Chapter 1

"Stay here," he calmly rose from his spot from under the large oak tree. The roots grew wild almost forming a makeshift seat. She watched his silver tresses move with the rhythm of his pace, she saw as his armor moved rhythmically with his footsteps. She listened to the metal of his armor move against his swords and rattle softly with every step. The girl's brown eyes followed the demon lord until his form faded into the trees.

She looked up at the sky hoping that the stars would spell out a solution or maybe she would wake from the horrible nightmare she was having. She turned her head quizzically at the odds of this just being a dream. She brought her head down from the clouds looked around the small clearing the lord of the Western lands had brought her to. She studied the branches of the trees and tried to distinguish the trees from one another to keep herself busy.

Her amusement was soon halted when she heard voices… Not of her master's companions, who had gone off on their own, but voices she didn't recognize. It was certainly not the normal bickering of the obnoxious toad and giggling girl.

"Sesshoumaru's around here…" a boy's gruff and demanding voice echoed through the trees near by.

'Enemies of my master,' she thought and quickly searched for an adequate hiding spot until they moved on. The only place she could think of was the tall oak tree with large branches her lord had just been sitting under.

She carefully moved to where her lord had once sat down and pressed her back against the tree wanting to become a part of the tree as she heard the footstep's crunching closer and closer. The footsteps stopped abruptly.

"And, he's not alone… "

"Of course he isn't, he's always with that young girl and frog-thing. Isn't he?" A female's voice called.

"Inuyasha, if Sesshoumaru's around then maybe we shouldn't be here. We're looking for the shards not another fight," another feminine voice made itself known to the petrified girl, the voice trying to talk some sense into the boy whose name seemed to be Inuyasha.

A different male voice also agreed with the girl who tried to talk Inuyasha into leaving the area, they all at once argued with the male voice who seemed to know the demon lord was around. The scared girl could not make out what they all were saying, although, she was grateful they were considering leaving the area.
Who ever these people were they sure did not seem to be too fond of her lord and one seemed to obviously be a demon if he could "smell" lord Sesshoumaru.

She had not known the lord for very long. It had been just days since he had bought her from her village. Yes, bought not brought. She was a slave. When she saw his attire she immediately knew he was a lord and when she saw him, she knew he was a demon. She felt honored to have been bought by a demon lord. She could not see how or why a demon lord would go himself to buy a slave from a poor slave village. Did he not have servants for that?

She was informed immediately that she would tend to Rin in their travels and was to never to leave her side. A child the great lord had taken in, at least it seemed that way to Hiromi. Sesshoumaru never explained himself to her. She couldn't help but wonder why the lord had adopted the human child.

She was just relieved to know that she was not going to be a turned into a comfort woman. That was her fear since she was sold into the slave trade. She was told repeatedly that she was to be sold for the price of 10 slaves as a Comfort Woman.

Her head turned to the direction of some trees rusting, terrified by the group who seemed to not be fond of her she looked up and saw her only hope and salvation was to climb the tree she was so desperately digging her fingernails into.

"It reeks of fear… he has someone captive," the male's cocky voice echoed. She heard him getting closer and knew if she was going to climb that tree it was now or never. She turned and gripped the trunk as she began to climb with all the strength she had. She reached the first branch in short time and climbed a few more feet until she felt out of harms way.

She leaned on the trunk and slowly lowered herself until she was sitting on the large branch. She looked down 15 feet grew dizzy, she'd never been this high up before. She tucked her legs in and rested her chin on her knees. Hiromi hugged the trunk of the large oak tree and shut her eyes realizing that if the demon lord didn't show up soon she could die. She took a peek and saw a boy emerge from the trees mumbling about something.

If it weren't for his bright red robes he would've gone unnoticed. The red made her eyes hurt, she did not remember the last time she saw such bright colors. His hair contrasted against his bright red kimono, it was as silver as the moon. She had not seen such hair color on anyone but her lord… Its brilliance shone even in these dim hours where the sun had long set, she was hypnotized by the silver silk that blew everywhere with a chilling breeze.

She gasped when the boy's gaze suddenly met hers. His big piercing golden eyes narrowed and met her brown ones, he growled and yelled, "Hey! You! Who are you?!" she opened her mouth but found that no words dared to escape her mouth. Should she answer? Would the lord want her to answer or stay silent?

"I asked you a question, woman!" he unsheathed his sword and Hiromi saw the sword transform into a size she had never seen before. He waved the sword menacingly at her. She hugged the tree closer and her fear grew more and more. She was sure that this man would take her life.

"Inuyasha," she jumped slightly at the familiar cold-hearted tone of her lord. She searched for him through the leaves and darkness and smiled weakly when her eyes finally found a glimpse of him. She was indeed relived that her lord had come, never before could she have imagined herself to depend so much on a demon. But she thanked god he had come.

"Is there something," he paused and made eye contact with Hiromi briefly, "I can help you with?" He ever so coolly asked, stepping into the clearing now.

"Inuyasha, don't run off…like…that…" one of the feminine voices from before called as she emerged from the trees as well. Her sentence trailed when she saw the sight before her. Lord Sesshoumaru several feet away from Inuyasha. And, Inuyasha with his sword drawn.

She gasped and suddenly looked up at the tree, her gaze immediately landed on Hiromi's necklace. "In…Inuyasha, her necklace... it's made of shards from the Shikon jewel!" Inuyasha turned his head to look at the oddly dressed girl and then up at the frightened girl who was taking refuge in the tree.

Hiromi grabbed her necklace with her right hand and clutched it hard. It was the necklace her mother had given her before she died, her mother had it specially made for her with the little money she had saved up, her mother was promised that it could protect her daughter even when she no longer could.

Hiromi had no intension of giving it up to these strangers who pointed their weapons at her lord. She huffed and skillfully climbed down the tree. Once she reached the ground she ran for her life towards Sesshoumaru. Her attempts were all in vain once Inuyasha grabbed her by the hair before she could get anywhere.

"Let me go, please, sir!" The first words she let out since lord Sesshoumaru had bought her. To lord Sesshoumaru's surprise she spoke firmly and with confidence. He barely spoke any words to her and if he did it was a command for her to tend to Rin.

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow slightly, her voice amused him somewhat. Her tone was rather assertive given her predicament. The lord watched his slave be yanked by the hair with an uninterested stare, though he was very much interested as to why she was as confident as her voice gave away.

"My Lord…" the girl whispered, knowing that he could hear her, with pleading eyes she begged him with her big brown eyes for him to help her. She bowed her head when in response he gave her a look of disinterest.

"Inuyasha, let her go!" The girl with the green robes commanded. She grabbed his shoulder and he soon let her go but not before ripping the necklace from her delicate neck and pushing her to the ground harshly.

"No!" she shrieked and brought a hand up to her neck.

Lord Sesshoumaru cocked his head slightly to the left and closed his eyes briefly in annoyance at her unnecessary shriek. He glared at his slave, he saw that she had fallen on the floor and was clutching the area where his brother had pulled her. She looked at her master for the first time with hatred. She saw how one eyebrow ever so elegantly rose from its place on his composed face, questioning her stare. It was beyond out of line and she knew that but she didn't care, that necklace was all she had left from her mother.

"What's going on? Miroku, over here, " the feminine voice from before called over her shoulder as she held a cat in her hands, she emerged from the trees cautiously. She saw a monk follow the woman with the boomerang, they both halted when they saw the sight before them.

"Sesshoumaru…" they both whispered in unison. A small demon crept from behind the monk's legs and took a peek at what was going on.

She took her chance and snatched the necklace from the boy's hands as he looked back to his comrades. She got on her feet and ran as fast as she could to her lord's side. She took deep breaths once she was behind her lord and knew she was safe from the boy with the equally silver hair as her master, for the time being.

Something told her that the boy with the red robes dared not go past the lord and she took advantage of that. She felt as if he was unbeatable, like some sort of god. She felt warm and safe now, regardless of how cold the night grew. She remembered that no matter what happened these people would stop at nothing to take her necklace but she reminded herself how worried the bunch were. It was five against one, she assumed her lord must have been pretty strong for the group to dread fighting him. This made her feel safe but she saw her opportunity…

She looked behind her at dense, dark forest and couldn't help but wonder if maybe she could run away, start a new life. Perhaps there was a village not too far away. She scanned the trees and saw nothing in the darkness. She squinted her eyes, maybe she had not seen some sort of light coming from a near by village that might have been hidden deep by the forest. Her expression fell when she saw nothing and looked once more with hope. He interrupted her search quickly.

"One moment you admire me. Now you wish to run. Do not waste your time looking for a place that is clearly non existent," he said never breaking eye contact with a very enraged half-breed.

She turned her head back and stared at the back of his head, a hair had not moved on his head. How could he possibly know what she was doing if he was not looking? She nodded and mumbled an apology. Meanwhile she heard the boy who looked familiar to her lord mouthing off all kind of swears and the rest of his comrades in battle positions.

"Sesshoumaru, hand over the shards!" the girl in the extremely short kimono yelled, her bow and arrow at the ready. Hiromi saw how she aimed several arrows at him, all missing or merely tapping his armor. She then withdrew an arrow from her quiver slowly and steadily. It was her last arrow… And, the look on the oddly dressed girl's eyes made Hiromi shiver. She saw a glow grow from the arrow.

"My lord, move!" She pushed Sesshoumaru out of the purification arrow's way. A pink flash was seen and Hiromi was pinned to a tree in the blink of an eye.

"How did she…?" Kagome asked out loud. 'How did she see that I was going to shoot with everything I had that time…?' her mouth was wide open as she stared at the girl, whose head hung low.