Stranded

A/N:
Wow! Thank you so much for your reviews, it pleases me that you all like it so much.

I hope this chapter makes up for it. It hasn't been beta'd just yet...as I said before I'm not patient and would rather repost it when edited. I was just so proud of this chapter, that it ate at me and I couldn’t wait. I hope I'm just not being over confident...lol.

In addition, I've been reading the Inuyasha Manga's. Boy, Sesshomaru is not only stoic but he's very snide, and I find him very comical. Which is good on my part--at least he's not too much out of character

I also want to thank my new beta's: Lissa and bloodhunger09. I'm very grateful for their hard work.

Enjoy.

Chapter 26
The Dragon-Lady has returned.

Rin looked at the sign on the inn. She was sure this is where her husband was staying. She couldn’t believe that she flew all the way to South America and was tired from the long flight. She couldn’t stand not being so close to her mate and felt that he needed her the most now with Inuyasha still missing.

Rin knew that Sesshomaru would be displeased with her, but she didn’t care. The need to be near him; pulled at her heart. Therefore, she decided to take an overnight flight. She called her family and let them know as well.

Walking in to the Le Meridian Pegasus, she looked around. The hotel was elegant. Of course, she did not expect any less with her mate. Extravagant was more of the word she was looking for. Approaching the front desk, she asked the clerk what room her husband was staying. Smiling, she grabbed the key then turned to the man once again. “Please, don’t tell my husband that I’m here. I want it to be a surprise. Oh, and please send my luggage up to my room. The driver said he would bring it in shortly.” She then turned and headed up the stairs, not realizing that someone was following her.

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Bankotsu worked all night finding as much information on the brothers as he could. Of course, he already knew Sesshomaru from being Inuyasha’s friend at one time. Writing on a tablet sitting next to him, he wrote down the whereabouts of their homes. Of course, he would have to send men to the states, if Naraku wanted his plans fulfilled.

Under his investigation, he found out where Sesshomaru was staying. It wasn’t a far drive where he was located and wanted to check the premises before he sent men on their wayward mission. Normally, Bankotsu wouldn’t dream of doing detective work, but since Naraku asked him, he didn’t mind.

Grabbing his jacket and his keys, he walked out of the police station and into an undercover cruiser. Starting the engine, he suddenly had a bad feeling. Of course, he didn’t like that he was going to kidnap his ex-best friend’s wife. Importunely if he failed, Naraku would surely kill him. He could only hope that Rin wouldn’t be harmed like his boss promised. Bankotsu was also curious who this Kagome person was. What was so special that left his boss lusting after Inuyasha’s girl? Pushing the thought aside, he began driving to the inn where Sesshomaru was staying.

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“Inuyasha, can we stop? I have to use the little girl’s room, and I could use a break—maybe stretch my legs?” Kagome pleaded. She could not wait until they arrived. Of course, listening to Shippo complaining about carrying a hoodlum on his back and Sesshomaru telling him to shut up was amusing. However, she wasn’t thrilled about getting into a plane even Sesshomaru dreaded.

“What!” Inuyasha snapped, “You just went an hour ago!”

“Please.” She tried pleading with him. ‘We were getting along so well, too.’

Sesshomaru listened intently to the two and rolled his eyes. He could not believe how much they argued. Inuyasha did always have a temper, and she was very well suited for him as a mate. Of course, he stopped again and then turned to his brother. “Five minutes!” He gave Kagome a hard stare and said, “If you’re not done, we’re leaving without you!”

“What! What do you mean you’re leaving without me…Fuck! It’s not like I can control my bladder—like some demons I know!” Kagome retorted. She didn’t care who he was. She was grumpy, hungry and just wanted out of the jungle. Bugs were bothering her, the heat was bothering her, and everything that made a noise annoyed her. Stomping off, she went to find a secluded area not too far from the group.

“God, what’s up her ass?” Shippo asked, placing Hiten down. He also was relieved because of the break. Shippo watched Hiten carefully as the human sat on a large bolder, lighting up his cigarette. Shippo just snorted, waiting for someone to answer him.

“You have a nose, right Shippo? Or did you lose your sense of smell as well as your brain,” Sesshomaru said snidely as he walked by the fox and towards his brother. “Come Inuyasha. We need to talk!”

Inuyasha looked at his brother with a curious glare. “What is so important that we cannot discuss this in front of the group?” he asked, following his brother up the riverbank. Of course, Sesshomaru decided to follow the river down instead of dealing with the over abundant vegetation. Inuyasha could not blame his brother; of course, he was still agitated that those vines could have very well have gotten them killed.

“Do not tell me, dear brother, that you can’t smell Kagome. Even I’m having a hard time around her. And, that fox is too dense to even know a female’s body.”

“I can still hear you, you know!” Shippo yelled.

“Give them some privacy,” Hiten spoke firmly. He knew what the taller demon was referring too. “If you don’t know, then don’t ask.”

Shippo growled, “Shut up before I shut you up!”

Hiten chuckled and returned to his cigarette, keeping quiet.

“Smell what? What do you mean smell? She smells fine to me!” Of course, Inuyasha’s senses were dissipating. Inuyasha knew what tonight was. It was the night of the new moon; he would become human and just wanted to leave this hellhole. So, Kagome smelled as she always did. In addition, her attitude wasn’t phasing him, since she was like that when he first met her. He just figured she was grumpy. Hell, he was grumpy too.

Sesshomaru couldn’t believe that Inuyasha’s senses where fading, and it wasn’t even noon. “Well little brother, since I know what tonight is, I’ll make it easier for you to understand. Your woman is going into heat, and her pheromones are even driving me crazy. We can’t keep stopping since you’re now vulnerable.”

Inuyasha closed his eyes, trying so hard to smell Kagome. He growled. All he could smell was the fresh air, cigarette smoke, and the vegetation surrounding them. “Fuck!” he cursed. He hated this one night. He would lose all his senses, and that made him edgy, especially since Naraku could be lurking around. What aggravated him even more was that his damn brother could smell her, and it made even him aroused. Inuyasha was the only one who had that right! Looking over to where Kagome departed, he yelled, “Sweetheart, are you done yet? We don’t have all day, you know!”

Sesshomaru chuckled as he returned to the front of the group. They maybe had an hour to two hours travel at most. The hike was a smooth one thus far. He didn’t know what it would be like further downstream. Then, he dreaded going into that fox’s plane.

“Shippo, come here,” Sesshomaru demanded then turned to Hiten. “Don’t even think about running! I will be in front of you before you even get your feet on the ground.”

Shippo sighed. “Yeah?”

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes; he seemed to do that often. “How long will it take to get to the hotel from the plane?”

Shippo closed his eyes, trying to calculate the distance he wrote down on his chart. Smiling, he looked up at the tall demon. “Half an hour. Why?”

Leaning down, he whispered in Shippo’s ear, “Tonight is Inuyasha’s transformation. It’s not safe to be in the jungle when Naraku could still be lurking around.” Of course, Sesshomaru couldn’t smell any possible threats and was also grateful that Shippo was too dense to even notice Kagome’s change in scent. He was pleased that his whelp of a brother didn’t impregnate her just yet. Even though the scent of their copulation was still fresh in the air, anyone with a demon’s scent knew that she hadn’t been claimed. ‘What the hell is taking her so long?’

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Kagome couldn’t find a suitable spot, so she traveled further into the forest. Smiling, she found a nice patch of ground that wasn’t covered in thick vegetation. She could still hear the roaring of the swelled river and barely could see the group. Squatting down, she relived herself. When she was done, she looked around for a suitable leaf to wipe. She just felt unsanitary not having any toilet paper around.

Looking to her right, she could see a small sapling. Grabbing the leaves, she screamed loudly as a green vine snake coiled around the branches. Pulling down her skirt, she ran out of the forest only to be met with three demons staring at her with bewildered expressions. She wanted to cry, just runaway and cry. She hated it here; everything about the jungle was just evil. Snakes, spiders, monkeys, cats and birds—every one of them was after her. She just knew it. Now, she’d have to explain herself. She was already feeling humiliated being scared of a tree snake. She couldn’t help it, the large green eyes, the red tongue, reaching out to her.

Kagome gave the demons a hard, cold stare and then pushed past them. “Well, what are you standing around for? I thought you said I only had five minutes.”

The three of them just looked at each other then Inuyasha shrugged his shoulders as they followed the irate woman. ‘I see I didn’t tame the dragon after all.’

Hiten was wise not to leave; however, where was there anywhere to go? He laughed as Kagome stormed by him. “PMS is a bitch, aye?”

Kagome stopped mid track and turned to Hiten. Approaching the man who almost killed Inuyasha, she closed her fist tightly and then punched him in the face as hard as she could. Smiling, she said, “Yeah, it sure is.”

Hiten didn’t know what hit him until he fell backwards onto the hard ground. ‘Damn! She’s got one hell of a hook.’

Sesshomaru was the first to roar with laughter. “Your woman is feisty, little brother. This should be very interesting indeed.”

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Bankotsu drove up to the le Meridian Pegasus; he couldn’t believe how lucky his day was going. There she was—the one he needed to retrieve in the states. She was in South America. ‘When did she get here?’ He figured it didn’t matter. She was alone, and it would be an easy hunt.

Bankotsu waited patiently as he watched her enter the building. Turning the car off, he grabbed his police badge and followed her. He wanted to be as incognito as possible. Grabbing a magazine, he was amazed as she walked right by him. Smiling, Bankotsu slowly pursued her.

Reaching in his pocket, he pulled out a bottle of chloroform, which he kept in the glove box of his car. He never knew when it would come in handy. In his, other pocket he pulled out a handkerchief. He slowly opened the bottle and placed a small amount onto the fabric. He watched her head toward the elevators, and he picked up his speed. Looking around to make sure no one would witness his crime, he waited for the doors to open. Grateful that nobody exited, he pushed Rin inside and quickly pushed the button for the doors to close.

Rin was stunned until she saw the man in front of her. “Bankotsu? What in the world, are you doing here? And why are you so…”

She didn’t have time to finish her sentence when his strong arms pushed her against the wall, and the fabric went over her mouth. He over powered her petite frame as she struggled. Bankotsu smiled as she began to lose her struggle thanks to the drug. However, before she drifted into unconsciousness, he smiled. “Good to see you too, Rin.”