Chained: In More Ways Than One

Stupid rock

Kagome woke up in a daze. She was just about to turn and ask the demon lord 'what happened?' when in that course of action she noticed that the chain from her wrist was missing.

"It's gone." Kagome said in a still disbelieving voice before it finally sunk in. "I'm finally free!" She stated in elation before running around in circles in happiness like after a kids stuck in the car for too long and then set free on the world.

The miko finally came to a stop when she was out of breath.

"Maryoku actually did it! Can you believe…?" Kagome finally looked up only to realize she was alone and talking to just the air. It was really weird for her after being in the constant company of the demon lord for the past couple days and not being able to escape it.

"Sesshoumaru!" She yelled in question.

Kagome had been so elated that she hadn't taken the time yet to observe her surroundings. She wasn't still in the witch doctors house but outside in quite a hilly area that she wasn't familiar with.

Well she thought to herself she wouldn't be able to run around in the small sitting room like she had just ran around the field.

There was still no sign of the demon lord. She tried yelling again quite a few times, waiting a short time between each to listen for any sound of movement but all she heard was the wind.

Even the giant mountain the witch doctors house was located by was out of sight. "There's no reason to panic yet, Kagome? You're just out in the middle of no where alone and lost!" She said out loud to herself in frustration.

With no mountain or demon lord to guide her the only thing she could think to do was climb to the top of one of the hills and hope that either was in sight. When she reached the top all she continued to see was more unfamiliar landscape.

Sesshoumaru woke up with a groan to the sound of his name being called. It sounded like the miko. He judged it to be just out of his hearing range so it must be quite a distance away since his hearing was amazing.

He went to sit up like he normally would in his human form but just ended up falling over. Closing his eyes with a sigh. He went to rub them to wake himself up but that was when he realized instead of hands he had paws.

Now it was all starting to click.

That damn witch women had turned him into a dog Sesshoumaru thought with a growl, with an actual one escaping his now canine jaw.

The reason why he wasn't able to stand up earlier was because he didn't have two legs but four now which didn't hold the same balance as his human ones.

He switched to his dog instincts that were always in the back of his mind and stood up properly.

Sesshoumaru tried to observe his current appearance but just ended up looking like he was chasing his tail. Which was white and fluffy with a slight curl he noticed which resembled his true form.

When the miko and himself had asked to be separated by the witch, she had taken it literally and taken some liberties with his person apparently also.

Just great Sesshoumaru thought to himself. Being a dog wasn't technically the problem. Hence the dog demon title but right now he wasn't a great threatening giant dog who had drool that could burn through flesh and bone.

No.

He was a normal everyday defenseless dog who according to many had a brain the size of a peanut.

The miko was no where in sight but since he had the normal hearing of a dog and she was just in his hearing rang he estimated she was just on the other side of that hill over there. Just as he was about to trot over to the miko's location he heard a tremendous growl and the scream of the girl.

He immediately sprinted into action.

The miko had been left on her own for less than an hour and managed to get herself into mortal peril. For all he knew it could've been ten minutes. He didn't know how long they had been unconscious for. She wasn't kidding when she said demons were attracted to her Sesshoumaru thought to himself.

So he was just a dog right now and what could he do but he couldn't just leave the miko to her fate.

Kagome had wondered into a more open area than the one she had woken up in.

She was trying to use her limited knowledge of the stars to figure out which direction to walk in. Well when she said limited she meant what the big dipper looked like and that the north star was in the northern direction, hence she would walk in the opposite.

To the west. Where hopefully the demon lord would be waiting for her.

Kagome was having trouble spotting it. She knew the north star was the brightest one in the sky but since she was in the past with no light pollution many of them sported the north star brightness of the current day. She would start walking in a direction and then doubt her pick and then move to another star.

Her face pointing to the night sky Kagome was oblivious to her surroundings and the dangers they held.

There was a sudden growling noise that was very close which had her freezing in her tracks. Kagome was afraid to look up but she did anyway. The sight that met her immediately imitated a scream from her lips.

Her fear from the last night had immediately returned. With all the excitement of having the chain removed and being separated from the demon lord she had forgotten about the virgin eating demon who was said to have been roaming these lands.

Of course. Of course it managed to find me when I was defenseless and alone.

Kagome knew it wasn't just any demon. She labeled it immediately as the virgin eating one even though there was never a description to work off of. The reason why was because the demon still had the tattered remains of a dress hanging from one of its many sharp fangs.

Not only was it apparent that it had already had a maiden for dinner but it wanted to eat her for desert.

Kagome was kind of disappointed by its appearance. It just looked like a wingless dragon while she had spent all last night imaging all these really strange and horrid creatures. It was kinda just boring compared to them.

Didn't mean it couldn't seriously still harm or maim her. God forbid kill.

The demon growled again. Snapping Kagome back to her current situation. It started to move towards her with each heavy step it took shaking the ground. How could she not have noticed this thing coming.

She tried to think of something to do. Usually she had her friends for protection and her trusty bow and arrows but right now she had neither. The only thing she could think to do was run.

Kagome hadn't gotten far when she tripped. On a rock. Irritating her previous leg injury which hadn't fully heeled yet. Not only that but it was the only rock in the clearing.

Just her luck.

Now she couldn't even take the cowards way out of the situation.

Kagome was so frustrated she picked it up and was going to chuck it in a random direction but stopped herself when she noticed that her miko powers where being channeled into the rock. 'I'm saved.' Kagome thought to herself.

She threw it at the demon with glee which slipped off her face as she watch the rock soar passed the demons head. 'I missed. How could I miss suck a big target. Damn my bad aim.' Kagome berated herself.

Kagome put her arms over her head in dread. Praying that someone would save her; Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru, anybody. Hell, she'd give anything to even have that rock back.

That stupid rock.

Suddenly the demon gave off what sounded like a squeak of fear. Kagome could feel the vibrations of the demons feet as it ran away to god knows where away from god knows what. She hadn't been able to see what had happened because she'd been cowarding in fear, which since the danger was gone now she was embarrassed about.

Kagome emerged from her position on the ground to look for her savior, which turned out to be a… dog?