Chapter 2 Kaede and Kikyou could make out the figure of a man. As they got closer they could see him clearer. Kaede was worried, but Kikyou already new what the approaching man was. She knew it was a demon, not a human. 'This demonic aura… It's unbelievably strong. It is best if I continue walking and ignore him. I would do better avoiding trouble.' Kikyou mused. Kaede looked in fear at the man in front of the man. It was now clear to her that it was a demon. Just by his appearance, Kaede could tell he was a demon. Kaede looked up to see Kikyou. All Kaede saw was her sister's calm face. 'Onee-sama, don't you know that this man's a demon!' Kaede thought. "Onee-sama?" Kaede whispered so only Kikyou could hear. Unknown to Kaede was that Sesshoumaru had heard it perfectly. Kikyou did not face her little sister, instead she continued walking. Sesshoumaru had seen them before they had seen him. 'The child seems to be terrified, yet the miko seems to not notice my presence. Is she ignoring me?' Sesshoumaru thought. Beside him, Jaken was trembling with fear. 'Is this the miko! What if she is! She has to be, she fits the description that the demons told me about perfectly! Long, black hair, and as beautiful as a human could be. Oh, I hope Sesshoumaru-sama doesn't know she's the miko Kikyou!' Jaken frantically thought. Kaede looked up at her sister again, but Kikyou was still incredibly calm. 'Kikyou? What are you doing? This guy could hurt us! Why don't you do anything?' Kaede was worried. They were fairly close now, only a few feet away. Jaken was sweating non-stop while Kaede had an anxious expression on her face. Yet Kikyou and Sesshoumaru were both calm. At last they were only a few inches beside each other until they finally passed each other. Both Jaken and Kaede let out the breath they did not notice they were holding. 'He didn't attack us! In fact, he didn't even acknowledge us!' Kaede thought. 'That was too close for my liking.' Jaken pondered. Once Kaede was sure the two demons were out of hearing range she asked Kikyou, "Onee-sama, why didn't you do anything?" "Because he was none of my concern." Kikyou replied. 'Though I do wonder what such a demon was doing here.' "But onee-sama, he was a demon! Shouldn't you have killed him?" Kaede said. "If he was not causing us any harm, I don't see why we should kill him. Besides, he was too strong. It is best if we could avoid unnecessary trouble." Kikyou explained. 'Onee-sama is so smart. When I grow up I want to be just like her.' "Come, Kaede. We still have herbs to pick." Kikyou told her little sister. "Yes, Kikyou." Kaede followed Kikyou and they continued on their search for herbs. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sesshoumaru and Jaken were still walking eastwards. There was complete silence until Sesshoumaru spoke, "Jaken." "Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama?" "That was the miko you spoke about, wasn't it?" Sesshoumaru said monotonously.
'What should I do? If I lie and say she wasn't, then he'll find out right away, meaning I'll shorten my life span by a hundred years. If I tell the truth, I don't know what will happen. I think I'll tell the truth!' Jaken mused. "Y-Yes, S-Sesshoumaru-sama. That was the miko, Kikyou." "Humph. She did not seem so powerful. But she was smart to not start a conflict. It's too bad; I would have liked to test her power." Sesshoumaru stated. "Does this mean you won't go test her power!" 'Yes!' Jaken added inwardly. "It means nothing." 'Damn!' Jaken cursed in his mind. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Are these enough, onee-sama?" Kaede asked. She had a bundle of herbs in her hand while Kikyou held a large basket of herbs. "Yes, these should be enough for some time. Let's go to the cave and put these herbs to use." Kikyou replied. 'I don't know why we help Onigumo. He's rude and he's done unforgivable things. But onee-sama takes pity on him. I sometimes wish she wasn't so kind.' Kaede thought. "Kaede, don't fall behind." Kikyou snapped Kaede out of her thoughts. Kaede then noticed that she was way behind Kikyou. "Darn!" Kaede cursed as she ran to catch up. After a bit of walking, the two sisters had gotten to a cave which seemed to be where the wounded bandit, Onigumo, resided. The two walked in and walked up to a man who was lying on a mat. He opened his only eye, which was not covered by bandages. As soon as he had opened his eye, a wicked smile had formed on his mutilated face. This made Kaede shudder. She knew why that man smiled so wickedly. It was because he wanted Kikyou and Kaede thought that utterly disgusting. How could such a tainted man lust after such a pure thing? "Kikyou…" Onigumo whispered, liking the way how the name sounded on his tongue. Kikyou also thought it disgusting, but she kept a straight face on and ignored his twisted feelings for her. "Onigumo, we have brought medicinal herbs." Kikyou said coldly. 'Kikyou-sama doesn't like Onigumo either, but still she helps him. She is just too kind'. Kikyou then took a seat on the floor next to a few tools and started grounding the medicinal herbs so they would be applicable. Kaede had moved far from Onigumo; she couldn't stand to be near him. "Kikyou, why did you come later than usual?" Onigumo asked. "There was a short delay." Kikyou responded, focusing on the job she was doing. "Stubborn woman…" Onigumo whispered so not even Kikyou could hear.
Chapter Three Sesshoumaru was sitting on a rock in a clearing of the forest with Jaken sitting close by. It was already night, and the moon and the stars were out. Sesshoumaru stared at the moon with a blank expression on his face. Sesshoumaru did not really need rest, but he had stopped for the night anyway. Jaken glanced at Sesshoumaru briefly before returning his sight to a tree. 'What could Sesshoumaru-sama be thinking about? Could he be thinking about our earlier encounter with the miko?' Jaken was indeed right. Sesshoumaru was thinking about their encounter with Kikyou. He didn't know why, but the way she ignored him irked him. It also bothered him how she held no fear in her eyes, her eyes were almost as cold as his own. He was so use to people, human and demon, fearing him that he had forgotten the last person who had not been afraid of him. Even Jaken, his loyal servant, was afraid of him, yet a mere human woman was not. Sesshoumaru suddenly sat up from his sitting place. "Sesshoumaru-sama, what's wrong?" Jaken asked, surprised at his lord's sudden movements. "Can't you smell it? Another demon is nearby." Sesshoumaru replied. Knowing another demon was nothing but trouble, Jaken protectively put his staff in front of him while Sesshoumaru just stood there waiting for the demon to show itself. Jaken was a bit nervous, but Sesshoumaru looked perfectly calm. After a short moment, the demon that had been nearby had suddenly jumped out. It was a huge dragon demon that had extremely sharp claws. "Ahhhhhhhh!" Jaken screamed. Jaken then hid himself behind Sesshoumaru. "Vermin, what do you want?" Sesshoumaru asked coldly. "You only call me vermin! Nobody calls me that!" The dragon demon bellowed. The demon then tried to slash Sesshoumaru, but Sesshoumaru got out of the way before it could hit him. "Too slow." Sesshoumaru stated. The demon tried to slash at him again, but failed again. "Arghh, I'll kill you!" The demon yelled in frustration. It once again attempted to attack Sesshoumaru withits claw and once again it missed. Sesshoumaru then let out a strange whip of light between his fingers and sliced the demon in half. The remains of the demon fell to the ground and the ground was covered with the demon's blood. A small piece of the demon, however, fell on Jaken. "Aaaaaaaah! Its got me! Help me!" Jaken yelled at the top of his lungs. He was running around in circles until Sesshoumaru stopped him by kicking Jaken in the head. "Ugh!" Jaken immediately stopped. "Get a hold of your self; it is already dead." "Sesshoumaru-sama, you did it! You beat the demon! No one is stronger than you!" Jaken praised. "Humph." Sesshoumaru said before walking off. "Sesshoumaru-sama where are we going?" Jaken asked. "Away from here." Sesshoumaru said dully. Jaken scurried after Sesshoumaru. 'I wish Sesshoumaru-sama would be more talkative.' Jaken thought to himself. They both kept walking and like always there was complete silence. Only the sounds of the forest and their footsteps could be heard.
'Sesshoumaru-sama is going to be fine. Sesshoumaru-sama is going to be fine. Sesshoumaru-sama is…' Jaken kept repeating in his head as if to reassure himself that Sesshoumaru would be the victor if Sesshoumaru and Kikyou would battle. "I wish to test your power." Sesshoumaru stated. 'Oh no!' Kaede and Jaken thought at the same time. "I have no desire to fight you. If you are not after the Shikon no Tama or not trying to destroy the village, then I have no business with you. I suggest you leave." Kikyou said. 'Phew!' thought Kaede and Jaken. "Then you refuse to fight me?" "I have no reason to fight you." said Kikyou. Kikyou turned around gracefully and began walking. "You are leaving?" Sesshoumaru said. "I have no reason to stay." Kikyou said dully. "Come Kaede, we shall return to the village." Kikyou added out of the blue. Kaede gasped in surprise while Jaken's eyes widened. 'She knew I was here the whole entire time' Kaede pondered before stepping out of the bushes she was hiding in. "Yes, onee-sama." "I also know, demon, that you are hiding behind that tree. Quite cowardly, aren't you, to be afraid of a mere human woman?" Kikyou said before she began walking with Kaede close behind. At that moment Jaken jumped out of his hiding spot. "Why you little bitch! How dare you insult-" "Jaken." Sesshoumaru cut him off. "Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama?" "We are leaving." Sesshoumaru informed Jaken before walking off. "What?" Jaken stared confusedly at his lord. "Are you coming or not?" Sesshoumaru asked annoyed. "Y-Yes, master!" Jaken then scurried to catch up to Sesshoumaru. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Kaede, did I not tell you to stay in the village?" Kikyou asked her younger sister. Kikyou was not mad, but she wasn't very happy about it either. "I'm sorry onee-sama. I went into the forest to practice my archery, but I got worried and came looking for you. Please forgive me." Kaede apologized. "Don't worry about it too much. We are both unharmed and well, there is no reason to get mad. Next time, don't come near danger, alright?" Kikyou told Kaede. "Yes, Kikyou." "Did your archery go well?" Kikyou asked all of a sudden. "Huh?" "Didn't you say you practiced your archery?" Kikyou asked. Kaede inwardly slapped herself on the forehead. 'I'm so dumb! How could I have forgotten?' Kaede scolded herself. "Well, I finally hit the tree." "That's good. Maybe when you have better aim I will let you to fight along side me." Kikyou smiled at Kaede. "Really?" Kaede said excitedly. "Yes, really." Kikyou replied. 'I've got to practice even harder now. I know if I keep practicing I'll be able to hit anything!' "It is time to go back to Onigumo. I'm sure he is hungry by now." Kikyou said. 'Not him again.' Kaede's face immediately changed from happy to discouraged. "I know you don't like him, but it is something we must do."
哦,我又来了 Chapter Five -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A band of wandering bandits came riding on their horses; they were coming closer to a silhouette of a man. One of the bandits pointed toward the figure of the man. "Takahiro-sama! There's a man ahead! Do we attack him?" The bandit told a man dressed in a blue haori and blue hakama with sturdy armor on. That man was clearly their leader. "What do you think? Of course we attack him." The leader told his underling. As they approached the man, they could see him clearer. It was Sesshoumaru with Jaken close behind him. "The clothing that man is wearing! He must be rich!" Yelled one of the bandits. "Let's steal all he's got!" The leader ordered. Sesshoumaru knew that the bandits were closing in on him, but he did not move an inch as they approached him. Jaken also did not move; he was not scared of the bandits either. "Sesshoumaru-sama, do you wish for me to kill these vermin?" asked Jaken. "No, I will do it myself." Sesshoumaru replied. Jaken looked disappointed at Sesshoumaru's reply, but he did not complain. He didn't want to anger his lord, after all. The bandits were now very close to Sesshoumaru and Jaken. They stopped their horses and unsheathed their swords. "Hand over all your money and prized possession and maybe you will die a death without too much pain." The leader bandit told Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru did not say anything; instead his claws were turning into a greenish color. Sesshoumaru was planning to use his poisonous claws to kill the bandits. "Get out of my way." Sesshoumaru said before attacking the bandits. He lunged towards the weaker ones first; killing them with one slash of his claws. The leader of the bandits watched Sesshoumaru kill his men one by one with a horrified expression on his face. "You are not humans!" The leader of the bandits yelled worriedly. "Foolish human, can't you see we're demons!" Jaken replied angrily. 'These people are demons? I must retreat now before they kill me!' Takahiro, the leader, thought. "Ahhhhhh! Takahiro-sama, please help us!" one of the bandits yelled before his head came off of his neck and fell to the ground. But Takahiro did not help them instead he ran for his life. Sesshoumaru had already finished killing all the other bandits. He now noticed Takahiro running and he simply jumped in the air and landed right in front of him. "Please, I beg of you to spare me. I'll do anything, I promise, just please don't kill me!" The bandit pleaded for his life. "You came here to kill us; yet you're the one who's going to die, human!" Jaken told the bandit. "No, please!" The bandit yelled. Sesshoumaru did not pay heed to the bandit's begging and instead raised his clawed hand. The bandit led out cry of pain as Sesshoumaru killed him by putting his claw through his chest. "Foolish human." Sesshoumaru stated before taking his clawed hand out of the man's chest and walking off.