Chapter Two

Merge

"I am Sesshomaru, Lord of the western lands. The question is, who are you?" Her eyes widened and her heart pace increased. This was Lord Sesshomaru? This was the nearly one-thousand year old daiyoukai war lord? Her gaze scanned him head to toe. He looked no more than 26, with long, wispy white hair, piercing golden eyes, a crescent emblem crowning his forehead, and bright magenta markings. How was this old man still so... handsome? The lowering shift of his eyebrows snapped her out of her musings and a blush crossed her face.

"Lord Sesshomaru, my name is Kagome Higerashi." She gave him a deep, respectful bow. It was sloppy, but she knew her place. No one disrespected the western lord, not out of fear, well, a little out of fear, but mostly great respect. She kept her head low, until she heard him make a sort of huffing sound. "Hn." She stood up, and moved closer to him, despite his aura flaring in discomfort. This was her chance to finally take down Naraku.

"Lord Sesshomaru, you seek to destroy Naraku, right? I would like to help." His eyes somehow managed to narrow more. She couldn't tell if he was angry or not, so she continued to explain. "I have seen many travelers, all telling horrific tales of the eastern lands."

He didn't speak, so she continued. "I want to stop him before that darkness spreads any further. I want to help the people of the east. Please let me help you." He looked off to the side, seemingly ignoring her. It was her turn to narrow her eyes. Jeez, this guy sure was hard to talk to. If he hadn't introduced himself, she would have believed he were mute. She crossed her arms, waiting for him to respond to her request in some way.

"What does a human like you have to offer the strongest demon in all of Japan?" His eyes slid over to look at her. Wow, he sure was modest. Kagome rolled her eyes and straightened her back, lifting her hand in front of her, palm up. She forced her energy to blaze a few feet into the air, and let it crackle wildly. She still had yet to learn to fully contain it, but a large flare was much more intimidating than a delicate flame anyways. "I have something even the strongest demon could never hope to achieve."

He grabbed her shimmering arm with a hiss, despite the sizzling of his skin, his eyes bleeding red. "Miko, you will contain your energy in the presence of this Sesshomaru." His face moved in closer to hers, and her erratic heart took attention from her hand. The energy fizzled out promptly. She leaned back, watching his reddened eyes, nervous of releasing the war lord's inner beast. She knew what could happen, she had read much about demons and their ways, and for the most part, the beasts of demons had no logical thought. They would rip a human to shreds without a second thought. Lord Sesshomaru was definitely not the demon whose beast she wanted to awaken.

-S-

Sesshomaru released a hiss, and eyes burned red once more at the surge of holy energy. He had quite a few mikos on his guard, but none as powerful as this. Instinctively, he grabbed her arm, and snarled in her face to quit her energy surge. He was surprised when she did, nearly instantly. He ignored the burning in his hand, he studied her face. While this girl did look a lot like Rin, there were stark differences. This girl's eyes were a deep grey, while Rin's were brown. Her hair shimmered with blue, unlike the reds in Rin's. Beside that, the resemblance was uncanny.

"You wish to aid in this Sesshomaru's journey?" He heard her heart stammering, and wondered if it would burst from exhaustion at any moment. From the red tint of her face, his theory may, in fact, be correct. Humans were odd creatures. Despite her near cardiac arrest, she nodded, testing his grip with a small tug. He only pulled her closer. He would not yield to a human. "Do you have the ability to heal?" She nodded once again. Her scent filtered into his nose once more. It had an extra smokey smell, most likely fear. That scent would be a problem, he was much too aware of it's changes. His beast gave a barking laugh.

He dropped her arm and turned from her. "If you wish to help, you will heal the soldiers until we have the strength to invade with few causalities." He looked over his shoulder at her. "Will you have any qualms healing demons?" She shook her head.

"I have healed many demons fleeing the eastern lands." Her words shocked him. Most humans did not have any desire to help demon kind. The mikos in his castle were only seeking protection from the east, nothing more. She had most likely bargained with her life, their health for her life. He began walking back towards the castle. His hunt would have to wait for another day.

"Hn." He listened to her shuffle around, most likely grabbing her weapons and bag, before her footsteps followed behind him.

"Where are we going, Sesshomaru?" He turned his narrowed eyes to her once more. She put her hands up in defense. "Sorry, Sorry, Lord Sesshomaru." He didn't appreciate the way she had said his title, but she had corrected herself instantly, so he would let it pass.

"We are headed to the main western city, to my castle. We will need to make sure you are prepared for battle in the upcoming months." He heard nothing more from her, other than the quick pace of her pulse, and soft breathing. His grip tightened in the hand that was seared black. This would be an interesting journey.