"Rin," said Sesshoumaru in his usual cold emotionless monotone voice. "Yes Lord Sesshoumaru?" She replied cheerfully, standing up from beside the camp fire. "Stay here with Jaken," he ordered. "But lord Sesshoumaru!" The toadish whined "where are you going?" "There is something amiss about the air here, I feel the need to look into it," said the demon lord, pacing in the clearing. The previous night they had come to this point to rest because neither Jaken nor Sesshoumaru could detect any other presence. "The scent of a hanyou lingers in the air. Do you not smell it Jaken?" "No, do you smell your brother, my lord?" The toadish asked. "No, this is something else; something I do not recognize," and with that Sesshoumaru departed.
To relieve his boredom during Sesshoumaru's absence, Jaken tried to explain various things to the ever youthful Rin. As usual, she would ask a question but never pay attention to the answer. Jaken had learned not to mind it by now, and he honestly just liked to talk to hear his own voice. Rin, however, occupied herself by playing with Ah and Un, and searching the area near the clearing for various things to eat.
Sesshoumaru zoomed through the forest, keeping his acute eyes open for the cause of his unease. He came upon a clearing about a mile or few away from where he left Jaken and Rin. In this clearing was a crystal clear lake with hot springs on its far side. Sesshoumaru noticed, sitting in one of the hot springs, a hanyou female bathing. Sesshoumaru was nothing like the lecherous monk, Miroku, therefore he felt no need to stay and watch. But he, being male, couldn't help but notice her extreme beauty. The demon lord was annoyed at the presence of a hanyou so near him. But since he had assessed her to be no threat, and she hadn't provoked him or stood in his way, he soon departed back to his waiting cronies and went about his business.
Unknown to Sesshoumaru, the hanyou had become aware of his presence shortly before he entered the clearing. Kanai was her name and she was truly beautiful. She had dark metallic hair, silvery eyes, and the pointed ears shared by the majority of demons. Demonic markings accented her facial features similar to the way they did Sesshoumaru's. If not for her scent, she could easily be mistaken for a full-fledged demon. She took little heed of his presence and made a point not to make it known she was aware of it. Modesty wasn't one of her strongest attributes. She had the features of a maiden between the ages of 17 and 20, however she was actually a bit older than that.
Kanai knew of the demon lord called Sesshoumaru, though she had never before encountered him. She didn't know it was he, however, who had stumbled upon her place of current rest. Kanai knew relatively little about the demon lord except that he was to be feared by humans and hanyous.
As Sesshoumaru zigged and zagged through the trees returning to Rin and Jaken his mind was elsewhere. As it was, he had a lot to think about; with his brother battling that hanyou bastard Naraku, and his incarnation Kagura making her presence known for what ever reason, and then slipping out of sight. Now this hanyou female found her way into his concentration. The demon lord was definitely not the type to be swayed by the beauty of a female. Human, demon or hanyou. But he couldn't help but feel compelled to return to the lake.