3/30/09 Hi guys- looking back on this fic, I decided to do some editing on it because I really want it to be the best it can be. I might also do some plot editing as well, so if you've already read some of this, you might want to scan back through. Sorry for any inconvenience!

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Hello everyone!!! Here is my the first chapter of my second fanfic. I know it moves kinda quickly in the beginning, but i promise to slow it down later on. Also, just so we're clear, this is a Sesshoumaru x Kagome fic. Rin isn't even in this chapter. Pretend she's at the castle. No flames please, but i appreciate constructive criticism

blah blah blah : notes from the editor (my editor is one of my most amazing friends Ashley. I'm trying to get her to join since she has some great fanfics.)

DISCLAIMER: Roses are red, violets are blue. I don't own Inuyasha, but neither do you.

Captured and... Saved?

Kagome's P.O.V.

I wandered aimlessly through the forest, not bothering to pay attention to my surroundings as I thundered through the underbrush, muttering angrily to myself. I had let Inuyasha get under my skin again. It had been a stupid argument- he'd come stopping up the hill demanding ramen, swearing like a sailor when I told him to wait. I was in a deep conversation with Sango, both of us discussing the events of the past few months.

We'd been somewhere in the far south of Japan when my eighteenth birthday had come rolling around. I wouldn't even have noticed had it not been for Shippo, who'd found my mother's early birthday gift to me while looking for pocky in my yellow bag. The reminder had surprised me- had it already been three years? - and Sango had suggested that we stop 'gallivanting all around the damn country' for a few hours and celebrate. After some 'convincing' (who knew Miroku could hit so hard?) Inuyasha agreed, and we camped out on the outskirts of a village.

In the end, I think we had all enjoyed the break a little too much. Since we'd been traveling almost nonstop for the past two weeks, the small round of sake we had all shared pretty much conked us all out. Shippo, Sango, and Miroku had fallen asleep early (the latter two slightly red in the face), and even Inuyasha was slow to respond when our encampment was disturbed two large bear youkai, the two of them crashing through the trees like trucks.

Inuyasha had leapt to his feet and unsheathed Tetsusaiga, immediately attacking. Miroku and Sango were both awake as well, Miroku shaking off the alcohol easily due to his constant exposure to it. Sango, however, was struggling more that the monk. She apparently hadn't spent very much time around alcohol, and she was stumbling more than walking towards her weapon. I grabbed her arm and told her to stay with the still unconscious Shippo instead, grabbing my bow as I did so.

That later proved to be rather unwise. Though I was still better off than Sango would have been, I wasn't much better. My arrows strayed slightly, hitting arms and legs rather than vital organs, and I wasn't able to concentrate long enough to bring forth powerful purifying powers, only weak amounts that fizzled out almost as soon as they struck a target. Twice Inuyasha had to dodge them, swearing angrily before returning to battle. However, with two of us unable to provide any help, Inuyasha wasn't doing very well either.

Finally, one of the bear youkai managed to force past him and ran towards the weakest of our group- a dazed Sango and unconscious Shippo. I felt fear zing through me with a burning aftertaste. My sake-induced haze was suddenly burned away, and I found an arrow with a speed I didn't know I had, shooting a burning comet of miko energy towards the bear, so bright it appeared white instead of pink. It was vaporized immediately, and upon seeing the defeat of its comrade, the other youkai disappeared back into the surrounding forest. Miroku quickly ran towards Sango, giving her a quick check-up, but Inuyasha remained in place, staring at me with surprise evident on his face. Miroku later told me why.

He explained that I had moved with a speed that wasn't mine, wasn't that of a human, and that the arrow I had shot had indeed been white, not the usual miko pink. He wasn't sure why. After a while, we both decided that it had probably been adrenaline; panic at seeing Shippo and Sango's life being threatened.

But it wasn't the last time it happened, and whatever it was had slowly stopped fading away. Even now, my miko powers were the palest of pink, a shadow of the vibrant florescence it had once been, but in contrast they seemed to be stronger. I was beginning to find it much easier to keep up with Inuyasha during our trips, and only a few days ago I had drunk Miroku into unconsciousness during a silly competition he had suggested, and the alcohol had left me completely unfazed while Miroku slept it off.

While Miroku sulked over losing his place for most alchohol-tolerence and Sango teased me, suggesting that practiced when they weren't around, Inuyasha seemed to become nervous around me. He refused to speak to me unless he had to, and when he did it was in short, terse sentences. He had also stopped sleeping near our camps at night, instead opting to perch in trees, something he hadn't done since our first days together. Sango told me not to worry, that he was just sulking that a human could find it so easy to keep up, but it didn't change.

Last night we had returned to Kaede's village and Inuyasha had disappeared into the woods to 'train' and Miroku had been out looking for Shippo, who was actually following behind him, and hiding at the last second. Sango and I had remained behind- Sango had been trying to repair a rip in her slayer uniform and I was taking an inventory of what I needed to go back through the well for when there had been a large ruckus outside. Peeking out the door, Sango and I saw that some sort of army regiment was making camp at the village for the night. Almost immediately, Sango and I could hear the men celebrating as they unloaded their alcohol supplies.

Sighing to ourselves, Sango and I had been preparing for bed when one of the soldiers, who'd already indulged in a copious amount of alcohol had marched through the door, and, upon catching sight of us, grinned. Sango had immediately order him out, reaching for her katana as she did so. The soldier, even while drunk, was still very quick, and he knocked her sword away with him own. I scrambled to grab my arrows, but by the time I reached them Sango had already used her superior hand-to-hand combat skills to knock him unconscious, knocking a table over in the process.

However, the soldier's swearing and the sound of furniture sent flying had attracted two others, and they came running in as well, swords already drawn. I shot one with an arrow, but the second landed a sound blow to Sango's head, and she dropped to the floor, groaning. The remaining soldier was to close for me to use my arrows effectively, and my purifying powers wouldn't work on a human. Unsure of what to do, I grabbed Sango's fallen katana and swung it at him, unfamiliar with its weight. The soldier easily knocked it away and lifted the sword above his head.

He had probably been about to knock me out, but I had been under the impression he was going to stab me, so I had foolishly grabbed to blade to stop it, and the tip went right through my hand. I screamed and pulled away, the soldier himself seemed surprised at my stupidity. He came closer, unsure of what to do, and I reached forward with my unwounded hand and scraped my nails along his face. It did more damage than I'd thought it would, and he yelled stumbling against me.

Feeling more and more cornered, and losing a lot of blood, I felt unconsciousness pull me down.

It was dark. There was an emptiness that surrounded her, suffocated her. Screaming, she clawed desperately at it, trying to pushing it away from her. A white light flared where she scratched, emerging through the black. Kagome began ripping away more of the surrounding darkness until the light finally pushed all the way through. Suddenly Kagome could breathe properly. The light thrummed with a familiar power, and it gave her a comforting security.

'You need to wake up Kagome,' murmured a lyrical voice. Kagome didn't hear the voice as much as feel it, the vibrations moving through her, lending her strength. 'Use the strength you have been gifted with.' The light was drawing away. Worried, Kagome moved towards it again, seeking the warmth. But she felt another kind of warmth behind her. It was like standing with her back against a fire, and she turned to see a flash of red fighting through the black. She backed away, but the white light pushed her towards it. Kagome fought it, trying to burry herself in the white. But it was rejecting her.

'Not with me, love. I cannot help you against a human foe. You need her,' the voice whispered again, and Kagome took a step towards the red.

'Come, Kagome.' The red pulsed when the second voice spoke. This voice was rougher, spoke quicker. 'I will help.' The white faded completely and red enveloped her.

I was suddenly shoved back into consciousness; the soldier was running back through the door, leaving the other two behind. There was a stinging in my right hand, and I lifted it slightly to see a long, shallow cut where a hole had once been. My finger nails were also longer, almost pointed. I jumped to my feet, feeling a surge of energy.

I felt like I had the first time I'd even gone drinking. My vision was blurred, but not in the expected way. It felt like my vision was trying to focus on everything at once, trying to register the intricate wood grain of the walls and at the same time asses the varying colors the moonlight painted it. I could smell the blood from Sango's head wound and the acrid scent of burning wood mixed with the sweat of the soldiers.

It was too much to take in and it was painful. Just trying to comprehend it all was quickly sapping my strength and I soon joined Sango on the floor.

I had woken up to Sango's worried face as she apologized that she hadn't been able to keep them away and asking if I was injured. I looked down at my hand, and saw that there were no traces of any injury, and that my nails were once again shortened. Though I decided to keep that experience to myself, Sango and I had waited together for Inuyasha to return with Miroku. Inuyasha had sworn angrily and literally thrown the unconscious men from the hut, and Miroku and I had bandaged Sango's head.

That had been a few days ago. I had been in the middle of confiding to Sango the full events and my sudden healing when Inuyasha had come a'bitching. Sitting him so hard had been unnecessary, but I didn't regret it. I hitched my quiver back up onto my shoulder, and clutched my bow. I made sure to always keep it near me now. Just then I heard I rustling. I quickly nocked an arrow and aimed at a nearby bush, that was shaking suspiciously.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" I called out, feeling nervous. And a bit ticked off. Was it too much to ask for a peaceful walk? Apparently, since just then a demon stepped out of the bushes. Not a very powerful one, though. I sighed.

"What do you want? I'm kinda busy right now, so go away and I won't purify your ass." The demon chuckled quietly. He was tall, about Sesshoumaru's height, but his hair was midnight blue, a little past his shoulders, and rather tangled. His fangs were long and a little vampire-ish, since they reached his chin, like some sort of saber-tooth tiger. His armor was a dark silver, and his haori matched his hair in varying shades of blue.

Normal P.O.V.

"Just doing my job, sweetheart, no harsh feelings," and with that he ran at her. Kagome fired a sacred arrow, but he dodged it and kept going. Swearing, she nocked another arrow. This time she hit the mark. But instead of disintegrating, the demon just steamed and slumped over, almost like some sort of... demon puppet. Just as she realized that, there was a loud and sickening thunk. Kagome remained conscious enough to feel a sharp pain in the back of her head before she gave in to unconsciousness and sank to the ground.

She could only remember flashes of the next day or two. Voices murmuring, arguing, dealing.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE PRICE HAS GONE UP?" someone shouted, sounding far away through the blackness. There was more whispering, as if trying to reassure the voice.

"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN! THAT PRICE IS RIDICULOUS! WE HAD A DEAL!" More whispers, now sounding rather desperate.

"Fine. I'll take her, but I want that demon horse with her." That was all Kagome heard before the darkness pulled her back down.

Kagome's P.O.V.

I woke up with one hell of a headache. Not to mention bruises where I been laying on the hard surface of... Looking around, I noticed three things:

1. There was a thick chain around my ankle, attached to the wall, obviously to prevent me from jumping out the back of the...

2. wagon. I was in some sort of cart/cage, judging by the bouncing of the box and the sound of horses coming from outside of it.

3. I wasn't alone. But instead of some other villager or woman, there was a great, big, black horse.

With red eyes.

Staring at me.

I let out a small shriek of surprise, but the horse didn't move. It just stared at me. I noticed that it's eyes looked dead. It had been here too long. So I sat there and stared right back at it, not being able to move very far due to my ever-so-convenient chain. Honestly, what was I supposed to do if it had decided to eat me? Just sit there and let it? Kami, someone had some serious propriety issues. Prevent escape vs. letting someone get eaten alive.

After about 15 minutes of this the horse finally stopped his staring contest. Instead he just shifted slightly until he was close enough for me to touch. I hesitantly reached out and stroked his nose. His eyes slowly closed and we just sat there together. It sort of felt like the connection I'd always sensed between Sango and Kirara. An understanding, a pact to protect and help each other. It was a nice feeling. Under most circumstances, I'd have felt kind of stupid thinking about connections and friendships between me and a demon horse, but in a dark box that was bouncing uncomfortably, I really began to appreciate the company.

About a day or so later, we were finally allowed out of the cart. About time too, I was beginning to shrivel up from lack of sunshine. There was a loud grunting, and one of the walls was pulled off like some sort of crate. Rough hands reached in, unlocked the chain around my ankle, and pulled me out by the arms. I looked around, blinking against the sudden brightness. There were a couple other carts just like mine, all lined up in a sort of caravan group. All of them were guarded by burly humans or rather weak demons. Around me, other people were being pulled out of their crates. All of them were young women. Near the front of the line was the demon who'd come out of the bushes. Only this time, it wasn't a puppet. I inwardly cursed at being so naive back in the forest.

Once I was sure that I wasn't about to be knocked over the head again, I glance around the environment, looking for a possible escape. We were traveling through a deep ravine, and I looked up to see the cliffs towering over us. There were no footholds or plants to help pull my way up, and it was too steep anyways. Looking back, I saw the men poking at the demon horse with the butts of their spears, trying to keep him in line, as he was tossing his head and looking agitated. I ran back over.

"Don't hurt him!" I yelled, pushing by them to get to the horse. When he saw me, he relaxed a little, so I started to climb into the cart to sit by him. But one of the men grabbed my arm.

"Uh-uh, bitch. You're the next stop. We're not pulling open those damn crates again, so you can walk," he said, moving past me to start boarding the cart back up.
"You can't lock him back in there again," I protested, refusing to let this crude demon push me around. The demon looked back at the horse for a moment before turning to the front again.

"HEY SHENTOSHA! WHAT ABOUT THIS HORSE?" he shouted, his voice echoing against the cliffs and looking over toward the front of the line. The demon who'd caught me looked around. Seeing me, he smiled.

"Gettem' out of the cart and put her up on 'im," he called back, gesturing at me. His expectant smile was creeping me out.

The man gawked at him.

"Put 'er on him? The last person who tried ended up with a broken neck! There's no way she's gonna be able to stay on! She's just a girl!" Could you be anymore sexist? I was willing to bet that last person had been a man. Ugh, males in general. Why were they so full of themselves? Just like Inuyasha... Where was he anyway? I'd never been in the hands of an enemy this long before. Usually it was just overnight or something if he was having some real trouble. But days? Surely they'd have noticed my absence by now. He should have been able to follow my scent…

I pushed it to the back of my mind as the man walked over to the demon horse and led him out. Then he walked over to the back of the cart and pulled of a saddle and reins. As another man saddled the horse, the first came and lifted me up by the waist before settling me on top of the horse. He was a lot taller than I expected. It was a rather long way to the ground. The men began forming and semi-circle around me, just watching. Both the men and I were waiting for the demon horse to try and buck me off. The demon called Shentosha watched from a distance, but now he was frowning.

The men were finally figuring out that I wasn't going to be thrown off, so they started loading the other women back up again, who'd been standing there staring around looking nervous. I had no idea where I was being led, but I knew it was some sort of slave-selling business. Just then, the wagons began moving, and I followed on Hiroki, who was followed by a couple of guards. The trip continued for another few hours. Hiroki allowed me to ride him, and I spent most of the journey listening to the demon slave-trader brag about how he'd caught the horse.

The man bragged of how his father was a great horse demon, ruler of their herd of air-runners, a rare breed of demon horse that could walk and run on air. Laughing, the demon told his comrades of how he'd 'bravely captured the horse while it had been hunting.' Apparently, the herd was still carnivorous. The slave trader had jumped out of the trees, landing on top of the horse, which'd bucked him off and run, and soon left him behind. The man said he hadn't bothered to follow, since he'd had the foresight to stick a sedative dart into the horse's left foreleg.

It was getting to the point that I was about to tell the loudmouth demon to shut the hell up when the group suddenly stopped. I looked around to see we were at the gates of a large village surrounded by a tall wall. Shentosha went and spoke to a guard at the gate and discreetly slipped him some gold. The gates opened and we were allowed in.

Normal P.O.V.

Kagome looked at the large shack that was owned by her new master. It looked rather seedy, and was located on the outskirts of the village. Swinging her leg to get off of Hiroki, she landed nimbly on her feet and looked around nervously. A loud snorting caused her to turn. Hiroki was being led away to the small stables a small distance from the house.

'Good,' Kagome thought. 'That will just make it easier to escape this place.' Shentosha appeared behind her and grabbed her by the arm. Dragging her to the door of the house, he pounded on it. The door slid open to reveal a thin, greasy man who leered at her with something like lust. Inwardly wincing, she resisted as Shentosha tried to pull her in and got a slap in the face for her trouble.

"Get moving bitch, I don't have time for this," he snarled. They were led into a small sitting room where the only furniture was a few cushions to kneel on. The man sat on one, and Shentosha dropped her on another before sitting down himself. "All right old man. Here's your merchandise."

"The horse?" the old man whispered. His voice was quiet and hoarse, and he made her hair stand on end.

"He's in your stable," Shentosha said harshly. "Money?" The man pushed over a small sack of coins. Shentosha counted them then nodded and stood. "Thank you for your business," he said, giving me that infuriating grin before disappearing back out the doors.

"Alright wench, let's go. Come with me and I'll explain your... duties." Reluctant to follow him anywhere, she went stiffly, unwilling to show her fear. The man led her to a small room with a sleeping mat and a chest. He opened the chest and pulled out a kimono that looked rather skimpy. It showed a bit too much skin for her tastes.

"This is what you'll be wearing for your appointments." His eyes scraped her body, and suddenly something sunk in.

"You mean I'm to be a whore?" she shouted. Anger came boiling to the surface, at this man who was under the impression that some coins bought her obedience, at Shentosha for dragging her away from her friends, even at Inuyasha for leaving her there so long. The man swiftly backhanded her across the face.

"Be silent girl. You'll do what your told." She felt a prodding in her mind. It felt familiar…

'Don't resist Kagome. Let us help,' soothed a lyrical voice. Kagome recognized them, and allowed the red to permeate her mind. She could hear that man through the fog.

"Do NOT ignore me wench!"

But she felt something else awake. A sudden, familiar rush of energy filled her and her back arched as her body was bathed in a soft red light, followed by a blinding white flash. The man pulled away from her, burnt by the energy that crackled along her skin. The man was blown off her and looked up to see some sort of demon looking back at him.

He gave a strangled cry, and scrambled away. She looked at him with a sort of predatory hunger, like a panther studying it's pray. Her head cocked slightly and her whirl-pool-like brown eyes narrowed. Then suddenly she was inches away from him, moving so fast he hadn't even seen her.

Suddenly the man felt a searing pain in his stomach. He looked down the see the girl's hand melting through the flesh. He screamed as the pain tore through him, but was silenced by a quick flash of the demon's claws. She looked at the blood on her hand and licked it off. She stood and looked down at the puddle of acid and flesh that had once been a man. Then she tensed, turning to look at the demon that stood by the window, watching her through narrowed golden eyes.

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Sesshoumaru sniffed the air with distaste from his hill outside the village. He hated them, hated the stench of humans. But he could smell something unusual coming from it. It smelled like burning flesh, and he could also sense a strong demonic aura. It was coming from a run-down hut outside of the village. He narrowed his eyes slightly and ran swiftly and silently to the building, swiftly navigating through the maze of hallways to the room of origin in seconds. He watched the proceedings inside with interest. A demon stood over a sizzling lump of flesh that seemed to have once been a man. Then the demon turned to look at him, obviously deciding whether or not it was going to try to kill him.

He stared back at it, knowing he could kill it in an instant if he wanted. But he had to admit, he was curious about why a demonic aura had suddenly formed. Surely he would have sensed it before hand. Then the creature moved. He had to give it credit for its swiftness. However, he effortlessly avoided it only to find it continuing to watching him with apparent interest. What the hell was this thing? It had long black hair cascading down its back, and crimson stripes lined with red over its face. The eyes were a deep brown, and had the unsettling effect that they were trying to suck him in, while its nails were razor-sharp.

'Like mine,' Sesshoumaru thought, slightly bemused. It would seem to be some sort of... cat demon? The hairs on the back of his neck stood up; his hackles rising. No, not a cat demon... but what?

"Leave me alone," she hissed, but already Sesshoumaru could feel the strength draining out of her, along with the demon blood? So, she was a half demon. But it would seem that she was also losing her fangs and claws, and the stripes were fading, until a human girl of about seventeen stood before him, until she collapsed to the ground, that is. Sesshoumaru stood over her, and his eyes narrowed when he recognized her. This was Inuyasha's wench- what was she doing here? In a whore-house, none the less. Typical of that half-breed, couldn't even keep part of his own pack safe.

She was truly a unique being. No half-demon he knew of could switch between races like that. Half-demons always had some demon blood in them, but right now, this girl had absolutely none. He couldn't let this thing wander around his territory- he didn't know it's threat. And it was ridiculous to send someone out to capture it when he could simply bring it with him for observation. He picked the human up, lip curling in distaste, and slung it over his shoulder. A few miles or so from the village, he paused, putting the girl down. Then his ears picked up the sound of Jaken, still a good 20 miles or so away, but sounding like he was right next to Sesshoumaru, due to his sensitive hearing.

"OH LORD SEESSSSSSSHHHHOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMAAARRRRRRRUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!" Sesshoumaru winced inwardly. Did he have to be so damn loud? He picked the girl back up and walked toward Jaken, silently vowing to beat him into a bloody pulp for giving him such a headache. Jaken didn't see him until he was practically on top of him, giving him a good boot-to-the-head. Only once Jaken was silenced and had gone to look for firewood did Sesshoumaru put the girl down. She was regaining consciousness, and began to shift slightly. Her eyes opened, and she focused on Sesshoumaru.

"Woman," he acknowledged in a monotone voice.

"Lord Sesshoumaru," she countered, her voice a mixture of curiosity, uncertainty, and a tinge of... gratitude? Strange that none of her emotions were fear.

"If you don't want me to take you right back to that village, you will lose some of that arrogance, woman," he snarled quietly. He saw her back stiffen and her mouth twisted in anger. Sesshoumaru waited quietly for her to do something inexplicably stupid. He wasn't disappointed.

"You're one to talk, mighty Lord. If you're not careful you might inflate your head to the point of explosion." She was pinned to the tree before she could draw breath. Sesshoumaru felt her miko powers begin to well up in her hand, and he flexed his hand around her throat in warning. "Do not even try, miko wench. Your head will be separated from your shoulders before you could lift your hand."

He dropped her, no longer willing to be in contact with her human skin, and returned to his seat.

Kagome's P.O.V.

Rubbing my neck, I glared at Sesshoumaru as he glided back to his place by a large tree. Despite his incredibly good looks (I didn't' bother to waste the energy of denying it) he was an incredible ass. We sat in silence for a while, then he looked into the woods, as if sensing something I could not. I looked where he was looking, tensing slightly, a few minutes later however, I heard a huffing sound coming from the woods beyond and then Jaken, one of the ugliest demons I had ever seen throughout my whole experience in the Feudal Era, appeared, struggling with an armload of wood. He was toad-looking, a color of puke green with some sort of beakish mouth, and was wearing brown robes and a small black hat. He saw me, dropped the firewood, and squawked, "What are you doing, wench, disgracing my Lord's presence?" This kinda pissed me off. I hadn't asked anyone to carry me out into the middle of nowhere. Who was he to talk down to me, as if I'd come here of my own free will?

"Oh, shut up you shriveled toad," I snapped at him, taking out my annoyance at Sesshoumaru on his most loyal follower. The toad squawked again.

"Don't be so impudent girl, or those words will be your last," he huffed. I couldn't help but snort. I was being threatened by a walking piece of fungus mushroom. He even smelled like one. But his eyes bulged when he heard it, and he picked up a staff that had been lying next to the silver-haired demon, who'd been silent this whole time, appearing uninterested.

"Staff of Two Heads," he shouted, and a jet of fire shot at me. I instinctively put my hands out in front of me and was surprised when the demonic fire was dispersed by a shot of my whitish-pink miko powers.

Scowling at me, Jaken started spouting orders, and it took me a moment before I realized he was talking to me. The gall of that toad! He had the nerve to try and burn me to a crisp, then start directing me to build a fire. I scowled at him, then easily picked up the armload of wood he'd struggled with. In a few moments I had a fire going, pleased by the disgruntled look on his face. He obviously had trouble with this sort of thing, even with a fire staff. Kami. I sat down and looked at Sesshoumaru. He had his eyes closed, but wasn't sleeping.

"Why did you help me?" I finally asked, wanting to break the silence. Sesshoumaru turned to look at me.

"I did not help you, woman. I cannot have something like you wandering around my lands." Something like me? What a jackass.

"Well you didn't seem to care when my friends and I were ripping up half the countryside fighting Naraku. And it's not like I enjoy being here," I snapped. "What changed?" He was still watching me. Then he raised a delicate eyebrow.

"What changed is that you are no longer the weak human you once were." Woah, was that a compliment? "You are now a weak unknown." Or not. "Until I know what, you will stay. Besides, do you even know where here is?" he asked cooly. I didn't answer at this. In truth, I had no idea, but I wasn't going to tell him that. He probably already knew. But that meant there was only one thing to do. Shit.

Jaken gasped at the news that I was stuck with them and immediately began ranting about how a lowly human such as myself was an insult to his Lord's name, and how I had some nerve and so on- as if I had just asked to stay.

"Be silent, Jaken," he commanded quietly in his monotone voice. The toad was immediately quiet, which was a relief. "I want to learn how to do that," I murmured quietly. The toad huffed and fumed, but I ignored him. Finally, I couldn't fight the sleep that was overtaking my body, and I slid into the quiet abyss.

Normal P.O.V.

Sesshoumaru watched the human sleep. Jaken sat by the fire mumbling about the nerve of weaklings these days. As she rolled in her sleep, her grudgingly stuck his boot out to keep her from rolling into the fire. considered everything he'd learned: She was a human priestess, but sometimes showed demon powers. She had a spit-fire temper as a human, though she was doing a passable job of containing it- he had sensed her anger at him, and wondered how long she could maintain it before saying something foolish- and she seemed to have a love of shouting. So he was left with one question: What was he going to do with her? He couldn't have her roaming around, doing Kami knows what for Kami knows why until she found her group. No, it was best if he kept her with him, at least until they reached the edge of his lands. Then he would let someone else deal with her, while he found out what the hell she was. He could check the royal library, and maybe find something useful.

She was passably attractive, at least. He could say she was a gift for a loyal courtier as the excuse for her presence... It would not do to have rumors flying around about some sort of new demon breed. He would need to see the range of her powers and skills. Then maybe he could figure out how to deal with this... situation. Maybe he should just kill it. That would solve everything, but he'd still wonder about it, it would always be in the back of his mind. And he hated ignorance. One of the reasons he hated Inuyasha. And he also hated lying. A lie was the same thing as an excuse.

He would deal with this later. It was giving him a headache. Another reason why he hated humans. They were so damn troublesome. Why would his father have wanted to put up with this?

Thanks so much for reading, I really hope you like it so far. Please R&R.

opresiminya