Yume no Unmei
"Dreams of Fate"

A/N: Wah. I got bored again. But I finally decided to write something more serious than my latest pieces. It an AU (Alternate Universe) fic. There are two warring nations: Gokuraku ("Paradise") and Ikun ("Great Achievement"). Kagome in the Princess of Gokuraku, and Inuyasha is the Prince of Ikun. (BTW, there is no Kikyou at all. She don't exist.) IYxKag pairing. :P It takes place in the Sengoku Jidai, BTW.

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Chichi-ue - Father
Haha-ue - Mother
Hime - Princess
Kitsune - Fox
Mikoto - Prince
Taiyoukai - Great Youkai(Demon)
Wakatte - I Understand
Youkai - Demon

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Chapter I
The Two Warring Nations

A silver-haired boy held a black-haired girl. She felt so safe, so protected, so loved. He promised he'd never let her go. Affairs of the heart could not be so easily swayed by an undying hatred. Love will beat them.

"Hime-sama, take cover, the cowards of Ikun are attacking!" Kagome awoke at once from her peaceful sleep. She had dreaming a sweet dream, rudely interrupted by the guard shouting from her door. When she comprehended the words, Kagome ran out to garden to where her father had instructed her to go if anything such as this should happen.

Brushing aside some leaves, Kagome pulled the trap door open and stepped carefully onto the dark stairway that lead to an underground room. She crept silently along, perturbed by the faint noises coming from farther down. "Who else would be in here but me?" she wondered out loud as she reached the bottom step.

A fierce gold gaze met her own. "It's late, Hime-sama," he sneered. "You should really be getting back to bed!" The silver-haired man grabbed her wrists in a clawed fist, binding them tightly with a short length of rope.

"Let go of me!" Kagome shouted, kicking him hard in the shin. The man barely flinched, and roughly hoisted her over his shoulder.

"'Fraid not, Hime-sama," he said, smirking up at her. "You are coming with me. Like it or not."

Kagome was loaded in a waiting coach, was joined by her captor. He continued to smirk at her, while she glared in return.

"Who are you?"

"Inuyasha-mikoto. Of Ikun."

Her eyes widened in understanding. "That's why you kidnapped me. Hoping Chichi-ue will crumble in order to get me back. Coward."

Inuyasha smirked at her, but made no response. Sighing, Kagome leaned back in the soft, cushioned seat. She, the crown-princess of Gokuraku, kidnapped by the prince of Ikun. She'd heard of him..couldn't quit remember his name. He was jealous of his elder brother, who was the crown-prince.

The nations of Gokuraku and Ikun had been at each others throats for hundreds of years, so long that no one really remembered why they were fighting in the first place. One rumor was that the Prince of Gokuraku had fallen in love with the Princess of Ikun and had kidnapped and married her.

Another tale was that Ikun had flourished with crops and food was abundant, while Gokuraku was going through a hideous famine. The King of Ikun at the time had been greedy and unreasonable, and refused to help out it's bordering nation. The King of Gokuraku vowed revenge and the war started that way.

The last commonly known tale was that the Queen of Gokuraku, a fair and beautiful woman, had been out picking herbs in the forest when she came across a starving boy. She took the boy back with her, fed him, and gave him a soft bed to sleep on. The boy turned out to be a kitsune-youkai in disguise, and killed the Queen before fleeing to Ikun. The people of Gokuraku accused the King and Queen of Ikun of sending the Kitsune to kill their Queen, and so they waged war on each other.

Regardless of how it started, the two nations had been fighting ever since whatever happened. Some of the time there was peace in both lands, but most of the time there was fighting in the streets and attacks on the castles of their respective countries.

Kagome knew that Ikun's King was a taiyoukai, and was married to a human woman. Kagome knew their names. King Tsuyoi and Queen Hana. King Tsuyoi had had a son with another woman before he had married Hana. The boy was a full youkai, unlike his younger half-brother, who was a hanyou.

King Suzumebachi and Queen Kochou of Gokuraku had only one child, a daughter, Kagome. She'd been raised an old maid, so Kagome wasn't particularly close to her parents. She was an active child, and had studied archery since she was a wee child. On the outside, she was as delicate as the most beautiful flower, and many a drunken lecher had learned that looks meant little.

Kagome looked outside the carriage window and saw that the sun was beginning to rise. She ached to stretch her muscles, but doubted the prince would take to kindly to it. Kagome took a closer look at him. Dog ears perched at the top of his. He didn't look that old really..more of a boy than a man.

Glancing back out the window, Kagome saw unfamiliar lands. "Are we..in Ikun?"

"Of course," he snorted. "You thought we'd turn around and send you back after all the trouble we went through to create a diversion?"

Kagome examined the land as they moved through it. It was rocky and mountainous, thick forests everywhere. So unlike the lands of Gokuraku, where forests were sparse and the land was thick with rolling plains.

"It's different, that's all," she said, not meeting his eyes. "It's beautiful."

He was taken slightly aback. Beautiful? What game was she playing at? "Think you can weasel your way out of here with flattery?"

Kagome met his eyes, anger radiating from her face. "No! Can't I compliment your home without being criticized? Just because we're enemies?"

The boy frowned and they were silent for a while longer. Then--

"What's your name?"

The boy looked quizzically at her.

"What? I expect I'll be at your castle for a while, might as well learn your name."

"Inuyasha," he responded. "My name is Inuyasha. Your name was something like Kagome..?"

She nodded. "That's it. Kagome."

The carriage stopped at that moment. "We've reached the castle of Ikun," the driver announced, opening the door for Inuyasha and Kagome. Inuyasha roughly seized her arm and pulled her out.

"Treat your guest with some respect," a kindly voice greeted them.

"Chichi-ue?" Inuyasha whispered, eyeing his father. "She's the enemy's daughter. Do I have to be nice?"

"We wouldn't want King Suzumebachi thinking we're mistreating his daughter, now would be?" Dark amusement played on his face. Kagome wondered whether or not he was serious. At the same moment, a beautiful woman appeared at King Tsuyoi's side.

"Really," she said, voice tinted with annoyance. "She's a woman. You kidnapped a woman."

"Queen Hana..?" Kagome guessed. The woman smiled and nodded.

"My husband and son are sometimes a bit rough around the edges," she said, giving them both stern looks. "But we certainly won't be treating you harshly. You will be given a proper room and clothes and everything you need. The caste grounds are open to you, but you aren't to leave them."

Kagome nodded in compliance. She wasn't a fool--it would be safer to obey these people than to not, for they were very capable of hurting or even killing her. She doubted the latter, she'd be needed alive so her father would be lured to the kingdom of Ikun to save her, but she felt it was safer not to put it past them. "Wakatte. I won't leave the castle grounds."

"Inuyasha, take her to a spare room," Queen Hana ordered. Inuyasha muttered and led Kagome into the castle. She stared in awe at all the beautiful paintings on the walls. Maids and cooks scurried around, preparing breakfast, carrying platters of exquisite-looking food.

Inuyasha swung open the door to a vast room. A huge canopy bed was against one wall. Another wall was lined with wardrobes and a huge mirror.

Kagome couldn't believe her luck. Such a beautiful bedroom..it was as nice as her own back in Gokuraku!

"Breakfast will be in an hour. I expect Haha-ue will send you a serving maid. She will show you where everything is." Inuyasha's glowering look disappeared as the door shut.

And thus began Kagome's life in Ikun.

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What do you think? I promise it'll get interesting. The first chapter just needed to introduce everything. I have a lot of ideas up my sleeve, don't you worry.

I decided to release one a chapter a week. It'll just be easiest for me. Till next week. n.n -salutes you-