Chapter Four: A Peculiar Case

Sesshomaru studied the decaying corpse, golden eyes intent and calculating. A battle won in a single decisive blow, an enemy cut down before they could even feel the first inkling of fear. A blow, through the front and out the back, using some form of weapon that he, Sesshomaru, was not familiar with. It was a scenario that he was acquainted with, having seen just such a thing several times before. Although never in his territory as this one was. Always they had been beyond his Northern border. Yet this, an anomaly, was well within his border. A first trespass.

Inhaling deeply, ignoring the putrid stink of rotting flesh with long practice, Sesshomaru let himself envision the scene more closely. Parsing through the scents and marks left behind in this trespassers wake. A figure, scent salty yet sweet, like sea salt and fresh plum blossoms. A confrontation led by the obviously corrupted bear youkai. The youkai had been tainted, mutated into a abomination thrice it's normal size. He could smell the bitter tang of its insanity permeating the air even days afterwards.

A smaller figure, a child, moving away. A young thunder youkai, female, the heel of her boot leaving a mark just there. Small, perhaps even in her first century of growth. She had been unafraid, confident in her protector. A certain eagerness coloring her scent, the natural anticipation of the hunt that all young youkai were prone to.

The woman, because this was certainly a women's scent, had taken three running steps, only three. The strides were long and sure with no hint of hesitation. Her scent stayed perfectly even and he would wager her heart beat had not even skipped. She had pushed off here, the impression just a fraction deeper. And then she'd thrust her weapon forward with her momentum carrying her after it. Blood spraying, flesh tearing, her weapon had gone through seamlessly, like a knife through water. She had been fast enough to flip over the bear youkai's shoulder and catch her weapon accurately on the other side. She had landed, perfectly balanced, and taken one side step to avoid the bear youkai's last blow. And then the beast had fallen, dead before it's brain ever caught up. A smear on the youkai's hakama indicated the place she'd wiped her weapon clean. It was similar but not the same as the mark left behind by a katana. It was long, was his only real observation, long and thin.

He recognized her scent of course. This same scent had been wafting over his Northern border for the last half decade. She had always stayed clear of his borders, even walking beside the border, but never trespassing inside of his marked territory. It had always seemed that she could sense his youki, spread out across his land, and avoided it, as any smart creature would. Instead she had skirted his land carefully, always on her side. A sort of stillness always crept into her scent when she paced his Northern border but she had never come into his territory and she had never smelled afraid. So he had been disinclined to investigate.

The smell of her was familiar and easily recognizable, human but like no human he had ever encountered, not even like his brothers strange miko. Her scent was clean and wholesome, human but with none of the foul decay underlining most human scents. Not even Rin was immune to the decay that came with the passing of time. And yet there was no degradation in this woman's scent, which spoke of a being that was somehow more than human. A being that aged as though of youkai blood. It was a curious puzzle that his agile mind had yet to parse through to the ultimate answer.

If she had been one of the daiyoukai Lords he would have had the right to challenge her for encroaching onto his land without his express permission or giving adequate warning. Of course he, Sesshomaru, the most powerful daiyoukai Lord, had the right to travel anywhere he pleased but this woman did not. And yet she was not an official Lady, no matter that she'd claimed territory to the North. The ookami claimed the Northeast, the cranes the East, the kitsune the Southwest and the neko the Southeast and this woman had claimed unoccupied land, through forethought or accident he was unsure. And yet she was not a recognized Lady so she did not fall under the Laws of Challenge as any of the other Lords might.

He'd heard of her, through his mothers extensive spy network as well as through more official channels. She did everything that a Lady or Lord might. She was a Lady in everything but official name. She protected her lands with a vicious regard that would not have been misplaced among the youkai. She fed those that could not feed themselves. She received offerings and tax from the people, freely given if rumors were true. He had even received word of the common folk calling her the Lady Spirit, of all ridiculous titles. One of his mothers spies had even whispered of a mask covering her face, and how she did not discriminate between youkai and human, rather acted as though there was no difference at all. There had been even more tales of her fleetness of foot, her powerful elemental attacks and her unrivaled strength. And yet she was human...and therefore should be too weak to claim a title of Lady...and yet she was not weak if rumors were true.

Eyes narrowing, Sesshomaru took to the skies with a single bound. He would follow this scent and he, Sesshomaru, would find the answers his mind sought. He would know why this creature was on his land and what she had done to herself to become something other than human.

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It took a moment of thought to decipher the events surrounding the hole in the ground, that and sharp analytical eyes. She had fashioned an explosive trap, armed with nothing but berries and fire ash. Tilting his head and studying the spray pattern he let a curl of amusement enter his glacial eyes. The trap had hit it's intended target. It would be most difficult for his idiotic little brother to remove all traces of this incident and the reek of his fuming anger permeated the entire length of the trail.

As much as it pleased him to see his moronic little brother suffer, what caught his attention was the strange purple 'wire' she had used to implement her pressure activated ambush. Testing a length, Sesshomaru found the wire both sturdy and slightly sharp, gleaming an odd purple that he had never seen any smithy manage. He had also never felt such fine metal wire before, not even from the best youkai smiths. Perhaps Totosai could manage but he generally worked only in weapons. Raising the thread to his nose he let his brows actually rise in surprise. The strand carried her scent heavily, like a sheen over the 'wire', much in the way that his pelt carried his scent. That led him to only one conclusion.

How...curious. Such an ability should have been beyond a mere human. And yet...this human seemed to be full of these contradictions that made his ravenous curiosity take notice. He was beginning to suspect that the word 'mere' could not be applied to this individual human at all.

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Staring down at the profane image, Sesshomaru let the edge of his lips curl into the faintest of smirks. Perhaps the image would not have struck him as humorous if the intended target had not been his naive little brother. The boys embarrassment was thick in the air, sour and hot. The image was more suited to a courtesans bedroom, lewd and more than a little far fetched, but Sesshomaru couldn't help but think that if his little brother got so embarrassed over such a thing than he must truly be naive. Not a great surprise.

Underneath the scent of Inuyasha and his companions was the sly amusement of the woman. She had spent some time here, touching the stones and arranging them just so. She had sent the young thunder demoness away, likely to shield her as yet innocent eyes from the proface image. Her scent was awash with a manic glee that tickled Sesshomaru's nose like popping bubbles.

And then her scent just seemed to have washed away, leaving nearly no trail at all. Curious, Sesshomaru followed, and it was only with the very edges of his sensitive senses that he caught her essence at at. How...fascinating. He had no doubt that if his sense of smell had been on a lesser scale, say on scale with Inuyasha's, he would have missed the trail completely. As it was it was not so much her sea breeze scent that he detected but rather an odd numbness that dampened the surrounding scents as well as her own.

It led to a tiny arrow carved into the trunk of a tree some distance away. Already she had led the hanyou on a circling route that had no logical sense. And yet here was the hint that she had not had her fill leading the hanyou around by his nose. If Sesshomaru did not know better he would say these were the tricks of a kitsune. But he did know better and he found the tricks aimed at his idiotic brother...amusing.

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More of the wire. Sesshomaru crinkled his nose for the barest instant, assaulted by the scent of Inuyasha's growing rage. Inuyasha had been strung up like prey, belly exposed and vulnerable, ready to be gutted. It was a state that Sesshomaru approved of.

The woman was proving to have a great deal of cleverness. That and a not small amount of both endurance and swiftness. She was keeping ahead of Inuyasha with no sign of strenuous effort whatsoever. He had yet to catch even a hint of worry or the like in her scent at all. She was confident, assured, and positive in her victory should Inuyasha manage to catch up to her. Righteous confidence or unwarranted arrogance he was unsure as of yet. He would wager the former before the latter.

Despite his brothers unworthy status as a half breed he was still the offspring of Inu no Taisho. He was nothing in comparison to he, Sesshomaru, but he was not an insignificant individual either. He had speed and power, more than many hanyou or even some daiyoukai but this woman outstripped him like an untried pup.

And all while in the possession of a pup herself. The thunder youkai was clearly well cared for. He had not scented anything of worry or malcontent from the youngling in his time tracking the pair. He had even identified several times that the woman had stopped unneeded so that the youngling could stretch her legs, much as Sesshomaru did with Rin. Her camp sites along the way had been cleverly hidden, her scent defused in some unknown manner, but he had found them regardless. It had been obvious that the woman hunted for the pup, much like a mother would do for a pup of such an young age. Again much as he himself did for Rin. If nothing else this told him she had a strong maternal drive towards this thunder youkai and she provided without stint or hardship.

This extended chase told him another particularly interesting fact as well. It was clear she had some way of sensing Inuyasha, otherwise she would not go to such trouble as to prepare traps to catch him. He had always assumed she must sense his territory borders, seeing as she skirted them so insidiously but he had never been quite sure how she sensed them. Humans in the general sense were not aware of a youkai's youki. Only those who were trained such as monks and mikos and sometimes even slayers. But even then they were not generally able to sense the subtle marking of his youki around the borders of his land. Some lesser youkai were even incapable of sensing the territory lines. Inuyasha had proven this on more than one occasion. So he had never known if she knew his youki was there through scent, sight, spiritual awareness...he had never known for certain. Yet this chase indicated she must have some form of youki detection at the very least.

Which brought up another interesting oddity. While it was obvious she sensed something from Inuyasha it was unclear whether she realized his bumbling companions were with him. None of the traps were meant to capture more than one individual. To Sesshomaru that suggested that she must sense youki in only a limited capacity, and she might very well be incapable of sensing the reiki from the monk and the miko. But really, it was only conjecture until he was able to observe the source.

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The entire hot springs was saturated with the chilly sea and sweet flower scent of the human enigma. She and the pup had obviously spent at least a few hours enjoying the water before they had moved on. The bitter scent of Inuyasha's impotent rage was there but Sesshomaru ignored that with long practiced ease. The blooming fragrance of the woman's pleasure was high, cut with the crackling undertone of the young demoness.

An odd energy, unlike any he had yet seen in his travels, was permeating the water of the hot spring. It was fading slowly but marked the water with the woman's scent much like when he used his youki to mark and scent his territory. The smell of plum blossoms rose from the surface of the spring with every tendril of steam. And if he did not know better he would have assumed the very hot spring was filled with salt water.

It had been whispered that she used old magic like a natural born elemental, only she was not constricted to a single element at all. Tales of great tidal waves, washing over her enemies and sweeping them away. Of streams of flame shooting from her lips, heated from her very belly and breathed out like a dragon. Even earthen walls that shot from the ground and rose over fifty feet tall in a matter of seconds. She had used that same sorcery here, perhaps to control the water, and thus left behind her energy cast offs in every drop.

Golden eyes sharp as a blade, he dipped his hand into the water. A tingle of power shot up his arm and Sesshomaru closed his eyes, concentrating on the feel of it. The way it washed down his spine like warm spring rain, pleasant and soft. It was...unlike anything he had ever felt in all his years and in all his travels.

He did not recognize the type of energy she used and it was so different than anything he knew that he could not even begin to guess where it had come from. It was not youki, which meant she had not made a deal with a youkai for power. It was not reiki. It contained no holy properties at all, and in fact did not even contain a 'sting' in it as it rolled over him. It did not even taste of the foulness that usually came with witches and sorcery. So where did she get this odd power? And could she truly use it to the extent that he had been told?

There was a crumpled bit of parchment, thrown to the side at the edge of the path leading to the hot spring. Crouching he plucked it up and straightened it across his knee, leaving wet marks across the thick parchment. One brow rose the smallest fraction as he studied the childish drawing.

To purchase parchment for such a childish endeavor spoke a message all on its own. Parchment was not a poor man's commodity. It was a staple that was rarely seen by peasants at all and certainly not this fine of a quality. Either she was not poorly supplied with gold of her own or she was adept at stealing what she wanted. Based on the rumors he would be more inclined to name this parchment part of her offerings and 'tax'. This lent even more credence to the rumors of her benevolent protection.

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His range of senses were wide and far. He could sense his brother many miles away, his youki flaring wildly. That in itself was not such an odd occurrence, the half breed had a habit of flaring his youki at the slightest irritant. But there, close to Inuyasha, was another and if Sesshomaru had not studied the water at the hot springs he never would have spotted her subtle signature. Scented her yes, even from this distance her scent tickled his nose, but he would not have registered her energy at all. The thought was mildly irritating.

It was like a living breathing pillar of sea water, trapped miles from the ocean. Eddies and currents rippling through it strongly, in and out, like the tides. It was subtle, extremely so, nigh on unnoticeable until he turned his full focus on it. And then it was almost impossible to see anything else. Massive, held in wait, but ready to burst into motion at the first sign of weakness. Like the great sharks he had seen in his travels, bursting from the water in a violent display of raw power, appearing from no where and returning to the deep just as quickly. Piercing and sharp and chilled, with a tang that sat at the back of his throat like the finest salt.

Sesshomaru compressed his youki to nothing, deciding his curiosity warranted observation before interaction. The predator must know every movement of the prey. He must be able to predict the motion of the prey before the prey knew it was even being watched. He would watch this woman and then decide on his next course of action. Whether that would be annihilating her where she stood for her trespass or something else, he had not yet decided.

It did not take him more than a few moments to close the distance. It took him a matter of seconds to find a vantage point. He settled and turned his eyes to his quarry, prepared to watch and learn. And then he couldn't help but stare, never having seen such an individual, even across the sea in foreign lands.

She was as tall as a youkai female, long of limb and standing with a sort of negligent grace that would not have been misplaced in court. Her purple mane was wild and free, kept long as was youkai tradition. A pale mask veiled her features and her arms and neck were a soft golden tan, but without the tone of those native to Japan. She was dressed as a warrior but in clothes that were fashioned with the distinct flare of a foreigner. The long slender hilt of a sword rose over one shoulder, thinner than any sword he had ever seen before with a simple wrapped hilt and an eye like a needle. It was only with his exceptionally sharp eyes that he spotted the thin strand of purple 'wire', tied to the eye and trailing down to the woman's longest braid.

She held one arm out, offering the glittering shards of the Shikon no Tama with nonchalant unconcern. She was displaying dominance by waiting for the idiotic hanyou to give up his place of power. By coming to her on her terms he was marking her as the alpha in the scenario. Her scent was thick with a sort of building thrill, like the sharp tang of the winter sea, and he knew. Like the shark he had likened her power to, she would strike in an explosion of sudden violence. The hanyou and his pathetic pack may have relaxed their guard but he, Sesshomaru, knew better. This was a female prepared to shed blood, eager to do so even. It was the most peculiar thing, this female who seemed a youkai in human skin.