Liberate by The Great One

Prologue

As she walked alone, along the tangled path that lead farther into the forest, away from her companions, Kagome silently pondered her life up to that point in time.

When she had turned fifteen years old, she had been drawn into the old well that resided on her property. Once inside, she had been drawn into an unbelievable adventure in the Feudal Japan. Herself, along with the half demon Inuyasha, the orphaned fox demon Shippo, the demon slayer Sango,the demon cat Kilala, and the monk Miroku, had been searching and battling for the shards of the sacred Shikon jewel, which Kagome had unintentionally shattered. They were constantly forced to battle with the notorious demon, Naraku, over the shards.

Kagome realized that this had been going on for over two years now. As her thoughts drifted away from her journey, it instead turned to Inuyasha. Kagome knew that she loved the half demon. Unfortunately, although he obviously cared for her as well, he very rarely let on that he cared about her more than as a mere friend.

Kagome's expression quickly turned to one of confusion as she thought about the recent past. In the past few weeks, she had noticed that Inuyasha had been growing increasingly distant from her. Before, she would have blamed this on Kikyo, but about half a year previously, the priestess had been killed by Naraku. Therefore, Inuyasha should have no reason to withdraw from Kagome.

As she wandered along, pondering her relationship, she suddenly became aware of the fact that she had walked quitefar way fromher friends, all of whom had stopped at a clearing to rest for the night. Kagome had been feeling crowded, so she took a walk to be alone. Unfortunately, she was now far away from her friends, and weaponless, having left her bow back at the campsite.

Looking around nervously for a moment, Kagome relaxed visibly when she was unable to sense any demons in the immediate vicinity. Her relief was short lived, however, when the cracking of a branch directly behind her indicated that she was not as alone as she might have wished.

Without a backward glance, Kagome took off running, moving rapidly down the path, and carrying herself even farther from her friends. After running flat out for five minutes, and hearing no new noises, Kagome reached a spot in the path where it was intersected by another path, cutting straight across it.

Kagome paused to catch her breath. Another loud sound caused her to whirl around in fear so that she was facing back the way that she had come. Squinting into the darkness, Kagome attempted to catch a glimpse of whatever it was that was following her. Her efforts were not in vain.

In almost no time, she quickly picked out the outline of a largedemon,quickly making it's way towards her. Kagome foze up with fear, and remained standing still. As the demon approached her, Kagome began tosee some specifics about it's form.

It was a bear demon, standing atleast seven feet, and covered in a thick coat of matted brown fur. The beasts eyes were glowing red and it fangs were bared in a vicious snarl. As the demon drew closer, Kagome tensed up, preparing to fight, even though she knew she wouldn't last two seconds against the bear demon. However, she was immensely surprised when it began speaking to her.

"Human, you should not have left the half demon. Regardless of his human weakness, atleast he could have provided some protection for you." Kagome watched with growing apprehension as it drew closer.

"As you are now, I will kill you with ease. That should anger Inuyasha enough to come to me. Although, considering what is occuring even now, he might not be as angry as that." Kagome's expression quickly changed from amazement at the demon's intention to draw out Inuyasha, to confusion as she thought about what it was saying.

What does it mean, Inuyasha wouldn't be that angry if I was killed? Her musings were cut short however as the bear suddenly charged at her with a speed and grace that belyed it's large and akward form.

Closing her eyes, Kagome steeled herself for the impact of the demon colliding with her. However, to Kagome's amazement, the collision never occured. She felt an immense power suddenly flare up directly behind her and the bear instantly stopped in it's tracks.

Waiting for a moment, Kagome nervously opened her eyes, only to be greeted by the sight of the bear demon slowly backing away from her, it's eyes widened in fright. Kagome looked at it in confusion, before apprehensively turning to see what was behind her that could scare the bear in suc a way. Her own eyes widened when she saw what it was.

Sesshomaru stood very close behind her, only about three feet away. He was staring at the bear with no emotion on his face, but Kagome could see annoyance clearly radiating from his golden eyes. As her eyes remained locked on the demon, she heard a low growl sound from him. Whirling around, she was pleased to see the bear cringe in fear.

"What are you doing here, miko?" The voice was cold and it sounded like he could care less for an answer, but Kagome responded to Sesshomaru's question anyway.

"I wandered away from my friends. As I was walking, this thing came at me, saying something about killing me to draw out Inuyasha." Sesshomaru did not react visibly to this statement. Instead, he directed his attention back to the bear.

"What do you want with my half brother?" The bear gulped nervously before responding to this question.

"I merely was going to destroy him. I was hired by Naraku to destroy him. In return, I will get a shard of the sacred jewel. I have been following the group for two weeks now, waiting for an opportune time to attack Inuyash, but he is never alone. So I decided to kill the girl instead, to draw him out. However, he doesn't seem to be as attached to her anymore. I believe that you know why." Kagome turned in time to see Sesshomaru's curt nod.

Before she could voice her question about what they were talking about, however, Sesshomaru suddenly sprang at the still cowering bear, destroying it in an instant with his poison claws. Without looking back, he began to walk down the path, back the way Kagome had to go to get back to her friends. He paused all of a sudden.

"Are you coming or would you rather remain here, alone?" Kagome quickly moved to walk beside him, and they resumed the walk back to the camp. As they walked, Kagome attempted to get some information from the demon lord.

"Why did you save me back there?" Kagome was surprised when the demon actually answered her question.

"If I had not, Inuyasha would have come looking for me. My scent is clearly evident around here. He would constantly badger me about not saving you. Frankly, I have things to do and I am not fond enough of my brother to desire his company at any time." Once this was said, SEsshomaru surprised Kagome once again by stopping and looking at her.

He stared at her silently for a moment. Under his intense scrutiny, she began to blush slightly. He's very handsome, with the hair, and the eyes. Kagome's thoughts were once again interupted when he began to speak again.

"I will only warn you once, miko. Nobody within a week's march of this area are very fond of Inuyasha. These lands belong to me, and they know that he is my brother. To demons, pure blood is everything. In this case, being of royal blood, it is even more important. They know that Inuyasha is a half blood. Therefore, it is like he is an insult to the royal blood that runs in our veins. As such, they will pass up no opportunity to destroy him and those he travels with. I will advise you to remain with your companions at all times."

After this speech, Sesshomaru fell silent and continued to stare at Kagome. She pondered this information and said that first thing that came to mind.

"Why do you care?"

"I will not have my idiotic half brother start slaughtering the inhabitants of my lands over the death of one of his friends." Suddenly, Sesshomaru's eyes dartedto Kagome's left. She noticed this and turned herself to see what had caught his attention. However, she could see nothing but trees in the dark.

"What is it? What's wrong?" The only response she got to this question was Sesshmaru's large, clawed hand being pressed across her mouth.Kagome's eyes widened in fear and she began to struggle before she realized that he was only attempting to stifle her talking. She immediately stopped moving and after a minute, he turned his gaze back to her, removing his hand as he did.

Kagome stood in silence for another minute, until she became aware of the fact that as she had been struggling against Sesshomaru's grasp, she had unintentionally moved very close to the demon lord. Blushing again, she took a step backwards and looked up at him. To her surprise, something akin to amusement was now evident in Sesshomaru's golden eyes.

Before she could comment on this, however, he quickly turned and began walking once again. Kagome quickly moved to walk beside him once again.

"What did you sense back there?" Sesshomaru didn't answer the question. Instead, he looked at her for a second. Kagome saw another emotion in his eyes, but she could not immediately place it. When she did, her face took on a confused look. It was pity. Pity was the emotion in his eyes. Before she could phrase a question about that, she became aware that they were now becoming quite close to her campsite.

Just before they reached it, Sesshomaru paused once again. "Human, do not mention that I was here. It would probably incite the half breed to try some foolish attempt on my life. Remember my warning. Next time, I might not be around to aid you, and I would like to avoid sending my brother into a blood crazed rage." With that, Sesshomaru quickly turned around and made his way back the way that they had come.

Before he completely disappeared, however, he paused and made one last announcement. "One last piece of advice human. If Inuyasha decides to go off by himself for a few hours, do not attempt to follow him. It is for your own good." Then, he was gone, leaving Kagome to ponder his cryptic message as she walked the last few hundred feet to the campsite.

Inuyasha was not there, but Sango was sitting with her back to a tree, looking lost in thought. Kagome was about to go tell Sango about her encounter with Sesshomaru, but something told her that wold not be a good idea. Instead, Kagome unrolled her sleeping bag and lay down to sleep for the night.

However, her sleep was plagued by confusing dreams. Jumbled visions. A tall, silver haired demon, all in white, another silver haired demon, in red, fighting, and then, a confusing flash of Inuyasha, locked in a passionate embrace with a woman. It wasn't Kikyo, but just as Kagome was about to get a look atthe woman'sface,she awoke in a cold sweat. She was left with the rest of the night to ponder her strange dreams, and think once again about Sesshomaru's strange behavior and the pity in his eyes as he had gazed at her.