“Twilight fell: The sky turned to a light, dusky purple littered with tiny silver stars.” ― J.K Rowling
Japan 1549
“Get off!”
The girls shriek was forcefully silence by a man’s fist which collides with her jaw. Gravity did not take hold as the man refuse to free his grip from her chains. She was jerked back, helpless to stop as the man struck her repeatedly.
The girl wore a tattered black yukata. Her short dark hair was uneven and had chucks of mud caked in it. The rest of her long dark tresses have been hacked off and lay at her feet. The villagers had refuse her sandals, resulting in her feet to succumb to the elements. They tackled her and bound her in heavy chains. She woke and found her clothes had been changed, her weapons stripped from her, and she was being dragged against her will to the deepest part of the forest by a few of the male villagers. This is not what she had expected when setting foot in this village.
Her being their sacrifice.
“Kenji, if you strike her anymore you might kill her.”
The man let out a loud snort releasing his grip on the bounds sending the beaten girl to the ground. The girl refusing to let her beaters hear her pain and see her tears. “You are fools.” As quick as the man forced her to the earth, he roughly grabs her shoulders, as she was forced to stare into the eyes of the man who volunteered her to be the sacrifice.
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She had come across this village one week ago while traveling west. The men and woman greeted her with hospitality at first. That changed rapidly. She let herself believe she could be accepted, and began to befriend a few girls who were around her age. When a spirt of a demon had entered the village looking for revenge of those who had killed it and skinned it. She was disgusted that the men had done such a horrible thing. She had cast the demon out and because of her gentle heart she helped the spirt to find peace. When her unnatural abilities came to the surface the people became afraid. They ignore her, cutting off ties to food and fresh water. Second, they called her witch and demon. She easily dodged everything they threw at her and found her own food and water. She should have left at that moment, but the hope that she could belong was too strong. She knew the people were afraid. The many wars between the demon lords their numbers were few so they refused to confront her, if they lost any more people the village would be helpless against an attack.
The morning she decides to confront the head villager to discuss peace was the last time she would ever enter the village. The minute she had arrived the men surrounded her, jabbing her with their spears and aiming at her with their bows. “Stop. Be still!”
Fear of someone getting hurt she went along, as they stripped her of her bow and sword. “ Please I mean you people no harm,” she explains honestly. “I only wish for a home. I will help you.”
The man looked at each other, slowly lowering their weapons. “Do not let her beautiful face sway you men,” one of the man spat. He pushes the spear over her heart. “You are no human girl. You are a witch who will slay us when we are asleep and eat our children,” He gestures his men to raise their weapons. “That evil spirit. The rotten food, those who have been brought down by illness. You brought all of this to our village!”
The men begin to advance her. One had metal bindings, another had a long chain. Panic fills her body. “Please,” she raised her hands, simulating a white flag. “I will leave. You will never see my face again.” Arguing with these men were unless. ‘Stay clam,’ she told herself. ‘Breathe. Do not loose control.’
“We have decided to offer you to the lord of these lands,” Her body stiffened as she swore her heart stop for a moment. “The lord will show us mercy, and will grant us all we desire.” The way he announced his plan was the most disgusting tone she had ever heard. He was proud.
She felt her blood boil as pure rage seeps into her veins.The village had bad omens because they were murdering and destroying nature. The spirits were restless and angry. Her teeth clenched so hard she was afraid they would shatter. Her control snaps and words of anger spill fourth. “How dare you! You would end my life after all I did to assist you people? You are nothing but scared little men who refuse to take responsibility for your own actions. You are looking for someone to blame and find a easy way out. And the way out for you is murder.”
Before she could speak another hateful word the men tackled her in a blind rage. Her attempt to fight did succeed at first, as the men came at her one at a time. She send the men flying with one kick, and threw their weapons away when she stripped them from their person. When the odds looked in her favor, they jump on her weighing her small body down. ‘No.’ She felt every kick, punch, and sting of metal on her skin as they beat her until she was unconscious.
---++---
Hatred filled her cerulean eyes as she looked upon the creature who had beat her, chopped off her hair, and holds no guilt in sending her to a gruesome death. “For the sacrifice to start the name of the person must be spoken.”
“Go to hell.” She bites out. As the man begins to shake her she spits on him satisfaction fills her face.
“You whore!” He roar out backhanding her. She did not have time to recover as his filthy hands yanks on her leg dragging her body towards his. A pleasurable laugh admits from his throat as he forces her yukata up and roughly spreads her legs apart. She had no realization in what was about to happen to her.
Not until she heard the other men desperate cries. “Kenji if you soil the sacrifice the lord will not be pleased.”
She felt nothing. ‘Please no.’ The only two words that she kept chanting in her mind. She knew she did not have the strength to fight back. Why did they torture her so? All they had to do was display for the demon and leave.
“The demon will not know.” She watches helplessly as he undid his belt. Her eyes slowly close as she felt water fill them. The path she chose was hers alone. Her search had taken years, how many she had lost track. She did not deserve to be treated this way. She is a kind soul, always helping those who need it. She did get cast out more times then she got accepted.
Her body suddenly was lighter. The man’s weight was gone. She opens her eyes to witness the other men restraining the man who was about to rape her. The men convince their leader that the lord would not grant them anything if they defiled her. In the situation, she was in she had never been so happy to feel relief.
“Chain her to that tree. We need to leave before it gets dark.”
Her body was forced to stand. She was drifting in and out of consciousness. The men toss their chain over a branch of a large tree. They link the chain to her bindings and lift her 10ft above the ground.
The agony was worse than her body looked. ‘Am I dead.’ No, she was not. The pain would be gone if she was dead. The clearing she was in is silent. She was hanging from a large tree a few feet from a cliff side. All she could see was the forest. “At least I have a great view.” The sky consists of an assortment of shades, a blend of reds, oranges, and yellows. Resting all day she was able to gain some of her strength back. Lifting her sore body up, she curves her wrists to gain a better hold of the chain. That did not work. Her hands were crossed together and bound tightly. Relaxing back to the position she original was in she knew she was way too exhausted to free herself alone.
“Alone,” She tells no one. Where was this demon she was being a sacrifice too? She had been hanging like this for hours. She had this heinous feeling that village did this to many innocent people. Could demons smell blood? She had many small lacerations over her body. She was not bleeding badly. For that, she was thankful. She hates to admit that she looks like a piece of meat dangling, ready to be taken. The demon lords did not except sacrifices. If she remembers correctly the four demon lord’s were all at war with each other. She had witnessed two villages that got in the way, and she bet there were many more. No time to eat her, or whatever they would do. A village like the one she was in did not register on the lord’s radar. They did not hold any personal interest.
A deep sad sigh was followed by a lone tear. “I will die in this place.” Once the sun had set the demons would come.
‘No.’ Her will to live was an instinct that she could never understand. She did not come this far in her life to die at the hands of those men and a demon.
First she had to free one of her hands. Taking a deep breath her reiki emerges tinkling her skin. Her hands start to burn as her reiki begins to melts the metal. With all the strength her body could manage, she was able to free one of her hands. Her reiki was strong was already burning through the other side of the bindings. Grasping a firm hold on the chain she began to swing her body towards the tree. It was not a easy task. Her body kept spinning in every direction, she was gaining too much momentum. Her first impact she was facing the wrong direction and a loud cry of pain echoes through the clearing, followed by a frustrated scream when her back hit the tree. The bark on the tree is rigid and difficult to get a firm grip on. The chain! If she could grab the chain she could climb that. That was hard to grab as well as the chain would move when she did. The sun had almost set and their was the beginning of a cold chill in the air.
One last powerful swing she did it. Victory! Her head shot up she was not far from the branch the chain was lying on. Those men where intelligent enough to secure the chain around the truck of the tree. She had hoped they were idiots. A quick extend of her free arm she was able to send her reiki to break the chain at the bottom. Pulling on the loose chain she lifts her upper body relieving the pressure and soreness her body had endured. The sun had gone down when she finally pulls her exhausted body over the branch. Her muscles were screaming and sweat made its way into her eyes making her vision blurry, and also stung.
A loud howl made her whole body jump. She was awake now. She had no clue she had even fallen asleep. The clearing was empty. A wolf was her first thought. Her body instantly relaxed. She was safe in the tree. “Wolves can not climb.”
The next howl made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. That was no wolf. Or pack of wolves. The wind whispers in her ear and plays with her hair as if its intent is to warn her. For a moment she though it may have been thunder until the thunder shook the ground. The crack of wood fills her ears. Her eyes scan her surroundings, she could not see anything. Was whatever approaching her invisible? The sound was explosive, and it was getting closer to her. ‘Foot steps.’ Shooting up she scrambles to the end of the branch, forgetting one of her hands was still incase in metal. Her power had melted the metal, but it also cool quickly, leaving a warp and small opening for her hand. She was going to hyperventilate. She willed her breathing to slow down, but to no avail. ‘The demon is coming for me.’ Getting eaten was not on her agenda. Her muscles protested in every flailing moment. She could not free her other hand. ‘Come on, please no.’
A massive white dog shot up from behind the cliff, landing soundlessly right in front of her. Ducking down in hopes the dog had not seen her, was useless as the canine was already approaching her, snarling showing it's sharp incisors she hopes she would not feel anytime soon. She stares into the blood red eyes of her death. Accepting her fate she twists her upper body away from the canine, not wishing to look upon the demon that would devour her. Nothing happens. The canine’s breath was warming her frigid skin.
“Please make it quick.” She curses herself in how pathetic her pleading voice was. It sounds like she was begging for death. The chance she had this demon was nonexistent. As she would be not even a worthy opponent. Her body was beyond the level of exhaustion and heavily bruised. The beating of her heart and her small sobs was all she could hear. ‘I am ready.’ In that moment, she admired her bravery. She never considered herself as a brave person. She knew the difference between right and wrong and always did in her heart was right.
Curiosity overwhelmed fear as her eyes met with the large canine’s. Her breath quicken when the canine’s nose starts to jab her. It did not hurt, but it made her jump and a little uncomfortable. She heard the demon snort. ‘Wait. Dog.’ She realizes, cursing her slow mind. The dog was smelling her! She watches its nose jabs her shoulder, then slide down to her arm. It pauses at the chain and shoots a look what she assumes was confusion. Girl up in a tree, shackled, bruised, it wasn’t something you see every day. The dog then prodded its soft snout between her breasts.
Mortification surges through her petite body. “Hey! If your not going to eat me then you are not definitely not allowed to molest me. Paws off.” She did her best to protect the little modesty she had. She could tell the dog was surprised at her sudden outburst. At least she knew one new undeniable fact. The canine was male. ‘A very perverted male.’ She stood her ground or whatever being trapped on the branch of the tree could stand. She watches his powerful legs step back and before she could blink, he disappears shooting up into the sky in a ball of white light.
“Hey! If you're not going to eat me could you at least help me down?” Her voice trails off when she realizes the male canine was long gone, deaf to her plea. He maybe a perverted dog, but if his intent was not to harm her, asking for help was not crazy? ‘Begging a dog demon to rescue me. That’s a new one.’ She tightens the belt on her yukata to secure more warmth to her frozen skin. If she could rest her body she might have enough strength to escape from here. That is if she did not have any uninvited guests.
An extremely nosy bird stirs her from her peaceful sleep. Her tired mind starts to wake. The clearing shows no signs of trouble. She snuggles into a more comfortable groove of the tree. “Sleep is great. Yes, sleep.” She mumbles contently drifting off. The bright sun heats her face in an irritating way and was her second rude wake-up call.
Her body was still sore, but the pain was manageable. Stretching out her muscles she gathers the broken chain. “Let’s do this.” The chains length was a decent amount she could propel down, making the distance between her and the ground a much less painful drop. Stumbling her way to the edge of the branch, she looks down and a sudden wave of nausea hits her throat. She trips over her feet falling backward gripping the tree’s bark as if it was her lifeline. “I can do this. Either jump or become a squirrel.” Fasten the end of the chain to the branch she took a deep uneven breath and leaps off the branch. The feeling of falling was short as the chain jerks causing a pain cry to spill from her lips. She was suspending in midair over the ground. She still wasn’t free from the other metal bind, but her plan was successful. Her distance from the ground was not life threatening or bone breaking. One problem solved. The pain in her shoulders re-surfaced. She had been suspending for hours. She lifts her upper body clawing at the binding, failing after only a few seconds she relaxes. “Not good.”
“Do you require assistance?”
Her whole body thrust upwards. ‘What the?’ The voice was male. A very deep smooth-throated male. She attempts to turn her body in his direction because the view he has been her backside. She starts to panic. “No. No. I am fine. No worries. Just carry on.” She had no clue if the man intent was to harm her.
“Tell me why you are inhabiting this tree?”
‘A demanding man, great. This is just what I need.’ First a strange man shows up and now he refuses to leave. She quickly came up with a very intelligent answer. “What? A girl can’t be chain to a tree?”
A long pause. She had hope the man had passed through. And would never share her humiliation with anyone. Her hope was short lived. “Let me assist you.” His voice did sound sincere.
Her fear was overwhelming her senses. “No please just leave me be.”
Praying that he would leave her be, she went back to the task at hand. “Why are you inhabiting this tree?” Praying that failed. Well if he wasn’t going to harm her guess she could indulge in a little conversation.
“I was left here as a sacrifice.” She did her best to wiggle her hand free. Both of her hands were deeply bruised and ached every time she twisted them in the different angle.
“Tell the truth.” His voice was stern.
“We are in the west right?” Why was she asking him a question? That’s when it happened. “Not good.” She was finally able to slip her hand through the reminder of the binding, but she wasn’t quick enough in grabbing the chain. The falling sensation was brief, she closes her eyes and prepares for the painful impact.
That impact did not happen.
Cracking one eye open her body instantly went stiff. She was in the arms of a man. She assumed it was the stubborn one who would not leave. This was not just a man. He was a demon! A gorgeous one at that. He had caught her. She was too busy staring at him she missed her body telling her to run. Danger. Death. Escape. It was screaming at her. ‘His eyes are lovely. They resemble sparkling honey.’
He raises one of his prefect eyebrows at her. That shook her back to her senses. She threw herself out of his warm, strong embrace, tripping over her own feet landing with a loud thud on the ground. He seemed unfazed, not fighting or commenting on her sudden departure. Her eyes find his, wanting to thank the man who she refused help from, but no sound emerged from her throat. He starts to advance her and she did what her instinct told her to do. She ran. Her legs were sore and standing was not an option so her run was more like a clumsy shuffle. She desperately backs away from her new threat. “Please, I’m sorry. What do you want?” She keeps slipping on her yukata, and she had too much pride to crawl away like some infant.
He stops. She released the breath she did not know she was holding. “I require information.” No clue why a demon would waste words on her. Wanting information from her shocked her to no end.
“What do you need to know?” When the demon looks down at her she never felt so small in her life. He could end her life at any moment. His deadly longs claw called for blood, and she even spotted that he had two swords. He was heavily armored, none of her attacks would even come close to injuring him.
His face holds no expression. She did not know if he was about to enter a blind murderous rage or drift off into a deep relaxing sleep. His golden eyes never left her face. She was not prepared for what happened next. “What sort of creature are you?”
For the first time, she did not know what to say. Confusion filled every ounce of her body. She even turned her head look believing he was talking to the sudden person that appeared behind her. Did he want information on her? In her years of travel, no one took the time to get to know her.
“Speak.” His tone alone was rude. Who did this demon think he was? Her fear swapped to rage. “How dare you! I’m no creature. I have a name. It’s Kagome!” So her outburst felt good for only a few seconds as the demon narrowed his eyes and flexed his claws. He did not look pleased. It happens so fast she did not even have time to blink. He yanks roughly at her yukata forcing her to stand and pins her against a tree. He picked her up like she weight nothing. He could have easily thrown her over the cliffside. She had never met or even came across a demon as strong as him.
“You take advantage of this Sesshoumaru’s mercy. I do not repeat myself girl.” He certainly was upset, but also had a ounce of frustration in his voice. He always got what he wanted, even if torture was part of the agenda. Mercy this was his mercy? Pinning a poor wounded girl to a tree, calling her a creature, and manhandling her? His hold on her was strong she could not move, but it was not painful.
Her body was so exhausted his grip was the only way her body did not crumble down. “I told you! I was left in that tree as a sacrifice. I am just a traveler who got on the wrong side of these human men.” What else did he want? It was the truth. It took him a few moments before he released his hold on her. Her hand shot up to grip the bark of the tree to keep herself from falling. Her breath came out in short ragged pants as she tired to slow down her heart.
He backs away a few easy steps, no emotion on his face and left, to fast for her to see. “Thank you.” She whispers, knowing he was already gone, but still hope he had heard she was indeed thankful. Being on the bad side of such a powerful demon was foolish, and she was no fool. That’s when she heard it. Voices. Male voices. Peering behind the tree, dread fills her heart. The men from the village. ‘Why are they here?’ She did her best to stand still. Her heart began to race. ‘Come down, Kagome. Breathe.’ All she felt was rage. A small part of her wanted to rip those men to pieces. She did her best to suppress her rage, hell she had been at war with her rage for years. A sudden pain shot down her leg, it was starting to fall asleep. Repositioning her leg she was blind to see that branch and helpless to shop her foot from stepping on the dead piece of wood.
“What was that?” She heard the panic in their despicable voices. They fought each other on it was an animal or it was one that must of done it. How where these men still living? They where cowards with no fight experience. “Hura, go check it out.” The man was scared and protested continually. That was when she felt a familiar presence. ‘Yes.’ Without a second thought she now faced the men who had tortured her and left her to die.
She counted five, including the one that almost raped her. The men hadn’t move a muscle since she revealed herself. She could tell they were scared of their minds. ‘Good.’ A small smile curves the side of her mouth, when she saw four of the men slowly start to back away.
“She’s alive! How could that be?” They are all sputtering stealing glances at each other.
“It’s a sign. We are all doomed!” She ignored all their stupid voices her eyes spinning around until she found what she was searching for. The rapist had her sword. The shaking one on the end had her bow and quiver. Anger fills her at the sight of her weapons in the hands of these murderous men.
“Fear not men! I will kill her and the curse of her will be lifted.” She should end them right here. Who would care? She would be doing the world a favour. “I will kill her with her own sword.” She smiles as her rapist pulled out her sword and pointed it at her.
“Take the sword out of its scabbard and come get me.” It felt good to taunt this man.
He hesitated, scowling at her. “Go on Kenji, kill her.” One of the men said.
She starts to laugh. She felt empowered. After everything, this was the best moment and she was ready. “Shut your mouth witch!” He roars, his eyes flaring with angry.
She raises her arm out her hand open and spoke clear as day. “Hiro, return.” The weapon was torn from the fifth man’s hand and flew into her waiting for one.
She watches as the expression on his face turns from rage to panic. “How did she? That’s not possible. Witch.” The men stuttered more hurtful allegations of what she was. She could care less at their mindless chatter. Her sword did exactly what she knew it would. It was back in her procession and was warming her hand. Now for her bow. Unfortunately, it did not have a homing beacon like her sword did. ‘I hope this works."
The pleasure on her face only grew as she slowly unsheathed her sword from its scabbard. Her sword was only a quarter way released when it pulses and omits a strong aura that shot across the clearing, knocking all the men down.
They cried in fear, scrambling to their feet. “Demon. She has a demonic sword. Demon.”
For the first time, she really looked at them. They were all cowards, that had no clue on how much danger they face. She never came close to fighting with a human. Now she was the merciful one. “Get out of my sight.”
The man who carried her bow tosses it on the ground. “All her weapons are demonic.” It did take long for the men to run. One by one, not helping or caring about each other. Her rapist was the last one to leave, stealing one last glance at her before he disappears from her sight. She prays to no one that she would ever cross path with those men again, for their sake. Gathering her beloved weapons she journeys to the cliff side.
What she did not know was the pulse her sword omitted caught the attention of the canine demon.