Disclaimer: "Inu Yasha", alas, does not belong to me. Nor do any of its fine characters. Suing me would be a futile endeavor – all I own are the OC's that appear in here. Well…and a few DVD's. And the fansubbed episodes that found their way onto my hard drive – I have NO idea how that happened…'cough' I Y 4-Ever . Net 'cough'.

'M'eyari gives her readers an innocent look.' What?

Also, this is a bit AU even for the Inuverse, and doesn't really take place anywhere in the series.

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Prologue

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The woman knelt on the floor, contemplating the door in front of her. It was solid iron, and not likely to open any time soon. She couldn't believe her own stupidity. A stranger in a strange land, and she'd somehow managed not only to become sidetracked from her quest, but to also have seemingly pissed off a very powerful youkai.

And for what? True, she'd managed to save the child – her conscience would hardly have let her do otherwise - but she hadn't foreseen losing her own freedom in the process. The woman carefully checked the sides of the solid sliding door, hoping for the millionth time to figure out how to get past the locks that had been placed on it. No luck yet, but that youkai couldn't hope to keep her in the small stone room forever. And when she got out, oh, was he going to pay...the woman shook her head at her thoughts, barely containing a laugh.

'And what then, huh? You're going to insult him to death? That's what got you in here in the first place!' The woman resisted the urge to snort, knowing that her captor could be looking at her at any moment.

True, the room was not without its amenities. There was a comfortable futon rolled up in the corner, and a pile of folded blankets promised to keep her from becoming chilled. There was clean water in a flask, and a ceramic jar, meant to hold more unsavory liquids, was discretely placed in a corner. But for all its attempts at comfort, she knew the room for what it really was.

A prison cell.

Placing her back to the wall opposite the door, the woman slowly slid to a sitting position on the floor, trying to keep her dejection from showing in that simple movement. In her native tongue, she murmured to herself.

"How the hell did I get myself into this?"

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A/N: That's it for now, folks. But stay tuned – more is on the way!

Reviewing, as always, is appreciated…