Chapter 1

Close to Death

Trees passed as a young girl ran from an ever strong enemy. The twigs that sprawled from the thin vines of trees scratched her face, hands, and legs as she fled. Her feet ached, and her breath was running low. She cried out to herself, questioning her fate and why it had to be this day.

With tears of fear running down her cheeks, she could hear the demons breath get closer and closer to her. She heard him catching up to her bleeding, aching heels.

"I have to keep going!" she thought to herself. "But why today!" she cried out as a clearing over came the young girl and the chasing demon.

"Ha! You can't run for ever!" the demons dark, raspy voice said from behind her.

Up ahead the young girl saw a cliff, where the ground just fell without question.

The girl tried to stop early by slowing down her speed so she wouldn't fall off the cliff, but it was too late, she felt her feet slip from the earth into the nothingness of the air. She screamed as she felt her stomach twist and turn as gravity pulled her down. Her face became stiff with fear as she saw the ground below getting closer and closer.

More screams escaped from her, "I can't die! I can't die! I can't die!" she repeated to herself in her head with what she thought were the last seconds of her life.

But as she saw the ground getting closer a giant hand enclosed around her neck with a tight grip. She was lifted back higher into the air and she felt her body get thrown with by powerful force into a tree.

She hit the ground with a loud thud as she felt the breath inside of her give out. She gasped for air with mighty attempt. As she lay there motionless with a painful body and a face full of tears she could hear the demon moving closer to her. He spoke once again in the same dark, raspy voice.

"I never let a meal get away." He said calmly.

"I told you you couldn't run forever."

The girl struggled to get up with the fear of what would happen to her running through her mind. She tried to regain her power so she could run but she was hurt too badly.

The demons feet got closer to her tiny body. She could hear the demon licking his lips and the drool that fell from his mouth hit the ground.

"Are you ready to die human?" the demon asked.

The girl cried more trying so hard to get back up. "If only I wasn't human," she thought to herself.

"I don't think she's going to die at all." Said a young mans voice.

The voice sounded confident and caring to her, this comforted the scared girl.

"Who are you?" the demon asked the stranger. "You're interrupting my meal."

"What meal" said the young voice?

"Don't play games with me!" the demon yelled.

The girl heard a sword being drawn, and she saw the demon's feet turn away from her. Sight slowly started to fade from her eyes, and hearing became muffled. With the last of her the girl felt herself being picked up and a young girl's voice telling her that she was safe, while someone else held her hand?

5 hours laterMid-afternoon

"Oh. Shhhh. I think she's awake," said a familiar girl's voice.

"I hope she's ok." Said someone who sounded very childish.

The young girl opened her eyes and saw that she was surrounded by a group of odd people. There was an old priestess, who held a bowl full of some liquid. There was a little boy with a fox's tail, a monk, a girl who was holding a small two tailed cat in her arms, and beside her, an odd dressed girl, who was sitting next to a silver haired boy with doggy ears.

The girl sat up in the pallet that was made for her on the ground, and spoke her first words, "Where am I?" she said shyly.

"Ye are in safe care my dear." The old lady spoke. "I am Lady Kaede." She said sweetly.

The girl gave a squeamishly confused smile and let Lady Kaede introduce the rest of the group.

"This," she said as she pointed the small boy with the tail, "is Shippo".

"Hi!" the boy replied happily.

"The monk beside him is Miroku." She said. "Then that is Sango, who is holding Kirara, and then Kagome, and the half demon Inuyasha."

They all said hi and the girl answered back, "I'm Saori."

There was an odd silence that came about the room and she felt like she was the center of attention since everyone was starring at her fixingly.

"Do ye remember how ye got here child?" Lady Kaiede asked.

Saori shook her head slowly from side to side.

"Oh dear." Said the girl known as Sango, "you don't remember anything at all?"

"No." Saori said, "Could you please tell me where I am." She asked once again.

"You are in our Lady Kaiede's hut." The monk spoke.

"Yeah! You got here because you were in trouble, and Inuyasha saved you!" The little boy spoke.

"Saved me?" said Saori questioningly.

"Yes my dear. Now drink some water." Lady Kaiede handed the girl the bowl of water and Saori drank.

"Saved me from what?" she asked as she handed the bowl back to Kaiede.

"From a demon." Spoke Inuyasha.

"A….demon." she said.

"Yes." Said Miroku, "I'm afraid that Inuyasha hadn't of come the worst could have happened to you."

"What? Where was I to begin with? I can't remember anything." Saori said.

The girl looked toward the floor and tried to remember anything she could about that morning but nothing seemed to come to mind.

"How did you know I was being chased or whatever by the demon?" Saori said as she looked back up at Inuyasha's face.

'What do you mean, how did I know?"

"Well, how did you know? Did you sense the demon or did you just happen to come at the right time without knowing I was there?"

"Uhhh…."

"Inuyasha found you," said the odd dressed girl beside him, "because the demon had a jewel shard."

"A jewel shard?" Saori asked unintentionally since she knew perfectly well what a jewel shard was.

"I can sense jewel shards." Said Kagome.

"Oh." Saori said. "Well if the demon had a jewel shard then I would have known…" before Saori could finish her head started to hurt and visions came into her head.

Saori's flashback

"I've got to get that jewel shard." Saori spoke to herself. "But how I'm only human right now. So that means that I have to be quick."
Saori looked from beyond the bushes she was hiding in and saw the sleeping demon.

"Ok. I can do this." She told herself calmingly. "If master wants the jewel….I get it." She said.

"I'll do it while he's sleeping and then sneak away."

The girl stepped out of the bushes as quietly as she could.

The demon sleeping on the ground didn't seem to hear her. She carefully walked around what seemed to be old human bones scattered on the ground left from the demons past meals.

The huge bull like demon, with its huge horns and whip like tail twitched as it slept.

Saori walked around the back of the demon, till she carefully and quietly reached the front. Around the demons neck was a necklace which held the jewel shard she needed.

"There it is." She thought to herself.

Saori took a deep breath and reached around the back of the neck, untied the necklace and slowly pulled it off.

Once she was done she sighed in relief that the demon did not wake up. She tiptoed back to the bush in which she hid and made her way into the woods.

"Yes! I got it!" she cheered to herself. "Now I just have to get back to masters castle and hand it to him. He'll be so proud!" she thought.

Once she was a little ways away from the demon, excitement took over her and she started to run home. She ran over the little sticks and jumped over the stones.

She kept running until when she reached a dark part of the forest and stopped. The trees that she was just running under seemed to take a demonic shape and look. She looked ahead of her and saw nothing but darkness.

"This wasn't here before." She said to herself.

She took a small step forward and stepped on a twig that made a cracking sound that she knew couldn't have come from her. She looked up into the darkness and saw a silhouette of something really big. She took another deep breathe as the silhouette stepped forward slowly. Her breathing started to get faster and she froze as she saw the bull demon standing there, looking very angry and hungry.

"Ha. Stupid human. Did you really think you could take that from me without me noticing?" The demon laughed some more with his eerie voice and stepped forward once again.

Saori's heart started to beat fast in her chest. She felt so terrified, and she didn't know what to do.

"Thanks for coming at such a great time," the demon said, "I was getting rather hungry for some breakfast."

The demon threw his large hand out at her and grabbed the jewel shard as his fist knocked her down. The demon took the jewel shard and swallowed it.

"Oh no!" cried Saori as she saw the demon start to grow.

She got up as quickly as she could and started to run.

End of flashback

"Hey are you ok?" said Miroku's as Saori came back around.

"Did ye have a vision child?" Lady Kaiede asked.

"I...I...remember" Saori said.

"You remember how Inuyasha saved you?" Kagome asked.

"No. I remember how I got there."

Saori told them the story and looked around the small room to see observing eyes.

"You have a master?" Shippo asked.

"Yes" said Saori.

"What did your master need the jewel shard for?" asked Sango looking at Saori very suspiciously.

"I dunno" Saori said.

"What did you mean by saying that you had to be quick; you were only human at that time?" Miroku asked who also looked suspiciously at her.

"You're a half demon." Said Inuyasha.

Saori just nodded.

End of Chapter

Hey did you like it. I know I did. But I don't count. But r&r or I won't love you anymore. Don't take that personally but yeah I won't. Okay. Well I'm on to the next chapter where questions are solved. Well only some. And some new questions emerge. Muahhh ahaha! I'm evil aren't i. And I laugh about it. But yeah. G2G. Gonna make my story.