Many thanks to my reviewers:

Keleos, LitoxShorty, Trio of Terror, d2shny, shedevil666666, Princess Aralee, Sesshy4Ever, whitehitsugaya, icyattitude, fluffycrush, HawkAngel XD, New Fan, Teela.akimako, and Jayde Raine

Notes: The word "Kuroko" is the name of the stage hands in Japanese theater who dress all in black and are to be considered "invisible". I sometimes hear it translated as puppeteer. It is made up of the words for "Dark" and "Child" and so I used it for one of the characters name so technically her name is Dark Child. The "ko" at the end of a name is usually only used for female names (i.e. Haruko, Noriko).

Warning: there are going to be original characters in this fic for the simple fact that the main characters are not the only characters who exist in the world of Inuyasha, so I won't keep it narrowed down to only them. Before you ask, I don't intend to pair any of my own characters with the characters in Inuyasha, with the exception of maybe Jaken - if I do it at all.

Ties of Blood

Chapter 7

Arrival

"Dear, oh dear, what is that? And what is it doing draped all over Sesshoumaru-Sama?"

The voice was only halfway hushed but the clear disapproval in it brought Rin out of her tiny doze and she frowned, wondering who or what they were talking about. Her cheek brushed against metal and her frown deepened. How in the word could she have possibly fallen asleep with such a hard surface for a pillow? Shifting, she turned her head to the side and winced as something dug into her cheek.

'What in the world…?' she though groggily as she leaned away from the surface, in order to get a look at it. It appeared to be a breastplate with two spikes coming off the front of it and an attachment that sprouted from the side of it and also appeared to be adorned with spikes. On the other side of the breast plate was a pelt of some kind with one end tucked behind its owner's body and the rest thrown over his shoulder.

Her sleep-fogged mind finally caught up with the memories of her predicament at the same time an all-too-familiar voice asked, "How long do you plan on staring?"

She felt her face grow hot as she realized that she must have fallen asleep again as she waited for them to arrive at their destination. Looking down, she noticed that the dragon was on solid ground and breathed a sigh of relief that was short-lived because she also noticed that her arms were still wrapped around Sesshoumaru's waist. The young woman quickly jerked her arms away and folded them into her lap.

"Ah, yes, um…sorry," she murmured, looking up into those fascinating gold eyes of his.

The taiyoukai performed that slight, head-tilting thing again that made him look young and she realized that he seemed to do it whenever she did something curious or unexpected – almost as if he were trying to puzzle her out.

'Well, that would make two of us,' Rin thought with mild amusement. He obviously didn't understand her and she really didn't get him so they were two peas in a pod at the moment. If he found her strange then she could say the same for him because - now that she had the presence of mind to think back on it - she had to wonder why he had allowed her to fall asleep against his chest.

Rin searched his gaze, trying to find some kind of clue therein but he was closed to her. Giving herself a mental shrug, she decided that their battle of wills (a.k.a. getting Sesshoumaru to open up) would have to wait and settled for surveying their surroundings.

They were in some kind of courtyard and she marveled at the massive stone walls surrounding it. If she had to give a comparison on just how vast this courtyard was, it could have easily fit two of the daimyo's castles including their respective courtyards. There was a huge gate with what appeared to be two big dogs crouched on either side of it and when she craned her neck around, she saw an equally huge castle whose top she couldn't make out. The building looked like it had no end and she shrank a little closer to Sesshoumaru, somewhat intimidated by the sheer grandeur of the castle. There was no doubt in her mind that this was Sesshoumaru's dwelling and that fact alone drove home to her that she was way out of her element.

The architecture might have been similar in nature to that of her fellow humans but the dimensions were decidedly inhuman. Not only that, even the air was different. It was crisp, but not the type of crisp that one might encounter on a cool autumn day. No, the air was so clear and sharp that she felt as if it could slice her lungs to shreds if she dared to take in more than she needed to breath. It hummed too. There was power here, so much that she could choke. It was from the vast swirls of power ingrained into the very air itself that she felt, more than heard, that odd hum. It resonated around her and she felt as if it were seeking entrance to her very being so that it might ingrain itself as deeply into her as possible and make her its own.

An answering call to the power humming in the air worked its way up from her belly and she felt dizzy for a second as that strange power – the one that she had long since realized marked her as being a miko of some sort – flooded its way through her very being and repelled the energy seeking entrance to her body. It was so sudden and uncontrolled that the edges of her vision grew dim and spots danced before her eyes. Her power was trying to squeeze its way out of her body in order to chase after the foreign energy that had been attempting to invade in the first place and it was through sheer will alone that she kept it in check.

Her surroundings started to fade and something inside was screaming at her to lash out at anyone or anything that moved. She forced her energy back, inch-by-inch, to the spot where it had originated and the sudden loss of power flowing through her limbs made her feel sick. The next thing she knew, Sesshoumaru was dragging her off of the two-headed dragon with one arm before letting her go, giving her no choice but to sank to her knees in front of him because her legs felt too weak to support her. A shriek rang out and Rin winced.

"Not only is that thing human," the voice that had awoken her said in panicked tones, "but it's one of those humans! It's trying to kill us!"

The person speaking was really starting to grate on Rin's nerves. The owner of the voice was obviously female and, whoever she was, she certainly wasn't helping her peace of mind. Here she was struggling with a power that she knew she had but couldn't really control because she hadn't been trained and this person had time to throw out insults? She didn't take too kindly to being called an "it" and she was feeling bad enough as it was without this woman rubbing her face into it. Throw her embarrassing position on the ground in front of her new master into the mix and she was ready to do damage.

Her head snapped up and she glared in the general direction of the voice. Her vision wavered a bit but sharpened immediately after and she began to look around for the culprit responsible for making such snide remarks. If she weren't so angry, she might have been somewhat intimidated by the sight that greeted her eyes.

A crowd of youkai was surrounding them. It was made up of a variety of creatures that ranged from humanoid in form to shapeless blobs with eyes floating in a sea of jelly. There were males, females, and things whose gender she would never be able to guess in the crowd as well as a few who appeared to be children. Massive youkai towered above the rest of the crowd while tiny ones, no higher than her knee, darted in and out of the shifting sea of legs. There was only one thing they all had in common and that was their focus on her. The eyes that returned her stare were a mixture of curiosity and hostility and she knew she would have to be cautious as long as she was here. They were both strange and wonderful at the same time and she wondered just what sort of life she could possibly live among them.

One person in particular caught her eye and she narrowed her vision to that person. It was a female youkai, one of the humanoid ones and Rin knew, somehow, that this person was the one who had been making such disparaging remarks from the moment she arrived.

She was beautiful - as most of the humanoid youkai were, both males and females – and Rin might have been impressed if the look on her face wasn't so snide. Putting her nasty expression aside, the woman had milk white skin with just a hint of blush to her cheeks. Her hazel eyes were rimmed in something black that looked as if it might have been make-up or markings of some sort and it traveled the perimeter of her eyes before flaring out on the corners. On the inner corners of her eyes, those that cradled the bridge of her narrow nose, the black spilled out and came to a point that ended about an inch down on either side of her nose. The points on the outer corners of her eyes were similar to those on the inner ones except they curved upwards and inwards, giving her a slight swirl that brought ones attention back to her eyes. Her eyebrows were thin, very fine slashes of black across her brow and they perfectly complimented her raven-colored hair. Her lips were painted in red and reminded Rin uncomfortably of the blood that stained a wild beast's maw after it had just made a kill. Her long hair was elaborately done in a series of graceful coils, held in place by silver ornaments and what she could see of her kimono was lavish. Her clothing was of the highest quality of black silk and there appeared to be birds done in silver which travelled in circular patterns beginning at her waist and radiating outward. Part of her kimono was obscured by a curious cloak that seemed to be made of raven feathers and in her hand was a lavish fan that also sported raven feathers.

Rin had no idea what to make of her but her certainty that this youkai woman was the source of the rude comments was summarily confirmed. The woman actually had the nerve to paste a false look of fear on her face before spreading her fan and using it to obscure her lips – as if she were actually hiding behind it instead of using it to cover the smirk that Rin knew was on her lips.

"Oh no, it's looking at me," the distasteful woman murmured with more than a hint of mockery, black eyes staring directly into Rin's. A message was being conveyed here and, if she didn't know any better, she would say she was being challenged, though over what she couldn't say. She wasn't a particularly vengeful person but she wasn't stupid either. Rin knew when lines were being drawn and she knew that, if she wasn't careful, she could easily find herself boxed in. So she kept her mouth shut and merely watched to see how things would unfold, even though it fairly killed her to do so.

Seeing that Rin made no reply, the youkai surrounding them fell to whispering among themselves. No doubt they were curious as to why their master had brought yet another human home when it had been a human responsible for their lord being imprisoned in the first place. It was also very likely that they were wondering why their lord had brought something as dangerous as a miko in among them. There was no way that they hadn't felt the surge of power that rose up inside of her in response to the vast amounts of youkai energy floating in the air.

'What was it Kagome called that odd energy of theirs?' Rin mused, 'I think she said there were two types: jyaki and youki. Jyaki was the more visible and evil one but I don't see anything and I don't feel particularly evil. So it must be the other one, youki.'

"Dear, Sesshoumaru-Sama, far be it from me to question your motives but, I think we have a right to know why you have brought this particular human here," the youkai woman began, with a tiny edge in her voice that pulled Rin from her thoughts. Looking at the woman, she noticed the faint lines of annoyance that creased her brow and felt a small rush of satisfaction. Apparently, the snide woman had been expecting her to make a reply to her rude comments and disliked that fact that Rin hadn't responded as she thought she would.

For the first time since arriving Sesshoumaru spoke and she had to repress a shudder at just how cold his tone was. "I am not obligated to explain myself to you, Kuroko," Sesshoumaru said and Rin twisted her head to look up at him, uncomfortably aware of the hard stones on the ground beneath her. She no longer felt so weak that her legs wouldn't support her but she didn't want to bring the attention of either one of the two youkai back to her by standing up.

Kuroko lowered her fan and Rin felt chills go up her spine at the look on her face now. She didn't miss the fact that Sesshoumaru hadn't placed an honorific of any sort at the end of the other youkai's name. He certainly didn't use one whenever he addressed her and she had assumed that it was because she was a "mere" human but it appeared that he was disrespectful towards most of his own kind as well. She frowned at that – such behavior was bound to end in disaster because most creatures, intelligent or not, could only take so much abuse before they lashed out. She hadn't been in this place for half an hour and already she was seeing potential problems.

The youkai around them had fallen silent the moment Sesshoumaru spoke, but they fell to murmuring once again after he finished and there was a distinct note of hostility in their tones. They were obviously displeased at their master's disinclination to tell them why he was bringing yet another one of those "filthy humans" in among them and the looks coming her way did nothing to alleviate her worries. In fact, if she had to choose a description for the way the crowd around her looked, she would say they looked mutinous. How Sesshoumaru didn't notice it, she wasn't sure but she would bet anything that it had something to do with his curious inability to pick up on the emotions of others. He simply didn't seem to know how to put himself in someone else's shoes.

If she looked at it from the standpoint of a youkai, she could completely understand their feelings. She was their enemy - whether it was because she was human, miko, or both - and it would have to feel like a betrayal for one of their own kind to bring her in among them and not even give them the benefit of an explanation. It wasn't any different from the way Souta had been treated by his fellow humans because of his loyalty to Sesshoumaru. If humans could turn on their own kind, then so could youkai.

There was a lot of resentment in the eyes surrounding them and she knew that something had to be done. Sesshoumaru didn't seem to realize that his own people were more than a little upset with him – that or he didn't care, which was also very likely – and she had no desire to die. True, the youkai surrounding her might let her live because Sesshoumaru wanted her alive, but what would happen if they decided that they no longer wanted him around? She'd be in deep trouble.

Something else was bothering her as well.

If anyone asked her if she liked Sesshoumaru, the answer would have been a resounding "no". From what she could tell he was spoiled, selfish, immature, and more than a little unreasonable. However, Souta nii-chanhad been loyal to him and she had seen for herself that there was more to him than met the eye. Yes, it was easy to dislike him. Yes, she didn't think much of him. Yes, he made her angry. But he was a very complex creature and she would be lying if she said she didn't find him fascinating. His actions back in her hometown screamed "cruelty" but he kept his word to her brother and hadn't harmed a hair on her head. He could have dumped her off of the back of his two-headed dragon for irritating him but he had pulled her close and made her more comfortable instead. Sesshoumaru was such a walking contradiction.

He was commanding.

He was beautiful to look at.

And he was utterly unhappy.

Rin wasn't the type to tell people what they wanted to hear just to make them happy and, from what she could tell, he hadn't had anyone like her in his life. Not, if he could turn such a blind eye to what was going on around him. But it was obvious that he needed someone who would give it to him straight. The young woman couldn't image that he had friends of any sort, not with the way he treated others, but she was willing to overlook his prickly personality. Especially, if it afforded her a chance to see the man behind the cold mask he always seemed to wear. She was willing to offer him her friendship because it just wasn't in her to ignore someone in need.

And Sesshoumaru needed her - a young orphan named Rin, who refused to let him frighten her. With that in mind, she decided to run a bit of damage control, lest the youkai around them pick now to rebel against Sesshoumaru.

Rin slowly made her way to her feet, knowing that all eyes were on her now, and set about dusting herself off, seemingly uncaring of the hostility in the air around her. She smoothed her hands over the bottom of her kimono, taking her sweet time to insure that her only outfit was dirt free as well as to gather her courage. Checking to make sure that her book was still tucked away in her sleeve, she then proceeded to adjust her obi – tightening it up and trying to make it look as presentable as possible. The last order of business was to comb her fingers through her hair to give it some semblance of order but she would definitely need to tackle the tangled strands with a comb once the opportunity presented itself.

Only after she was certain that the eyes of every youkai in the crowd were trained on her, did she turn her own towards them and speak.

"Well, now that I have your attention, I think I would like to speak for myself."

Her gaze slid from one face to the next, gauging their reactions as she spoke her next words, "I realize that our two races do not get along but that doesn't mean that I will accept being spoken of as if I have no voice or thoughts of my own." She allowed her eyes to linger on the woman called "Kuroko" as she said this. The femal youkai narrowed her eyes at Rin - obviously wondering what her game was - but said nothing. The other youkai whispered among themselves and she caught snippets of conversation that re-affirmed her need to be cautious.

"What a bold child," someone hissed.

"Yes, I find it amusing. I might be inclined to observe her for a bit," said another

"I'd rather eat her," a silky voice said.

"I agree. She's young. Young humans are the best. Their flesh is so nice and tender," replied another.

"Maybe she's Sesshoumaru's pet. Goodness knows he had that other human for long enough."

"He's becoming more and more like his father," a deep voice said and she felt rather than saw Sesshoumaru stiffen next to her.

'Now that's interesting,' Rin thought to herself, 'Why would the mention of his father unsettle him so much?' She tucked that question away for later and continued to speak, ignoring the whisperers and their snide comments.

"I absolutely do not need Sesshoumaru-Sama to speak for me," Rin said, aware that her new lord had focused those penetrating, gold eyes on her.

"You are audacious, aren't you, human," this came from Kuroko who had finally decided to speak up once more. Her lips were curled into a mocking smile and Rin wished that she could scratch that disgusting look off of her face. However, that would have been counter-productive, so she settled for using her mouth to put her in her place.

She looked the woman dead in the eye and replied, "And you are rude, aren't you, youkai." The smile melted right off of Kuroko's face and her lips curled back to reveal fangs.

"I should kill you for your impertinence, little girl," she hissed.

Where her sudden boldness came from, she didn't know, but she wasn't going to look a gift-horse in the mouth. All Rin knew was that one moment she was thinking that she'd had just enough of everyone threatening to kill her for speaking her mind and the next her feet were carrying her forward until she was a foot away from the hateful woman.

The woman towered over her but she had refused to be intimidated by Sesshoumaru just because he was physically larger and she wasn't about to start with this woman. Instead, she raised her head high, never breaking eye-contact, and said softly, "I am not yours to kill. My life belongs to Sesshoumaru-Sama, do you think you have the right to take it?"

The silence that fell after her statement was deathly and Rin saw the beginnings of hatred for her blossoming in the woman's eyes. 'Darn it, Rin, you just can't keep your mouth closed,' she chastised herself mentally, 'And why, oh why, did you say you are Sesshoumaru's to kill, like that's a good thing?' It took some effort to keep her inner turmoil from showing and giving the woman before her an opening but she managed to suck her natural apprehension in and hold onto it with a mental death-grip.

Rin's relief was profound when Kuroko narrowed her eyes at her, gave a little huff, and turned away – making it seem like she had simply grown bored of conversing with her. Rin suspected that she was just unused to a lowly human getting the better of her. There was absolutely no way that Kuroko would have been able to give her a reply that wouldn't make it look as if the female youkai sought to usurp Sesshoumaru's power.

Of course, she was not so naïve as to believe that things were settled between the two of them but she did hope to buy a little bit of time. Her arrival had apparently turned the youkai community on its collective ear and Kuroko was just one of the many who definitely didn't want her here. It felt good to shut the nasty woman up but she silently kicked herself for not keeping a bridle on her tongue. She'd had every intention of speaking as politely as she could to the assembled crowd but that woman just got under her skin – there was just something about her that put her on guard.

Maybe it all went back to the challenging look the woman had thrown her way. If she looked at it from a woman's viewpoint, the reason behind the look could have been that Kuroko desired Sesshoumaru's affections and didn't want a human getting in the way. However, a woman who desired Sesshoumaru would probably have taken the time to learn a few things about his personality. The fact that the taiyoukai was a private person, who had more than his fair share of pride, was readily obvious to anyone who was in his presence for five minutes. In her limited experience, most nobility seemed to share this trait and not a single one liked to have their motives questioned or their decisions overturned. So if this Kuroko sought to gain Sesshoumaru's favor, she had certainly done a good job of sabotaging any effort she might make in that direction by questioning Sesshoumaru openly in front of a crowd of his subjects.

On the other hand, maybe the female had questioned Sesshoumaru the way she had because she did know his personality. The eyes that she had looked into, while hateful, gave no indication of stupidity. Rather, they held a keen intelligence that was not unlike the bird whose feathers decorated both her clothing and her fan. If she were a betting woman, she would lay down money that the woman had been trying to deliberately undermine Sesshoumaru's authority – knowing that he wasn't the type to tell everyone the "why's" and "how's" of his actions. Who knows how the situation would have deteriorated if she hadn't stepped in herself.

Why the woman seemed to have it in for the taiyoukai, she wasn't sure, but she didn't have to stretch her imagination very far when she took in the opulence of Sesshoumaru's dwelling. Her new lord was very powerful, she was coming to realize, and his power wasn't limited to just what he could do with those wickedly sharp claws of his. 'Just what I need, to land in the middle of a potential political mess,' she thought with a frown before looking around at the crowd and realizing that they were waiting for her to speak once more.

Feeling somewhat awkward now and remembering that, for all her bravado, she was still just a sixteen-year-old girl who was way out of her element, she offered the gathered youkai a shy smile. Clearing her throat, she spoke once more, "Ah, well as for who I am and why I'm here, I am a replacement servant, of sorts. My name is Rin and I'm sixteen. There's nothing particularly special about me, other than the fact that I'm here to take the place of my brother."

"So she is just a pet like that other human was," someone said and she controlled her automatic rise in temper.

Apparently, youkai were just as fond of gossip as human were because they fell to murmuring amongst themselves for the hundredth time and she felt herself getting irritable. Where all youkai this inconsiderate? She had just traveled who-knows-how-far, woken up to a crowd of people who were obviously not human, endured the spiteful comments of a potentially power-hungry female, and she still didn't really know how to control her powers. If she accidentally purified someone, she was going to be in serious trouble and she hadn't done a thing to deserve being treated like a mindless smudge of dirt with no thoughts, opinions, or will of her own.

And she was TIRED, darn it!

She must have let out some kind of sound or maybe her scent changed - she was not about to ask him what she smelled like – but whatever the reason, Sesshoumaru moved forward and smoothly maneuvered himself so that she was partially obscured behind him. She was shocked to say the least because, if she didn't know any better, she would say that he was acting as a shield between her and his subjects but, as usual, he opened his mouth and ruined it.

"She is of little consequence. Treat her as you did her brother," he said and his tone brooked no argument. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jaken step forward and he fixed stern, bulging yellow eyes on the crowd, following his lord's lead.

"Sesshoumaru-Sama has important things to attend to. You'll have time enough to figure the human out," the little toad squeaked out, making shooing motions with his weird staff. She had no idea why it had two heads on if and she didn't want to know.

Rin breathed a tiny sigh of relief as Sesshoumaru's subjects got the point and quieted down. There were a number of looks exchanged before they turned, almost in unison, and began to move away – going back to whatever they had been doing before their master returned. From her vantage point of looking at them from behind now, Rin couldn't help but feel that their collective backs reminded her of a wall of sorts. A wall designed specifically to shut out Sesshoumaru and anyone who affiliated themselves with him and she fervently prayed that it never came down to that. Not just because her life was on the line, but because she didn't want anything bad to happen to Sesshoumaru before she could give him a chance to show her that there really was more to him than met the eye.

Well, whatever the case, she was very happy to gain a short break from a crowd of scrutinizing eyes and a youkai woman with a sharp tongue. In very short order, she found herself mostly alone, with only Sesshoumaru, the toad, and the two-headed dragon for company. Now that the crown had dispersed, other needs came to her attention. She wanted, more than anything else, to bathe and go to sleep, but she had no idea where she could satisfy those particular desires, so she turned to Sesshoumaru in order to direct her questions at him.

"Sesshoumaru-Sama," she began and paused at the look in his eyes when he turned to look at her. His golden eyes were cold and the corners of his mouth were pressed tight in displeasure.

'What is the matter with him, now?' she wondered and it wasn't long before her question was answered.

"Jaken," he said quietly, drawing the toad's attention to him.

"Yes, Sesshsoumaru-Sama?" the tiny youkai squeaked.

"Leave us."

Jaken's eyes widened and he looked from Sesshoumaru to Rin and back again before a smug grin tugged on his thin lips. Rin could only guess that his look meant that she was in trouble with Sesshoumaru.

"As you wish, my lord," Jaken said before turning and marching off, a tiny hop in his step that made him look even more like the toad he claimed to be.

Sesshoumaru waited until the toad was out of sight before making his next move. All Rin knew was that, in one moment she was staring at the spot where Jaken had been and in the next she found her neck being gripped by claw tipped fingers. At the risk of breaking or severely injuring her neck, she didn't resist – much – as he forced her head up so that she had no choice but to look him in the eye.

He said nothing for a long moment and when she opened her mouth to speak, he gave her a look that made her snap it shut once more. Silence stretched out as his amber eyes moved over her, taking in the details of her face before sliding downwards briefly to assess her young form. She squirmed under his scrutiny but remained still otherwise, curious as to what he would do next.

The taiyoukai didn't speak until his eyes came to rest on hers once more and when he did, she was taken aback, "How old are you?"

She completely didn't expect him to ask her age, but since there didn't seem to be much harm in answering it she swallowed briefly and replied, "I'm sixteen."

"Young," he said softly and his grip loosed just a fraction.

"I'm old enough to marry," she said just as softly.

"Indeed," he said and a curious hardness stole into his eyes as he spoke his next words, "Then I suppose you are old enough to know when to hold your tongue, are you not Rin?"

If possible, his voice was even colder than she had heard previously and she couldn't stop a faint tremor from going through her body. There was something different about Sesshoumaru, as if the walls he kept around his emotions had gotten even thicker. He had at least shown her a little bit of emotion when they were still travelling – even though it was mainly annoyance - but now…now, she could hardly read. She could tell he was displeased at her and that was it.

For the first time, Rin wondered if she was in over her head and she licked her lips nervously. His eyes tracked the movement briefly before returning to her own which didn't help her peace of mind. His stare was seriously starting to unnerve her.

"I saw no reason to remain silent," she said in a tiny voice, "and…I couldn't just stand there and let that woman talk you into some sort of trap."

One fine silver brow went up and the claws on the back of her neck tightened so much that she had to bite back a cry of pain.

"Do you think I am unaware of that? Do you think I can't defend myself," he intoned dangerously and she shook her head slightly, wincing as the movement caused his sharp nails to draw blood.

"I can't say anything about that," she choked out, her fear rising up strong as she realized that she might have gone too far this time. Rin could feel tiny beads of blood welling up from the tiny punctures his claws had made in her skin and struggled not to shudder. She wasn't a coward, not by a long stretch, but neither was she a fool. Just as Kuroko had drawn a line between Rin and herself, Sesshoumaru was drawing a clear line between the two of them as well. Though she had been smart with him a number of times since meeting him, such bravado was possible only because she had been more or less ignoring the fact that he came from a completely different world from her.

Sesshoumaru, however, wasn't going to let her ignore that fact for much longer, she could feel it in the grip of his claws on her neck and the chill in the amber eyes that stared down at her. Even when he was threatening her life and that of her brother, she had never felt as close to death then as she did now and only a fool would have remained unafraid.

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Okay, I had to stop here. I'm trying something a bit different and before I start writing something crazy, I need to break this up. Sesshoumaru's P.O.V. is coming up next. Please let me know what you think. I know the story is moving a bit slow but I have a lot in store for this.