Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha only my oc :(

Shiori woke to find herself in total and complete darkness. She could feel no life force or even air. She stood to her feet and peered through the darkness.

"Where am I?" She thought. "Have I….died?"

She felt someone behind her and sharply turned around.

"Who's there!" she called out. "Who are you?"

"Don't you know who I am?" said a man's voice.

Shiori held her hand out in front of her to feel around. She felt a shoulder. She moved her hand to his neck.

"I'll kill you if you don't tell me what's going on?" she threatened.

A light emitted from where the man stood. His face became visible in a beam of light. Shiori had her hands wrapped around the neck of a tall gentleman. He had long dark hair and burgundy eyes. He wore an all black kimono and carried a katana at his side. He was beaming down at Shiori. Shiori froze with utter shock and she slowly removed her hands.

"There's no need to be afraid," said the man.

"Fa-father?" Shiori managed to finally stumble out. "So then, I really have died?"

"On the contrary, you are very much still alive. Right now, we're inside of your mind," he answered.

"My mind? Why is it filled with darkness?" She asked.

"This is your mind, Shiori. You can change it whenever you want to."

Shiori thought of her favorite place to be in the world—her meadow. In a swirl of color, they were both standing in the middle of it. Although, the darkness still lingered in the sky. She turned back to her father.

"Father, how is this possible? I thought you were banished to the pits of hell and placed in suspended animation," she said.

"Yes and there I stay. But I still have enough power to project myself my spiritual body. As long as no one catches me," he replied to her.

"What is it that you want? Why have you come?" she questioned.

"I just wanted to see you. It's been awhile since I last saw you. I trust you're doing well,"

"I'm lying in a pit half dead," she said flatly. "Why have you really come here?"

" No matter what anyone says, I've always loved and cared about you,"

She stared at him, "am I suppose to believe you? You've never told me that before."

"No," he said calmly. "I suppose you don't have to. You can believe anything you want. But if you choose to believe something, then believe the truth…"

He started disappearing slowly and so did the rest of the meadow. Everything was beginning to dissolve in a bright white light.

"Father wait. Why now? Father!" She called as he finally disappeared.

"Lady Shiori!" cried Rin's voice through the walls of Shiori's mind. Shiori could hear her loud and clear. "Lady Shiori! Please don't die!"

Rin's sorrow and despair stabbed at Shiori's soul. She hated those emotions the most, especially at such an extreme. Shiori's eye lids fluttered and Rin jumped for joy. Shiori promptly sat up. They were in a large crater in the ground. Had her body made this hole?

"What happened?" she asked as she held her head. "Was I out for long?"

Rin shook her head, "no, you weren't sleeping at all. Not even 5 minutes. When they were falling, Shiori took the staff at the last minute. She could have killed that other woman with it, but she didn't."

"Was it just a dream? Did I really have a meeting with my father?" Shiori pondered.

Shiori looked at the staff in her hand, than back into the woods where Reika landed. She had already fled. Shiori took the staff and smashed the orb. Pieces of red and amber glass flung in all direction.

"Just as I suspected," said Shiori. "There were jewel shards in that orb,"

She carefully examined the 3 jewel shards in her hand. They were what Reika was drawing power from. Reika was never pure and innocent, but the jewel shards corrupted her even further. Tennin's weren't meant to come in contact with evil things such as the shikon jewel. It appeared Reika was so desperate to kill Shiori that she accepted outside help.

Reika may have escaped, but there was still an evil lurking among them. Shiori stood to her feet and climbed out the crater. It was then that she saw him—Naraku. He was once again dressed in his white baboon cloak.

"Naraku, I had a feeling this was your doing," she said.

Rin poked her head over the edge of the crater to see what was happening.

"Shiori, I never expected you to make such quick work of Reika like that. Well done," he darkly responded.

"Just what were you hoping to accomplish?" she demanded. "I understand you have yourself a nice collection of enemies, were you trying to add one more?"

He smugged, "This was merely 2 friends helping one another in need. Reika needed my help, and I required hers. But it seems the both of us failed at getting what we wanted."

Shiori glanced at the jewel shards again, then back at Naraku.

"You wanted us to corrupt the jewel for you, didn't you? You drew on Reika's hatred for me and hoped that would taint the jewel," She announced.

"Yes, everything was working perfectly—until you ruined it. You had the chance to kill Reika with her own weapon, yet you passed up the opportunity. Something I didn't expect," He darkly stated.

"Well that's a shame for you, now isn't it?" She snapped.

"Why did you choose to save her? I thought you didn't care about anyone but yourself. You even saved that young child,"

"I don't need to explain any of my actions to the likes of you," she said dryly. "You sicken me,"

He laughed evilly, "Shiori, your flattery will get you nowhere. I'll take those jewel shards off your hands now."

"You will never get these jewel shards!" she shouted.

She took her sword and slashed his body in half. Naraku's body fell to pieces underneath the baboon cloak. Shiori picked through the cloak and found a demon puppetry stick. It had a strand of hair wrapped around it.

"This is why I wasn't able to sense his soul, only demonic energy," she said.

"Look out!" called Rin.

Shiori looked up and saw another Naraku puppet gliding down towards her. She moved out of the way before he could squish her with his giant tentacles. She continued to dodge him.

"You've become weakened, Shiori. You didn't even sense my second puppet. Did that fight with Reika really take a lot out of you?" He taunted as he sliced at her.

"I don't know what'll kill me first, Naraku or pure exhaustion."

"Give me the jewel shards, and I may consider sparing your life," he said to her.

"No chance," she answered swinging her weapon "Hell wrath!"

She obliterated the puppet with one swing. She had a feeling the encounter wasn't quite over. From the trees, 3 more Naraku puppets sprung after her. All of them lashed at the weakened Shiori.

"You really are a lowly vermin," she scoffed at him.

"Shiori, you can't possibly keep this up much longer," echoed Naraku's voice from all 3 puppets.

One of them caught Shiori in its grasp. She struggled to free herself and avoid death. Shiori was determined to keep the shards away from Naraku.

"Why don't you give me the shards? Why does it matter to you?" he questioned as he constricted his grasp on her. He cringed in pain.

"You have nothing but ill intentions! An evil like you upsets the very balance of nature. The shikon jewel is already tainted enough; I can't let you corrupt it any further!" She strained.

"Oh, playing the hero are you?" he taunted.

"I'm no one's hero!" She broke free of his grasp and slashed at the demon's body. Now there were only 2 puppets left.

Both puppets stabbed at Shiori as she fled bellow their bodies. They attempted to entangle her in their roots, but she still continued to slash her way through. They fired a deadly miasma blast at her, but just missed her.

"Your tennin blood would normally aid you with protection against deadly miasmas," he jeered. "But not in your current state."

Rin fell back into the crater as the miasma began to fill the air. She started coughing as it got closer to her. Shiori turned her attention to Rin was slowly dying. Without even thinking, she raced back to the crater.

"She's still protecting that child….." Naraku noted in his mind. "Tell me, are you afraid of what Sesshomaru will do to you if that girl dies? Or is it that you've come to care for her?"

"I am not afraid and I don't care about her," she said lashing at his roots on her way to Rin. "I've accepted responsibility over that child's life; therefore, I can't let her die!"

Shiori made it back to the crater and scooped up Rin. She hadn't taken in much miasma, but she was still losing consciousness. This alarmed Shiori.

"La-lady Shiori? You're saving me again?" she asked.

Rin rested her head on Shiori's shoulder. Shiori felt the warmth of Rin's body slowly leaving her. Shiori's own energy was almost gone completely. The miasma was starting to harm Shiori as well.

"That young girl reminds you of Emi, doesn't she?" said the Naraku puppets.

How did he know her sisters name? What had Reika told him?

"So innocent, full of life, such a pure spirit. Your sister is everything you aren't," Naraku continued. "Such a divine spirit."

"You talk as if you know her," said Shiori.

"Oh, but I do know her," he said. "Kanna, show her Emi."

A small girl, about 10, who was dressed in all white appeared out of nowhere. Like a tennin, she also didn't emit demonic aura. She didn't even emit life force. She may have been lingering around all day; Shiori wouldn't have been able to detect her at all. The girl called Kanna was holding a small mirror, similar to one Reika had. An image was projected off the mirror and into the air. Shiori froze when she saw Emi projected from the mirror. She was battered and in chains. Her lilac eyes filled with fear.

"Shiori," called Emi, "Shiori! Please, help me! I'm so scared!"

Rin woke when she heard Emi's voice and looked up at the image, "that's Shiori's sister. Has she been kidnapped by that baboon man?"

"What have you done with her?" demanded Shiori.

"Reika generously offered her to me as a way to get you to comply. But she fled before I was to make my appearance. It seems her fear of you caused her to abandon the rest of our plan," he demanded.

"Get me to comply? Do you really think I'll surrender to you just because you're holding her hostage?" she asked.

"So you'll abandon you're sister?"

"Shiori! Shiori help me! Help me!" pleaded Emi.

"Be quiet!" shouted a voice from behind her.

Emi was struck down by a young woman wearing a white and purplish kimono. Shiori couldn't help but become enrage by the sight. Just who was that girl and what right did she have to hit her sister?

"To have your sister back, all you must do is obey," he said.

"Over my dead body!" she shouted as she lunged toward him.

She had just enough time to regain some of her strength. Rin clutched tightly to Shiori's shoulder.

"Devil's demise!" she roared as she sliced at both the puppets. She charged right through Emi's projected image. Both the image and Kanna disappeared.

One of them managed to escape Shiori's strike, but the other was obliterated. Just one more to go. Now Shiori was truly burned out and she collapsed onto her back. Rin frantically shook Shiori.

"No, Lady Shiori, get up. He's coming back!" she screamed.

"Rin," said Shiori weakly. "Go."

"I don't want to leave you to die! I want you to live!" cried Rin.

"Emi….she said that very same thing to me. She reminds me of her so much…." Thought Shiori.

"I'll leave the 2 of you to your death," said the last Naraku puppet.

Rin held onto Shiori and screamed as Naraku's roots gutted straight for them. Shiori only had one option left, she had to tap into the very last of her power to use another curse deflect. If she preformed this, her body would be left with nothing and die.

"I have to do this," she thought. "One last strike…"

"Tessaiga!" called out a voice.

Shiori stopped her assault when she saw Inuyasha attacking Naraku.

"You bastard, I've been looking all over for you!" he hollered at Naraku.

"Inuyasha, I didn't expect to see you here," Naraku said. "Come to meet your death have you?"

"Inuyasha!" called Miroku. He, Kagome, and Sango were running towards him. "Don't get too excited. It's only one of his puppets."

"Ha!" Inuyasha scoffed. "I thought so. But I'll still enjoy destroying it."

"Who are they?" Rin thought.

"Shiori, what are you doing fighting Naraku?" smirked Inuyasha. "I thought you guys were allies."

"You are mistaken, Inuyasha. Lord Sesshomaru was the one who allied with him, I didn't. And that was only once," she said weakly.

"Shiori, are you alright?" asked Kagome as she knelt down beside her.

"Yes Kagome, I'm having the time of my life," she sarcastically responded.

Kagome ignored Shiori's sarcasm and lifted her into a sitting position. She could tell she was badly injured. Kagome looked back at the demon puppet.

"There's only one puppet here. But I could've sworn we sensed more on the way. Did kill them all? And earlier, when I sensed shikon jewel fragments, there was another presence as well. Just how many foes did Shiori go up against?" Kagome thought while glancing at Shiori. "Shiori's got the jewel fragments in her lining."

"Now that you're here, I will take your shards as well. All of you will die here!" bellowed Naraku as he shot out beams of miasma.

Inuyasha grabbed Kagome, Shiori, and Rin out of the way. Miroku and Sango leapt out of the way as well and flew on Kirara's back.

"Why is Inuyasha saving me?" Shiori thought.

He placed all three of them down and lashed at the demon puppet. It blocked all of his advances and pushed him back. Rin continued to cling to Shiori. While Inuyasha fought with the puppet.

"Shiori, what's happening here?" asked Kagome.

"Naraku tried to use me and an old….acquaintance…of mine in an effort to corrupt the jewel. But things didn't go according to his plan. So now he's mercilessly trying to pursue me for these jewel shards," she answered. "That's the 5th demon puppet I've had to fight."

"Lady Shiori was amazing! You should have seen her!" Rin praised.

"Huh?" said Kagome. "Who's this little girl? Is she a friend of her's?"

"Why are you here alone? Where's Sesshomaru?" Miroku asked. He and Sango, along with Miroku landed safely on the ground.

"I've no idea," Shiori responded. "I haven't seen him in several weeks. Last I checked, he was going to have a new sword forged. That was about a week ago."

"Yes, we've met Tokijin," said Miroku flatly. He suddenly switched up his tone and grabbed Shiori's hands "I wondered where you were during our encounters with Sesshomaru. I'm glad to see you're okay."

Sango glared at Miroku who quickly dropped Shiori's hands.

Inuyasha continued to fight Naraku. Shiori noticed he was swinging the tessaiga with less force then when she last watched him fight. He seemed to be struggling with his sword. It was as if it'd become heavier to him.

"I'll suck it in with my wind tunnel," Miroku proclaimed.

As soon as he began to unleash his rosary beads, Naraku's poisonous insects appeared beside him. He definitely made sure to think of everything. Miroku had no choice but to back down.

"It's useless," Naraku snarled at them. Naraku filled the air with his Miasma

Naraku tried to slam down on them, but Miroku put up a barrier around them with his staff. Inuyasha continued to use his heavy tessaiga. Kagome pulled out her bow and aimed it at the puppet.

"Hit the mark!" she called as she fired her sacred arrow.

The arrow travelled through the air and struck the Naraku puppet in the heart. Kagome's arrow not only did the arrow purify the puppet, but it also purified the air of miasma. The poisonous insects all scattered away. Miroku was able to let down his barrier. Shiori stared at Kagome.

"It looks like she awakened some of her dormant power," Shiori thought.

"That was the last of the demon puppets for now. I'm not sensing any more demonic auras," said Sango.

"Neither am I," said Miroku.

"Lady Shiori, are you okay now?" asked Rin.

"Yes, I'll be fine," she said standing to her feet. "It looks like this battle is finally over. Let's go Rin."

"But, you're still very weak," said Kagome. "Let us take care of you."

"She's right, you should rest for a little while," added Miroku.

"I have to go after him," She said defiantly.

"You're in no condition to go after anyone," he responded.

Shiori took Rin by the hand and pulled her alone. But Inuyasha stepped in her way.

"Hand over the shards before you go," he demanded.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome pleaded.

Shiori pulled the shards from her lining and gave them to Inuyasha. He looked at her with surprise.

"Uh…..wait you're just gonna fork them over that easily?" he asked with a wide eyed expression.

"I was going to bring them to you anyway, I hear you're trying to collect the shards before Naraku does," she said turned to continue walking away. "I'm grateful for your help today, I'll be sure to repay the favor."

Miroku called to her, "Wait Shiori, if you really intend to find Naraku then why not come with us?"

"Yeah, you'll be a great addition to our team. Especially the way you fought of those demon puppets!" said a cheerful Kagome.

"What?" complained Inuyasha. "What the hell are you guys doing? She can't join our team! She's Sesshomaru's accomplice. In case you forgot!"

"No," said Shiori. "There's no need for me to join your group. I'm sure we'll be running into each other again, since we share a common enemy now."

"Why exactly are you after him? Is it because he ambushed you?" asked Shippo.

Shiori looked down at Rin, "he's holding my sister captive as a way to restrict me."

Everyone immediately turned to Sango. She too had a sibling held captive by Naraku.

"Thanks again," she called out.

"Good-bye! It was nice meeting you!" said Rin as she waved good-bye to them all.

Inuyasha watched them until they were out of sight. He gave the Shiori's shards to Kagome and looked into the distance.

"That is one strange girl," he said. "Why on earth did she try to fight 5 Naraku demon puppets all by herself? Did you see her? She would've died if I didn't step in to save her. And who was that little girl?"

...

"Look Lady Shiori! I found a pretty pink one!" said Rin holding a pink flower.

Shiori took Rin back to her meadow to relax. It had been a long day and she finally regained all her strength. She was sitting in the grass staring at the nighttime sky. She just finished pulling out the flowers Rin placed in her hair.

"Oh, the fire flies are out!" Rin called as she danced around in a circle.

"This has been a day in hell. Everything from Reika's attacks to Naraku's ambush. Even my father's mind visit. Am I being tested by some sort of higher power? What problem should I take care of first?"

Shiori leaned back into the grass as Rin happily played with the fireflies. She was grateful that something else besides her hair caught the girl's attention.

"And then there's also Emi's kidnapping….should I rescue her and risk being attacked by Naraku and Reika again? Ugh, well I suppose things can't get any worse."

"Lord Sesshomaru!" sang Rin. "You came back!"

"Why….." Shiori moaned in aggravation.

Sesshomaru, Jaken, and Ah-Un landed down in front of them. Rin happily scampered over to them to present her flowers. Shiori didn't move an inch from the spot she was in. She continued to stare aimlessly at the sky.

"Shiori," called Sesshomaru. "What's happened to you?"

Shiori finally got up and walked over to him. It was her first time seeing Sesshomaru in quite awhile. She carefully eyed the second sword by his side—Tokijin.

"Naraku sent his demon puppets after me," she said. She didn't bother with telling the entire story to him. He could just pick up the different scents on her anyway.

"How many of them?"

"5, I destroyed 4 of them," she told him.

"Inuyasha's scent…..he must have destroyed the other puppets. There's another scent on her as well….it's smell like a tennin," he thought as he examined her.

"Lady Shiori saved me! A bunch of times," exclaimed Rin.

"Is that so?" he questioned.

"You gave me responsibility of her, I was only performing my task," Shiori flatly responded.

"Jaken said you had a few choice words for me?" he asked.

Shiori stared into his eyes, "it doesn't matter anymore. I have too many other things to deal with right now, my lord."

"He said you were pretty adamant about talking with me. It's the only reason I came," he casually responded.

"You were just gonna send Jaken to pick up Rin? You weren't even going to come yourself?" Shiori's voice slowly began to elevate. "Was that your plan?"

"Shiori," Sesshomaru he said coolly, "are you mad at me?"

A vein popped in Shiori's head. Despite everything she'd been through all day, she never once lost her composure. She even kept her cool while on the verge of death. But that was the last straw.

"wha…you…..I am not mad! Dogs get mad! I am furious! Do you have any idea what kind of day I've had? Or what I had to go through to protect that child? And you weren't even going to come collect her yourself? Its bad enough you asked me to do it in the first place! Have I really been reduced to a mere babysitter for you? Is this what you think of me?"

Jaken looked at Shiori in surprise.

"She's truly lost it! Lord Sesshomaru will reprehend her for sure this time!" Jaken thought.

But Sesshomaru didn't look angry or even the least bit upset. If anything, he looked slightly intrigued. He watched her fiery expressions with ease. He found Shiori's irritation to be very amusing. Shiori saw this, and became even more enraged.

"I was attacked by the tennin queen Reika, thrown through 3 tree trunks, dropped from a high altitude, ambushed by Naraku—5 times, pushed to the point of exhaustion, and to top it off I've got serious family issues to attend to," She said continuing her rage, "Like seeing my father for the first time in half a century, and dealing with my kidnapped sister! After all this the least you can do is…"

She stopped herself before she could say anymore. Jaken and Rin stared at her with curiosity. What was she going to say?

"The least you can do is…." She tried to continue again, but trailed off "Forget it. Like I said, I have too many other things to deal with. I'm taking my leave my lord." She turned away from him.

"You're leaving again? But I was hoping you would stay with us," said Rin hugging Shiori's waist. Shiori pat her on the head

"Behave," she said softly.

"I will, I promise," Rin tried hard to fight back her tears.

Sesshomaru turned his back on them, "Shiori, your hair is down again."

"I wasn't aware," lied Shiori.

"I prefer it that way," he said casually. "It suits you."

Shiori said nothing as she took off into the nighttime sky. Rin stared after her and wonder when she'd see her again.

"The nerve of that girl! My lord gave her a compliment and she didn't even acknowledge it! She's nothing but an insolent wench in need of an attitude adjustment!"

"Jaken," said Sesshomaru firmly while staring after Shiori, "shut up, or I'll kill you."

"Gah," gulped Jaken. Rin giggled at Jaken's silly expression.