Chapter 6

OMG I got so many positive reviews on the last chapter that I had to get the new chapter up and in a hurry. So for sangoscourage I'll give you a little hint about Elish and Jaken's relationship, she is drawn to water and Jaken is a water spirit (*_-). It's almost spring break here so expect like a chapter a day next week as I take up residence at the local coffee shop.

P.S. This is a 12 page word doc so get a snack before you start. :D

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

A piercing scream could be heard coming from the nearby hot spring and Rin, who had been watching Shippo coloring as she wove a flower crown to place on Mr. Bun-Bun's head, froze and turned pleading eyes to an already standing lord. The camp had froze at the cry and Inuyasha had unsheathed his sword. Sesshoumaru took one look at the quickly, forming tears in Rin's eyes and he let his youkai run free.

"Inuyasha, you will stay here and guard the camp. This Sesshoumaru will retrieve the human girl."

Inuyasha gripped Tetsusaiga and glanced at the worried look on Kagome's face. This new comer was a extra liability, but he couldn't risk leaving her any where because of her knowledge of the future. He only wished that Elish had some way of protecting herself. He would never tell Kagome this, but he did feel relieved that she could purify demons that attacked her and she was getting good at the bow too to protect herself from human enemies as well. He turned to the little girl that Sesshoumaru travelled with and he saw her gripping the stuffed rabbit that Elish had given to her the night before. She was gripping it with worry, but she had a determined expression as if she knew that her lord would triumph and bring the futuristic girl back to their camp. Inuyasha smirked; he hated to admit it but with Sesshoumaru coming to her rescue he almost felt bad for the demon, or human, that decided to mess with her. Almost.

Sesshoumaru sped through the forest and emerged at the edge of the clearing just as the stag demon was wading in the pool towards the frighten and screaming girl. Elish took one look at Sesshoumaru and made a dash towards his direction and this made the stag halt and turn towards his challenger. Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes and glanced at the naked female scurrying to secure a towel and pressing herself again his back clutching his armor with trembling hands. She was mumbling her thanks; and he huffed and returned his attention to the obviously aroused and pissed male climbing out of the springs.

"Well Lord Sesshoumaru, what brings you here this deep in the forest?" the stag demon asked as he watched the female brazenly cling to Lord Sesshoumaru as if he were her protector. Perhaps she was his bed wench and the stag had picked the wrong female to frolic with on the green.

"You will leave this area and not look upon the female; she belongs to this Sesshoumaru."

Elish gulped and paled and released Sesshoumaru's armor and stared at him with wide eyes. 'She belonged to him.' What did that mean? Was this some kind of demon claim that he had on her because she was traveling with they group, or did it mean some more? She was so confused, but she looked at the grinning stag and decided that she would rather belong to Sesshoumaru that the damned deer.

Said deer was watching the whole exchange as the Western Lord claimed the female in question and said female seemed quite surprised and unaware of this circumstance. Ah, so maybe she wasn't his bed wench; she was quite the looker and the idea that she wasn't taken made the blood pound in the stag's veins. He could challenge for her and then the human hating lord would back off. Everyone that was anyone knew that Lord Sesshoumaru hated humans after his father died protecting one. The stag grinned at the female and turned his eyes to Lord Sesshoumaru.

"I don't think that the girl belongs to you and I would trade you for her. She doesn't seem like your type my Lord," the stag jeered.

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes. Did this fool just call him a liar? "Leave this clearing before I take your head." He didn't even take out his sword; he was itching for a fight. For some reason the fact that the demon was lusting after Elish put Sesshoumaru on edge. He had seen her as she was rushing to get to his side and he couldn't help but appreciate that she was desirable and the audacity of this lower demon to think that he could have her set Sesshoumaru's fangs on edge. Said demon chuckled and Sesshoumaru saw red.

Before Elish could panic at the stag demon's chuckle Sesshoumaru had rushed him and had him pinned against a tree. He growled low and deadly and Elish heard a sharp snap and the smell of toxic poison filled the clearing. She began coughing and covered her noise with the edge of her towel. Sesshoumaru turned to her and she saw for the first time why he was called the Killing Perfection. He was quick and precise, and now he had his deadly gaze trained on her. She saw his red eyes flicker for a moment and she caught her breath afraid to move. The red slowly receded from his eyes into a molten gold, and he stared at her for a pregnant moment. He moved back across the clearing at a slow, steady pace, as if to give her time to adjust, and then he was abreast with her once again. He stared down at her upturned face and watched as the water from her hair trailed down the sides of her arms and down her throat to disappear into the fluffy, white towel engulfing her. He blinked and turned his eyes back to camp.

"Dress quickly and let us return before the others worry."

He stepped around her and went to the edge of the clearing and stood with his back to her.

Elish was awoken out of her stupor when he moved to go around her. She didn't know if it was the excitement of the previous events, the fact that she was almost assaulted in the woods, or the fact that Sesshoumaru had just killed someone in front of her eyes but she felt like she just wanted to go home. A wave of exhaustion spread throughout her body. She felt the cool silk of his haori as he passed her and the wind picked up and chilled her pickled skin. She quickly moved to her clothing and dried off, knowing that Sesshoumaru's honor could be trusted, and wrapped her hair in the towel as she dressed. When she was done she moved to stand next to Sesshoumaru and he began moving at that slow and calculated pace as if to give her time to compose herself before she reached camp.

As soon as they hit the perimeter, Sesshoumaru watched as Rin barreled into Elish and hugged her tight and the woman bent to hug the little girl with a bright, fake smile. She immediately calmed Rin and told her everything was okay and that Sesshoumaru had saved her from a very, bad demon. Kagome and Sango approached and took one look at the green, eyed girl and knew what had happened. It was common in this time for women to be targets and with Elish's uncommon beauty it wasn't surprising. They engaged the children's attention in the idea of playing a game while dinner was prepared and soon the camp returned to a sense of normal.

Inuyasha and Miroku had taken the time during the meal preparation to discuss with Sesshoumaru the course of events, and it was agreed that the Inu brothers would keep watch on the females from here on out during bathing, or any other expedition into the woods. Sesshoumaru had suggested that the priestess and slayer should engage the new human in hand-to-hand combat to help her defend herself in a worst case scenario, and Inuyasha and Miroku agreed to relay the message once the children were asleep.

After supper and the children were drifting off to sleep, the adults had a small meeting about a change in security and Elish agreed that knowing how to defend herself in any capacity would put her at ease as they traveled. It was agreed that Miroku and Sango would help her train with the staff and dagger. The gentleman retired and left the females to whisper and to discuss the events of the day. Kagome and Sango relayed the dangers that most women faced during the time and asked Elish about what happened.

Sesshoumaru had retired to his chosen tree and he half listened to the humans and the hanyou discuss that future game plan. It wasn't until the females were alone and whispering about the evening events that he started to pay a bit more attention. Elish had just finish talking about how frighten she was when she realized what the stag demon wanted from her. Sesshoumaru felt a tight coil in his stomach and he could feel his ire raising. He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself and figure out why he had thoughts of kissing Elish that afternoon as he stood there staring at her upturned face. The females were giggling and this brought Sesshoumaru back to their conversation.

"And then he was like 'she belongs to this Sesshoumaru' and I swear a part of me was like this is straight out of a fairytale." Elish was giggling and fanning her face.

Kagome and Sango were staring with wide eyes and in hushed tones, quickly began speculating what that meant.

"Well Lord Sesshoumaru did take in Rin, and she pretty much belongs to him too," Kagome said as she tapped her bottom lip with a finger.

"And you know how possessive dog demon's are Kagome. Just look at how Inuyasha acts when ever Koga comes around." Sango mentioned as she threw a nod in Inuyasha direction as he lay snoring in a tree.

"Wait what do you mean?" Elish asked in an confused and worried tone. "Didn't he just say that to make the stag go away? You told me that Sesshoumaru hates humans. Why would he claim me? Is this like a dog pack thing?"

"Well," Kagome started, "he probably was just warning the stag off, but for a demon to lay claim on you is like you're apart of the family, like with me and Koga's tribe, or you are under their protection like Inuyasha and my relationship, or Sesshoumaru and Rin."

"Oh so you think that he means to protect me like Inuyasha protects you," Elish grinned with an smirk, "You know that that's not the only thing he wants to do with you."

Kagome turned beet red and Sango started to snicker in her sleeve. Elish quickly eyeballed Sango.

"And you can't laugh at her because we all know that perverted monk wants you every way until Monday."

Sango stopped snickering and started choking, while Kagome had recovered enough from her own embarrassment to laugh at Sango and send a retort back to Elish.

"Yes I suppose we do have Inuyasha and Miroku sending out signals that they want more than perhaps a friendship, but Sango and I return their affections. What are you going to do if Sesshoumaru really has claimed you for his own?"

For some reason this idea was so bizarre that even Kagome couldn't keep a straight face as she asked the question, and the girls fell into another round of laughs. After a few more jabs and chuckles the girls called it quits and decided to head to bed.

Elish still had a grin on her face as she made her way over to Rin and set up her bedding. She was just crawling into the sleeping bag when she felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise as if she was in the hunter's cross-hairs. She became hyper-alert and her eyes scanned the campsite and fell upon the daiyokai. He was staring at her with a predatory gleam and his eyes had a golden glow to them under the moonlight. Elish swallowed and stared back. Slowly, ever so slowly, Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and Elish waited for a minute or two trapped in the moment. When he didn't move again she quickly lay down and turned away to face Rin and to try to calm her beating heart.

She hadn't been lying to Kagome earlier when she said it was straight out of a fairytale when he showed up and saved her. She had been caught up in the moment and she was very aware of his power and strengthen when he was staring into her eyes after the ordeal. For a moment she thought that he was going to kiss her when he had saved her, but he had moved away and was formal as ever when he told her to get dressed. No, Elish thought it was all in my imagination. She was crushing real hard on the demon lord but it wouldn't do her any good. Who knew when she would get yanked back into the future? And he wasn't a human lover to begin with so nothing was going to come of this. Elish sighed and pulled the cover tight under her chin. In this land of fairy-tales, she just didn't belong and she didn't have time to form close bonds. But she knew that this was a lie because she had already formed a bond with Rin and she wasn't sure if she wanted to stop it. That little girl needed love and care and Elish couldn't help the smile that came to her face every time she saw Rin with Mr. Bun-Bun. She was never going to get that rabbit back, but that was okay.

No Elish just had to remember her place in the group and stay out of the way of danger. She would focus on Rin more and try to not dream about Sesshoumaru at night.

Sesshoumaru watched the woman curled up next to Rin and remembered the conversation from earlier. When Inuyasha's miko had asked Elish what she would do it the daiyokai's claim for her was real, she had laughed and it seemed as if that was a good enough answer for the others because they had laughed too at the absurdity of the situation. He, Lord Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Western Lands, the Killing Perfection, claim a human female? Sesshoumaru snorted at the thought. It was foolishness. It was a ridiculous thought and they should have never even thought or voiced out loud. But then Sesshoumaru remembered the feelings that he had as he stared into her eyes by the hot spring, and the feeling of protectiveness he had when she gripped his armor and shielded herself behind his frame. For a brief moment he had wanted to claim her. Not to bed her as the disgusting stag, but to have her for his own, to protect her in the same way he protected Rin. Sesshoumaru paused. Why was she here? Why did the Well let her through, and what was the ancient youkai that he had felt that resided in her?

Sesshoumaru watched and listened as Elish's movements stilled and her breathing evened out. He had made a claim on her. He hadn't meant to say those exact words, but they had come out. He knew that she loved Rin and Rin loved her and they were forming a close bond. She would have belonged to him either way by proxy because of Rin. Sesshoumaru moved to stand and went to the sleeping girl. He reached out a clawed hand and gently touched her hair. It was soft and glowed under the moonlight like spun gold. He felt a tingling in his hand and it travelled up his arm. She rolled her head to the side and her lips brushed his skin.

Sesshoumaru yanked his hand back as if he had been burned. She lay there unaffected, but his blood was pounding in his ears. He stared at her for a moment longer and returned to his position under his tree. Sesshoumaru sat and stared at his hand. The magenta stripes of his heritage, and a symbol of his birthrate, of the poison he carried in his blood, had faded where her lips had touched his skin. In their place his skin sparkled like diamonds. Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes as the coloring returned to his skin and his markings reappeared. Sesshoumaru had never come across anything that could dilute his poison. He glanced back at the sleeping girl and rethought his earlier claim. Yes, maybe he would honor what he had said in the heat of the moment. He needed to know more about this girl, and the best way to do that was to keep her by his side.

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes. Tomorrow he would formalize his claim.

Author's Note: I just don't even know what to say. I need a glass of cold water and a fan. (^_^)