Heh, chapter two was another five pages. I wonder how long this one will be...

Snoochie: Thanks. This is kind of new, writing him as a griffin, so, yeah. I'm hoping to keep this up for a good while if I get enough reviews. But heck, I'll probably keep on writing anyway. But it'd be nice to know that there's people out there who likes this fic.

Aishiteru

Chapter Three: Inu Taisho

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 skin prick, as if millions upon millions on white-hot needles had 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 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. The 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.

"Father..." was all she heard as the griffin's massive form slammed her to the ground. His claws gripped her arms, drawing blood. He was about to let his beak dive into her throat when he inhaled deeply, and stopped. This wasn't Naraku. It was...that Kagome-chit. The one that looked like Kikyo...

The griffin's eyes glowed an eerie red as he felt hatred for the now-dead-for-fifty-years miko. InuYasha was going to kill her. She just knew it! She could smell her own death on his breath, read it in those rabid eyes. With a roar, the griffin leaped from her, trying to escape, only to be stop with many humans on top of him. Naraku sneered at Kagome as he passed by. InuYasha held in a yelp as the other half-demon kicked him in the flank. He also resisted from turning around and biting the ebony-haired man's head off.

"Bastard..." he muttered as he forced himself to bend to Naraku's will. The griffin was forced forward as Naraku forced him to move by the chain around his neck. Placing the chain lead in Kagome's hand, he walked off, muttering, "Take him to his stall."

"But...where's that...sir?" she added hastily.

"Kanna!"

"Yes, sir." She appeared, and motioned towards the girl to follow. She gently tugged on InuYasha's chain, and he snapped his beak, holding his footing for a moment, giving the miko a reproachful glare, and then following reluctantly.

"Wench, working for him."

"It's not like I've got a choice, InuYasha," she muttered. "He's forcing me to do so."

"Just say no."

"But he'll kill me."

"Better than serving his sorry ass, though," he hissed, flapping a wing.

Kanna cast a slight glance backward, listening to Kagome's voice. No, she could not hear the hanyou's voice, but she could tell that the miko was talking to him. This would be, she decided, a little something she'll leave out of her report. This is really nothing Naraku needed to know.

Kagome sat in her bed, listening to the other girls snore and twist about in their beds. She had the bed next to the window, so she laid her head on the sill, arms tucked under her chin. She kept her gaze on the cherry blossom trees under the silver light cast by the moon.

This place, it was so beautiful. But alas, she could not enjoy it. She was currently serving a harsh demon lord, a slave, if you will. She can never truly take time to consider much of this, nature's natural beauty.

With a sigh, the raven haired girl turned around and flopped in her bed, immediately falling asleep, for she hadn't realized just how worn out she was. Fatigue had gotten the better of her, and carried her into slumber.

"Hey, new girl! Get up!"

Kagome yelped as she felt someone slap her across the face once again. Bright mahogany orbs were revealed as she sat up bolt-straight, looking around. A young woman stood in front of her, cat ears poking from her head, a long tail swishing from behind. So Naraku didn't just enslave humans? Just how strong is this guy?

"I said get up!" The neko youkai swung her hand to slap her again. Kagome winced as she saw the hand coming, but never felt the impact.

"Leave her alone!" a voice sounded.

Kagome opened her eyes, and saw a young wolf demon holding the cat's hand, a human girl holding the other.

"Leave the girl be, Minou, or we'll report you to Lord Naraku," the wolf growled.

With a 'harrumph' and a snort, she stomped from the room to the garden, and into the stables next door.

"Hi there!" the human girl bubbled. This girl looked about six or seven, long silver hair hanging about her shoulders. She had tanned skin, and bright red eyes. Kagome had realized, however, that this girl was also a half-demon. Wow, they seem to keep a lot of them here... "I'm Shiori!"

"I'm Ayame," the wolf had replied. She was taller than herself, and had short, red hair. Elfish ears poked through her hair, and a ivory hued tail hung behind. Bright emerald orbs glanced at the girl happily. Both we also dressed the same as she.

"H-hi..." she mumbled, feeling the welt on her cheek. Cat's claws are sharp... "N-nice to meet y-you...Ayame...Shiori..." She attempted a grin, which was a little convincing. At least she knew she had some people she could trust here.

"Well?" Shiori inquired.

"What's your name?" Ayame concluded.

"O-oh...well...my name's Ka-kagome."

"Ka-kagome?" the girls teased. "I've never heard a name like that before!"

There was a moment of silence, then the three burst out laughing. Getting dressed and cleaned up, they had told about each other. Ayame was once part of the northern wolf-demon tribes, the princess under her grandfather's pack. Shiori, she was dismayed to find out, was half bat demon, granddaughter to Tigaromaru, the bat she had sworn to slay some day. Of course, she hadn't mentioned that little fact...

Together, the three friends walked into the garden and into the neighboring room, the griffins' stables.

"So, Kagome, who's your charge?" Shiori inquired, tilting her head as they moved along the smelly hallway.

"I've got the silver one, the one that's half dog." She didn't think much of this, walking around and trying to look for InuYasha's stall. Ayame and Shiori had both stopped in their tracks.

"The...the silver?" the young hanyou muttered worriedly.

"Yeah...what's the matter with that?"

Ayame shook her head. "Nothing, only that he's the most dangerous griffin Lord Naraku had ever gotten his dirty claws on."

Kagome's brown eyes widened slightly, but then she replied: "Well, he's not so mean, I don't think. Sure, he may be a little smart-mouthed, but other than that, he's an okay hanyou."

Ayame and Shiori looked at each other in surprise. Ayame went first:

"So...that means you can speak with him? The silver griffin, I mean."

"Mmm-hmm." She gave a curt bob of her head, stopping in front of InuYasha's stable stall.

"And not only that," Shiori continued, "But the Lord has even handpicked you to take care of such a charge. You must be something special..." The young girl's eyes glittered in admiration as Ayame pushed her along.

"Well, good luck, Kaggie! We'll come up to see ya when break time comes!" With that, the two left, and Kagome swallowed a gulp, shutting her eyes and opening InuYasha's door.

She squeaked in surprise as the silver dog-griffin growled at the door's swinging open, and she fell over once she had walked in. The hanyou was breathing heavily, snorting, only to recognize the chit-girl's scent.

"You."

"Yes, me, InuYasha. I'm sure glad to see you, too," she replied dully, sarcasm dripping venomously from her quieted voice. "How was your night?" She say next to him, grabbing a brush from a nearby shelf and she attempted to brush his dog fur.

He looked back and snapped at her wrist, nicking the skin.

"Ow..." she whimpered, snapping her hand back and holding it to her chest. "What was that for?"

"Don't touch me, wench."

"But...hey! I thought we were on a friendlier basis now!"

"Heh. You thought wrong, human."

"It's Kagome! Stop calling me names, and call me by my real name, Ka-go-me!"

"All right then, Ka-go-me," he snickered, tossing his head in a horse-like manner. "As to your question, chit, you would know! Being a griffin in a place like this is no way to live! Treated as livestock, like a petty war horse! Stale water, rotten meat, a thin sheet of straw on stone floors. Go figure!"

"Oh...well..." she let her eyes fall downcast. "I didn't realize it was that bad..." She looked up, and her eyes met with InuYasha's golden ones. She sat there, staring into those cold, hard amber orbs. But, as he stared into her own chocolate eyes, the ice seemed to melt, but only for a second. Next thing she knew, the amber optics had frozen over again, but she had seen it. The gentle gaze that seemed to penetrate the cold heart. She shook her head, and looked for a change of subject.

"Oh! By the way, Inu-kun..." He growled as she had mentioned her pet-name for him. "About last night...that fur rug on the wall, the white dog demon...You said...you said that it was the pelt of your father?" She knew that she was risking her life in asking so, but it was something that she couldn't shake from her head.

InuYasha glared at her, hard. "And what business is this to you, woman? You need to learn to keep your nose out of other people's business, damn wench."

"But...you're not exactly a person..." she retorted unwittingly.

He snapped his beak, and she flinched, raising her arms in front of her face with a squeak. Satisfied, the hanyou continued with a very human-like sigh.

"Yes, that was my father, Inu Taisho, king of the Western Lands..."

"So, that makes you a prince?" she intervened. He glared daggers at her, and she silenced herself.

"Yes. And that damn bastard, Naraku, has apparently slain my father. I may not have known him, and I probably wouldn't have ever cared if I did, for it was his fault my mother died. I don't care what the flea, Myoga says, that creature I know as my father may have had intense love for her, but he had to go to war with the Panther Tribes of the east, and left her while she was severely ill."

InuYasha was toying with a beetle with one of his long falcon talons as he spoke.

"A flea demon? Who's Myoga?"

"My...vizier. Dad left the thing behind, but all he is is another annoying pest. Like my brother and his stupid toad minion."

"Oh, you have a brother, too? Do you talk to him much?"

InuYasha gave a deft snort. "Feh. Right, like I could get along with that jackass."

"Okay, then..." she muttered, starting to feel a little skittish.

"Kagome," he had said suddenly.

"Hmm?" She smiled worriedly, sweat starting to bead down the back of her neck.

"I need you to do me a favor..."

Kagome didn't like the sounds of this. What would a griffin want her to do in the midst of a dictating hanyou lord and a Gryphon riders' stable? She had a bad feeling in her gut about this...Something was going to go wrong, whatever the inu hanyou's idea is...

A/N: Finally! Chapter three done! Like I said, another five pages, right? ; Anyways, please R&R! This is starting to get fun, and since it's Spring Break, I'll probably be able to update mucho faster! Thanks!