Chapter one: An accident of fate.

The sandy trail was packed hard from the previous day's rain. Her horse's giant black hooves hit the ground in a steady, heavy rythm, never faltering, never breaking the stillness of the forest around the horse and its rider. She was leaning forward, grasping the inky black mane between her slender fingertips. They moved as one, without a saddle to inhibit their union. The only thing that gave the rider control was the metal bit resting in the horses' mouth. The long, steady strides of the horse carried them at a reckless pace through down the broad trail.

The free mane of the horse and the unbound hair of the rider blended together as they flew, tasting true freedom, true joy, and unbound power together. But as the horses' breathing became labored, so did her rider's.

"Whoa, girl. Steady now, steady." The rider murmured lowly, gently pulling back on the reins as she began to sit straight. "Easy mare, easy." She continued to soothe, and the horse's strides began to shorten and slow. They moved at a lazy trot now, unwinding from their breathless ride. The girl patted the horses' warm neck. "There it is girl, just relax." But at her touch, the horse lept into a faster trot. Which was something the rider had anticipated. Pulling back, she continued to talk to the horse. "Easy Sadie girl. Good girl. There you go. There it is." The rider smiled as the horse began to walk. "Good girl."

The horse was magnificent; it was a horse the girl had dreamed of owning her whole life. Sadie was gigantic for one thing, not just big, Huge. She had a thick, long, luxurious black mane to match her coat of black velvet. Her tail was equally as long and wavy. Her head was finely made, delicate, with large, expressive eyes. On her legs she had longer hair growing to cover her hooves. This feathering could be difficult to take care of, because of the mud that the horse was fond of trekking through. Her neck was arched and proud, and overall she rippled with muscle and good health. She was Kagome's pride and joy. This horse was everything to her. She never spooked. Ever.

But at the moment, she made a liar out of Kagome. She abruptly jumped to the side, nearly unseating her bareback rider. Immediately Kagome knew something was wrong. She would never jump like that unless something was really wrong. And this horse was spooked. She was blowing harshly out of her nostrils, dancing, and tossing her beautiful head, throwing her mane into the air. Despite the trouble Kagome knew she would have getting back on, she lept off the frightened animals back.

"Watsa matter beautiful?" She asked softly, soothing the horse so she stood still. "Calm down gorgeous. Just relax, okay?" The mare pushed her nose to Kagome's chest fondly. "That's a girl." She said, gently rubbing the horses' ears. "Now what's got you so spooked, eh?" She looked around for anything abnormal. And wadda know, laying there, half on the trail, half off, was a body of a man or boy. He was on his stomach, so Kagome couldn't tell how old he might be. But judging from his clothing, and the muscular back his black tank top was clinging to, he had to be in his twenties. Funny, so was she.

"Stay there Sadie." She commanded the horse, dropping her reins on the ground. She walked over to the prone figure and knelt down next to him. She laid her hand on his back, over where his heart would be. There was a steady, strong heartbeat beneath her palm thankfully. Gently she pushed him onto his back, nearly jumping when he groaned in protest. "Can you hear me?" She asked him, wondering how bad he was hurt, or even if he was, and what was he doing out here, on her land?

When he didn't respond immediately, she chose to take in his features. His outfit was like hers, tight black tank top and blue jeans. Except his were carpenter jeans and hers were tight hiphuggers. He had long black hair with two thick locks trailing over each shoulder. He had a tan as dark as hers, indicating time out in the sun. His face was rugged, yet handsome, despite the fact she couldn't see his eyes. He sported a black studded bracelet and collar, something she also wore. Talk about odd. They were dressed practically the same, except on him the outfit looked purely masculine, and on her it was purely feminine. But depending on your sexual preference, both looked utterly sexy. So to Kagome's eyes, (and any other female like me, I'm sure) This man was drop dead hot.

He groaned again, and cracked his eyes, which, although opened, were covered by his black eyelashes. When he spoke his voice was slightly slurred with grogginess. "What time, day, and month is it?"

Kagome was confused. "Let's get you rested up and fixed first before I answer that." She noted the cut on the side of his neck. "Let me help you up onto my horse and I'll take you to my house to get fixed up."

He eyed her suspiciously, opening his eyes fully. They were a stunning shade of violet, whereas hers were a deep, clear blue. "Who are you?"

"Kagome Higurashi." Instinctively, she was beginning to dislike him and his curtness. Something told her he would be rude too. "You?"

"How can I trust you?" She rolled her eyes.

"Would I be offering to help you, and have told you my name if I was your enemy?" She asked.

He relaxed a little. "Inuyasha."

She quirked an eyebrow. "No last name?"

"Not to my knowledge."

"Ok.." She said disbelievingly, but decided to drop it. "Can you walk? Will you be able to jump onto this horse?"

He eyed the horse skeptically. "That ain't a horse; it's an elephant." He stated matter of factly.

"A beautiful elephant." She corrected adoringly, looking at her beast lovingly, who was standing there, waiting for her patiently.

He looked at her like she was crazy, but let it slide. He didn't know nothing about this girl. He took in her attire. Now here was a girl who knew what she wanted, a girl who was probably just like him. The whole outfit hugged her body to perfection, and her ebony hair was silky and wavy. Like horse, like rider. Her eyes were large and beautiful, accented by the black eyeliner she wore. She was hot. He pushed himself onto his elbows. "How far is it?"

"To my house?" She crinkled her nose, unaware of how utterly cute that simple motion was. "Not far. I'd say about a half mile, if that." She looked at him again. "So, can you walk, or are you riding with me?"

He tried to stand, but winced. "My ankle's sprained. I'm taking option two." He said, grimicing.

"Aight, I'll help you up. How strong are you?"

"Why?"

"Just answer the question."

"Very." Inuyasha said proudly, if not arrogantly.

"Good. After you get up, you'll have to lift me up."

"Aight, coo." Translation, "Alright, cool." which is a yes.

"Let me help you walk over here." She walked over to him and put his arm around her shoulders. "Ok, lean on me." Even though he tried not to, he wound up using her for support for the short walk over to her horse. "Now, put your knee with the injured foot into my hands." she instructed, standing next to the horse and locking her hands together to create a "cup". Resting his hands on her shoulders, he did as instructed. Bending slightly with his weight, she continued to instruct. "Now swing your other leg up and over her back." With that final smooth motion, he was resting on the horses' strong back.

"Okay, now then, I need to be in front of you. Pull me up with one arm." She said. Wordlessly he reached down as she reached up. He grasped her wrist, while she grasped the same. "Alright, now pull." She had underestimated his strength, and found herself facing him, straddling the horse. "Well, this is awkward." She said, fighting a blush. She was facing him, legs spread, extremely close to a very hot stranger...Oh lord help her now. "I need to turn around, so um, scoot back a little."

"Sure." He said, a bit flustered himself. He hadn't realized she was as light as a thistle down and had pulled with too much strength. And the process of turning around was a definate turn on. Ooh buddy. Thankfully it didn't take her long to turn and gather up the reins.

"Put your arms around my waist." She commanded, regaining control of the situation.

He blushed at her command. "Why?"

"Because we don't like to walk too much around here." She said as Sadie began to dance beneath them.

"I see." He said, getting her drift. He slowly put his arms around her.

Immediately Kagome regretted her command. She was jolted straight to her toes with warmth as those muscular bare arms wrapped around her.. She was just happy he couldn't see it.

"You ever ride before?" She asked to cover up her flustered senses.

"Yeah. I've always had a horse."

"Cool." She thought about it. "How much do you like them?"

He chuckled. "I've never stopped being fascinated by them. No matter how much I learn, I always want more."

"Good. Now hold on." She had been pulling back on the reins to keep the horse from running, but now she released some of her hold to allow the horse to surge into a canter. Inuyasha almost came off balance, but quickly righted himself and relaxed into the smooth gait. The ride passed in silence, even when the broke out of the woods into a field, and a small white house appeared, as well as a barn, and alot of fences. There were loud whinnies of horses as they rode into veiw. Kagome smiled. It was always good to come home, no matter how small the amount of time she'd been gone.

"We'll ride straight into the barn." She knew she wasn't supposed to do that, it could sour her horse. But just this once she'd bend the rule she'd always used diligintly. He didn't say anything.

They trotted in, where more whinnies greeted them, and beautiful black faces peered out curiously over the stall doors. Almost all had some small white marking on their face. From the stall at the end came a loud whinny and the sound of large hooves striking wood. A Beautiful head with a perfect white star covered with a black silky forelock tossed his head a cried out to them.

"Oh shut up Onyx." Kagome said, rolling her eyes. "Honestly. Chill out big boy." He continued to dance. With a sigh she dismounted her favorite horse. "Welcome to my ranch. Home to ten friesans. (A breed of horse that only comes in black)." She said, gesturing to the rows of stalls. "Let me help you down." She said, reaching up like she was helping a child. He bristled at being treated like a toddler, but knew he needed help with his ankle the way it was.

He slipped off carefully, using her for support. Once he was down, he used the wall, watching her as she systamatically brushed down Sadie and put her away. When she was done, she came to him. "Ok, let's go to the house now." Allowing her to help him, they slowly made their way to the house.

She helped him up the steps and opened the door. Her house was small, but tidy and cozy. Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a small laundry room, kitchen, practically no dining room, and a small living room sporting a large, L shaped couch and small t.v. stand was all, but it was her home, and she was proud of her independence. She'd come so far in such a short time. They entered through the back door, which was the miniscule laundry room, into the hallway; if you turned to the right there was the master bedroom, turn to the left, there was the kitchen/dining room. They turned to the left, passing through the kitchen into the living room. She let him slump onto the sofa. Kagome rolled her shoulder; carrying him was hard on someone her size.

"Let's wrap that ankle of yours, kay?" She said, beginning to walk away.

"Wait, why are you trusting me?"

She shrugged. "Intuition says I can." and with that, she walked towards the bathroom. She reappeared, carrying a roll of bandages. "Ok, lets see that ankle."

He rolled up his pant leg, showing off his black boots. He unlaced this, removing his white sock, to display his throbbing purple and red ankle. Kagome cringed at the sight. "Let's get some ice on that first." She again walked away, coming back with a clear plastic ziploc baggie filled with ice. "Ok, now then. Are you hungry?" she asked as he rested the ice on the injury.

He gave her a strange look, but nodded, for the first time noticing his own hunger.

"What do you want to eat?" She asked, raking her mind for meal options.

"What do you have?"

"Dunno, I was just gonna fix something quick."

"That's just fine. I'll eat anything."

"And when it's done, I have some things to ask you."

"I might not be able to answer all of them."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Cause why?"

"Just because."

"Well why not?" She asked again, beginning to get frustrated.

"Are you gonna get us some food or what?" He asked, getting equally irritated.

"Fine, fine. But when I'm done..." She trailed off, a bit of a threat in her voice.

"Yeah yeah. Just go cook."

"Don't command me."

"I wasn't"

"Was too!"

"Wasn't!"

"Was t- Oh nevermind." And with a quick roll of her eyes, she turned and walked to the kitchen.

He smiled. If he didn't know better, He could've sworn he was getting fond of this girl. But that of course, was ridiculous. He wasn't supposed to be able to feel emotions. He had been created that way. Demons don't feel. Even if he was only half. Slowly he began to drift off into sleep, unaware that in his weakened state, he was unable to control his demon like qualities.

Kagome returned to the room to see a new man resting on her couch. She was startled, to say the least. She wondered if it was the same man, but there was his ankle, still swollen and bruised. Only now he had silvery hair, and the most adorable doggy ears she had ever seen. They reminded her of her favorite dog, Alaska. Speaking of the lazy mutt, where was he? As if he'd been verbally summond, the dog appeared out of her room, yawning.

"Some guard dog." Kagome grumbled, petting his snowy head affectionately. Alaska was a purebred samoyed, and a beautiful dog. He had long, soft white hair covering his medium sized build, and bright, intelligent brown eyes. His curled tail wagged happily as she scratched his ears. She looked at her guest. 'Hmm, I wonder..." She thought, and reached out to his cute ears. And she tweaked. And he woke up with a growl.

"What the hell do you think you're doin?" He asked, grabbing her wrist.

She reddened. "What? They're just too cute for a girl to resist." Kagome said defensively.

"She thinks they're cute?" Inuyasha thought in amazement. He decided to drop the subject and her wrist. "Whatever. What are we gonna eat?"

"Huh?" She had been staring at his eyes. They were amazingly golden, and absolutely beautiful. The horse owner was fascinated. "How?"

"What?" The hanyou asked in confusion.

"How do you go from looking so human, to so demon in such a short time?"

"I can supress my demon blood. But when I'm relaxed and weak, my true hanyou form shows through."

"Then how come you were human when I found you? You were sleeping, like you were just now."

"I wasn't relaxed though. I was just unconsious." He looked thoughtful. "I have to be relaxed. and right now I feel safe and relaxed, and my ankle has made me weak. Changing my appearance takes up alot of energy."

"I bet it does." The woman said, looking thoughtful. "But how did you come to be unconsious on my property in the first place?"

"Well..."

I'm gonna be mean and just leave it off here. I really don't have any plans for this story, other than they're supposed to fall in love somehow. Tell me what you think!