Hello everyone. This wasn't really the most exciting day of the summer even though I had a job interview and probably blew it horribly because I'm not the world's greatest people person. That would probably be why I turned my life to writing, drawing and playing video games. : ) : ) But you guys make me want to become a people person. : ) : ) Here's a new chapter for you all to enjoy on this killer hot summer day. Even though tomorrow will probably be even hotter. I'll probably have a chapter for something tomorrow. Lol. Than you all who reviewed and read this story so far. It really makes me a happy person. : ) : ) Sorry for any spelling mistakes and sorry that it's kind of short. : ) : ) Enjoy!

Half of a Meaning

I looked over to the left and saw Mukou running beside me. 'Oh great, it's the pervert again. At least I know that Sesshoumaru has no intention of touching me.'

"I have a bone to pick with you so pull over!" Mukou demanded as he pointed towards me.

When I stopped, he just kept running and ended up running into a tree. 'That solves that problem.' I jumped onto a branch in the tree and bounced into the forest with a small smile on my face. Only a few moments passed before Mukou caught up to me once again.

"Okay, now you're gunna regret tat!" he growled, tackling me to the ground.

The two of us slid across the forest floor with Mukou pinning me by my shoulders.

"Alright, what do you have against me mute? Have I ever wronged you some way?" he asked when we finally stopped sliding.

'Uh yeah, right when you grabbed the back of my shirt when I first me you, you stupid jerk!' His hand moved slightly down my shoulder without meaning to and pulled the hoari down to reveal the mark. Damn stupid hoari! I'm getting new clothes once I get back to the hut at home. Too bad I have to walk a while to get to the village though.' Mukou almost jumped a mile high when he saw the mark on my body. He immediately jumped off me and to his feet with his hands up as if to protect himself.

"He gave that to you, didn't he? Now I just feel sorry for you," he almost whispered like a curse.

Giving him a questioning look, I fixed the hoari and sat up. 'Is it that bad to make him afraid?'

"It's almost like his mating mark even though he probably doesn't wish to have you for that. It's basically calling you a traitor of the western lands for leaving his lands, the castle even. No one will wish to have you around and some may even try to kill you," Mukou explained, backing away slightly.

'A traitor? Just for leaving that damned castle? That's the most retarded thing ever!' I thought as I looked away from him.

"I just hope you don't fall in love with someone and them to you who are not in that castle. You have no clue how many male demons would like to…" Mukou started only to notice I was gone.

'I'll get even one day and I'll learn to cover this thing without it being a burden to me.' Running through the trees once again, I headed towards the east.

"We're in the east and they still won't leave us alone about it. I don't understand how word of your abilities could travel this far. We did come from the … after all," my mother's voice said in my mind.

That sentence had been directed at my father but I had heard it anyway. Even now I couldn't remember what she was talking about or where we had come from. 'they were hiding something from me and I never had the chance to find out what it was.' I ran as fast as my legs would carry me through the trees until morning came and sleep was attacking me.

"I'll just sleep in a tree," I whispered to myself, jumping into a tall tree.

Closing my eyes, I fell asleep with almost enough awareness to hear everything.

Sesshoumaru awoke in the morning and something smelt different about the castle. He knew something was different and thought that maybe one of the older servants died in their sleep. That was until he didn't smell any sign of death.

"Rin is still here, Jaken is still here… that woman," he whispered to himself.

It didn't take him long to get dressed and then he went to hid doorway. Without opening his door, he knew that something was defiantly different about the chamber across from his.

"She would not have fled. Every woman needs trust and without it they will eventually go insane or break," Sesshoumaru said to himself before opening his door.

Jaken was standing there with a hand lifted to the doorway to knock when Sesshoumaru came out. Sesshoumaru cringed at the smell of crap that radiated off the imp.

"My lord, I was just coming to see if you were already awake. I did not expect you to be asleep," the imp said immediately.

"Enough Jaken. Do you notice anything different about the castle?" he asked, staring directly at the door across from him.

"N-no, not really. Is something wrong lord Sesshoumaru?" Jaken asked, really worried about his lord's expression.

Sesshoumaru walked across the hallway and opened the chamber door only to find it empty. He saw that the window was open and let out a loud growl.

"That wench," he hissed.

"My lord?" Jaken wondered.

"Remain here Jaken and take a bath. Make sure that Rin is well taken care of as well. It seems I must seek out that mute before another decides to kill her," Sesshoumaru growled before walking towards the castle doors.

Waking up as if from a nightmare, I almost fell out of the tree. My breath was heavy and my grip on the trunk of the tree was tight. 'What the hell happened? Why am I breathing heavily and freaking out?' The sight of the eastern lands came to mind and I figured that my body was remembering something that my brain didn't. 'Whatever. It's the only place I know I can go without being caught by Sesshoumaru.' Dropping down from the tree branch, I turned towards the east and started running. There was nothing that would be able to stop me from getting to where I wanted to be. Upon reaching a village, there were a few bandits with a demon among them.

"Look, a young woman. How do you think she tastes?" one bandit laughed as he saw me.

"I say we give her to the boss and let him use her. He is the strongest of us all," said another.

Cracking my claws at their words, another man came out of the darkness of the trees.

"She is a demon woman. To have her as a human unwillingly would lead to your death," the man said with a small grin.

'I knew that that was all men thought about.' Quickly spinning in a circle with my claws out, the three human bandits fell to the ground with blood covering their clothes. 'This is the demon and the leader!'

"Leave this place if you do not wish to get caught in the crossfire. Not even a demon would wish to witness what is about to happen," the man said evilly, showing his demon fangs.

Suddenly I disappeared while staring at the man and he was slightly confused. Appearing behind him, I dug my claws into the meat of his back and pulled them together at the spine.

"Damn it!" he growled before dying and falling to the ground.

Looking at my blood covered hands, I sighed and closed my eyes. 'stupid bandits. Even if that village is filled with humans, I'm not gunna let them kill them. Humans don't deserve that fate anymore than a demon does.' From a far distance, I could hear swift footsteps through the trees, heading straight to where I was standing. 'If that's Sesshoumaru then I better keep going. I don't need him right on my tail when I'm almost at the hut.' Suddenly there was a sharp pain through my side and the scent of my own blood filled my nose. Then there was another, more painful sting at my right shoulder.

"Western traitor! I saw that mark of yours when that other demon attacked you! Demon bitch!" a man cried as he withdrew his weapon.

I wincer as both of my wounds bled. Turning around, I saw the man standing there with his sword covered in my blood. 'A traitor…' I took the time to continue running, even though I was coming into human territory. Some of the villagers screamed when I ran beside them and they saw the trail of blood that was left behind. 'Damn, Mukou was right. I am just like a traitor to all of them!' Placing a hand over my left side, I felt the warm blood coming from the deep gash that was now there. I ran on through the village, looking for either a place to hide or escape. There were so many different scents of people talking that it was a little overwhelming for my senses. 'I have to reach the next village before my hut can be found. As far as I can remember, Naraku didn't destroy it and if he did then I'll just have to build one on my own.'

I tripped over a dead log and rolled across the ground, leaving even more blood on my trail.

"Damn it," I growled, rolling onto a back and jumping to my feet.

"She ran away from it like a coward would. Sometimes I don't understand you two. I know you told her to destroy … but for what purpose?" my mother asked my father.

My vision started to become blurry as I ran on with my wounded body. When my vision was almost completely blurry, I crashed into something wooden but hollow inside. 'Well that was stupid.' I thought as I pulled my face away from the wood. I looked and saw that it was a rather old hut that hadn't been used in years. 'Weird, I thought it was even farther away.' Finding the door, I went inside and found that it was the old hut that had used to my parents. The bed was slightly decayed and the wooden shelf was still standing with old jars sitting on it. My eyes wandered to the other door in the room and knew that it had been my parent's room.

"Just like old times," I whispered to myself, leaning against the wall with a wince.

'Now I can rest here for a while until my wounds heal over and I have to go to the village.' I took in a few deep breaths because of the pain before passing out without the sound of anything but birds to be heard.

Again I dreamed of the day Naraku slaughtered my parents and the demon in what seemed to be white. Still I could not match his face with any other that I had seen for I could not see it. There was a loud smash outside the dream and it caused me to wake up slightly, 'Why can I never see his face?' I asked myself, lifting a hand to my forehead. A surge of pain went through my side and shoulder and I remembered my wounds.

"you're wounded," a rather cold voice said from within the old hut.

'Damn it.' I growled, dropping my hand to my lap and looking away from the doorway.

"At least you're not defenseless on your own. IT seems that my personal servant knows not her bounds," his voice said again, coming closer.

There was a small growl coming from my throat because I wanted him to leave and never come back.

"Will I need to teach the mute a lesson?" Sesshoumaru mused.

"Get away from me. This isn't your land so you have no power over me Sesshoumaru," I growled, giving him a cold stare.

"If I'm not mistaken, you are my property which means I am the only one to tell you what and what to do," he growled back.

"As long as I'm in my own home, then I choose not to listen to you," I stated, looking away once again.

There was a small grunt and then Sesshoumaru took hold of my forehead with his fingered through my bangs.

"Look at me when I'm speaking," he growled.

"You weren't talking, so why would it matter?" I mocked with a smirk.

;I'm not moving until my body heals. I don't need him around right now. I ran away to get away, and that's where I plan on staying.'

"Are your wounds that great? A true demon would not fall until near death," Sesshoumaru mocked back, pushing my head backwards a little.

"Why would I wish to be a true demon if it means being a mule like you? If I'm such a bother to you then kill me!"

At first nothing happened. He just stared at me with his golden eyes, thinking about something. 'What is he staring at? I'm not that interesting am I?' It was a stupid thought but it was funny enough the way I saw it. Sesshoumaru released my forehead and then looked down at me.

"Let me see your wounds," he demanded.

"What?" I laughed slightly.

"Allow me to see these wounds of yours. I will not have my servant weak at any time."

'That means he'd have to take off my hoari which would leave me open for touching…'

"No. It's not like you can do anything about it anyway. They'll heal on their own," I said coldly.

For denying Sesshoumaru's demand, he pinned me against the wall from my position with both hands in one of his.

"Hey, let me go! What do you think…" I cried before receiving an even colder stare from him.

He pulled down the hoari at my shoulder and saw the gash from what seemed to be a sword. 'What is he doing? Why doesn't he just leave it alone?'

"You were attacked by a worthless samurai, but for what reason? I shall return in a short time. Do not force yourself to run farther. I do not wish to harm you further than you already are," he said as he got to his feet and walked to the doorway.

'I can barely feel my legs so it's not like I can run away anyway. Stupid human with the sword. I can't believe that he knew what this stupid thing meant. Now I guess I really am alone… as long as I carry this thing anything…' I watched as Sesshoumaru left the hut and then let my body become less tense.

"I don't need this. If I'm so useless, why doesn't he just let me die?" I wondered, allowing my gaze to fall onto the ceiling.

What I didn't know was that Sesshoumaru was standing outside the door.

"You are not useless Fatomi," he whispered to himself before running towards the nearest village.

Naraku sat in his castle, pondering the answers and possibilities over in his head. He never thought that his prisoner would be able to escape without his noticing.

"She probably left with another demon," a woman said as she walked in.

"I would know if another demon had been here Kagura. There's just no possible way that she could escape through the barrier without my noticing!" he growled hatefully. Towards himself.

"Just like you would know if she escapes from the castle at all. If a person was strong enough then they could counter your barrier with another and come in and out without you knowing," Kagura said as she held her fan to her mouth.

"A very interesting thought Kagura."

It was almost sunset when Sesshoumaru had come back to the hut with something under his right arm. 'What is that?' I wondered, seeing the object only from what wasn't covered by his sleeve.

"It seems that I've been here before. Something strikes my memory when I go out that door," he said calmly, walking over to me.

"And that means what to me?" I asked, not really interested.

"I had been in the same spot as before with a small puddle of blood beside my side. The wound on my side had reopened slightly and had started to bleed some time before.

"Where'd you go anyway?" I wondered, interested in that fact.

"The village. The clothes you are wearing are destroyed with blood and tears from a sword," he explained, looking at my shoulder with his golden eyes.

The hoari had been left as he placed it before leaving. I couldn't really bend my arm that far to fix it. 'He went to the village just to get me some new clothes?' I laughed at the thought. Sesshoumaru had a wet cloth as well and some sort of white material in a roll. 'What's all that for?' I watched as he took hold of the wet cloth and started to wipe the blood from my shoulder. A sting came from his touch and I wanted to pull away from him.

"Do not struggle. As I said, I do not wish to harm you further," Sesshoumaru said almost gently.

'What? It stings worse than when I got it!' Resisting the want to pull away, I took the pain as Sesshoumaru slowly cleaned the blood from my wound. 'Just ask him why he's doing this. It's a simple question that only needs a simple answer.' I breathed with a sigh and knew that it wasn't that easy, not with him.

"Sesshoumaru…" I stopped to see if he would eat me for not saying lord.

At his name, Sesshoumaru stopped scrubbing the blood and looked at me with his golden eyes.

"Why… why would you want to do this? It's not like it won't heal on its own or anything," I wondered quietly.

Sesshoumaru laughed slightly which was surprising because it was like he couldn't smile in other's eyes. 'What's so funny?'

"Forget I even asked," I whispered.

"No, I will not forget. I do this because you are my property, a servant, and because an injured woman can't defend herself against any other demons," he said calmly, continuing him gentle scrubbing.

'It feels like there's more to that reason, but I don't want to push him any farter right now. It'd be something really stupid to do since I can't move very well.' I laughed slightly and placed my right hand over my left side. It felt like there was something jammed into it.

Sesshoumaru had caught the act and then took hold of the hoari at the bottom only to pull it out of my pants to show the wound. Suddenly my breathing started to pick up and everything started to become warm. 'It's alright, calm down. You're alive and he's not going to do anything to you.' Sesshoumaru touched the cloth to my side and it didn't hurt as much as I would have thought.

"Why would you allow a human to injure you so?" he asked with some mockery.

"Why didn't you stop yourself when you had the chance? You had no right in harming him!"

"I didn't know he was there. I was too worried about the bandits than him," I replied, going into silence.

A sharp pain came from my side as Sesshoumaru pulled out a small stick that seemed to be jammed into it. 'How'd that get in there?' I wondered with some confusion. When Sesshoumaru was finished cleaning the wounds, he dropped the cloth and then wrapped both of them before walking to the other side of the hut.

"The wound isn't infected, though demons do not catch minor human diseases. They should be healed in a few days," he said calmly, looking at my face.

"Yeah," I whispered, leaning my head back and smashed it on the wall.

"You got him sick with infection. Leave this place before you get to harm anyone else!"

Shut up," I whispered to myself, hitting my head once again.

This drew Sesshoumaru's attention even more and he continued to wonder why I would say things for no reason. 'The voices won't leave me alone. None of this happened until yesterday. Stupid woman in the hallway.'

"What gives you the right to attack someone like that? Why do you believe that you are the only one who can do something?"

"Shut up!" I growled, about to hit my head again.

A hand took hold of it from the back and stopped me. 'What the?' Sesshoumaru looked at me with some curiosity as he held my head with care.

"You should not harm yourself further. Though, why do you say things to no one?" he asked almost gently.

"It's nothing. You'd probably only laugh at me for it anyway, or make me bathe you again when I'm well," I said, lowering my voice at the bathing part.

"I desire to know what you see behind those distant eyes. I desire to know…" he trailed off slightly, looking into my eyes with his golden ones.

"There's nothing there, only an empty void," I snapped, annoyed with his closeness.

"We shall see. I'm sure that you have something hidden deep in your past," Sesshoumaru said almost kindly, releasing the back of my head and going back to where he had been.

'There's nothing that I know of hidden back there. Then again, with all these voices it's hard to tell what did and did not happen. Not to mention what could happen.' Closing my eyes, I drifted off into sleep with Sesshoumaru watching me. In the background of it all, there was a loud crack of thunder to show that a storm was on its way.

End of Chapter 3

Hello again. : ) : ) I really hope that you all enjoyed that chapter. : ) : ) Once again I apologize that it's kind of short, but I'll try to make the next one longer. : ) : ) Alright, I'll update as soon as I can so please R&R. I'll talk to you all later. : ) : ) Thanks for reading!