Disclaimer: There are no words to describe how much I wish I owned Inuyasha and Co…. which is a good thing, because I hate wasting words.

A/N: Whee, a review! And so, I write and post. Thank you, Eleature, for reviewing. And yes, it's going somewhere. I promise. Just not immediately… be patient, please!

2

Dragon Child

Voices.

Ryukasei paused for a moment, cocking her head toward the sounds. A moment was all it took for her to recognize the rounded syllables of a child's voice, a little girl. The youngster was nearer than the young hunter would have liked; only a fool would leave a child so close to the forest's edge without a guardian. Ryukasei stilled, listening for a second voice.

"Rin, get back here!" The squawking, anxious tone so suited the young woman's mental image of a harried babysitter that she smiled. "I mean it, don't go—no, don't pick that—If I have to—urk! Dammit!" The splat of something altogether nasty-sounding indicated what sort of mischief the little girl had been up to. Ryukasei found herself grinning.

"Bad word, Jaken-sama," the child admonished in a giggling, sing-song voice. "Sesshoumaru-sama said not to use bad words in front of Rin-chan!"

The hunter girl's ears perked. Sesshoumaru? The inu-youkai? Huh. What could this be? She slipped closer, making sure she made no telltale sounds. The two voices grew louder, the little girl's laughing, the babysitter's shrill. They bickered, covering the near-silent noise of the girl's approach.

Something whuffed dangerously as she drew near the edge of the forest's shelter. Ryukasei froze, searching for the source of the noise. For a moment, nothing moved. The girl strained her senses for another clue, then relaxed as a familiar scent of magic wafted to her nose. A narrow-eyed, wedge-shaped brown head poked its snout cautiously toward her, closely followed by another head, twin to the first in shape and suspicion. She smiled at both, then padded forward, one hand palm-up in front of her.

The two-headed dragon regarded her with slit-pupiled yellow eyes, then sighed deeply and contentedly. One head snaked forward on its long neck to rest its nose in her hand; the other nipped affectionately at her black-streaked copper hair.

"Hai, little one, I think I remember you," the girl told it fondly, stroking the playful head. "What are you doing, ryuu-chan, so far from the mountains? The lowlands don't hide you well. Has the hunting been scarce higher up?"

One dragon head sneezed on her hand, negating her question. The other shook itself from side to side.

Ryukasei frowned at the head-shake; dragons didn't use such human gestures. "What have you been up to, little one? Here, look at me."

She took the long head in both hands, absently scratching its crown ridges as she searched its eyes. The other head wavered, its eyelids sagging drowsily, a faint purr resonating from its throat. The head she held stopped moving entirely, transfixed by a gaze that had begun, very slightly, to glow gold.

Gently, Ryukasei formed the words in her mind: /Tell me./

The thoughts of both heads flooded into hers, one set energetic and fiery, the other dark and brooding. They saw from different eyes, heard from different ears, and yet they were one. Ryukasei sorted through the images with the ease of long experience, focusing on three impressions that stood out most clearly.

/Names/ she asked the dragon, memorizing the images it supplied her. One was a little girl, cute and mischievous in a red-and-white yukata, her short black hair pulled in a pigtail and bobbing as she laughed. The dragon's memories named her Rin. Another was a squat, ugly, froglike creature with bulging orange eyes and a two-headed staff. His name proved to be Jaken.

The little girl and the babysitter, Ryukasei realized. Well, well. Then this…

The third was a tall young man with silver hair that streamed luxuriantly past his waist. His large eyes were golden-tawny, slit like a cat's, and deep with secrets. Sharply pointed ears confirmed that he was youkai, and his manner told of arrogance and high birth. Even through the memory she could tell he would tolerate nothing but the finest of anything. He wore armor that probably looked more decorative than it was, and carried a long, plain katana. A thick, fluffy white stole was draped over his shoulder—multiple times, so it wouldn't brush the ground. Red and silver-blue tattoos marked his cold, stunningly handsome face with two 'scars' on either cheekbone and a crescent moon on his brow.

is Sesshoumaru.

In the dragon's mind, Rin was a passenger and much-doted-on hatchling. Jaken was an unpleasant but necessary burden. But the inu-youkai stood out plainly in the creature's minds as a provider of food—and of fear. The dragon served Sesshoumaru out of a healthy respect for his temper more than anything.

/My thanks/ Ryukasei told the brown dragon, and released it. The head she held jerked involuntarily, and the other came awake snapping. She soothed it quickly, then walked toward the edge of the forest. The two-headed creature followed.

Rin looked up eagerly at the sound of the dragon's approach, but paused uncertainly when she saw the red-haired young woman it followed. Jaken froze mid-scold, his froggy eyes almost popping out of his head.

Ryukasei smiled a little at the child, hoping she didn't seem threatening. She never had been good with children. "Hello." She ignored Jaken entirely.

"Hello." Rin brightened a little. "You brought back Ryuu-chan?" The young woman nodded. The dragon whuffed, moving forward to nuzzle Rin's head. The little girl giggled. "Ryuu-chan likes you. What's your name?"

"Ryukasei. What's yours?"

"Rin-chan. That's Jaken-sama." Rin petted her dragon, oblivious to Jaken's state of shock. "Sesshoumaru-sama's not here."

"Mm." Ryukasei turned the conversation away from the inu-youkai. She would find out about him in person. "What were you playing?"

"Catch. Want to play?"

Ryukasei glanced at Jaken, who was splattered with an indeterminate type of muck that had probably been best left alone, and grinned. She liked this girl already.

"Sure," she replied easily. "I'll even make you a ball to throw." Rin leaned forward, fascinated, as the red-haired woman cupped her hands and half-closed her eyes. As she called silently on her own wellspring of power, energy pooled in her hands, shaping itself into a gem-cut, iridescently red ball. Ryukasei offered it to the girl, who accepted it eagerly, tossing it into the air to make it catch the light.

"Do you speak, frog?" she asked Jaken in an undertone, watching Rin play. "Or are you trying to catch flies?"

"D-d… dr-dragon…" the wretched creature stuttered.

"Yes, the dragon likes me. Most little ones do. Are you going to whine about it all day, or is that the only word you know?"

Her insults produced the desired effect. Groveling things like Jaken instinctively responded to them, usually by squawking for their masters or kissing someone's ass. They were natural flunkies and yes-men.

"Sesshoumaru-sama will—"

She cut him off before he could get his voice up and alarm the kid. "Torture and maim me, I know. I wouldn't worry too much about me, if I were in your shoes right now. When's he getting back? If it isn't soon, I might get bored." She grinned slightly at him, showing more tooth than was strictly necessary. The effect was immediate and gratifying: Jaken's greenish-brown skin blanched rapidly, making his eyes look even more ludicrous and froglike.

"He's coming! Soon!" The toadish creature was almost vibrating with terror.

"That's good. Go hide somewhere so I don't have to look at you." Ryukasei turned her attention back to Rin as the girl approached, carrying the sparkling red ball.

Rin watched Jaken speed away. He was setting a remarkable pace, Ryukasei thought amusedly, for something with such short legs. "Where is Jaken-sama going?"

"He has some business. He told me to watch you for a while."

"Okay. Do you want to play with Rin-chan?"

The young woman smiled in spite of herself. "Sure." She's not bad, for a kid. Cute little thing. What's Sesshoumaru doing with her? He isn't treating her bad at all, unless I'm really missing something…

What use does a youkai have for a human kid?

Hours passed surprisingly quickly. An anxious snort from the dragon warned Ryukasei as she accepted a leaf 'rice ball' from Rin. Both girls looked in the direction the dragon's heads were turned. A waft of air that smelled very strongly of dog, underlaid with a tinge of storm, caught Ryukasei full in the face.

Involuntarily, her pulse quickened. She knew who it had to be. So did Rin, though the child's reaction was far more enthusiastic than the redhead's.

"Sesshoumaru-samaaaaaa!" Rin sang gleefully, jumping to her feet. Ryukasei followed suit more slowly, barring any thoughts of fear from her mind. If she let anything slip, she knew the inu-youkai would smell it. Given his reputation, she guessed he would not waste his time on creatures he considered 'lesser.' She had to make him respect her.

One moment the sky was clear. In the next, a bolt of lightning slammed into the ground, charring a ten-foot circle of grass and blinding everyone. When the dazzle-spots and sun-blind tears had dissolved, Ryukasei saw that a seven-foot-tall inu-youkai was standing in the center of the burned circle.

For a full breath she quite literally couldn't move. The dragon's memories had failed to convey just how carelessly the youkai moved, as if there were nothing interesting or worthwhile left in the world—or as if there was, then he owned it all.

Her mind insisted she was not afraid of Sesshoumaru. The rest of her called her a bloody liar.

"Sesshoumaru-samaaaaa! Rin-chan missed you!" The little girl rushed forward to swing from the end of the youkai's long sash. The two-headed dragon lay down with the clear intention of staying put. Much as she would have liked to do the same, Ryukasei made herself walk forward. As she did, though, she noticed something odd. Sesshoumaru wasn't ignoring Rin's antics, and he wasn't shooing her away like some inconveniently excited pet. He was almost smiling at her. Smiling, like a fond father!

The fear evaporated. Ryukasei stopped a little ways from the edge of the ashy circle, adopting a casual, 'waiting' attitude. She wasn't going to come pleading to him, like a dog to its master. She had indicated interest, and now it was his turn to move.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, come meet Ryukasei-sama! She made Rin-chan a pretty red ball!" Rin was tugging at Sesshoumaru's long sleeves. He let her haul him along good-naturedly. When he met Ryukasei's gaze, however, his golden eyes were anything but kind.

"Indeed, Rin-chan?" he murmured. "Ryukasei is very gifted, is she?"

His gaze was almost hypnotic, like a hunting snake's. The young woman refused to be drawn into them, or to look away; either would be a fatal mistake. Instead, she met his eyes steadily, keeping a strong barrier between her mind and his thoughts. She matched him will for will as Rin chattered.

"Rin-chan, has the dragon seen your new ball?" Sesshoumaru asked without taking his eyes off Ryukasei. "Go show it off, child; the dragon will like how it sparkles." Once Rin had raced happily out of earshot, he stated levelly, "You have a very short time in which to explain why you have challenged me, wench. Use it well."

The fear edged back into her mind a little. There wasn't any reason to doubt the youkai's threat. She ignored it, taking a jaunty, hipshot stance. "I've come to see a man about a hunt."

"I see. And why does this interest me?"

Ryukasei smiled a little, daring him. "I thought you might like a nice ape-skin to hang on your wall." Then she lifted an eyebrow. "Or maybe you've been looking for a half-dog's pelt. Or a sword."

His gaze never shifted, but she could tell she had his full attention now. Inwardly, she grinned. Gotcha.

"Shall we talk?" Sesshoumaru inquired finally.