Serendipity

A/N: Hello there!
This is Kura here ^^ I've finally sorted out my jumbled mind enough to try to
write a fic again (and hopefully continue it ...) The plot might be a bit cliche
but I'm just a sucker for the master/slave stuff >.< so ... since
currently I'm so hooked on Kagome/Sesshoumaru I decided to write a fic about
them as master/slave ^^;; If my plot gets really similar to someone else's I
apologize in advance but I really didn't copy anyone's!

I also plan to write
an original story using a similar plot after / as I write this one ... I thought
that it'll be easier for me to write if I use characters who already have a
personality ... then after I succeed at that then I will create my own
characters ^___^  

Also, because I know
some Japanese and I watched Inuyasha in Japanese, I will be using the Romaji
spelling for the names and some Japanese terms like youkai, hanyou, etc. I think
it's easier and more correct that way, since strictly youkai does not mean demon
but that is the word used for lack of a better word. 

Summary: Kagome is an
unwilling slave who was sold into a youkai lord's household. Things start to
progress from there ... (I write the story as it flows ... so ... even I have no
idea where this will end up ^^;; ) This fic is AU, though the settings are
similar to Feudal Japan. Character relations and such are kept as closely to the
actual series as possible. 

Parings: Hinted
Inuyasha/Kagome; Sesshoumaru/Kagome; Hinted Inuyasha/Kikyou; Sango/Miroku;
Hinted Naraku/Kikyou; Hinted Naraku/Kagome; we'll see what else comes up ...

Spoilers: The main
characters and relations, some of the plot maybe. I do not think I will refer to
specific incidents of the series, just using the characters and twisting the
plot to fit my own *muhahhahahaa*

Rating: Right now,
General because nothing's happening. No idea where it will end up. I'll see if
there's any opportunity for lime/lemons to come up ... mild (very mild)
swearing, because Technically there is no swear words in Japanese. 

A/N: The word
Inuyasha always uses is "chikushou" which is defined as "a
somewhat vulgar expression of annoyance and disappointment used in situations
where many English speakers would probably swear", and the kanji for the
word Literally means farm animals ... like cows and chicken etc. So .. it's more
of an insult then a swear word and it's no where as rude as English. And "chikushou"
is the just about the worst word in Japanese, and my Japanese teacher really
don't mind us using it during presentations during class ... she does not deem
it a bad enough word to ban from saying in class.

Some terms you must
know for this fic (though you should know already probably ...) :

youkai - demon (for lack of a better word; it actually means more like
animal-spirit-creature type thingys... since demon in the English religious
sense also means a servant of Satan / monster from hell etc. which would
actually be akuma in Japanese ...)

taiyoukai - great demon (highest class youkai, most powerful of their kind)

hanyou - half demon (mixed human and demon)

taijiya - demon exterminator (warriors who hunt and destroy demons)

miko - priestess (technically, shrine maidens who have special purifying and
healing powers, and well versed in medicinal herbs. Their preferred weapon is
bow and arrows, each village usually have at least one miko to act as village
healer/doctor and protection from attacks, mainly protection from youkai.)

chikushou, shimatta, k'so - somewhat vulgar expressions of annoyance, where
English speakers would probably swear (though it's no where as rude as English.
A billion chikushou is not as bad as one F**k... it's more like darn, or heck.

Other terms used in
this chapter (also please keep in mind for future reference):

ookami - wolf

inu - dog

houshi - buddhist monk

kazaana - the wind tunnel or void thingy in Miroku's hand

Disclaimer: I think
the word disclaimer is pretty self-explanatory ... and this won't be called a
Fan-fiction if it was the real thing >_>;; ...so... Obviously, like most
other fanfic writers out there, I do not own the Manga/Anime series Inuyasha,
thoughike ike to play with Rumiko-sensei's characters and swoon over Sesshoumaru
... But my plot is my own ^______^ (even if it's crappy...it's my crappiness *muahahahaa*
^^;; )

Ok now, on with the
story. The prologue is a run through of the world this is in, I know some of it
probably is not important to the actual story, but I like to have the world and
setting all nice and sorted out so the story will flow more smoothly. As I
mentioned, I write as the story flows and does not know where it will end up, so
the more organized it is the less chance of me losing the plot somewhere along
the way. However, I do think a lot of this information will be relevant to
understanding the story later, so please read ^^

Serendipity

~ sometimes blessings are dised sed in the most unexpected ways ...

Prologue

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Even though youkai
and humans were living in harmony and supposedly equal in the society, youkai
had always been a step higher due to their superior physical abilities and
supernatural powers. Youkai and humans alike understood that youkai are
superior, and humans are only allowed to be considered equal because the youkai
lords allowed it. 

Though there are many
youkai who either looked down on humans, or liked to prey on the weak, there are
also many kind-hearted youkai who lived in harmony with the humans in or near
their villages. They helped defend the villagers in times of trouble, and the
humans welcomed them. Villages which had peaceful youkai living among them had
far less chance of being raided, by humans or youkai alike, than those who
faired on their own or with only their miko to guard them.

Thus, the job of
defending the humans from evil youkai fall to the taijiya, warriors who hunted
and killed youkai criminals; these included humans and some youkai or hanyou.
These warriors usually live in normal villages, and farmed like everyone else,
the only exception being they also trained vigorously in combating and youkai-fighting
skills, and hunting and tracking skills. Anyone is welcomed to join a taijiya
village to train with them, they may choose to stay and settle in the village,
or go back to their own village. A lot of people come and go in taijiya
villages, coming to be trained by the experienced fighters and then going back
to their own village to help defend it. Taijiya villages often took in orphans
or wanderers whose villages were destroyed. There are also many wandering
taijiya who did not really belong to any village, but traveled among them and
hunted any youkai criminals along the way. 

As so many youkai and
humans intermingle, many hanyou were born. Hanyou were generally weaker than the
pyoukyoukai breed they came from, but they could also be very powerful if their
youkai parent was powerful. Some of the more powerful, pure-breed youkai looked
down on and disliked hanyou, though most youkai did not openly shun them.
Humans, however, did not mind hanyou. Usually hanyou were brought up in the
human parent's village, and they were treated as an equal among the humans; to
the humans, they viewed hanyou as a good line of defense for their
village.  /p>

Slaves were common in
this era. Slaves were traded or sold like objects, and considered property of
their owners. They would be expected to do whatever their master commanded, with
no right to object; they were also punished severely for disobeying; and of
course, they got no pay for their hard work. Even though many felt pity for the
slaves, and treating slaves badly were looked down upon, using slaves were
common and popular among the lords and upper-class. They were a lot cheaper and
easier to keep than servants, and no one would question why a slave disappeared
mysteriously. Legally, capturing free citizens sel selling them into slavery was
not allowed, but it was done nonetheless; children of slaves were doomed to also
be slaves.

There were human
slaves as well as youkai slaves, though mostly only youkai lords kept youkai
slaves. Human slaves were plentiful; countless of them were needed to keep a
lord's castle and lands running. The only way for slaves to be free is if their
master set them free, or if someone bought their freedom from their master. Even
though a slave was allowed to buy their own freedom, it is virtually impossible
for a slave to obtain any money at all.

In this era, the land
was generally divided into four parts, a bit like countries. The Northern,
Southern, Eastern, and Western, lands each had a Ruling Lord over the lands. In
the four lands, each had plenty lesser lords with their own individual castle,
lands, and villages. These lesser lords paid fealty to the Ruling Lord, in
exchange for protection from the other lands. of tof the four lords were youkai,
one of them a hanyou, and one is a human. Due to the different nature of the
lords, the populations in the four lands also differ greatly. 

Lord of the Northern
Lands, ookami-youkai Kouga, was kind though rash. He hated being confined to his
castle, and usually left his advisors in charge while he roamed his lands with
his pack. He saw nothing wrong with being with humans, and openly befriended
anyone along his way. His lands had the largest human population, as humans did
not fear him as much and thought him as being able to defend them well. Only a
few youkai villages resided in his lands however, as many did not approve of his
closeness to humans.

Lord of the Southern
Lands, human Miroku, was a lecherous houshi who was cursed by Narakue cue curse
of the kazaana in his left hand was passed down from his father, who had
offended Naraku in some way and begot this curse as punishment. Eventually the
kazaana will grow to consume the person, thus his father, and now him, had been
searching far and wide for a cure to this curse. He was almost always traveling
and searching; his advisors looked after his lands. Since he was a human, mainly
just humans lived in his lands. There were almost no youkai villages, though
there still were the many youkai who lived among humans villages.

Lord of the Eastern
lands, hanyou Naraku, was the shadiest of the four. Though he did not do
anything outrageous openly, rumors surrounded him about his shadowy dealings and
practice in necromancy. He was known to be cruel and heartless; he took pleasure
from watching others suffer. He was the most feared of the four lords. His lands
were constantly in turmoil; only the black-hearted humans and youkai lived in
his lands. He found the small wars between his vassal lords amusing, and only intervened
when things got out of hand enough to damage himself or his lands. 

Lord of the Western
Lands, inu-taiyoukai Sesshoumaru, detested humans due to their weak nature;
however he kept strict order in his lands, never tolerating any violations of
his laws. He did not detest humans as much as he detested anything weak, as he
is one of the few, and one of the strongest taiyoukai alive. His lands were the
most peaceful; everyone, youkai or human, all knew the brutal way in which he
dealt with criminals. He was known to destroy anything and everything that dared
to be in his path, but he did not prey on innocent beings. Thus there were many
peaceful human villages in his lands, as well as a large number of youkai ones.

And here, in this
era, begins the story of the unwilling slave who's fire would melt ice, and
change it all ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hope that wasn't too
boring, I'll try to get Chapter one, the actual beginning of the story up
sometime soon >.< Please review and let me know how it was so I may
improve my work ^^

~Kura