Disclaimers: Why can't I own Sesshy? *sobs*

Since I'm already behind schedule with this fic, I'll briefly thank all of you who have left something in the review box below. Things will be moving along so keep on reading! By the way, this is known as the Tessaiga Arc, as it seems to fit with my overall story plan. I have a habit of writing in arcs [much like the TV series' seasons] so they can stand on their own. Enjoy!

Chapter 8: A Tentative Bond

The next three days were an absolute torture for Kagome. As much as she loved nature and the beauty of the scenery was breathtaking, camping outdoors with minimal comfort was not her cup of tea. Sesshoumaru could not care either way, his thick fluffy tail was an asset that made her exceedingly jealous. The way he would find that extremely comfortable spot at the foot of an old tree, to the way he would casually curl his tail to pillow his head and back. All she had to keep her comfortable was a medieval version of a sleeping bag made of coarse heavy cloth and the nightly campfire.

Jaken was being pain in the rear with his continuous bleating of "Sesshoumaru-sama" this and "Sesshoumaru-sama" that made Kagome wonder how the youkai lord could tolerate it. Wishing she could boot the infuriating toad into the nearest bramble bush, Kagome huffed quietly and fiddled with the travelling clothes she wore. Sesshoumaru had been insistent that she wore the hakama and gi ensemble instead of a feminine travelling kimono - and Kagome was glad for it. No matter how well designed for travelling it was, it was still constricting in its movements.

Kagome was well aware that Sesshoumaru was more than capable of transporting them to their destination via the air. As nerve-wracking as it was, she was willing to put up with it as long as it would prevent all the annoyances like Jaken's whining and the hard ground. But as Sesshoumaru had bluntly put it – he had no desire to waste his energy transporting them, when walking would do just fine. Kagome knew that he was resenting the fact that she had to accompany him as she was the only one who could probably break the barrier sealing Tessaiga's chamber. And Sesshoumaru hated having to rely on her in any way.

"Sesshoumaru-sama," Jaken began, "would you like this humble servant to scout the route ahead when we break for camp?"

" I am more than capable in doing that, Jaken," came the frigid reply. "See to the camp's preparations."

"Are we close to the place, Sesshoumaru?" Kagome asked, her desire to talk overcoming her. "Can't I follow?"

"You'll hold me back," Sesshoumaru replied curtly before swiftly disappearing off between the trees.

"Foolish wench," Jaken cackled as he started the fire. "Aside from your strange abilities, you are of little value to his lordship. As soon as he's claimed Tessaiga, your life will end."

"Oh shut up before I kick you into that bramble patch, Jaken!" Kagome yelled. "I'm sick and tired of being treated like a third leg and stop calling me WENCH!"

"Feh! You are a wench, human, so don't claim to be more than that," Jaken squawked back. "If Sesshoumaru-sama doesn't gut you personally, I'll willingly stand in his place."

"Oh REALLY?" came the hissed reply. Kagome's eyes were narrowed in a deadly glare and her aura began to flare. The anger and frustration she had felt since leaving the fortress spilled out and she was ready to explode. But one of the objects of her rage was not within the campgrounds. No matter, the other one was.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Jaken scurred backwards as he felt the thickening power buffeting him. "Sesshoumaru-sama's not going to be pleased that yo--"

"Screw Sesshoumaru-sama, you toad!" Kagome screamed back. "I'm gonna fry your scaly little hide!"

Jaken squeaked and fled in the direction the youkai lord had taken. Kagome watched the little twit disappear and forced herself to calm down. It didn't help that the pack beast was jerking at its ties and stamping its feet nervously. And the last thing Kagome wanted was to chase after a spooked animal carrying all her belongings. Breathing deeply, she managed to bring about a calm. She could feel the energy pulling back to rest within her and sighed as her internal peace slowly returned. A part of her felt guilty for threatening Jaken but it was quickly justified by the cruel remarks he had thrown at her.

'Could what Jaken have said be true? Would Sesshoumaru kill me once Tessaiga is his?' came the questions as she pulled the thick blanket about her and stared miserably into the fire.

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Naraku's Palace

"The Shikon no Tama!" came the excited cry from the dark haired man. After fifty years since Kikyo's death, the intoxicating allure of the jewel was but a memory. Now, Naraku could feel its emanations from the south-west and he summoned Kanna to his side.

"Show me the jewel's location!" he ordered the girl.

Kanna held the mirror up to his eyes and the blank depths began to swirl. It cleared and revealed a campsite where a girl was yelling at a very small youkai. Dismissing the toad-like thing, Naraku focused on the girl. In accordance with his wishes, the mirror zoomed in on her and Naraku felt his heart stop. It couldn't be! The miko was dead, he himself had committed the murder. How could this be? On top of that, she had the Shikon no Tama on her person. Could this girl be the one that Kagura had told him about? If so, she must be under the protection of the Lord of the Western Lands. Damn it!

As he continued watching, he could feel the energy that radiated from the girl. Despite the distance between them, Naraku could still sense the raw power that spilled out. It sang to him and tempted him with the dark promises he wanted to achieve. But as soon as it came, it faded and all that remained was the faint thrum of his blood's awakening. Naraku's curiosity had now increased a hundred-fold and he intended to observe this girl a lot more closely. Unfortunately, Sesshoumaru was now the biggest obstacle in his way. While he had managed to peek into Sesshoumaru's fortress, it had been too brief due to the wards that protected it.

But now out in the open, his spying on them would be easier. Naraku wondered if Sesshoumaru knew of the Shikon no Tama being in possession of the girl. Perhaps he did, seeing how closely he kept her by his side. And from that brief look into their midnight escapade, the girl was no doubt worth a lot more to the Western Lord. So how was he going to go about it? Naraku loved a challenge. It appealed to his twisted imagination and as he sat back to contemplate, the workings of a plan came to mind. Smirking at the trouble it would cause the youkai lord, Naraku now allowed himself to fine-tune its machinations.

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Back in the Western Lands

Sesshoumaru was over five miles away when he felt the power from the girl. It blazed through his keen senses and for a moment, it left him stunned and slightly breathless. The difference between this energy and the earlier one that had blasted him through the study was the emotion laced within its aura. The first one held fear but this one was pure anger. His eyes widened at this but he pushed it aside to focus on getting back to camp. As he crested the small ridge, he saw Jaken waddling frantically towards him with fear written on his face. The girl was not with him.

"Sesshoumaru-sama! Sesshoumaru-sama! The girl…" Jaken squeaked out, his breaths coming out in heavy gulps.

"What happened?" he growled out as the servant started to cower under the livid amber gaze.

"S-sh-she went crazy, Sesshoumaru-sama! She cursed your name and tried to kill me!" Jaken wailed, his body trembling in fear and exhaustion.

Sesshoumaru knew that something more must have transpired between the two to result in this. And he was willing to bet that Jaken had provoked the girl to the point of near uncontrollable fury, the little idiot. Leaving the retainer behind he headed back to camp slowly. The energy that had crackled through the air had dissipated and now he could sense regret and self-pity within its lingering trace. Frowning slightly, he paused at the edge of the camp and silently observed the girl. She was huddled by the fire, the heavy travelling cloak covering her shoulders. She gave a sniff and looked up. Tears were spilling down her cheeks.

Sesshoumaru sighed inwardly. He hated to see tears. They brought back painful memories that he wished he could erase forever from his mind. Of all the emotions, sadness was one of the hardest to handle. There was something unfixable in such an emotion and no means of removing it unless the person willed it. Kagome was in essence a child of the light and she personified hope, optimism and joy. He had seen as much while watching her inconspicuously during her stay at his fortress. She had been surprisingly quick to adapt and refused to let things bring her down. But even she had a breaking point – and it had just been reached.

"Kagome," he called out, careful to keep his voice neutral. The last thing he needed was for the girl to go all weepy either before or after she would go ballistic again. He could not help but wish that he had kicked his retainer over the treetops for the added annoyance he had created. Sesshoumaru could feel his patience diminishing but refused to give in to the temptation of damning everything to hell in order to make his life less complicated. Sometimes, the easy way led to a whole lot more complications down life's path. And he had no wish to court further disaster. No, this time he would have to approach things in a very different way.

Kagome looked up to see blurry white figure before scrubbing her eyes of the tears. Despite her sorrow, she still had her pride and damn if she wanted to show any further weakness in front of the youkai lord. She could not help wondering why he was not doing anything to provoke her but some small part of her suggested that he might have sensed the psychic power she had just unleashed. She continued to eye him warily, and was startled to see him approach her. He settled himself by the fire beside her and relaxed his tail. It uncoiled from his shoulder and snaked down.

Sesshoumaru could sense the fascination she felt at the sight of his tail. He was still faintly surprised that she showed so much tolerance of youkai given that she was human to the best of his knowledge. The tail had the desired effect and it calmed the girl's ki further. She refrained from touching it, although he could see that she was almost itching to. He knew that she was gentle and allowed himself to indulge in her soothing strokes. Kagome was pleasantly surprised to feel his tail wind about her and its soft thickness was very comforting. Taking it as a sign of acceptance, she let her fingers run through the white fur delighting in its warmth and texture.

There were no more words spoken between them. Night had fallen and the fire continued to burn as Jaken fed it periodically. The retainer had eventually crept back to camp and wisely kept his mouth shut as he prepared the kill he had done in atonement for provoking his lord's anger. If he noticed the close proximity and the securely wrapped tail about the girl, Jaken continued to keep it to himself. Of course, one other reason for the toad youkai's silence was the very watchful eye of Sesshoumaru on his quivering form. Kagome, on the other hand, ignored him and only thanked him for the meal he presented her. And that was how the night passed for the small group of three.

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Kimura Village, south-west.

Miroku frowned as he felt the strange aura from before. It was now approaching night and the monk sighed in vexation. After he had first felt it, he had been strangely compelled to trace it. Something within told him that it was the right thing to do and Miroku was not one to push aside his gut feelings. But seeing as how it was too late to be wandering about in the forest, he turned towards to the village he had planned to stay in for the night. Hopefully, things would pick up in the morning and traces of the strange power would remain for him to detect and follow.

As he approached the outskirts of the village, he felt a sudden surge of youki. Breaking into a run, the priest raced towards the village where shouts and cries of terror were piercing the night. As the village came into sight, he gasped at what he saw. Towering above the crude huts, a centipede youkai swivelled its head as it took in the mayhem it was causing. Letting out a high-pitched shriek, it dove downwards into the nearest hut splintering it like matchwood. Gritting his teeth, Miroku sped up hoping that he was not too late in stopping the creature.

As he approached it, he leapt up to level a sharp blow to the creature's head. It shrieked in agony as thick blood spurted out. Landing gracefully, Miroku prepared to release the power of his Kazaana when something came spinning out of the sky. It neatly severed the centipede youkai's head in a shower of gore before angling back towards its owner. Avoiding the falling body, Miroku searched the sky for the mysterious youkai slayer. A moment later, he made out the shape of a woman astride the airborne firecat youkai with a large boomerang strapped to her back.

He continued to watch as they both touched down and she leapt off the cat. Dressed in a snug bodysuit and red bodice armour, Miroku could not help but be entranced by this deadly vision of beauty. Smiling at her, he approached and began his introduction.

"Good evening, lovely lady," he began as he reached up to clasp both of her hands within his. "My name is Miroku and would you grant me the honour of bearing my child?"

Sango's mouth opened in shock and for a moment she remained frozen. The next moment, however, saw the priest lying in a crumpled heap a couple of metres from her. Sango felt as though her hand was about to fall off with the hard slap she had given the man. It was upon closer inspection that she realised that she had hit a priest. Gasping at her rude behaviour, she quickly knelt beside the seemingly unconscious man to check him. As she gently shook his shoulder, something rubbed itself against her rear. For a moment, Sango wondered if she felt what she thought she felt. It was the next rub that sealed the so-called priest's fate.

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Miroku woke up the next morning as the sun streamed in through the windows of the hut. Blinking, he wondered what had happened the night before. He had never hurt this much in his life before and how it happened. At that point, he heard the soft swish of the bamboo curtain. Turning to look, he saw the stern face of the young woman who had saved the village from the centipede youkai.

"How are you feeling, Houshi-sama?" came the polite inquiry. Yet the look in her eye was anything but that. It warned him of further bodily harm if his hands strayed anywhere beyond the confines of the blankets.

"Am I to thank you for the kindness of caring for my injured person, Miss…?" Miroku asked with a gentle smile. The woman seemed a little thrown-off by his genteel query and was unsure how to respond. Bowing her head in deference to the priest, she answered his question.

"My name is Sango. I'm a youkai exterminator by vocation. Pleased to meet you," was the formal reply. Miroku smiled again and introduced himself.

"I am Miroku, a Buddhist priest travelling the lands. And I'm very pleased to meet you too."

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Author's Notes:

Hmm, Sess behaved quite cutely didn't he? Well, I figured that Kag would probably be shocked silly if he were to hug her so I used his 'tail' to cuddle her. I think it's kind of fitting as Sess is not a very emotional person and would never openly show affection even if he were tied up and stripped…. Oops, digressing, eheheh. ::wipes drool of chin:: Anyway, I think the use of his tail is a compromise as he wouldn't do it himself.

Finally got the Sango and Miroku meeting down. I was rather unsure about ending it here but it seemed to work when I looked at it from the overall scheme of things. I don't really plan to involve them too much but they will have a significant role to play in the story. I just have to work out the finer details of their involvement in the various chapters. Their main role is in the plot rather than in the characterisation but I won't make them two-dimensional characters either. I just have to strike a balance in the aim of my storytelling.

Anyway, drop me a note to let me know how it went for you. I'd love to hear your comments or critiques. Till the next chapter, ja mata ne!