"Lord Sesshoumaru!" Jaken yelled at the sight of his master "Did you find the hanyou? Did you slay it?" The toadish asked.
The demon lord chose not to answer him. When he returned, he found Jaken waiting impatiently by the fire, and Rin more than half asleep by Ah and Un. Sesshoumaru strode up to the beast and lightly roused Rin. She wasn't sleeping hard and all it took to wake her was a gentle nudge with his booted foot.
"Lord Sesshoumaru, you have returned!" she greeted.
"I take it you fared well?" Came his reply. "Have you eaten today?" he asked. Rin answered with a simple "Yes," and Sesshoumaru told her to go back to sleep.
The demon lord told Jaken they would be departing in the morning and that she should be getting some rest.
Sesshoumaru was once again deep in thought as they traveled east toward the lake. He was curious as to whether or not the woman hanyou was still there. He was even more curious as to how she would react to the presence of a human child such as Rin.
Sesshoumaru had grown quite fond of Rin. But he knew her limitations as a human, and he was concerned about what image was being pinned to him for traveling with a human child,
and although he would never let this aspect slip into the knowledge of anyone, demon or human, he was concerned for her safety. He knew he would not always be able to protect her, and he didn't want to see her put into danger. Sesshoumaru was in need of someone dependable to take care of her.
Sesshoumaru had neglected to tell Jaken and Rin what he had seen the previous evening. Simply that he had discovered a large water source that Ah and Un from which Ah and Un could drink. For the demon lord, it was but a few minutes from where they had made camp, but Rin and Jaken were far slower, and thus the journey took much longer. Sesshoumaru was ahead some meters, but stayed withing ear-shot of his groupies.
The clearing hadn't even come into view of the group before Kanai smelled them. She recognized one scent to be that of the demon who had come to the lake the previous night, but she did not however recognize the scents of the two who followed him, save that one was a human.
"Considering this demon travels with a human, there is no way he could be a threat" Kanai thought to herself.
With that in mind, she felt no need to hide.
When Sesshoumaru and co. entered the clearing, they found Kanai staring straight at them.
"Who are you demon?" She asked with a soft, yet assertive tone. "And why do you feel compelled to disturb me for a second time in two days?"
By now it was mid-day and Sesshoumaru really didn't feel like being interrogated.
"How dare you be so insolent?!" Blurted the toadish. "This is The Great Lord Sesshoumaru" he continued, only to be struck hard on the head by the demon lord.
"Shut up Jaken," Sesshoumaru said with a hint of annoyance in his tone.
He then directed his attention to Kanai.
"As the imp said, my name is Sesshoumaru. I am the lord of the western lands," as he said this, he noticed her reaction to his name.
The hanyou kept eye contact with him as he spoke. She knew of his distaste for hanyous and wasn't sure if she should fear him or not.
"I assure you that there is no need to fear me," Sesshoumaru confirmed. "You have not as of yet provoked my wrath."
Rin stood quite a few feet back throughout this conversation. She was amazed at the beauty of the being to whom Sesshoumaru was speaking.
Kanai thought for a second and concluded that she didn't believe she was actually in the presence of the demon lord she had herd about.
"I had heard that the great Lord Sesshoumaru bore a strong dislike for humans and hanyous" she stated bluntly. "So why is it that you seek me out and travel with a human child?"
Rin took notice of that last comment, suddenly becoming aware that it was her that she was referring to.
"Don't worry little one," Kanai said in a much softer tone. "I bare no grudge ageists any of you. Simply scepticism" she said that last word in a deeper tone directing it toward the two demons.
"I am Sesshoumaru of the western lands, and if you don't believe me, and are accusing me of being a liar, than..." remembering Rin's presence, the demon lord didn't finish his sentence.
But although Sesshoumaru was many things, he was defiantly no liar. And he took offence at being called one.
"If you are indeed who you say you are than no doubt you have come hear for a reason." Kanai added, the moment the demon lord stopped speaking.
Sesshoumaru didn't hear this however, and thus didn't answer. He was by now deep in thought again. He had been thinking a lot as of late, and Rin and Jaken had begun to notice. He hadn't planned to make his identity known to this hanyou so quickly, but his failure to inform Jaken of such a plan had foiled it. The demon lord continued to stare into space. He was vary disturbed by his lack of forethought, it wasn't like him. Neither was staring into oblivion while in the presence of his underlings, let alone a hanyou, he hardly knew, and in the midst of a conversation no less!
"Sesshoumaru sama?" Rin asked, trying to get his attention.
"Lord Sesshoumaru!" Jaken repeated, snapping the demon lord form his daze. "This hanyou wishes to know why we have sought her out." Jaken continued.
"We did not seek you out" Sesshoumaru answered Kanai. "My beast requires water and this is the location of a lake I noted yesterday."
To Sesshoumaru this was not a lie, Ah and Un did in fact require water. He simply neglected to reveal all his motives.
"There is more to it than that Lord Sesshoumaru!" Kanai blurted. She was no fool and she knew when she was being played.
"And what mite that be?" He ask in response.
Had this been any other hanyou, and Rin not there, Sesshoumaru would have long since destroyed Kanai for her disrespect. But the demon lord kept his temper in check while in Rin's presence.
"Next time you want to make allegations, think first if you have something to back them up." And with that, he finished and ignored any thing she said to him afterwards.