Confusing Encounters

As much as Kagome loved her friends, she occasionally felt the need to put a little distance between herself and them. It gave her a chance to think through a lot of different things without any distractions. As she walked alone, along the tangled path that led farther into the forest, Kagome silently pondered her life up to that point.

When she was fifteen years old, she had fallen into an old well, which was located right beside her house. Once inside, she had been drawn into an unbelievable adventure in Feudal Japan. She had joined forces with the half-demon Inuyasha, the orphaned fox demon Shippo, the demon slayer Sango, the demon cat Kilala, and the monk Miroku. Together, the group had been searching and battling for the shards of the sacred Shikon jewel, which Kagome had unintentionally shattered soon after arriving in the past. They were constantly forced to battle with the notorious demon, Naraku, over the shards. For over two years, Kagome had been wandering through Feudal Japan, searching for jewel shards.

As her thoughts drifted away from her journey, they turned instead to Inuyasha. Kagome knew that she loved the half-demon. Unfortunately, while he obviously cared for her as well, he very rarely indicated his feelings amounted to anything more than friendship.

Kagome's expression quickly turned to one of confusion as she thought about the half-demon's recent actions. In the past few weeks, she'd noticed Inuyasha growing increasingly distant from her. Before, she would have blamed it on Kikyo, but the resurrected priestess had been killed by Naraku about six months previously. With Kikyo no longer in the picture, Kagome was completely clueless as to the cause of Inuyasha's strange behaviour.

As she meandered along, pondering her relationship, Kagome suddenly became aware of the fact she had unintentionally ventured quite a distance away from her friends. The group had hunkered down in a small clearing to rest for the night. Her friends were all aware of Kagome's occasional need for solitude, so none of them had said a word when she left the camp. They trusted she was smart enough to keep track of where she walked, and would be able to find her way back. Unfortunately, she had been completely engrossed in her thoughts and hadn't kept a close watch on her own path. Now she was far away from her friends, had no idea where she was, and was weaponless, having left her bow back at the campsite.

Looking around nervously for a moment, Kagome relaxed slightly when she was unable to sense any demons in the immediate vicinity. Her relief was short-lived, however, when the cracking of a branch directly behind her indicated she was not as alone as she might have wished.

Without a backward glance, Kagome took off running, moving rapidly down the path, and carrying herself even farther away from her friends. The path was well-worn and clear of any debris, so she only had to duck and dodge around a few low-hanging branches.

After running flat out for five minutes and hearing no new noises, Kagome reached a spot in the path where it was intersected by another path. She paused to catch her breath, doubled-over and gasping.

Another loud sound caused her to whirl around in fear and stare, wide-eyed, in the direction she had just come from. She narrowed her eyes, squinted, in an attempt to see into the darkness. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust properly, but once they did, she began to spot various shapes within the trees.

In almost no time, she picked out the outline of a large demon, one that was quickly making its way towards her. Kagome froze up with fear, hoping it would fail to see her if she remained completely still. As the creature drew closer to her, Kagome began to see some specifics about its form.

It was a bear demon, a large one. Standing at least seven feet, it was covered in a thick coat of matted brown fur and its enormous fangs were bared in a vicious snarl. As it came nearer, Kagome tensed up, preparing to fight, even though she knew she wouldn't last two seconds against the powerful demon. She was immensely surprised, however, when it came to a halt and regarded her closely through its eerily glowing red eyes.

"Human," it said suddenly, its unbelievably deep voice rumbling through the still air, "you should not have left the half-demon. Regardless of his human weakness, he could have provided at least some protection for you." Kagome looked on with growing fear as it took a step forward. "Alone as you are now, I will kill you with ease. That should anger Inuyasha enough to come to me. Although, considering what is occurring even now, he might not be all that angry after all."

Kagome's expression quickly changed from amazement at the demon's intention to draw out Inuyasha, to confusion as she thought about what it was saying.

What does it mean Inuyasha wouldn't be that angry if I was killed?

Her musings were cut short then, as the bear suddenly charged at her with a speed and grace that belied its large and awkward-looking form.

Closing her eyes, Kagome steeled herself for the coming impact. She fully expected to be sent careening through the air in a matter of seconds. To her amazement, however, the collision never occurred. Instead, she felt an immense power suddenly flare up directly behind her. Since her eyes were still be held firmly shut, she didn't see the bear's charge come to an abrupt halt as it immediately froze upon sensing the power.

Waiting for a moment, Kagome nervously opened her eyes, only to be greeted by the sight of the bear demon slowly backing away from her, its eyes widened in fright. Kagome looked at it in confusion, before apprehensively turning to see what was behind her that could scare the bear in such a way. Her own eyes widened when she saw what it was.

Sesshomaru stood very close behind her, no more than four feet away. He was staring at the bear with no emotion on his face, but Kagome could see annoyance clearly in his golden eyes. As her eyes remained locked on the demon, she heard a low growl sound from him. Whirling around, she was pleased to see the bear cringe in fear.

"What are you doing here, priestess?" The voice was cold and it sounded like he couldn't care less about any answer.

Kagome was quick to provide one anyway. "I wandered away from my friends and lost track of where I was going. Then this thing came at me, saying something about killing me to draw out Inuyasha."

Sesshomaru did not react visibly to this statement. Instead, he directed his attention back to the bear. "What do you want with the half-breed?"

The bear gulped nervously before responding to the Demon Lord's question. "I was merely going to destroy him. I was hired by Naraku to eliminate the half-breed. He's supposed to give me a shard of the Shikon Jewel in return. I have been following the group for two weeks now, waiting for an opportune time to attack Inuyasha, but he has never been completely alone. I decided to kill the girl instead, to draw him out. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be as attached to her anymore. I believe that you know why."

Kagome turned in time to see Sesshomaru's curt nod. Before she could voice her question about what they were talking about, however, Sesshomaru suddenly sprang at the still-cowering bear. His poisonous claws made short work of the weaker creature. As soon is the bear's agonized scream died away, he began to walk down the path, back the way Kagome had originally come from. She watched him for a moment, until he suddenly paused in his stride and turned his head slightly to look at her.

"Are you coming," he inquired, "or would you rather remain here, alone?" It really wasn't a difficult choice to make. Kagome quickly moved beside him and they continued on their way, back toward the camp.

As they walked, Kagome attempted to get some information from the Demon Lord. "Why did you save me back there?"

Kagome was surprised when the demon actually answered her question. "If I had not, Inuyasha would have come looking for me. My scent is clearly evident around here. He would constantly badger me about not saving you. Frankly, I have things to do and I am not fond enough of my brother to desire his company at any time." Once this was said, Sesshomaru surprised Kagome once again by stopping and looking at her. He stared at her silently for a moment.

Under the demon's intense scrutiny, she began to blush slightly.

He's very handsome, she thought, with the hair, and the eyes.

Kagome's thoughts were interrupted when he began to speak again. "I will only warn you once, priestess. Nobody within a week's march of this area is very fond of Inuyasha. These lands belong to me, and they know that he is my brother. To demons, pure blood is everything. In this case, being of royal blood, it is even more important. They know that Inuyasha is a half-breed. Therefore, it is like he is an insult to the royal blood that runs in our veins. As such, they will pass up no opportunity to destroy him and those he travels with. I will advise you to remain with your companions at all times." After the little speech, Sesshomaru fell silent and continued to stare at Kagome.

She pondered this information for a moment, then said the first thing that came to mind. "Why do you care?"

"I will not have my idiotic half-brother start slaughtering the inhabitants of my lands over the death of one of his friends." Suddenly, Sesshomaru's eyes darted to Kagome's left. She noticed this and turned herself to see what had caught his attention. Unfortunately for her, she was not able to see anything other than the vague outlines of the trees in the dark.

"What is it? What's wrong?" she asked. The only response she got to this question was Sesshomaru's large, clawed hand being pressed across her mouth. Kagome's eyes widened in fear and she began to struggle before she realized that he was only attempting to stifle her talking. She immediately stopped moving and after a minute, he turned his gaze back to her, removing his hand as he did so.

Kagome stood in silence for another minute, until she became aware of the fact that as she had been struggling against Sesshomaru's grasp, she had unintentionally moved very close to him. Blushing again, she took a step backwards and looked up at him. To her surprise, something akin to amusement was dancing in Sesshomaru's golden eyes. Before she could comment on this, however, he quickly turned and began walking once again.

Kagome quickly moved to walk beside him once again. "What did you sense back there?" Sesshomaru didn't answer the question. Instead, he looked at her for a second. Kagome saw another emotion in his eyes, but she could not immediately place it. When she finally did, she felt confused.

It was pity. Pity was the emotion in his eyes. Before she could phrase a question about that, she became aware that they were now getting quite close to her campsite.

Just before they reached it, Sesshomaru paused once again. "Human, do not mention that I was here. It would probably incite the half-breed to try some foolish attempt on my life. Remember my warning. Next time, I might not be around to aid you, and I would like to avoid sending my brother into a blood-thirsty rage." With that, Sesshomaru quickly turned around and made his way back the way that they had come.

Before he completely disappeared, however, he paused and made one last announcement. "One last piece of advice, human: if Inuyasha decides to go off by himself for a few hours, do not attempt to follow him. It is for your own good." Then he was gone, leaving Kagome to ponder his cryptic message as she walked the last few hundred feet to the campsite.

She immediately sensed Inuyasha was not there, but Sango was sitting with her back to a tree, looking lost in thought. Kagome was about to go tell Sango about her encounter with Sesshomaru, but something told her that would not be a good idea. Instead, Kagome simply unrolled her sleeping bag and stretched out, ready to sleep the rest of the night away.

The night was not nearly as restful as Kagome had hoped. Her sleep was plagued by confusing dreams and jumbled visions. A tall, silver haired demon dressed all in white; another silver haired demon, in red, fighting each other. Then a confusing flash of Inuyasha, locked in a passionate embrace with a woman. It wasn't Kikyo, but just as Kagome was about to get a look at the woman's face, she awoke in a cold sweat. She was left with the rest of the night to ponder her strange dreams, and think once again about Sesshomaru's strange behavior and the pity in his eyes as he gazed at her.