The Welder of BlackFire:

Thorn's Past Life-A Mysterious Ally

Chapter Ten: The Lord and the Dragon

Days had passed since Sesshoumaru and Jaken had met up with the mysterious young woman. The lord sat at a campfire with Jaken babbling on about nothing at all while Sesshoumaru thought, his golden eyes reflecting the light of the fire blankly.

"Lord Sesshoumaru, is something the matter?" asked the toad-demon when he noticed the intense silence. The inu-youkai looked up.

"No," he said simply. He looked past his servent, into the shadows of the trees. He listened, his demonic ears soaking up every sound within a given radius of the camp. He knew he was being followed since the day before this one past, but he could not get a clear reading on the creature's energy, making him slightly edgy. This was why he was here, still in the woods, when he could be back at his castle.

His eyes wandered around the camp. Whatever it was, it was growing closer. Suddenly the energy seemed to have shifted, or maybe it just unmasked, but he now felt as if the source of the energy was familiar.

He brought his head up with a jerk, his golden eyes gleaming with the reflection of the nightly stars.

"You can come out now," he said quietly, but he knew the keen ears of the stalker were listening and could hear him clearly. Jaken turned around expectently, quivering.

Without bothering to mask his footsteps, a black wolf emerged from the shadows, the white scar on his forehead bright and startling against his ebony coat. He flashed his ivory teeth in a sinister grin, the glinting of his teeth matching that in his navy eyes.

"You," whispered the Inu-Youkai. "I remember you."

"As you should, I had the chance to kill you and gave it up because my Mistress wanted to protect your hanyou brother," the wolf spat. "I should have killed you when I had the chance. It was so obvious that she would find you next after all she had told me of her Sight. But I was not a believer then, and now I pay for it. Don't get in our way. Do not distract her from her mission. Or next time I am free, she will not stop me from my killing you. If you're smart you'll keep your distance. You were lucky last time, she was kind. Prehaps next time she will not be so kind, I know that I will not." The wolf's brassy voice snapped at the fire, making the flames flicker and dance.

"You cannot kill me without her permission to take your true form. In the shape you are in now, you cannot kill me, and so you are in no position to be making threats," countered Sesshoumaru placidly. His words made the wolf's eyes swirl with heat and his lips curl farther from his fangs.

"I am in a fine position to be making threats," Black Fire snarled at the calm Sesshoumaru and cowering Jaken. "But you, are not! My Mistress is everything to me, to the future! Do not tempt me to kill you now so that her mind can be focused on her mission! I have killed many before, and am not afraid to kill again, even if it means killing someone she has Seen in the future!"

"You are a fool. You should take some lessons from your mistress. She seems to have more sense then yourself by not aggrivating me," said Sesshoumaru calmly, his eyes again straying to the fire.

"She knows everything she does because of me! I've made her what she is! It seems though, that I have not made our lessons clear enough," growled the raven wolf, his eyes now glowing as fierce and as golden as the youkai lords. Then, as if realizing what he said, he cursed himself violently before turning back to the youkai, his glare raging a palomino battle of fire.

"Remember what I say. Do not interfere with our mission," hissed BlackFire.

He turned sharply, leaving the thick scent of old, dry, youkai blood to tease the lord's sensitive nose as he again merged with the shadows. The patriarch looked up to the wolf's retreating form.

"Hmm," was all he said.

"M-m-my lord! Who was t-that?" asked the trembling Jaken after a few moments of shocked silence.

"That, Jaken, was the dragon who attacked me when I aquired the Tetsusaiga the time before last. It lives inside of girl's sword from what he told me in our match. He's a different part of her that seems to be able to roam at her will. He's a powerful demon."

"But you can take him can't you Lord Sesshoumaru?"

"Hmm," was all he said, closing his eyes. His mind was on something else though. Until a second ago, he could sense the youkai's energy as it retreated, but now it seemed to have dissapeared. Wait! Now the energy was different, it was....hers! BlackFire must have transformed back into Thorn. Well, the body must have.

Sesshoumaru looked up, back into the forest.

"What is it My Lord?"

"It seems we have another visiter," replied the Inu-Youkai. "Its not nice to spy, Thorn." The slight raise in his voice brought a 'harumph' from the dark forest and the tell-tale double thumps of feet landing on the ground.

She emerged from the shadows a moment later, seemingly oblivious to what had occured not minutes before.

"It seems I cannot sneak up on you, Sesshoumaru!" she said gaily, sitting across from him and Jaken.

"No, you can't. But your stalking skills have improved just a little bit in the past few days," he said.

"You mean you knew I was following you and you didn't even say anything?" she asked, her voice surprised.

He smiled a sad smile. "Yes."

She sighed an exasperated sigh and threw up her hands. "Well I wont learn if I don't know when I'm detectable!"

"You'll learn. Jaken, stop clinging to me like that, I don't like it."

The toad youkai stepped away from his master, loosening his grip on the white robes. "Are you sure we can trust her, Lord Sesshoumaru?" he asked, fear running jovial up his spine in glee.

"Yes, they are two different souls, and we have nothing to fear from her," the lord said quietly.

"Hmm? What do you mean 'nothing to fear from her'? Do you take me as weak, Sesshoumaru?" she asked, crossing her arms, amusement hinting her features.

"Not at all, you're just not as powerful as him," he said, nodding to the heated sword on her back, which was glowing an angry ice blue and seething in enmity.

"I see. Well we are nearly one and the same, so do you care to take a wager on that?" she taunted playfully. He looked at her, hearing the sliver of intrepidness in her voice.

She is still not afraid of me, even though she seems to know how powerful I am, thought the Inu-Youkai.

"No, I do not," he said simply, to be answered by a disappointed 'huh'.

"Quiet," she growled softly over her shoulder, only loud enough for Sesshoumaru's sensitive youkai ears to hear.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, I was speaking to an annoying pest," she grumbled.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Authoress' Note: yay! Chapter ten! Sorry it took so long to update, I was just getting a ton of reviews from my other fic so I was putting chapters up there first. -sigh- but here it is! I'm finally getting into the plot too, and next chapter is going to get….mushy….maybe even a little lemon…perhaps. But, anyway, I'm rereading this fic and noticing how much the writing itself sucks, just bear with me here, I wrote the beginning many many months ago so it sucks. Anyway, I missed Inuyasha Thursday. -sob- SESSHOUMARU!

Sesshoumaru: yes?

J: -cries- I missed you coming on and bringing back that ogre thing! The purple guy that Naraku made! Now I'm so mad I just want to cry! -hugs him-

Sesshoumaru: 0.0

Miroku: J-chan, you are crying.

J: -growl- am not! -hits him over the head with METAL stirring spoon-

Miroku: okay! Who gave her the metal one?!

Sango: I did, I thought she needed something stronger than her wooden one…

Shippo: hey, that's not true! its because Inuyasha broke her other one

J: -in a rage- WHAT? NANI? WHAT???!!!!!

Shippo- oops. I wasn't supposed to say anything, was I? -looks at Sango and Kegome-

Sango&Kegome: no.

J: Sesshoumaru, be a dear and do the disclaimer while I beat the tar out of Inuyasha will you? -holds up butcher knife, smiling sweetly-

Inuyasha: 0.0'''' AHHH! SOMEONE HELP ME! -runs away while J chases-

J: GET BACK HERE YOU FUZZY-EARED PUP! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU! -sprints, trying to catch up-

Inuyasha: -jumps out window and runs down the street, trying to get away-

Sesshoumaru: J does not own anyone from Inuyasha, she owns only Thorn and BlackFire. -calls to J- make sure to kill him slowly and save the death-swipe for me!

Inuyasha: -glares as he runs down the street-

J: WILL DO! -waves butcher knife as she sprints from sight-