He weaved in and out of the thick underbrush, moving with the wind. Undetected, his task would be a simple one. If he were discovered, he'd be greatly hindered. Such thoughts put a damper on his already morbid spirit, so he allowed his mind to shut down -- switch over to 'auto-pilot', if you will. His margin for error was slim, something his previous recklessness had not allowed him to perceive.

Despite his obviously superior skills, the taiyoukai would be in for one hell of a time should he be forced to combat his half-sibling. On any other date, he would have been raring and ready to go, quite literally jumping at the chance to run InuYasha through once or twice with his trusty Tokijin, but there would come a time for that. After all, the sole purpose of this mission was to acquire some live bait -- bait that he would use to insure the half-breed's demise. And that bait just so happened to have a name.

She was trailing behind the others, for some reason or another. A callous smirk crept across his stunning features. How very convenient. Both the Houshi and the Taijiya were otherwise occupied, intent in their own little argument. The neko chose to remain close to her master. His loathsome kin blazed the trail, the little kitsune not too far off. It was perfect. Now all that was left for him to do was fall back, out of the range of detection. For an impudent hanyou, InuYasha's sense of smell was quite keen. It would do no good to have gone through all this trouble only to be flushed out of his hiding, betrayed by his own scent. No. He would wait until they broke off the path to make camp.

Late that afternoon, he finally got the chance that he'd been waiting for. InuYasha had gone off ahead on his own to scout; the Houshi and the Taijiya were off doing their own thing, leaving the human wench unguarded. The demon-child slept peacefully in her lap, but hardly regarded him as dangerous to the mission.

He struck quicker than lightning, swooping down in a graceful arc. The girl was soon in his arms, the coppery-haired kitsune discarded into the underbrush. Clearly shocked by the ambush, it took said girl many moments to gather her wits and start struggling. He was not concerned with her movement until she had the audacity to bite his fingers. The pain was gone quicker than it came, but her insolence served to irritate him nonetheless. Finally growing weary of her silly attempts to escape, he struck a blow to the back of her neck, causing for her to immediately slump in his grasp and fall still.

In a matter of minutes, he was extraordinarily far from where the abduction had taken place. Crossing several fields and neatly sailing across a stream, he kept to the air as much as possible. By avoiding the ground as often as he could, his scent and path were not so easily discernable. With the wind whistling in his ears with every bounding leap, he found his near-solitude strangely intolerable. Something hanging about the air gave him a feeling of sudden vulnerability.

Despite such misgivings, he made it home relatively unscathed. Thankfully, the girl had not yet awoken. Stomping across the straw, he was rather clumsy in his placing of her. Finally settling for tossing her down in a heap, he stormed out with not a minute to spare. Immediately fetching Jaken, he ordered the scaly imp to watch over her while he went in search of Rin and the miko.

He didn't particularly care what the shrine maiden was up to--so long as she wasn't causing any sort of trouble--but he did wonder where she had gone off to. For a brief moment, he was struck by the most horrible thought. A whine of panic jolted through him, and it took considerable discipline on his part to keep at his steady pace instead of beginning to frantically rip about the place in search of the raven-haired child. As much as hate loathed to admit it, he trusted the woman…At least, he trusted her around Rin. That is to say, she hadn't said or done anything around Rin that would prove her untrustworthy. And for now, that would have to do. Rin was a mischievous girl; there was no way he could go about blaming the miko every time she disappeared. It was fairly likely in itself that said shrine maiden had absolutely no clue where said girl had run off to. And so that particular subject was dropped and he resumed his searching at an ordinary, unruffled pace.

Upon locating Rin, he was decidedly glad he hadn't run off in a rage and started spewing hasty accusations. Startled by the thought, he rationalized that such a feeling had sprung up on account of the fact that he'd just saved his pride. Sadly, this was true. He remained remarkably unconcerned when it came to the miko's feelings. Which was a shame, really. At least when you considered the fact that she was a rather vital part of his plan. It just wouldn't do to deny him his long-awaited revenge. He would insure that there was absolutely no way InuYasha could wrench victory from the jaws of defeat.

Satisfied, he withdrew from the room in which he'd found her and slunk down the stairs. Not really in the mood to do much of anything, he resumed his station in the courtyard. Eventually, he grew weary of standing and grudgingly allowed himself to lean back against the trunk of a large oak. His willowy frame bent over after awhile, though, and he slid down into a sitting position.

He did not know how long he sat there like that, eyes closed. When at last his thick lashes fluttered open, he found that it'd grown rather late in the afternoon. The temperature had suitably increased, and he found himself moderately uncomfortable until the breeze started to picked up, refreshing him with its' gentle caress.

A melancholy sigh escaped his thin lips, and not for the first time that day was he filled with an irrepressible longing. Like before, however, he had no way of placing the feeling. Tossing his silvery mane, he gave a snort. Not that it mattered much anyway. While he was already dreadfully old, he'd barely matured. Of course there were going to be weird feelings that he couldn't explain. It was natural. Or so he told himself.

Ego aside, he found it all to be rather unnerving. He was so used to being in absolute control, so used to his stoic and rigid persona…The urge to hit something coursed through his entire body, and immediately he imagined wrapping his slender fingers around that delicate neck, giving a gentle squeeze and gradually tightening his grip…

For the second time that day, he was startled by his thoughts. While he wasn't one for mercy and benevolence, he'd never quite believed in senseless killing, regardless of how things seemed at times. There was always a purpose for murder by his hands. Just as there was always a purpose to everything he did. Like clockwork, he'd once heard someone said. He'd never really realized how much that applied to many aspects of his life until now.

Frowning slightly, he mulled over this thought, rolling his bottom lip beneath his razor-sharp canines. A frown settled over his expression after a few moments contemplation, and a low, rumbling growl was unconsciously issued from the back of his throat. Clockwork, indeed; even Naraku must have cottoned onto this, for he'd been able to successfully manipulate him, even if it was for only a relatively short period of time. It occurred to him that even Kikyou was now using him…No wonder she'd quieted down after a bit. She'd figured out how to use the situation to her own advantage.

No more. No, definitely no more would this be so. He would be the user. He would use Kikyou to get to InuYasha, and he would kill them both. Then, finally, the only obstacle in his path would be Naraku himself. His revenge would be enacted, his guilty conscience cleared. He would be finally free to join his mother in paradise.

Standing once more, his lithe body swayed to some silent symphony. The ghost of a smile flickered across his expression, and for just a moment, the arrogant Sesshoumaru thought nothing more of himself than dust in the wind.

A/N: This is long over-due and I apologize. I'm afraid I've got no long-winded and fanciful excuses to offer you all; just the fact that I haven't been in the mood to work on this story. So, I really do hope you'll forgive me and enjoy this update. I'm surprised it came out so well, considering I forced myself to sit down and write it after coming home from school today. Usually when I do such things, they come out really bad. I'm aware of the fact that this chapter deviated a bit from the norm, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. If the story truly desires to go a different way than I intended, who am I to stop it?

Sadly, I don't have time to answer any reviews. Just know that I deeply appreciate each and every one of them. I cherish the fact that some of my readers care so much about my works that they'll send me encouraging little e-mail notes. I'd like to also offer hearty thanks to those who take the time to write out a bit of constructive criticism. Nobody's perfect, you know? I like to seize every chance I get to improve my writing. So, with that said…

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