Encroaching Darkness

Disclaimer: The characters of InuYasha are not mine, they are property of Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise, and Viz. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.


AUTHOR'S NOTE: I do not own Inu Yasha nor any of its characters. That honor goes to Rumiko Takahashi.

My fanfiction can also be found at inuyasha-fanfiction.com . It is a community dedicated to InuYasha no matter the pairing.

Sesshoumaru set his small group down in the courtyard of his estate. Rin was asleep in his arm while the miko Kagome was slumbering on Ah-Un’s saddle.

“Have a room prepared for the miko. I must depart once more to retrieve someone to train her. I will be gone a 14 nights as I must also see what my uncle Toshiro wants. Guard Rin with your life, Jaken,” Sesshoumaru said with such a cold finality in his voice.

“Yes, milord,” Jaken trembled.

Sesshoumaru ventured over to a nearby cherry tree and set his ward underneath it. Once satisfied that his ward was comfortable, he turned around and approached Ah- Un. He observed her for a moment, slightly perplexed why she would sleep so soundly near one who had been an enemy.

‘She is either foolish or perhaps brave. This Sesshoumaru believes the latter.’

He gently tucked a lock of her obsidian hair behind her rounded ear before picking her up. Without jostling her, he made his way back to the tree, and set her by his ward. As if the two had known, they found each other and snuggled. Sesshoumaru almost found it endearing to see the two.

‘Two sleeping innocents under a sakura tree. They look like mother and daughter.’

With that thought, Sesshoumaru turned and called up his cloud to depart.

Jaken watched his lord disappear into the distance before turning to his two charges. He had no problem with Rin, but with the new human, he grinned evilly.

‘He did say to find her a room. He did not say what room. He only wants his most loyal Jaken to take care of Rin.’

Jaken clapped his small hands together, and a guard came forward.

“Throw the woman into the dungeon. Make sure she has food and water. She must be bathed. The lord plans to train her. For what, I have no idea, but other than that, this Jaken has no care to what goes on,” Jaken commanded.

The guard had black attire on and armor similar to Lord Sesshoumaru, except there were no spikes and a blue crescent moon adorned the middle of the chest plate. He bowed to Jaken and replied, “Your will be done, Master Jaken.”

Kagome was still asleep when the guard gently picked her up. She had no idea where she was being put as she dreamt of better times.
The guard, finely trained by the lord himself did not allow a single emotion through to his face, but he was not happy. He knew Lord Sesshoumaru enough to know that he meant to taken in this priestess as another ward, but he could not defy the lord’s retainer. Despite Jaken’s bumbling ways in front of his master, he was a force to reckon with once he was left to lead the castle in the lord’s stead. Lord Sesshoumaru expected no less from his minions.

The dungeon was actually more of a building separate from the main part of the palace and underneath it, like a catacomb. There were no locked, just separate rooms with sliding doors. A tunnel led from there to a system of caverns filled with both cooling pools and hot springs. Some of the barren caverns were used to beat prisoners.

The guard chose a room away from the other prisoners kept. Most of the others were youkai, and would make it difficult for the guards if they placed a hated human in their midst. The room was slightly smaller than a normal stall for a horse and had a thin plain futon and black yukata on top of it. The prisoners were to wear the simple attire and not given the choice to remain in their own clothing. The inu youkai sighed, and began undressing the mortal woman, hoping she would not wake. He did not relish hearing her panic, let alone the bitter scent of fear. Fortunately, she remained asleep and unaware of her surroundings as he pulled the yukata over her and tied the simple obi about her waist.

Once done, he shut the door and informed the current guard on duty in the dungeon.

“Make sure she is fed and cleaned daily. The master wants her alive. Lord Sesshoumaru has plans for her,” he informed.

“Very well, Isamu- san,” the other snapped to attention.

Kagome slowly woke as she banged her head into a wall.

“Ow, that hurt,” she mumbled groggily, as she slowly opened her eyes.

What greeted her was darkness. Immediately she panicked.

“It’s not three days yet, it is?” she cried softly, her eyes darting around the room as she felt around.

The room she was in was definitely small. As she sat up, she saw a faint light under the door and sighed in relief.

‘I can still see, but why am I in here? Is this a guest room?’

She slowly stood, and brushed her clothes flat, before she noticed something else.

‘What is this? Did someone change me? I’m wearing a yukata.’

She frowned and pushed her hand on the door only to see that it would not budge. Her frowned deepened as she tried sliding the door this time. Again, the door did not budge.

She called out, “Hey, is someone out there? I can’t seem to get out of my room. Can someone help me?”

On the other slide she heard footsteps, but the door did not open.

“You are in the dungeon, wench. Why would I let you out? Lay on your futon and keep quiet,” a male voice commanded.

“But there must be a mistake. I just got here with Lord Sesshoumaru. He is going to help me. Please, go ask for him. This will be all cleared up in no time,” she replied, clearly confused. “I’ve done nothing to deserve this.”

“You will do best to remain silent, miko wench. Not another word! You are a prisoner. The Lord is away on duty. Be happy that you will have food and bath until he returns. Disobey and I will have no choice but punish you. Understand?” the male voice said forcefully.

“But I did nothing!” Kagome shouted, and then beat on the door. “Let me out!”

The door slid open quickly and before Kagome could respond further, she was grabbed roughly by the arm.

“You are an insolent one, perhaps even an idiot. I said to be silent and you disobeyed,” the guard growled.

Kagome sensed it to be a bear demon with long dark brown hair. Over each eyebrow was a small simple green circle. The youkai dug his claws into her upper arm and Kagome yelped in pain.

“Hey! Quit hurting me. I didn’t do anything. I’m a guest here! What’s going on?” she cried, her tears flowing out of confusion and frustration.

The bear simply snarled and dragged her through a dark cavern tunnel. Kagome had no idea where she was being taken, but she had a feeling she would not like it all. The tunnel was not that big and although Kagome was not usually one to suffer from claustrophobia, she was beginning to think it was a long hidden fear of hers. Soon enough, they entered a room with a faint light, mainly from two torches. The room had chains and a few weapons that she could not recognize, except for whips.

Slowly, she realized what this stone room was, a torture chamber. Her confusion quickly flowed into panic.
“No! Why are we here?” she cried out, her voice on the brink of turning into a terror filled scream.

The only thing she got was another snarl and found herself brutally slammed front first against the wall with a red eyed, enraged bear demon.

“Silence!” he roared, and Kagome could hear his bestial side more deeply embedded in his voice.

She whimpered in reply as he pulled each of her arms into a metal handcuff that hung by a chain from the cavern ceiling.

“Quit your whimpering, filthy ningen. Five lashes will be your punishment,” the brown haired youkai snarled, and then grabbed a leather whip from the wall.

Kagome trembled and for a while she felt nothing. She started to wonder what was going on until a sharp pain lanced across her upper back, quite close to the neck, bringing a white streak of light across her vision. The breath of air in her chest left her on the second lash, cutting the garbled scream from her lips. This was no mere pain. It was worse than being cut with claws or a broken bone. It was worse than flying through the air and landing hard on the ground during battle. The whip cut deep in her back a third time, feeling her blood now running from a cut on her buttocks. Her back arched in pain, pushing her front farther into the wall as she screamed.

“No! Stop! Stop! Stop!” she cried out.

Her power came to her aid, but it would not help heal her. She wished she had something to channel her powers and stop the pain, stop the bear from harming her further. It was when the forth lash fell that she heard a shriek, her powers discharging from her without her giving it any direction. At first she thought the shriek was her, but soon the room was silent with nothing but her hard panting. Minutes past, and Kagome wondered what had happened. She feared turning her head as the first lash had struck so far up that it hurt to move her neck.

Soon she smelled something burnt and turned her head carefully, wincing as she did. From the corner of her eye laid a smoldering bear youkai. She swallowed a sob and let her body hang limply from the chains. The pain on her back was great and she wondered if she had really done something wrong in her life to have deserved this whole mess.

‘Huh, on the verge of being blind, and now beaten. What else?’ she said bitterly to herself.

She could feel the torn edged of her skin and the blood dripping from her back.

‘I’m sure someone will be along pretty soon. Youkai are like flies, blood attracts them.’

“What is going on in here?” a male asked, and then gasped as he entered the room. “Stupid bear. I should have stayed around. He has too many anger issues to deal with mortals. Priestess, did you do this?”

“P-please do-do-don’t hur-t me,” Kagome pleaded. “I- I did-n’t do any-y-th-th-ing. I-I- I just go-t con-fused.”

“Do not fret. This Isamu brought you in while you were asleep. Master Jaken ordered that you be placed here, but I did not figure that the guard on duty was itching to die from purification,” the new guard said, and ventured closer. “I will let you down. You will need to bath to get the blood. I will bring another yukata.”

Isamu unclasped the handcuffs, and then caught the abused priestess, knowing she would more than likely fall. He had seen this all the time in both ningen and youkai. However, knowing that the lord of the house had plans for this woman, he was determined to give her a slight bit of compassion. He had planned on coming back a little bit earlier after informing Master Jaken that he had complied with the orders given, and the miko’s status, but got caught up by a few fawning demoness trying to seduce him away from his duty.

When he had finally come to the dungeon, he could smell the woman’s blood and became concerned on why she had been punished so soon. He had gathered from Master Jaken that she had been in the company of Lord Sesshoumaru’s half brother, Lord Inu Yasha.

He slowly led her to a nearby room with a warm onsen. He figured one too hot or cold would make her go into shock. The bear had not gone lightly, even with just four marks on her back. They were deep and he frowned.

‘I may need to bring a healer. I cannot tell exactly how deep her lacerations extend.’

He tugged the remnants of the now tattered and bloodied yukata off of her, before easing her slowly into the water. As soon as the water touched the first of her cuts, her breath hitched, and then she cried out in pain. She minerals in the water had some salt, but she knew it was important to clean her wounds.

Isamu took a small cloth from the side of the hotspring and very gently washed the blood from her. Even her raven hair had absorbed it and started to clump together. The more sensitive places he took note of and tried quickly tend to as quickly as possible.

“You will have to remain quiet down here. I am not sure the full purpose of your stay, but I am certain that you should not be in the dungeon. Lord Sesshoumaru will be away for the next fourteen nights, so please be patient. Master Jaken has taken too much liberty in his duty. I am sure he is aware this is unacceptable treatment for a guest. I will send out a messenger to hopefully catch up with him to inform him of this incident. I cannot guarantee anything until then. Hopefully he will return soon. Now come priestess, I need to bring you to a healer,” he said gently.

“Arigatou, Isamu- san. My name is Kagome,” she said, and her eyes fluttered before she passed out before his eyes.