*AU * * Spoilers Alert! *

Instead of disappearing the Shikon no Tama is shattered again sending our heroes off in a Naraku free search for its pieces. Little do they know that Inuyasha's Father has still more secrets yet to be revealed. When his most powerful foe awakes after hundreds of year, she's out for the blood of the Dog Demon Matriarch in a bid for invulnerability! Not only that, she wants to use the Shikon no Tama to get it! Will Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha choose to help their tribe or hold a grudge till the death?

The Lost Tribes:

The Western Tribes

Chapter One: Lost to Time

It was a blistering hot day and the sun's glow was bright overhead. The path that Sesshoumaru and his unlikely duo followed was dusty and the gentle breeze made this all the more obvious. It wasn't frequented so the top layer was loose and easily disturbed. Any sane being avoided it because of the demons crawling the nearby forests like locusts. Sesshoumaru had no fear of these lesser beings. His mere presence alone was enough to send them writhing away long before he came into view. The day had been completely uneventful as they often were, but something ahead made the Demon Lord uneasy.

After several more minutes of uneasy walking the Daiyoukai stopped abruptly. They had come upon a small cave clearly shrouded by some kind of barrier. The barrier was demonic in nature and seemed oddly placed to say the least. "Jakken... Take Rin and wait for me at the main road." The Demon Lord ordered not letting on that the energy of the barrier felt familiar.

"Milord! If there's danger about I am invaluable help!" The toad protested raising his staff up in a gesture of his strength.

"Jakken..."

"Yes Milord?"

"Go..." Jakken looked as though he would protest again but quickly decided against it. Instead he took Aun's reigns and lead the two-headed beast away.

"See you soon Sesshoumaru-sama!" Rin chirped as she turned and followed after her companion. When they were aways down the path the Daiyoukai turned his attention back to the barrier.

"What do you have hiding in here... Father?" He wonder stoically as he placed his hand on the barrier. The power of the barrier had waned considerably and was clearly doomed to fail soon. Whatever was hiding here had been there for quite sometime then which only strengthened the curiosity and suspicion Sesshoumaru now held. Given that, the Demon Lord saw no reason not to help it along with a swift punch. As the barrier shattered the least expected of things fell out of the cave. A human girl, bloodied and near death slumped into his arms.

"Daiyoukai... dono... Please forgive me... I..." She muttered before growing still.

"Why would my Father entomb a human girl here of all places in this state?" The Deom Lord was clearly puzzled but didn't let it get him for very long. He knew that the smell of blood would be too much for even the brightest of demons to resist and soon they would be drawn to it. He had no desire to waste his time with petty battles so he lifted the girl up and began making his way down the path. If she lived he would interrogate her about her worth to his Father. If she perished he was at no loss so he couldn't see the harm in it.

Several days passed and Sesshoumaru was impressed by the speed with which the girl recovered. By the morning of the fourth day her eyes slowly pried open. She flew straight up and looked around wildly though she seemed blind to everything around her. "Daiyoukai-dono!!!" She screamed at the trees desperately. When she gained no immediate response she scrambled to her feet and took off running in a desperate bid to find her master. She hadn't fully recovered so her wobbly legs gave her little in the way of agility or speed. This didn't deter her in the least she still pushed on bare foot in the rocky terrain of the woods.

Sesshoumaru heard the girl scream from his lounging spot by a nearby stream. It wasn't hard for him to pick up on her scent and catch up to her. He swooped down and grabbed her, pulling her to a stop. "Let me go! I have to help my Master! He'll kill you! He's the great Daiyoukai of the West!" She screeched in a fit of tears as she struggled to break free of the firm grasp that now held her. "Daiyoukai-dono!" The callous Demon Lord pushed the girl down to her knees. With one hand on her head he moved next to her and looked off into the forest barely acknowledging her presence.

"If you truly seek to serve the Daiyoukai of the west... then I am you Master now..." His voice was cold as ice as he peered down at the wretched girl.

"How long? If you really are Sesshoumaru-dono... How long have I been in there..." The girl uttered completely lost in her own overwhelming confusion as she stared off blankly into the forest. Just as the Daiyoukai was about to leave the clearly useless human behind she muttered something that caught him off guard. "Kill me..." He stopped and turned back to her with a cocked eyebrow. "My life is the only thing I have to offer you as payment for my failure..."

"Failure?" Sesshoumaru wondered curiously though his voice reflected no such notion.

"You Father only asked one thing from me as payment for his care and kindness. Heal his wounds and keep him well until I was unable to stay by his side..." Her voice broke and she tried to contain her tears the now flowed from her eyes like a spring of sorrow. "And he died before I did... I failed him so completely I can not... I do not deserve to live."

"How a healer like you would be of any use to my Father I can not fathom... Be gone from my sight. If it is death you seek the river is quite deep..." The stoic Daiyoukai replied as he turned and began walking away again.

"Tenesaiga... It gained its power by being forged in my blood..." She remarked slowly as she got to her feet and dusted off her knees. She sound now as if she could feel no emotion at all. Sesshoumarus stopped again angered by her insistence that she had been of any use to his Father. "If you won't take my life... Would you at least let me fix your arm?" Her question fell on deaf ears. She had turned to him as she spoke and now his one remaining hand was clasped around her neck. She simply smiled lightly as she brashly grasped out and pulled Tenesaiga from his waist. She gasped for breath but didn't struggle as she cut her hand and dizzily felt the blood drip down her fingers. She wiped the blade on her sleeve and put it back at his side. With her bloody palm she wrapped her hand around the stump that was left of his arm and held on as tightly as she could. The grip around her throat loosened as a look of shock poured over the Demon Lord's face. The end of the appendage that had been mostly without feeling since the incident started to tingle. Slowly a perfectly formed hand matching the one he had lost formed from the blood in her palm. Mesmerized by the whole process he didn't think to let go of the girl until her hand dropped lifelessly to her side. He released her to rest against a tree but didn't notice how carelessly he had placed her. He finally returned completely to his senses as the sound of crackling leaves and breaking twigs filled his ears. He looked around and saw the girl had slid down to the bottom of a nearby ravine.

The Demon Lord was still unsure what to think of this creature as he picked her up. She was obviously giving off holy energy but he was unaffected by it and she was able to heal a demon's wounds. Despite her bleeding and dirty appearance he carried her back to their camp with the greatest care he could afford. It wasn't until he got her back that he noticed her mangled feet from running relentlessly through the woods bare foot. The lesions only deepened his curiosity of this girl. She was completely devoted to her task of keeping his Father well to the point of blind and reckless abandon. What had he done to gain such devotion from her?

"Ah Sesshoumaru-sama!" Rin cheered as she saw the Daiyoukai appear among the trees. "Oh did she try to run away without thanking you? How rude!" She pouted angrily as she eyed the mystery girl.

"Rin... Get some water and bandages..." Was all the reply she got. She smiled at his acknowledgment then ran off toward the stream with a bucket. The Demon Lord laid the girl down where she had been sleeping previously and assessed her feet and hand.

"The river is still a viable option..." The girl muttered suddenly holding her head with her uncut hand. "It would be better than troubling you again Sesshoumaru-dono... Why didn't you just leave me?" He seemed to ignore the question but in fact didn't want to admit that another human might hold value to him.

"For your failure... You will serve me until your debt is repayed..." He replied as he took a clean cloth from one of Aun's packs and handed it to Rin when she returned.

"I'll try not to be a bother... Daiyoukai-dono..." She sighed weakly before falling asleep again.

"Clean her up I'm going to find dinner." He order Rin seemingly ignoring the other girl again. Being referred to as the Daiyoukai was strange to him and he wasn't entirely comfortable with it. Nor was he comfortable with a human acting like his vassel much less one so strange. How was it possible that a holy woman could keep from purifying him and heal his wounds in such an unconventional way? He pondered the notion of her being a half demon but decided it was impossible... Or was it? Perhaps it was time to seek the counsel of an ancient... It was time to go West. Without a nemesis to hunt down a trip to the West could be a welcome distraction given how it had fallen into disarray without a leader.

It was morning the next day when the girl awoke again to the evenly paced swaying of the hulking Aun walking down the path. Her throat hurt badly and her feet and hand stung from the wounds she had inflicted on them the day before. Sesshumaru had sensed her coming to but said nothing at first. As she pushed herself up she noticed that Rin had been sitting behind her making sure she didn't fall off. The little girl smiled warmly and continued brushing her companion's hair happily. "I'm glad you're awake!" She cheered as she halted brushing long enough for the other girl to sit up. "I'm Rin! What's your name?"

"Miyori." The other girl choked out quietly despite it killing her throat to do so. "Nice to meet you Rin..." The pair sat there riding along and Rin fashioned Miyori a set of ponytails out of two scraps of white material. Unsatisfied with Miyori just having pigtails she braided the light brown locks and tied them off with two more scraps. "Thank you!" The braided girl replied as happily as she could after inspecting Rin's fine work.

"I haven't gotten to play with anyone's hair in a long time!" She replied beaming a smile as she rubbed one of the hair ropes. "Sesshoumaru doesn't let me play with his like this..." She added with a pout. The Demon Lord just shook his head slowly and continued walking.

"Do you enjoy degrading yourself as a slave?" He wondered glancing back at Miyori. She instantly knew what he was talking about and she rubbed the collar like choker around her neck. He hadn't noticed it previously but when it indented his hand the day before he became aware of it.

"It's a bind of service... It is how your Father kept track of me..." She explained sentimentally as her voice cracked from the pain of speaking. "Now that he's dead I can't take it off..." She knew he wasn't exactly following what she meant. If his Father was dead then the enchantment on the choker should have grown weak enough for her to break with her holy powers. "It's a blood bind... Only your Father can take it off..."

A blood bind? Blood binding wasn't a ritual to be taken lightly much less a bind between a human and a demon. The only way she could have survived is because of her unique power. It was becoming clear that this girl must have been instrumental to his Father's conquest of the West. The realization made him even less fond of being it's heir. Nonetheless, he was surprised at how well trained this girl was. Even though she had been injured by him she wouldn't speak unless spoken to. He had known many women, human and demon alike, to babble on incessantly. She hadn't even offered her name until Rin asked for it. Surely his Father and his soft spot for humans had been more cordial to her than that. Or perhaps there was another reason. Either way it mattered not to him nor did her name. He would have been perfectly content calling her woman.

"So you knew Sesshoumaru-sama's Father?" Rin wondered excitedly as she leaned around and looked up at Miyori. The older girl smiled and nodded to keep from talking. "Why were you hiding in that cave?" Rin was inquisitive like all children her age but this would work to the Demon Lord's advantage so he didn't scold her for talking too much. "Did he put you there?" Miyori nodded again. "You two must have gotten into a big battle !" The child exclaimed impressed by her companion's knowledge of Sesshoumaru's Father.

"He was trying to save me..." Miyori choked out grimmacing not at the pain in her neck but the memories the comment had brought up.

"When you're feeling better you have to tall me what happened!" Rin chirped not noticing the older girl's torment. Miyori wiped a tear away from her eye quickly and nodded putting on a fake smile. "You probably have a lot of neat stories if you traveled with Sesshoumaru-sama's Father! I want to hear them all!" Rin's enthusiasm made a genuine smile appear on Miyori's face now though. The little girl remind her of herself at that age...

They continued traveling on until it was nearly dark. The Daiyoukai picked out a suitable place for a camp and turned to direct the newcomer on how things were ran in his presence. To his surprise, despite her badly injured feet, Miyori had hopped off Aun and was already limping around helping Rin. She was in obvious pain but said nothing and in fact didn't even let it show on her face. When Sesshoumaru had returned with fire wood he couldn't help but notice the smell of blood in the air around the camp. He eyed the older girl and noticed her cleaning the wounds on her feet. They had busted open and started bleeding again from walking on them. The blood was a liability to him if it attracted attention while he was gone. Before he could scold her he noticed her face. It hurt her a lot but she just bit her lip and kept washing them. She wanted to cry but she wouldn't and for some reason he admired that...

"You should probably avoid walking until your feet heal... Blood is nothing but bait for animals and demons..." He finally remarked as he started the fire. Miyori looked at him pensively for a moment and nodded in agreement. Then she did something completely bizarre that seemed crazy even to Sesshoumaru. She burnt the end of a stick until it was glowing hot and used it to sauder her wounds shut. The pain must have been tremendous but all she would allow herself to do was shed a single tear and bit her lip. Sesshoumaru looked at her wide eyed and utterly shocked a look that he was unaccustomed to giving as very little shocked him. "You're a foolish girl..." Was all he could think to say as he turned to find some dinner.

"I do what I have to... To complete my mission..." The girl whispered pensively as she set about wrapping her feet up.

"You're really tough!" Rin gasped plopping down in front of her and helping her.

"If my injuries caused you to get hurt... I don't think I could live with myself..." Miyori replied wincing as she tied the second wrapping up.

"How unfortunate for you... It seems she's going to get quite hurt..." A woman's voice hissed from the darkness just beyond the fire's light. Every word dripped with venom and malice.

"Rin... run..." Miyori growled pulling the little girl up and pushing her off toward where Sesshoumaru had gone. "RUN!" The little girl dashed off in time to see a demon rush out and grabbed her friend by the arms and slam her into a tree. "Don't look back!" Rin pointed forward and ran as fast as she could.

"Mmm... She can wait you smell simply irristable... Why do you smell so very delicious?" The demoness spoke as if just being in Miyori's presence was ecstasy. She licked and nibbled on Miyori's neck and cheek as the girl struggled to free herself. "Awe this silly thing as to go... it's in my way!" She pouted eying the choker. "Besides you're MY slave now..." She tugging on it fiercely trying to get it off but was failing. That was apparently a trigger for Miyori...

"I serve no one but the DAIYOUKAI!" She screamed and some foreign surge of energy ripped the demoness off of her. As she approached the lithe figure the attacker noticed her eyes were glowing an eerie hue that matched the color the blood in the choker was now glowing. The power of the energy swirling around her was so strong it blew the braids out of her hair.

"The Daiyoukai of the West!" The attacker screeched writhing away into the darkness. With the threat gone the power left Miyori had she fell back into Sesshoumaru's arms. It left him to wonder if her attacker was repelled by him being there or something she sensed in the energy Miyori had given off... Remarkably though it seemed as though the power surge had caused her wounds to completely heal instantly. Whatever his Father had done to this girl it was much deeper than a blood pact. An enchantment like this he had never seen before and merely solidified the fact that he had to talk to an old friend in the West.

- - - - - - - - - -

"She wasn't there!" A tall and gorgeous male demon panted as he skid to a stop in front of a group of elders. They were all similar in appearance to Sesshoumaru save for their own unique markings. "But there was a fresh scent there and you aren't going to like this... I think Sesshoumaru-dono found her and took her..." He added once he had gained more of his breath.

"Fate is cruelly indeed..." The eldest among them sighed as he slumped down on the stone steps they had gathered at. "Understandably a barrier laced with his Father's youki would be irresistible... But why... why did he have to find her? He won't give up a prize without a fight..."

"If he won't give her up willingly then a fight is what he's going to get..." The young demon replied gritting his teeth and looking quite serious. "If the rumors of HER being awake again are true we need a Matriarch... Miyori Disetsu is to closest thing we have to one right now..."

"It's a fool's endeavor to fight Sesshoumaru-dono... However if anyone can do it I feel that you could Hiyami... Be careful though and be swift.... If SHE finds out we are leaderless and without the sword she'll soon be at our door to slaughter us." Another of the elders interjected patting the boy on the shoulder gently.

"I will not fail a second time... Rest sure of that..." He growled before dashing off down the sprawling stone steps and out of the village.

"Send a messenger to track down Inuyasha... Though his Father forbid him from coming here... He maybe the only hope we have of releasing the the blood bind on her to ascertain her powers..." The third elder sighed turning to his apprentice, a Blood Priest. The apprentice did as he was told and the stage was set for an unwelcome family reunion...