A/N: I know I shouldn't be starting a new story, but this little idea wouldn't leave me last night, which I stayed up a couple hours typing this ish up! But it's not gonna be an extremely long story, I don't think it would pass ten chapters but we shall see. This is loosely based on Disney's Snow White and the Seven Drawfs and is a bit dark. Also this story is made for the Sayah's Disney Challenge. And this story may have some mistakes even though I read through it several times combing out errors. Anyways enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Chapter One: Death and Its Troubles
She stared out of the window from the highest point of the castle, glancing beyond the immaculate gardens, pass the parade of soldiers marching through established sets and over the gray-stoned walls that encompassed the giant structure in a protective cocoon. It was winter; a cold, dreary season with slosh for snow and a crisp, bitter wind that has frozen nearly everything that has been caressed by the deadly breeze. The trees were bare, portraying how she felt at the moment, alone and rooted in an unforgiving environment. But unlike them, they were outside, free to mingle with anything, unconfined to any norms.
It was peaceful, it was freedom.
Freedom was no longer in her vocabulary, that had been stripped the moment she was hauled to this dreaded place, her heart becoming numb just like the season of winter, cold and dark. It unfortunately made her unreasonably bitter and cynical, a difference in her behavior from a time before. A time no longer heeded, no longer important enough to remember anymore. It was best not to reminiscence of the past, it wouldn’t do her any good except to enhance the urge to brood and mope around her sleeping quarters.
It was better to forget.
Another draft brushed against her redden cheeks and nose, but she remained impassive to the random bout of chilled air. She haven’t felt anything since that faded night, becoming hollowed of anything and everything. Numbly, with frozen fingers, she drew patterns on the wooden frame of the window, a steeped sense of boredom enclosed her senses, tuning her out from the living world and into the solitude of her mind. It was the only place where she felt any peace; her self-forced confinement made her feel even more restless and disturbed, an easing of insanity developing at the corners of her thoughts.
A single caw drew her attention however, and she watched with dull, cerulean-hued eyes as a black crow perched itself near the opening of the window, unconcerned of the fact a single human was in close proximity. That was all she could attract, something that resembled her mood. A crow, malicious creatures in superstitions, a bad omen that signified death. Briefly she wondered who died, but then she discarded that thought immediately, it wouldn’t do her any good to ponder on such musings, she would never know. Nobody informed her of anything except for certain cases, those moments were rare and she was mostly left in the dark of the happenings around the castle.
However, immediately since the little bird‘s appearance, an urgent pounding echoed within the scant decorated room, which caused her to sigh, perturbed at the disturbance. With a heavy gait, she approached the sliding doors, watching with mild curiosity as a familiar woman appeared in her sight, her brown hair pinned up with jewels, her brown-reddish eyes lined with dark kohl and gleaming with irritation and her expensive kimono wrinkled as if she clothed herself in great haste.
“Is something wrong Kagura?” she asked out of politeness after a minute of tensed silence. The woman before her was the only person she could cordially talk to without a hint of sneer she acquired from the man’s relatives, all disapproving of the lord’s choice of an ideal partner.
The taller woman finally sighed, closing her eyes briefly. “My brother - your husband died.” after opening her eyes, she glared pointedly at the petite woman, watching for any reactions. “Since he’s gone, you’ll have your freedom.”
Kagome didn’t feel any remorse after her sister-in-law broke the news, in fact she was feeling rather giddy at that prospect. But quickly as that feeling came, it dissipated, disappearing quickly into thin air. Where would she go, her family sold her while she was but a young girl to this dysfunctional family, after her late husband made a comment of her innocent beauty and how it would developed into something more once she reached marriageable age. It didn’t help she came from a piss-poor family, mere farmers on lands owned by the tyrant she married. It was desperation and a grievous opportunity the family saw that could have changed their fortune around.
They were foolish to think her marriage would elevate their status, and before they could reach the fruition of their plans, a harsh winter swept by and an illness ravished their scrawny bodies. That was when the first crow appeared on her window ledge, cawing persistently for her attention and when the news were delivered to her. She never knew what happened to the bodies, but there was a inking they were decomposing in the insipid flare of winter, probably scavenged by wild animals. The only ounce of remorse she felt was the death of her younger brother, Souta, though she was only in his presence for the first couple years of his life and he had probably forgotten her since her induction to the Onigumo family.
It gave her a headache just thinking about her own prospects.
She had no place to go, no other relatives that could support her or were on good terms with her, since all were guided by envy and greed. They would probably exploit her until her usefulness ran empty and then malignantly renounce her from their homes. She could travel, but soon these lands would fall into chaos and endless war would wage endlessly until one of Naraku’s rivals take over the territory and pillage the place until nothing of regular inhabitation remained. It would weigh her mind constantly of her cowardly actions, the guilt was staggering enough to cause her breaths to leave her and a pain to slithered through her heart.
Slowly she glanced around the room, the place she hesitantly called home since she was eight years old. Ten years stuck in this place, in this cage away from the outside world. It was her prison, the bland walls becoming a normalcy in her daily life and the sparse furniture becoming a place of comfort.
“Will I be able to see his body?”
Kagura gave a languid nod and stepped back to let the woman clad in a heavy, multi-layered plum-hued kimono through the door, and promptly led the way through the dark corridors; soft lanterns were spaced in intervals, giving off a depressed aura despite the fact they lit the area. Kagome carefully kept her face neutral, peering secondly at the pale faces of the servants that scurried around, keeping their faces bowed as the two women walked down in an unhurried pace. She was certain they were only bowing at Kagura, being related to the lord of the castle himself, and not at her since they rarely saw her and never supported the marriage of inconvenience between royalty and a peasant. Kagome wanted to scoff, the hypocritical reasoning of these people unnerved her, but she knew it was jealousy that jaded their perception of her.
They continued their pace, and even though she wore thick layers, she could feel the cold pierced through the fabric and through her sock-clad feet. Her legs were aching as she carried the heavy weight of her kimono and was walking towards on side of the castle, since Naraku refused to deal with her after taking her virginity and effectively destroy any affections that she felt about him with a few callous words. Now a bitter hatred lingered in her heart where a hollowed hole grew in size as the years passed and her mind became clouded with thoughts of revenge, willing to sabotage anything that her husband deemed worthy. But each time those thoughts crossed her mind, she never fulfilled them, only wallowing away in her room in self-pity.
Finally reaching their destination, a hallway filled with brilliant tapestries and statues, two guards in pristine uniforms and armor stood outside but bowed in respect before one slid the door opened. A whiff of incense caused her to sneeze, the smell strong enough to erode the stench of the dead, for which she was grateful.
Inside was the personal physician, carefully examining the body for any foul play, his raggedly, worn face were draw together in contemplation. “It’s a pity that the lord would perish from a common flu, I have warned him to keep off the alcohol and tobacco.” he mumbled to himself in a gruff timbre, seemingly unaware of the current company.
Kagome’s eyebrows furrowed at the news, but Kagura spoke, a nonchalant tone quite opposite to the current atmosphere that gloomed the mood, as if she didn‘t care what transpired. “It seems your medicine hadn’t worked.”
The old man sighed through his chapped lips, packing his equipment into his case. “It is peculiar, all my remedies have worked before, I wonder why it didn’t work this time.” he grunted in pain as he slowly rose from his kneeled position. “I have completed the autopsy, I will leave the rest to you Lady Kagura… Lady Kagome.” he then left the room, hobbling out before sliding the door close behind him.
Another awkward silence enshrouded the room as she glanced at the body laying calmly on a futon, several fur-trimmed, elaborate blankets covering the dead figure of her former husband.
“A flu contributed to his death.” Kagura suddenly spoke, breaking the tense stillness. “Too many females he fucked, uncaring to the fact one of them was tainted... I warned him to stop his dirty deeds.”
“You don’t need to explain what happened.” Kagome informed her, gently kneeling besides the head, running her dainty fingers through the inky locks. “He had many sins like any other human being.” her hand fisted the brushed strands in a show of brewing anger. “Maybe it was better for everyone, to know the tyrant that tormented their lives has finally perished.” Naraku was a glutton for anything pleasurable; it seemed a befitting death for the man, a scum lower than trash to be diseased by the women he kept or visited in the local brothel.
“Kagome… you are talking about my brother.” there was a hint of warning in the older woman’s voice, and Kagome didn’t pay any thought to it.
Instead, she scoffed. “His death ensured your freedom from that arranged marriage with another lord. Don’t say that his death didn’t benefit you in any way.” at that, Kagura remained quiet, proving to her that the woman had nothing to say on the matter. “Where do you plan on going?” Kagome asked, changing the subject before the woman could linger too long on her blunt comment.
“Wherever the wind takes me.” she shrugged one shoulder, her ruby lips pulled into a small, melancholic smirk. “And I assume you will be staying here, you were an orphan before you reached ten summers once your family died and I doubt anyone else will take you in.”
“I have no choice.” Kagome whispered, gloomily toying with the dry strands. She then grazed her fingers against the cool flesh, wishing to puncture her pointed nails through them in an act of violence, but all she did was lightly caressed his face, smoothing out the soft contours with deceptive fondness.
Kagura softly sighed, her eyes becoming hooded with fatigue. “I will depart in the morning after I prepared the arrangement for Naraku’s funeral.” she informed the younger woman, who remained silent in her inspection. “Despite the circumstances, you were the closest thing to normal around this wretched place and I wish you luck.” she then left the room, leaving Kagome by herself to brood in silence.
Kagome stared blandly at the unmoving body, wishing to disrespect an aspect of the man that wounded her emotions, that humiliated her after that one special night. But once again, her nerves frizzed, her hands paralyzed to do any harm and she cursed herself, hating the fact that even in death, her husband remained untouchable. And quickly before she lost her crumbling composure, she departed from the opulent room and hastily returned to her chambers, panting heavily from the frantic running. She didn’t care if anybody saw, but they would come to the conclusion that her husband’s death rattled her. And it did, but it wasn’t depression that everyone would reason her actions to be guided by, but an underlying emptiness of failure to obtain revenge for his treatment by her hands.
She waited so long to hurt an ounce of the cruel man, but he was taken overnight by a silent killer, microscopic to the seeing eye. It angered and frustrated her, years of planning and of the inability to carry out said plans were jabbing at her, mocking her as tears started forming. Kagome rubbed them furiously with the delicate sleeve of her kimono, willing herself not to shed a single tear for that man, not in rage or sadness. She could tell her breaths were coming in short pants, her heart hammering hard against her chest.
Quickly, before she started hyperventilating at the dilemma her husband’s death has caused and what it could possibly mean for her, she uncovered a large, circular mirror embodied with elegant designs near the wall farthest away from the windows and doors. This mirror was the only valuable piece given to her from Naraku as a present when she was younger, willing to encourage her vanity and flourishing beauty; fortunately, the man has been unaware of actual properties of this magical item.
“Bokuseno, please awaken.” her fingers glazed against the pristine and smooth surface of the glass, no hint of smudges appeared from her movements. “Bokuseno, I wish to speak with you.”
A sudden flash of white lightning and a swirl of various red swallowed the surface, erupting in flames that even she could feel the scalding ferocity from her position. Smoke filled the surface within before an aged face manifested seconds later, every wrinkle drawing his face together in a thoughtful expression. “Lady Kagome, always a pleasure of seeing your presence.” he greeted in grandfatherly tone. “How may I be of an assistance towards you milady?”
“Naraku’s dead, my position here is uncertain.” she bluntly said, finding no use of skirting around the subject. It frightened her immensely, her future looked rather bleak and ambiguous, and that spelled trouble and danger that she wish she could avoid. She always dreamed, ever since she was a little girl, of a simple life, surrounded by the warmth of her family and any man deemed worthy enough to ask for her hand in marriage, naively moved by the romantic aspect of a relationship and holy matrimony. “I have no one here, I don’t feel content anywhere.”
“Hmm, troubling news, I have no doubt the late lord had many envious enemies lurking in the shadows, waiting for this opportunity.” Bokuseno mused, his wrinkled face unchanging to accommodate the seriousness of the situation. “You should take seize of the moment, despite being a known tyrant, he did educate you, especially in areas such as politics and mathematics.”
“But who can I trust, nobody is particularly fond of me.” she complained, wringing her cold hands in worry, fretting hopelessly at a bit of good news. “I fear there is no one that could possibly aid me in this place.”
The floating face chuckled, a weary sound that rasped with each breath. “Your allies are deep within this castle, places unexplored and rare for a woman of your stature.”
Kagome thought carefully, her pointer finger tapping against her chin. The only places were the grimy areas of the castle, where the people on the lowest level of the hierarchy prevailed, but without an escort or guard that would obey her commands, such places were better left undetermined. “No here listens to me, how can I wander there?”
“Tonight the new moon arises, casting shadows in all the lands, it will be most advantageous for you to depart then.”
Kagome leaned in closer, quickly making note of what the magical mirror was informing her of. It scared her a bit, no human particularly liked lurking in the dark, where anything insidious could happen without a single peep; especially when that strange, brutal incident occurred a few years ago in the shadows with the lord‘s favorite concubine, her head severed jaggedly from her body and her innards spilled from the opening of her body cavity. “And how will I know the person I need to seek?”
“Their eyes will be filled with undoubting hatred, their fierceness absolute. The other will be of a perverse nature, sly and coy, but equally dangerous. Both are jaded by the actions of your husband, their hostility of him will be passed on to you by association.”
A frown weighed her lips, her soft features, with hints of childish contours still present on her maturing face, were marred with apprehension. “I feel concern about these people you’ve mentioned, how can I possibly persuade them to help if they feel animosity towards me?” like every other human, she feared death. She survived her stay here, out of sight from anybody hostile and assassinations, by staying low-keyed and barred in her room, making sure not to bring unwanted attention to herself. Not many people outside the lands knew of her marriage to the lord, but it was doubtful it could be kept a secret now that the man was dead.
Bokuseno chuckled once more, amused. “Milady, your nature will surely make them see reason and with your stature, it would undoubtedly ease their minds.”
She still felt unease about the entire idea, but there were truths in the mirror’s words, as it never lied to her once before. She was certain she could absolutely trust his judgment and riddles of importance. “Do you believe it is possible for me to rule, to gain the support of the people, to be fair?”
“With flesh white as snow, with eyes blue as sapphires and hair as black as ebony. With strength that tumble mountains, determination that preserve endlessly, and the will of unrivaled intensity… you, my dear lady, will be the fairest of them all.”
____________
Some feedback would be lovely. :)