Chapter II -- New Life

Life for Kagome Higurashi had fallen into a pattern drastically different from any she had experienced before. Sesshomaru never shared his plans with anyone, so it was impossible to tell if he led his group aimlessly or if he had some purpose; he would often disappear for hours, leaving the girls with Jaken. Rin and she went into the nearest village every few days to get food for them and sometimes Kagome would be asked to look at a sick child or give advice for someone who had recently lost a loved one. At night before they settled down to sleep, Kagome would find a stick or use the tip of her knife to write different letters in the dirt and help Rin to memorize them and their sounds; part of her duties to teach the child. She only wished she had some sort of literature which she could read to the girl from.

One day, a little over three weeks after Kagome had joined them, Sesshomaru had halted their progress for the day a couple hours early and vanished in the mysterious way he usually did. When he returned, it was getting late and the girls were eating their dinner while Rin wrote in the dirt and Kagome told her what she needed to correct. The girl had come a long way in the short time she had been learning. Neither girl paid him much attention while Jaken, ever eager to please his lord, was instantly at attention.

"We will begin heading for the castle in the morning," he announced before resuming his usual silence. Kagome glanced at him before returning to her teachings. She hadn't guessed in her wildest dreams that he would have a castle, but she had learned in the weeks she had traveled with him that there were many surprising things about him, and it was better to expect to be surprised than to think you know everything.

"Yay! Rin has missed Sesshomaru-sama's castle, it has been so long since Rin has been there." Kagome looked at the young girl and smiled. She was always so energetic.

That night as she lay with Rin, Kagome couldn't help but notice that the taiyoukai seemed to be troubled by something. It was hard to see, but she had learned to read his emotions a little over the last week; she doubted she would get much better. His expression was always so calm and icy.

Over the few weeks she had spent traveling in the feudal era; Kagome had begun to also have a nagging feeling that not all was right. Sure, there were still the usual youkai attacks, both random and after the jewel, but there was a strange feeling at the back of her mind that she couldn't quite put her finger on. If she thought about it for too long, she began to feel uncomforterable and would have to put it from her mind. It didn't take long for her to begin to just ignore it. At the same time, in the far away part of her mind, she knew that it was what was troubling Sesshomaru as well.

Sometime after she had drifted off to sleep, her mind fell into a dream different from any she had before; but it seemed familiar at the same time.

The world she walked in was slowly enveloped in darkness, cutting her off from her friends who had been walking nearby. Stopping, she looked around. Inuyasha stepped out of the shadows and stood before her, an unreadable expression on his face. As it had with everything else, tendrils of the darkness reached around him, pulling him back into their depths. He did not seem to realize anything was strange, even when she called his name. On instinct, she reached within herself and grabbed hold of her miko powers, using them to create a barrier of sorts around her. They had no effect on the shadows.

"You power…" a voice said from behind her. She whirled around, hand upraised and glowing softly. "I want your power…"

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"Your power will be mine."

Her eyes opened, taking in the scenery. Everything was still encompassed in the shadows of night; the sky was slowly brightening in the east. Carefully, Kagome maneuvered onto her back without waking Rin and placed one hand behind her head. She knew she would not be able to fall asleep again that night. Morning was coming fast, so it would not do her much good anyway. Whatever that dream had been about, it had certainly been strange. Was it simply a normal dream or was there some deeper meaning? As she thought about this, she found it had the same effect as that strange feeling that had been haunting her lately, giving her the feeling that she was being watched. After a few minutes, she figured she could puzzle over it later, and put it from her mind.

Another two hours passed before Rin stirred. When Kagome sat up, her shoulder protested and her hand was numb. As usual, the smaller girl talked incessantly, but Kagome enjoyed listening to it. Her chatter reminded her of Shippo, although she put the boy from her mind –guiltily- as she didn't want to think about him or the others too much. The memories that would come to mind were not things she wanted; they were painful and something she had forced herself to not think of since she left the feudal era months ago.

Despite the sudden change of plans, if there had been any to start with, the day continued exactly like every other since Kagome had joined them. That afternoon, when they stopped for their midday meal, Rin decided to ask a very innocent question.

"Kagome-chan, will you stay with Rin and Sesshomaru-sama forever?"

Kagome turned to the girl in surprise, pausing mid-bite. Lowering her hands to her lap, she looked into the trees, thinking. "I don't know, Rin-chan. I suppose the choice is Sesshomaru's more than mine. Eventually, I will probably have to go on my own way again."

"Sesshomaru-sama, can Kagome-chan stay with Rin forever?" Kagome mentally slapped herself.

The silver-haired youkai glanced at the girl before looking back at whatever he had been looking at. "Maybe," he replied after a moment. "We will see." Rin looked up at him with pleading eyes. He did not have to look at her to know this. "There is a field over there, take Jaken and go play for a while."

Rin pouted at him, so Kagome decided to intervene. "I'm sure there will be lot's of flowers, if you pick me enough, I will make you something. Ok?"

"Ok, Kagome-chan." Rin instantly turned and ran off in the direction Sesshomaru had indicated with Jaken following behind. Kagome watched the girl go, seemingly unknowing of the fact that she had just put herself in the spotlight.

"Well, miko?" Sesshomaru asked. "You will have to figure out what to do with yourself eventually."

She looked back down at her hands, noting that she had only eaten half of her food. "I have a name, you know," she replied quietly. Until now, she and Sesshomaru had not spoken. "It's Kagome."

"I asked you a question." For a minute, it seemed as though she would not answer. Distantly, Rin's laughter and Jaken's irate squawks reached her ears.

"I will leave anytime you want," she said slowly, choosing her words. "I have nothing here, but as soon as you do not want my presence any longer, I will leave and search for something to do with myself, as I was before we met." She did not feel like using Rin to gain some sort of advantage in making him let her stay, so she did not mention the girl.

"As I stated before, I will have no problem in letting you stay, as long as you hold up your end of the bargain." Kagome nodded in understanding. If there was one thing she had learned from the many times Inuyasha had spoken of his brother –none of it had been good, only serving to enhance the image of two brothers who hated each other- she had taken that he was a man of his word. Now, he had given her evidence that he would stay true to what he said.

When neither said anything else, Kagome stood and went to see what Rin was up to.

"Kagome-chan!" the girl cried when she caught sight of her elder. "Is this enough flowers?" Running over, she showed Kagome a large armful of the plants she loved so much.

"Yes, that should be good." The two girls plopped down in the shade at the edge of the field and Kagome began picking flowers out of the pile. Taking her time, she began to weave them into a chain. Rin watched in fascination. It didn't seem to take too long for Kagome to finish the chain and bring the ends together, completing it. Smiling, she dropped it over the girl's head and watched as Rin adjusted it around her neck. "Do you like it?"

"Yes, Kagome-chan, Rin thinks it's beautiful! Rin will show Sesshomaru-sama!" With that, the girl rose and returned to the site of their camp. Kagome followed with Jaken. As soon as everyone had returned, Sesshomaru turned and began walking. Jaken hurried to catch up with him, Rin following behind. Kagome stood where she was for a moment before going after them. Again, uncertainties began to rise up in her mind. Did she want to have to depend on someone, especially when it was for an indefinite amount of time? Was she really only good to watch after the small girl who followed Sesshomaru wherever he went? What about what Inuyasha had told her? She frowned. Could he have been right after all? Shaking her head, Kagome forced these questions to the back of her mind, along with the memory of her last talk with Inuyasha, which had inadvertently sprung into her thoughts. As she walked, she worked on building up a barrier between herself and those thoughts she did not want, and yet could not get rid of.

The rest of the day passed quietly. As night neared, the sky became overcast, but did not threaten rain; a light wind began to blow. When they went to sleep that night, Kagome gathered extra wood for the fire; she and the girl slept near it as the air became chilly. It had been almost a month since Kagome had returned to the feudal era, and summer was coming to an end. Her mind was drifting into the realms of sleep when she mused that if she had still been at home, she would have been starting her last year of high school soon, if she hadn't already.

There were no dreams that night. For this, Kagome was thankful; she was still thoroughly confused by the last one.

Morning came, bringing with it the same white skies from the evening before. They remained until the early afternoon when blue sky began to peek down on them. At the same time, the woods began to thing out. The path the group followed widened, giving a reprieve from the close quarters of the dense forest. They soon left the trees behind and stepped onto the large grassy area that surrounded a lake. Rin splashed in the shallows, while at the same time keeping pace with the others. Beyond the lake, they traveled along the borders between fields where various different crops grew. Mountains were visible in the distance and the land, which had previously been flat, slowly changed to rolling hills. When they stopped for the night, the girls lay on their backs and watched the stars before drifting off to sleep.

Dawn brought with it a group rising early and setting off as soon as everyone was awake. The two humans ate as they walked. The sky was sunny and cheerful. Rin soon began to skip and run ahead before stopping and waiting for her friends to catch up. She was eager to reach their destination. Between two large rises lay the entrance to a valley, and it was through here that Sesshomaru took them. At the other end a low, large building lay. It was clearly built of the traditional Japanese style, as was to be expected in the times they were in. Drawing near, it became clear that it was not one building, but several clustered together and surrounded by a low wall.

Kagome thought that it was not exactly what she would call a castle. When she thought of castles, the images brought to mind were both the western style buildings, normally the ones built off a gothic basis, as well as the large palaces of Japan's warlords and emperor. She did not know if many of those existed in feudal era as she knew it, but she had not seen any. This building was obviously much older than what she was thinking of.

"Kagome-chan will like Sesshomaru-sama's castle," Rin said, turning to face Kagome. "Sesshomaru-sama's otou-san had it built a long, long time ago!"

"Is that so?"

"Yes!"

Sesshomaru walked right up to the gates set into the wall, the two guards standing there bowed respectfully to him and stood aside. Kagome couldn't help but notice the looks they gave her. She chose to stare ahead and pretend they didn't exist for the moment. A youkai ran up to them and bowed. Sesshomaru stopped before him and spoke in commanding tones."

"Saionji, send Mayuko to me and have the guest rooms in the western wing readied."

"Yes, Sesshomaru-sama," the youkai, Saionji, said, bowing once more before rushing off to do his lord's bidding. A scant minute alter, a female youkai approached, bowing in a similar way.

"Escort this girl to the baths. While she is bathing, get together a suitable wardrobe for one who is above the level of servant. I will give you further orders later." Bowing again, the woman motioned for Kagome to follow and led her into the simple interior of Sesshomaru's home.

Lunarcat12 -- I really don't know what the black monster is. I am developing it farther in the upcoming chapters (while writing ahead as well), but I still have no idea. It might stay that way for a while. And no, Kagome really doesn't have good luck... .;