Gusts of wind howled outside, making the trees sway violently with the force. Heavy wet snowflakes stuck to the cold ground, no longer melting as the blizzard continued. The occupants of the cave had been trapped inside for two days so far, heavy rainfall prior that had turned to snow as the temperature dropped below freezing.
Molten amber orbs watched the storm as it raged on. There were several feet of snow that had accumulated, making it difficult to find wood dry enough to burn and to hunt for food. Glancing back at his pack as they slept, huddled around the fire, he noticed that the pile of wood was getting lower than what he would be comfortable with and knew that he would have to hunt soon to feed them. The ninngen child, Rin was wrapped in several furs, tucked against the two headed dragon's side while the kappa, Jaken was sprawled out near the fire. Looking back outside the cave where he sat against the wall, he looked at the heavy dark clouds, knowing that this storm wasn't going to let up any time soon.
The sky was suddenly illuminated by what looked to be a falling star burning bright as its path made him think that it would land close by. Never having explored the land of a fallen star, he found himself curious to investigate. The star crash some distance away, higher up the mountain and evidence of trees being knocked over in the impact as he could feel the vibrations of the impact under him.
Jaken," he spoke as he got to his feet and the Kappa jerked awake.
"Yes, my lord?" Jaken squawked quietly.
"If this one does not return before the storm's end, continue west," he ordered.
"Yes."
"Jaken."
"If any harm comes to Rin, my head will roll," Jaken spoke solemnly with a nod.
Stepping out into the snowy storm, he stayed under the trees to use them as a shield against the brunt of the storm. He could smell wood burning and as he ran, his eyes could see a fire ahead of him. It did not take him long to reach the damaged area, the snow quickly quenching the fire, but the area still smoked heavily.
Dozens of trees had been broken or uprooted, their surfaces charred and interior still orange as they burned from the inside. The snow had melted and the area had been superheated that it still felt warm while the ground had been dried. Stepping over the damaged trees, he found the crater but instead of what he expected of rock from the sky like in documents he had read, a body wearing all black laid at its center in a fetal position.
His molten orbs analyzed the body and frowned as he smelt a ninngen female under the scent of sweet blackberries and vanilla. Her clothing was foreign, the form fitting hamakas tucked into the leather boots that went to mid calf reminded him of the Shikon Miko's futuristic clothing that he had to acknowledge as pack now that the idiotic inuhanyou that shared the blood of his sire had finally mated her. A black cloak that went to mid thigh and seemed bulky covered her upper half and a hood kept her face covered.
He made a move to take step into the crater to further study the female when he froze as a quiet groan escaped her lips. Retreating to the cover of the trees that hadn't been damaged, he didn't have to wait long before seeing the female sit up, her movements slow and shaky. Her back was to him but saw her hooded head looking around. She started muttering to herself that made him think she was using vulgarities before getting to her feet, a pained moan escaping her lips as she did.
A black gloved hand came into view and pushed the hood off her head to reveal the strangest hairstyle. It reminded him of the scrolls his father used to have him study about the Nordic Vikings. Her hair was a couple shades darker than his silver locks and braided, with smaller braids through out it that had metal clasps decorating it though he could not see how long it was due to being tucked inside the cloak she wore. The sides of her head had tightly secured braids that were not braided into the rest of her hair and hung over her shoulders and disappeared inside the cloak.
Multiple white gemmed piercings glittered in the darkness from several logs still burning internally. Two sat in each lower lobe, one in the tip of her rounded ear while two small silver hoops were right below it with a white gem each, then there was a silver hoop going through her daith that also had a white gem. As she turned her head, studying the damaged clearing, he noticed two gems on her left cheekbone under crimson eyes that looked like a Ryuuyoukai's. Her pupils were slitted instead of round like a ninngen's should be and even had an ethereal glow in the dark that scanned over where he hid before turning away from him. She knelt down and fixed the strings of her boots then grabbed a rounded hilt that he had not noticed before and drew a blade from her boot and got to her feet again.
Talking to herself, her tone one of annoyance, she walked over to one of the fallen trees that still burned orange inside. She knelt down, using the blade that he noticed was serrated on one end while smooth on the other and hacked at the log to reveal the burning wood inside. Using a gloved hand, she scooped several embers out and placed them on a rock that had a small indent. Looking around once more, she frowned before pulling up her hood and worked her way out of the clearing.
Transforming to a smaller version of his true form, becoming just a little larger than the two tailed neko companion of the taijiya of his half-brother's pack, he silently followed the foreigner. She had peaked his curiosity, from the odd styling of her hair, to the Ryuu Youkai like eyes, to the foreign language and clothing. Since taking a ninngen child into his pack, he was tempted to help this female but was curious to if she could survive on her own with nothing but a small dagger.
His fur helped him blend into the snow around them as he followed the foreigner, her black clothing making her stick out. She seemed somewhat knowledgeable as she constantly changed her direction when her path started to go uphill, making her way down the mountain. He could see her occasionally blowing on the embers to keep them burning, but her right hand kept ahold of her dagger.
Despite it being the middle of the night, she kept moving, finally reaching the bottom of the mountain as the sky started to lighten, revealing the break in the winter storm. Knowing that Jaken would not disobey, he would continue west with Rin and Ah-Un soon so he would not have to worry about hunting for them. Feeling a low-level boar youkai ahead, he hid his jaki but closed the distance between him and the female he followed.
She stopped suddenly and he could see the boar ahead of her, an adolescent that did not pose much of a threat. The female placed her rock of embers just inside a large tree knot and started talking quietly to herself as her grip changed on the dagger, reversing the blade so she held it backwards. The boar was looking at her, but Sesshomaru only felt curiosity from the beast as she eased closer, her voice gentle. The curious youkai stepped closer and her free hand reached out to touch it before she suddenly plunged her dagger into its head, killing it before it could make a sound.
Frowning at the female's deceptive actions, he wondered if she knew about youkai at all or the fact that as a ninngen, eating youkai meat would make her sick. She grabbed the boar by its back legs, her blade still in it's head before grabbing the embers she had been carrying this whole time before changing her direction towards where the sun was starting to peak up over the trees. With the blade still in the boar's head, no blood trail was left behind her. Lifting his head, he felt his pack take to the skies and the female was heading directly towards the cave they had been in.
Reaching the cave, he watched from the cover of the trees as she scouted it out before dropping the dead youkai. Using a piece of the embers, she quickly rebuilt the stomped out fire before removing her gloves. She grabbed the remaining ember in her palm, and crushed it into a pile of smoking ash and blew into it. Red tinted blue eyes widened as the ash and the smoke billowing from it turned crimson and she went to the cave entrance and sprinkled it in a line before pressing a hand covered in ash on both sides of the entrance and her scent disappeared. He could still see her but he could also see a barrier form from the ash.
The foreigner seemed content with the barrier before her crimson eyes looked directly at where he was hiding. A smug smirk graced her face before she turned her back to the barrier as she removed her cloak. Her braided platinum hair went to the waist of her strange hamakas and two smaller braids went over both shoulders from the tightly braided sides and two metal clips wrapped around each small braid near the ends. Her top was form fitting, red, and the wide collar barely covered her shoulders and dipped low in the back, exposing a black band that went around her chest and tucked into the hamakas.
Frowning as he noticed that Jaken had left the cooking dishes as the female looked over them, he would have to talk to the imp. She grabbed the boar by its hind legs and jerked the blade out of its head and held it over a cooking pot as she sliced it's neck, quickly draining the blood. Once done, he watched as she skinned it and placed the heart and liver in another pot. The guts she tossed into the fire and didn't seem to notice or care about the smell that would have come with burning them, before wrapping the skin around it.
She picked it up and walked back towards the barrier and stopped, her eyes focusing on his location once more before tossing the boar and it landed beside him. He could see her lips moving but no sound passed through the barrier as her hand pointed his way before pointing at the skinned beast. Surprised that this foreign female seemed to know Sprite magic, being able to control ash, she knew he was there despite him concealing his youkai. His curiosity of the female increased as he stopped concealing his youkai and stepped out from behind the trees, growling at her.
A smile graced her face and she pointed to the boar again before turning her back to him, seeming sure that her barrier would hold. She knelt besides the pot of blood and organs she had kept and a growl escaped him as she jerked her shirt off, revealing curved silver bar with a gem on each end as she grabbed the liver and bit into it raw. He barked at her as he padded closer to the barrier and felt a crippling jolt of electricity shoot through him as his paw touched the barrier.
Her slitted pupils constricted as she looked at him, blood rolling down her chin, but she showed no sign of concern for her safety. He managed to back away from the barrier as his hind legs gave out, the electrical jolt still running through him despite not touching the barrier. She finished off both the liver and heart, raw, before further confusing him as she removed her hamakas and boots as well, revealing strange bottoms that covered her sex.
A handful of ash was scooped up from the edge of the fire and she carried that and the pot of blood near the back of the cave. The foreigner sprinkled the ash in a circle around herself and he could see her lips moving quickly before the circle of ash glowed crimson and started smoking as she grabbed the pot of blood and poured it over herself, hair and all. As the blood rolled down her body, crimson smoke inside the glowing circle wrapped around her and the blood seemed to move into patterns instead of rolling to the ground across her abdomen, lower back and upper thighs.
The patterns remained but the excess blood disappeared, not even leaving a pool at her feet. The blood rolled out of her hair, only remaining in the last several inches and as she lowered her head, he noticed the same pattern on her abdomen wrap around her eyes and cheekbones, the blood patterns drying rather quickly before the ash at her feet stopped glowing. A quick glance over her piercing, each one turned red as well. He saw pain in her eyes as they finally opened and she moved to lay down near the fire, her movements showing that the pain seemed to be where the blood pattern remained. As her body finally lost its tension and seemed to fall asleep, the electrical jolt that had forced him to the ground faded.
Returning to his feet, he ate the boar she had tossed to him, curious if she had given it to him, thinking he had been hunting her for food before using his paws to dig into the snow to create a burrow he could lay down in for warmth. This ninngen knew Sprite magic and from the display with the blood, she knew their rituals too, but he could not think of why a ninngen know either. The style of her clothes and even the undergarments were too similar to his futuristic sister-in-law, but the language barrier made him wonder if the shikon miko would be able to help him understand her.
The strength of her barrier immediately crossed off just capturing her, but even if he had been successful in doing that, she would probably just scream and damage his hearing. It was evident that she had known he had been following her, so had some attunement to feeling youkai, but if he continued to show predatory like behavior, she might never leave the cave. She didn't seem to care or maybe not know that he was youkai or think he might have a humanoid form so maybe he could earn her trust enough to drop the barrier and take her to Edo. Keeping his senses open to his surrounding, he watched the female sleep, the blood patterns fading slowly.