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"Sesshoumaru-sama, it's been following us ever since we left the forest!"
"I am aware of that, Jaken." Sesshoumaru didn't need to look behind him to realize that the human child was still trailing them. He could hear her movements as she waded through the grass after them, and she still smelled of blood.
"Why don't we just get rid of it?" Jaken asked, turning his head once more to look at the girl.
Sesshoumaru answered Jaken with silence. He was not interested in wasting time and energy exterminating something that he had just brought back to life. And anyway, he didn't particularly see a reason to kill the girl. Though known for his contempt of humans, Sesshoumaru had no interest in massacring villages, as some other youkai did. The smell of human blood disgusted him. He only killed humans when they got in his way, which did happen quite frequently. Though any lesser youkai that were stupid enough to fight with him would also die. Human and youkai alike he killed, if they were weak and wore on his patience.
"Sesshoumaru-sama?"
"Leave her alone. She will soon grow bored and go back to wherever it is that she came from."
Jaken looked behind them again.
"Stop turning around, Jaken." If neither one of them acknowledged her presence, the girl would go on her way all the sooner.
"Begging your pardon, Sesshoumaru-sama, but I don't think I'm the one it's following."
Why was she following him? She remained a dozen or so yards behind, but it was not a coincidence that her path was the same as theirs. Was it because of what he had done? Possibly--if she was even conscious of what he had done. But she had also kept coming around him before that, in the woods. Surely the child must have better things to do than follow youkai across the wilderness. But then, she had seemed quite alone. Perhaps she really didn't have anything else to do, which still wasn't a satisfactory explanation as to why she was following him.
Jaken changed the subject. "Where are we going now, Sesshoumaru-sama?"
"I require another sword. We are going to find someone who will make one."
"About that, Sesshoumaru-sama? When you...eh...showed Tenseiga to me? Did you know what Tenseiga would do?"
"I learned that Tenseiga could not kill a very long time ago," Sesshoumaru said after a moment. He glanced down at Jaken, who said nothing, but looked very relieved.
They continued on their path until they found Sesshoumaru's dragon, standing not far from where they left it. Sesshoumaru walked on, and Jaken instinctively took the dragon's reins, then falling back into step slightly behind Sesshoumaru. The girl still followed behind.
They walked on, until the sun went down and the stars had already been sliding across the sky for many hours. Sesshoumaru noticed that Jaken was beginning to tire, though he would never admit that he was watching, and Jaken would never complain to him about it. Sesshoumaru stopped.
"We will stop here."
"Ah, good," Jaken said, as he stopped. He drove his staff into the ground and looped the reins of the dragon around it. Crawling a few yards away from Sesshoumaru, he curled up and quickly went to sleep.
Sesshoumaru didn't need sleep as much as Jaken did; he hardly needed sleep at all. Especially not now, after lying for so long in the woods. He found a nearby rock to sit on. Usually, he would have stalked off in another direction as Jaken slept, but he didn't feel like it tonight. As much as he hated to admit it, he still felt weak. Not weak enough to need sleep, and not too tired to go on if Jaken weren't with him, but tired enough to sit in one spot for a few hours while there was nothing else to do.
Sesshoumaru turned his senses behind him. The child was still there, but she had stopped moving. She was a little closer than she had been; it had probably taken her a few seconds to realize that they had stopped. He was somewhat surprised that she had managed to follow at all for so long in the dark. His and Jaken's eyes had no trouble seeing under the dim conditions, but human eyes were different. Then again, picking out his white form, even in the dark, was probably not too difficult even for her. Sesshoumaru glanced back the way they had come. Even if the girl's eyes could make him out, she certainly wouldn't be able to see what he was doing.
The girl had indeed stopped, and was curled up in a little ball next to some tall grasses. She clutched at the bloodied rags she still wore, and shivered in the night. Pathetic. Pathetic was the only word to describe this girl, or any humans. Disinterested, Sesshoumaru then turned his attention to the sleeping Jaken, and then finally up at the stars.