Serendipity by Kura

Prologue

A/N: Hello there! This is Kura here ^^ I've finally sorted out my jumbled mind enough to try to write a fic again (and hopefully continue it ...) The plot might be a bit cliche but I'm just a sucker for the master/slave stuff >.< so ... since currently I'm so hooked on Kagome/Sesshoumaru I decided to write a fic about them as master/slave ^^;; If my plot gets really similar to someone else's I apologize in advance but I really didn't copy anyone's!

I also plan to write an original story using a similar plot after / as I write this one ... I thought that it'll be easier for me to write if I use characters who already have a personality ... then after I succeed at that then I will create my own characters ^___^

Also, because I know some Japanese and I watched Inuyasha in Japanese, I will be using the Romaji spelling for the names and some Japanese terms like youkai, hanyou, etc. I think it's easier and more correct that way, since strictly youkai does not mean demon but that is the word used for lack of a better word.

Summary: Kagome is an unwilling slave who was sold into a youkai lord's household. Things start to progress from there ... (I write the story as it flows ... so ... even I have no idea where this will end up ^^;; ) This fic is AU, though the settings are similar to Feudal Japan. Character relations and such are kept as closely to the actual series as possible.

Parings: Hinted Inuyasha/Kagome; Sesshoumaru/Kagome; Hinted Inuyasha/Kikyou; Sango/Miroku; Hinted Naraku/Kikyou; Hinted Naraku/Kagome; we'll see what else comes up ...

Spoilers: The main characters and relations, some of the plot maybe. I do not think I will refer to specific incidents of the series, just using the characters and twisting the plot to fit my own *muhahhahahaa*

Rating: Right now, General because nothing's happening. No idea where it will end up. I'll see if there's any opportunity for lime/lemons to come up ... mild (very mild) swearing, because Technically there is no swear words in Japanese.

A/N: The word Inuyasha always uses is "chikushou" which is defined as "a somewhat vulgar expression of annoyance and disappointment used in situations where many English speakers would probably swear", and the kanji for the word Literally means farm animals ... like cows and chicken etc. So .. it's more of an insult then a swear word and it's no where as rude as English. And "chikushou" is the just about the worst word in Japanese, and my Japanese teacher really don't mind us using it during presentations during class ... she does not deem it a bad enough word to ban from saying in class.

Some terms you must know for this fic (though you should know already probably ...) :

youkai - demon (for lack of a better word; it actually means more like animal-spirit-creature type thingys... since demon in the English religious sense also means a servant of Satan / monster from hell etc. which would actually be akuma in Japanese ...)

taiyoukai - great demon (highest class youkai, most powerful of their kind)

hanyou - half demon (mixed human and demon)

taijiya - demon exterminator (warriors who hunt and destroy demons)

miko - priestess (technically, shrine maidens who have special purifying and healing powers, and well versed in medicinal herbs. Their preferred weapon is bow and arrows, each village usually have at least one miko to act as village healer/doctor and protection from attacks, mainly protection from youkai.)

chikushou, shimatta, k'so - somewhat vulgar expressions of annoyance, where English speakers would probably swear (though it's no where as rude as English. A billion chikushou is not as bad as one F**k... it's more like darn, or heck.

Other terms used in this chapter (also please keep in mind for future reference):

ookami - wolf

inu - dog

houshi - buddhist monk

kazaana - the wind tunnel or void thingy in Miroku's hand

Disclaimer: I think the word disclaimer is pretty self-explanatory ... and this won't be called a Fan-fiction if it was the real thing >_>;; ...so... Obviously, like most other fanfic writers out there, I do not own the Manga/Anime series Inuyasha, though I like to play with Rumiko-sensei's characters and swoon over Sesshoumaru ... But my plot is my own ^______^ (even if it's crappy...it's my crappiness *muahahahaa* ^^;; )

Ok now, on with the story. The prologue is a run through of the world this is in, I know some of it probably is not important to the actual story, but I like to have the world and setting all nice and sorted out so the story will flow more smoothly. As I mentioned, I write as the story flows and does not know where it will end up, so the more organized it is the less chance of me losing the plot somewhere along the way. However, I do think a lot of this information will be relevant to understanding the story later, so please read ^^

Serendipity

~ sometimes blessings are disguised in the most unexpected ways ...

Prologue

Even though youkai and humans were living in harmony and supposedly equal in the society, youkai had always been a step higher due to their superior physical abilities and supernatural powers. Youkai and humans alike understood that youkai are superior, and humans are only allowed to be considered equal because the youkai lords allowed it.

Though there are many youkai who either looked down on humans, or liked to prey on the weak, there are also many kind-hearted youkai who lived in harmony with the humans in or near their villages. They helped defend the villagers in times of trouble, and the humans welcomed them. Villages which had peaceful youkai living among them had far less chance of being raided, by humans or youkai alike, than those who faired on their own or with only their miko to guard them.

Cases of human villages being raided, people being brutally murdered or maidens being raped by youkai were usual occurances and the youkai lords could care less what happened to the mangy humans infesting their lands like so much mice. The human lords tried to keep order as much as they can, but they did not dare to openly hunt youkai, especially higher-class youkai for fear of offending any youkai lords and courting their own deaths.

Thus, the job of defending the humans from evil youkai fall to the taijiya, warriors who hunted and killed youkai criminals; these included humans and some youkai or hanyou. These warriors usually live in normal villages, and farmed like everyone else, the only exception being they also trained vigorously in combating and youkai-fighting skills, and hunting and tracking skills. Anyone is welcomed to join a taijiya village to train with them, they may choose to stay and settle in the village, or go back to their own village. A lot of people come and go in taijiya villages, coming to be trained by the experienced fighters and then going back to their own village to help defend it. Taijiya villages often took in orphans or wanderers whose villages were destroyed. There are also many wandering taijiya who did not really belong to any village, but traveled among them and hunted any youkai criminals along the way.

As so many youkai and humans intermingle, many hanyou were born. Hanyou were generally weaker than the pure youkai breed they came from, but they could also be very powerful if their youkai parent was powerful. Some of the more powerful, pure-breed youkai looked down on and disliked hanyou, though most youkai did not openly shun them. Humans, however, did not mind hanyou. Usually hanyou were brought up in the human parent's village, and they were treated as an equal among the humans; to the humans, they viewed hanyou as a good line of defense for their village.

Slaves were common in this era. Slaves were traded or sold like objects, and considered property of their owners. They would be expected to do whatever their master commanded, with no right to object; they were also punished severely for disobeying; and of course, they got no pay for their hard work. Even though many felt pity for the slaves, and treating slaves badly were looked down upon, using slaves were common and popular among the lords and upper-class. They were a lot cheaper and easier to keep than servants, and no one would question why a slave disappeared mysteriously. Legally, capturing free citizens and selling them into slavery was not allowed, but it was done nonetheless; children of slaves were doomed to also be slaves.

There were human slaves as well as youkai slaves, though mostly only youkai lords kept youkai slaves. Human slaves were plentiful; countless of them were needed to keep a lord's castle and lands running. The only way for slaves to be free is if their master set them free, or if someone bought their freedom from their master. Even though a slave was allowed to buy their own freedom, it is virtually impossible for a slave to obtain any money at all.

In this era, the land was generally divided into four parts, a bit like countries. The Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western, lands each had a Ruling Lord over the lands. In the four lands, each had plenty lesser lords with their own individual castle, lands, and villages. These lesser lords paid fealty to the Ruling Lord, in exchange for protection from the other lands. Two of the four lords were youkai, one of them a hanyou, and one is a human. Due to the different nature of the lords, the populations in the four lands also differ greatly.

Lord of the Northern Lands, ookami-youkai Kouga, was kind though rash. He hated being confined to his castle, and usually left his advisors in charge while he roamed his lands with his pack. He saw nothing wrong with being with humans, and openly befriended anyone along his way. His lands had the largest human population, as humans did not fear him as much and thought him as being able to defend them well. Only a few youkai villages resided in his lands however, as many did not approve of his closeness to humans.

Lord of the Southern Lands, human Miroku, was a lecherous houshi who was cursed by Naraku. The curse of the kazaana in his left hand was passed down from his father, who had offended Naraku in some way and begot this curse as punishment. Eventually the kazaana will grow to consume the person, thus his father, and now him, had been searching far and wide for a cure to this curse. He was almost always traveling and searching; his advisors looked after his lands. Since he was a human, mainly just humans lived in his lands. There were almost no youkai villages, though there still were the many youkai who lived among humans villages.

Lord of the Eastern lands, hanyou Naraku, was the shadiest of the four. Though he did not do anything outrageous openly, rumors surrounded him about his shadowy dealings and practice in necromancy. He was known to be cruel and heartless; he took pleasure from watching others suffer. He was the most feared of the four lords. His lands were constantly in turmoil; only the black-hearted humans and youkai lived in his lands. He found the small wars between his vassal lords amusing, and only intervened when things got out of hand enough to damage himself or his lands.

Lord of the Western Lands, inu-taiyoukai Sesshoumaru, detested humans due to their weak nature; however he kept strict order in his lands, never tolerating any violations of his laws. He did not detest humans as much as he detested anything weak, as he is one of the few, and one of the strongest taiyoukai alive. His lands were the most peaceful; everyone, youkai or human, all knew the brutal way in which he dealt with criminals. He was known to destroy anything and everything that dared to be in his path, but he did not prey on innocent beings. Thus there were many peaceful human villages in his lands, as well as a large number of youkai ones.

And here, in this era, begins the story of the unwilling slave who's fire would melt ice, and change it all ...

Hope that wasn't too boring, I'll try to get Chapter one, the actual beginning of the story up sometime soon >.< Please review and let me know how it was so I may improve my work ^^

~Kura