"Fool!"
Jaken no sooner heard this than he threw himself on the ground. He groveled perfectly at Sesshomaru's boots, beseeching him to spare his miserable life.
But with Rin missing his Lord was inconsolable.
Sesshomaru reeled him in with his fur and, without let, squeezed his neck until Jaken could get little air. Less and less with each breath.
"Please, milord!" Jaken cried, "let me speak. If your lordship would be so merciful, if he would only loosen the grip on my throat a little—" The fingers around his neck tightened, and he became hysterical. "—please!" he wailed. "So that I might explain!"
Jaken landed on his back with a thud.
"How long," Sesshomaru demanded to know.
"Yesterday," Jaken managed through his coughs. "I searched all day and all night for her—I swear it upon my knees. But I do not possess a canine's keen nose, and her beast needed tending to, you see. That is why you found me here this morning."
For a moment Sesshomaru glared down at Jaken with unseeing eyes, his face caving into hatred. Then with a sudden gesture, wild and frantic, he turned his nose to the air and hurried away.
