Disclaimer: Still don't own the characters.

Chapter 2

Sesshomaru listened to his councilmen drole on and on about court affairs. He knew very well what his responsibilities were as Daiyoukai of the West. The endless paperwork and meetings. Though he found all of this quite tedious. "Sesshomaru-sama, please we need your decision as soon as possible with this matter. The humans grow restless in the northern sectors of your domain." He glared at the councilman who spoke. The youkai immediately shrunk back.

The mediocrity of it all disturbed him. He found himself missing the times where he would travel the lands with the annoying imp and his ward. Those times were much simpler and more enjoyable. Now, he was inundated with the useless affairs of his "people." He would have kept wandering, if his sense of pride didn't come into play. These were his lands by right and none could say otherwise.

At times like this he felt utterly and completely consumed with his boredom. He missed the thrill of the hunt and the opportunity to face a challenge, but the reality was that there was no one left to challenge him. " The humans in the northern district will have to deal with their inability to raise cattle and harvest. We have sent them all of our spare grain and harvest stock." His councilman balked, "-but my lord, it's not just the northern district, it's also affected the southern and eastern district as well. A blight of some kind has fallen on the livestock and harvest in all of these areas." He growled. " Then find the root cause and deal with it. Why do you continue to talk about these matters. Find a solution." His councilmen stood and bowed hurriedly. They rushed from the room eager to be free from his overwhelming presence.

He took this rare moment and relaxed into his chair. He sighed and felt the weight of the upcoming burdens on his domain. This wasn't the first time that the lands had experienced a blight, but it had been quite some time. His people were, for the most part, content, but a food shortage was nothing they were prepared for. He could ask the neighboring lords for assistance, but that was always his last recourse. He was not so foolish as to think he would be able to handle this issue alone, but he would not show weakness.

He lifted himself from his chair with his usual inhuman grace. The evening light was dancing on the horizon. He felt it would be a good thing to stretch his legs for a bit and go on one of his routine patrols. " Jaken." The imp came scuttling in. " Yes, Sesshomaru-sama." The toad squawked. " Make sure Rin is fed and bathed properly. I do not want her to stay up late again. She has her studies in the morning, make sure she is up. I will be leaving." Jaken gave a quick bow, " Of course, my Lord." He left the same way he had come. With that taken care of, Sesshomaru lept from the window in his study.

His youki took form and he floated across the twilight sky. He traveled like this for quite some time. He took in his surroundings and reached out with his demonic energy feeling for any kind of threat, finding none, he headed towards a clearing in the woods and began walking aimlessly. He caught the scent of blood and began making his way towards the fresh kill. It was rare to find someone hunting on his lands. He came to a stop, when he caught sight of a slight figure hunched over the dead doe.

Sesshomaru hadn't realized that he had been staring at the figure for quite some time now. He was surprised to find that the figure was of a woman. She was wearing what looked like the garbs of a priestess, but the Hakama were a deep navy blue. He was wondering why he hadn't sensed her presence, but then he caught a glimpse of her face. It was the woman that followed his brother around. He soon grew apathetic to the situation.

He saw his brother's female pull the knife from the doe's neck and also watched as she seemed enraptured in the kill. Needless to say, he was even more surprised when she brought her hands up to her lips and proceeded to clean her fingers of the red liquid. He lifted one of his finely arched eyebrows. The wench had always been an oddity. He noted that at least she was no longer wearing that strange kimono that left nothing to the imagination. He was intrigued, but there was something odd about this whole situation. He listened as she gave thanks to the dead creature.

He continued to watch as the small woman lifted her kill easily over her shoulder and made her way through the trees to the stream that was nearby. He watched as she cleaned the carcass and prepared it to haul back to her camp. After she was done, she washed her hands and cleaned her tools. She had bundled the meat up in a cloth and began making her way back to the camp.

He watched as she paused and looked right at him. He stiffened slightly. Did she know he was there? He watched as she shrugged her shoulders and felt as if he had been thoroughly dismissed. This caused his hackles to rise. How dare she! Before she was completely out of the clearing he found himself moving and in front of her in an instant.

She didn't seem too perturbed about the whole ordeal and seemed to be expecting this type of reaction. She looked at him cooly. " Yes, can I help you Sesshoumaru?" He glared at her. "There is nothing that you could do to help this Sesshomaru, human." One of her eyebrows rose. She snorted. "Then what pray tell do you want? Why did you stop 'this Kagome?' She stated sarcastically. He glared at her. His arm flashed forward with the full intention of wrapping his hand around her impudent throat, but was shocked when she somehow ended up behind him. She was walking away when she began to speak. "My, my Sesshomaru, that was very rude. I didn't think you would be so temperamental." She seemed to revel in his shock.

When had that wench moved? He turned around. This lowly human easily evaded him. He watched as she sauntered away without a care in the world. He stared at his hand. Maybe, just maybe, he had found something to quell the overwhelming boredom he had been feeling for quite some time now.