Rin could be heard laughing and singing along the streams bend about a half-mile from where Sesshoumaru stood. Jaken's reprimanding continued to fall on deaf ears of how idiotic she was behaving and how lucky they were Naraku had not found them from all of her noise. Their destination was the tiny village atop the hills before the start of the mountain chain. Sesshoumaru, Jaken, and Rin walked through the open fields for days looking for this particular town. The tips of the knee-high grass were turning yellow and brown due to the lack of rain for the past two weeks.
"I hope the heat hasn't destroyed what we came here for" Sesshoumaru mused walking around the edge of the water.
Sesshoumaru wanted to reach the village before nightfall so they could begin their journey up the mountain. He did not want to stay near the town any longer then he had to. The climb would be easy since the fields extended half way up the mountain before the rocky terrain took over. Late afternoon quickly turned into evening as the sun started to set behind the trio. The chilly breeze felt good since the companions traveled all day without the shade of any trees or cool ponds to drink from. Even though they were walking by a stream the water was warmer due to the sun.
"Rin! Be careful by the edge of the stream! Don't think Lord Sesshoumaru or I will save you should you fall in!"
"I will Master Jaken! But the water is not deep. I will be able to save myself should I fall in."
"Why you ungrateful child …"
Ignoring the rest of Rin and Jaken's banter, Sesshoumaru continued to look for the wild flower he came in search for. Toutousai told him the nectar from this pink flower had the ability to weaken the demonic aura of spider demons, which would be beneficial against Naraku. Harvesting the flowers nectar and infusing it with the healing power of Tenseiga, he might be able to weaken Naraku long enough for Inuyasha and his foolish group to destroy him.
"Lord Sesshoumaru! Lord Sesshoumaru!" Rin was running back toward him carrying something in her hands. "Lord Sesshoumaru I found the most beautiful butterfly and I wanted to show you" she opened her hands to reveal the insect.
Standing calmly in the palm of her hand, the butterfly was magnificent. Her wings were horizontal stripes of white and burgundy with small speckles of blue and green. The abdomen was a pale yellow leading to a dark brown thorax. Light green antennas moved around the child's hand covering its large ruby red eyes.
"She's very nice Lord Sesshoumaru, can we keep her forever?"
Sesshoumaru looked at the butterfly and felt a small ache in his heart. Looking down at Rin he shook his head no.
"But why Lord Sesshoumaru? " Rin whined not wanting to give up her new pet.
"Because Rin, something this beautiful needs to be free to do as it pleases."
Rin thought for a moment and smiled "You're right Lord Sesshoumaru! How selfish of me to want to keep her all to myself" and with that Rin let the butterfly go, taking off with amazing speed.
Dusk was settling over the horizon as the group neared the village. The flower Sesshoumaru sought was odorless making it harder to track. In a sea of brown, yellow, and green he should be able to notice pink flowers growing. "Maybe they're on the other side of town" he growled to himself. Their search was taking too long and he felt himself growing impatient.
"My Lord, come and look at what our new friend found!" Rin was waving her arms signaling him to walk over to her. Closing in on the child he could see flashes of pink between the grass as the wind blew. Kneeling down next to the pink spider lily he saw the red-eyed butterfly hold on as the wind blew. The flowers were growing in small patches around them, "Rin."
"Yes my Lord."
"Take Jaken and collect as many of these flowers as you both can carry."
Squealing with delight she grabbed Jaken and began running around picking the flowers as quickly as she could.
Sesshoumaru pulled the flower with the butterfly and brought it up to his chest. She seemed to be staring up at him while gently flapping her wings up and down slowly. After a few moments the wind started to blow and the butterfly leaped off the flower and traveled south over the stream.
"Thank you Kagura" he whispered to himself. The wind danced around Sesshoumaru brushing the silver bangs out of his eyes.