Amethyst Visions

Ok, the first few chapters are going to be establishing a backstory, so they'll probably be dense. I'm trying to cut it down so it's easier to get through and not tedious, but it's a necessary thing for bringing in a new character like this. It should pick up in the next chapter. Please review and rate!

Disclaimer: I own Kaiya and nothing else because I am a poor college student who reads and writes fanfiction instead of manga.

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The now dormant and rusty Tessaiga’s blade lie at Kaiya’s pale throat, though she did not move away from it or show fear in her amethyst eyes as they looked upon the fuming hanyou. The blade would not transform, as much as its wielder desired it to. The others looked on, frightened, unsure what to do. “Explain.” Inuyasha was uncharacteristically calm, his voice cold and resembling more of his half-brother at that moment than he would ever admit to.

The princess defied him, her own eyes demanding him to step down without so much as a twitch or change in her facial muscles. And while Inuyasha was an icy calm under barely concealed fury, she was a warm calm as if she sat indifferently in the depths of nature with only her thoughts to amuse her. Slowly the blade withdrew, making a soft hiss as it was sheathed once more by its owner’s side.

“How is that possible? Naraku is a hanyou, and you’re only human,” Kagome eyed her wearily as she watched the exchange between the two with growing unease.

Only then did the princess venture forth, unwilling to have anything demanded of her by a sword’s edge. Her gaze flickered over to the eighteen year old brunette. “Naraku was human when I was born. But he was not Naraku then.”

Miroku, who had regained his senses and now sat a few feet away from the others with a contemplative look on his face. “That would have been over fifty years ago. And you are only-” his gaze slid to Sango’s before they returned almost guiltily to the beautiful princess, “I mean you can be no older than our friend Kagome.”

“I don’t care how fucking old she is, I just want to know where-”

“Sit!” Frustrated herself, Kagome sent the dog demon smashing into the wooden floor. They would get nowhere with the girl if Inuyasha threatened her at every turn.

“You have killed my guards and broken into my home. What is it you want of my father?” This time it was Kaiya who seemed weary as the tension grew. The woman in the back gripped her hiraikotsu, the hanyou growled angrily from his position prostrate on the floor, and even the monk fingered his staff absently, as if they were all expecting her to attack them at any moment. “My father is a kind man, if you have come to hurt him-”

Bewilderment flashed through the group’s face at the sincerity in the princess’s voice, the concern on her porcelain features. Inuyasha pushed himself off the ground, flashing angry gold eyes at Kagome before he scoffed, “Kind? Kind?! That fucker has done more to hurt every living soul he can find than a thousand demons! All he cares about is his own twisted delight and power, and he’ll destroy everyone to get what he wants!”

Silencing him with a look, Kagome interjected, “We can’t stay here. And without your guards, you’re helpless here. Come with us.”

“I have no reason to trust you,” Kaiya responded softly, pulling her hands away from the girl who reached out to grasp them.

“And we can’t trust you, not the spawn of Naraku,” huffed the silver-haired demon, crossing his arms in protest.

“Inuyasha, I agree with Kagome. It is best she comes with us,” Sango voiced, flashing a meaningful look and sending a silent message amongst the group. It would be beneficial to have someone with them who would possibly know of Naraku’s plans. And if nothing else, the girl seemed important to their enemy, which meant she was important to their cause.

Miroku smiled at the princess reassuringly. “I promise you, Princess Kaiya, we will allow no harm to befall you while you are with us. But it is too dangerous for you to remain stranded in the mountains.”

Several minutes passed as conflicting emotions flickered across Kaiya’s face. With great difficulty she accepted his outstretched hand, allowing the monk to bring her to her feet. Though small in stature, the concealed curves beneath her silken kimono were not lost to the monk as he grasped her body in his arms and only a venomous look from his companions kept him from sliding his hands down her form as he released her with a grin. Kagome came up behind her, placing her hand in a comforting position on the girl’s back as they led her out the doors and into the cool night air, following the growling hanyou.

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Kaiya sat silently on a rotted log, her large amethyst eyes lost as they stared in amazement up at the morning rays of light illuminating the morning sky. They had all walked in silence throughout the night, the others desperate to put as much space between Naraku’s hidden palace and themselves as possible. Now they had stopped to cook breakfast and rest, and the princess had watched the sun rise for the first time.

“I’ve never seen anyone so interested in the sky before,” Kagome teased as she joined the girl. Already a small fire was blazing with a pot of water boiling for ramen. It had escaped no one’s attention how consumed the princess was, but as she turned her attention from the sky to look upon Kagome, her eyes were glistening with unshed tears and a soft smile upon her lips.

“I have never seen the sky before,” Kaiya’s voice was soft and beautiful, echoed in the voices of the birds flittering above their heads in the treetops. At the befuddled look given her, she continued, “I was never allowed to leave the palace. Father had enemies, it wasn’t safe.”

A glimmer of understanding shone in Kagome’s eyes. “That’s why he gave you your own garden within the walls.” But why would Naraku care if a human girl, even if it was his daughter, saw the sky?

A brief nod was her confirmation. “He visits as often as he can, always with gifts and smiles of apology for being gone so long.” Her eyes slid back to the sky beyond the treetops.

“Kaiya, who is your mother?” Kagome asked softly, not wanting to break the peaceful trance that had descended upon the group to momentarily ease the unrest and tension. She had so many questions, as she knew the others did as well.

They thought never to get an answer but then with a soft smile, Kaiya spoke. “She was the daughter of the daimyo. She fell in love with a boy from the village, but my grandfather wished her to marry to a wealthy daimyo in the neighboring province. When she refused and said she was going to marry the boy and was with his child, in his fury, my grandfather had his soldiers beat the boy and exiled him from the province.” The soft smile had left, to leave the girl troubled as the images replayed in her mind.

“Naraku,” Kagome whispered, trying to picture their greatest foe as the main player in a forbidden love story.

Kagome’s only acknowledgement she had spoken was the soft flicker of agreement in Kaiya’s eyes. “He became a bandit, raiding the countryside to obtain riches so one day he could return for my mother and me. Ashamed, father locked my mother away so no one would find out of her pregnancy, and then he planned to marry her off as if nothing had happened. She died when I was born, and father never forgave my grandfather for it. Grandfather cared more of his pride than his daughter. Father swore revenge; that some day he would become powerful enough to take me away.”

Inuyasha’s ears had perked up, wanting answers as much as anyone, though he sat against a tree on the opposite end of camp with his arms crossed and trying to look vaguely disinterested. Upon the death of the mother, his golden eyes glanced at the grass beneath him, trying to avoid the emotions that flickered in his thoughts of the death of his own mother.

Miroku had approached the girls and leaned upon a tree beside them in interest of the story. It was so different than what he would imagine from their enemy. But he could see the correlation. “And so Onigumo sought to become rich and become a demon, so he could have the power to enact revenge and get you back. But then he hid you away so no one would ever know of you.”

“I was three years old when my father returned for me as a demon. I know my grandfather cared for me and raised me as his own after my mother died. It was repentance for his guilt.” Idly she began to thread her fingers through the long blades of grass at her feet. “Ever since my father has fought to ensure such a fate does not happen to anyone else.”

No one missed the loud snort that emerged from the hanyou. “Yeah, right. The woman he loved died, and so Naraku went out of his way ever since to destroy every ounce of happiness anyone else could have, including hiding his own daughter so she could never see the sunlight.”

“My father would never do such a thing!” Kaiya rose indignantly, facing against Inuyasha. “He has shown nothing but love and kindness to me. He only kept me hidden to keep me safe.”

Inuyasha rose to his feet, his anger rising to override hers. Miroku rose to place a hand on Inuyasha’s shoulder to calm him. “It doesn’t matter now. Once word spreads that Naraku has a child, all of his enemies will come for you. And he has many.”

Uncertainty flashed in Kaiya’s amethyst orbs. Her father had given his word, and she had never had doubt of his honesty to her. But she could see it in the faces of those around her, the sincerity. Even Inuyasha’s anger was not something to be forced or faked. With troubled silence, the princess sat gingerly once again on the log, pushing aside the doubts wanting to plague her mind. She loved her father, she would never distrust him.

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A week had passed, and the group continued to navigate through the forested mountains with hardly a rest and no sightings of youkai. “Inuyasha, this is ridiculous. We need to rest!” Kagome protested as evening began to descend.

“I agree with Kagome, Inuyasha. We should make camp while it is still light enough to find a safe spot,” Sango voiced her opinion as she slid down a slight rock face with a grimace. They were all exhausted, and at moments like these only too happy that they had gotten Shippou to stay with Kaede when they left the village three weeks ago. As adorable as the kit was, he had a habit of aggravating Inuyasha, who was already on the verge of snapping, despite or perhaps because of how their newest member acclimated to the group. But the hanyou had calmed considerably over the past two days.

“So I take it you’ll start complaining, too?” Inuyasha snapped at the princess, who had thus far never remarked one way or the other to the conditions of their journey, though it was obviously not something she would be accustomed to.

One ebony eyebrow raised in amused question. “Should I?” Kaiya responded, noting the grunt of approval he made. He was impressed with how well she handled the physical exertion, though he would never admit it.

Scenting the air suddenly, Inuyasha gave a growl and withdrew Tessaiga with a flourish. “Sesshoumaru.”

Without preamble, Lord Sesshoumaru slowly emerged from the tree line, his cold golden eyes impassionedly taking in their newest member. For a moment something flashed in his eyes, quick enough to be discounted as the imagination, but something there nonetheless. “Why am I not surprised that you have acquired yet another human, Inuyasha?” His eyes slowly trailed down the silk kimono and lack of weapon with something akin to bored amusement. “And your wenches continue to get even more fragile than the previous.”

Stepping forward, Kaiya did not lose ground as she stared defiantly back at the lord and she pointedly took in the demon’s appearance, the delicate features, the silken flow of silver hair, the expensive kimono beneath his armor, making her silent retort obvious that she was not alone in appearing out of her element. Certainly the man was handsome, but the cold arrogance was not something which appealed to her. “I am Princess Kaiya, and you will address me as such, not as ‘wench,’ ‘bitch,’ or any other belittling title you could give me. Being a demon makes you no better and no worthier than any human, hanyou, or squirrel,” Kaiya’s amethyst eyes flashed in anger.

Sesshoumaru’s eyes bled red in fury and his arm snapped out to grasp around her slim, ivory throat. He lifted her a foot off the ground so his crimson eyes bore into her stunning amethyst orbs. For the Lord of the Western Lands to lose his indifferent countenance and so quickly was a frightening sight, and Inuyasha gripped the Tessaiga tighter in his grasp, ready to strike. With a snarl, Sesshoumaru growled, “You will address me with respect, bitch.”

Kaiya did not struggle against him, nor did she do more than grasp his hands, not in panic, but to steady her dangling form as her breath was cut off. Without a word, she kicked out, her foot connecting squarely in Sesshoumaru’s groin. With a grunt, he dropped her, and to his credit, he did not double over at the painful impact. “You must earn my respect. And I will certainly not give it to one who does not deserve it, especially when he shows me none.”

Golden eyes narrowed, but for a brief moment respect for her boldness joined the anger as the two merely stared at one another. “You approach my lands. I suggest you not linger,” Sesshoumaru finally spoke to the others, though his eyes never left the princess. Without another word, he turned and disappeared as quickly as he came into the trees.

Silence was broken by the sheathing of Tessaiga, followed by a snort of laughter from their hanyou. “I’ve never seen anything like that before. The look on his face!” he trailed off laughing. Stepping forward, he clapped her on the shoulder, showing the most warmth he had since she had joined the group. "Come on, we'll break for camp."