Nakamura Ayumi: Good day!! Another update from me!! Thank you SO much for the reviews!! I didn't know that many people read my fanfic… I didn't think it was that good… So THANK YOU SO MUCH!! VIELEN DANK!!! (Many thanks!!!)

So, on with the story!! I do not own Inu-Yasha but I do own the characters I created for this fanfic!

'thinking'

"talking"

Flashback

-setting-

Chapter FIVE

-off somewhere deep-

A young woman sat on a stone throne that was covered in black sheets. She sat sideways with her feet dangling off one of the arms and her leaning against the back of the throne on her side. The room wasn't any different then the black sheets. It was pitch black, darker then night, letting no light shine anywhere. Shadows and darkness completely engulfed the room.

The only thing that seemed to stand out of all the darkness was her. She had a dark kind of white hair. It wasn't like fresh fallen snow but more of a white tinted with gray. Her skin was pale that had a hint of pink and tan to it. Her eyes were a bright reddish pink that had could stop a man in his tracks. Overall she was the definition of beautiful to any man or woman, or at least most. She was well-built, not too skinny not too fat or muscular. She was unmarred and looked as delicate as a flower. Though, looks can be deceiving.

In her hand she twisted around a small crystal. On the inside of it was a small dot of darkness while, around it, it was clear and translucent. A small smile graced her lips as she wrapped her fingers around it.

"Just a little longer."

-with Kagome-

Kagome raced down the hallways running towards the practice grounds. If it wasn't for Kitsuki she would have never woken up.

Kitsuki had come into her room and woken her up just in time to get dressed and get down to the dojo where Sesshomaru was waiting. She was also nice enough to get the right clothes on for practice and to fix up her room and herself even so it wouldn't take so long to get ready.

By the time she had gotten to the front doors of the dojo she halted to a stop. After running her fingers through her hair and straightening out her clothes some, she took in a breath and opened the doors.

"You're late." Kagome sighed as she slid the doors behind her and walked in.

"I apologize okay? I woke up a bit late…" Sesshomaru stared at her for a moment before turning around sharply. He walked to one of the walls that held many weapons and tossed one to her. She caught it off guard then looked at it then him. He, too, took one of the same weapons off of the wall and began to swing it around testing how it would work. Gripping the hilt of it he stared up and down where the blade would be as if admiring that it was a good sword.

"We will be practicing sword techniques with these wooden ones until I am satisfied you are good enough to use a real one." With that he fell into an offensive yet defensive stance. Kagome took a hold of her sword the right way, or at least she thought was the right way, and fell into a clumsy stance. He smirked on the inside. She had a lot to learn.

It seemed like forever until they took a break. Kagome collapsed on the ground breathing heavily letting her wooden sword fall next to her. Ever since they started she had been beaten at least fifteen times already. The first couple went pretty fast but after a couple of tips from Sesshomaru she got the hang of it and was able to keep a pretty steady fight going on but she was still beaten down.

Sesshomaru stood in front of her holding his own wooden sword down. She had learned fairly fast but there was much she still needed to know. It would take some time before she would be able to handle a real sword. However he did notice something. When she fought there was always something going on in her mind. He could tell by the way she moved, stroked, parried, and blocked. She was hesitant, hesitant about something.

A deep breath brought his attention to the present. He looked down at the girl in front of him as she stared up back at him. Nothing was said for quite a while but he kind of knew what she was going to ask next.

"Why's your arm back? It just hit me that you have two arms." Sesshomaru, again, sighed.

"I am full blooded Youkai. Did you think that I could not regenerate a limb?"

"Well, everytime we ran into or you ran into us you were borrowing an arm from some creature or from Naraku." Kagome shrugged. "I don't see why you had to borrow limbs when you could just regenerate one of your own."

"It takes time to restore a full limb to match the one you had before." Kagome opened her mouth to say something more but a slight knock at the door made her stop. "Enter."

The door slid open to reveal a tiger demon. His black and yellow striped tail followed after him as he bowed to Sesshomaru.

"Lord Sesshomaru, an unknown messenger bird has arrived. The message it addressed to you." Sesshomaru merely nodded dismissing the servant. Kagome stood up while also picking up her sword.

"Your lessons are finished for today. I suggest you go and clean yourself up before going to wake Rin and your kit." Kagome about screamed in realization.

"I totally forgot!" She bolted out the room dropping her sword, yet again, on the floor letting it clatter after her. Sesshomaru stood there staring after her while listening to her rapid footsteps as she raced away to the kids' rooms. There were some other things other than weapon handling that she would need to learn during her stay here.

Sesshomaru took his own leave from the dojo after putting away the weapons that they used. The next time they would practice he would make sure to get whatever was in her head out. She would be next to useless if she kept on being uncertain of her moves.

He took quick yet graceful steps towards the messenger tower where all the birds were kept and received. Upon reaching it, he opened the doors to reveal the person in charge of the birds. The phoenix demon looked up at him with his fiery red eyes as he held the falcon on his arm. The falcon looked at him and cocked his head to the side before giving a short screech.

"Here Lord Sesshomaru. This was the message that it carried." The demon handed him a small piece of paper. Unfolding it, Sesshomaru stared at the letters.

Be careful.

Kagome stood outside in the gardens watching Shippo and Rin run around playing tag along with Jakken with a smile on her face. Shippo and Rin ran around and around in circles with Jakken tailing behind them fairly close but not close enough to actually touch them. She giggled seeing him fall and Shippo and Rin stopping to let him get up before they took off running again. Despite what Jakken was saying and the mean look in his eyes as they tortured and teased him, he looked like he was thoroughly enjoying himself, like he was having fun. It was hard to see but it was there.

Sighing Kagome stood up and brushed her new kimono she had put on before getting the two kids.

"Okay you two! It's time to go inside!" Rin and Shippo turned around to Kagaome and latched themselves to her, one at each side holding one of her hands. Jakken weezed as he caught his breath. They had been running nonstop and it looked as if Jakken was the only one who was affected by it. Being old could do that to you… Kagome looked over her shoulder and smiled a little apologetically. "Sorry Jakken, but thanks for playing with them." With that she and the two little ones walked in leaving a tired Jakken outside trying to catch his breath as he watched them go inside.

"… You are welcome."

Sesshomaru stared at the message a while longer before turning to the falconer.

"Do you know who sent this message?" The falconer that had been employed years ago was known and taught to memorize, not only the different kinds of birds, but also from where they came from and WHO they came from. Most of the time, if not all, he was right from whom it came from. The phoenix demon Rai shook his head.

"I have a general location of where it came but nothing more that than. There have been no messages from the Eastern Lands for quite some time…" Rai rubbed his chin with the hand that wasn't holding the falcon as he thought. Sesshomaru watched and waited to see if Rai would say anymore but he didn't. Looking back at the message he folded it back up and held it in his fist. With a sharp turn of his heel he began towards the door and down the stairs.

"Tell me if there are any other messages from this falcon." Rai bowed fluently despite the falcon.

"Yes, Milord."

-Off somewhere deep-

A woman stood over a wide, white granite basin that was filled with crystal clear water. She watched as Sesshomaru walked down the tower and as Rai bowed to his retreating form. She sighed as she leaned away from it.

All around her life flourished. She stood in an open field with golden grass reaching up as high as her waist. Surrounding the circular field were trees opening to a forest. Birds sang, animals roamed, and plants grew greatly. If the scene around her wasn't breathtaking she certainly was.

She had raven black hair that touched the mid of her back. Her skin was a golden tan color with eyes the color of dark rubies. She was slender yet possessed great strength. The simple white dress she wore made it look as if she were wearing a beautiful prom dress that was made just for her. In all she looked just like another certain person.

Waving her hand over the basin the image of Rai and the falcons vanished to be replaced by another that was filled with darkness and shadow except for one person. She sat on a throne with a small crystal in her hand was she stared at it as if with pride. The woman bit her tongue before waving her hand over the basin yet again wiping the image clear letting only the blue sky reflect on the water's surface.

"Be careful."

Nakamura Ayumi: There you have it!! I hope you liked it. I tried to change it up a bit. I hope it wasn't too boring or confusing. I know it's a little confusing, because when I read over it even I was confused… Hehe….

Anyways, away from that, I hope you like it. OH!! About the tower with the birds in it, I haven't been able to figure out what it was called but it's the place where you put all the messenger birds and hunting birds and all the different kinds of birds. I forgot what it was called so I just called it the messenger tower, but if you could give me the name of it that would be great! It was always in the back of my mind but I just couldn't get to it.

So, thank you to all the new and continuing readers. Thank you for the nice reviews and tips too. If you hadn't had given me the tips I don't know what I would've done with the story. Thank you very much.

Oh yes, and please don't flame. If you don't like the story line or don't like where it's going please don't flame me about it. Just don't read anymore and go onto something else or something please. Thanks.