Chapter 1

Declaration of War.

Rain rolled down the windows of Kagome's room in the castle of the Inu Youkai. She hated to be cooped up inside when the rain was nothing but a calm shower, but just enough to make people want to stay inside.

She waited to hear a bell ring for her to serve one of the majesties of the castle. Ever since the day she was captured by the Lord Sesshomaru, she had been treated like some pet that was to do as it was told, though Lord Inutaisho was essentially kind to her. He would say "thank you" for the meals she brought him and give her some days off to do what she wanted. The other son of Lord Inutaisho was Lord Inuyasha. He was stubborn to the bone. Every time she would see him or even try to attempt to make conversation with him, he would leave her with just a "Feh," like he didn't care that she was even there. Oh, how she had been stupid the day Sesshomaru had found her and brought her to the castle. Thinking back, it was pure luck he'd found her.

Flash Back

Kagome was hiding in the Forest of Darkness waiting for a demon to come by so she could use her miko powers. As soon as the demon was in sight she quickly jumped out from behind the tree to blast him with her sacred arrow. She hastily released the arrow to destroy the monster. When the arrow hit home she sighed with relief. At least that battle was over. Turning to head back home, she rammed into a dog demon with a crescent moon on his forehead, and two purple streaks on either side of his face. His hair was to his waist and as white as snow at Christmas. Before she could react to the sudden impact, he grasped her forearms and lifted her off the ground.

"Where is the Sacred Jewel?" Sesshomaru growled.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" Kagome was almost scared senseless, but masked it flawlessly. After all, she was the protector of the Shikon No Tama.

"Lying wench. Answer me now or I promise the pain I will bestow will be endless," he was past patients.

Kagome was trying to think of some kind of a sarcastic remark, before he made good on that promise.

"Love the makeup. Purple looks great on you."

Before either one of them had time to think, a fist came flying at Kagome's head. Later she would think about striking back at him.

End Flashback

After that, Sesshomaru's father had tried to make him release her but to no prevail. So instead she was to stay at Inutaisho's castle until Sesshomaru was pleased. Her job until then was to do anything and everything the Lord's asked for. Unfortunately, Lord Inuyasha was now in need of something from her.

Kagome walked down the long corridor to Inuyasha's room. She was wearing a kimono that had pink and red flowers on it which was given to her by her mother before she was killed in a demon attack in her home village. She had not even been there to say goodbye because she had been away with the jewel. That memory was the only thing to keep her hopes up for an escape. As she knocked on the door to the young leaders room she hoped he wouldn't ask for something stupid like for her to straighten up his room.

"Come on in." was a stiff reply.

She opened the door to find him on his hands and knees on the floor looking under the bed.

"Yes, your highness?" Kagome asked nervously.

"Do you think you could help me find my sword?"

"Your sword my lord? Are you serious?" she whispered, shocked beyond words. Inuyasha never lost his sword.

"Yes, you know the sword my father gave me; the one that transforms? Stuff like that." Inuyasha sat up looking at her with an expression like she had no clue what a sword was. Kagome looked up and down at him as he stood. He had black pants, which hung loosely at his waist and ankles. His shirt was a little wrinkled but had neatness to it. Its color was red and buttoned up to the collar, but Inuyasha had undone three of the top buttons.

"Are you even listening to me, or is what I'm saying going in one ear and out of the other?" he asked, slowly losing his patients.

Kagome blinked back into the conversation until she realized what he was asking, "Oh, yes I do know that you went to the train with it late yesterday. Why do you ask sir?"

So she did speak occasionally. "I'm asking because I've seemed to have lost it. Father is in a meeting about what to do about the western powers, Sesshomaru is out hunting with his friend Koga, and that butler of his Jaken. I have no one to help me look. Father can not find out about this."

"Well we could go and look for it in the training area, or, we could go to the fencing room and see if it happens to be in there. You did go see your father yesterday when he had his routine match. While we're there we could fence together. I haven't held a sword in a long time."

"You want to test your swordsmanship against mine? That would be a waste of time considering you lack the skill to have a chance against me, but it might actually be amusing." He was smirking when he walked past her into the hallway.

Kagome was confused and irritated. He had no idea about her swordsmanship since she had not been able to touch a sword upon her arrival at the castle, and since when does he ask her to help him with anything?

As they walked down the corridor they passed several paintings made by Inuyasha's mother. She was a fascinating artist who loved to paint her children. One of the largest and most vibrant pictures was one of Sesshomaru and Inuyasha, 14 and 11. That had been nine years ago. As she passed the picture, she had to stop and admire the artistic skill put in to it. They seemed so happy and actually looked like they loved each other has brothers. Sadly they fought worse than a pack of wolves over a single piece of meat.

"Is something wrong?" Inuyasha had walked up behind her to see what she was staring at. He could see nothing wrong with the picture. It was the same old picture it had always been.

At the sound of his voice Kagome jolted just enough to bump slightly into Inuyasha. Her cheeks became just a mere pink before she answered him, "Nothing is wrong, I was just admiring your mothers work."

"It's not that great. Just us brothers when we were kids, nothing more. It was also one of her last paintings." He said with a hint of sadness you could barely trace.

"I'm sorry to bring back sad memories. How about we continue our search for your sword now?" she asked trying to make him forget his mother. She knew how it felt to lose something so dear.

Just as they turned to walk out onto the deck two figures came bursting through the door. One man could easily be identified as Sesshomaru because of his long white fluff thing over his shoulder. This was his mother's fur; she had died when he was young. The other had long black hair that was drawn up into a sleek ponytail. He wore brown fur clothing that suggested he was a leader of some wolf pack, which was a good guess since the kingdom had great alliances with the wolf demons.

They searched around quickly to find what ever it was they were looking for. Their gaze settled on Kagome and Inuyasha. They swiftly ran to them looking as if they had ran from a powerful demon. Sesshomaru was the first to speak.

"Where is father?" he addressed Inuyasha as if Kagome was not even there.

"In the meeting room talking to the master of the guards and such. Why?" Inuyasha was curious as to what was going on.

Sesshomaru grabbed Kagome by the arm almost making her cry out in pain. Inuyasha was the only one who saw her face twitch at the contact. Probably the only one who cared? He did not like seeing women hurt.

Sesshomaru mumbled something to Koga, who quickly took off to do what he was told.

"Tell father I've taken the Miko and that I'm going to fight off a small pack of evil demons who are either rebelling or attacking us." And he left at that with Kagome looking back to see Inuyasha looking on in confusion.

Her only thought was, 'What will Sesshomaru make me do.'

In the Meeting Room

"Well, we have all decided to wait on any further action against the Western powers until they show signs of resentment towards us. Agreed?" Inutaisho proclaimed to the many people seated around the conference table. Just to be interrupted by his youngest son Inuyasha.

"Father, we have a problem!" He said with a look of suspension in his eyes.

"What is it Inuyasha? What has happened?" he was sincerely worried.

"Sesshomaru and Koga came into the castle saying large demons were making their way to the castle to attack. They do not know if they are rebelling or are from the Western powers."

"Alright. Get Kagome…"

"They already have father." Inuyasha interrupted the king, which only he could do and get away with it.

"I see. Do you know how many men he has taken?" They were almost jogging down the stair to the main gate to go help. Inutaisho had his sword, Saunga, (does any one know how to spell the sword name?) as for Inuyasha, he had Tetsusaiga. They instinctively ran to the stables, grabbed two horses, and left for the forest.

In The Forest

"We'll wait for them to come to this clearing and attack. Does everyone know what their doing?" Sesshomaru asked the group in general. He especially took a long intense stare at Kagome to make sure she understood.

Kagome knew what to do but she didn't want to. They hadn't even attempted to stop them without force. When she would kill demons she would make sure she tried to make them stop by talking. She had to admit though, that hardly ever worked. Still, she felt like she would be killing them unjustly.

The group consisted of Sesshomaru, Koga, and Kagome. Not much of a group if you asked her. Ten demons were coming towards them and Koga only had his claws, Sesshomaru had his poison claw because his sword could not kill, and she had her arrows. Not a great defensive line.

"We're all ready now, let's just get it over with and go back to the castle." Koga was eager to kill the demons. It was all fun and games to him.

"When they come, wench, you'll injure the head demon and draw everyone's attention to you. Then Koga and I will attack from behind them. You just make sure they all have their attention on you. Understand?"

Did he really think she couldn't understand a simple battle plan such as this? She had survived nine years on her own after her mother died when she was nine. She could do anything.

"I get the dang plan Sesshomaru, just make sure you can keep up. Alright?" with this she left to go to her position to the right of the opening.

"Hopefully the wench dies in this encounter. Then her smart mouth will go as well." Kouga smirked with the satisfaction of envisioning her death.

Sesshomaru gave him an icy stare and reminded him they still needed her to find the Shikon No Tama. They quickly took their places and waited silently for the demons to come.

Inutaisho and Inuyasha

Inutaisho and Inuyasha were both riding their horses like the ground beneath them was crumbling just as they stepped there. Inutaisho wore armor over his chest and arms. His sword was slung across his back. He had an unyielding look upon his face. Inuyasha wondered what had put that look there. His father had seen countless battles; so a few demons attacking shouldn't bother him so much.

"What's wrong? There's nothing to worry about." Inuyasha was quite worried about how quiet his father was.

"I hope so, but if I'm right then we might have some trouble on our hands." Inutaisho said without looking at Inuyasha.

What was his he talking about? Demons were not a problem considering his father was the great dog demon. 'I'll have to wait and see what's happening.' Inuyasha thought. He knew when his father was mad and he looked very livid at the moment.

The Forest

"Over here you stupid demons." Kagome yelled and fired her first arrow. It hit its target with an explosion of light and the demon disintegrated. As the other demons watched their companion dissolve away, they all turned to Kagome and changed their direction.

Well, at least she had gotten their attention. Now nine were left to kill and she hoped Sesshomaru and Koga fulfilled their parts. Sure enough as they turned, both men jumped out and began to attack. Something was wrong. She could sense it. They had strong magical powers emitting from them. Not to mention they weren't dying. What the heck was going on?

King and Son

"So your telling me that these demons might have been killed by Saunga and are now the walking dead." Inuyasha could not believe what he was hearing.

"Yes that's exactly what I'm saying. We must hurry to the forest to aid Sesshomaru and Koga." The King sounded very worried.

"How the heck are we suppose to kill them if they're the walking dead?"

"By setting them on fire." As soon as the king finished, they both saw a bright light shine from where the group was fighting.

"What the hell was that?" Inuyasha had never seen anything like that.

'I hope we're not too late,' the king thought.

Forest

Only one demon was dead and they had nine more to go. Kagome had only four arrows left. Sesshomaru's and Kouga's fighting was great but in vain since the demons would rapidly repair themselves. The largest demon in the pack raised its arm back and hit Koga with such a force that it threw him ten feet into a tree, which knocked him unconscious. Sesshomaru was slicing demons left and right but they just wouldn't fall. Four were on Sesshomaru and five around Koga. She had to help him or he would die. So she ran in front of Koga, legs spread, one arm out to the side and one in front of her to stop the demons. Of course the demons continued to approach them. They all were raising their arms to strike and claw at her. So she did the only think she could do, she screamed.

"I SAID STOP! NOW!" Following her cry, a bright light emitted from her hand and hit all five of the demons. The light continued to shine until all of them had been destroyed.

Kouga was barely coming around about the time the light destroyed the five demons. 'What was going on? He and Sesshomaru couldn't even scratch them without them regenerating, but here she was and she just killed off five.'

Sesshomaru stared at Kagome, his yes revealing his surprise for only a second. He still had four demons to kill. Kagome helped Koga up, he didn't like this one bit. When they turned back around a massive boomerang shaped object came out of nowhere to cut all the demons in half. Everyone turned to where it had came from, and a woman emerged, about the same age as Kagome, heading toward them. She was dressed in warriors' clothes.

"Who's that?" Koga asked in a hushed tone.

"I could care less. As of the moment, we have bigger problems!" Sesshomaru was very agitated.

"Sesshomaru!" came a loud booming voice.

Everyone turned to see that Inutaisho and Inuyasha dismounting their horses with swords drawn. The demons gave a loud roar and drew everyone's attention back to them. The demon exterminator picked up her Hiraikotsu, ready to fight. Swords, claws, hiraikotsu, and arrows were in fighting positions.

"Inuyasha, protect Kagome. She is the only one who can kill these demons." Inutaisho said without taking his eyes off the demons.

"Why am I the only one who can kill them?" asked Kagome with a troubled expression.

Inuyasha spoke up to tell Kagome why. "They are the walking dead. They only die by being burned."

"Right," 'Great now everyone was depending on her.'

Sesshomaru, Koga, and Inutaisho all held back the demons waiting for Kagome to draw her arrow and kill them all. The demon exterminator also helped hold them back. Kagome drew back the first arrow and let it go. It pasted Inuyasha's ear by a hair and hit the demon.

"What the hell are you trying to do? Kill me?" He could still feel the air from the arrow skim his ear.

"Sorry, your head was in the way." Kagome risked a glance towards Inuyasha and quickly looked back to the demons. She could tell he was mad but he didn't comment on it. He did what his father told him and kept everything away from Kagome. Three more arrows were sent into the air and all hit their targets. All eyes turned to Kagome. An explanation was needed to explain the light that had emitted from her hand.

"What?" Was all she could say. She didn't like being put on the spot. She had done that too many times as a child.

"What the heck did you do to those five demons that were attacking us?" Koga was still steamed about being saved by a girl, but found he secretly admired her for it. No one would ever know this.

"I don't really know what happened. I just knew we would be killed and I had to stop them before they did." She was still irked on the incident herself.

"We'll discuss all the events back at the castle. Now everyone lets go." The king wasn't looking forward to the discussion.

"Koga and I are going back to the Wolf Den." With that, Sesshomaru and Koga left.

Inutaisho walked back to his horse with a small slump between his shoulders.

"My Lord" Kagome said while turning toward her king.

"Yes,"

"This demon exterminator needs a place to stay. She probably wouldn't ask for it, but you can tell she needs a place."

"It's not just me. My brother Kohaku would also be coming. Kirara!" A huge cat demon called a two tail walked out with a small boy on its back.

"I'm sure we have plenty of room in the castle. Can they stay my Lord?" Kagome desperately wanted a girl in the kingdom she could talk to.

"You would have to arrange their sleeping arrangements." Lord Inu didn't want to leave them alone, but he had a kingdom to look after.

"I will." She turned to the other woman. "What is your name?" She berated herself for not asking sooner.

"Sango. And you?" Sango wasn't quite sure she trusted her.

"I'm Kagome. Didn't you travel through my village when we were kids?"

"I believe we-"

"Alright, reunion over. We need to go back to the castle." Inuyasha was slowly losing his patients. Sango and Kohaku got on Kirara. Inutaisho mounted his horse waiting for everyone else. Inuyasha went for his horse, but remembered Kagome had no ride. He turned to tell her to take his horse, but to his surprise, she was already walking back.

"Kagome," she turned around to face him with a smile, "you can take my horse if you'd like."

She'd kind of hoped he wouldn't ask. She was hardly ever let out of the castle because Sesshomaru thought she would try to escape. On the other hand she hadn't ridden a horse in a while either. "Thank you. I appreciate the offer."

She mounted the horse and started off at a slow trot. The king of course stayed between Kagome and Sango. Inuyasha walked beside him. As they approached the gates Kagome stopped. Two men were approaching at a hurried pace. She noticed they wore advisors clothes.

"Sir!" Kagome knew it had to be urgent for them to come to him while he was out.

Inutaisho rode up beside her and glanced to the two men. Sango told Kirara to land and sat quietly behind them. Inuyasha was beside his father.

"What is it men?"

"My Lord, the Western lands, ruled by Naraku, has just declared war with us!"

Kagome gasped, Inuyasha and his father looked sober as if nothing had happened, and Sango was very shocked.

War would mean many deaths and much heartache.