Growing with Change by White Inu Youkai

Prologue

As Kagome came to ,she slowly became aware of the position of her body. Her arms were above her head. Her legs stretched out in front of her. Her butt was numb and her entire body ached , and throbbed in pain.

she tried to move but the pain that this action caused made her gasp and try and force down the bile that was attempting to rise with a few shuttering breaths she managed to bring under control the nausea that was surging within her .

as she became more and more aware of her surroundings she searched her memories for how she came to be in this cold place chained to a wall. yes she now realized that she sat chained to a wall her arms above her with just enough room for her to sit her legs stretched out in front of her the chains attached to the wall across from her just loose enough for her to sit with her back against the wall that her arms were chained to.

with a sigh she looked around weakly as memories came back, fighting with Naraku, Inuyasha unconscious , Shippou hiding, Miroku and Sango fighting , she had run out of arrows. she was now officially afraid Naraku had her as she looked her self over she heard a frightened whimper from her right casting her brown eyes in that direction she could see the outline of a child a tiny girl.

after a few more moments her eyes became more and more in focus and her vision sharper and clear she recognized the child " Rin?"

the child looked up her honey brown eyes full of tears she was dirty and frightened and like Kagome she was chained with a sigh Kagome said " Rin do you remember me?"

Rin blinked a few times then half smiled " yes your the pretty lady that travels with Lord Sesshoumaru's brother Inu........Umm.....Inu......"

Kagome smiled at the child " Inuyasha?"

Rin smiled brightly her captivity forgotten for the moment " yes that's it Inuyasha"

Kagome smiled " yes I am , Rin how did you get here"

Rin sniffled " Jaken told the mean lady to leave but she had a fan and she made Jaken get hurt" then she begin to cry a" I am afraid I want Lord Sesshoumaru"

Kagome gave the frightened girl a smile " I will protect you until he gets here alright?"

Rin looked up her tear-filled brown eyes shining in the dim light" you would do that"

Kagome smiled " Yes Rin I would and By the way I am Kagome"

Rin smiled " thank you Kagome"

Inuyasha came to, to find Shippou scrambling about trying to wake them all up like him Kikyou , Sango and Miroku were unconscious Kirara was also unconscious from the poison that she had ingested and looking around he tried to find Kagome finally he said" Shippou where is Kagome?" even as he spoke he expected her to come from the woods or from the creek.

Shippou came scrambling up his emerald eyes full of unshed tears " I don't know I was hit and when I woke up she was gone" he finished as he burst into sobs finally Kikyou walked up her cold brown eyes softened a bit as she looked Shippou over " don't worry Kit where ever Kagome is she is alive I would feel it if she weren't"

Shippou just cried harder " he has her Naraku has my momma"

Sango flashing Kikyou a hard glare picked up Shippou and tried to calm him and finally Miroku snuck up on Shippou and placed a ward that would make him sleep upon his forehead. as Shippou fell unconscious he turned to Kikyou and said " Lady Kikyou would you please keep in mind that Shippou is only a child " then turning he picked up Kirara and taking Shippou from Sango he handed her Kirara and said " you must hurry to the farm of Jininji "

Sango her eyes shining with tears said " you will find her Miroku wont you?"

Miroku sighed " yes Sango now go before it's to late for Kirara"

Sango turned and took off at a fast pace. after she was gone Miroku turned to Inuyasha who was standing looking with mournful eyes at Shippou who lie unconscious in Miroku's arms occasionally twitching and said " Inuyasha can you pick up her scent anywhere?"

Inuyasha swallowed " no the change is already happening"

with a sigh Miroku turned to Kikyou said " Lady Kikyou I expect that you can defend Inuyasha and Shippou tonight?"

she narrowed her eyes but lifting her chin in arrogance said " I can"

Miroku looked down at the now peaceful Kitsune said " very well take Shippou I am going after Kagome I can feel her energy It is distant but I am going to leave now. Inuyasha" he said as he turned and handed Shippou to him " as soon as your yourself again fallow as swiftly as you can"

Inuyasha swallowed and nodded casting his now brown eyes to Shippou" I will" with that Miroku spun and headed into the night the jingling rings of his staff the only sound.

Sesshoumaru returned to his camp to find his retainer Jaken dead as well as his dragon Un/An the charred trees surrounding the clearing spoke of the battle. along with the sent of burnt trees there was the sent of Naraku, the wind sorceress to be exact .with a snarl he also smelled another sent the tears and fear of his ward Rin .

with his eyes flashing hatred tinged with red he pulled a pulsing Tensaiga from his waist and revived both his retainer and his dragon once both were on there feet he spun and began walking .

without a word both fell in step with him silently as both knew that they had let not only Sesshoumaru down but the human girl that they had come to love so much as well.

Near dawn Kagome tensed she could hear footsteps drawing closer as they became louder Rin began to whimper Kagome smiled over at her " don't worry Rin I will protect you until Sesshoumaru comes for you remember"

Rin cast worried eyes to her and nodded just as the door opened with a loud screeching metal sound to revile a baboon pelt clad Puppet. Kagome looked up knowing that this was not the real Naraku she smirked not a friendly smile but one of hatred and detest " what is the matter Naraku are you afraid to come yourself"

the puppet chuckled " you Miko really need to learn your place then casting his eyes to Rin as she whimpered and tried to curl on herself straining against her chains " look Miko this child has more manners than you.... but of course what would I expect from a mere copy a shadow of the woman that you wish to be"

Kagome raised her head she would not allow his words shake her " If indeed your not afraid of me why the puppet"

the puppet shrugged " this is not your concern besides I have come to kill the child" he said as he turned towards Rin a large dagger in his hand .

Kagome her eyes blazing seethed " you will not touch that child" she screamed as she thought "' I hope you get here soon Sesshoumaru' then a flash of pure Miko energy left her and the puppet disintegrated into a pile of ash the dagger dropping to the floor with a clatter .

Kagome looked weakly over to Rin and said " Rin I don't want you to be scared but I need to go to sleep now OK"

Rin nodded " yes"

then Kagome fell into her chains unconscious unaware that the energy release that purified the puppet also killed Kagura and Kanna who were within the castle as well as every lower level youkai within four miles, and could be felt as far away as fifteen miles.

Sesshoumaru had been walking for several hours fallowing the faint trail of miasma when he felt it . a wave of pure Miko energy the feel of the wave washing over him burned his skin then passed him by leaving a heated feeling in its wake around him he could hear lower level youkai screaming in pain and he shuttered as he looked back over his companions for some reason like him they were unharmed he didn't understand then a light pop was heard and a barrier that had formed around him burst.

Sesshoumaru was confused he did not understand the wave of purifying energy that had washed over him should have killed him but the barrier had stopped it however the barrier was made up of the same miko energy that the wave had been, shaking his head he pushed the thoughts back to think about later he rushed into the night he needed to find Rin it would be dawn soon and he did not want to think about what would happen to her.

Sesshoumaru found the castle easily enough two hours after day break he approached cautiously but soon found there was no one to stop him no one to challenge him no one to taunt him pushing his way to where he could smell Rin he found the reason there on the floor of a hall way sat two piles of ashes in one pile there was a mirror in another was a fan hidden in a room was a boy the exterminator he was crying his heart filled with unmentionable pain as he hugged him self rocking back and forth whispering " I killed them all it was me I killed them"

Pressing further into the castle he found the stairs leading to the dungeon he quickly descended the steps to find one of the cells open and through the open door he saw Rin chained to the wall he did not see her companion until he rushed to the cell door and bounced off of a barrier. with a snarl he looked at the thing that was keeping him from HIS RIN than a soft voice strained with weakness said " Sesshoumaru you have come for her please calm yourself and enter "

Sesshoumaru could still not see kagome but her words calmed him as his eyes returned to gold he once again tried to enter the cell this time he walked in with no effort he cast eyes to Rin who was dirty her face streaked with tears her eyes closed in exhausted sleep taking a step towards Rin his foot hit something metallic looking down he found yet another pile of dust with a dagger in it then he looked over to find Kagome weakly hanging from her chains. she smiled at him " I knew you would come for her but please do not fight Inuyasha he is coming closer please not this time"

Sesshoumaru swiftly slashed the chains from Rin then looking over at Kagome she once again smiled weakly at him " don't worry about me Inuyasha is close he will be here soon enough, " then she once again passed out.

Sesshoumaru glanced at the Miko once again taking her filth he had never seen her so dirty, as well as her tattered cloths shaking his head he swiftly left the castle with Rin safely asleep in his arm and tail.

as he exited the castle the monk Miroku stopped and took a defensive position Sesshoumaru looked the monk over and said " she is in the dungeon and the exterminator boy is in one of the rooms of the lower level he is upset but unharmed It would seem he is free of the control of Naraku now go to your friend monk and leave me be" then he walked past Miroku and swiftly took to the air.

Miroku watched Sesshoumaru's leave he had listened to the calm words he could see the child in his arms shaking himself he rushed to the dungeon stopping to pick up Kohaku along the way. as he entered he saw Kagome chained as she was he was at a loss as to how to free her so he simply asked Kohaku" Kohaku do you know where the keys to the chains are?"

Kohaku his eyes pained shook his head his voice soft and pained " no I don't Naraku brought her in I believe he had the keys and he left hours ago"

Just than Inuyasha and Kikyou arrived Inuyasha rushed to Kagome and swiftly using his claws like his brother with Rin freed her from the chains Miroku walked forward and gently picked her up and caring her outside placed her on the bare miasma burnt ground. Kagome looked up with a smile and chirped happily " Hi guys"

Rin woke with a whimper then realizing where she was she fiercely hugged Sesshoumaru's neck " you came for Rin, Rin was scared , but kagome said that she would protect Rin and she did when the mean man in the furry skin came in and said he was going to kill Rin she made him turn into a pile of dust then she said she had to go to sleep and so I did to and I woke up and my Sesshoumaru sama has Rin Kagome was right you did come" she finished taking a huge breath.

Sesshoumaru watched the child and listened to her chatter then it dawned on him the pile of dust with the dagger was indeed next to Rin and nowhere near Kagome realizing that Kagome had indeed protected Rin even from himself he was grateful and felt a slight pain of guilt for leaving her hanging there chained. however that feeling left as he remembered her soft words he had indeed smelled his brother closing in on his location. casting golden eyes once again at Rin he decided to help the Miko the next chance he got.