InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Kanzen Chinmoku 'Perfect Silence' ❯ The Bitter Truth ( Chapter 5 )

A/n: Well enjoy, and I have some answers to question I know some of you will ask so read the end.

Kanzen Chinmoku 'Perfect Silence'

Tinkerbell

Chapter 5 The Bitter Truth

'How could I be so naïve?' Sesshoumaru glared down in masked disgust at Shegore's helpless, unconscious body. It had been one night since she had 'fallen' in to his custody, and he had regretted it ever since.

The morning had been indecisive and harsh. The clearing rays of dawn had washed away the perfect night sky, shining in all their glory, and dominating the pristine blue sky for almost an hour. As the early morning progressed, soft, white clouds puffed over the horizon, splotching the heavens, still tickled pink from the rosy sunrise. But as the winds roamed, and the clouds floated closer, their color grew distorted and grey, until they loomed overhead as dark storms. The beautiful morning had thus been shattered, as the cracking sounds of thunder electrified the sky, and fresh, heavy rain poured across the land.

Sesshoumaru had witnessed all of this, watching from his bedroom window, for he rarely slept anymore.

No sounds filled the room, except for the far off droning of falling rain. The sleeping chamber was desolate, as was most of the rest of the palace. The birds feared to sing in this place, and voices were forbidden at this hour for any servant.

Shegore had been placed in a beautiful guest room at the far end of the East wing - Sesshoumaru stayed in the west wing. She remained as the servants had left her, in her own ripped, blood stained clothes, and awkwardly sprawled on top of the silken sheets. He would have to provide her with new attire, for that of her own was unacceptable. She dressed in dark green, khaki pants with many pockets, and her shirt was tight and black, easy to move in but quite risqué in this era.

The room she was placed in was quite open and large, compared to the many others. The walls were stone, decorated with tapestries depicting battles, gardens, and one particularly beautiful one of a man and woman embracing in front of the backdrop of a raging sea. The girls face seemed to be stained with tears, and her being stained with sadness. Her lover held her tight, comforting her in a way that only he could.

This tapestry hung above Shegore's futon, and Sesshoumaru looked at it for a moment. It irritated him, as did everything in the room at the moment.

The futon Shegore slept on sat on a low oak frame, adorned with white, silk sheets and a white, down comforter. The high hanging ceiling was covered in plaster, painted a cream color, and it matched the color of the morning sunlight when the dawn came through the large windows on the left wall. Two of the windows opened on to a terrace overlooking the gardens, but they had been locked up for years. The furniture decorating the room was luxurious and beautifully hand crafted, but had not been used in such a time that they collected a thin layer of dust over their oak and silk covers.

Sesshoumaru had not wanted, or had sought out to make her comfortable, it was just that this bedroom was one of the only guest abodes he had, and it was the farthest from his room. She was a guest, and not a very welcome guest at the moment, so she deserved only what he was willing to give. He was not a hospitable man, and would move her to the servant's courters' in an instant if she were ungrateful - if he at all cared how she acted.

Sesshoumaru's musings were interrupted as Shegore stirred. She did not wake, but her head shifted from side to side, as her face contorted in discomfort. Her sleep had been treacherous and filled with unsettling dreams.

Sesshoumaru glanced at her from the corner of his eye, as his head still faced the windows. His whole face and being was compassionless, and for a fleeting thought he wondered what her nightmares were.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Shegore's subconscious reeled. 'I know this place' She had been filled with strange dreams all night, none at all making sense, just random unsettling thoughts her mind had thrown at her. But this place she knew.

As the wind blew through her hair, tussles of it sprung lose from her bun and dragged helplessly in the wind. She was crouched on the edge of a very tall building. Peering over the ledge the streets busied below her, and the streetlamps etched iridescent patterns on the sidewalks. It was dark, not quite night, but in the few waning hours before dusk.

Shegore loomed in awe of the dream setting, her eyes traveling from the oblivious people below, to the speeding cars, and the eerie star spotted sky.

And then suddenly, as if it were simple child's nature, Shegore's purpose came flooding back to her. The dream became more than just a familiar setting, but a driving force. Reality merged with subconscious imagery, and she rose from the ledge, standing tall over the twilight city.

She pulled her 9-millimeter from it's holster at her side, held it out in front of her checking the aim, and cocked it. Somewhere far off a raven crowed somberly, and Shegore smiled as the click of the bullet chamber grew faint, mixing with the sounds of the traffic below.

Shegore then looked over her shoulder. On the roof of this building was large steel door leading to a staircase. Somehow the knowledge of the two men holding guard right inside the door was strangely clear. Those poor, oblivious fools were totally unaware of the funerals they were both going to attend very soon, and the great pain they would feel even sooner.

Cautiously Shegore strode to the door, her gun held in both hands pressed against her chest. Once the steel entrance was the only obstacle between Shegore and conquest, she listened closely to reassure her presumption that the two guards weren't paying attention. She could hear their voices faintly, as the chatted about trivial, everyday happenings. Shegore's smile grew even wider; apparently one man had a wife who would miss him very much.

'How sad.' After murmuring her short condolences, Shegore kicked open the door. The two men spun around, looks of horror and surprise on their faces, and they were met with a pair of clean, silent, bullet holes through their skulls. Shegore had hoped this would be a silent killing, but unfortunately one of the dying men stammered backwards, slipping and falling down the staircase headfirst.

"Well if he wasn't dead, he is now." Shegore whispered unsympathetically as she kicked the other corpse out of her way.

As she descended the stair, still at attention, she really wasn't sure where she would go next. But the more she ventured on, the clearer things got.

There was a simple pattern of halls and rooms to navigate, and then a central room in which she would find her man. A man with a heavy price on his head.

Yes, that was why she was here. It was a job. A killing. How delightful.

With no time to waste she began on her expedition through the buildings labyrinth.

All the halls were poorly lit, the overhanging lamps dead or flickering as they swung from a non-existent wind. The farther she went the more everything seemed the same, and the shadows got darker, the silence heavier.

Creeping through corridor after corridor, Shegore became frantic to find something - anything. But the further she went the more it seemed that she was lost or was going around in circles.

This did not discourage her - it only made her angrier. Throwing caution to the wind, Shegore dropped her sturdy pace and began to run down the pulsing halls. The only sound was the echoing of her rash footsteps against the tile floor, and finally she reached something.

A door.

After turning left for the thousandth time, the hallways stopped and there was a door. Shegore stood examining it, listening for voices, and catching her breath. She did not hear a thing, and took one last look behind her. She couldn't even see the end of the long, dark hall she had just come from, and arming herself and getting in position, she opened the door.

No sirens or yelling voices sounded, and Shegore stood right outside the next room observing for danger. But she couldn't see into the next room, it was completely dark. Having a strange compulsion to enter, Shegore walked into the next room, and suddenly the darkness was gone, and replaced by a blinding light.

Once the light started to ebb away, Shegore felt something familiar, the cold outside air against her face. She was startled completely to find that she was not in the central room she had anticipated, but had wondered out a back door into an open alleyway.

The alley was illuminated by dim streetlights, and the air rotted with the smell of garbage dumpsters. She was enclosed between the high walls of two brick buildings, and the cars speeding by on the street seemed miles away.

Shegore meekly crept from the doorway towards the center of the alley. The back door shut directly behind her, echoing a solid 'thump'.

Looking to the sky, all Shegore saw were faint stars dying in the city light. Looking to the street, all she saw were the blurry outlines of cars and traffic. But looking behind her, Shegore was met with a man who had appeared without her sensing and without a sound. He stood there calmly looking at her, with no defining features about him. He was generic and forgettable.

Before Shegore had a chance to figure out how he got here, the man attacked. From absolutely nowhere he had produced a sword, and in a blink of an eye had knocked her gun from her hands. The man and his sword stood in front of her menacingly.

Shegore reacted without thought, and swung her fist to punch him in the jaw. When he ducked, she followed through by kneeing his lowered head. The man's head jutted up, and he stumbled back a bit, before recovering and swinging his sword at her again. She slid to the left out of the way, and jumped in the air, giving a swift sidekick to his shoulder.

The figure stumbled and collapsed against the alley wall. Shegore stood at attention, cautiously watching her fallen enemy. After a moment of being motionless, the man lifted his head, and gave Shegore a smug look. He rose effortlessly from the dank ground, standing with his arms outstretched, and then closed his eye and clenched his hands into tight fists.

His body began to shack, and from his being erupted three more men exactly like him.

Then the fight really began.

All four opponents lunged at Shegore at the same time, thinking they could throw her off with their numbers. They were met with a hard fight, and Shegore, to the best of her ability, beat the living shit out of them. With every swing they threw she had a winding kick waiting for them, and soon the three clones and their creator realized that they were not enough.

So as the first one had done, the three others created three more, until Shegore faced 13 exact copies.

Shegore knew when to quit, and now was a good time to run. But of course her opponents wouldn't let her go that easy. Arms, fists, legs, and feet came at her from nowhere, and Shegore couldn't keep up. Before she knew it she had been thrown against a wall, her head bashed and bleeding. The thirteen men became blurry, and she soon felt herself being lifted onto one of their shoulders and carried off.

She was slung over this man's shoulder for what seemed hours, her stomach bruised from bouncing up and down on his hard bones. But then she was abruptly dropped to the ground, lying on her stomach, head listlessly fallen on the cold floor in defeat. She waited for more beatings, or a cruel voice ready to read her doomed fate. But it was quiet, and she soon raised her head weakly, out of curiosity.

Shegore lay strewn on a cold, steel floor in an immensely dark room. The men were gone, and she was left alone with her pain.

Again she rested her head down in desperation. And as she closed her eyes something changed. She had the feeling of light behind her shut eyes, an iridescent calling behind the void. The room almost seemed to immediately warm up, and Shegore again dared to open her bruised lids.

She had been right. The room had entirely changed. Instead of infinitely confined darkness, she now lay in a vast, ongoing place of light. Still vague, the white universe seemed to blow about in the wind, and yet was as silent as death. This place had gone from dark to light, from black to white, and from pain to comfort.

Shegore tried to sit up, and propped herself on her non-bruised wrist. As she sat there, she noticed an even brighter light, one whose source she could not make out. It advanced towards her, this figure of pure light making its way to Shegore. The closer it got, the more it resembled a person, and the more Shegore couldn't tear her eye's away.

And now it stood before her, close enough to touch and yet as far away a dream. Shegore looked the being up and down, and its light began to fade. Soon there was just a man standing there watching her, his golden eyes intent on their stare. The silent wind of the white universe blew about his long silver hair, and a storm raged around him, and within his eyes. The man's face was of unmatched beauty, and Shegore recognized him. He had been that heavenly being in the forest - or was that too a dream? Or was this all a dream?

The silver haired man from the forest, bent down on one knee, so that they were level. His face was completely still, but his eyes smiled at her, and somehow for the moment Shegore forgot the pain.

He reached out to touch her, to grace her bruised but beautiful skin with his finger. But just before he caressed her jaw line, everything fell to darkness again, and everything was gone.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Shegore shot out of sleep, and sat straight up in bed. She was breathing heavily, and letting her mind realize it was all just a dream.

She felt faint, and in a daze she turned her head to see Sesshoumaru starring at her. He had been somewhat startled by her abrupt awakening, but he sat still, not letting himself falter into human surprise.

A wide smile brandished Shegore's face when she saw him, her heart and soul pleading that this lovely man, this time, was not a dream.

Sesshoumaru felt uncomfortable, as she looked at him, content and want in her eyes. He himself found that he could not look away, and the two sat in perfect silence for a moment, eyes interlocked.

But soon Shegore's faintness took over, and she unexpectedly collapsed back down on the bed. She was again immersed in dreamy sleep, and Sesshoumaru rose from her futon to leave. He stood motionless and quiet for a moment, and then returned to his self-beatings.

"How could I let myself fall? To believe so full hearted in something, and never consider the truth." He still looked at her unconscious body, but now finally turned away.

"I guess….I wanted to believe."

The way Shegore had looked upon him had deeply unsettled him. He could not remember the last time someone looked at him like that - and he didn't like it.

Sesshoumaru sighed, anger fuming in his breath. And with frustration still plaguing his mind, he left.

Shegore was left to more dreams, the clack of Sesshoumaru's busy strides down the corridor, and the ever-sounding rain. The consuming pound of the storm on the roof set a desolate tone throughout the palace, and yet made it peaceful, like a sad paradise from far away and long ago.

* * * * * * * *

Inuyasha lay on his back on the floor, as Kaede attended to his wounds. He was boiling with emotion, hate, rage, embarrassment…despair. And all from that one woman, that single human female that shattered his world into pieces, as he was deemed helpless while his world came crumbling down.

She had almost killed Kagome, and had even almost killed him - which seemed to piss him off the most.

Miroku had told him that there had been no problems delivering Kagome to the other side. Well, until her mother saw her. They told him that they had traveled through the well, climbed out the other side, and hurried to the first odd-looking house they saw without stopping. Knocking on the door, Kagome's mother answered it and immediately went into shock. An ancient looking priest, a woman with a boomerang, and a mutant fox-child held her daughter in their arms, as Kagome was unconscious and bleeding excessively.

Once she had calmed down enough to call the medics, Miroku, Sango, and Shippou were told to go back to where ever they had come from, and that the family would handle it from there. Kagome's family hadn't even asked 'how' Kagome got shot.

Once the three had returned, they had hurried back only to find Inuyasha lying wounded in a meadow.

That is all they told him, and that's all he needed to know.

Kaede again dampened the cloth she held and applied it to Inuyasha's bare chest. He flinched in pain as pressure was put on his wounds.

"Just relax Inuyasha, ye are badly hurt." Inuyasha scowled.

"I'm fine you old hag. I just took a short beating, and I'll be healed and fine in a day or two at most."

Kaede shook her head. "Nay. I think it will take longer than that."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Inuyasha tried to sit up, but the pain in his chest forced him to sit down.

"Well Inuyasha, these wounds are not very big, but they are deep. I am almost done cleaning them, but then I must pull out those strange metal fragments that have been embedded in your body. Whether you believe me or not, ye are badly hurt, you internals have been wounded, 'and' do ye remember what tonight is?"

A growl of frustration rumbled in Inuyasha's throat. 'The night of no moon.'

"So what does this mean?" Inuyasha tried to cooperate.

Kaede sighed. "It means, shut up and lay still, because if I do not pull out those fragment before nightfall, ye might die!" Her eye slitted, wrinkling her tan skin.

Inuyasha lay still for a moment, before sighing deeply and releasing much of the pain bottled up inside him.

"But you don't understand." Inuyasha whispered gloomily. "I have to find that woman. I must find her and hurt her, hurt her a thousand times worse than she has hurt Kagome."

Kaede again shook her head. "That girl has enough pain in her life, she is probably tortured more than you know."

Inuyasha glared coldly at Kaede, angry that the old woman was siding with the enemy. "What do you mean? Why are you defending her?"

"I am not defending her Inuyasha, and I do think what she did was wrong. But I did talk to her, and she was not the one who wanted to kill Kagome. She was paid to do it by someone else."

Inuyasha again attempted in vain to sit up. "Why didn't you tell me this before?!?"

"I had been waiting for the right time."

"Well, who was it that sent her to kill Kagome?"

"She does not remember."

"Bullshit!"

Kaede raised her voice, something she did not do unless it was necessary to be intimidating. "I believe her!" Kaede took a deep breath, and Inuyasha became pouty and silent. "True you must find Shegore, but before you just kill the girl in cold blooded murder, try to find who sent her, who had been controlling her." Kaede pushed Inuyasha's shoulder back down. "Now lay down, and try to relax."

Inuyasha rested his head on the thin pillow, and stared off at the ceiling.

"She still deserves pain."

* * * * * * *

"A demoness." Sesshoumaru know sat watching his small companion. Rin slept crumpled into her sheets, and like her guardian angel Sesshoumaru watched her as unseen shadows were consuming her.

It seemed he had a habit of watching women sleep this morning. But this was different - this little girl was dying.

Rin's fate was not carved in stone, but if he didn't do something soon it was obvious she would die.

The fever had started a month ago, and from there on his world hadn't been right. No one thought it was serious, so at first he took her back to the palace to rest, and decided he could take a vacation from patrolling for a few days - he needed it. But days turned into weeks, and soon he realized this was beyond him or his healers.

God how he had worried in those days. He would never admit it, but he had worried. A part of him still worried, because the problem hadn't been fixed.

He missed her smile, he missed the sound of her laughter following him, but most of all he missed her. This sickness had reduced her to a sleeping zombie, awaking for short periods during the day, where she couldn't talk, and the servants shoved food down her throat so she could eat before she passed out again. These things had driven him to the decision of finding outside help.

Sesshoumaru had gone to the witch Shiori. He hadn't liked the idea of traveling so close to his half-brother territory, but for Rin, he would fight his way through the seven hells. He didn't have a problem admitting that to himself anymore, but he would die before he let her know that. But he had heard good things about the miracles this woman had performed. It was worth a try.

Sesshoumaru thought about the witch and her secluded house among the trees.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sesshoumaru pushed back the canopy of hanging vines. Shiori lived in a hut in the tops of the trees, the vines and branches hid her from the world, but he had not a problem finding her.

Ducking his head under a low branch, he knocked on the door. There was a scrambling noise from inside, and then the door opened a crack. The old woman peeked her head out from the inside shadows, he long nose looked like a bird's beak, and her small eyes were like black pebbles fallen into wrinkled sand.

"What do you want?" Shiori asked abruptly, looking the demon lord up and down cautiously - it was not often she had visitors like him.

"I need a cure." Sesshoumaru stated simply. "I had sent two messengers before, but you turned them away with you magic, so I have come myself."

After hearing this, Shiori immediately tried to slam the door, but Sesshoumaru held a stern foot in the doorway - he and no patience for games.

Shiori's eye's widened, and she sighed in defeat. "So you are the demon lord with the sick girl?"

"Hai, I am Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Western Lands, and I give you three days to cure her or I shall return less than pleased."

Sesshoumaru turned to leave the canopy, but Shiori opened the door wider beckoning him to stay.

"Please, my lord! I can not cure a sickness when I don't know what it is?"

Sesshoumaru kept his back to her when he spoke. "She has a fever, she won't eat, and all she does it sleep. None of my servants or healers can find what is wrong with her. I entrust that to you." Sesshoumaru gracefully jumped from the tree and landed on the ground, he began to walk away when he called out to the witch.

"I shall return in three days. You are only valuable to me alive, so do not force me to kill you…you are replaceable." The demon lord was now out of sight, and Shiori closed her door dreading the next three days greatly.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sesshoumaru remembered hurrying back to the palace, because he had left Rin in Jakken's care, and he knew Jakken would have loved to see the young girl dead.

But the demon lord had made one stop.

While traveling swiftly through the forest, he had stopped abruptly to see Inuyasha's woman. HE watched silently from the trees as she climbed out of a well. 'Of course she is stupid enough to fall down a well' Sesshoumaru thought.

He had no idea why he stopped to watch her, but he clearly remembered the pulse of hatred and rage she gave him just from looking at her. He could have killed her so easily right then, sneak upon her and slit her throat. He could enjoy the warm comforting feel of her blood on his hands before she even knew what hit her. But all this pleasure would mean having to confront Inuyasha and the other weaklings. And at this boiling moment, he didn't even care.

Again he didn't know what it was, but he was compelled to pull away, and he continued on.

The next three days had been like the next three centuries. They dragged on in agony until Sesshoumaru finally left early the fourth morning.

Agony had continued through the day as Shiori said she was almost done but the medicine was complex and need just a few more days.

She was no match for Sesshoumaru's rage, and was slain in seconds of uttering her plea. But curiosity had nagged at him, and with the Tensaiga Sesshoumaru resurrected the witch and kindly gave her another three days.

'My patience is thin, compassion is something I do not posses, and next time you will be far from this fortunate.' Was what he had said to her, and those words echoed through that woman's nightmares.

An unnoticeable smile graced his lips, it was sick and unnatural, but causing fear and pain in beings lives gave him pleasure. They all needed to know his pain, to know his loneliness.

But to think that something good came out of all this. At least that's what he had thought.

Sesshoumaru had even been glad that Rin had gotten sick, of course he wanted her cured, but if he hadn't gone to the witch, he wouldn't have seen her.

Sesshoumaru growled.

He had dared be happy that Rin's health had been sacrificed so that he could find this human. But he hadn't known she was a human.

Once Sesshoumaru had left Shiori's den, he had wandered for a while, and let his mind be at peace for a moment. In that moment he hadn't had a care in the world, only silence.

But the silence was broken. Not by a sound but by a smell. His meditation was disturbed by the familiar and distinct smell of the half-breed mutt's blood.

Damn his curiosity, for the thought of his half-brother dying was too much to resist. So evasively creeping to the battle scene, that's when Sesshoumaru saw her.

From a tree high above, Sesshoumaru laid eyes on the woman - she had no name, but she had a presence. He was enthralled by her poetry in motion fighting, and contently observed her slay his brother.

He had seen her strange clothing and appearance, watched her fight, and smelled her aroma, and had come to the hopeful but unrealistic assumption that she had been a demoness.

When Sesshoumaru thought of it now it was ridiculous, for what real proof did he have that she had been a demoness. But he hadn't wanted proof in that moment......he had wanted her.

Sesshoumaru's thoughts trailed off, into embarrassment and anger.

When his healers had treated her wounds, it was quite easy to tell that she was a human, and that he had let himself fall into denial because he was vulnerable. Because the only human he had ever accepted was dying, and he was afraid. Afraid to be alone.

Sesshoumaru stood up, a deep growl rolling through his mouth, causing his lips to quiver. Jerking his head to the left he grabbed a small stone deity off the side table, and threw it at the wall in a fit of rage. The defenseless statue didn't have a chance, and broke into small pieces from the force of his blow.

Sesshoumaru stood looking at the shattered deity, breathing heavily.

The door opened, and a servant girl stepped in, head bowed.

"Is everything all right, Sesshoumaru-sama?" She asked meekly.

"Yes!" He barked out. "Now just leave me."

The girl left, and Sesshoumaru sat back down, holding his head in his hands. He ran his fingers through his hair, as he looked back upon his sleeping girl, his face returned to its poised, contemplative manner.

* * * * * *

The chamber was cold when Shegore awoke. Groggily she sat up, whipping the sleep from her eye's and yawning widely.

Bursts of thunder rolled across the surrounding hills, and Shegore held her head in pain as the piercing sounds split through her mind. Rubbing her temples, the pain soon ebbed away, and was soothed by the rhythmic tapping of the storm.

Shegore threw the silk sheets off of her, and placed her feet on the floor. With her elbows on her knees, and her head resting in her hands, she tried to think through the fog in her mind. Slowly she picked and pulled memories from the mist, piecing them together, and trying to figure it all out. She remembered who she was, and most of all her life, but resent happenings were just out of here reach. And what was this well her mind kept throwing at her? Who was the girl?

Then Shegore remembered her dream.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And now it stood before her, close enough to touch and yet as far away a dream. Shegore looked the being up and down, and soon its light began to fade. Soon there was just a man standing there watching her, his golden eyes intent on their stare. The silent wind of the white universe blew about his long silver hair, and a storm raged around him, and within his eyes. The man's face was of unmatched beauty, and Shegore recognized him. He had been that heavenly being in the forest - or was that too a dream? Or was this all a dream?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Ohhh." Shegore murmured. "Kagome…The well…1565." Shegore sighed. "Fuck."

She stood up, straightening her clothes and looking around for her things. She had found that her cargo pockets were empty, but their possession had been placed neatly on a nearby sofa.

She locked her gun in place, and filled her pockets with extra ammo, her switchblade, flashlight, lock pick, and a bag of M&M's - she was very hungry.

Without paying really any attention to her surrounding, she hurried from the room into the long corridor. To her right she found a wall, it was decorated with lovely ink painting - but was just a wall. So Shegore traveled down the corridor, heading west, and not realizing what she'd find.

The passage was quite wide, floor of stone and walls of oaken wood. As she looked around, she passed painting, after tapestry, after painting, and many closed and locked doors.

When the hall came to a break, Shegore turned to see a grand marble staircase, leading to huge, open room with marble flooring. From what she could tell there were countless more rooms and corridors leading from this grand chamber, but something pulled at Shegore's intuition, and she continued down the passage.

She slowed her pace, and eventually came to an open door in the west wing. Carefully peeking in, she was met with a young girl's room. The owner of the room lay in bed, with the sheets tucked snugly around her form. The little girl had a face of uneasy sleep, and she seemed to be sick. Sweat dampened her chestnut brown bangs, and perspired on her brow. Her lips pulled back in a painful grimace, and Shegore could that the girl's front teeth were missing.

But she wasn't the only one watching over the helpless girl.

Shegore watched from the doorway, keeping silent and observant. Sesshoumaru sat at Rin's bedside, looking at the sleeping girl. Why he did not sense her, was a mystery to even herself.

Rin coughed violently in her state of sleep, head thrashing back and forth on the pillow. A brief look of pain flashed across Sesshoumaru's face, contorting his features in a twinge of sadness. Once the helpless girl settled down, a sigh passed his lips, and he placed a slender, clawed had on the futon next to her limp body.

Another crack of lighting flashed, throwing grotesque shadows throughout the room.

Tucking strands of fallen bangs behind his ear, Sesshoumaru seemed as if he intended to leave.

Shegore quickly scurried away, and was out of sight by the time he rose from his chair. Sesshoumaru glanced at the spot where Shegore had stood, a sense of frustration beneath his stoic mask. And with another sigh, he left through the same door.

The demon was strangely compelled to find her, but at the moment was angered by the fact she had witnessed a moment of his weakness.

He had some things to finish - he would attend to her later.

* * * * * *

Shegore entered her room, quietly closing the door behind her. She had hidden from the silver-haired man from the forest, in one of the empty rooms, and had slipped back to her own chambers once she knew the coast was clear.

When she was absolutely sure no one had followed her, she took her first good look at the room she had been given.

At first all she noticed was the sheer size of it, high ceilings, and furniture that seemed twice as large as it needed to be. Once her eyes graced the beautiful, tall windows, Shegore immediately went to them, peering through the clear glass at the raging storm. She was in a short state of awe, while looking at the rolling clouds. She had always loved storms, but had never seen one so raw and infamous.

"Ummm….miss?" Shegore turned around in surprise, her back pressed against the window and her hand inching towards her holster.

She had come face to face with a man, only a little younger than herself. He was dressed in a plain, green yukata, and his sun-kissed cheeks told her he must have been a servant.

"Who are you?" She asked calmly, though she was amazed he had evaded her senses.

"I am known as Lim." The boy bowed slightly. "I was sent to check on you."

Shegore observed the boy, checking for any danger. She spoke kinder this time, trying to make up for her rudeness before.

"Lim…that's Chinese isn't it?" Lim expression lightened, and he would have smiled, if he were allowed to do so before guests.

"Hai. I was born there."

"How did you make it to Japan?" Lim's disposition again seemed to become burdened, his eye's sad with longing.

"I was sold."

"Ohh." Shegore desperately tried to change the subject.

"Where am I?"

"You are in my Lords palace. He brought you here last evening, and you have been unconscious since."

"Well how did you know I was awake?" Shegore was disappointed - she thought she had concealed herself quite well.

"We have our ways….we must know these things."

Shegore became quiet, and she thought back to the forest, where she had first seen him, her dream, and even this morning in that little girl's room. He didn't seem like such an evil man, or one with many ulterior motives. So if she was right, then what was this all for?

Lim had been forgotten for the moment, so he waited patiently till he was again needed.

'She is a strange woman.' He thought to himself.

When Shegore was done calling back memories, she tried to gain the servants attention again.

"Lim…"

He looked up at her. "Yes milady?"

Shegore sighed. "Do you know why I am here?" Lim paused before he answered, a sympathetic look on his face.

"I'm sorry milady, but…" He didn't get a chance to finish, as an almost ominous voice interrupted him.

"Lim." Both Shegore and Lim turned to see Shesshoumaru towering in the doorway. The servant boy took a few steps towards the demon, and then dropped to one knee, head down in respect.

"My Lord." Sesshoumaru slowly walked into the chamber, stopping a short distance before the bent servant.

"Leave us." He waved his hand as if to send the boy off.

Lim looked up and nodded his head in a 'yes sir', and hurried out the door.

They were alone now, and Sesshoumaru watched quietly as Shegore stepped away from the windows. Her eyes were downcast, because she was nervous to meet his stare. She stopped near her the bed, and finally look up at him, her eye's locked onto his, a glare of defiance in her stare.

"Who are you?" Her sentence was drawn out, and almost sounded accusing.

Sesshoumaru's eye traveled the length of her body briefly, and he tilted his head down in a slight bow as he returned to her languid eyes. His voice was a void of respect or consideration as he spoke.

"I am Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Western Lands. This is my home, this is my palace, and this is my land. And you…" The demon lord paused. "Are my guest."

"Sesshoumaru." Shegore whispered the name, feeling its power. 'The-killing-perfection.'

As Shegore examined his face, she noted the fangs, his pointed ears, and the sharp claws on his hands. Of course the fact that he had illuminating, golden eyes, red tiger strips and a purple crescent moon on his face, and long silver hair had been strange, but his peculiarity was just dawning on Shegore.

"You are not human, are you?" Amusement briefly flashed in his eyes.

"I should say not." Sesshoumaru sensed the disturbance rising in Shegore. She wouldn't show it, her stoic eyes still bravely meeting his, but he could feel her uneasiness.

"What is wrong with you girl?" He practically barked at her. "You act like you've never seen a demon before." He was defiantly not in a good temper, and Sesshoumaru watched her mood change from uncertainty to total disbelief. Shegore glared at him.

"Do not call me 'girl'. I have a name."

It just now dawned on Sesshoumaru that he knew her by no name. He had never bothered to find out.

Shegore sat down on the bed, her stare drifting off as she still thought about him calling himself a demon. After a fleeting moment of contemplation, she looked back upon Sesshoumaru, and tried to act nice and persuasive.

"I am very grateful for your hospitality…Sesshoumaru-sama." Her kind words held no sincerity. "Letting me stay in your house, and for tending to my injuries, but may I ask when I will be able to leave?"

Sesshoumaru smirked, his voice cruel and patronizing. "I don't think you understand my dear. You do not leave until I say you can leave." Shegore stood up.

"What the hell do you mean?!?"

"Exactly what I said. You may not leave 'till I let you go."

"So when you say guest, you mean prisoner?" Sesshoumaru didn't like her sarcasm, and his smirk soon faded away as he again adorned his placid mask that hid what he really felt.

"Have I tortured you at all?!? Have I put you in any chains, locked you away with the dead and the rats!?!" His voice was rough and demanding.

Shegore replied coolly. "There is more than one way to cage a prisoner. High walls and vast gardens are chains in themselves."

Sesshoumaru didn't speak. He gave Shegore a cold look, and then turned and left the room. The demon lord slammed her door behind him, and stormed away angrily.

"Well that didn't go very well." Shegore thought as she laid back down on the futon, her mind beginning to calculate a way out of here.

A/n: I hope you liked it, the normal please Read and Review. But here are some answers to question that I think people might ask, so please don't email me if you question is answered, I won't reply to those ones.

What was the deal with Shegore's dream? - Well the first part when she's looking for the target in the building and fighting all those multiplying guys, that is a warped flash back of what happened to her before she went back in time, and will make more sense in the future. The Sesshoumaru part was just her remembering the forest encounter.

Why was Sesshoumaru's palace so western looking? - I actually have a reason for doing that besides liking European castles. It works better with the plot, and why he did it will be answered in future chaps.

What is Rin's illness? - It isn't supposed to be specific.

Is Rin going to die? - You'll just have to find out, I can't promise what my sick and twisted imagination will do.

Arigatou! And keep reading, and have faith in me.