DISCLAIMER: Inuyasha is property of Rumiko Takahashi.
A Path Less Trodden
1.
Meetings
Sesshomaru let his poison melt the centipede demon to nothing because it smelled nauseating, infringed upon his space and was too hideous to behold for longer than a moment. It was nothing out of the ordinary for him to dispose of that which was displeasing. It was beyond odd for him to remain after, just to look at the strange human passed out on the filthy forest ground.
He'd never seen such a human before.
Even covered in small scratched from her obvious flight from danger, with the mild smell of sweat, dust and something strangely ozone like, what could be seen of her skin was remarkably cleaner than any other human. And there was a lot of skin to be seen. Her clothing was even more scandalously revealing than that of the most shameless prostitute, but her feet were covered and by two very distinct, obvious layers. Her shoes, though strange and unfamiliar, were expertly made of sturdy leather and a material Sesshomaru could not name. Similarly, her clothing was of the highest quality, perhaps better made than even his own. Her skin was fair and soft, smooth where it wasn't scratched up, without a single blemish, wrinkle or tan line.
'An overprotected princess,' he decided and turned on his heel.
The girl whimpered in her unconscious state and to Sesshomaru's left, in the very center of the glade, the half-breed's heart gave a single, powerful beat. In the few seconds it took Inuyasha's youki to stir and then settle back down into slumber Sesshomaru had grabbed the human by the nape and shot through the trees, crossing the forest and the fields that surrounded it too fast for mortal eyes to follow. The reaction was unconscious and unintended. Though he'd come with he intent of recruiting the half-demon into the fight against the panthers, Sesshomaru had deemed the brat unworthy. He did not wish to remain in his slumbering presence, let alone witness his awakening.
So, he'd grabbed the strange human, deposited her near a village too great a distance away for a human to traverse in a week, let alone a few hours, and quickly made himself scarce.
A month passed and no news of Inuyasha's return to life reached Sesshomaru, so – irritated by the faulty flow of information – the Western Lord once again travelled through the same path, intent on either forcefully recruiting the unworthy mutt or ending his life immediately, either of which will award the cretin a proper warrior's death and wipe some of the shame from their bloodline.
Sesshomaru never made it to Inuyasha.
He was walking trough an open valley when he heard the commotion, several long minutes before it entered his line of sight. He could smell it long before even that. A girl ran towards him – the very same human child he'd taken on impulse the month prior. She was followed by a gaggle of struggling, wiggling lower demons. The only reason she'd not been caught yet was because each of the disgusting beasts were fighting the others as they gave chase.
"It's mine!" wailed several voices. "Mine!"
"It belongs to me!"
"Give it, give it!" a single crow demon left the mass fight to lunge at the human girl, who barely managed to dodge and paid for it as she tripped over her own feet. "Give it to me! I want it!"
"Leave me alone!" the girl screamed as she curled into a tight ball, wrapped her arms over her head to protect it and kicked out with one foot, catching the crow on it's head and sending it flying. "I don't have anything! Leave me alone!"
"Lies!" wailed a centipede with the upper body of a nude woman. The very same demon Sesshomaru had personally melted into nothing which, more than anything, startled the Western Lord into moving towards the struggle. "It's on you, it's in you, give it to me!"
"Why can't you just disappear, ugly, messy freak!" the girl screeched and as the centipede lunged, she rolled, raised her arm and slapped it on it's grotesque face. The hit was hard, much more vicious than anything Sesshomaru would have ever expected from a human – particularly one as frail looking like the girl. It also caried a sharp tang of ozone and evoked a bright flash of something. The centipede was thrown aside and twitched violently on the ground, wailing and scratching at its face, as it crumpled into dust.
Sesshomaru found himself observing with a strange mix of detachment and curiosity as the human continued her struggle. It wasn't vain - those lesser demons hit by her strange, ozone-tasting power never got back up. It spread through them, not unlike Sesshomaru's own poison, and corroded the creatures from within, leaving only ash behind. Those that crumbled did not rise again. Even their youki could not be sensed anymore. Their destruction was absolute.
It was… unusual. It was an innate talent, obviously untrained and untapped.
As the girl crumpled, unable to fight on, Sesshomaru decided to do it for her. He was bored, she was a distraction from his unwanted mission to recruit Inuyasha, and he wanted to know just how she could destroy something that managed to live through his dokkasu.
"Thank you! Oh, thank you!"
"Name."
"I - Kagome. Higurashi Kagome."
"Follow."
"Yes? Yes!"