You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, "I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along."...You must do the thing you think you cannot do.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Chapter 1: Kagome

They say that every cloud has a silver lining. That you could find the good in every situation no matter how bad. But I don't think this applies today. Because things were very bad. And was quickly escalating to worse. Especially when you're running blindly through the forest as the rain pelts down on your already freezing skin, as if trying to slow you down.

"Ah!" I shrieked as I slipped over a random tree root. A cruel, hollow laugh slipped through my lips as I gazed down at the used-to-be new red and black kimono which was now caked under thick layers of mud. Now, even the elements were against me.

Hilarious.

Just as I was about to fight my way out of a mini mud slide, a glance to my right made my blood run cold and my body freeze in panic. Of course, the one thing I would forget about running away in the Feudal Era was the fact the demons were everywhere.

'Kagome, why are you so stupid?!'

Piercing the dark, thick veil of rain were two glowing red eyes, partially hidden by a large bush. Those eyes began to move as the beast appeared to stand. I flinched as its quivering lips, now visible as the monster moved within sight, pulled back into a snarl revealing large fangs that looked like they dripped with blood. I squinted my eyes as I noticed something move behind its back-

'Wings?' I thought frantically. If this thing could fly, my chances of outrunning it were nearing zero. I slowly tried to move my legs under me so I could launch myself to the side but the demon sensed my slight movement and its ragged ears flapped viscously, as though sending it false warning signals that I was a threat to its safety.

I held back the urge to roll my eyes. Me? A young, lost girl who happens to be unharmed and practically laying face down in the mud. I scoffed at the audacity of the thought.

Suddenly, the demon's eyes widened a fraction before leaping out of its place and snapping its jaws at me. With only a split second to think, I ducked covering the back of my head with my hands. I smiled in satisfaction as I heard the sickening thud of its skull hitting the tree behind me. I rolled away before it had the chance to catch me.

Scrambling to my feet, I tried to recover as much balance as I could. That went straight down the tubes as I gazed across the field at the stunned creature that had nearly killed me.

"What the...a dragon?!" I yelled out in confusion and fright. The pounding of the rain against my body became numb as multiple thoughts raced through my head. Part of me was surprised while the other didn't think too much of it. I could understand why though. While in my time, you would be considered bonkers for even voicing the thought that immortal creatures existed; in the feudal era, if you were to complain about a boar youkai munching on the rice fields near your hut, you're considered completely sane.

'What on god's great green earth would a dragon be doing here in Inuyasha's fore-' My thoughts were interrupted when a giant snake-like tail swung against my waist knocking me off of the ground and into a nearby riverbank.

I coughed and wheezed as I climbed my way back onto dry land. My body temperature felt like it had dropped below zero, I couldn't stop sneezing; and my new kimono was now stained, ripped, saggy, and ugly.

'Why did I even get out of bed today?!'

The water fluttered about as the beast landed with what looked like practiced ease on a boulder near the edge of the lake. No matter how many battles or near-death situations you experience nothing will ever prepare you for the moment you think will be your last.

I shielded my eyes from the relentless rain to look up at its phenomenal stature. I almost strained my neck it was so big. The body was a scorched red, obviously bearing its scars from past obstacles. The neck was long and slender, somehow giving the dragon an air of arrogance. The eyes were strangely orange in color, or at least of what I could see from the narrow slits.

I tried to stand but the dragon released a type of warning growl that disturbed me to my core. I sat back on my sore rump with a whimper. 'Mental note. Standing: bad. Sitting: good.' The water seemed to get cooler around me as the dragon stared me down.

It stopped growling but continued to glare at me. I couldn't suppress the feeling that for some reason it was studying me. Maybe to see what I would do next or if I was going to do anything at all. My eyes snapped to the tides that lapped at my feet. 'I could try to swim, but it's too cold and I could possibly die from freezing.' My eyes then cut to the tree line from where the dragon flung me. 'I could try to run, but the mud would make it super difficult.'

I blew the wet bangs from over my eyes. Why wasn't anything simple anymore? You know, where all you had to do was run away quickly while the bad guy was distracted by something else. Uh!

Suddenly a pain so intense originated in my side. It was so overwhelming that my entire body stiffened up and I attempted to hold in my cries. Part of my kimono was ripped and blood seeped through my fingers. There was a huge gash in the same spot where the jewel had been torn from my body.

Glancing back up at the dragon, I noticed that it had its eyes trained solely on my wound. I panicked. If this dragon had a thing for blood, then I was really in trouble.

With regained vitality, I forced myself up as a yelp sounded from lips. Looking the dragon straight in the eye, I challenged him silently. Apparently, that did not sit well with it. The dragon threw its head back while spewing flames of red and orange into the foggy grey sky while its wings spread out at the sides. For the first time I noticed how...deformed the dragon really looked. They weren't the normal wings I'd expect to see. Instead, the skin of it looked like that of the sail of a ship that hadn't been washed for months and had seen many battles, obtaining wounds of their own.

There were holes. Plenty of them. Maybe too many to count. The size of the holes wasn't too bad, but the fact that there were multiple had to count for something. The edges were torn in a way that looked as if they had been chewed on. There were shallow scratches near the body of the dragon, noticeably fresh.

'Those wounds couldn't have happened long ago. What could possibly have the power to cause so much damage to a monster like this?'

All at once, the demon stopped its roaring and the wings stopped flapping. It was eerily silent even with the rain; though I was glad it let up a little. Maybe now I could focus more on how to escape.

'Hm...So you are not afraid of me?' asked a deep, masculine voice.

I froze. I turned quickly ignoring the pain of my side and the presence of a dragon to both sides seeing if anyone around me had popped up unnoticeably.

"Who's there?!" I called out.

'Over here human.' I didn't know which direction the voice asked of me, so my head kept snapping to all directions.

"What?"

'Hm. In front of you.'

I turned my head to find the dragon staring back at me, its eyes digging into mine. "Y-You?" I stuttered dumbly and pointed a finger up at him.

It blew a puff of smoke in the air in what I thought was annoyance. 'Yes. You are a slow one aren't you human?' I felt my blood pressure rise as the dragon turned its nose up at me.

Okay, now I'm not one for cursing but this dragon was begging for it

"Hey! You were the one who attacked me! Not to mention, you swung your tail at me! So, excuse me if I'm a bit slow on the uptake!" In situations like these, Kaede had taught me how to control my anger with slow, steady breaths. Too bad I chose this moment to throw her teachings out the window.

"First, you chase me then you almost rip me in half! Now you sit here mocking me as if you're not the reason I'm like this! I don't care who or what you are, but I won't have you talking to me this way! Even if that means being killed afterwards!" I screamed to the heavens.

By the end, I was lightheaded and panting. All the running was catching up to me and I was still losing blood from my wound. My knees grew weak and I fell to the ground as exhaustion and pain began to take over my cold body.

'Hn. Such spunk for a human. Maybe you are fit to be my master.'

"Master?" I whispered.

Through half-lidded eyes, I looked at the dragon as it flew from its perch to my side. The last thing I felt as I faded into darkness was the wind running through my hair and the ground disappearing from beneath my body.