Chapter 3

Well as you can see it's been awhile and that's because I have been adjusting to work a bit and dealing with health problems. I am looking forward to this chapter. :D

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and story belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, this is just a fan fic.

Sometime during the night Elish had awoken and realized that she was alone in the clearing and must have had a nightmare. She crawled back into her sleeping back and fell back to sleep. Two golden eyes peered through the darkness from the treetops and watched her and over her throughout the night.

Sesshoumaru was perplexed at the simple human that seemed to sleep in the presence of danger, but she and her futuristic objects alerted him to the possibility that another miko had fallen down the well. Perhaps she was here to aid his half-brother's miko in the shard quest and the destruction of Naraku. Her scent was all over the clearing and in the well, so she was definitely from the future. Tomorrow he would either question her before the group showed up, or he could wait until the miko was there because he didn't want to deal with hysterics.

It was mid-morning by the time Elish woke up and the sun was shining and a gentle breeze was blowing. Last night was too much for her tired brain and she had to slap herself for believing that she had seen the devil clad in white coming to take her soul away. She washed up quickly and packed up her small camp. She was feeling a bit bold and thought that maybe she could search the area and find someone that could help her and possibly tell her how to get home. Just as she was checking her compass on her phone to point her in a direction, a deep voice washed over her and paused all movement.

"Who are you? And how did you come through the well? I sense no holy power from you."

Elish's eyes were wide and she scanned the clearing searching for the owner of that voice. It was the same voice from the dream last night and suddenly panic and fear engulfed her small frame. Glancing to the right Elish could feel a presence and slowly a figure moved out of the brush and glided towards her across the grass. It was the same figure from the night before! He was tall and beautiful with markings and dressed like a feudal Japanese lord. Elish had the strange feeling that she should bow to him. He made no move to grab her once he had come abreast and simply waited for her answer.

Sesshoumaru was surprised by the human in front of him. In the light of day, she could have been mistaken for a demoness with her strange coloring. She had green, emerald eyes that was truly rare in humans in this land, and they were wider and rounded. She had a crown of curls that glowed with strands of different hues of gold. Her lips were smooth and soft looking with a coral-pink color. She was golden tanned and exotic, and even Sesshoumaru had to admit for a human she was breath taking.

Elish frowned and tried to piece together the formal Japanese that she needed for her answer. She wasn't completely sure what the man had asked her, but she had understood the 'who are you' and the word 'well' and 'miko power' and started with that.

"My name is Elish and I am from America. I fell down the well, over there, yesterday and I can't find my way home. I don't know what 'miko power' is."

The minute that she had opened her mouth Sesshoumaru knew something was wrong. She was a foreigner and her Japanese was tilted. He narrowed his eyes, this was a problem. She didn't know what "miko power" meant and she probably wasn't suppose to be here. He would have to wait for Inuyasha's miko to come sort this out and send the girl home. Such a bother Sesshoumaru thought as he was quite curious as to what and who this "Elish" was. He continued to stare at her until she started nervously fidgeting and glancing around the clearing for an escape. Silly human.

Just as Elish started a small ramble of questions about the nearest hospital and the fact that she thought that she might have had a concussion, Sesshoumaru heard the tell-tale signs that his half-breed brother and his miko were heading into the clearing. Good, Sesshoumaru thought, better to get on with this and gather the information about the whereabouts of Naraku so that he could get back to Rin. Kagome was chirping away chatting with Sango, and Inuyasha was adding his two cents about how they were going to follow the lead on Naraku when Miroku silenced the whole lot with his amorous observations of Sesshoumaru new guest.

"Why Lord Sesshoumaru, to what honor do we have in meeting this lovely young demoness?" Mirk swiftly made his way across the clearing and gathered Elish's hands in his and kissed each in turn. "Allow me to introduce myself milady, I am Miroku, humble priest and these are my friends; the demon slayer, Sango; Shikon Miko, Lady Kagome; Lord Sesshoumaru's half-brother, Inuyasha; and the fox kit, Shippo."

Elish was blushing and surprised into silence at the forward young man. She understand most of what he said and it all seemed like straight out of a fairytale. Half-demons? Priestesses? Demon Slayers? Elish turned her wide eyes to Sesshoumaru and really looked at him and realized that he did look like some sort of regal demon. Could this be true? Where was she? Before she could think of an answer, she felt a hand traveling down her hip and onto her butt. She reacted lightening-fast and slapped the monk's hand away and instinctively moved closer to Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru blinked and narrowed his eyes at the monk and then at Elish as an afterthought.

Kagome sprang forward and stared wide-eyed at Elish. "You came through the well!" she exclaimed.

Elish started to panic and quickly started relaying what happened to Kagome because she was the only one that looked normal in the whole group. Kagome was wearing jeans and a sweater and tennis shoes; she looked like your average Japanese school girl. Elish babbled and finally broke down and sobbed a bit at the end of her tale when she came to the part about Sesshoumaru being the devil in the night, which earned her barking laughter from Shippo and Inuyasha and a raised eyebrow from Sesshoumaru. Kagome and Sango quickly pulled her away from the group and comforted Elish while Kagome tried to explain in slow Japanese where Elish was and when. This new information brought on more hysterics and Sesshoumaru turned to Inuyasha and for once preferred his company to that of the females of the group.

"What new information do you have of Naraku, half-breed?"

Inuyasha was watching the girls comforting Elish and explaining the circumstances, and he was half paying attention to Sesshoumaru's question.

"Well Kagome told me that you guys are joining us as we head south and I'm cool with all that, I guess. Naraku sent a message to Koga's tribe that he was going to skin alive any dog or mutt that came near the southern village of Kyoto. Koga says that his uncle is a prince of the region and that his son is the lord of the city. We think that the son has been killed and Naraku is using the southern wolves as dark-magic slaves."

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed; he would need to fetch Rin as quickly as possible so that they could head out immediately. He glanced at the now quiet foreign female in the group. Kagome had gleaned from the female that she could not pass back through the well and who knew how long it would take before the well allowed passage back through. A slight snort left Sesshoumaru as he turned to Elish and Kagome.

"The female is a burden, but she can not be left behind as Naraku could make use of her knowledge. She will have to travel with the group." Sesshoumaru eyed Inuyasha and continued with his proclamation, "This Sesshoumaru will provide protection as Inuyasha has his hands full with three humans."

Both Kagome and Sango turned and glared daggers in Sesshoumaru's direction, but said nothing as Inuyasha was making enough noise laughing in the background. Elish turned to Kagome and gripped her arm.

"Is he trying to take me some where?" she asked in fear as she cast her glance in Sesshoumaru's direction.

Kagome turned back to Elish and assured her that she would be traveling with Inuyasha and the gang and that Sesshoumaru was just offering protection if they were caught up in battle. Elish paused at this and asked why would they be battling? At which Sesshoumaru scoffed and took his leave stating he would fetch Rin and return to the camp in an hour. Just as he was leaving in a ball of light, he heard the small murmur from Elish's lips to Kagome that the demon lord was "quite scary, and who would protect us from him" and this make him smirk. Yes indeed.