"So, you said you heard me laugh kinda funny?" Inuyasha asked when he had heard the entire story.
Kagome nodded putting her sleeping bag away into her oversized backpack. "Yes, and then you rushed off without a word," she added.
"And what about the jewel shard?" Inuyasha inquired.
Sango looked at the shard and sadly said, "It hasn't regained its glow yet."
Inuyasha proceeded to ask questions, as was his nature. "So you think that a soul of the Shikon jewel possessed me and killed another soul in the cave?" He looked at Miroku half believing his story.
All Miroku could say to him was, "That's right." Miroku was becoming annoyed with Inuyasha's questions and suggested, "Maybe if we gather the other two souls, they can in turn help us restore the jewel."
Inuyasha nodded and added, "I think I need to talk with this evil soul..."
Meanwhile...Jaken, Rin, and Sesshoumaru were wandering aimlessly through a forest looking for a place to bed down. Rin all of a sudden stopped in a large opening in the trees.
It was a few moments later that Sesshoumaru turned to tell Rin once again not to fall behind, when he too stopped.
Jaken continued on without noticing that his master had stopped walking. By the time Jaken realized he was alone, he was across the field. "My Lord Sesshoumaru, you should tell me when you stop...U-unless of coarse you don't fell like it." Jaken stuttered. "What are you looking at my Lord?" He said as he ambled back to the side of his master. "Oh dear! It's a...a woman!"
Three hours later, under a weeping willow tree, the woman opened her light (almost white) blue eyes. She sat up with a start. "Where am I!" she demanded as she stood almost jumping up. Rin started to explain and tell her, when the woman's stance wavered and she fell. She fell almost to the ground. She felt a pair of gentle arm catch her before she blacked out again.
Sesshoumaru didn't realize it, but he'd had a reflex to catch her. He had a look of confusion on his face when he began to set her gently on the ground where she had previously lain.
Jaken who had been distracted now watched Sesshoumaru. He looked at the woman's motionless form with disdain. "Lord Sesshoumaru...What do you plan to do with her?" he asked trying to take Sesshoumaru's eyes off the woman. One thing was clear in Jaken's mind: if Lord Sesshoumaru planned on being infatuated with this "creature", he'd better be careful.
Sesshoumaru was too busy, in his opinion, to answer a question that he didn't know yet. He was in fact drawn to this woman but by a force he was not familiar with. "Love... can't be it...infatuation...possibly, but something about her is different," he paused for a while thinking about his discovery, "She's certainly not mortal...she has too much of a powerful aura surrounding her to be a worthless human...but what is she?" He thought to himself as his mind wondered. Caught deep in though, he didn't realize that she was now sitting up against the tree.
She shook her head and tried to focus on the figure standing next to her. All she could make out was a whitish glimmer of light. Then the figure seemed to get closer. She could almost make out its face. As it leaned in even closer to her she saw an unusual pair of golden eyes. She could now see his entire face. She smiled and closed her eyes once again. "I think I stood up too fast..." she put her hand shakily to the back of her head. She could see that the white was his hair, "That's interesting...white hair...demon..." When she let her hand down there was a red glint on her palm.
Sesshoumaru saw that sheer horror had crossed the woman's face. He looked at her with complete confusion. "It's only a little blood." He said as he glanced at her hand and then at her face, which was still paling.
"Could it be ...Am I human now?" she thought of the possibility. She didn't even know how she was here as a human. She started to try and figure this question out. "I can feel...emotions...I've never..." She said as her eyes softened.
Now Sesshoumaru was thoroughly confused. "What on earth could she be frightened about. I've seen more blood on Jaken and the fool only cut himself on a sticker weed." He thought.
She looked away from her hand. "Its just I'm not used to seeing blood..." she said getting up, "Thank you for helping me."
Sesshoumaru now had a full view of this strange woman. She was short (4'7), she had a worried look on her face, and ...he looked away from her. She was wearing a thin robe that he could almost see through. "Jaken," he ordered, "I want you to go into the next town and buy a fitting robe for her and whatever else this can buy...take Rin with you." He then handed Jaken the currency (it's equal to about a hundred dollars in our time. Don't ask how I came up with that just read on!).
Jaken carried a disgruntled look on his face. "As you wish my lord..." he sighed and called for Rin who had indulged herself in flower picking. Jaken hated that too. He was a pessimist and no doubt cheap as a rock.
Sesshoumau knew this so, he'd asked for Rin to go as well because of her ability to spend money (hint hint). She wouldn't buy the same garments that Jaken would have. She'd also keep Jaken there for hours. This would give Sesshoumaru time to figure out if this woman was enemy of not (notice I didn't put friend. If you think about it Sesshoumaru wouldn't consider anyone a friend. Sorry if you disagree).
Rin skipped happily alongside Jaken down the road. They disappeared, down a hill, about two hundred feet from where Sesshoumaru now stood.
The woman was still a little dazed and idle in her confusion, "How can I bleed? That's impossible."
She thought more about this phenomenon and came to a terrifying thought. "Trickoni..." was the only word that she said.
Sesshoumaru spent the next hour and a half while Jaken and Rin were gone, getting to know this woman. "So, do you have a name?" he asked without actually expressing interest, which was one of his highly developed skills.
She looked up at him with a small and somewhat gentle smile. "My name is Nyrobi ... many call me Nia," she then turned away from him.
Sesshoumaru wouldn't give up that easily. There was more to this "Nia" then she was letting on. "What species are you...you certainly aren't human..." he asked yet another question. "How very perceptive of you," she retaliated harshly.
At this Sesshoumaru knew she didn't wish to talk any more, but frankly he didn't care. "You didn't answer my question...what species are you?" he repeated. "No, I didn't answer your question..." she sighed, "I suppose I can't really...I don't even really know what I am...or was...I'm a soul now...alone and in chaos...I still don't understand how I am here on Earth...I should still be inside the jewel..." she trailed off into her thoughts.
Sesshoumaru had heard all he'd needed. "Her mind's in turmoil right now...still...how can I be sure she isn't ling...a soul of the jewel...I don't guess that she is alone then..." he thought as he looked away from her.