An Earlier Time by Banana

First Encounter

AN: So I had posted this before but I didn't like it, so I took it down and wrote this. Same idea, different start. Enjoy!

Sesshoumaru turned around. His mouth was slightly parted revealing his fangs. His golden eyes wide in surprise. His own blood was dripping thickly on to the ground from the deep cut in his arm. The young priestess before him walked briskly past with her sword drawn. Her previous weapon, a bow, cast aside on the ground.

He noted her quiver was empty. That's when he spotted all the arrows in various spots in the ground. Apparently she had missed her object many times before he had taken notice of her. Rather, taken notice of her arrow when it had struck the neko-youkia.

His face contorted in disgusted and then was quickly cleared of emotion. He had been injured by a cat and saved by a human but he would control himself. Spinning on his heel he rushed forward and cut the girl off, delivering the final blow to the beast as she bumped into his person.

She fell backwards, her long raven locks bouncing into her face shielding him from view. Slowly he sheathed his own sword and turning a cold gaze to her. Brown eyes met his in surprise.

“I-I thought you were too injured to continue,” she stated softly as she got to her feet. Her eyes locked on to his injury curiously. She motioned to it.

“May I?”

“This one does not require any assistance,” he replied as he swept past her. Allowing his youki to pulse and push her back. After a moment he heard her following him, the autumn leaves crunching under foot. She was watching him with her head tilted slightly to the right.

“Who are you?”

He refused to answer her questions, choosing instead to ignore the miko. His pace quickened as he attempted to dissuade her from following. She matched his pace with a small smile tugging at her lips. His eyes narrowed slightly and he pushed his youki against her again knowing it would make her uncomfortable.

Again, she caused him shock as she erected a barrier to shield her from the discomfort. Now the smirk was firmly placed, although she avoided his gaze.

“What do you want?” He demanded as he turned to face her.

“Your name.”

“Why?”

Her smirk widened even more as she stated proudly, “So I can tell my family the name of the Diayouki I saved!”

“This one fails to see who you saved. Your assistance wasn't required.”

“Ah, but I did save you, at least from more injury,” she offered.

“Your assistance was not required.”

“I answered your question, so answer mine!”

She cowered under his gaze now as red flickered into the gold. Her scent spiked with fear. He didn't need to press his power against her. She was merely human, his beast was enough to send chills down her spine. Once her skin had paled from her fear, he felt satisfied that he had made his point. Hurriedly he turned and began walking.

Still she followed. They lapsed into silence as they entered a small clearing with a flickering fire. A child was leaning over it, warming her hands and a small green demon was clearly preparing food for them.

A small gasp escaped from Kagome's lip's.

“Sesshoumaru,” she breathed.

She had surprised him a third time that day.

Ignoring his wards cries of joy at his return, he turned to her again and grabbed the miko by the front of her clothes, drawing her close.

“Who are you?”

“K-Kag-ome,” she stuttered, her eyes wide in fear. He dropped her and walked away again.

He had heard of this priestess. The supposed reincarnation of the one that had killed his half-brother. Briefly he thought about visiting the tree she had stuck him to but quickly dismissed that thought. It was no concern if the hanyou was still there or not. He allowed his eyes to roam over the girl in front of him. She was now introducing herself to his ward.

She didn't look like anything special. Clumsy is the word he would use for such a being. How many arrows did she waste? Sloppy.

No one even knew where the girl had originated from. She could speak languages none had heard of and place's just as bizarre. Only around six years old when she wandered into the village of Edo. Then the demon's came for her, the village was destroyed many times before the people realized she had the shikon jewel.

Idly he wondered if she was foolish enough to carry it on her, a quick sniff revealed that she was indeed foolish enough. She was going to bring hell down on their small group.

“Onna,” he called to her. She stood up straight and walked over to him. “Why do you travel alone with the shikon no tama? Do you not realize the danger you put yourself in?”

Her fingers ghosted over her chest where a small lump was protruding. Apparently it was on a necklace around her neck. She let her hand drop and she fixed him with a glare.

“I can handle my own!”

She stumbled backwards as he stood, pulling tokijin out as he did. The sword cracked with power.

“You're after the jewel as well?” She accused. He was curious as to why she sounded disappointed.

“Does it matter miko? You won't be able to hold your own against this one,” he stated as he rushed her. Unprepared Kagome squeaked and fell backwards, tokijin swinging where she once stood. Thinking quickly she latched on to his leg and pushed her powers into him. A snarl ripped through his throat as he felt his skin burning and he pulled her off of him.

She met his eyes defiantly.

“What the hell was that for?” She roared as she kicked at him, landing a few blows. A soft sigh escaped his lips.

“You are an easy target miko. This one ...cannot help but wonder why the kami's entrusted you with the shikon no tama,” there was a pause as he starred up at the stars. “Perhaps this is their sense of humor?”

He dropped her to the ground and sat back on to the rock, his head tossed back. He was clearly deep in thought.

“You're that hanyou's brother, the one Kikyou-sama sealed to the tree!” She blurted out. He looked down at her, a smile on his face.

“Indeed, and you are the reincarnation of that priestess,” he supplied smoothly. She crossed her arms, her lip sticking out in a pout.

“You do not like being compared to her,” he stated. It wasn't a question but she nodded in agreement. “Make yourself comfortable onna, tomorrow this one will take you back to your village.”

He went back to gazing at the stars. So Kagome turned her attention to Rin. The child was piling food on to a leaf and stood to bringing it to her.

“I did not search for food and cook it for that woman!”

“But master Jaken! Lady Kagome is hungry and besides, it's rude to not offer!” Rin protested as she awaited approval. Jaken narrowed his eyes and then turned, mumbling to himself. A smile crossed Rin's face and she continued her approach.

Kagome nodded her thanks and accepted the food. Rin sat down next to her.

“What's wrong with him?” Kagome inquired. Rin laughed.

“Master Jaken is small but he's full of foulness. He's really nice when you look around it though.”

Kagome thought traveling with the diayoukia would be difficult, but it seemed as though he adjusted his pace for the humans that traveled with him. She had heard many tales of how cruel the inu-youkia was but couldn't help smiling at the interactions between him and the child Rin.

Obviously he had a soft spot for at least some humans, so he wasn't all bad. Now she had to stuff her fist in her mouth to stifle a giggle. Rin had made her way over to the lord again and was putting flowers in his long silver locks. The only sign of his annoyance was his left eye twitching but otherwise he tolerated her antics.

They were entering InuYasha's forest and Sesshoumaru made his way to his brother, ignoring the squawking protests of his retainer Jaken. Kagome stopped beside Sesshoumaru as he gazed at InuYasha, a look of disgust marring his face.

“The old priestess warns me to stay away...I really want to touch his ears though,” she whispered, her eyes twinkling. She was hoping to see humor in the stoic lord. Instead she received a “Hnnn...” and he turned away.

“D-don't you want to save him? He is your brother!” She called after as she ran to catch up to his long strides.

“He is a disgrace and no concern of mine.”

Sesshoumaru was slightly surprised when the miko had fallen silent, carefully he glanced over his shoulder. A frown graced her face as she watched the ground. It became clear to him that his comment had upset her. Huffing, he decided to go back to ignoring her. They came to the outskirts of the village and the western lord stopped.

“We will not go any farther, you should be able to return safely from here.”

Kagome nodded and curtsied to him.

“Will I see you again Sesshoumaru-sama?”

“Not likely,” he stated as he turned away, motioning for his pack to follow.