You cannot run with the hare and hunt with the hounds.

-Old Proverb

Chapter Twenty-One: Unexpected Protagonist

There are those frightening moments in life that happen much like when you watch a show on TV and everything moves in slow motion or singular shots of the horrific moment that is being lead up to. That was what Kagome's sudden disappearance had seemed in Rimida's unique eyes, he watched it move so slowly yet remained unable to react until the normal speed of the world caught up in a sudden flash of activity brought on by the scream that reached his ears.

He hopped free of the dragon that was turning too slow for his taste and seemed to walk on air as if it were a solid surface of his choosing, running after the creature that had stolen the lady away from him.

"You'd better wait unless you wish to have me accidentally drop her to her doom." The creature's voice was high-pitched and mocking. "Dead dead dead she'll be, if you happen to cross me."

"What do you want from me?" He had paused but was watching, unable to react to his full potential while Kagome had a chance to see his eyes when using that level of power.

"You care for this mortal?" It didn't seem to be speaking itself, much like the other demons it was being controlled by whoever was causing all of this trouble. "You want to keep her safe from all that's been occurring here? You can buy her freedom from my making her a target."

Rimida just narrowed his eyes, resisting the temptation to tear the creature to pieces, silently waiting for the demands that he would be given.

"I will swear to withdraw all harm I would intentionally give this human girl if you will in return withdraw your service to the lord of the western lands and instead on my request assassinate him. I wish him to be removed from his position and your loyalty is worth more than this petty creature." The voice held a hint of success even though the chaos demon had agreed to nothing.

"Rimida, don't even think about it…ah…ouch…" Kagome whimpered as talons dug deeper into one of her arms, the scent of blood hitting the air as the creature attacked her further. "Let go of me."

"I'm sure you'd prefer I didn't." It mocked, shaking her body a little. "Now be silent and let the man choose for himself. Unless I'm mistaken Rimida and it wouldn't effect you at all seeing her fall to her demise like this…for the vultures to pick over come dawn…"

"As if I'd let you interfere with my duty to transfer her safely, you already will be punished for your harming her arm as you have. Kagome…close your eyes tightly and keep them shut, things are going to be dangerous for you otherwise. Whatever you feel or think you hear do not open them until I tell you that you can." He explained as the air around him seemed to suddenly charge with energy. "I do not want what I'm about to do to harm you."

The teenager shivered a little at the malicious edge that had taken over her guards voice and complied to his orders as much because she didn't wish to see him in such a state as his reasoning that it would be harmful for her. Pressing her eyes shut as much as she could she felt consciousness starting to flee from her, there was a short moment where she wondered if that was part of what Rimida was doing before she was gone.

"Then I was right all along, the great sword of pandemonium is taken with a weak mortal girl." the bird creature mocked him. "How low your clan has fallen, first the humans will destroy us and now they are good mating stock? Do you think people won't realize that your feelings for this trash go further than a simple assignment to protect her?"

Rimida still hadn't replied aloud to the creature, the air around him continued to shift slightly and then stopped moving all together, frozen as if by his will alone. His eyes had changed from the winter silver, growing brighter before the rims on the outside changed color as if they were on fire within, the innermost portion before the black of the iris remaining the bright white with a mixture of blue to represent the hottest of flames.

"You tread upon ground that you are a stranger within. You are not welcome here, nor will your appearance within my realm be accepted. Be gone from my presence, be gone from this mortal coils grasp. I deny you this trespass." The way he spoke had changed again. It was as if he was incanting some sort of spell as he spoke the words. At the end of his speech the bird demon simply disappeared, as if it had never been there in the first place. Kagome floating exactly as her body had been held without movement, as frozen as the energy charged area around them.

"Your lack of information is going to result in your dismissal from my service Tuay, along with any future service you would offer anyone else." Sesshomaru told him simply. "If you need it spelled out for you you will tell me what is going on or I will kill you and that will be one less traitor I have to deal with."

"You wouldn't believe me if I did tell you. You trust Captain Rimida and his sister too dearly to ever believe they were betraying you." Tuay answered, the vulture was still bleeding from many wounds as a result of their 'conversation'. Sesshomaru wasn't above torture as a means to extract information from those that would cross him.

"I would take any warnings you have with a healthy amount of skepticism. What do you have to say about my retainers?"

"The seer, she didn't wish to betray you to be fair…but I overheard her telling her brother her vision had given her images of him trying to overthrow you and steal that which is yours. That she wanted him to avoid anything that might lead to that but he dismissed her and she wouldn't dare warn you because for all the things she'll do for you she would never betray her precious sibling. There aren't many of them left after all. Why do you think he wanted to put me in here? Yeah he never liked me but if I'm imprisoned for being a traitor you'll never believe what I have to say about him."

The story made Sesshomaru pause to consider, Rimida and Saiya had been acting very strangely as of late; something that just the attackers wouldn't explain fully. If he confronted the seer she would tell him, she loved her brother but she had never been strong of conviction when it came to her personal wellbeing.

"Things will be found out…if I find that you are lying…payment for your misdeeds will be something that will come in flesh." Sesshomaru promised harshly as he headed out of the cell and within moments had reached Saiya's quarters, opening the door and entering unannounced…he was tired of all this going on beneath his nose.

"Saiya, we need to speak." He told her as she glanced over at his sudden arrival, raising herself out of her chair to offer a slow curtsey, and though his demeanor was out of character and hurried for the demon lord she still kept her easy and relaxed manner.

"As you wish, I am at your command. What questions can I answer for you?"

"Did you see that Rimida was going to betray me?"

The directness caught her off and she had a flicker of a worried look. "I did not, I saw a battle between you but it wasn't any sort of betrayal that lead to it as far as I could tell."

"So what did lead to it?"

"The girl, the mortal girl. She was the reason for you fighting one another. That is why I asked that he request to be removed from his job as her protector. I thought perhaps that such a retreat might avoid whatever fate had shown me."

There were a few moments of silence before Sesshomaru started asking again.

"Why didn't you tell me of this vision sooner?"

"I realize that you saved us Lord but he is my brother, there is little I have left close to me in this world and I feared that you might wish to attack him out of some sort of perceived threat. I did not mean to cause trouble with my silence, I hoped to avert such a disaster as that which a battle between you both is assured to bring."

"In the future I appreciate to know of all things you see involving this Sesshomaru." He told her simply. "Given the dishonesty however, you will be under watch and I will be sending a group after your brother in the morning to watch over Kagome in his place."

"I understand my lord. It was an inopportune time to let my feelings for my brother interfere with my duty to you. It will not happen again." She bowed her head, never having raised her voice or spoken any quicker than she always did.

"Don't promise what you cannot give Saiya. It's below you." Sesshomaru replied. "Continue to try to find out what you can of this attacker. I expect results sometime soon."

Then without further comment the demon lord turned and left, moving to send another group to retrieve his captain of the guard. He would get to the bottom of all these deceptions if he had to destroy the majority of his manor and facility to do so.

"Ah, dammit!" Trion pushed back from the deep sink where he'd been meditating, his arms sizzling from the way the water had boiled so instantly that now his room was filled with steam. The skin had warped and he had boils from his elbow to his fingertips. "Shit…what the hell was that…Emera…deal with this…"

The dragonfly demoness moved with a jerky posture that indicated she wasn't aware of what she was doing, like so much of the staff of the demon lord's estate her mind too had been warped to Trion's desires. She moved to start healing his injuries without a word or gesture that she really heard or understood much else of what was going on outside her work.

"He was able to injure me from that damn far away! Just what in the hell did the elders do when they made him anyway? By the gods, why make a weapon that can be turned so easily back on yourselves? No wonder we were nearly wiped out, no vision for the future even when they could see it." He complained aloud, though the only one there to hear his annoyance didn't understand it.

"Please, hold your arm like this." The female was speaking only to do what she'd been bid to the best of her ability though Trion couldn't help but grin at her. At that fact that when he wanted he could control just about anyone.

"It's a pity the Dog Demon isn't as easy to take over as everyone else, otherwise I wouldn't need to do all of this…pretend I'm that stupid Naraku creature. No, if his mind was weak like yours; then I could just rule from the background and no one would have to know the difference." He sighed a little as he watched her start to heal his wounds, it was easy for her to use energy to make his regeneration faster as he was a demon. It wasn't as difficult when she was healing for the mortal. "Why can't my family see that they are their own biggest threats. No desire to rule themselves, with as strong as Rimida is even if he was a lesser member of the nobles he was still of the blood! No, to content with just serving a lesser demon; so they make me arrange for them to be removed as a threat as well. At least so far I'll be able to save Saiya from such a fate but I can't risk leaving Rimida…"

The girl hadn't replied, wouldn't reply, but it was good for him to have a way to speak all the things going through his mind that he couldn't risk telling anyone. "…but my god…I wonder if even Sesshomaru will be able to defeat him if he's this damn powerful. I have to avert my current plans until I figure out what he is, until I can find out for certain what weakness to leak to the demon lord so I know that Rimida's death will be a result from the battle."

"I am finished." The slave announced to him, for that is how he would always view the other races. She moved back off and sat down again where she had been bid before the rebound of magical energy.

His arms still ached, it was painful enough that he knew he had to be wary in all future dealings of with his 'brother'. He would be weak for several days thanks to that, possibly would be dead if it hadn't been for the distance between them. "I think I'll have to speak to Saiya and find out just what she knows about Rimada's conception. Return to your room and then your normal duties Emera, you'll remember none of this once your door closes."

End Chapter

So it was a little cheesy to have the villain spill his plans and reasons aloud, but hey; I like using the traditional ways of writing as much as I do coming up with new stuff. Gotta mix it up. Besides, this way my readers have an idea of what's been going on and who's really behind it. Though the plot is moving along I still have plans for quite a bit yet, I'd say I'm reaching somewhere around the half-way mark but who knows how things will end up developing shrug.

-Aura

To my reviewers:

Lindajrjt - All updated and I do have some plans as to who can and cannot travel to her time.

Zoey Tamagachi - Caps bad.

Chelsea34 - Thank you for the compliments to my writing style. I try to indeed keep things simple and I'm glad I don't seem babyish while doing it ;)

XXkuraiokamiXx - Thank you, hope you keep enjoying.

Flirtymiyu - would there be? Hmmm….

Demonic-Dragon-Eyed-Chick - Heh well I wanted to get all those chapters up so yeah I put them up kinda fast. Happy belated birthday by the time you read this. Hope it wasn't too long of a wait this time.

Chasing Starlight - only some…

Elvenarcher516 - Well Sesshy didn't save her…but she was saved.