Disclaimer: The characters and world of InuYasha are not mine, they are property of Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise, and Viz. The Alien characters and movies are not mine either. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Author note: I hope you enjoy this story. I could use some more reviews though, just to see what you think so far, what could be improved and so on.
Oh yeah, the mature rating will however start to be explained in the coming chapters, so be warned!

Chapter 4

The smell of cooking meat was what brought Kitana out of her sleep. She was still lying down right beside a fire, and its heat had kept her warm despite the cool spring nights. Slowly sitting up, she was surprised to find the remains of a deer carcass at the far edge of the camp, near the first trees that announced the forest. Returning her focus to her immediate surroundings, she discovered that small strips of meat pinned upon sticks were slowly roasting, exposed to the fire as they were, and many other sticks were planted in the ground, a little further away. The young Rin was the one who arranged the future meal so expertly around the heat, hungrily watching the meat as its nature changed under the effects of the flames; cooking juices spluttered when they fell on the hot rocks that surrounded the fire, letting go of the aroma that called Kitana back to reality. The black creature then saw movement down near the carcass and sure enough, Jaken appeared from behind the deer. He was apparently making other sticks, his small body covered in blood as if he had been the one who cleansed the large carcass and prepared the meat. Which was probably what happened.

She fought back a bout of vertigo when she changed position, and immediately her body told her of the severity of the damages it sustained in her fight against the army of youkai. A groan left her lips and her arms encircled her waist as a deep pulsation of pain came to her, signaling the presence of internal haemorrhages. Miraculously, no important bones were broken, but that's was about it for the good news. Her breathing was laborious, and even though the organ that served as lung was not a vital one to her, she could tell that it was badly hurt as well. Some ribs were very tender, and she suspected them of breaking up during the fight and mending while she slept.

When the pain finally subsided to a more manageable level, she was finally able to focus on the being closest to her. Sesshomaru was sitting on a small boulder, a couple feet to her left, seemingly relax with his pristine white clothes denying the fact that he was the hunter of the deer. But Kitana could not imagine the kappa or the child killing an adult deer, she was not sleepwalking, and there was nobody else around who could have done that; it was definitely his doing. She was wondering how that man managed to keep himself so fresh and stainless while hunting such a large animal in the dense woods when his voice brought her out of her musings.

"Stop making us wait for you. Now that you are finally awake, you will eat."

His cold tone was clearly a mask. For Kitana, it was no big feat to detect the pride that he hid so well behind his icy tone of voice; it was coming off of him in waves strong enough that she wondered how she could be the only one to feel them. As she sat more squarely, stretching her back and trying to make herself comfortable, the little Rin quickly ran to her and glued herself to her side, already starting to eat the half-cooked meat. The little girl was clearly happy to see her new friend still amongst them after the terrible fight she witnessed, but she instinctively knew that her lord was still irritated at the black skined female and would not be pleased if she voiced it out loud, so she chose to show her joy through subtle demonstrations instead; as subtle as a child her age could be.

Kitana looked at the girl as she devoured a second part of meat, noticing how her tiny muscles were atrophied from her disease and she smiled, happy to see the child eager to regain what strength she lost in the course of her ailment. Then, her eyes fell on the arm that Rin had hooked herself upon, and she sighed seeing how she was only a ghost of her former self, as diminished by her century long sleep as the child was from illness. Her muscles unused to battles anymore were aching, tormented by the intense activity of the day before. Or was it two days? She couldn't tell for sure. All she knew was that Sesshomaru was correct in his estimation of her need for nourishment: she was in dire need of replenishing her energies. Reluctantly, she directed her attention to the meat and she swallowed in disgust; there was no way she could ingest such food, no matter how tasteful it was for a human child. Feeling the impatience of the taiyoukai growing and his constant gaze burning holes in the side of her head, she decided to mask her disgust for now to make him swallow up his pride; it was tiresome to be so sick and have someone boasting his success right beside her, no matter how subtle the said boasting was. And after all, the guy never helped her when she was fighting for her life, he did not deserve her cooperation. Maybe he would finally kill her if she provoked him correctly?

"I did not think you would resort to poisoning me", Kitana commented to the cold lord. "With all those swords hanging on your sash, I have to say I am surprised that you would prefer such a lowly way of doing what I asked of you. I just hope you made sure Rin wouldn't touch my intended part. As for Jaken, you are the judge."

Sesshomaru's ego deflated upon hearing her words. How could she put all his efforts to waste and imply he would dirty his honor and endanger the life of his ward in three short and simple phrases! It was completely unacceptable, but he was prepared for her insolence this time; the creature's temper was fierce and bitter, but they could play this game together.

"Do not tempt me, woman; poisoning your food would indeed be a good way to remove you from my sight. The meat however is perfectly edible."

Fidgeting, Kitana did not make any move to take her part of the meal. She appeared to be embarassed somehow, yet it was with a mischievous tone that she voiced her opinion.

"… Pardon me, but… I wouldn't say so…."

Irritated, he bore his gaze into her peculiar eyes.

"After seeing your fangs and claws, This Sesshomaru came to the conclusion that you could safely be considered a meat eater. The probability that you were a grass-eating creature is… scant, at best. However if herbs suit you better, there is a nice meadow just below the hill. Ah-Un would surely not mind sharing his sustenance with you."

He was shocked to see mirth starting to appear in her eyes. It was not the reaction he expected from her; it was not the reaction he would have had. Was she trying to provoke him once again, despite her failed attempts of the previous day? Mentally sighing, he decided he should be satisfied that his response triggered something in her other than the desire to end her days. That was… a beginning. He would eventually find how to instil anger and rage into her, enabling her to face off against Naraku's minions by herself; it was just a matter of time.

She shook her head, a sad smile showing up on her lips.

"It's not that, Sesshomaru. I am indeed a predator, but this meat is not… fresh enough for my needs."

That was it. She was strongly poking at his breaking point once again, completely overstepping her boundaries. It was easy to see that the deer was freshly killed; the scent coming from the carcass lynig in the meadow was that of fresh blood and teared up muscles, not that of decaying meat, and the heart was still beating when his retainer cut the animal open to clean it, as was demonstrated by the sorry state of the toad.

Jaken, who was approaching the fire with the last sticks he had prepared, was aghast; his beak couldn't open wider than it did at the moment and his eyes would simply pop out of his head if his blood pressure rose a little bit higher. He could already see Kitana's head rolling on the dirty ground, her body reduced to shreds by his lord's claws and energy whip. Then he would surely revive her, to kill her again in a much, much worse way. Yes, that was all she deserved, and it was well-deserved as no one should insult the Great Lord Sesshomaru and his mighty retainer and walk away from it alive. As the corner of his mouth started to climb into a grin, he froze. Things were not going as planned. Instead of the sweet sound of splattered blood, it was the icy-cold voice of his master that reached his ears.

"And what, exactly, does not please you in this meat?" Sesshomaru answered calmly, totally hiding his internal turmoil behind his mask of total indifference.

Kitana hesitated, seemingly frozen in place by the coldness of his tone. So, there was a limit to her rudeness, he thought. She really looked ashamed of herself, and he was glad that the impertinence of her behavior finally came to light in her mind. Apologies would surely be quick to follow. And tears, as most regretful females shed them to soften up the males so they would accept their plea. But he could deal with that. Really, it would please him to accept her deepest apologies. He would –

"It is… too… dead, you see?" she whispered, looking away from him. One of his brow rose, his eyes opening slightly more than usually. Then understanding flashed in his mind and the other brow joined its twin under his silver bangs. Too dead? He rose to his feet, inviting her to join him with a glance.

"Then let us find some meat that is less… dead, shall we?"

She gave him a very puzzled look. Apparently, his attitude was a mystery to her. How could a guy that disliked her so much, going so far as looking from afar, dispassionately, while she was being killed, suddenly change his mind about her and hunt for her?

"Why?"

His intense gaze locked with her mesmerizing black and gold eyes.

"Do not question This Sesshomaru."

He started to walk away from the camp, but to his irritation the girl did not move, calmly waiting for the answer she asked for. The taiyoukai never before encountered such a hard-headed being, or maybe he did but none of them lived long enough to push him to deal with their tempers. He would make sure to remember that sparing a life could only lead to disastrous consequences; the sweet little Rin was nothing but an exception, something that happened only once in a lifetime. Not turning back, he finally decided that giving away some more information would be a small price to pay to obtain the compliance that he wished for.

"You have to build back your health, only then you will be strong enough to fend off Naraku's tentatives to capture you."

She frowned at his broad back, not making a movement to rise.

"You did not strike me as a fan of my survival yesterday; you would have left me in that cave had the witch not arrived, and then while I fought those things I'm sure you would have been pleased if I died. Why the sudden change of mind?"

He swirled around to face her, his face a mask of total indifference, but his emotions raging inside. He was not happy, and she resisted an impulse to flinch under his terrible gaze.

"This Sesshomaru does not care about your survival in the slightest; however, letting Naraku absorb you and the powers you manifested is out of the question. Weak as you are, you represent a danger so you will stay under This Sesshomaru's responsibility. The faster you heal and get stronger, by feeding yourself correctly and training your body, the faster you will be rid of me and free to go die elsewhere."

Not breaking eye contact, Kitana sensed no deception in the taiyoukai. He was genuinely offering to shelter, feed and train her, even though this decision blatantly originated from his desire to be freed from her. And now, he was clearly inviting her to a hunt. Although she felt weaker than ever before, and did not want to linger much longer in this world, she knew she couldn't decline his offer. If he would not kill her, and this Naraku guy would only take advantage of her, she would have to be strong enough to find another one interested in ending her miserable life. And of course, strong enough to repel Naraku's attempts at capturing her, on her own. A new determination came to her eyes, as she rose to follow him. Her black and yellow eyes fixed upon him, she answered his declaration with one of her own.

"Hear my words Sesshomaru: I will not be enslaved again. You can count on that." With large strides, she moved pass him toward the forest.

He was perplexed by her words. So she had been a slave, had she? How could it be possible with the powers she manipulated, he did not know, but he would make sure to question her on this subject later. He joined her and soon the hunt began.

He was following the scent of a young, adolescent deer. Probably the young of the doe he caught earlier, he told himself. Kitana was following him, not really taking care of what he was doing. Really, he thought, this woman did not seem to be very familiar with hunting her own food, or she would be much more alert of her surroundings. Clenching his jaws in annoyance, he smelled the air for the deer's scent, which was still a good way ahead of them.

"Why did you spare the wind witch's life?", he asked in a whisper, not wanting to disturb the wildlife around them. What he really wanted to know is why he himself hadn't been hurt by the two murderous attacks she used in battle. Not that he could have been hurt, that was a ridiculous thought, but the point was that she didn't even try.

Kitana didn't know what to answer. She had been surprised to see the red-eyed woman escape unscathed from her attacks, and hadn't given much reflection to the subject until now.

"I tried to target the creatures emitting evil intentions toward me. She was probably attacking me against her own will, harboring no real ill intent, even though she seemed pretty angered by my last attack. That's the only way she could have survived those attacks", she answered with a low voice.

Sesshomaru nodded, his intuition confirmed. The girl did not want to hurt him. That was good to know, another confirmation that she was probably a harmless addition to his group. Catching up on his prey's track, he became silent again and resumed his hunt.

Kitana had already scanned the area, searching for the energy signature of a potential meal, but she found nothing suitable in a large radius. She would have to go far from there if she wanted to sustain herself properly. Shaking her head in defeat, she looked at the back of the taiyoukai. He was clearly tracking some scent, and she would not intervene, for her sense of smell was not much better than that of a human. Really she thought, this guy was something else. She had met long-lived creatures before of course, but ones still young after 10 or 11 human life spans were very rare. He was powerful too, that was the first thing she remembered feeling about him. What kind of power did he harbor she had no idea, but his energy was immense, rolling off of him in waves in a way she had never seen before. However something else in this world was stronger than him, for he did not try to hide the fact that his left arm was missing. It was not a birth handicap, as the man was sometimes starting to move as if he was about to use the missing limb, and then changed his motion as he remembered its loss. Contrarily to most handicapped males, he wasn't ashamed of it at all and acted as if his power had not been diminished in the slightest because of it. He was indeed a dangerous element in her life, and strangely it only brought her a sense of security.

She almost bumped in his back when he came to an abrupt stop. Realizing what made him pause, she stilled. A creature similar to the one that was roasting in the camp was eating some plants amongst the trees, about a hundred feet from them. So that was what he intended her to eat… Shivering in disgust and shaking her head again, she realized he had turned and was now looking straight at her.

"I hope you know how to hunt your own food?"

That was it. Her humiliation would cease right there and then, she thought. This long-lived youkai would learn that she was not one to back away from challenges, as small and insignificant as they were. She was sure she couldn't eat that thing, but she would try, just in case. Without a sound, she collected her still aching muscles and jumped straight up in a nearby tree. She reached a low branch, before silently laddering up in the tree's foliage until he lost sight of her.

His brows were once again up in his bangs. What was she up too? The deer was straight ahead, totally oblivious to its fate, a simple sprint and maybe a short pursuit amongst the trees would have done the job. Was she trying to escape from him? Frowning, that was when he discovered that he couldn't track her scent. Sniffing the air, he met no lingering trace that gave her position away. How odd, for no creature he knew of had no scent, even after a bath. He tried to remember if he had once smelled her, but it was not something he had paid attention to, being quite sure that he would leave her soon after he discovered her. Not knowing how she smelled would not have been a problem anyway, as she should at least smell like the lower youkai she fought against the earlier day, like his ward and retainer who stayed close to her physically, like him, but there was no trace of these scents either.

As he was lost in his conjectures, his eyes caught a sudden movement ahead. To his surprise, Kitana had caught the deer. She was wrapped around it, holding it firmly with both her arms and tail, rendering its long legs inefficient at fleeing away. He was intrigued by the technique: she had moved stealthily across the tree branches and let herself fall upon her unsuspecting prey, just as a feline would have done, or some species of owls he knew of. Scorpions seldom hunt that way, however; they abhorred direct fights, preferring to sting their prey from afar and follow them until they fell dead. Once again the subject of her unknown species came to his mind, but he could not determine what she was more than the day he found her. Finally, he moved toward her to see if she would need help in making the kill, but froze dead in his track. From what he saw, she was not going to kill the deer. Not yet.

She was immobile with her neck bent over the nape of the young deer, her body covering its back and her arms encircling its torso and shoulders, preventing any movement. A small rivulet of blood appeared from the place she was obviously biting at, the crimson liquid travelling lazily on the rough fur of the neck until it dripped to the ground. The deer was unnaturally still, its large black eyes opened wide while at the same time staring at nothing, not rolling around like any prey would do under such dire circumstances. The area was quiet, the birds and small animals having apparently decided to vacate the immediate surroundings and intermittent sounds of suction were the only noises that reached his ears. Sesshomaru was growing more and more uncomfortable under the display, it reminded him too much of a similar situation that he had hoped never to witness again. The dimly lit cave was now a forest, and black tendrils had been replaced with a living onyx-skined creature, but all the rest was too similar to his first visit to the cocoon cave for his comfort. As much as the occurrences where different, both times a detestable feeling made its way to his consciousness: the dreaded impression of being confronted to an unusual and deadly predator.

He stayed impassive when she suddenly struck at the deer with one clawed hand, opening its belly. A guttural scream came from the dying beast as its intestines spilled on the floor and a sudden burst of life came back to it. She continued to drink at its neck despite its struggling, but one of her hands and her tail were now making large wounds on the animal's flanks and abdomen, literally tearing it apart alive. Sesshomaru took a few steps backward as the swirling tail was sending dropplets of blood flying in all directions, its cutting sides opening the deer's skin in a serie of whipping movements. Only its neck and head were left alone. After minutes that felt like hours, in a shudder, the deer passed. Its body fell on the ground, lifeless and almost unrecognizable.

This gruesome demonstration left Sesshomaru speechless. In general demons were bestial creatures, and the humans were not far behind in their abilities to be cruel, but for most of them respect was due to the creatures that gave away their life to feed another. Only the lowliest of youkai, the weakest ones with a mind clouded by darkness would dismember and torture their prey in such a way. When he looked at the display of gratuitous violence, the nature of Kitana came to light in his mind: she was nothing but a low-level youkai, with so little youki it was unoticeable, a creature that deserved to be killed and nothing more. He was seriously starting to reconsider his decision not to kill her, when something truly unexpected happened. Having let go of the disgusting cadaver of her prey, she was holding her abdomen with her bloodied hands, wobbling, before falling to her knees beside the carcass.

Kitana felt sick, very sick. This poor beast had nothing in it that she could feed upon, even after wounding it severely to make its heart beat faster and project the so-needed nourishment into her, the nature of its blood never changed. There was nothing in there that she could absorb. Now her entire body was rebelling and telling her clearly that she should have followed her instincts, should have gone after the faraway preys and left this pitiful animal alone. Her whole body was violently rejecting the meal she just ingurgitated, and she fell forward, one hand on the ground while the other held her retching stomach. It would be an immense relief to rid herself of its contents, but she fought not to surrender to the nausea. Not in front of Sesshomaru, who was looking at her as dispassionately as always, while his soul sent waves after waves of intense disgust toward her. She was ashamed of herself, her body was hurt and now poisoned, and her soul ached under the judgement of this stranger who looked down on her. Bravely, she fought back the nausea once more and she rose, straightened her back and gave the taiyoukai a challenging glare. When he did not answer back, as immobile as a statue, she started walking back to the camp, or more precisely to the river near the camp, pausing once every two steps to rest against the trunk of a tree.