The frantic wolf princess blinked as she suddenly felt herself in someone's arms. She clung to the body, an arm around their neck and her other hand gripping their shirt until they finally stopped moving. She opened her eyes that had been squeezed shut. She'd almost landed in the pond!! That was enough of sleeping in branches for her! Across the pond was a little girl, jumping and cheering happily. It took her a moment to register the name the girl was whooping for. Sesshoumaru?! Slowly, she turned her head to find golden eyes peering down at her. She cleared her throat, smiling nervously. "Um.. thank you, Sesshoumaru-sama..-"

"You're welcome." He replied before she could say anything further, and set her down. She looked across the pond, but the girl had disappeared. Looking around, she saw the child was headed in their direction. Ohh, Rin. Now she remembered. Ayame smiled, her eyes wide. "Aa, Sesshoumaru-sama! This is the Rin you were telling me about! She's so cute!" She beamed, her tail wagging a bit in excitement as she clasped her hands together, watching the girl approach.

Sesshoumaru studied her carefully. She was quite excited to see the girl.. happy, even. Not like she actually knew Rin. He watched her mannerisms closely. He trusted her for the most part, but because of Rin's past he wasn't certain on how the two would interact. Though he had a feeling Rin would take a liking to her. Just... hopefully not too much of one..

Ayame knelt on one knee as the girl came running and shyly clung to one of Sesshoumaru's pantlegs, almost behind him, her bouquet still in one arm. Ayame smiled gently. "Aa, you must be Rin. Sesshoumaru-sama has told me quite a bit about you." The girl blinked, peeking out from behind Sesshoumaru a bit more. "You know Sesshoumaru-sama?" She asked, eyes wide. He hadn't told her that! She looked up to Sesshoumaru, who was watching the lady, then looked back to her and finally remembered the Ayame in her hair. "Oh! Ayame!" She exclaimed, and held one out to her with a bright smile. Ayame grinned, taking the flower. "Ohh, thank you! That's my name, you know." She couldn't help but giggle at the girl's startled expression.

"You have an Ayame in your hair, and your name is Ayame! Were you..." She tilted her head a bit. "Were you named after the flower, or was the flower named after you?" Ayame blinked, smiling at the girl's question. She was too cute. "I was named after the flower. Isn't it pretty?"

Rin nodded. "It suits you! The Ayame, it suits you. Ayame. Rin thinks you're both pretty."

Sesshoumaru blinked at her. Okay, that was a cue to leave. Ayame blushed and thanked the child. "You're very pretty too, Rin. You're going to grow up to be a very beautiful lady." Rin laughed and jumped with glee. "Yay!! Rin wants to be pretty when she grows up! Sesshoumaru-sama, Rin's going to be a pretty grown up!"

"Yes, Rin. We must go now." He nodded, turning to head to another side of the pond. Maybe Ayame had something to do. He wasn't too sure he wanted her around much longer. Having the white wolf princess travel with his pack?

"Ah! Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama! Rin wants to learn to fish!" Ayame perked up. "Fishing?" Rin nodded excitedly. "Yes! Sesshoumaru-sama and Rin are gathering food for our morning meal! Would you like to help, miss Ayame? If it's alright with Sesshoumaru-sama?" Sesshoumaru nearly smacked his forehead. He sighed and turned back to Ayame, catching her gaze. Her green eyes were almost begging to tag along, it seemed. He sighed heavilly, shaking his head. "Fine. You may come, if you wish, princess."

Rin's eyes widened again. "Princess?! Really?! You're a princess, miss Ayame?!"

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes. Dammit..

Ayame smiled and nodded. "Yep! Princess of the white wolf tribe, at your service." She bowed, and Sesshoumaru turned quickly, his eyes on the verge of becoming a glowing red. But Rin didn't react so badly. She merely tilted her head with a soft smile. "The white wolves can't be so bad then, with a princess like you, Ayame." Sesshoumaru let out a soft sigh of relief as they continued and Rin's words echoed in his mind.

Fifteen minutes later found the trio in a completely different location. Ayame had suggested a nice river she'd spotted not too far off that seemed to be packing with fish this time of year. As they neared the stream, they could already see a good number of fish leaping from the water. Rin gasped in delight, her eyes wide. "Sesshoumaru-sama, how are we gonna catch the fish?!" She asked, looking up to him. He pondered that a moment, studying the rushing water. There must be a waterfall nearby, with the way the current was flowing.

"This Sesshoumaru and Ayame will catch the fish, Rin. It's too dangerous." Rin pouted slightly with a sigh, but settled in to make a wreath of all the flowers she'd collected for the princess.

Ayame sighed, a smile on her face as she walked beside Sesshoumaru toward the riverbank. "You do so well with her. It's like she's really your pup." She smiled, but it was quickly replaced with surprise as Sesshoumaru shot her a sharp look. But then it was Sesshoumaru's turn to be surprised. Any other fool, he'd thought, would blubber and apologize quickly, saying they didn't mean it like that and they understood that she was a human and he was a great Inu Taiyoukai who wouldn't actually ever really care for a human pup or some other such nonsense. But as they reached the riverbank, Ayame's expression seemed not only of surprise, but more of understanding. She smiled, nodding slowly. "I'm sorry. By this point, she really is pretty much your pup, isn't she?"

Sesshoumaru watched as she hardly even looked at him, biting her lip as she watched the fish, studying them. And then she finally looked up at him again, smiling. He could almost feel blood rushing to his cheeks. Confused by himself, he nodded with a sigh and quickly turned back to the water. "We're going to need a lot," he began, and looked to Ayame in surprise as she suddenly interrupted him! But.. hearing her valid point, he dismissed it.

"We're going to need something to put them in so they don't dry up and go bad while we're catching them!" She gasped, the realization hitting her. Especially if they needed so many! "Hrmmm..." She placed a hand over her lips, the other on her hip as she looked around and did a double take at Sesshoumaru, an eyebrow raising as she seemed to be checking him out.

Sesshoumaru felt himself blush, and also felt himself growing angry that he couldn't figure out why. "Woman, what are you staring at?" He nearly growled, and blushed again as she giggled.