Lost and Found by Zyephen
Malevolent Savior
Chapter 1
Soft sobbing sounded through the thorny bushes. The sun had grown low in the sky and still they had not come for her. She was afraid. After they’d been separated, Kagome had been chased for a long time by a huge black demon, whose burning yellow eyes had etched themselves into her brain. She had long since ran out of arrows and had dropped her bow somewhere along the way. Now with nothing but the torn and bloody clothes on her back she shivered, alone, nestled deeply within the thorny bush from which she was too afraid to leave. The demon had been repelled by the huge thorns, but she sensed he was still around, lurking in the elongated shadows of the silent forest. Her body stung. The thorns had repelled the demon, but she was badly injured from her bout with them , and the scent of her blood was heavy in the air.
From her position within the tangle of thorns she heard a distant rumble of thunder, and it was answered by a rumble much closer, but from an entirely different source.
“Inuyasha…” she whispered longingly. She laid her head down on her forearms, ignoring the sharp prick of pain as she moved her abused flesh.
The thunder rumbled again, seeming much closer now, and finally chilled droplets began to fall to the earth. Kagome’s shivering became more apparent as she was soaked by the icy raindrops. The huge creature that crept nearby let out another rumbling growl as the rain fell harder. The miko knew she was in for a long and undoubtedly restless night.
* * *
Early morning found Kagome in the same place she had been the night prior, though she had not heard the demon since before the storm. Slowly she crawled her way through the thorny scrub, careful not to hurt herself too badly, and peeked her head out from the safety of the spines. She couldn’t sense any youki and emerged a bit farther. There was no sign of the huge demon anymore, and Kagome pulled herself the rest of the way from the bushes, and got to her feet, though her legs were oddly wobbly and seemingly weak. She’d bled a lot from the thorns, but at least they’d saved her from bleeding a lot more. Slowly, shakily she began to walk in the direction she remembered coming from.
This forest was a bit different from the one she was accustomed to. Inuyasha’s forest had been warm and peaceful of sorts, but this forest seemed ominous and the trees seemed to reach out with their gnarled, jagged hands, grabbing at her with murderous intent. The thorns were proof enough that the trees weren’t very friendly. Where Inuyasha’s forest was filled with the sights and sounds of the woodland animals, this forest was eerily silent and the only animals she’d seen were the odd black crow here and there, but they did little to ease her jumbled mind.
After walking for what she estimated to be about half an hour, she found herself nowhere near anything that was familiar. She hadn’t found so much as an arrow. And she was fighting back a clawing worry that she might not be going in the right direction. Her aching legs were making themselves known as her chocolate eyes were skimming desperately for anything her memory would recognize. Still her body shivered relentlessly, and exhaustion was gripping her with it’s heavy lead arms. “Inuyasha…” she whimpered as she felt her heart slamming against her ribs.
It was then a small twig snapped and she heard a low dangerous growl. She spun on her heels and her skin went white as she laid eyes on the very same creature that had trapped her in the thorns yesterday. She screamed as her legs moved instinctively carrying her as fast as they could away from the monstrosity that leisurely trotted behind her. She ran as hard and as fast as her abused legs would bear, but the huge demon only seemed to be laughing at her as it followed just close enough for her to believe she had a chance to escape.
Kagome felt her eyes spilling their moisture over her cheeks, and she cried out for the savior that would not come. He legs were going numb and finally began to totally disobey what she was telling them to do. Then with a effortless swipe of his mighty claws the demon toppled the miko, ‘just like on one of those nature shows with the cheetah tripping the gazelle’ she thought in utter horror. She couldn’t lay there and wait for it to end though, she couldn’t surrender, and her legs got under her again and she started to run, but the foreign limbs seemed like nothing but jello as she tried to move them. It was then she looked ahead of her and saw him. Silver-white hair, honey-golden eyes, and there almost seemed to be a radiating white light, as if he were an angel sent to save her from the clutches of darkness. She fell to her hand and knees and crawled to him, the shadowy demon behind her, seemingly in no rush to dispose of her.
She clung to the snow white fabric of his hakama, hugging his leg , as if he were someone she knew and loved. She sobbed desperately only managing to mutter a barely coherent, “Please” as her arms held fast to his warm leg and she buried her face in the snowy material.
Sesshoumaru looked down on human woman like he was beholding a cockroach that had scurried out into the middle of the kitchen floor. Then the generously sized demon that now stood before him let out a menacing growl, baring it’s yellowed fangs to the Daiyoukai, making the message clear that the human female was his. Sesshoumaru tilted his head at the youkai before him, and his eyes again wondered down to the shivering growth on his leg. He recognized the wench, despite her horrid conditions at the moment. He idly wondered why she was in this condition, and why his brother wasn’t here protecting her.
The dark demon had growled, but it did not advance further, because like many demons, it recognized the swirling powers of a Daiyoukai, and despite it’s seemingly animalistic approach to things, the beast had the brains not to challenge a Daiyoukai, instead in simply requested it’s lunch be returned.
Sesshoumaru was not usually one rightfully labeled as a ‘savior,’ but in this instance, the human had said please, and he was not in the habit of letting a female die needlessly. He had his pride as a man just as much as he had it as a Daiyoukai. Bending down to pry the woman-child from his person, she seemed alarmed at first, but then his crimson tipped sleeve came around her and he lifted her up, and he turned his back to the youkai’s ear shattering snarls.
Kagome’s arms held incessantly against her chest as the shivering only made itself more apparent, and her sobbing slowly grew quieter from her teeth clamping down over her bottom lip for a long moment. “T… t… T-thank you…. S-Sesshoumaru-sama…” She muttered softly. Her exhaustion finally claimed her as she fell deeply asleep against the seemingly safe chest of the Daiyoukai of the Western Lands.
* * *
“DAMN IT! What do you think you’re doing? Kagome’s not found yet, MONK!! GET UP!” bellowed a very frustrated Inuyasha.
Miroku’s tired legs could barely hold him up anymore, “Inuyasha, I’m only human. I can’t. I’m worried for Kagome-sama just as much as you are, but I can’t do anything if I don’t have the energy to even walk.”
The taijiya nodded as she sat beside him, feeling so incredibly miserable about the whole situation she didn’t even want to speak. Even the fire cat appeared exhausted and couldn’t even revert to her large form. The group had been searching for nearly a full 24 hours, through the storm, with no breaks for anything, and it had come to the point that the human’s simply did not have the reserve energy to keep going. Their feet hurt, their legs hurt, their backs hurt, and their stomachs were practically eating themselves.
From behind the group approached a wobbly legged Shippo, “S-Sango…. I don’t feel good…” he muttered weakly, giving a faint cough afterwards. The taijiya gently scooped the kitsune into her arms and stroked his hair softly. “There Shippo, rest your eyes.” she said as she began to rocked him tenderly.
Inuyasha growled annoyed and turned away, “Fine! Stay here then I’ll go look for Kagome alone. It’s not like you all were any help anyway!” he spat out as he took off, ignoring all pleas his body made for him to rest and recover. “KAGOME!” He yelled hoarsely as he continued on with his desperate search for the miko.
* * *
Kagome awoke warm and cozy, nestled in between several luxuriously soft furs and beside a dimly lit fire. Above her she saw a ceiling of rock and she followed it down to the ground beside her, realizing she was inside a cave. She then laid eyes on the savior that had taken her away from the demon of her nightmares.
He was sitting with his back facing the wall of the cave and his feet planted on the cold floor, his arm sitting on top of one knee and his hand gripping the other. In the dim firelight he looked just as ominous as the shadowy youkai he had saved her from. His eyes were focused on some unknown speck on the cave floor and didn’t waver from that spot, so it was surprising when he abruptly spoke, “How pleasant of you to return to the waking world, Miko.”
Kagome sat up, noting that her wounds had been tended to and her clothes changed into garbs that resembled what a miko normally wore, which immediately put a fierce blush on her face. ‘Did Sesshoumaru change me in my sleep?!’ She swallowed hard at the thought. “Ah… T-Thank you for saving me. I’m sorry I inconvenienced you so much. I’ll get back to Inuyasha as soon as I can, so that you can go back to your routine.” she said, pulling her legs under her as she bowed to him from the pallet of furs where she sat.
Sesshoumaru’s eyes then moved to gaze down on her before they turned back to wherever they’d been planted on before, “You won’t be returning to the hanyou” He said matter-of-factly.
Kagome startled at this, thinking at first that something had happened to Inuyasha, and her face grew pale, “What do you mean?” She asked fearfully.
The Daiyoukai turned his brazen eyes to her again, though this time his whole head made the turn, “You belong to me now, Miko. It is the natural law. You handed your life to me in asking for my protection… and I accepted your offer.”
Kagome’s eyes went wide, “You… can’t be serious.” She said sounding rather desperate.
“Have you ever seen this Sesshoumaru otherwise?” he replied coolly.
Kagome stood immediately, “You can’t! I’m not some… some abandoned item that you can just lay claim to! I’m wont be your slave!”
Sesshoumaru’s eyes narrowed as he watched the human rebel, “Be silent, wench.” he said sternly, causing the miko’s mouth to shut immediately. “Your life is no longer your own. It belongs to me now, and only I will decide what you do with it, should that be a life in my service, or your return to the shadow demon. It is not so unheard of a thing, you know. If you did not have the commitment to the deal then you should not have asked for it.”
“This isn’t what I asked for! I wanted you to help me, not enslave-”
“Nothing is free, Miko!” he barked harshly, “This is the way things are, now you will accept it, or I will return you to the gates of death from whence you came, and I will do it personally.”
There was a long pause before Kagome collapsed onto the pelts and just cried aloud. She was overcome with a crushing feeling that she wasn’t going to get out of this one very easily. She’d always had an underlying fear of the great Demon Lord of the West, partly from his mysterious nature, but then also because she knew he was very powerful and he always appeared perfectly competent. If he said she was his slave, how could she escape, when his very voice promised her it was forever? Kagome thought these things to herself until finally she fell asleep with her mind swirling with her troubles.
* * *
Kagome awoke much later to the sound of a little girl’s fearful cries and a patter of bare feet on the cave floor.
“Sesshoumaru-sama!” the little one cried out as she flung herself into the demon lord’s lap, “Rin doesn’t want to be alone! Don’t leave Rin, please! Rin wants to stay with Sesshoumaru-sama and Jaken-sama forever!” She said, her voice muffled by her face being snuggled deeply into the Daiyoukai’s haori.
“Rin, I’m not going anywhere. It was only a dream.” Muttered the deep voice of the mighty demon as his hand patted the child‘s back soothingly.
Then slowly Rin crawled the rest of herself upon the youkai’s lap, tucking her head under his chin and curling herself into a ball. The demon’s golden eyes glanced over toward Kagome, catching the firelight for a brief moment and glowing an eerie yellow before they turned away again and he seemed to return to the state he’d been in before the child’s disturbance.
The miko was a bit shocked, but merely laid her head back down and tried to go back to sleep, though she couldn’t seem to fall back to sleep so instead she laid still and just awaited morning.
* * *
Morning came, and oddly enough Kagome found herself waking up for a third time. Though she’d laid awake for a long period of time, she’d eventually nodded off, and the sight awaiting her as she opened her eyes was one that could probably startle any one first thing in the morning. Kagome let out a sharp ‘yip’ as she clobbered the little toad demon square on the noggin, and got to her feet as quickly as humanly possible, her other hand still clinging to the warm fur she’d been covered up with.
Jaken let out a yell of pain as he was walloped and tumbled across the floor in a fit of tangled limbs. “Se-Sesshoumaru-sama! D-Did you see what she did to me?!” he said as he managed to run the rest of the way over to hide behind the seated demon before he pointed an accusing finger at the girl.
Kagome was standing perfectly still, staring at the trio that sat at the entrance to the cave. She noticed that Sesshoumaru didn’t seem to react to the event in the least. He continued to stare out at the landscape, as the little girl sat beside him with the majority of his long silky white hair gathered into her lap while she brushed it gently. Kagome swallowed and lowered herself back to the pallet, not really wanting to speak just yet.
Jaken looked back and forth between the miko and his master seeming almost desperate, “Sesshouma-” he started but was cut off by the demon lord’s smooth voice.
“Hush.”
It was all it took to make the toad fall right back on his little toad bottom and then look down in shame, his expression looking rather pitiful.
They sat in silence for a long time, with the only sound being the sound of the brush running through the Daiyoukai’s hair. Then the little girl put the brush down and smiled as she observed her handiwork. Only then did Sesshoumaru’s eyes turn to look down on the little girl and he was met with her warm smile and a satisfying nod. Then she stood up and ran out of the cave a little ways holding the brush in her hand and Sesshoumaru stood, looking as if he was about to follow her, but instead he turned to the miko, “We’re leaving.” his commanding voice said seemingly effortlessly, “Gather the furs and come.” Then the demon left the cave as well. Leaving only Jaken standing at the mouth sticking his little pink tongue out at the miko.
Kagome frowned at the demon, when then she heard the Daiyoukai’s voice bark out another order, “Jaken. Gather the furs as well.”
* * *
After an hour of walking alongside the Daiyoukai’s two headed dragon, Kagome had remained silent, glaring daggers in the back of the Daiyoukai’s skull. Abruptly her mouth slipped open and let her thought slip, “Inuyasha will come for me.” She’d hadn’t intended to say that, but that’s what had come out.
Sesshoumaru didn’t seem too intimidated by the threat though. In fact, he even had a solution already thought up, “And when he does, I will kill him.”
Kagome scowled and turned her eyes to the ground, but was startled when her stomach abruptly started it’s own conversation with itself.
Rin broke into a fit of laughter, “The miko-lady’s belly is talking, Sesshoumaru-sama!” She said seeming utterly delighted for some odd reason. “Rin wants food too!”
Sesshoumaru stopped, looking over his shoulder with a soft sigh, “Very well. Stay here.” He said as he turned from the path they’d been walking, “I mean it, Miko.” He said as he passed her, his eyes glaring dangerously. “Jaken, guard.” he muttered before he vanished into the woods.
* * *
After she ate she was feeling at least a little better. After the meal of wild pig, the wheels of her brain began turning and she began to think of how she was going to get back to Inuyasha, if he didn’t know where she was and vise versa. She considered leaving some sort of clues behind, but that would mean he’d have to cross the path she was taking and somehow she thought they were headed the opposite direction of where her friend’s had been. She thought to run away, but that would be tricky to pull past the demon lord’s watchful eyes, and then there was the part about her not having any weapons if she did manage to escape. How would she defend herself? She sighed. This would be a difficult task, no doubt.
But still… she couldn’t just stay here and be his slave forever. What if Inuyasha didn’t come? What if he’d been hurt after they’d been separated. So many doubts swirling in her mind… She didn’t even have her backpack. At least that way she’d have a little bit of comfort. She did happen to pack some fire crackers from home, only in case of an event of them being separated, but some good they’d do her now.
Then her thoughts were interrupted by the little girl tugging at her hand, “Miko-lady-sama, what is your name?” the inquisitive girl asked, utterly oblivious to her situation.
Kagome couldn’t help but give the child a slight smile, “Kagome. What’s your name?” she asked back.
“Rin!” the girl chirped, giggling merrily, “Sesshoumaru-sama says that Kagome-sama will stay and be Rin’s friend.”
Kagome winced slightly, but made a quick recovery, “I’ll be your friend, Rin.” she said smiling to the child as she took hold of her hand.
Rin’s eyes lit up and her smile seemed to grow even bigger than it had been before, “Oh Thank you! Rin is so happy! Rin promises she will be the bestest friend ever!”
Kagome smiled and nodded back to the girl, suddenly feeling a bit sad for the child. She had seen her crawl into Sesshoumaru’s lap the previous night, but how much love could you get from that cruel creature? The poor girl had no parents not playmates, only 2 demons, who’d taken her in for God knows why. She wondered where the little one’s parents were and if they missed her. Perhaps she was an orphan, but perhaps not. Perhaps Sesshoumaru had killed her parents… She wouldn’t put it past him. He certainly had the capability.
* * *
The day passed surprisingly slow, and rater uneventful. Sesshoumaru rarely spoke and when he did it was only to bark out an order. Rin did manage to talk her ear off, and she’d noticed a smug expression on the toad’s unsightly features. She could only gather that he was glad Rin was jabbering to her instead of him, and it did stir something akin to a giggle in her gut, though it never quite made it to the surface. Kagome knew Inuyasha was insistent on them moving constantly, but lord… Next to Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha seemed like a saint. Her legs ached to the point that every step was excruciating. She wondered how the little one could stand so much, but then again Rin rode on the back of the dragon frequently and even napped on the dragon’s back at one point. She ached so much she just wanted to collapse, but she didn’t want to voice her discomfort, not knowing what the demon would do to her if she began to complain. She was scared of him, but she also knew she would have to rebel if she were to be free again. She figured she’d save her energy for walking rather than arguing with him, or worse.
Then, abruptly Sesshoumaru stopped walking and spoke, startling her a bit, “Miko, you may ride for a while if you want.”
She looked over at the two headed dragon, who in turn returned her stare, looking almost skeptical as a low rumble came from it‘s broad chest. She gave a slight whimper as she stepped closer to the beast. It really was a huge monster now that she was standing right beside it. She couldn’t even see over it’s back, but then it knelt down, it’s yellow cat-like eyes still staring at her as she attempted to climb onto it’s back, but, wasn’t really having too much success. She heard the little girl giggle slightly and glanced over at the demon lord who had a hand to his temple massaging it in slow circles, seemingly annoyed. Jaken smiled a mocking smirk as he stood beside his master’s foot. Kagome tried again to get over the dragon’s huge back, but she wasn’t quite as energetic as usual and seemed clumsy as she tried again for the third time, this time slipping out of the straddle and falling onto her bottom with a yelp.
“Oh for the God’s sake, woman.” mumbled the Demon lord as he suddenly grabbed her and practically threw her upon the dragon’s back. “A child can climb up but you cannot.” He virtually growled out.
Kagome landed with an ‘Umph!’ and quickly repositioned herself to face the Daiyoukai who now walked away, “Well, excuse me! We’re not all perfect!” She yelled with tears brimming in her eyes. She heard the little toad snicker under his breath, but when she turned to snap at him she saw Rin bop him on the head, “Jaken-sama! That’s mean!”
The toad went off blabbering something about ‘how dare you strike me,’ but Rin simply ran up and walked beside Sesshoumaru, turning her nose up to the toad.
* * *
Night fell and finally Sesshoumaru declared they stop for the night and Kagome felt like he’d just said she’d won a gold metal. She was tired, but she knew she couldn’t sleep for long, because tonight she would most certainly make her escape… She just had to wait for him to fall asleep. Even demons had to sleep. Even Sesshoumaru. She’d definitely get a chance then and afterwards she‘d just wait for Inuyasha to find her. He’d catch her scent eventually, she just had to head back in the direction they’d come.
Rin held her fish on a stick over the camp fire seeming totally content. Kagome began to eat hers then and was surprised at how she suddenly felt very hungry. The fish was sort of bland, but somehow it tasted so good. Sesshoumaru didn’t eat with the rest of them, but instead he left the site for a time. Kagome was curious as to what he was up to. She went to take another bite, when she heard a animal scream in the distance and jumped at the noise.
Jaken muttered something indistinguishable under his breath and Rin looked over her shoulder, chewing a little bit slower than she had been.
Kagome found herself asking what that was before she’d really meant to, but she was met with an answer surprisingly as Jaken spoke, never taking his eyes off of the fish he was gnawing on, “Sesshoumaru-sama doesn’t like fish.” he muttered. “He likes red meat.” he said with a mouth full off fish.
Kagome got the chills for a second then decided to finish her meal.
After about an hour Sesshoumaru came back to camp, his hair damp, and all slung onto one shoulder. “Miko.” He said coolly, “Go bathe Rin in the river, and bathe yourself as well.”
Kagome actually felt very glad to receive this order, because she knew a good bath would do her sore body good.
Rin gave a sound of disapproval and folded her arms across her chest. “Rin doesn’t want a bath.” she said firmly.
Sesshoumaru grunted and moved closer to the group before he spoke again, “Rin, bathe and behave.” Kagome was surprised when the girl lowered her arms with a whimper and began to walk over to Kagome, seemingly compliant with the demon lord’s order.
* * *
Returning to camp a short while later, carrying Rin on her hip, Kagome saw Jaken already asleep on a pallet near the two-headed dragon and Sesshoumaru settled against a nearby tree trunk, stripped of his bulky armor and swords settled at his side. Kagome set the girl down and she immediately ran over to dig something out of the dragon’s saddle sack. She then ran over to Sesshoumaru and began to comb out his long hair with the brush she’d retrieved.
“Did you behave yourself, Rin?” he muttered to her, in a tone just a little bit softer than his normal one. Kagome rolled out her blanket and settled herself on it, glancing at the odd pair for a brief moment before she laid down, making sure to lay in a way that she could see the demon lord’s face. She watched for a long time as the little girl just brushed the demon’s damp hair, and he looked almost… happy… It was odd. His face didn’t physically show any difference than the way he normally looked. Since his face really, only had one expression that she’d ever seen, which was indifference, but it was his eyes that seemed to change. Rin genuinely seemed to love the menacing Daiyoukai, and if Sesshoumaru could love, she’d say that he loved her as well. But that was a notion completely absurd to her, because she knew the Demon lord couldn’t love. He was, after all, a monster who’d killed countless people without a second thought. They did share a common goal, the downfall of Naraku, but their reasons were very different, and though they shared a goal, she didn’t consider this demon an ally. No, he was a mortal enemy to Inuyasha and, in turn, to her as well. But then, if he is so evil, why does the sweet little Rin follow him so unconditionally? What does she see in such a monster?
Kagome’s thoughts went on and before long she’d fallen completely asleep without even realizing. It must have been a few hours she’d slept, for when she awoke, the fire light was much dimmer and Rin was curled up on the other side of the pallet with her thumb buried halfway into her open mouth. She looked toward the Daiyoukai and saw that his eyes were closed as well, which disturbed her, oddly enough. She’d never imagined seeing Sesshoumaru doing something as mundane as sleeping, but she wasn’t going to waste her time thinking on that. She slid the covers from herself and slipped her shoes on before she got to her feet and tiptoed out of the camp site. She continued to tiptoe even after she’d gotten a decent ways from the camp, knowing the youkai might still be able to hear her should she make any loud noises. She finally got far enough away she couldn’t see the fire light nor anything else from the camp and she decided she could start running at that point so she did just that.
Sesshoumaru’s golden eyes snapped open just in time to see the miko tiptoeing out of the fire light. And he exhaled harshly as he rose to his feet, in something akin to a sigh, before he began to follow the idiot woman.
Kagome continued to run aiming for the river where she planned to follow it upstream so that the demon couldn’t follow her scent when he awoke, feeling rather smug that she knew a few tricks of the trade at least, but as she glanced over her shoulder again and smiled as she again saw no one following, she ran smack into a hard silk-covered object and fell flat on her bottom. Her eyes opened only to see two black boots planted before her and she couldn’t help the scream that emerged, “NO!” She scrambled to her feet and started to run the other way, but before she got 5 steps he was again standing in her path and he scowled as she turned back to go in another direction as she screamed in a panic-stricken voice, “I’ll never be your slave!”
Sesshoumaru cut her off again, speaking a soft, “You will” as he caused her to fall. “Go back to camp.” he said calmly.
Kagome rose to her feet and yelled sharply, “NO! I’ll never listen to you!”
The Daiyoukai grabbed her by the wrist and repeated his words, “Go back to camp, Miko.”
Kagome struggled to twist her wrist from his grip, but after it wasn’t succeeding she finally brought her other down on his chest hitting him as hard as her tiny fists could muster, screaming out as she repeated the weak action over, “I hate you! Let me go! I hate you! I hate you!”
He growled as he jerked her wrist back, “Good. That‘s how I like it.”
The miko then spit right in the Daiyoukai’s face and the moment suddenly froze as the Daiyoukai flinched. Slowly he opened his eyes and looked back at the heavily breathing woman.
In less than a second the miko found herself flat on her back behind the Daiyoukai. He had jerked her right over his head and slammed her onto the ground behind him in seemingly less effort than it took him to scratch his nose.
Kagome gasped, trying to catch back the breath that had been knocked out of her. Once she did the tears and sobs came relentlessly, and when she looked up she saw the dark lord knelt beside her staring down at her with an expression that was less than pleased. “Wipe it off.” he said sternly. Kagome sobbed harder and slowly, fearfully reached up and wiped his face with her sleeve.
The demon’s eyes looked dangerously at her before his hand gripped her by the front of her shirt and lifted her to her feet, “Now…” he said, “Go back to camp.”
Kagome heard him speak but she felt too shocked and afraid to even move. All she could do was stand still and cry into her hands.
The demon’s voice sounded again very close to her ear this time and dripping with malice as it did, “Woman, you’d do well to start walking, because, believe me, you won’t like me when I’m angry.”
Kagome’s heart jumped into her throat and she finally willed herself to move forward. The Daiyoukai was every bit as capable as she imagined he was. It was then that the reality began to close in on her that she may never see her family or Inuyasha and her friends ever again. She belong to the Demon Lord of the Western Lands now. Perhaps… there would be no escape this time.