Disclaimer- I do not own any of the Inuyasha characters or the rights to any of them. But I can dream!

Words in italics mean the character is thinking them in their minds.

Chapter 2

Child of Light

Her mind was working quickly. Sesshomaru would have been astonished at how quickly the human females mind was working. Planning an escape was easy but how would she be able to escape and not have the taiyoukai know she was gone. The youkai probably already has my scent committed to memory. I will have to leave my scent behind but how? The female was in a bad mood, a really bad mood. She had been following the back end of a two headed dragon that smelled like he had not been bathed in weeks for many hours now. What being would be happy following such a smell? She watched as the dragon walked along its body swaying to and fro the small saddle on its back rocking the young child like a cradle. Then an idea hit her and she quickly began to put it into action. She quickly untied the sash of her kimono and laid the outer garment over the small girl. One of the dragons' heads turned to watch what she was doing and ensure the safety of his young mistress. Once Ah was sure the girl was safe he turned his head back around and continued walking. The taiyoukai never looked back.

The path the group followed soon split into two paths. The one they continued on lead the way away from the river, the other to the river. With a smirk and an air of superiority only a young human female could feel she sprinted down the second path. The youkai will not know I am gone until I am long gone. Imagine paying fifteen coins for a FREE human. I am no ones slave!! I refuse to be one. I will die if I must to keep my freedom. Once she reached the end of the path she dove fearlessly into the water receiving a shock when it was ice cold. Great a river formed by ice melt. Why couldn't it be formed from a nice hot spring? Pushing through the cold water the female swam as hard as she could with the river, but since the river had a nice current she did not have to swim much.

Sesshomaru tested the air around him and found something amiss. The human females scent was there but weaker like she was trailing behind. He turned to coldly tell her to pick up her pace and was astonished to find she was not there at all. Her kimono lay across the sleeping Rin but she was gone. Sesshomaru began to become annoyed; however, he did not show this emotion to Jaken. "Lord Sesshomaru, the human female is more trouble then she is worth you should just let her die, which she will without you to protect her." Sesshomaru looked at Jaken and in his cold calm voice told him "Jaken I did not ask for your thoughts. Do not voice them again." Jaken cowered behind the two headed staff his lord had given him and began to apologize profusely. Sesshomaru walked by without acknowledging his apology. He followed the females scent to the river but once he reached the river her scent was harder to follow because she had traveled in the water. Nonetheless, Sesshomaru did pick up her scent and started downstream after her.

She had just reached an area of the river that was shallow, the water only came up to her knees. She glanced down at her hands and saw they were a deep blue in contrast to the pure white of her undergarments. It was time to get out of the water, turning towards the shore she took one step and was stopped by a long serpentine tail wrapping around her waist. She was brought up to the face of a water youkai. His eyes were dark velvet and his scaly hide was the most beautiful jade green she had ever seen. The youkai's eyes were mesmerizing and soon she felt swayed to do his bidding. She completely relaxed in his grip and was allowing him to carry her towards his mouth.

What am I doing? I just want to sleep and let this youkai eat me. Wait! Let him EAT me? I don't think so! The water youkai was surprised when she began to struggle and even more surprised when she began to hurt him. She fought for her life with all of the weapons she had puny human nails and blunted human teeth. Together these weapons would not frighten off any being but added to them was a desire to live. When combined with this desire any weapon can cause harm. She screamed, bit, scratched, kicked, and punched the youkai causing him pain but most importantly stopping the gradual movement to his mouth.

I am going to be eaten. Closing her eyes, she prepared for inevitable death. The next feeling she felt was a sense of falling. She believed she was falling down the throat of the youkai. A giant splash of ice cold water and a sharp rock to a sensitive portion of her anatomy led her to correct her belief.

"Hurry up human! We do not have all day to wait on you." The little toad was screaming at her in his shrill superior voice. Not the best time to be yelling little toad. She shoved Jaken's head under water and ground his beak into the sharp riverbed. She began to move towards the bank and left the two battling youkai behind. Sesshomaru had come to save her this was perplexing. She turned just as Sesshomaru dealt the final blow to the water youkai. As the serpent fell to the river, his blood spilled up in an arc in front of Sesshomaru. Wow. He looks like a conquering lord. Duh! That's because he is a conquering lord and you are the prize baka! She shook her head of these thoughts as the small girl leaned down from the dragons back and held out her hand.

"My name is Rin. This is Ah and Un and that is Master Jaken. What is your name? How old are you? How come your hair is so short? Are you cold?" Rin did not even give her a chance to answer all of her many questions one at a time, so she answered them as the child had asked them.

"My name is Mitsuko. I am 20. My father cut my hair to sell for sake and yes I am very cold." Two female voices were then giggling like they had been the best of friends forever.

Sesshomaru drew back at the females name but did not show the emotions that were warring in his head. As the group moved up the path, Sesshomaru began to look for a place to spend the night. He soon found one to his liking and informed the group they would sleep here for the night. Here was in the center of a circle of trees and was protected from the wind by the trees. Jaken began a fire and soon Rin, Mitsuko, and Ah and Un were eating a simple meal of rice. As Rin was preparing to sleep at the side of her beloved Sesshomaru-sama, she asked Mitsuko one more question. "Mitsuko, what does your name mean? Mine means water lily." The child ended her sentence on a yawn.

"My name means child of light and daughter of Mitsu. Mitsu was an inu youkai who protected this area of the western lands she died protecting humans, one of the humans was my great-grandfather. To honor the female youkai, a female of our family is always named Mitsuko." When Mitsuko looked to Rin, the child's eyes were closed and she was dreaming of picking flowers for Sesshomaru-sama's sash. Mitsuko slid down into her own bedding and was also soon fast asleep. Not knowing she left a very troubled Sesshomaru awake. He looked at the female and all he could think was you would be proud of this human female who carries your name.

Sesshomaru's eyes would not close this night; instead his mind would wonder the memories of his youth.

Authors Note

To my two reviewers- I thank you for your thoughts please keep reviewing and tell me what you like and don't like.

Lady Morganna