A/n: if this was a "record scratch-how did we end up here" type fic this is the catch up scene. Timeline has caught up to ch 1, and this chapter does include a slightly altered version of that at the end! Hope that clears up any confusion!
Sesshoumaru had recognized the banners that had been on the palanquin as belonging to those humans his father had once broken bread with generations before. Yet the Samurai standing before him now was not wearing the colors nor armor that he recognized.
Usually yokai tried to stay out of the dealings between humans, yet he felt compelled to step out and make himself known.
Stepping onto the riverbank the samurai noticed him first, grabbing the woman and roughly shoving her down just behind him.
"These lands, and this human, are under this Sesshomaru's protection," He said as he approached. "Leave"
It was the first time he fully saw her, he thought how interesting it was to see a mortal in such a situation.
Standing behind her self-proclaimed protector her long locks flowed like a river of darkness down her back. Her brown eyes staring him down without fear. The blues in her kimono brought out the porcelain tones in her skin.
There was something about her that caught his eye. Something about her that piqued his curiosity.
And being the center of his curiosity was a very, very, very dangerous place to be.