A/N: This totally would have been done sooner had I not been so artsy this past week. I regret nothing.

Chapter 2

Hey, Diddle, Diddle

It was a dark and stormy night, or something like that. Kagome battled her way through the ever-thickening underbrush, taking personal offence to both the pelting rain and the diminishing trail before her.

Having given up hope of remaining dry that night, the young Princess stubbornly pressed forward.

"This can't be a road to nowhere," she reasoned to both herself and the forlorn, bedraggled creatures trailing after her. "Every road leads somewhere, and we're going to find out where this one ends."

It was several hours later when the small, roughly hewn path suddenly gave way to a properly cobblestoned road. Finding a fourth wind, for her second and third winds would have rightfully been hours previous, Kagome hurried along, elated that she would soon reach her prophesized outpost.

The castle that greeted her instead caused her no small amount of incredulous bewilderment.

It glowed eerily in the moonless, rainy night. While staring in wonder, Kagome belatedly realized that she had been inexorably drawn through its open gates. She soon found herself beholden to two massive doors and one mildly formidable leonine brass knocker.

Seeing no obvious warnings such as 'abandon all hope ye who enter here,' and with a suddenly desperate desire to be warm and dry, Kagome took the next logical step: she knocked.

It was several moments later when one of the doors swung back of its own accord. No one greeted her on the other side. Taking for granted that an open door was permission enough for entrance, she intruded warily with one hand upon her sword and four sopping masses of fur crowded at her heels. Her tentative hello received no answer.

Compelled to venture fully inside by the radiating warmth of torches in the grand entranceway, she began to explore. The torches lining the walls lit at her approach and then extinguished after her sufficient passing. A prickling awareness at the base of her skull informed Kagome that she was being keenly observed, though she could not pinpoint the location of her watcher. It was disconcerting to say the least.

Soon enough, the lit torches brought her to an exquisite dining room, complete with ready-made feast. Approaching the table, she was only mildly surprised to find the food still hot. She had the fleeting notion that it had been prepared specifically for her, but that was preposterous. She did, however, indulge in sitting down. Surely the lord or lady of the castle would be along soon for their late evening meal.

Four pairs of eyes turned to her in silent begging. She internally acknowledged that it had been quite some time since any of them had a decent meal, and dangling a meal of such grand proportion in front of her companions seemed incredibly unjust. A tiny paw on her knee was enough to break her resolve.

"Okay, but just one bite each until we meet whoever owns this place." As she was doling out their paltry allotments, the dogs' ears perked. Moments later they began to whine and cower closer to Kagome.

Nonplussed by their curious reactions to nothing she could see, the young woman started to resume her task when she was interrupted by a deep baritone.

"While such selflessness is utterly heartwarming, you need not worry about feeding the pups. They will be well attended."

She spun around in her seat, mouth already spewing apologies.

"I'm so sorry! There was the rain, and we got kind of lost and then we found this place and-" She focused on the entity before her. Sturdy and broad-chested, not to mention its sheer size- it was large, far larger than any she had ever seen, easily knee height on all fours. Its thick, silvery coat gleamed in the chandelier-light, and as it stared at her with its luminous amber eyes she noticed a perfectly shaped crescent marking its brow.

"And you're a cat. A talking cat."

The cat disdainfully cocked his head to one side.

"Is it a human propensity to state the obvious, or a skill specifically attributable to you?"

Kagome became indignant by the implication that she was a dull girl.

"I just- you took me by surprise," she huffed. "We merely seek an audience with your master."

In utter defiance of feline physiology, the cat snorted.

"This one has no master, girl."

"It's Kagome. Princess Kagome, actually. And I need to speak with the lord of this castle to seek shelter for the night."

The cat ignored her in favor of making some truly odd growlish noises in the general direction of her canine companions, all of which had calmed and were soon tottering away.

"What did you do? Guys! Guys come back! Come! Sit! Heel! Agh!"

"This one is not in the habit of repeating himself, but he will make an exception due to your lacking attention span. The pups shall be attended, and you shall eat."

But the still sopping princess was already scurrying after her wayward pack. Suddenly, she pitched forward, landing none-to-gently on her hands and knees with an indignant mgmnph. A glance behind her revealed the perpetrator unabashedly sitting on the hem of her dress and examining his claws.

While rearranging herself to a sitting position, she denied her first inclination to shriek obscenities. Kagome reminded herself that a princess was a lady at all times, in all places, and in all positions. Though, she thought bitterly, the person to come up with that adage had probably never been felled by a mere house-cat.

Her effort to regain composure was spoiled by the timely sqzzrt of an empty stomach. Kagome could feel the smugness radiating off the creature behind her. Never before had she such a desire to throttle a poor unsuspecting animal.

"If you will kindly remove yourself from my dress," she said through clenched teeth, "I will gladly consent to your offer of dinner."

The cat remained stationary for a period of time, as if to remind her that her 'freedom' would only be awarded by his grace. After a sufficient time had passed by cat standards, he strode past her to the head of the table, leaping with disgusting elegance to sit on the chair there.

It was not odd behavior for a cat to maintain that everything he saw was his, but Kagome did wonder at this cat's propensity to expect her to bend to its whim. Perhaps it was a trait common to all cats, which was now only evident to her in the presence of one that could talk.

Once properly arranged at the dining table, Kagome practiced her best manners by continuing to wait for the arrival of the master of the castle. Her feline companion, on the other hand, held no such reserve in the 'hey, maybe you should wait for your host to arrive before downing all his food' department.

After a few minutes of dreadfully uncomfortable silence in which the cat ate and Kagome stared at the food longingly, she could stand it no longer.

"Erm, does the master of the castle know of my arrival?"

Prior to this question, Kagome had not known it was possible for a cat to roll its eyes.

If nothing else, this little adventure was doing wonders for her knowledge of anthropomorphic cats. Talking cats were definitely unusual, but perhaps the infuriating creature was a demon? Being a moderately sheltered princess, she had never been afforded the opportunity to meet a demon in person. If he were a demon, Kagome was mildly disappointed. She had always thought they would be bigger.

Pushing these thought aside, she tried again.

"All right then, let's assume he or she does know of my arrival. Do you know if I will be afforded refuge for the night?"

Feline lips twitched into an annoyingly enigmatic smirk. In his own time, he deigned to answer, "You will be directed to your chambers after dinner. By the by, the aforementioned dinner is growing quite cold."

Kagome took this as the cue that whoever owned this castle would not be joining them tonight and finally tucked in. Soon after she began, the cat finished. To be fair, he did have an incredibly generous head start. The cat hopping up onto the table and settling himself squarely in front of her was merely another oddity in a night filled with oddities.

"This one expects that you shall fully regale him with the purpose of your journey at breakfast during the hour after dawn. Do not be late."

Before he could make a grand and dramatic exit, something clicked in Kagome's brain.

"Wait, who are you, exactly?"

He turned back, regarding her momentarily, perhaps in concurrence with her own line of thought that this was a question she ought to have asked much sooner in their acquaintanceship.

"This one is Sesshoumaru, Lord of these lands." And with that, he slunk away into the shadows.