A/N: A new day, a new story. I was drawn to my computer and this is what literally came out on the first try. Hope you enjoy the read.

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha!

Prologue: Running

A shadow whizzed past the tall, oak trees expertly avoiding them. Feet pounded on the hard, cold earth, twigs and leaves breaking at each impact. She didn't dare look back, not when doing so could get her caught. Her heavy breaths were loud and she only hoped that those chasing her were far enough to be deaf to them. It was taking everything she could muster to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

The trees suddenly began thinning and she knew that she was in trouble. Soon, it cleared and she met a stone wall, too steep to climb and too wide for her to find a way around. Her chest heaved in exhaustion and as she turned around, she came to face exactly what she had been hoping to avoid.

Them.

Chapter 1: Debt

Kagome held her hood up as high as she could, gaze cast on the floor as she trudged through the crowded streets of Din. It was trading season and the roads were packed with merchants, selling their wares and customers that came from all over the region to make a good bargain. Kagome avoided all the calls, all the offers and kept her gaze straight on to the mansion at the end of the long, winding pebbled dirt road

He just had to be there.

The dry, arid city air was hard on her lungs, lungs that had only known the moist air of the coastal regions. She felt like she was in a sauna in the hideous and impractically long coat she had on, but she did not want any attention drawn to her, especially when she might be recognized.

She came up to the steps of a large, luxurious house made of imported red brick instead of the usual golden adobe brick she had been so accustomed to seeing in the area. No one was guarding the door, but then again, she did not think they would be. Whoever had called her here was expecting her. She only hoped that she had what she wanted.

Kagome threw her hood back once the door opened, her black waves spreading as they were free of their restraint. A young, pretty bronze-skinned girl ushered her in quickly, having been instructed beforehand to let the older girl inside. She directed Kagome to the living room, in which her eyes darted everywhere nervously. All the finery made her feel uncomfortable. She wished she had dressed a little nicer, but she shrugged to herself; there was no time to regret anything now.

"Miss, the master will see you now."

Kagome whirled around to see the same girl waiting for her at the doorway. The raven-haired girl nodded wordlessly and followed the younger girl when she turned to lead her to the master of the house. Kagome gulped, gathering up her courage and keeping a tight grip on her hope.

The young girl led her to an open room and as she entered, her gaze fell onto the last person she thought she'd ever see again.

"Souta!" Kagome ran to her younger brother, who stood wide-eyed as he was gathered in arms he thought he'd never feel again. Though he was older now, a boy of fourteen years, he could not help but cry a little as he was reunited with someone so dear to him.

"Miss Higurashi." A cold, distant voice caught her attention. Kagome straightened up to see a tall, beautiful and formidable man standing in the door way of the patio. She tensed immediately, her senses on alert a she felt a strong power from this man emanating from him with strong control. Whoever he was, he was not your run-of-the-mill demon.

But, then again, who was she to talk?

"If I may be so bold as to ask," Kagome began, "Who are you and why did you send for me?"

The cold amber eyes locked on hers and for a second, Kagome thought she felt frozen.

"You may want to sit down, Miss Higurashi."

Kagome took a seat next to her brother, examining the man sitting before them. His silver hair was unusual and was the first thing that stuck out at her. Next where the cold, hard amber eyes. No eyes had ever struck her as frigid as his did. They sent shivers of fear down her spine. Purple marks were visible on his cheeks and he didn't seem to try to hide them. He was a proud man, she could tell, from the way he held himself and directed himself towards her.

"So?" She broke the silence. "I would like to know why I'm here and who you are."

"You may call me Sesshoumaru." The man responded. Kagome gasped slightly, but he paid her no mind as he continued. "You are here because I wanted you to be."

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked, her hand suddenly going to her brother's. She knew exactly who he was dealing with and it made her uneasy to be in front of him. Being brought by the Crown Prince of the country that had nearly wiped out your people—maybe uneasy wasn't even the half of it.

"I need something taken care of," His amber eyes flickered from her to her brother. "But I do not like asking, so I have paid you with your brother."

Kagome narrowed her eyes, suddenly understanding his plot. "So now I owe you."

"That is correct. Your people," he paused as if the word was repugnant, "have a long-standing quality of being duty-bound to honor contracts. I expect you are quite the same."

The young woman sighed, realizing that he had trapped her into a deal she hadn't even seen coming. Even if she wanted to refute his claim and walk out of there with her brother, she was sure that they were never going to see the light of day if she didn't agree. She gulped. At the very least, she had gotten her brother back.

"What is it that you want me to do? I have no skills of value and I do not intend in selling myself either." Kagome bobbed her head in conviction as she bluntly put her limits on the table.

"Do not fool me, girl." Seshoumaru's face did not contort in anger, but his voice was laced with it. "I know what you are, Weaver."

The raven-haired girl gasped as her heart began pounding harder and louder. How could he know? She had been terribly careful with not using her powers in the city and she was sure she had never seen him before. So, how did he know?

"How?" She whispered, her hand squeezing her brother's.

"You do not need to know." He leaned back, his crisp white shirt collar flapping a little with the slight breeze. "Let it be suffice to say that I acquired it from secure means of which you have no reason to fear." He reached out for a cigar that sat perched on a metal dish. "What I wish for you to do, as payment for returning your brother, is to aid my own younger brother in defeating the idiot that has been nothing but a nuisance for my father."

"I do not wish to use my powers for anyone." Kagome replied hotly.

"You have no choice." He lit the cigar and puffed out. "You will not leave this mansion alive if you do not agree."

Kagome did not flinch since she had already anticipated this. Instead, she glanced at her brother. Tall though he was, he was still young. And afraid. She could see it in his eyes, those blue-gray eyes that were so unique to her people. She couldn't risk their lives anymore—even if she had to use her powers, she would do so to keep them alive. Like he said, she had no choice.

"Deal."

A cold smile appeared on his face, the only expression she would ever see on his face. "Good. You and your brother will be sent out tonight."

And that's how she came to be here, riding through the plains in a carriage with Souta, who was dressed in an expensive white collared shirt and breeches fit for the "station" they were trying to play. Her own ugly cloak had been traded for a light, short-sleeved pink dress, to keep up with the illusion that they were the children of a wealthy merchant on a visit to relatives in the countryside.

But the countryside was the last place they were going to.

From what Kagome had been able to glean from Cold Eyes, (as she liked to refer him to, since the name fit him so well) his brother had set up a small band of people on the shores of Walik, and that he needed a weaver to cross the continent with greater efficiency and dispose of the man he had said was a nuisance to his father. That, at least, had set her mind at ease. She didn't want to use her powers to fight, not when so many before her had lost themselves to the sickening power that consumed you until your very soul was lost to it.

Still, she didn't know what to expect.

And as the plains turned into rocky hills and then to soft, sandy ground she knew they were almost there. Night had begun to fall and the stars began revealing themselves in the skies. She could make out a fire in the distance, the smoke rising and disappearing into the indigo sky.

They had made it to the crown's secret protectors—the Watchers.

A/N: That's it for this chapter. If you liked it, please review and favorite. Have I caught anyone's interest? Stay tuned and you'll find out what a Weaver exactly is!

~Daichi