Where My Heart Lies

Lily let the cumbersome door close behind her. It was strange. Anyone would have thought that the door would have slammed, with it being so heavy. Instead, Teinosuke had done something with the engineering of the joints so that it always closed whisper-quiet. Lily shivered slightly. The pale yellow kimono she wore was thin, and the door closed off the warm air that wafted throughout the keep. The dungeon was always cold. She had been sent, rarely, to tend to the masters 'pet' within the past month, and always for short periods of time. The lynx demoness spoke little to the human, preferring to avoid discussion at all after their first encounter. After the master had returned, she hadn't really been needed to attend to the girl, but some faint hope still drove her to make sure that it was she that brought food to the human. It was easier then to bring something extra, to keep the girl's strength up. There had not been another chance to discuss the option of escape. But now the master was off hunting again.

Lily had felt a little ashamed of her behavior previously. After all, wasn't she in a similar position as the girl? Well, it wasn't the exact same. After all, Lily was in a much higher ranking to say the least. Kept against their will, they both needed each other to escape. The lynx demoness's lip curled in distaste. To think that she would need help from a human. Staring down the dark and narrow stairway, she sighed. Sitting on the step, Lily contemplated her actions. She had been watching the girl, sneaking down after the master had finished with his pet and the girl had passed into unconsciousness. Each time, the demoness had felt a swell of pity for the girl.

And yet, part of her still recognized something. A strength, a drive. A will to live, and something more. Power. It wasn't something that any human she knew of had. Placing her head in her hands, she sighed again. Am I really going to put my life in a girls hands? Lily raised her head, her slitted eyes glazed as she contemplated everything that could go wrong. A clink and scrape roused her from herself. Her ears pricked as the noises continued.

The human was trying to escape. Lily rose and stared into the darkness, somewhat stunned. The master had come out glazed with sweat, with relish and excitement gleaming in his eyes. There was no doubt in Lily's mind that the Master had made every attempt to beat the young woman within an inch of her life. And still she was attempting to escape? Straightening, Lily made her steeled her resolve. Picking up the bundle she had brought with her and lighting the tallow, she descended the stone staircase.

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Kagome winced as the pressure of the manacle crushing the small bones in her hand increased until she could no longer stand it. She relaxed again with a clink of metal. Despite her best efforts, and obvious weight loss, she was unable to pull her hands free of the irons. After a month of Teinosuke's company, with mental and physical torment, border lining the torture she had read of in her history books, she had nearly been completely broken. She cowered now whenever she heard anyone coming down the stone stairs, conditioned to hide from the blows from weapon or hand.

While the physical beatings were alternated between sudden and terrifying and slow and tortuous, Teinosuke played game that she could never win, the raping of her mind had very nearly her undoing. The demon had considerable knowledge of magic, and would always start with making a hearty attempt to find some unknown secret in her mind. She could feel his thoughts as though they were crawling, bony fingers, prodding here, ripping somewhere else, in search of some thought or memory that he was certain she was hiding, and that she was just as certain she knew nothing about. It left her disoriented and in pain, with the not unjustified sense of paranoia that her mind was no longer her own.

When the cruel intrusions failed, the Demon Lord fell back to his other choice method to pass his time. Her beatings. His favorite twist with this was to use the thoughts and memories he had pulled from her mind and use them against her. Aside from altering the perception of her surroundings, he could change his image at will. His personal favorite was to use images of those she cared about that he had ripped from her own thoughts, and become one of these people. Then he would change his tactics of torture, modifying it with arguments that he now knew she had had with others, and turning it against her.

In memory of this, Kagome's body curled on the floor as best it could in trained protective reflex. The intrusion of the demon into her thoughts, her mind, was vicious and agonizing. Her most private thoughts and imaginings were ripped open and exposed, his to touch, delve into, and use. An experience that happened regularly, it left her writhing in pain and breathless, feeling sick as though he had physically forced himself upon her. Teinosuke would wait until she had somewhat recovered. Then the act began. Hojo, Souta, Kaede, and even Sango, would each take their turn with the flat span of leather and beratements. The worst were always saved for last.

Part of Kagome took refuge in a small part of her mind. Perhaps it was her heart, or some hidden piece of her soul, she was no longer sure. It told her that it was not possible that these friends would do this, that it was Teinosuke that kept her and hurt her. This had worked so far, but she feared that she could feel even that blessed sanctuary being broken down

As she contemplated the deeds of two nights prior, her stomach churned, threatening to bring up some bilious matter. Returning to a crouch, the woman forced herself to breath slowly, forcing the illness down. Feral instincts had long taken over. Names and faces were memories. Memories that were now fused with the terrifying experiences of the last month. She had trouble associating them with any other meaning.

A scuff of shoes on stone froze her like a statue. Pulling her hands close and curling as much as possible to protect herself, Kagome felt her lip curl of its on accord. She heard a low growl, almost animalistic. Every muscle tightened as she waited for the silver haired demon to attack her. She did not, could not, realize the threatening noise was coming from her own throat. Her fingers touched and small blue spark crackled between them, but this too went unnoticed.

She flinched as the slippered feet descended the last steps, but as her eyes adjusted to the new light, her tense muscles relaxed. This creature was not one of the ones that threatened her. Still, the woman could not let her eyes leave the demon-girl, lest she make some sort of attack while the miko was caught unawares.

Lily hesitated after she had set her feet on the floor of the cool stone-work floor. The girl felt different. Even her smell had changed, under the dirt and blood. She was still wary, but the wariness had changed. On Lily's first visit, the miko's eyes had been suspicious, but planning. It was clear she was contemplating a way to escape. That had been changed in the course of her stay. Her eyes were blackened from lack of nutrition and sleep, narrowing against the light. They no longer held the plotting look, instead there was something completely feral. The disdain Lily had felt earlier dissipated. She was not in the room with a human. She was here with an animal. New revulsion swelled within her for her "Master". She may not have liked humans, but not even those filthy-blooded things deserved this sort of treatment.

Cautiously, she crouched and laid down the furred clothes and food she had brought. While the young woman watched her every move, Lily took account of the miko's state of dress. The chemise and skirt had been replaced, infrequently, with similar items of differing colors. Unfortunately, she could not tell the color of the rags the girl wore now.

Kagome kept her guard up as she reached out to at the items. Her old clothes felt warm and comforting in her hands. She barely tasted the food as she gulped it down. Gods knew what it was, she didn't. Meeting the demoness's gaze head on, she spoke."Why are you bringing my clothes back?" Her voice was a rasp. Her hands nervously wrung the material as she waited the answer. She had to get out!

"We're leaving." Lily replied.

Kagome's breath stopped in her chest. Leaving? A multitude of thoughts burst in her head. Joy at the thought, wariness of Lily, fear of Teinosuke.

Lily didn't wait for her consent, and approached head down with the key ring in hand "He's gone hunting and won't be back for some time. We can head for the waters, lose him there, and run. I have distant cousins, I will return to exact my revenge. I can drop you off at the nearest village." She raised her head as she picked out the correct key.

Kagome took an instinctive step back and glared. She didn't trust this demon. Lily may have been the kinder to her as of late, but she was also the one to assist Teinosuke. She held her hands close to her.

Lily sighed, exasperated. Leaning her head in, she spoke firmly, "Listen, if you want to stay here and endure his beatings, so be it. I'm offering you a way out. I tire of him. You are only human and he will kill you soon. You should feel lucky that I'm even bothering." Seeing no change in Kagome's face, the she demon changed her tactic. "OK. I need you to get out. You have a power human, you can probably mask our scent, we can get away, I think you could even break out the doors." Lily hesitated. The human seemed to be responding now. " But before we can get away, I need to unlock your chains. You need to let me at your chains to do that."

Kagome waited again, unsure of what to do next. The opportunity seemed to good to be true. Yet there was no tell-tale gleam in the demoness's eye. Instead she seemed to have one ear cocked to the door. Her hands were wringing the key in nervousness. Kagome stretched her arms out as far as she could. "Be quick."

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The rage of the two youkai permeated the air, sending lesser demons and animals hiding. Tetsusaiga sang as InuYasha pulled it free from the scabbard.

"I don't want to waste time on a flea-bitten wolf when Kagome's in danger." InuYasha spoke, "She went to you. You were supposed to protect her", he ground out.

Koga crouched and prepared to leap, claws extended. "I'm not the type to try and keep a woman when she doesn't want to stay," he spat, " She was safer in my pack than she had been in months with you. I ensured a system to make sure she had her freedom, but that she would be safe. I don't have to explain myself to you." Koga ended with a threatening growl.

Anger flamed in InuYasha. "Safe? Safe?? She was captured by a demon that wants to kill her! You kept her safe? You're a waste of skin and bones!" He barked. Both demons prepared to attack, their friends helpless on either side. Shippo was furious with the two of them. How could they continue this? Who knew how long the Demon had had Kagome? He searched the ground for an acorn, a leaf, anything he could use to transform and throw at the two volatile youkai.

A flash in the trees caught his eye. Before he could act, a loud crash sounded, startling all and bringing InuYasha's and Koga's attention away from their fight. A splash shortly after confirmed whatever had caused the noise was by, or now in, the river.

"We're being spied on." Ayame whispered, her voice harsh. Ignoring the rest, she headed towards the sound, sniffing quickly and deeply to try and catch a scent. She couldn't smell the demon.. what the hell had caused that noise? The river wasn't far and she stopped shortly, with the other coming quickly behind her.

Looking up into the small canopy of the trees, they could see where whatever it was had fallen. Branches had been torn and broken. Yet the creature that had fallen in the water seemed to be gone. The half demon and the wolf lord started scanning the banks, while Kirara, Sango and Shippo headed to the other side to investigate. Ayame headed up the tree while Miroku stood watch.

As she climbed, the wolf princess kept her nose close to the bark. No scent. Or very little at the least. It didn't make any sense. What minute scent was there, was completely unrecognizable. Yet it wasn't the stench of anything the Demon had either. Ayame was still contemplating when she heard the shout from Sango on the other side of the river. Dropping down, she followed the two other youkai and the monk as they headed for Sango's voice.

"What did you find Sango?" Miroku called out when he had spotted her. Sango's rushed movements and scowl forbade any further noise. The foursome stopped in their tracks and proceeded with greater caution. When they reached the slayer and the other two demons, they crouched with them behind the underbrush they were using as cover. Sango pressed a finger to her lips and pointed over the top of the brush. InuYasha would have been certain it was the one of the demon master's underlings, had it not been for the light in Sango's eyes. Holding their breaths, the group peeked past their hiding place.

To see the soaking ball of black fur. A black bear cub sat cleaning herself vigorously. Ayame smiled. They didn't see many cubs around, but it would explain the destruction of the tree branches and the splash. The poor animal probably crawled up the tree in play and panicked when she found she couldn't get down as easily. She still couldn't figure out why she couldn't smell the bear, but thought perhaps the bear had waded through the water first, thus diluting her scent. Ayame was confirming this for herself when she thought she saw the cub pause in her ministrations to very quickly look directly at their hiding spot.

Shippo breathed through his mouth and tried to crouch forward on hands and knees. He wanted to get just a bit closer, the cub seemed pretty tame. The a small branch popped under his hand.

The cub jolted up to all fours. Making a bleat of fear she started to back up. Shippo hopped up himself, to the whispered recriminations of his friends. The cub watched him.

"No, I think it's ok guys.."

Sango watched the cub. Seeing that no mother was about to bound out of the woods to tear them to shreds, she too stood, followed by Ayame, InuYasha and Koga.

The cubs eyes reseted on each as they came into view, but did not relax.

"Where's her mom Sango?" Shippo asked.

"I dunno. She could be an orphan. Bears aren't all that common around here, she might have been.." Sango hesitated, "..killed."

"We should leave her be."

Shippo turned on Koga. "How can you say that? I was an orphan y'know! It's not easy living by yourself when you're that small!!" the kitsune glared then turned back to the cub. Extending a hand, he walked towards her "Hey girl, c'mon." he called.

The cub bleated again, backing up as Shippo approached before turning and loping off in the opposite direction.

"I told you kid, ya gotta leave her be. She wild, she'll find a way. We don't have time to get you a pet now" Koga called.

InuYasha agreed. His anger at the wolf demon had dissipated for the time being. He watched as Shippo turned back to follow them, looking crestfallen. As such, he was the first to see the cub walk back through the grasses and cry at Shippo. The group turned, confused. Shippo again tried to walk towards the cub, a little slower this time. The little black bear let him get so far, further than he had gone before, even InuYasha and others following behind. The little fox-demon even got closer than he had earlier, before the cub once again, turned and loped off the opposite way. Sango frowned. "If I didn't know better... I'd say she was trying to get us to follow her."

Miroku smiled at the youkai slayer. "Sango, she's an animal, not a youkai. Just a wild beast. She couldn't possibly have the understanding to have us follow her anywhere. And even if she did, where would she lead us? Her den? She probably has just taken a liking to Shippo." Even as Sango was just starting to scowl at Miroku demeaning tone, there was a sharp, and rather angry bark from where the cub had disappeared. The group turned to find the cub now glaring rather pointedly at them. Or rather, Miroku.

InuYasha sheathed Tetsusaiga and walked towards the bear. Eyeing him, the cub turned herself and walked a slower pace ahead of him, turning every couple of steps to make sure he was still there. InuYasha called over his shoulder. "We're following the cub Miroku, misunderstanding beast or not. She seems to know something we don't."

As the remainders of the group caught up, the cub picked up her speed. It wasn't long before they were passing the center of the village. InuYasha worked his way over to Ayame.

"Ayame, I want you to go find Kaede. She can help us find Kagome and show her how to fight back if she needs to. She can help to if Kagome's..." he stumbled on his words, "if Kagome's hurt."

Ayame nodded and veered towards the village. Kaede had returned to the village after InuYasha and Koga had started to fight. Now Ayame could see her just inside, talking to a neighbour, explaining herbs. Ayame waved frantically as she jogged up to the older woman. Before she reached her, a though suddenly struck the wolf demoness.

The black bear cub had been running far faster than was normal. And she had blue eyes.

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k, I'm very very very very very very sorry for not updating in so long. I haven't forgotten or abandoned anything. I've probably said it a million times, but I know where I want this story to go, just not sure on how to get there right now. I'm having some trouble finishing off the chapter I'm working on now, it isn't flowing as well as I'd like. I'm not even sure if anyone is still keeping up to date on this story. For those that are still, thanks so much for your patience, if your just starting, thanks for that as well. As always, Comments and constructive crits are appreciated and welcomed.

Much love;
Silverstar