Chapter 4

Kouga's Oath

Shadows within the darkened cell merged together as the candle light flickered out, a mysterious figure moved towards the hanging wolf in the centre of the torture chamber.

The figure slowly walked around the wolf finding no sign of traps or any traces of signal bells.

Kouga opened his eyes and stared straight in the face of one of Naraku's many servants. This servant was physically unusual, usually Naraku surrounds himself with beautiful barely covered onna's instead of old scared dwarf-sized men.

The dwarf wobbled more closely towards the shackled wolf with a noticeable limp in his left leg. His face became visible when he stepped into Kouga's view, a disfiguring scare ran over his left eye to the cleft of his chin. It was as if his whole left side was marred from his limp leg to his useless eye.

"So, has Naraku finally decided to finish me off." Kouga spat.

"Fortunately for you, Naraku does not know of my presence here."

"wha-"

"My name is Katame and I am one of Naraku's most trusted court-sea." Katame looked at Kouga's confused face, it was clear that the wolf did not know who or why he was there. He sighed in frustration. "Of course you are not accustomed to our culture. I am a court-sea, who is usually a pleasure slave, but in my case Naraku uses me to gather information. I am acting on orders from my true master to release you."

"Release me, eh? Well lets get a move on, we don't have all night!"

Katame knew that though he was inpatient to get out of this hell hole, they had to be cautious and swift with the wolf's escape. Time was of the essence and if either of them were caught they would both be killed, tortured to an inch of their lives and than killed, if they were lucky.

"There is a wheel to the left of us that will lower you down, I can't grantee that it will be gentle, brace yourself Wolf." Katame wobbled towards the wheel attached to a column and untied the rope that would release the captive. Within seconds of the release the wheel began turning and Kouga's body began it fast descent to the ground.

"WHAAAAA."

"I told you Wolf." The Dwarf caught the wheel just before Kouga hit the ground. "Now stop snivelling!" He slowly turned the wheel until it was apparent there was slack in the rope.

"Okay, now that I am down, release me!" The words escaped his mouth before it registered through his mind what he'd said. Great going Kouga, He's your last means of escape and your treating him like dirt. Baka!

"I will release you once you swore an oath of alliance to my master." Katatme moved in front of the wounded youkai, a tanto held to his throat. "Or I can leave you here to suffer at the hands of Naraku. Which will it be."

"Who is this master?" Kouga eyed the hand holding the tanto to his neck. "An oath is not something I would just swear to anyone. What do I get out of it."

"My master rules these lands." Katame held the tanto closer to Kouga's neck. "What do you get out of it you ask? Your life of course!" Katame's one good eye curved upwards as he smiled. "Swear Princeling, swear an alliance and together we will get ride of Naraku."

Understanding shot through Kouga's mind and grumbled to himself, Allie himself with the bastard that conquered the lands of his ancestors more than two Milena ago. Or stay here and die with the possible chance of Naraku finding his clan. Which of the two was the lesser evil? Without even having to think on it Kouga knew the answer. Naraku possess as the immediate threat. "I will swear the oath once we lay the conditions down after we escape this hell hole."

"Good enough." Katame shrugged. "You are in no condition to escape me even with my lame leg." Katame reached forward, a key slipped out of his sleeve as he unshackled Kouga's wrists and allowed most of Kouga's Weight to press down upon his short figure.

"Here drink this, it will give you a small boost of strength to help you escape, but I am warning you, it will only last as long as we need to escape, nothing more." Katame popped the small cork screw out of the small flask and lifted it up to Kouga's mouth.

For a brief moment Kouga thought that the liquid to be poison, but that thought was quickly pushed aside. At this point in time, Kouga found himself not caring how or what method was used to get him out, as long as he did.

He allowed the strong scuzzy liquid enter his mouth, he realized that at this particular moment he had no control over the situation. He was either going to die in this decrepit place or escape with the help of a crippled man.

Katame helped Kouga to his feet, stabilizing him when he almost fell flat on his face with his first step. After a few moments of allowing Kouga to adjust, Katame grabbed his hand and dragged him through the chamber to the entrance.

"Shush, stay here!" He disappeared through the iron door only to return a few moment later short out of breath. "The coast is clear for now. We have to hurry, we've wasted to much time as is."

Katame and Kouga made their way through the darken tunnel and entered a corridor that was more lit, but dashed back into the shadows when a guard walked by.

"Do you think you could hide your scent?"

"No, not at the moment. You got an suggestions?"

"I though I would not have to use this but… Here put this on, I nabbed some of Naraku's clothes. This will confuse the trackers."

Kouga grabbed the black silk cloth from Katame's hands and put his arms through the sleeves. "Lets just get out of here."

Both Katame and Kouga took in a deep breath counted to three before they made their way through the maze of tunnels and corridors of the fortress before Katame brought them to a secret underground passage way.

"This is where I leave you. You will have to crawl through this tunnel until you reach the end. You will have to climb a little, but you will find yourself in a clearing. Go inside the small hut, you will find a person who will more than likely help you." Kouga was about to lower himself inside of the tunnel until Katame grabbed him. "The Oath boy!"

"I, Kouga of the Wolf Clan do vow to adhere faithfully to these tenets, never to break them, for If I should, may I tumble headlong into Narakus's destructive irreverence and become a creature who hold nothing sacred.

I shall allie myself with Sesshomaru, ruler of the western lands until the destruction of the vile filth known as Naraku.

You have my oath, what of your masters?"

Katame reached into his chest pocket and retrieved a slip of paper. "This is the vow of my master, I suggest you open it when you are far away from this place, now go."

Kouga could not recall how he was able to make it out of the dark dank, all he could remember was the vile stench of mold and rot, of little pests crawling all over him and the light of the moon at the end of the passageway signifying his freedom. He had never felt such relief as he did at that moment, the sense of freedom of hope all because of the guiding light of the moon.

He used what little strength he had left to pull himself up from the narrow climb. He sat resting his tired body at the top of the hole, taking in deep breaths to calm his racing heart.

He heard some splashing in the distance, of a bucket dropping into a well. He pulled himself up off of the ground. Well, Katame did say whoever owns the hut in the clearing will help me recover.

Kouga began his long trek walking through the thick over bush of the surrounding forest. He only paused when he seen the vision of his goddess before him pulling up a bucket of water from the well. Her face was tear stained, but still beautiful. He stood there at the edge of the forest as he watched her carry the pail of water into the hut.

Slowly he made his way across the clearing, stumbling every few steps. He decided to rest against the well for a few moment until he pushed himself off again.

He climbed the few steps into the hut and debated whether or not to knock or ask permission to enter, but decided it was best to just walk in. What greeted his site was his beautiful onna scrubing herself clean of not only dirt, but of something much more sinister. Her fast scrubing motions underlying her distress, her need to be cleansed.

Within two stride it took to reach her side, Kouga stopped her frantic motions and gently took the cloth away form her shaking hands. "Its ok Onna, I am here now."

She turned around to meet him, face full of shock and her beautiful mouth pleasantly open. Lush, plump lips begging to be kis…

Unfortunately Kouga fell into her arms before he could finish off that thought.

Reference:

Karen Marie Morning. The Highlander's Touch. Dell. 2000.

Canada.

Page(s) used 164

The oath unfortunately belongs to this author… I recommend this book, to those who are interested in Scottish history/mythology Romance novels, Karen is a pretty accurate author.

Katame: one eye

Onna - Woman

Tanto: Japanese dagger