Red Strings of Fate
Chapter 9
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*Thoughts*
[Character]
~* Chapter 9 *~
[Jaken]
I watched the woman child as she absently fingered a lacy
leaf. Yawning audibly, I shifted my weight to rest against the staff of heads I
had with me. A year ago, that would have earned me a wilting glance and a
retort. But this lady, this composed creature, paid me no more mind than
path, deep in her own thoughts. I sighed to myself, wishing that this was all
over, wishing that she was properly wed and bedded, so that I might return to
She lifted a blossom to her face, smelled it,
*How could such a weak creature have attracted
still stung from the dressing down I had gotten that day, so long ago. And yet,
not a week later he was looking for a husband for the girl.
*He just took my idea and used it.*
I grumbled at the unfairness of it. I closed my eyes, letting a smirk light my
face. *Yes, yes. I am the genius right hand of the feared Inu
Lord of the Western Lands.*
*Except when I must baby sit Rin,*
I amended. I glowered darkly at my charge. *One more week,* I reminded myself.
Then I could return to my master.
*He must be doing horribly without me,* I thought, fretting
over it.
I came out of my musings to find myself alone. Cursing
purple kimono.
Behind me I heard a rustle. Relieved that I would not have
to face Sesshoumaru-sama's wrath again, I turned
around to reprimand her.
[Rin]
I closed my eyes and let the light breeze caress my cheeks.
Gratitude for Toushi-san welled up in my heart.
Although he had not understood my need to say my final good byes to the forest
trails, he had allowed me to go. With only Jaken
there to guard me, I felt almost as free as I once had been.
Fingering the fang under my kimono, I smiled softly as I
mocked myself. No matter what he did, no matter if I never saw him again, I
would always love Sesshoumaru.
The opposite applied to Toushi-san.
No matter what he did, no matter if I lived with him for the rest of my life, I
would not love him as a woman loves a man. Once he had kissed me, and I had
been surprised and relieved to find it pleasant. If his touch paled next to
A noise on the path behind me, a small pffffft
like escaping air, jogged me out of my revere. Turning, I found
stocky man punching his stomach repeatedly. The sound I had heard came from
between the burly man's fingers. The man increased his grip on
eyes to show white in fear.
Jaken's swollen, buggy eyes rolled
to me, and a scream started in my throat. Before I could release it, sleek
hands covered my mouth and encircled the back of my neck.
"Remember me?" a cruel, triumphant voice cooed
into my ear.
Before my eyes, the burly man adjusted his grip on
met his mud brown ones. He made sure he had my undivided attention,
disgust and fear. Then, as simple as a child removing a doll's head, he twisted
Jaken's neck with a sickening, gut wrenching,
making the dislocated vertebrae give a hideous shriek as they ground against
one another. His smile widened at the horror in my eyes, at the shock that
drained the color from my skin.
I watched the way Jaken's head
flopped, his eyes still trained on me. A terror filled whimper escaped between
the fingers covering my mouth, and suddenly I was tearing at them in wild
instinct, the taste of bile rising in my throat.
Somehow the owner of the hands sensed my need, for he let me
go. Released, I could only stagger a couple paces before I lost my breakfast in
the bushes. By the time my dry heaving subsided, the leader had me by the back
of the neck again.
His fingers dug cruelly into the veins in my neck and I
could feel the hatred rolling off of him like waves of smoke. It rose around
me, snarling at my ankles, snaking its way up between my thighs as a draft of
damp, chilly air. Straining my neck, I looked down to find that he had hooked
one hand under the end of the kimono. Terrified, sickened, my eyes flashed up
to his. The intent I read there chilled me to my core.
I began to fight in earnest, clawing at his eyes, using my
elbows against any soft tissue I could find. The stocky man secured my ankles
with some difficulty, receiving a few good kicks in his stomach and groin.
Cursing, he drew a dagger, threatening to cleave both feet
from my body. The burly man laughed as if it was the greatest joke in the
world, and asked the leader if he would be allowed a turn.
"In a moment Fuge.
I believe the "lady" still owes me a kiss." He
creature on earth.
I knew that voice. And I knew why I was the focus of his
deep hatred. I had escaped him once, but this time there was no
The leader was Lord Tergan.
He spun me around, telling the burly man to hold me.
Obligingly Fuge wrapped his trunk-like arms around
me, pinning my arms to my side. I kicked but it was fruitless, and when I tried
to bloody his nose by hitting it with the back of my head, all I did was thump
his upper chest. Frustrated, I let out a piercing scream, knowing no one was
around to hear it.
Tergan took my face between thumb
and finger, quelling Fuge's laughter with a look.
Smoothing my mussed hair away from my face, he evaluated it mockingly before he
spat on me, leaving a trail of saliva down my cheek. The burly man laughed
again and covered my mouth.
"I would sooner kiss a pig," he insulted me. The
stocky man, boiling in rage, stalked up to place the dagger at my throat.
"You hate the bitch, right? So let me kill her!"
"No," Tergan quelled the
man's anger. To emphasize his point, he cuffed the man soundly. "I make
the decisions here."
He turned to me. "And I say leave her as a little
present for Sesshoumaru." His grin was evil,
tinged with lust, and entirely without regret or guilt. Fear shot through me
like a fire tipped arrow and I struggled again, even though I knew it was
futile. I bit into Fuge's fingers, tasting something
foul. He laughed again, unbothered by my efforts.
Tergan turned to the stocky man
and yanked the dagger from him. Taking it, he slit the skirt of the kimono all
the way up to the waist, bearing my legs and lower belly to the world. A
satisfied, hungry look came over his face, and I fought harder, succeeding in
leaving a bruise on his lower arm from my kick. Anger replaced his
satisfaction, but the hungry look in his eyes did not go away.
"Hold her Fuge
promised. When the stocky man whined, Tergan threw
the dagger at him. The stocky man juggled it clumsily, nicking his fingers
before he had a firm grasp on it.
Then Tergan turned his attention
back to me, and I knew he was going to rape me. My stomach rolled in fear, and
unbidden a name rose to my lips.
*Sesshoumaru...*
I remembered the fang strung about my neck, and tried to
tame my panic. If I could get free; maybe, maybe I would be able to summon
help.
*If he'll come as he promised* I thought with despair.
*He will, he gave his word* another side of me said
confidently.
Rough hands worked their way up my shins, creeping along my
knees, pinching my thighs. Frantically I opened my mouth and said the first
thing that came to mind.
"You're afraid of me," I stuttered. *He's afraid
of me?!* I berated myself.
But he paused, eying me with distrust.
"Why would I be scared of you?" He leered
assuredly.
I thought fast. I needed a way to get free.
"Why do you need them then?" I nodded at the
stocky man, indicating his thugs.
"I don't," he growled.
"You do. Because you are a coward," I shot back.
His jaw clenched. "Let her go, Fuge."
The burly man humphed, and dropped
me. Tergan grabbed the front of my kimono, shaking me
angrily before throwing me down on the ground. The impact sent a shock through
my shoulder blades, bruising my spine.
Instinct took over and I scrambled away on all fours, right
before Tergan's boot connected with a solid thud
against my ribs. The second kick caught me in the belly with a strange, wet
squish. I curled into a ball, the pain shooting up my throat. I began to cough
up blood, but that did not stop the kicks that landed against my forearms,
against my spine, against the base of my neck.
Amidst it all, I tried to cry out for help, tried to scream.
Instead, they came out as gurgles through the clotting blood, choking me into
silence. My whimpers seemed to anger him, because he stopped kicking me, opting
instead to stretch me out on the ground. Sitting on my stomach, he began to
slap my cheeks open handedly, snapping my head back and forth as he worked out
his anger. The sounds were loud, frightening to my traumatized ears, and I
involuntarily let out a moan.
That infuriated him, and he fisted his hands, raining down
blows on my bared face and arms as I struggled to protect myself.
Fuge grunted again. "I want
some life left in her when I get her."
Tergan glared up at him, but his
harsh retort died in his throat. He spat on me again, then
climbed off of me. Taking my legs in a bruising grip, he spread them, bending
my knees to allow him better access.
I tried fight, tried to get away, but my beaten body moved
stiffly, slowly, too late.
Large, rough, dirty fingers probed my nether regions. A
nervous, terrified shiver racked my body. Tears leaked from my eyes. My
whimpers grew stronger. I imagined what was coming, and my bravery failed me.
*He's going to take me* I thought.
My hand came up to clench around the fang at my throat in a
futile gesture, seeking comfort from its weight.
He withdrew one hand, holding open my folds as he guided
himself to my opening with the other. As he speared into my dry, tender sheath,
my hand spasmed, driving the fang deep into my palm.
As he forced himself through my hymen, an echo of my terror built, feeding on
my sorrow and pain. That echo became a scream, and that scream became a name.
As Tergan begin to pound his
enlarged member into me with the gut wrenching sound of flesh slapping against
flesh, I shouted that name.
"SESSHOUMARU!!!"