Wow, that last chapter took awhile. Shoot, it was five pages long with size ten and Tahoma style font. I thought I'd be writing that one for forever. Hopefully this chapter won't take as long...

Aishiteru

Chapter One: Half Demons

Inu...Yasha? Dog Forest Spirit? "InuYasha?" she repeated. "But...you don't look anything like a dog...Oops..." she had said the wrong thing. As soon as she mentioned this, he had gotten to his claws and paws and struggled to reach her from the restraining stall.

Frightened now, she fled the stable. But she just couldn't push him out of her mind. The griffin that looked mostly like bird of prey, and part then his other half looked part wolf. Maybe he wasn't wolf? Yes, that's probably why he got mad. Wolves and dogs definitely never got along too well.

"Well, I can't just leave him to starve. It seemed all the other griffins had plenty to eat..." She pondered. "Perhaps he's a wild one. Maybe they hadn't broken his spirit yet. She grinned. One so arrogant as that? Who could tame such a thing? She smiled as she pulled out her bow and an arrow quiver. And, luckily for her, luck was with her.

Almost upon notching the arrow, she had spotted a hare. "This will have to do for now..." she muttered under her breath. She shot the arrow straight and true, having been in training for about a year now. She had trotted over to the rabbit, and pulled her projectile from the carcass.

"He won't mind if I leave the fur, will he?" He was a griffin, right? He won't mind... She had picked up the dead rabbit and sighed, slinging the thing over a strong stick, and walking back to the barn. But, just as she reached for the door, a shadow engulfed her, and she let out a terrified scream as wings beat the air, and she was carried away through the air.

Her arms were spread wide beside her; the griffin that had picked her up was carrying her with its taloned paws. She struggled, and the creature snapped its beak. She looked up and saw that this griffin had no fangs, nor did it have silver feathers and fur, nor a canine half. Yep, InuYasha was probably a rare one. But she did also notice that the griffin that held her had a rider.

"H-hey!" she shouted, struggling in the creature's claws as they passed over her village, where she gasped and watched in horror as a hoard of griffins and their riders assaulted the area. She glared at her captor. "Who are you? What do you want?! Why are you attacking my village?"

He looked below and sneered at the young woman. "You ask a lot of questions for a female," he jeered. "That will have to change...that is, if you want to live." He gave her a satisfied smirk at the sight of her frightened expression.

They soared over a mountain range, now, obviously the Youkai Alps. She gulped. There would be no easy escape, unless she went by air, and she doubted that these slavers would give her a griffin to escape on. She tried struggling one more, only to have a few strands of her ebony hair get snipped by the close snap of the griffin's beak.

Kagome merely looked down at the sickening heights as a fortress, which looked like a temple of some sort, with her saddened, dark mahogany eyes. She felt her insides writhe around in her belly, her fear and anxiety started to kick in once more. What was going to her happen now?

She gasped as her captor griffin dropped her onto the ground into the wet grass, her hair flying in every direction as its behemoth wings beat the air. Now soaked, and her hair unkept, she was quite the uncomfortable girl by the time the Gryphonwing had brought her into Lord Naraku's temple, and none too gently. She could feel a bruise forming on the side of her upper arm.

"Ow..." she muttered, grasping the bruised area as the slaver bowed down to a person shrouded with shadows. Only part of his face was revealed in the dim firelight. The man had a menacing face, one that sent chills down her spine. Naraku, was it? She shivered with fear.

The man that sat before her was covered with the pelt of a white baboon demon, and he wore a blue haori with cranes under the yuki-hued garment. His eyes were a fierce red, giving off an evil essence, and they were further enhanced with the dark blue shadowing on the lids of his eyes. His hair was long and black, and his image looked all the more sinister.

She was forced to her knees as the Gryphonwing placed her hand on her neck and forced her into a bow. Great, another bruise...

"You shall bow down in the presence of Lord Naraku!"

"Leave her, Koumali. Go now." He gave a hurried bow and rushed out of the heavy oak doors, and they shut with a thud, locking Kagome's heart outside. There was no escaping now. And she knew that he was a demon, for he gave off the same aura that the griffins had, and those awful bats.

But then she remembered. She felt that the silver griffin held a different aura, one stronger, yet more faint than that of the others. Perhaps, he may be a half demon? Then, that means that Naraku is...also a half demon? She shook her head slightly, those unnoticeably. How could a half demon command such a powerful militia?

She snapped back to the temple room as the Lord's sinister cackle rose, and echoed in the large room. He got to his feet, and glared down at Kagome, whom was still bent over on the floor.

"Get up," he snapped. She complied, still shivering. "Name?"

"K-Kagome." He tilted an eyebrow, his menacing crimson orbs on her face. She continued. "Kah-Kagome Higurashi."

"Right." He spoke in a business-like manor. "You're the one we've been searching for, for quite a while now. Give it here."

"I-it, sir?" She had a pretty good idea of what he wanted. She had to try to stall.

"You know very well what I mean," he snapped back irritably.

"No, sir."

"The Shikon no Tama!" He had leaped in one bound to her, his face a hair's breath away from hers. "Hand it over, if you know what's good for you, girl." His eyes moved towards her neck, and she placed her hand over it. He growled, and his hand struck out like a snake, grabbing the jewel and yanking it from her throat, the white and pink jade falling to the ground before she knew what had happened.

He raised his hand, and then she felt a sting on her face. She looked tearfully at him after he had slapped her.

"Obey when I command you to do so." He gave her one last glare, and then returned to his seat in the front of the temple room. "Kanna!" he shouted, looking to the back of the room. A young girl slowly walked up to them, her face expressionless, and she held a mirror in her hands.

"Kanna, take this girl to the rooms for the griffin women. She'll serve well in the griffin stables. I'll assign her the..."special" one when he gets here tomorrow. Now go."

The young silver haired youth bobbed her head slowly, and turned around, no emotion passing her face, sort of like a zombie. Kagome followed the girl in the white kimono, feeling anxious until the moment she had left Naraku's slave chamber.

She sighed, and whimpered a little as she followed behind the seemingly five year old girl. "Um... Ms. Kanna? What does he mean by the "special" one?" She gave a gulp, and felt like she was shrinking. She did not like the thought of this one little bit. And it did not help that the young girl in front of her wouldn't speak. The raven-haired girl decided to keep quiet.

Soon, after about ten minutes of walking down fancy corridors and pathways, they had finally reached a door that they would go through. It was just as fancy with gold and red and silver and black as any of the other doors. This one, though, led to a beautiful garden. There was a pond, with goldfish and water lilies, and a bridge to cross over it. Little daisies and buttercups blossomed in the sweet smelling grass, and there were cherry blossom trees along the walls.

"Wow..." she muttered to herself as she stepped into the serene scene. She took a few seconds before the door across the garden had shut, and Kanna had left. There was no other way out, and Kanna had locked the door they had come through. She decided to follow, rather than to get caught disobeying Naraku again. She ran across the gray hued stone bridge, and walked through the door.

Inside, the strong odor of manure, mash, blood and straw all reached her nose at once. She put her hoari sleeve over her nose as she walked through, and they had reached the back of the griffin stalls. The silver haired one paused at the last stall. "Your griffin...shall be here...tomorrow," she muttered, and then walked through the next door. Kagome followed suit.

Inside the next room was an array of several straw beds, each looking as comfortable as the ones back home. At least they wouldn't sleep on what the griffins had to sleep on. Those thin layers of hay couldn't have been very comfortable. On each was a set of clean sheets and uniforms. Kanna pointed towards the clothes, and then to the door in the back. "Wash...and then...meet me by the...pond."

Kagome bowed, not wanting to get in trouble again. She walked over to the uniform and frowned at it as Kanna silently left the room. She picked it up and glanced at it. It was similar to her priestess's haori, but it was a bloody red hue. Thin, golden lines mad dragons along the sides of the legs, and there was a silver one on the left shoulder. And below that silver lined serpent was a row of three buttons. A silver sash with gold trimming was meant to be used for a belt.

Kagome sighed, and then picked up the garments, trotting over to the back of the room. Where is everybody, anyway? Must be attending to their charges...she thought. She walked into the washroom, and saw that no one was there. She glimpsed the hot spring that seemed to have had this washroom built over it. She undressed, and laid her garments aside, slipping into the hot water.

It felt so soothing after her hardships earlier today. It seemed to have washed all of her woes away for the time being. She picked up a sea sponge she spotted on the edge of the spring and washed herself clean the best she could. Afterwards, after she had dried off and dressed in the new hoari, she had tied her hair up with Kaede's red silk ribbon. She'd never give this up. Especially now, since the kind old woman had passed away. This was a trinket that would forever more hold her memories of her second mother.

She took a deep breath, hand on the door that lead out to the cherry garden. She pushed the door outwards slowly, blinking as the sky's vivid oranges and blood reds shined in her face. The dismal colors of the once enjoyable sunset caused a lump to form in her throat. Kagome snapped back to her senses as she felt a cold touch on her arm.

The miko looked down and looked into the girl's blank, emotionless eyes. Kanna had placed a reassuring hand on the fifteen-year-old's arm, if the cold clammy touch could be called reassuring. The silver haired youth said in her dull, yet childish voice, "It will all...be okay. Now...Lord Naraku...has ordered for you...in the dining hall."

The girl walked forwards, back to the locked door where, with a wave of her hand, she opened it. Gripping her mirror, Kanna had left the garden, Kagome trotting close behind. She'd rather not think about what would happen if she had gotten herself lost in the labyrinth like hallways in Naraku's temple fortress. When they had entered the Dining Hall, Kagome gasped in shock.

It was a big area, walls covered with pelts of long dead demons, one of which looked like a large, snow white demon dog. It seemed to fit a dog demon she's heard of before, yet she couldn't place it. In the center of the room was a blazing fire, and Naraku perched once more in the darkest shadows of the room. She walked slowly across the wooden floor, while Kanna closed the rice paper sliding doors from the outside.

"Come here, girl." The voice sounded cold, and it was filled with amusement. This amusement that he felt made her spine and skin prick, as if millions upon millions on white-hot needles and pierced her skin. She winced slightly. Maybe she was being hurt. This half-demon seemed so powerful.

Kagome felt herself bow at the demon's feet as she he got to them. He motioned towards a servant after ordering the woman up. "I had said tomorrow you'd tend to your charge," he cackled, crimson eyes ablaze. "Well, strike that. He's here now." Naraku laughed as a screech and a growl pierced the room as many able-bodied servants came in, struggling with a silver griffin of canine blood. It was InuYasha.

But he was different, she noted. He was not the same griffin she had met at the stables. His eyes had a red tint blurred with the gold, and he was digging his talons into the ground as he tried to get at Naraku and Kagome. It was half-demon, yes, but that made him seem all the more powerful. They servants had let go, and InuYasha charged straight for the other hanyou and for the miko. Naraku had leapt out of the way, leaving Kagome behind. He chuckled mercilessly as the griffin bolted towards her in a maddened craze. She stood there, transfixed with horror as she looked into the eyes that seemed to spell death for her in the griffin's fangs and claws.

A/N: Cliffie! Ph33r the power of the Fanfics. I hate them myself, but a fanfic wouldn't be the same without them, right? So, there you have it! R&R, please! bows humbly