriage, while I did my best not to grimace at what the descent did to the
aches in my body.
�Kagome!� I looked up at the call and saw a guard waving a hand for us to
come to him.
�Naraku will be displeased with his lack of sophistication and deference to
rank.� Kohaku whispered in my ear,
smiling with a roll of his eyes.
�Only if someone tells him . . . and what rank?� I nodded for Kohaku to take my arm and lead me toward the doorway
the guard has disappeared into. I
looked up and saw a flash of light silvery purple. �Kanna,� I called quietly knowing she could hear me. I waited til I saw the small beautiful face
peak from around a corner and waved, smiling when she waved back solemly.
�We should spend more time with her,� Kohaku nodded to her and I agreed,
but we were to the guard and there wasn�t time for more talk.
�Lord Naraku wishes to see you and then its straight to bed, lady,� the
guard told me quietly.
�Thank you,� we swept past him and went to Naraku�s study. He was sitting behind a low desk, back
supported by silk pillows as he stared at a piece of parchment with narrowed
eyes. When we entered he looked up and
let his lips stretch slowly into the barest of smiles letting the parchment
fall onto a small stack of them.
�Kagome, my dear, how goes everything?�
�Everything goes well. Were you
aware that the thunder palace holds two shards?� He blinked.
�Two? Truly?�
�Yes,� I told him what I�d found out and what I hadn�t.
�So you only know where the one shard is?�
He asked, his face blank so that if there was any disappointment I
couldn�t tell.
�Hiten expressed the wish to see me again, and Monten has taken a liking to
me. It wouldn�t be hard to ask for a
tour of the estate.�
�You�ve done better then I could have hoped.� I beamed hiding it with a bow. �By the way we�ve been invited to
a fete tommorrow night. We�ll attend
late so you can rest. Which, in an around
about way brings me to your next task, which will have nothing to do with the
thunder brothers. You�ll see them again
soon enough.� I waited, knowing he
would go on. �Bordering the lands of
this estate are the Western Lands, as you know. The kingdom is powerful and the ruler Inutaisho is also
powerful. He is also in possession of
two sons.�
�I had thought he only had the one.�
I said softly going to kneel before Naraku�s desk as gracefully as
possible, Kohaku was a silent shadow behind me.
�Common misconception. Inutaisho�s
first wife died and was replaced by a human. He has one son by his first wife,
a full demon, and a hanyou by his second wife.
He claims to care for both but the eldest is the only one who can
inherit after his death, though he seems to favor the younger in all other
respects.�
�Who has the shards?� I asked trying hard not to think of the tension that
would be in such a home.
�None of them. You�ll be going in
search of information.� My eyes widened
and he caught the look. The idea of
going for anything but the shards made me nervous for no reason I could
say. �They are not far beyond our
borders, in fact one of their palaces is less then a days ride from ours,
though their lands stretch farther abroad.
It is not a happy home and I cannot afford to let any of their battles
spill over onto our lands. It is to
their home that we�ve been invited tommorrow.�
�Which am I to focus on?� I stared
at my folded hands.
�All of them if you can manage it, but it is the elder brother I am most
curious about. His name is
Sesshomaru. He�s a dog demon of
exceptional talents. He will be
difficult to get close to, I�m aware of that.
He spends very little time at any gatherings, there�s no certain way to
ensure you meet him.�
�How far from us is he?�
�The woods you played in as a child are half his father�s.�
�So close?� I looked up from my hands, I�d seen maps I just hadn�t
understood the sheer size of the Western Lands. �What do we know of how he spends his time?�
�He�s known to wander. It�s a bit
unpredictable and there�s no telling if he will come to the fete
tomorrow.� He picked up the parchments
he�d been staring at earlier and handed them to me. �These have what we know of him, general knowledge only. He does not spend much time in company and
rarely speaks. You�ll find this
difficult.�
�I will find a way.� I took the
parchments and rolled them carefully, feeling the rough pages move against the
sensitive pads of my fingertips. I
stood gracefully from where I knelt and bowed.
He nodded his permission for me to leave. At the door I paused and looked back. �What is the younger brother�s name?�
�Inuyasha.�
�Dog demon?� He nodded with a �hm.�
�Aristocratic assassin and Dog demon?� I asked again feeling my eyebrows raise
without my consent.
�Very accurate descriptions, I�m told.� My mouth formed an �oh� and I left,
the parchment suddenly feeling heavy in my hands. Kohaku followed me to my room, his footsteps a soft whisper in
the hall behind me. I stared at the
rolled parchment barely paying attention to the walls that passed me by, so
that when a hand touched my arm I jumped.
�Kagome,� I looked up at Kohaku.
�Yes?�
�Where were you going?� His eyes
were concerened and I couldn�t figure out why as I answered.
�My rooms of course.� He lifted an
eyebrow and quirked a smile.
�Then you�ve passed them,� he pointed over a shoulder with a thumb and
guided me around to the doors I�d passed without realizing. �Are you alright?�
I nodded loking at the shoji screen for a long moment before sliding it
open. Kohaku turned to leave but I
reached out for his arm, he froze at the touch of my fingers then turned. I don�t know why but the parchment made
something inside me ache and I needed some form of reassurance. He watched me and I threw my arms around his
neck. His arms wrapped around me and
his fingers weaved into my hair as I burried my face into the crook of his
neck.
I breathed in deep the smell of him, soft where Hiten�s had been hard and
strong, this was better I thought as I felt the pressure of a kiss on the top
of my head. I pulled away to look up at
him. Gently he brought his hands up to
wipe at tears, I hadn�t known were there, with calloused fingers. He cupped my cheeks and I swallowed. �Tell me what�s wrong.�
I shook my head and sniffed indelicately before forcing a smile. Something had changed inexplicably since
that morning, there was no reason I could point to but I knew it was
there. A difference that made my heart
squeeze as I looked up at my friend�s face.
�Nothing, I�m just tired. I should
go rest now.� He nodded and watched me
disappear into my room with bleak eyes.
I put the rolled up partchment on a low table in my study before going on
to my sleeping chambers. It was not
long before I was asleep and dreaming.

* * *
When I woke it was to the soft sounds of night creatures stirring outside
my window and with the confusion that
comes with sleeping at odd hours of the day.
There was something sitting on the edge of memory, a dream I couldn�t
bring into focus as I lay there studying the curves of my outstretched hand,
the soft light skin, the long elegant fingers anything not of the strange world
I had woken into. Staying in bed was
tempting but there was something I needed to do.
I rolled from the bed and stood, pulling robes on to keep off the soft
chill that had crept into my room. The
parchment laid there waiting for me. I
paused, staring at it not understanding the dread pulling at my gut, the same
place where I felt the shards of the Shikon no Tama call to me. Shaking myself with a snort and a frown I
picked up the parchment and sat cross legged on some pillows. My aches had calmed and it was not as
painful as I had expected it to be.
Unfurling the paper I took in the rolling smooth lines recognizing Kagura�s
sure hand before taking in the meanings of the kangis that they made. The first half was a sad story that brought
the second half into perspective.
Sesshomaru�s mother had died when he was twently, still very young, an
adolescent in the growth time of demons, by all accounts they had been
close. He had not been particularly
close to his father, which was not unusual with lords and their heirs. From what could be told Inutaisho took his
mate�s death badly, but his morning did not last long before he found some
solace in the arms of concubines, many of them. A fact that his grieving son did not take kindly to, the true
rift came, however, when the concubines stopped being requested and Inutaisho
found something more permenant to hold the grieg at bay, if he even still felt
it.
A hime, a beautiful one, had caught his attention. It was not long before they were married,
dashing convention in a mixed species breeding, a second whife who couldn�t
help the resentment of her step-son for taking his mother�s place. A child was not far behind, a half human
half dog demon whelp for the first son to hate, more so when Inutaisho had no
qualms showing his preference for his new families company.
Sesshomaru hated humans, believed them to be below himself, though when
standing in for his father he always threated their human allies with courtousy
as was proper. He was quiet and
withdrawn but intelligent. The
parchment was full of things that he had managed to accomplish by the time he
came into adulthood.
The rest were odds and ends, a dry physical description: white hair, gold
eyes, tall. He used acid from his
claws, could form a whip, and transformed into a huge dog and was adept at
using all three in a fight, as well as weapons of a more mundane nature.
Not particularly interested in his military history and training I stopped
there and stretched out muscles gone stiff and sighed. This would not be easy. Sesshomaru�s entire past would be working
against me and I would need to find a way to attract his genial attention
despite it.
If his father disliked me he might be tempted to make my aquaintance just
for spite, but I doubted it. It would
also not due to incure such a negative impression from a man so powerful. Nor would I enjoy Naraku�s emarrassment from
what I would have to do to make such a man, who showed a propensity for loving
any and all women, to dislike a woman of my profession.
I kept hearing Naraku saying how Sesshomaru was known to wander, that his
home was so close to our. The forest I had
disappeared into so many times during my childhood was also a part of his
lands.
I would have to be something new; something that would spark curiousity,
enough that I wouldn�t be written off as just one more human. He wandered. The thought stuck and I smiled suddenly; so had I on occasion. My
eyes moved to the window, a breeze stirred the leaves of a tree in the
distance. The moon hung low and full
bathing the land in a soft ghostly day.
I would be able to see well enough even under the thick branches that made
up the ceiling of the forest. I�d done
it before; slipping out my window, past gaurds, over the defence walls, and
into the forest. There was nothing
stopping me tonight.
Better to think, I told myself, but partly I did this just because I knew I
could and because there was a danger in it.
I dressed quickly, tying a soft grey kimono about me, no one would see me
so there was no need for anything elaborat.
I dressed to keep out the light chill, but nothing else. I did not wear shoes, I enjoyed the feel of
grass and dirt beneath my feet and it made climbing trees easier.
I stuck my head out the window and saw no gaurds or any other eyes turned
my way. Kohaku would be asleep in his
own rooms so I wouldn�t need to worry about him. I had been studying, at Naraku�s insistance, tumbling. It kept my body limber and my figure slim,
it also made what would come next ver easy.
So I slipped out the window feet first, my feet touching down on the
earth silently.
Shadows touched the estate cast by the moon, I kept to them knowing most
demon eyes would be able to see me nonetheless. It didn�t take long to reach the wall where a tree had grown
close to it. Naraku had never worried
about the proximity, why should he? It
was the getting in he was worried about, not the getting out.
The climb was easy, toes finding purchase as hands pulled me up. The only hard part was getting to the wall
and down it. The tree wasn�t close
enough to go from trunk to fence, so I had to walk on a branch just barely thick
enough to hold my weight and hop to the wall.
There was a trick to aiming my body so that I landed in the crevase made
by the two gigantic trunks meetin, between the sharp points they were carved
into to keep such occurances from happening.
I wobbled, the crevase tight and squeezing the pads of my feet
uncomfortably, I grabbed with my right hand a spike, grimacing when the wood
bit into the palm of my hand. Quickly
before anything else happened, like my falling, I angled my body to hang from
the edge letting myself drop. My body
folded into a crouch to absorb the shock of impact and then I stood. Looking up and up at the distant peaks of
the fence I smiled with satisfaction at having navigated my way successfully
from the estate. If Naraku didn�t discover
my departure and send a guard for me I would have to go back in at a completely
different part of the fence. A part
where a funny angle of rock had forced them to go around it, moving in a sharp
angle inward before straightening out again.
I could wedge my body into it and use the leverage between feet and back
to lift myself.
Sometimes I thought of telling my lord about the weaknesses in in his
defences but I never did. My forays
into the outside world would be abruptly put to an end. No fun in that.
I glanced around me, I was in a blind spot from the guard towers, which was
why the tree was so convinient. No
alarms, nothing to give away any sign of distress at my leaving, so I started
off towards the forest. There was the
chance between fence and forest that I could be seen so I went quickly and let
a breath out when I reached the trees that closed in around me �til I could no
longer see the palace.
How long before I reached Inutaisho�s lands? I didn�t know. The
thought froze me in my tracks. Why
would I go to his lands? What could eb
accomplished sneaking into another lord�s forest?
Something whispered that I knew exactly what I was doing. That I knew the why of it too. I did, though I hadn�t conciously thought
about it; wouldn�t let myself. I wanted
to run into Sesshomaru, it would certainly set me apart from other women; by
sheer audacity if nothing else.
Fine, I thought, I�ll just run over to his side of the woods and
relax. No actual running around in it,
no searching, just waiting. If he came
by, all the better, if not I got to see some new scenery. It was decided and I set off towards where
I knew the Western lands met my own, directionally at least.
Trees towered above me as moonlight made its way through leaves to dapple
the forest floor. Silver outlined my
pale feet as I set them carefully among twigs, roots, and rocks, they were
scraped and bruised soon enough anyway.
I was in a part of the forest I didn�t know, pushing a bit further I deemed
it far enough and stopped. I had bever
been a proper woman so slipping into the forest unescorted and barefoot didn�t
bother me, it was unusual for most women but there was something else that
would be even stranger. I climbed a
tree, the trunk stretched up and up and I climbed a good ways before I found a
limb that would hold my weight and settled on it to wait; one barefoot
dangling, the other pulled up tight to my chest.
What guided me that night I didn�t know but it let me true. I glimpsed white between the trees almost
instantly. I knew he was coming. He broke through the massive trunks, a great
hulking figure that moved with a speed and grace the was at complete odds with
such bulk. Running through the forest
was a great white dog.
He raced between trees, snapping idly at the heels of deer, shifting and
twisting as he went aroung and through.
The animals of the forest ran from him but he barely paid them any
attention.
He wasn�t hunting them. He was
hunting the moon, the breeze, the very night itself.
The muscles along his sides rippled, shining in the feeble silver light
that fell through the leaves, like chinks in armor. I had, in my life, seen lords and ladies, demons and humans; each
more beautiful than the last. I had
been given jewelry handcrafted out of flawless gems, been showered with every
flower inhabiting Japan, Naraku had denied me nothing. I had beheld the shining shards of the
Shikon no Tama, but I had never seen anything that could rival this.
He moved like water over rocks, shifting and turning never breaking stride,
just flowed. I longed to hee his human
form dance. Then he stopped in
mid-boung, every muscle bunching and releasing with the strain of arresting all
movement. Slowly his head turned and it
was level with my body.
Not moving, the sheer side of him was daunting.
His eyes were as red as blood, fresh spilled on snow. Stripes of the same ran in jagged lines down
each cheek and for a split second I felt a bolt of fear roil my stomach and
then he shifted. Shrinking before my
eyes into something almost human.
I had though his full demon shape to be beautiful, I was wrong. No one would ever mistake him for a human, a
woman possibly, but never a human.
At the base of my tree stood a man that, if I was standing on the florest
floor, would easily tower over me. His
hair was like goossamer in moonlight, the color of snow untouched and untainted
bu the living world, it fell past his knees in silken waves. Along his cheeks, instead of the great
jagged lines, ran two stripes on each side, smooth and straight, clams where
the other was wild, a sharp contrast against such pale skin. Dark and perfect on his forehead was a blue
crescent, a moon in it waining, a symbol of his rank. Not even Hiten, a lord and powerful demon in his own right, had
possessed such a mark. Sesshomaru, it
had to be him, walked to stand beneath my tree and looked up, his bearing as
obvious a stamp of his lordship at the crescent.
�What are you doing in my forest, woman?�
His voice was deep and dark, and I stared for a moment taking the sound
in. I blinked before I gathered around
myself my last wits and smiled.
�Enjoying the vie, my lordship.�
With a very pronounced sort of dignity I climbed down from my
perch. Feeling his eyes boring into my
back, taking in the smooth flow of limbs as I descended what should have been a
difficult climb for any woman. When I
was on the ground I turned. He was
indeed towering over me, I had to crain my neck to look at his face. I noticed for the first time the stripes on
his eyelids, like liner, the color of blood in water. The color hard to see in the moonlight. It was like a physical pain, the desire to move my fingertips, as
soft as a whisper, along that skin.
Where was my poise, the calm cool I had been taught to use to handle my
patrons? Apparently he had so much
there was none left for myself, for he stood there silently watching. His face more impassive then mountains in
the distance.
The moonlight washed his eyes but I had the impression of shattered flass
and fall leaves.
With nothing left I dipped into a curtsie, an elegant move that raised one
dark eyebrow. �I am kagome, your
lordship, of the house of Higurashi.� Understanding seemed to dawn.
�You are Naraku�s . . . courtesan?� The word dripped from his mouth like it
left a sour taste on his tongue, like he wanted to say something else less
pleasant.
�You would be correct. My lord has
heard of me?� I couldn�t help the smile
or the simper.
�You have been mentioned in this Sesshomaru�s presence.� He took a step closer and my neck was starting
to ache. �This does not explain your
presence in this forest.�
�It�s a very nice forest,� I said with a slow elegant shrug that said
absolutely nothing.
�And a servant is allowed to traipse into another lord�s territory as they
wish now?�
�I am not a normal servant.�
�And your escort, who has also meen mentioned? Where is he?� I put a
slender finger to my lips and smirked.
�I am in my room, sleeping soundly and not to be disturbed.� That raised
another eyebrow.
�You do not fear for your master�s reputation or your safety?�
�I am a courtesan, my master�s reputaion is fixed on the subject of myself
one way or another in the eyes of his peers already for my service.�
�And yourself?�
�I like risks,� I said breathily.
�They make life,� my eyes trailed slowly down his form and then to the
forest, �more interesting.�
I looked back at him, his eyes were fixed on my hand tha thad found its way
to my hair. I wound a lock through my
fingers, letting it slide against my skin.
His face never changed but it was the look in his eyes as they followed
the movements that made me realize he could be mine.
He had no idea just how close he was, but he would be more surely then any
other who I would someday entertain. My
eyes would haunt his dreams, coy blue sapphires looking through black
lashes. He would wake wondering what my
lips would feel like along his skin.
All that was left to me was to cultivate that desire.
I smiled
gently and ran my tongue along my bottom lip.
His eyes followed the movement and then something very much like disgust
marred his face for a split second.
Disgust at himself.
Perhaps this would be a bit harder then I had anticipated. Obstacles still littered the path that I was
taking. �It is late,� he said softly,
his jaw hard as he dragged his eyes from my hair.
�It is,� I agreed and nodded. �I should probably go before anyone realizes
my absense.� Neither of us moved and I
bit my lip. �If you could . . .� he
raised an eyebrow and I glared before I could stop myself. �If you could don�t mention this if you
ever happen to see my lord.� Sesshomaru
opened his mouth and I had the impression that I wouldn�t like what he was
going to say but he stopped and nodded.
I watched him through my lashes as I added, �since we�ll be at the fete
tomorrow I appreciate it.�
He said nothing so I left, holding my tongue on anything else I would like
to say. It was enough for now. If I didn�t hurry the sun would be starting
to rise to see me steal back to my room.
Along with everyone else in the estate.
I looked back once to see him still there, a shock of white agains the dark
colors of the forest. Then I turned
with a smile, I had a party to prepare for.
We would see if he came or not.
- 5
- 6
- 7
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The Path of Pins	By : girltype Category: InuYasha > General Views: 7423 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, nor make money from this story.

The Path of Pins

The Path of Pins

Chapter 6