Standard disclaimer applies.

This is an A/N update: I reworked this chapter. It has been four years? I could not stand an OOC Sesshoumaru or a terribly OOC Kagome. I tell ya, that was self-inflicted pain and omg, it's why I never updated.

Reread if you'd like, or move on, but things in the following chapters will be… different, because of the changes.

(BTW, I was too lazy with Chapter one, but I realize it is quite terribly juvenile… but oh well!)

And I'm doing this to celebrate all of my RL hard work. 14 units! Wooooo college!


Chapter Two
The Full Moon Calls

It was officially two days since she had come to the palace and no matter what she tried – whether it was trying to "speak" to the cat demon servants, pestering Jaken, or smearing ink on her paws and trying to finger paint her real identity onto paper – she was always disrupted. No matter how hard she tried, one of the guards would pick her up and return her to Rin, promptly chastising the girl for letting the scruffy animal run away.

The first time she had been called a scruffy animal, she had hissed and clawed her way through the guard's delicate face. Obviously a wimp, Kagome thought sadistically as she stretched from her place on Rin's futon bed pillow. And only a half of an hour ago, she was returned once more, after leaving deep bleeding gashes on Jaken's back.

Added to this delightful experience, was the negative bonus that there was now a mysterious collar around her neck that she could sense was trying to hold her unknown powers at bay. If I turned human, would it get bigger or would I choke to death? Kagome thought idly as she tried to bite pointlessly through the metal links which formed her leash. Really, I'm no dog. Do they think I'm stupid?

Rin was sitting quietly at her desk, practicing her kanji on several extremely long scrolls of parchment, in the corner of the room. Occasionally the little girl would look up and around the room, shift on her cushion and then turn back to her work. She seemed to be waiting something or other. Her silent questions were answered when the fusuma of the outer room was slid open, and then the shoji pushed aside as well. Standing in all of his pristine glory was Sesshoumaru.

xox

"Lord Sesshoumaru, you are here! Will you be playing with me outside in the gardens?" Her eyes pleaded with her lord, but he shook his head no. Instantly, she latched her arms around his waist.

"Rin, there is to be a celebration tonight. You must prepare yourself, and go over your manners once more briefly." He paused to look at the cat resting patiently on the bed. "I do not believe you should bring your pet to this, as well. It might... cause problems for the guests," Sesshoumaru tried to announce as gently as possible the complications.

Apparently the cat understood perfectly as well, because its eyes widened slightly and the pupils dilated to extremely thin lines. It was so strange to see a cat with blue eyes, and a wide range of emotions. The demon lord did not have long to ponder as Rin burst into complaints.

"She'll be a good kitty, I promise! She's always good around me; please!" The underlying current in her words were, The others don't like me, milord, because I'm human. She's my only company...

With a barely veiled sigh, Sesshoumaru turned his head away, knowing he would be unable to look at the crestfallen expression spread across his ward's face at his next words. "No. I am sorry, Rin, but she can not. She would be a burden. This dinner is important. But if you would like, you may keep her in the garden with Isashi and get her immediately after you are dismissed from the dinner."

Now it was his ward's turn to sigh. "Yes, milord. Come on, Miss Kitty."

Rin moved away from the dog demon, and picked up the metal chain, walking slowly toward the engawa of her room leading out to the garden. Before unhooking the chain leash from the collar, the little girl kneeled on the hard wood and stared up to the opened skies. It was getting dark all ready, the clouds tainted reds, purples and varying shades of dark blue.

"I'm sorry, Miss Kitty. I know there isn't much to do around here, and I know you're lonely, but we don't have any other cats around here except for a few of the servants. And now, even though some of Lord Sesshoumaru's friends are cats too – I think – he said no." Rin heaved a very exaggerated sigh, quite possibly hoping her lord would take pity because she knew that he could hear her.

"You can stay here with Isashi. He's some kind of snake demon, but he's nice. You haven't scratched him yet, so maybe that's a sign from the kami. I have to go now. I'll bring you back some of my food." As she stood, she picked up the chain leash and turned to go back into her room. Kagome made a pitiful meowing sound once more as Rin disappeared for what would be the next four hours.

xox

I can't believe this! I'm stuck here with this overgrown... snake. Humph. And he's boring too! All Kagome had was the company of Isashi and the distant sounds of tens of demons loitering in one of the large rooms, the smells of food wafting through the shoji and fusuma. There was no excitement in this garden tonight.

Isashi had expressly forbidden her to go wandering through the garden, by picking her up and placing her in his lap. His lap! The girl-turned-cat twitched once more. Never in her life had she been in contact with a male in such a fashion. I'm in his lap! My mother would be so ashamed of me.

"You, cat, are a burden," the demon guard's voice broke through her thoughts. In response, she hissed. He picked her up and held her to his face, their noses nearly touching. "Yes. But at least you're a cute burden."

Maybe if I lick him, he'll drop me and let me go. Well... Without another thought, Kagome stuck her tongue out, swiping it on the demon's nose. He jumped, so surprised, that he let her go and both went falling to the ground. And I almost failed high school? No kidding, I should get a degree in psychology.

Prancing around while Isashi still laid on his back from the shock, Kagome decided to make her get away. Where to go, where to go... Heading westward on the grass of the garden, out into the moonlight seemed like a good option, so she followed her instinct. Thankful for once that her hair was such a dark black and that being a cat kept the black, Kagome was able to hide in the thickest of bushes.

She paused, waiting as she heard the snake grumble about the stupidity of average felines and walk away, presumably to tell someone she had escaped. Oh boy! What if it's another of those stupid guards and they all gang up on me? Treading her tiny paws lightly, Kagome moved away from the bush below the cherry blossom tree and directly under the light beams of the full moon.

A gasp escaped her as she felt power rush through all of her limbs at once, and the scent of spring water surrounded her.

xox

Isashi grumbled as he hurried to tell his lord what the ball of fluff did: lick him purposefully to make its getaway. He sprinted through corridor after corridor, finally arriving at two extremely large fusuma able to easily fit his lord's true form through. A gasp for air erupted from his chest, trying to regain his balance and thoughts. What did one say when he lost his lord's adopted daughter's precious pet?

"L-Lord Sesshoumaru..." Isashi mumbled, fearing for his life at the very moment.

The demon lord heard the barely audible voice, and scented the fear and helplessness. He turned away from his conversing companions to his sergeant who was bowing piteously, and shivering from his fear.

"Isashi... you are supposed to be watching the cat." The underlying threat was again obvious.

"I- I know, milord, but it was... It tricked me! It played a cruel game and ran away into the bushes in the garden. I could not stop it. My deepest regrets, milord." The Indian cobra demon did not dare look up, preferring instead to continue cowering.

"Then you will stay here and keep Rin distracted, while I will find the creature. I will-" The dog demon tensed up when he felt a familiar quick pulsing of power. It shook through the entire room, every demon pausing when they felt the mysterious force.

Immediately, Sesshoumaru stood, and shot out of the room, headed for the source of power and the strangest scent of spring water rippling through the air, and an aura that was unmistakable.

xox

The party had been long and extremely frustrating. They were demeaned just because they all were technically younger than the gods which ruled over the earthlings.

"I am so tired of this endless cycle of unjust treatment!" Present seethed.

"Get over it. We have more important matters to go over. Where's the mirror?" Not wasting any time at all, the seven high beings ran into a nearby and very recognizable room.

"Destiny, what's going on? Find the girl!"

The little girl rushed to the mirror and waved her arms in a cryptic pattern, slurring her words, and anxiously awaiting an image. Just in time, the mirror lit up, and the tiny figure of a cat flitted across its surface. The kitten darted to a large bush and seemed to pause, then hesitantly crept out scanning its surroundings.

Before any could comment on the normalcy of this scene, the light from the full moon blazed upon the black fur and a burst of raw power swept through the gardens. The seven girls gasped simultaneously, worried beyond belief. When the light died down seconds later, it was an even bigger surprise. There, on the grass of Japan's Western Lord's garden, was the girl from back in the Well's clearing, wearing nothing but an expanded collar and her flowing waist-length black hair.

"Oh, dear."

"No, no, Clotho; I believe – for this situation – the appropriate term would be what humans say is... 'Shit.' "

xox

Sesshoumaru raced into the gardens the moment the light was beginning to die down, and what he saw appropriately froze him to where he stood. Struggling to sit up was a girl, and not just any girl. It was the young priestess from the future, Kagome, whom had been a primary warrior in the defeat of Naraku and who had also restored his left arm.

This was no doubt the oddest situation he had ever been in. Not only was she naked, but she was wearing that ridiculous collar he'd had made for Rin's pet. Before he could properly regain his composure, the dog demon was spotted in his mid-stride pose. The two beings in the garden stared awkwardly at each other for a few tense moments, and were promptly disrupted by a loud groan emanating from the priestess.

xox

Her eyes were wide in surprise at being human again. Then the giddy sensation flooded away as soon as she laid eyes on the demon lord. Oh, this is really funny! Hahahaha… Yeah really really great - awesome - wonderful! Did I do something to deserve this?

She groaned from her position on the ground and curled herself in a ball, wishing herself in another time period on another continent, where no one could possibly ever hear of the name Kagome Higurashi. What was the point in her life, really? This really stinks. I know my life has been full of karmic injustice since I turned fifteen but c'mon! This is ridiculous! She was startled when the dog demon spoke, so coldly, like he had at all other previous encounters.

"...Priestess... what a surprise." His arched eyebrow only served to infuriate her more.

Not only had she mysteriously been turned into a cat, forced to be Rin's pet, degraded by those stinky soldiers of Sesshoumaru's, but now she was also standing in front of said leader of soldiers and in nothing but her skin and what she assumed was magically influenced cow-hide leather adorning her neck. This was possibly the single most embarrassing moment of her life.

"Get me some clothes, Sesshoumaru, or I'll take away the arm I gave back to you," she growled looking down at her hands, clenching onto the reeds of grass.

He turned away, not bothering to give a response, and walked through an open fusuma doorway near to Rin's. When he returned, he was holding an extremely dark blue kimono, appropriately decorated in silver crescent moons and wisps of silver thread made to look like trails of shooting stars. Around the collar were tiny golden cherry blossoms and silver stars with single threads obviously made to be the tails of shooting stars.

As she stood shakily to her feet, the demon lord held the outfit out, not once taking his eyes off her. This made her want to blush, but she stamped the feeling down. There were definitely more pressing matters to attend to. She roughly snatched the garment away and slipped it on as fast as she could, before halting in her work, realizing that she had no tie or obi of any sort. Her head snapped up to glare directly at the face of the Lord of the West.

"Get me the ties, dog," she hissed, pressing the fabric closed as tightly as possible.

The only indication he gave of acknowledging her words as well as her fury, was the subtle gleam in his eyes that said this situation had turned into a joke for him. Those two golden eyes showed exactly what she expected of one of his brain capacity. ...Or lack thereof, Kagome thought angrily.

He shook his head and turned away, expecting her to follow because she needed answers. She could not hold back the immense anger she felt at his blatant dismissal to give her what she wanted and more importantly, needed.

"Hey, bud, I'm talkin' to you!" Kagome snapped, ire rising easily after her worn-thin temper over the past days' treatment.

With a light sniff, he turned away and continued on his path, still silently expecting her to follow.

"Over-grown, pompous… Stubborn," she started quietly, knowing he'd hear every word, "just like his brother!"

Immediately his footsteps halted, incensed by words the dog demon felt unjustified and wholly untruthful. "Follow me, girl," he intoned, before continuing back quickly unto the room from whence he had produced the kimono. She huffed in response, but did as told, figuring his tight-lipped disposition wasn't personal and things would go more smoothly if she just got it over with.

The moment her eyes landed on Sesshoumaru, though, it was a close up view of a thick light blue and silver obi and an obijime. The untrained priestess stuttered in shock, wordlessly took both and muttered what sounded like a 'thank you'. Before she could start tying the obi in the way her mother had taught her, he was out another door obviously intent on walking away. In a heartbeat she was trailing him, simultaneously working at the ties and prepping the obijime just right, with an eerie feeling that it was going to be significant.

He carried on through various shoji, fusuma, engawa, and sectioned corridors until the sounds of merriment were audible to her hearing. Kagome hissed to herself, glaring half-heartedly at the back of the Great Lord with a Stick up His Unforgivably Frozen Butt. What a jerk! Treats me like I'm dirt under his weird boot things.

"Rin will be glad to see you. You will sit on my left. Do not speak to anyone but her or myself, understood?" The demon lord refused to look at her opting instead to gaze at the door in contemplation.

Kagome nodded once, sapped of energy so quickly. In the absence of words, she waited as he opened the doors. Attention was immediately drawn to them; Sesshoumaru, a stiff walking board and Kagome, clutching the kimono tighter to herself as if that would keep the odd stares away. None dared to speak, she noticed, shifts in the demonic auras flaring around the room. Idly she thought it had to do with the look reminiscent of anger on the dog demon lord's face, or maybe it was common courtesy, but either way, it was unnerving.

The path to the large table in the middle of the room was cleared slowly, the glowing eyes of everyone else in the room reflecting the many candles illuminating the area. A sense of hostility permeated the air when a few demons realized it was another human in their midst, and this one a priestess of impressive power, though Kagome would not have said so herself. Easing her aching body down onto the cushion to the left of Sesshoumaru at the head of the table made her anxious and concerned when there was no sound at all, even the whispers of silk on wood surrounding them. She heaved a sigh, which in turn garnered a glare from who she had silently deemed as "Freezer Butt."

"Act civilized, girl," he sneered down at her, and she glared back.

"Whatever," Kagome rolled her eyes.

"Behave. Rin is younger and acts more appropriately" the demon lord retorted without sparing her another glance. "Come, sit and eat, everyone," he called lightly, knowing most every demon in the room had heard their conversation and was dreading the gossip.

Obediently, everyone turned to the low-rise table and sat at an eating placement, as if it had all been planned out, and by pre-judgment of Lord Freezer Butt, it was. As soon as every being was contentedly settled into their seats, a flurry of servants came in delicately moving about the guests and putting down large adorned trays of food. So maybe the smells weren't coming from here, but rather the kitchen. I give my props to the chef of the house. Kagome sniffed softly hoping not to be caught in the act, however subtle it was. She vaguely noticed that it had gone silent, and she turned to look at everyone else.

To her slight horror, the demons around the table were either looking at her or who she knew was on her right side. Kagome rotated her head, afraid of what she might find and what she did made her jaw slack an inch more than its already half-inch slacking state. Her eyes widened almost unnoticeably as they connected with vivid, and obviously mocking, golden eyes. She barely realized that a clawed finger was pushing her chin upward.

"Staring with mouth agape is impolite."

It was an instant reaction. The young woman clenched her teeth, sucking in a breath in order to not hit the demon as she instinctively did to Inuyasha in the past. "I was not gawking at you, pretty boy," she hissed.

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes; the foreign words and the human's tone implied an insult. He swallowed discreetly before speaking. "Eat, everyone, and be merry, for this is great occasion to celebrate! To the mid-Summer's full moon, marking the start of the great annual harvest." He picked up a bowl of what looked like miso soup and brought it to his lips, never once taking his gaze from hers. The din of those around them seemed to pulse and dull, pushed into the back of their minds as they stared, wary of the other.

Blinking quickly when she realized what she had been doing, Kagome followed suit of the other guests trying extremely hard not to fidget while eating, but maintaining a dignified air of proper etiquette. It was, no doubt, difficult, even had she owned four arms, because the unreceptive guests still glared at her, reluctantly acknowledging where she sat, as well as the haughty looks which the demon lord at her side sent her throughout the evening.

Absently, she noticed the little human girl at her side talking amicably with the elderly demon at her other side. Rin was smiling excitedly, while the demon graced the child with a tiny grin as each sentence passed. While she chattered on, unbeknownst to the priestess and her lord, she was paying every bit of attention to their actions.

That was certainly a sight to behold.

xox

"What are we going to do?"

"Well it's definitely not going to be telling our mothers. At least we know that she changes back into a human when there is full moon light. That is a positive thing," Lachesis whispered solemnly.

"Yeah... I suppose. It is a wonder, though, when she changes back to a cat; I mean, honestly, I don't think we are as lucky as we hope."

Past turned a glare onto her younger sister, Present. "Optimism is the key, sister! So... be quiet!"

In response, the younger deity huffed and stuck her nose into the air. No one else said anything, trying to appease their anger. "What will we do until then? Send a guardian angel down?" She snorted in disdain.

"This is a joke! No – pun? – intended. What would that little girl think if she had a real angel following her? And the cat! I will not even speak on the matter. Let us return to the festivities now, and think of only positive things."

"You have a way with words, dear cousin," with a roll of her eyes, Past turned to look through one of the open archways.

"Let's go before the adults begin to fret."

One by one, the female deities filed slowly out of the circular room, pondering the latest turn in the haphazard mess of historical truth and fiction which they had made the world.


Author's Note: Hmm, a page shorter than I really wanted. I had not originally finished this, nor started chapter three, yet. Haha. I'm a loser.

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE REVIEWS. I LOVE YOU ALL TILL DEATH. MUAH.

ahahaha.

Oh, ps, updates are on my profile. I'll be... changing that thing so it really tells the story status and stuffles. kay, darlings?

ja!

****A/N edit: Ummm I think this chapter is even shorter now. I changed a lot... but yet not. I'm extremely lazy. Anyone who knows me would attest.. As I mentioned at the beginning of the chapter, college. Yay. Goals. Yay. Anyway, I'm still reworking chapter 3, which I haven't given youz peeps in the first place…. Oooh um….

Well keep a look out for updates on my profile since… no Author's Notes 'chapters'.. not even the temporary ones, are allowed. Whoever ratted on the writers should be ashamed…