Author: WOW! This took such a long time to write. I'm sorry, but school has been absolute hell! Well, this is more of a transition chapter then anything else; plot begins to emerge, but not by much. OH and I'm looking to try to illustrate this. I'll actually do art trades with anyone from here if they do some work for me, just review with your email.

Disclaimer: I own all characters but the ones from the Manga (Sesshoumaru, Rin, Inu Yasha, Naraku, Miroku, etc. You know what I mean.) Don't sue me. Please.

All I have is a dollar for lunch.

Blood of the Youkai

Chapter 3: Encounter

"Sesshoumaru-sama," Rin cried out, torn between relief at seeing him and horror at how he was still mid-strangle at an already unconscious Kali. "Stop Seshoumaru-sama! Kali-chan is good! She has watched over Rin."

Lord Sesshoumaru glanced over to Rin, his grip slackening a little, but still holding the girl up. He could smell life in her pathetic body. So, she has watched Rin and she is the only human who has noticed my presence. Damn. With a resigned sort of gesture, he dropped the girl who simply slumped down to the floor in a rumpled mess. She lay still on her side, breathing softly. Completely ignoring the stranger, Sesshoumaru turned to Rin who immediately ran to him and clung to him. He stared down at her, once again caught in the same midst of confusion that had plagued him the night before. "Rin," he said quietly, his voice both soft and hard at the same time.

"Sesshoumaru-sama?" Rin asked, looking up at him with wide eyes that spoke of innocence and, though the youkai could not recognize it, love.

"You came to no harm here?"

"No, Sesshoumaru-sama. Rin found Kali-chan who thought she was dreaming, who promised to help her find Sesshoumaru-sama. Kali is good, but very strange." She sat down; the exhaustion from the previous night and today having finally caught up with the child. She struggled to keep awake, but in the end failed as she leaned against Kali's pack and fell asleep.

Weak little child…He turned from Rin, to face who he assumed was Kali. With no doubt in his mind, Sesshoumaru could tell she was human. But she was strange. He remembered her eyes as he held her in his grip, wide and scared, an odd mix of green and gray he had never seen in a human before. She had hair that was even stranger, almost outrageous to Sesshoumaru, for such a color he had never seen on a human. It was almost the same color as most kitsune youkai, but with a little more brown to it. Now, its length caused it to lie as a hood around her face, reaching down to where her arms were awkwardly placed in front of her. A small trickle of blood was cascading down her thin throat from where his talons had grazed her skin, a scent that invited him to kill. All in all, she was a pale wraith of a human that was not a child, but not an adult either. Simple prey; yet he could hold back.

Kali would have been very scared if she knew that the only reason she was not lying in pieces was the curiosity of a youkai lord.

He sat there, thinking about their situation. This human, this human…is the thing that is supposed to help me! Help me to do what. Sesshoumaru was not interested in being here; he was already tired of this place with its all too human scent. He wanted to speak to his own kind, demand in explanation, and return home. It surprised him that he could not smell the scent of the youkai lords of this land, almost disturbed him in a manner that was very unnerving. I will eventually find them, he mused. And demand why they allow humans to walk through youkai. This alone shook his very thoughts, leaving him to do the worse thing any youkai could do- doubt his own strength.

Puzzled, and something else he could not define, the youkai lord sat amongst the two silent girls thinking about his position.

His curiosity only peeked more when he found the unconscious girl flicker out of sight.

Oh hell, what the fuck was that? Thought Kali bitterly as she sat up. She could hardly open her eyes, the pain racked through her entire body, worse than anything she had ever felt did. Worse though, Kali could not remember why she was in so much pain. She knew that she had been at the fair and was certain at odds with her sanity because a little girl could hear her when clearly she was still silent. Needless to say, this bothered Kali a lot. In fact, she remembered blithely that she thought Rin was going to leave once they found-

Sesshoumaru! She jolted back, opening her eyes, half-screaming from the light. Wild thoughts of claws and stripes ran through her mind, of a deadly cold grip and the darkness that came after. Yet something was not right, for one thing, it had been rather dim in the cabin. Gingerly, she moved her hands away from her face, for she had assumed a totally useless protective position and looked out at her surroundings.

There was no sign of the park, or the people. Just trees, hundreds of them, as far as Kali could see. They spread out, tall and swaying, stocky and strong, gnarled and rough. Upon them, the blooms of spring marked out pinks and yellow dotted among the green leaves. Not far away, a creek bubbled along rocks nestled in the soft grass.

This place was no stranger to Kali's mind; she had indeed been here before. It was the setting of most of her dreams, for almost all of them took place in a forest, or any other natural environment. Kali sat bewildered for a moment, before nervously standing up. "Hello?" She called out wearily.

There was no answer; she was met by silence.

Where am I? Am I dead? She looked at her hands, finding them solid. I don't think so. It's another dream then. She decided, leaning against a tree. Maybe so far everything has been a dream, despite the pain. Maybe you really do feel pain in dreams. Kali grimaced as she felt her neck, noting the drying blood. What the hell was that thing?

Suddenly, a noise. Kali jerked her head to her left, though she scooted farther into the enveloping roots of the large tree. She heard the distinctive crackle of grass, a soft muttering voice that Kali could not remember. It was not the voice of the people in her other dreams, it was too menacing, soft and subtle. The kind of voice that manipulates with your mind; forcing you into nightmares. Kali crouched down silently into the roots, imagining herself becoming one. In the other dreams, no one had ever heard nor seen her. But this thing had come to her call, had noted her arrival.

Perhaps it had been waiting for her the whole time.

Half-crazed thoughts of creeping fanged things shadowed the corners of her mind as she shivered slightly, trapped and frightened like the rabbit that knows the hawk is circling. Something was crawling on her hand, a tickling feeling that had been going on for the last minute that Kali had just noticed. Her eyes shifted downward as she noticed, of all things, a spider. Like many people, Kali had a strong dislike for arachnids of all shapes and sizes. But in the light of something much more terrifying approaching, it seemed rather stupid to run about like a screaming maniac trying to shake off this small intruder. Kali let it stay, and the little black creature explored the crevices of her hand, totally unaware of her quivering. It paused, and Kali had the insane idea (they were becoming common) that it felt her eyes upon it. It was posed delicately upon her clenched knuckle, the perfect picture of its kind. Instinctively, Kali tensed knowing very well what was about to happen.

For such a tiny thing, the spider's bite sent fire throughout her hand. It had bit clean into her knuckle, spreading pain down the delicate system of nerves in her hand, racing up through her arm, to her shoulders, and dispersing into her body. Kali bit her lip as she shook her hand, sending the little thing through the air. She felt dizzy, weak, was it poison?

Movement. Something flashed silently above her and she sprang up just as the leaves and branches began to fall. A force pushed her, making her stumble, her eyes blurring as she collided with a gnarled root. Kali desperately swept her hands over the ground, refusing to look behind her, concentrating on finding anything that would serve as a weapon. After what seemed like an eternity of scrambling and crawling on the ground, she came upon something that felt suitable. Kali could hardly see, but it felt sharp and real in her hand. The thing behind her took a harsh hiss as she moved her hand, intending to turn around and throw.

Then the world split apart, the greens and browns of the forest swirled into black and Kali was only aware of the odd rush of wind and a horrible detached voice trying to call back its prey.

There was a hard thud as Kali crashed down against the walls of the cabin, and she winced in pain as her head crashed against the floor. She blinked at the floor in surprise, trying to figure out how a cabin could turn into a forest, and then back again. Kali stared at her left hand, noting the small white scar on her knuckle. How did it heal so quickly? And that was no dream, was it? She had begun to question in her mind, what was real and what was false.

However, it seemed rather unimportant with something that felt very cold and very sharp resting at her neck.

"Human, what did you just do?"

Kali froze, her body refusing to shift upwards, to look for the source of that voice. It was like the other's voice. Cold and soft, different, but in a way that she could not distinguish. It was when the sword point forced her to look up, that Kali's memory flared alive. At first, she saw his face looking down at her. The stripes on the sides were the most familiar, but the rest of his face made his markings seem like unimportant details. His eyes, they did not belong to the finely carved face. There was something in the golden depths, something that scared her more than the claws that had almost brought her death or the sword that was yearning to do so. They held fire, pure and primal, yet controlled and held back. The simple fact of the color and the pointed irises were obvious, but it was the underlying fury that made it certain this thing was certainly not human. Kali wanted to look away, knowing that it was not right for her to be able to see what was hidden there, but she could not do so. She was trapped, fear washing through every edge of her body.

There was a soft, controlled growl from the creature. "Answer me."

Kali bit her lip, trying to collect her thoughts. "I…I…don't know. I have never done that before."

The thing…Sesshoumaru (the name fit and she assumed that this was him) raised an eyebrow, his sword still resting against her throat.

That, Kali thought wildly (as one does when something very sharp is to close for comfort) must have sounded very, very stupid…

Sesshoumaru growled softly, almost undetectable, in his throat. Things were not going well for the youkai. The girl was clearly scared out of her wits (it was easy enough to smell), for anyone else would have tried to run, and she had not broken eye contact with him. It was hard to tell if this was out of disrespect or stupid human fear. However, she had not lied. Sesshoumaru would have easily detected that, and it seemed pointless to waste her weak blood on his sword.

What? Kali thought, as he sheathed his sword, where it rested against another one in his beautiful armor. I am not dead. Rin is asleep. Rin is still here. None of this makes sense!

"Did you watch over her?" The youkai asked, noting how her wide eyes had shifted over to the sleeping form. Gods and youkai help me if I have to deal with two little humans! She was still stiff, although his sword was no longer near her. That was smart of her, he concluded, to know that he was dangerous without a sword. Her initial reaction to him had suggested that she did not know of his kind, which both surprised and annoyed him, but it seemed that she eventually caught on. I must talk to the youkai lords about this.

"Yes," Kali replied. "She's been with me for several hours." No way in hell these two are related! She wrapped her arms around her knees, staring back at him, waiting for an answer. For a long time there was silence, something that should have seemed very common to Kali. In this new light, it became frightening. At least he could do is thank me! She mentally reeled back, surprised at herself for thinking that. All he did was look at Rin quickly for a moment, before turning back to her. Kali did not like the feeling of his eyes, the smoldering burn behind them, and the fact that he could kill her very easily.

"Get up," he commanded softly, and she did. "Rin," Sesshoumaru called to the girl, who awoke easily (had she been awake? Kali wondered) and stood between them. "Human girl," Sesshoumaru began softly. "No other human can see me, but you can. You disappear and then reappear without much trouble. Clearly, you are a very weak creature, everything about you reeks of human. But you are something else. What is that?" He looked down at her, and it was very disturbing to Kali that he seemed even more powerful when she was closer to him.

"I really have no idea," she said in a cold voice as she strained to keep her fear from cracking her voice in two. It was hard trying to speak to keep eye contact, Kali was much shorter, only coming up to the spiked piece that held his armor in place. Is that a boa…or a tail? Arrghh, think about it later! "No one can see Rin either, and both of you can hear me talk which is really confusing because I can not talk." There was an awkward silence following this, and Kali went back to trying to debate what that furry thing on his shoulder was while trying not to look to obvious about it.

Sesshoumaru just stared back at her, trying to gather his thoughts as to what to say in reply. "So, you are a human who happens to be dumb-"

"Mute," Kali replied, immediately shocked by her interruption. It's not surprising you don't know when to shut up, because you've never had to. DAMN!

The glare he gave her could have foretold the apocalypse, and Kali expected to fall over dead in a manner of seconds. "Be quiet, human," he said in a deadly voice. "I'll forgive you this once because you obviously do not know of the superior youkai race, but never again question the words of Sesshoumaru." His fire colored eyes were narrowed and edged with red as he looked down at her, and for the first time, she was forced to drop her gaze. Kali looked down at Rin, who had been oddly silent until now, looking up at them curiously. Huh, a little girl knows when to keep quiet, but I don't. He said the word 'youkai' didn't he? Must mean 'bad tempered and evil guys' Her true nature, suppressed since the arrival of Rin, was beginning to kick in.

"SO, you cannot talk, but are obviously able to around Rin and I, not only that but you are a human who can see us, and you can disappear, but obviously you can't control it, because you would have not come back."

Correction; 'bad tempered, evil, incredibly redundant, and good at deducing."Yes."

He just stared back at her.

"That was a rhetorical question, wasn't it?"

Same stare.

That was one too. "Er…right…you are correct. Sorry." This is not the best of situations… Why can't he just go now! Rin has found him, and he can just go now. Leave my poor deranged brain out of this mess! "Well, here is Rin, safe. I don't think there is anything else I can do for you, so I shall be leaving you to your business now." Kali took a step back, bowed (because somehow, it seemed that this creature was used to respect). It was not something she wanted to do, exposing the back of her neck to something with very sharp claws. Quicker then anyone in the cabin could think was possible; she shuffled to the door…which consequently was no longer there. She saw the slightly forested region of the park, very rare in the crowded conditions of modern Japan, and the path that was supposed to lead her down the long walk to the center of the fair. Escape!

Damn.

He was blocking her path. There had been a flash of white and the glimmer of armor; faster then, her eyes could track. Kali was aware of a small weight yet again anchored to her arm, Rin. "Why," she said, looking Sesshoumaru squarely in the eye, bristling somewhat. "Are you not letting me go?"

Humans! Damn dratted humans! I'll learn what I can from this one and then kill her! I have killed men for being more polite then this wretch of a creature! He recalled the thing (for lack of better words to call it by) in the abyss, he needed this girl to get back home! The irony was not lost upon him. The great youkai lord looked down at her from his much taller height, into the shadowed and murky eyes before replying. It occurred to him that he could use this creature to get back to his time (how the hell she does it I don't care.) and then dispose of her. The thought of having to depend on another youkai made him disgusted enough, but to depend on a…a human! That was reason enough for him to consider staying in this time, non-existent for the rest of eternity.

But Sesshoumaru had been in the middle of a very important situation in his own time, and he was not the kind of youkai who would just drop something because of a mere, if unfortunate, shift in time. Youkai and gods alike, help me retain my sanity after I say this!

"Because you're abnormal ability to witness the sight and comprehend a youkai, despite the fact that you are mortal, this puts you in the very complicated position of assistance to I, Sesshoumaru. You should be honored."

There was a moment of silence, and he thought he had gotten past this obstacle.

"SO," the girl said with an odd light in her eyes. "Basically, You. Need. Me."

Oh hell. That did not work. He fixed her with a stare that was known to make small creatures implode. "I don't need anyone's help, especially that of a human girl."

She blinked once, as if trying to understand the path this conversation was going. "Okay," she said slowly. "Then I will be leaving you now. Goodbye, good luck, and stay the hell out of my mind."

What? The youkai lord stood, bewildered as he watched her carefully disentangle herself from Rin's grasp as and make her way down the dusty path. Without looking back she lifted her arm and waved. This girl is very stupid, very brave, or very insane. Perhaps a mixture of both. Her attitude was confusing to him; did she not know that he could easily kill her? He wanted to so much right now, to rip his claws through her turned back. No human had ever simply turned and walked away from him! I do not need her services, he concluded. I can accomplish getting home on my own. But where are the other youkai, surely they must be near? But this girl, this little human, obviously has no knowledge of them.

Rin stood in the road, looking at the blank faced youkai, and to the receding form of Kali. She had helped her to find Sesshoumaru-sama, and for that, she was grateful. Quietly, she scooted closer to him, standing by his side. Together, the child and the youkai stood silent in uneasy thought.

Don't look back. Don't look back.

Kali repeated the mantra silently in her head as she walked to the main area of the park. By that time, the fair was slowing down, and soon there would be no one here. She wasted five minutes signing and gesturing at the employee center before someone handed her a piece of paper so she could request her salary. Cheap pay, too. At this rate, it'll take me years to get out of the house. Made miserable by thinking about going back to her silence, Kali scuffled down to bus stop. Silently, she boarded the bus, and as she had done many hours ago, she leaned against the back seat window and drifted.

There were many leaves falling. Red, Orange, green, odd for this time of the year. Kali stood in a very familiar clearing, a sharp memoir of the long-ago-yet-not-so-long-ago. She ducked and twisted behind a tree, remembering the episode of her last dream.

But there was no sound, nor was there any ominous feeling. Just the noises made from the wind.

As quickly as the dream had begun, it ended. Kali sighed, contemplating that not only had the sushi been old, and it had probably been radioactive or loaded with chemicals of some sort. The bus chugged to a stop in her lonely little neighborhood, one of the many vague suburbs that dotted the mile radius around Tokyo. She walked off; her feet dragging as she made it to the desolate looking duplex that was home. Fishing a key from her backpack, Kali opened the left door and slinked down the short hallway to the kitchen/family room. Screw the sneaking in, hell will freeze over if they care.

It was a clean, if somewhat bland, house. Fashionable furniture dotted in artful arrangements around the TV and in the soft (and to Kali's mind, uncomfortably squishy) chairs, her adoptive family sat. How Kali came to end up here, she never knew. Supposedly, as much as they had told her, one did not have to pay the high taxes that had plagued the citizens near Tokyo for the last few decades if they adopted a child, or raised some cattle. Which seemed unlikely.

The first of the five people sitting in front of her to willingly acknowledge her presence was the old man, the one that had given her the ominous name she bore. Kali, she thought wryly. Destroyer. But of what? She had never asked.

He stood up, a crooked old man with a thick mane of scraggly gray hair that was impossible to tell its original color from, and took a comical (if slightly mocking bow). "It is the lady Kali, master of sneaking off from school and chores!" He said with a flourish. In reply, she smiled icily at him. "The school called," he said continuing. "Said you got marked off for today, but I don't think they care, seeing as vacation starts tomorrow." He sat back down, watching her with half-lidded eyes.

Of all the members of the family, from her foster parents, to their two sons, the old man always bothered her. It was his subtle gestures, and surprisingly quick movements with his wit, mind, and body that made him a threat. A veiled one at that, not unlike the old fables that told of mysterious aristocrats. But for now, he was just a passive old man, and, in Kali's mind, had always been.

Sanchi and Jouri (the seven year old twins) both ignored her, finding amusement in a game made up of flashing colors, high pitched noises, and little animals that were cute and surprisingly annoying at the same time. Their parents, whom Kali never thought as of her parents, pointedly ignored her. Good. I don't need another talk from them, telling me how I dishonor them. Sound like a bunch of old twits from generations ago. Kali's plan of action did not involve a highly competitive school, or the highly regarded grades needed to get into one. She had received mediocre grades on her high school entrance exam, enough to put her in an average education public school. Life seemed to work a path out for her, she had decided long ago, though in her mind it seemed boring. The inevitable future seemed to follow the lines of graduating, getting a scholarship from her handicap (which, when thinking about money, did come in handy sometimes), learning her trade, and living a middle class life alone. Which seemed perfectly fine to Kali.

And with luck, no more little girls and imposing creatures made from her mind.

Though for all the pain, it had made the day interesting.

In an hour's time, Kali found herself in bed early, clutching a ragged and old dictionary. It could have been in use over fifty years ago, but it was a good source. First order of business was to find out the words the girl Rin had spoken, even if she had been an imagination. It had pricked through her mind, sending her through all of her dictionaries, and even some of the journals, to find nothing. As a last resort, she picked up the final book that she had carefully hidden from the intrusive children because it was so delicate. After a couple misspellings of the word "youkai," she finally had come to an entry.

Youkai- See also spirits and Oni- A creature of old fables, often known to be powerful, and in many cases, evil.

Oh joy.

"Hanyou" See Youkai. Another famous element of fables, hanyous were believed to be the offspring of a human and a youkai. Often they were either beautiful or disfigured, with powers beyond the abilities of many humans.

Kali blinked at this, reliving the conversation that had taken place with her and Rin hours ago.

((Author's note: Any time I underline italics, its usually means we are looking at past dialog, either from my story or from the manga.))

"Are you a youkai?"

"A what?" "I'm a half-breed if that's what you mean, but it isn't that uncommon, not anymore at least. My dad had dark hair, my mom had this color hair, and her eyes were this color too, I'm a mix of both."

"So you're a hanyou? A real half-breed?" Rin asked in wonder.

"Yes."

Oh crud. Kali could not help but think how a little girl's imagination would take that. She shook her head in wonder and turned off her flashlight, sneaking the book back under her pillow.

Wait. Did she think I was disfigured!?!?!

Author: Wah. Feel the insanity and the struggle to depict the elusive fluffy character correctly.

Next chapter: NEVER ever let a youkai lose in the modern world.

Oh yes, and a plot!

Please review, constructive criticism and comments welcome!

Author mistakes (wahhah, feel the masochism)

Does Kali ever tell Rin her name?!?! I'm not sure…

About this- I think, if its not there, that Kali told Rin in an earlier copy of one of the previous chapters, but I think I deleted it. Eeep.

Really, enlighten me, is it a boa or a tail? For the sake of this fic, it will indeed be a tail. Crud foreshadowing.