AN: Let me just start by saying, that while I've role played for around ten years now and have dabbled in writing full on stories, this is the first that I've ever posted online. Now that being said, I am not a weak person and I can take and would actually appreciate some constructive criticism.

Also I guess I should say that I own no part of Inuyasha. This is only for entertainment for both myself and anyone who reads it.

Now, that being said; On with the story!

Chapter 1:

Burning Love and the Influence of a Child.

He was gone again. It seemed as though every time their little group settled down for a break in Edo the hanyou would run off. Of course the raven haired girl knew just why he would run off each time. Waiting for her to go to her own time through the well and staying gone well after she would get back and into the night. But knowing did not make it hurt any less, if anything it made it hurt more. She would rather be blissfully unaware of the attention her past life got from what was supposed to be her dog eared friend and first love.

"Lady Kagome." The calm caring voice of one of her oldest friends since she had started coming to this era, a young monk by the name a Miroku, who despite his perverted ways had become somewhat brotherly towards her. That is if you let the odd grope here and there slid by without notice.

"Yes Miroku?" She asked him with a small smile and noticed that it was not only him, but a woman who had become like a sister to her, the demon slyer, Sango, who was also looking to her. Both held worry in their eyes for her, and it was then that she realized that she had spent the passed fifteen minutes since she had come back from the well, and her own time, starring at the floor in her own self-pity.

"You look ill at ease, is there something you would like to talk about, Kagome?" The purple clad man asked her and she simply shook her head before standing. Sango always heard her rants and confessions when they would go to the hot springs together, and she knew the information was then passed onto Miroku. So she thought that they didn't need to hear her sob stories yet again, she was sure even her little Shippo, her adopted fox demon kit, was tired of them.

"No, I'm fine, really." She informed them both as she picked up her bow and arrows, swinging them over her shoulder. "I'm just going to go for a walk; it's a pleasant night after all." She told them before heading to the door and pulling the flap back to be greeted by the cool night air. She thought only for a moment about grabbing a sweater before discarding the idea and heading out into the night.

She knew where not to go, even from there as she looked up to the sky she could see that above where the god tree was there was soul collectors flying about, the odd one coming from a distance with a little ball of light that Kagome recognized as a soul of a woman and dropping down out of sight before coming back up with nothing. So instead she turned the opposite way and started taking her first steps away from her friends and the Hanyou that would forever run off and break her heart a little more each time.

As the distance became greater between herself and the one person she felt the need to get away from her steps slowed and she looked around at where she was. This was a direction she didn't get to go in very often, and as such it was a place that she didn't readily recognize. But she knew that all it would take is for her to turn back around and she could find her way back to the village.

Continuing on her way for another five minutes she finally figured that it was enough, she was far enough away that she could actually be alone, while at the same time if Inuyasha came back and needed to find her he wouldn't have a problem finding her scent. Moving to what looked to be an old fallen tree she sat down on the moss covered log with a heavy outwards sigh and she let her bow and arrows fall off her shoulder and onto the ground at her feet.

She was close enough so that she wasn't in any real danger so though she didn't really need them, she had become conditioned with having to bring them everywhere with her just in case.

Sitting there, swinging her feet back and forth as she stared down at the grass, something came up at the edge of her vision forcing her to look and see what the movement was, though she was already opening her mouth to ask Inuyasha to leave her be. As her blue orbs caught sight of this person she soon saw that she had been wrong in her assumption.

There, standing in all her glory with her bow drawn, arrow ready to fire, was Kikyo herself. Wasn't she supposed to be with Inuyasha right now? Wouldn't he have made it to her before she did? Though now that she thought of it, her friends had probably convinced him not to follow and come after her anyway, 'Give her some time,' 'She will be back' they would always say to him.

Well now hadn't been the time for them to do that.

Kagome being the trusting person she was, but also having the thought that she meant her harm in the back of her mind, she didn't jump up and reach for her bow and arrows. Instead she slowly stood and watched as she moved, the arrow pointed at her heart moved as well to keep it on target.

Her mouth felt suddenly dry and she wanted to scream and yell for Inuyasha to save her. But instead she swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "K-Kikyo, what can I do for you?" She asked the older and very much dead woman with a half-hearted smile.

She couldn't help but think that it was just so wrong to see the woman in front of her smile with those dead emotionless eyes, it almost looked creepy and sadistic. "Inuyasha invited me into the group, said that you just wasn't cutting it." Came her lifeless, seething voice.

It felt as though someone had stabbed her in the heart, he had asked her to join? She wasn't doing well enough job in finding the shards, or was it her archery skills? He did always tell her about how she couldn't live up to Kikyo's skills after all. But she wasn't supposed to live up to it, she wasn't Kikyo, damn it!

She wanted to yell, curse, and just fall down crying as her heart finally finished breaking, it was the last straw. But the arrow trained in on said heart made her stand her ground. And a lie was formed. "That's great. The more the merrier I always say. I'm sure we can find the shards ten times faster with you with us." She told the woman, her voice a little shaky and words a little too quickly spoken. Was she losing her mind? No, she was trying to live, but as that smile from her clay face vanished she knew that it wasn't going to work.

"Throw me your shards." The voice sent chills down her spine and she froze for a moment. Kikyo was better than her, she couldn't reach for her bow and arrows, notch it, and fire in time before she would be hit with one herself. So she made a decision, if she could hold this out a little longer, Inuyasha would come for her.

Slowly she reached up to the vial around her neck and slipped the necklace off and held onto it for a moment. For a time she only stared at the clay woman in front of her. What if Inuyasha wasn't going to come? What if she was telling the truth, and not only that, what if he was okay with her killing her like this? She would have her soul back after all and he wouldn't have to worry about watching after weak little Kagome anymore.

What was she thinking?! Of course he wouldn't be a part of this. Even if he didn't love her, he was still her friend. He would come.

Finally she tossed the vile of shards over to the woman and watched them roll to her feet to stop in front of them. "There. Now I could just go home, you can have them; you can be in the group and have Inuyasha. You don't have to do anything to me." She tried to get through to the woman before her, but the scowl that crossed her face told her that she had said something wrong.

"What do you mean I can have him?! I already have him. I don't need your say so for that." She told her and Kagome eyes widened as she watched the arrow fly towards her, and she closed her eyes. But as she waited for the sharp pain she was sure would come with the arrow piercing her heart, it never came. Instead, she felt as the chill of the night was taken away. Had it been a dream? Was she going to open her eyes to find herself sleeping next to a camp fire, cuddled up to a snoring Shippo in her sleeping bag?

As she did open her eyes, she found that she was near no camp fire, but a raging forest fire that was happening all around her, almost in a perfect circle around her and spreading in towards her and out to consume the rest of the forest. She could try to jump over it, but it was spreading so fast she knew she wouldn't be able to get enough momentum to jump it all and would just burn quicker.

Looking out she saw Kikyo reaching down and taking the vile from the forest floor and tuck them into her sleeve before turning and walking away. It was only about a yard away, she could still see the woman as she leaned herself against a tree and her soul collectors took some rope and tied it around her and the tree, trapping her just before a fire started around her as well. What was she doing?!

She didn't spend to long looking at her though, instead she started looking around herself; there was no way to get out of this on her own. "Inuyasha!" She started yelling, calling for him at first, and looking around. But as the fires started to close in on her, the yells turned to screams, "Please!" and within a matter of a minute it turned to sobs and pleading to be heard and saved. "Anyone…."

And that's when she finally saw him, rush through the trees, a look of fear and worry across his face. "Kagome!" He called and looked around. "Inuyasha!" She yelled back, he was there to save her, she would be fine. She felt herself smile when he looked right at her, and then a sound caused both of them to look over to the dead miko tied to the tree who looked as though she had just woken and was coughing only to begin screaming. The flames weren't as close to her though, he would choose her over the clay pot, right? She watched him with pleading eyes but he looked right back at her then headed right for Kikyo and jumped though the flames to cut the rope with his claws and then jump away to safety with his dead love, leaving her there.

She was in shock, he had looked right at her, had saw that she was in danger, and still he had not chosen to save her. Could someone made out of clay even burn? She didn't know and she didn't plan to find out ether, not as the flames were only a breath away from her, licking out at her over heated skin. Her tears running down her panicked face as she tried everything she could to keep the flames as bay, even trying to stomp them out. But nothing seemed to be working. And finally, as the flames reached her and she started to feel the burning that made her scream out in agony, she couldn't help the thought that crossed her mind, that it turned out to not be as cold tonight as she had first thought when leaving the hut. It was a better thought to have in the end then the thought that she had been betrayed by the man she loved.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~In a forest miles away a few hours later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Rin! Get back here!" Called a little green toad demon as his little legs struggled to run as fast as the young human child he was after, he was getting to old to watch after children. "If Lord Sesshomaru finds out that you've run off like this he'll have my head!" He squawked out, hoping it would stop the girl, and was relieved when the girl in fact stopped and turned to face him, though as he stopped before her and tried to catch his breath, he wished that she hadn't.

That look she was giving him, the little pout that always seemed to demand that she gets her way; it was a puppy dog look that for a human child could rival that of an inu pup. "But Master Jaken, Rin just wants to go and pick the pretty flowers she had seen on the way to camp. She will be right back before Lord Sesshomaru even knows she was gone." She told him as if it was the most obvious thing in the world before turning to start her small trek again.

He swore the girl could see flowers from a mile away; it was as if she had some power that sensed them long before they even came into view by himself and his lord, which was saying a lot. "Rin, it's already dark, it doesn't matter how 'pretty' these flowers are, and there could be danger anywhere in these woods!" He told her, and as if on cue, just mere feet in front of the young human child he was trying to persuade to come back to camp, something dark came stumbling out of the trees only to finally fall in front of them.

He had left them there no more than fifteen minutes ago to patrol the area, and yet as the stoic demon lord came into the clearing he had chosen for camp that night, the only thing there was his fateful steed, the two headed dragon by the names of Ah-Un who lazily lifted one of its heads to look at him, and as if reading his masters mind pointed its nose in the direction the others had gone.

Well he couldn't say that this was a new turn of events, it didn't happen often, but he guessed that being a child Rin did have lots of pent up energy that just built up as she would ride on the back of Ah-Un. And though she was completely loyal, she did give Jaken a run for his money sometimes by running off. But he could trust him to bring her back in one piece, and most likely with whatever it was she had left in the first place for. He sensed no demons around, all of them ether tucking in for the night or too afraid of him to try anything that would cause their death.

Walking over to a tree at the edge of the clearing so that he would be facing the way they would be coming back from he was just about to sit when a piercing scream floated to his ears and to the human eye, it was as if he had been there, and then he just wasn't as he rushed to the aid of his young ward.

It took no more than a few moment before he was standing in front of the child who seemed to be in shock at what she saw before her. He himself would never admit it, or even let it show on his stoic face, but he was a little surprised at what he found as well. Before him, covered in burns was a young woman. Her face didn't seem to be burned to badly, but the areas that wasn't chard black was reddened from the heat of a fire. Her cloths were burned almost completely off and her hair was singed and now only reached her shoulders.

The smell of burned flesh was so strong that he had no dought even the young human girl behind him could smell it. And while the faint sounds of a heart beat told him that the girl was not yet dead, it would not be long before she was, even if the burns themselves did not take her life, the infection that would set into them would. "Is Lady Kagome going to be alright?" His young wards voice could be heard from behind him, she sounded scared and saddened by what she saw.

It would seem that because of how badly she was burned, and the strong smell of it, he had not even noticed that this girl before them was in fact his hated half-brothers Miko. But with his trained nose he blocked out the over powering smells and was able to catch faintly the smell of the young woman.

Choosing not to answer Rin he simply turned away and back towards the camp. While he was curious of how the girl had gotten herself into that situation, and where his half-brother actually was, he could not be bothered with staying there a moment longer for a miko who was as good as dead. If she was lucky she wouldn't have to suffer long before a demon found her and ended the pain he was sure she was going through for her.

But as he started to walk away, he only heard one set of steps following his lead behind him. "Lord Sesshomaru, we can't just leave her like this." Came the soft voice of the child who would normally follow him without question. It seemed the girl was not able to do so this time though. Pausing he didn't turn fully to face her, but he did glance back, and in the place of her normal happy, gaped tooth, smiling face was a sad but defiant look.

"Please Lord Sesshomaru, Rin doesn't want to leave Lady Kagome here. She's always so nice to her..." She said, her voice breaking as she held back her tears. "Silly girl! You can't expect my Lord actually to care if that human bitch dies or not!" Came the squawking of his long time servant, Jaken. But even as he was speaking, said demon lord turned back to face the child and without a word walked back, passed the girl and after rolling the miko over onto her back used his one arm to lift her up and cradle her to him before again turning and walking away.

This time it was Rin who followed and Jaken who stood there gawking at his back. "Jaken. Go get enough herbs for the burns to last at least a couple of days. I expect you back with it before dawn. Or you will be left here." He informed his servant in his normal uncaring voice. Since Rin had started to come with them, he did have enough herbs for different things, but only enough for short term treatment, enough so that they could be used until they got back to the palace.

He could have simply brought the girl back, and let her die on her own. But while he wouldn't openly admit it, he wanted to please his ward; he wanted to make her happy. And while simply not leaving the miko there in the woods to die would have been enough, he never did things half assed. He always had to do everything to perfection. So if he was going to save her now, he was going to make sure she did not die so soon after.

Once he and his ward got back to their camp the girl was already running to Ah-Un and taking out a bed roll, and the leather sack that held all the herbs they had and after rolling out the bead roll he placed the miko down onto it. Once that was done he started to work quietly on making a paste out of the leaves that would best help to heal the burns and keep infection out. It wasn't until he was done putting the paste on all the miko's burns and wrapping her in bandages that he realized Rin had fallen asleep at the side of Ah-Un.

Standing he made his way over to a tree and sat down, closing his eyes. What was all this to bring to him? In the morning when Jaken returned he would start heading back to the palace where his healers would take over the care of the miko for the sake of his ward. But after that, what was he to do with the girl. Surly he could use her for something. His brother infatuation with her meant that he could use her to get the sword that should have been left to him in the first place. But as he looked at the young woman as she slept a restless sleep, he found that he also wanted answers.

For the life of him he couldn't figure out what had happened to her. Clearly she had been caught in a fire of some sort, but he smelled nothing nearby that had been set ablaze. Could it be that as injured as she is she had made it so far away from where she had been burned? And where was his brother, he had expected to at least smell the whelp some place nearby, but there was nothing. It would seem that there was no one even looking for the girl. So he decided right then and there, he would figure out what it was that happened, for nothing more than to sate his curiosity, and then he would hold the girl as a bribing stance to get what he wanted from his half-brother.

AN:

I hope that this was a good start to the story. Please let me know what you think, whether good or bad! And I'll try to have the next Chapter out as soon as possible!

And yes, I know, the great and powerful Lord Sesshomaru may be a little out of character at the moment, or at least I think him to be. But I'll chalk that up to this being my first experience with working with him and the fact that Rin really does have some pull over him with things. I'm going to try to get better at portraying him though.

If you see anything wrong in this story. Grammar, punctuation, or even some sort of direction I took that didn't seem right, please point it out! It will make any later chapters better and I can go back and fix things in the ones I already have up!