Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha cries must you remind me???

Cornered

The last bear demon had fallen to his claws, its cries dying within its throat. Sesshoumaru glared at its remains disdainfully. Impudent. That's all they had been. With a flick of his wrist, the blood of his enemy fell from his hand. He turned fully intending to return to his home, when a new scent reached his nose. It was unfamiliar in his lands, and reeked of hanyou. Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow. It wasn't his foolish half brother. No, Inuyasha had long since disappeared from his lands. 50 years ago Sesshoumaru had heard rumors of his mating with a powerful miko. It had angered Sesshoumaru. Half blood or not, Inuyasha still possessed the blood of a youkai. He had ended up like their father, mating with a disgusting human. The difference was, Inuyasha's mate was not weak like his mother was. She was a revered miko, a mortal enemy of all youkai. Inuyasha was traitorous. He wouldn't dare show up in the Western Lands. Sesshoumaru would show him no mercy.

The scent once again wafted to his nose, this time accompanied by its owner. A youkai clad in baboon fur. He stood before Sesshoumaru for a moment, before falling to his knees in a bow of submission.

"You've intruded on my lands, hanyou," Sesshoumaru said gazing coldly at the kneeling youkai, "Leave or death is imminent."

"Forgive me," the youkai replied. His voice was sickeningly smooth, "I have come to ask for your consent."

"This Sesshoumaru does not care what your kind desires, you have been warned hanyou," Sesshoumaru returned. The demon looked up at Sesshoumaru, but made no leave to move.

"There is a girl heading towards your land, she is vital to me. I ask your permission to retrieve her," the demon said. Sesshoumaru flexed his claws and attacked.

"Denied," he said just before he cut off the demon's head.

He kicked the wooden remains of the demon puppet away from him and walked purposefully towards his castle. This girl the demon was after would die much in the same fashion her pursuer was intended. The filthy hanyou was wise to use a puppet to address Sesshoumaru. Briefly he wondered what importance the girl had to the hanyou, but dismissed the thought. She was probably the hanyou's whore gone astray.

He summoned his youkai cloud and flew the rest of the distance to his castle. Landing he listened for the cries of Jaken. He had left him in charge of Rin; no doubt she was torturing him with one of her childish human games.

"Lord Sesshoumaru!" Jaken squawked rushing up to him, "You have returned!"

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at Jaken's attire. Rin had dressed him up in one of her brightest kimonos and decorated her retainer's head with flowers.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!" the little girl cried rushing up to him. As soon as she reached him she threw her arms around his leg and squeezed tightly.

"Rin has a present for you!" she said holding up the flowers she had picked proudly. Sesshoumaru stared at them before taking them from her.

"Rin, go get cleaned up," he said. She nodded and ran off to do his bidding. Casually, Sesshoumaru threw the weeds away from him. He had never understood the simple pleasure she got from picking them, but dismissed it as human tendency.

"Lord Sesshoumaru, I trust your removal of the intruding scum was successful?" Jaken asked. Sesshoumaru didn't reply, he didn't need to, he always returned victorious.

"Jaken," he said instead, "Tell the scouts to kill any stray girl not of my lands."

"Yes my lord!"

He didn't say anything, clearly dismissing the toad youkai. Caressing the hilt of his sword, he let his thoughts wander towards his treacherous brother. For centuries it had annoyed him to learn his half blood brother received the illustrious Tetsusaiga while his father left him the seemingly useless Tenseiga. He had tried numerous times to steal the Tetsusaiga from Inuyasha, but each time he had failed losing his left arm in the process. The only solace he received from this failure was the knowledge that Tetsusaiga would never be able to defeat him, and so he ceased his attempts to retrieve the famed sword and lived contented with his own strength.

His enemy feared him and his immortal army. With the use of Tenseiga he ensured his army's victory. With this insurance he had avoided a war or a battle with anyone, that is, until today. A number of bear youkai had invaded his lands hunting for something or someone. He had simply killed them without bothering to ask questions. There had been reports of a group of youkai heading towards his lands. It was no cause for alarm, but the human villages he had allowed to inhabit his lands had come to his head generals for help. Foolish humans, he thought, they had no reason to fear. This Sesshoumaru would not let allow his lands to be overrun.

"How easily they sway," he said to himself.

He had allowed the humans to dwell in his lands simply on whim. He detested their kind and would just as easily cut of their heads than save them. Perhaps his tolerance came from his father's blood. Sesshoumaru bared his fangs; he would never allow his father's blood to control him. Bedding a human was repulsive, how his father was able to stomach rutting with Inuyasha's whore of a mother was beyond Sesshoumaru. It was his affection for humans that brought about his demise.

Sesshoumaru had never forgiven Inutaisho for tarnishing his mother's spirit by allowing a human to take her place in his bed. His mother had hardly been cold in her tomb when Inutaisho had taken Inuyasha's mother as a lover and then as a mate. That had been a cruel blow to the young prince. He had watched the human touch her mark repeatedly as if taunting Sesshoumaru. His mother's scent was no longer on Inutaisho, now he reeked with the stench of the human whore.

She had been kind enough to the young Sesshoumaru, showing sympathy for his loss, but Sesshoumaru would not accept her pity. He was a demon, she was merely a mortal; who was she to feel sorry for him? His attitude towards the human had driven a wedge between him and his own father.

"I would have you treat her as if she were your own mother," Inutaisho had once said.

Immediately Sesshoumaru attacked his father intending to punish him for his words. It was foolish of him to try to get Sesshoumaru to replace his beloved mother with someone far weaker than her. Inutaisho merely sidestepped Sesshoumaru's attack, dealing a blow to the back of his head. It was the first time Sesshoumaru had ever lost a battle. Since that day, Sesshoumaru and Inutaisho had done nothing but quarrel. With the birth of Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru had renounced his father and claimed his right as prince of the Western lands which his mother had ruled over. The last he saw of his father was the day he died. He had come to Sesshoumaru seeking help against the dragon who was ravishing his lands. Sesshoumaru had refused, and Inutaisho had fallen. The lands that Sesshoumaru would have governed were given to Inutaisho's widow and her son, Inuyasha. Naturally the demons would not accept a human leader and ran her from the castle. She spent the rest of her days as a forsaken woman living in her home village with her hanyou son.

Sesshoumaru could make out the heavy breathing of Jaken as he completed his reflection. He didn't turn to acknowledge the toad demon, simply waited for him to catch his breath and deliver his message.

"My lord! My lord! The demon Royakan is attacking a village! He's spitting out wolves everywhere and everyone is panicking!" Jaken cried after momentarily catching his breath.

"Jaken," Sesshoumaru said, "I leave Rin in your care." He summoned his youkai cloud and flew in the direction of Royakan's presence. Jaken watched him go, his shoulders sagging a little.

"Why must I always be in charge of that insufferable human?" he asked himself, "Master Sesshoumaru doesn't even take me along on patrols anymore."

Kagome woke up with her customary gasp. That man had invaded her dreams again. She found herself hating him, not because he interrupted her meetings with her silver angel, but because he terrified her. She got up and brushed dirt and leaves from her hair. She had to continue before the demons had found her. She knew where she was headed. Lately she had heard talk of a land governed by a powerful lord. All demons were terrified of his strength, and none would enter without fear of losing their heads. She would go to his lands and set up a hut in the forest where she would bother no one, and hopefully no one would bother her.

Walking leisurely, she idly wondered if she was headed in the right direction. She had heard of this land through eavesdropping, something she had grown skilled at in order to avoid the human mobs that were sure to attack her. It had seemed she was getting closer to this fabled land as with each village, the people seemed more prosperous. She didn't entertain the notion that these flourishing villagers would allow her to live with them. She looked like a demon herself, with her body caked in dirt and blood, and her clothes tattered beyond repair, and people were not accepting.

She stopped suddenly. The sound of singing had reached her ears. It was a little girl calling for her master. There was joy in the song, even though the girl was obviously sad. Walking cautiously, Kagome tried to find the owner of the voice. She was sure the girl would be able to at least tell her where she was, besides, children weren't as cruel to her as adults. The singing stopped, much to Kagome's disappointment, but she continued her search determined to find the little girl.

She froze when she saw it, a lone wolf sniffing around the carcass of a carrion bird. The others are nearby, she thought, if I back out slowly, maybe I can get away. With that hope she slowly started retracing her steps, keeping her eye on the wolf. The wolf didn't seem to notice her, she had no doubts he couldn't smell her. He seemed content with ripping the remains of the bird to pieces. His attention was obviously not on her. However the wolf's behind her was.

She jumped and let out a cry when she felt it take a bite at her calf. Stumbling, she fell forward scraping her hands and knees as she tried to catch herself. The wolf that had bit her was now lapping eagerly at her blood, drawing little whimpers from her as she tried to crawl away. Her efforts were futile as the first wolf was no longer interested in his carrion breakfast. He stood before her growling and snapping as she tried to inch away both from the wolf that was feeding on her blood and his companion.

"Jaken?" a young girl's voice called distracting both wolves from Kagome.

She took the opportunity to get up and back away as they started snapping and snarling at the now scared young girl. The blood had drained from her face and she was watching the wolves with sheer terror, letting out little whimpers as she took a step away from them. Looking around quickly, Kagome grabbed a stick and hurled it at one of the wolves successfully hitting it in the back of its head. Immediately it turned around and attacked her.

"Run!" she screamed to the little girl as she picked up another branch and swung at the wolf.

The little girl didn't seem to hear her, her eyes still on the one wolf circling her. Panicking, Kagome swung the branch forcefully at the youkai attacking her. It let out a high pitched squeal as the branch connected with the side of its skull. It slumped to the ground stunned before closing its eyes in unconsciousness.

Kagome wasn't sure if she had killed the wolf, nor did she care. Her priority at the moment was getting the girl to safety. Running towards her, she managed to tackle her to the ground before the wolf attacked. Rolling, she picked up the now crying girl in her arms and started running. The wolf watched her run, before letting out a long, low howl.

The girl was sniffling in Kagome's arms, holding her own elbow where she had a gash.

"Ssh," Kagome said trying to comfort the girl, "I'm going to get you to safety ok?"

"Rin wants Sesshoumaru-sama," the little girl whispered latching onto Kagome's neck.

Kagome ran on, she was certain the wolf's howl was a cry for help and the rest of its pack would be showing up fairly soon. Silently she prayed to Kami for allowing her time to put some distance between herself and the wolves. Kagome spotted the hole she had been sleeping in earlier. Panting slightly, she slid to a halt and placed the girl in the hole.

"Rin is it?" she asked. The girl nodded tearfully.

"I want you to stay here, do not move from this spot ok?" Kagome said sternly. Rin nodded again and moved back further into the hole.

"If I don't come back for you, I want you to run to the nearest village as soon as you're sure it's safe," she continued.

On impulse, she kissed the little girl's head then ran some distance away from the hole. The wolves would've tracked the girl's scent and were probably looking for them. She wouldn't let them find the hole. She hid behind a tree, trying to ignore the throb of her calf. That wolf had taken a good size chunk of her flesh. Tightening her hold on the branch, she waited in anticipation for the first couple of wolves to show up. She didn't have to wait long. Four of them came ambling along, sniffing the ground. Before they could get any closer to the hole she launched herself towards them brandishing her weapon.

They attacked her at once, easily dodging her wild swings then moving in to bite and claw at her. She took the opportunity to lead them away from the hole as she continued swinging, managing to strike one of the wolves on his side. At his painful keen, more wolves came bounding out of the forest. Using their speed and numbers, they managed to back her up against a tree and form a loose circle around her. She stood still gasping for air ignoring the shooting bites of pain traveling along her body. One lunged and fell back as she struck it under its chin. They regrouped and attacked her as one. She gasped as one caught hold of her weapon in its jaws and viciously yanked it from her. Shrinking against the tree she offered up one last prayer to Kami. For a moment there was silence, then the forest was filled with her screams of agony.

A.N.

cheers second chappie and it's kinda a cliffy!!! working on the third chapter as of now. Please review!! It makes me feel important

-momo