I didn't know which I was angrier about, the maid trying to pry Rin out of my hands, or the maid waking me up in the process. I am not a morning person, and the maid must have realized that. She was backing away slowly as I returned my head to my pillow. I stopped the low rumble in my throat before letting go of Rin and attempting to go back to sleep. The maid escaped with Rin, giving me the silence I wanted, but not for more than a minute. I am going to assume that Sesshomaru was informed of my reluctance and made it a point of his to visit me. His visit included shifting my covers away and dragging me up and out of the futon.

In an attempt to cling onto sleep, I latched onto his kimono and rested my head on his chest. I really did hope that he would change his mind and be glad to let me sleep on his chest, but he didn't. It was just my luck. When I don't want something, I receive it in bountiful proportions. When I do want something, my well of "luck" runs dry.

"Let me sleep. Please." I begged as he pulled me out of the room.

He pulled me away, forcing me to wake up and receiving a vexed frown from me. I pushed away from him, groaning that I was awake before lightly slapping my cheeks to rid of the sleep I tried to cling to. I let out a yawn before stretching. When I turned to face him again, I learned that he was just staring at me, bringing a blush to my face. I tried to play off my blush as red marks from my tapping of my cheeks by continuing the motion while turning around to think of a way out of the situation that dawned on me. He'd come personally to wake me up. Here I was, with the demon bachelor staring me down. Was it too late to run? I would have to try to find out.

I wasn't even allowed the opportunity to try. Once I turned on my heels to stare past the demon and walk to the door, I was surprised to see that all I could see was his chest. I wasn't one to deny my instinct as I attempted to go around the man, but we were but a bible's width away from each other and his hand was already reaching out to wrap around my back.

"Ummm…" I stuttered as I caught his hand and lowered it.

He kept staring at me, making me oh so uncomfortable. I looked down at the hand to avoid looking into that gaze. That was when I noticed the tiny beads of water that stuck to his hand, and mine. Had he just taken a bath? My realization was accompanied by his scent that my nose decided to pick up at that moment. I pulled away from him, covering my nose to stop that heavenly scent from destroying my sense of restraint.

It was quite dumb of me to forget that I'd been holding his hand seconds before and had a fresh layer of his scent stained on my hands. Before I could rip my hands away from my face, he did me the favor of moving my hands before backing me into a corner, a rather nice predator. With me trapped, he pulled my head into his shoulder, watching me lose all hope of avoiding the drug.

It was like smelling your favorite scented sharpie. No matter how many time I told myself "just one more sniff" as my breaths grew deeper to take in more per breath, I would lose myself, forgetting about the limit I set upon myself before giving up on it entirely as he brought me closer. I was play dough all while he guided my lips to his. It all seemed irrelevant compared to that scent of his. What was it? Grapefruit? Tangerine? No. It's definitely not orange. I was raking my mind to put a name with the fruit that danced around my nose. What was it that I fell in love with? Why was my mind blanking?

Everything else disappeared until my breath was stolen from me. I looked at the reason, quite aggravated at it for stopping the constant flow of the scent to my nose, only to find myself having been laid against the ground with Sesshomaru between my legs while he gazed at my infatuated form. It took me a moment to understand what it all meant, but once I did, an "eh?" escaped my lips before I scrambled away from the man as I held my yukata shut. I frantically moved my hair out of my eyes before getting on my feet and holding onto the wall behind me with dulled fingertips and ears that could only hear the blood that started to rush toward my brain. I ran my nails into the wall as I collapsed to my knees again.

He didn't seem surprised by the humanity that reshaped my body and helped me flee from his honeyed trap. He simply rose and left the room, telling me to be by the gate when I was ready before the white ends of his hair disappeared. With my heavy breathing, I watched him leave with a deer's gaze, ready to sprint should he turn to me again on his way out. When the door shut behind him, I used my hands to keep me from falling forward in defeat. I decided that I would stick to being human whenever next to the demon lord, and pray he wouldn't catch me when I wasn't. After calming my heart and lungs, I stood again, realigning my yukata again before braiding a single braid with my hair and laying it to run down my back. Once I lost my clamminess and red hue, I stepped out of my room to meet the group by the gate.

We set out after Sesshomaru decided to grace us with his presence. The villagers who payed attention to Sesshomaru's company seemed surprised to see me walking behind the dragon instead of the sharp eared, light eyed woman that entered the manor with him. I preferred that they were confused, and was relieved that none of them understood my circumstance, or at least didn't give any sign of knowing. Once we were out of the village, a ton was lifted off my shoulders as the gazes all dropped. My posture loosened as I stopped worrying about my paces behind Sesshomaru, where my feet landed, and my overall correctness. Rin abandoned her calmer walk for the excited one that led her to the front of the pack so she would have more time to observe that which we would pass much too quickly for her. I contemplated what we were setting out to do as I walked next to the beloved two headed dragon. Ignoring the awkwardness that tried to seep into my mind, I walked up to walk next to Sesshomaru before asking my question. Jaken looked like he was about to go into cardiac arrest because of my decision to walk next to his idol, but my glare kept his discontent quiet.

"Sesshomaru, have you mastered Meido Zengetsu?" I asked.

"Watch your tongue wench while you speak to Lord Sesshomaru!" The kappa said, unable to bite his lip.

"Watch your tongue, dwarf, before I shove it down your throat and watch you choke on it."

He paled as I faced the open road ahead of me again. Sesshomaru didn't say anything about out, so there was nothing wrong with it in this occasion. I'd assume this was so because of the subject I'd brought up. He wasn't going to bite the hand that dangled the steak slightly out of his reach.

"It is almost complete." Sesshomaru told me.

Well, that's not exactly right, but I'll take it anyways. My being here isn't exactly right either, so undisputed correctness is not what I'm looking for. So long as everyone gets through with all their limbs, I'm fine. My guess is that all of the same episodes will happen, but in a jumbled up order. Like now, we were entering a mountainous range. We were probably going to fight that guy who originally had Meido Zangetsuha, Shishinki I believe.

Oh! I get to see Sango and the crew again! I could really go for interaction with people my age. InuYasha, not so much, but he might as well be fifteen, just as Sesshomaru might as well be around 25 or somewhere there. The day flew by pretty quickly for how uneventful it was. Nothing but walking on a dusty road and taking a few pit stops to rest our feet, drink water and have a few snacks. I must admit, the times we got a clear look at the land below us, I would stop and stare. I've seen m y fair share of trees in Georgia, but to see them without power lines or homes, or anything that could reach above the trees came as a shock every time. When sunset finally started the sun's descent, Rin and I found shelter in a cave, and Sesshomaru and Jaken went wherever. Ah-Un helped start the fire, and Rin and I took the ten minute walk to catch fish in the one of the mountain's streams. On our way back, I noticed some berries that grew along the path as some wild rabbits huddled by the few that fell to the ground. Knowing better than assuming that I could eat everything that the wild life ate, I took one of the berries and smeared it on my hand before forging as much as I could carry and leaving some more for the rabbits that fled when I approached the bush.

Once we were back at camp, I stowed away the berries in a small satchel on Ah-Un's belt while Rin got started with the fish. I watched silently as the girl scrapped of the scales of the fish with a contraption she'd pulled out of another one of Ah-Un's satchels before taking a bit of salt and sprinkling it onto the fish and sticking it above the fire. I rinsed her hands with a bit of water before letting her tend to the fish. I decided to eat the fish tonight. I would be here for a long time, so why starve myself? I'd have to get used to the food eventually, and now is as good a time as ever. And guess what? It wasn't nearly as bad as my mind portrayed it to be. ! I just had to be meticulous about it, watching every bite, and chewing thoroughly to avoid the pain of swallowing bones. After eating, we all fell asleep, that is, until the high pitched melody from sounded similar to a flute whispered through the air. For all I could remember, I was still dreaming about the anime as I unconsciously left the camp with Rin before running into the source of the sound. The pan flute player continued his song as a stone was rolled behind the both of us, sealing us in a cave different from the one we laid down in. Rin and I didn't notice until a boulder was rolled in front of the cave, leaving us in a pitch black hole, and the melody that got us here stopped.

Suddenly finding ourselves awake and trapped in a cave with quivering children and women, I didn't know what to think. I simply knew that we were in a predicament that couldn't be solved in the dark. I grabbed Rin's hand and led her to a side of the cave before sitting down. We would have to wait until morning or until the stone was rolled away, which ever came first.

It was agony, sitting in that cave filled with musk and sweat as it only got hotter. Some cried, some simply waited as Rin and I did. The place didn't need to be any moister than it already was, and the sniffling and short wails seemed grew agitating as they echoed off the walls and into everyone's ears. I was a bit more lenient toward the crying children, but the crying women were the bane of my existence at the time. Should they cry, more kids cry. Should give up, then they walk into the jaws of their enemies and prove the stereotype that women can't do anything on their own right. Maybe they actually couldn't do anyting on their own, but now was a great time to try and learn instead of sitting and crying about it. I understand why their crying, don't get me wrong, but they could at least keep digging all the while.

I attempted to create a plan, but found myself uninspired by my situation. What was there to do? Seduction, which would fail since I'm as seductive as a snail, pleading, which I'm certain would only make or captors smile, or fighting. At least the last one would buy some time for the courageous ones to help themselves and get out. My best bet would be throwing a tantrum and putting up as much of a fight as I could, but who's to say that that piper won't go piping the second I put up a fit? I'm sure he'll blow his flute the second they roll that stone away.

Maybe we would just have to wait for Sesshomaru. That was a great way to make the time in the cave productive. Instead of leaving myself to the vices of the evil doers, I would construed the way I thought about it and wait for the demon lord, all while garnering the steel to put on my show. Rin was waiting patiently as well. I'm sure the thought of Sesshomaru coming, beating up the bad guys, and then walking away for her to follow was replaying in her mind before she fell asleep on my lap.

I wasn't able to place my full hearted trust in the daiyokai and let sleep shroud me. I kept awake, watching for the next chance of escape. I was sure Sesshomaru would have no trouble here, but I wouldn't simply leave it at that. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to leave everything to him without contributing something. This was no dire situation, and I felt there was no need for me to look to Sesshomaru for help. It was more degrading if anything. I could imagine it, him looking down at me after settling the dispute, wondering if I could walk on my own. I'm sure he would be more worried about me scrapping my knee and using anything as an excuse to hold me, but still wasn't entirely up for playing damsel in distress.

I don't know how much time passed before a wave of cool air flowed into the hallowed rock, but I was grateful for diffusion. It was still night, and the faces of our captors were illuminated by the torches they held while leading another man into the den of women and children. I continued to wait, looking for the best time to start my ploy all while shaking Rin awake.

I watched as one torch stood guard by the entrance as the other two walked through the pile of woman while one counted and pointed to the women he planned to buy. Once his gaze ran by Rin and me, I shot him the nastiest, most disgusted look I could muster. He didn't hesitate to walk over to me and gaze over my frowning features.

"A rather dull creature." He stated before turning his back to me.

"Creature? Is that coming from a human trafficker?" I asked, hiding Rin behind me. "I believe you to be the beast, kidnapping women and children and then forcing them into such miserable conditions."

"It would do you best to keep quiet girl." The man stated through his teeth as he slightly turned to face me.

"You would not dare damage merchandise." I sassed, giving him my classic sarcasm and receiving his full attention. "Planning to buy people like cattle, yet you call yourself a man. An unmarried one I would assume." I insulted as the air in the room became stiff.

The girls who sat beside me fled to further corners as I rose to my feet, meeting the man's hardened gaze.

"This is quite the dog you have picked up." The man commentated to the two men behind him.

"I am not the one who must buy their bride or their lord's bride in such despicable and dirty manners. You steal people's livelihoods and expect them to remain quiet simply because of our gender. You are horribly mistaken if you believe you can quiet me."

He said nothing as a smirk played on his lips. "Add the child behind her." He stated before turning away.

This was where the real acting came to play. I instantly crouched down next to Rin, screaming that they wouldn't take her from me, letting them try to pry her out of my grip, and when they did, I chased after them before grabbing hold of Rin again next to the cave's entrance. This time, when one of the captors reached for my arm, I rammed my elbow into his gut as hard as I could, forcing him back before grabbing Rin's hand and making a run for it. We'd gotten pretty far before the piper took up his flute to sedate us. Our hands retracted to cover our ears as we fought to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Within seconds, a pair of hands were dragging me back while another slung Rin over foreign shoulders.

"A guise was it?" the customer asked once I was brought back. "I didn't think a woman could concoct something so thought out.

This was where the gambit was left to chance.

"I'll take her as well." He smirked. "Mindless women can be a bore."

Either way things would work out me, but I'd hoped I bringing down the entire conspiracy. I could only buy time from here.

"I am not something to be bough." I stated over the piper's melody.

It didn't stop them from tying my hands together and to the woman in front of me.

"There is no way out of this for you."

"I am no one's property, and I never will be." I yelled, instantly fighting once the piping died.

"You try your luck."

"My luck's already failed me by putting me here."

"It could very well have left you in a worse off position."

"I guess you're right about that much." I muttered as the man brought the torch closer to my face.

I turned away from the light, only to have his rough hands grab my chin and bring it back for him to inspect my face.

"To think I almost passed up such a gem." He stated before turning my head to stare forward. "I am sure you are more pleasant once tamed."

"I do not want to see what you consider taming if this is your bride selection process."

"Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin exclaimed as she stepped out of line behind me.

I looked away from the man with a sigh before blowing the few strands of hair that stuck to my face out of the way. I'd held on for long enough and would leave the rest to Sesshomaru. I was pretty tired, having to stay awake for the majority of the night. I relaxed again, letting my shoulders fall as I stepped backwards.

"You are to be no one's bride but my own." He stated while cracking his fingers.

"I will chose who my husband will be." I replied as he cut the ropes around my wrists.

"You have already chosen then." He insisted as he freed Rin as well.

"I do not know who you are trying to force that idea upon." I replied before crouching to fix Rin's yukata. "But I will know when I have chosen a husband."

It wasn't until one of the tree traffickers made a bad step, reminding us of their presence as they attempted to back away. Sesshomaru didn't bat an eyelash as he rid his land of the vermin. I wasn't willing to watch an execution, knowing the nightmares it would instill, and chose to untie the other four women with me as those in the cave ran out, each leading a child or two. Soon enough, it was only the three of us left near the cave. Rin happily led the way, but I took my time returning with Sesshomaru by my side the entire time. I took another deep breath, moving my suddenly water logged feet.

Rin returned, realizing she didn't know where to go and leaving the leading to Sesshomaru. He was quiet about it for a few minutes before informing Rin that the camp was straight ahead once we were on a road. Rin took the hint and hurried forward, leaving me to my early morning walk with the demon lord.

I honestly preferred the silence of night, having had such a long night. But of course, the night was not over for me. Sesshomaru held my hand before leading me toward the edge of the road. Before I knew it, I was riddled with his kisses as I melted in his hold. I simply lacked the will to resist him, having all of my energy spent. He was the only force keeping me from falling to the ground as I left myself to his will. His kiss spread throughout my body, though our lips were all that made contact. That soon changed as he pressed me against him and ventured past the cushion of my lips. There suddenly wasn't a need for us to breathe as he continued forward in his advance.

When he finally left my mouth, he went for my neck.

It wasn't until I felt his fangs poking at my neck that I drew up the energy to push away, demanding that he stopped.

"They must see that you are mine." He said nonchalantly.

"I'm not some possession that you can claim." I yawned.

"I claim you to dispel confusion."

"There is no confusion."

"I intend to have you and will insure that all others understand that." He stated, placing his hand on my neck.

"You know my dowry." I said.

"… and if I were provide it?"

I stared at him for a moment. That wasn't what I was expecting either. This whole night had been nothing but surprises.

"It is up to time to tell what will happen in the future."

We returned to camp without further delay.