"You fool!" Naraku growled as he turned around to face the demon Gulden in disgust and anger. "I didn't tell you to kill her!"
"Aw, what's the big deal? I was trying to do you a favor. You don't know what the demon slayer is capable of," Gulden said from where he had been lounging on a futon cracking his knuckles. The dark band, which was a part of his skin's natural color, around his eyes looked darker and hid his eyes in the poorly lit room. In this form he still gave the impression that he was a weasel demon.
"The favor you were supposed to pay me was to lure the demon slayer here to keep Sesshomaru busy while I attended to some unfinished business with his brother, Inu Yasha." Naraku shot back stalking over to the weasel demon. He bent down and grabbed Gulden by the neck and started to shake him.
"Do you know how many times Sesshomaru has gotten in my way? Now, not only is Sesshomaru still seeking me out but the demon slayer has joined forces with him to seek you out. It's just a matter of time before they find us!" Naraku threw Gulden across the room into a wall. The wall shattered upon contact with Gulden's heavy demon body and he slid across the floor of the next room before coming to a stop. He slowly picked him self up to face Naraku who had entered the room stepping through the hole he had made with Gulden. Gulden stood trying to hide the fear he was starting to feel towards this demon hoping the Shikon jewel he had embedded in his neck could help him survive if Naraku chose to try and destroy him.
"Hey, just settle down, now," Gulden said throwing his hands up trying to soothe Naraku. "She may have joined with this Sesshomaru but she won't be able to resist the urge to kill a demon that powerful, even if she does owe him her life. Timmain is not honorable enough to hold up a bargain like that." Gulden tried explaining in defense of his failure to abide by the agreement he struck with Naraku.
"I hope you're right," Naraku breathed in Gulden's ear causing him to tremble with more fear. "If not you will be easy to sacrifice to them so I can continue with my own plans for Inu Yasha. I hope you will be able to put up a descent enough fight for your life."
Gulden stared back at Naraku determined that he would not allow the demon slayer to win against him. He had allowed her many times to get the best him. But now that he had the Shikon jewel he believed he could kill her again, along with Sesshomaru. He had to or it meant his skinny neck which he was in no hurry to loose.
They had been traveling for a week without some much as a scent of Naraku and Gulden or a faint glimmer of a Shikon jewel. Timmain was starting to get restless, her fingers itching to grip her sword in a duel to feel the cold steel slice through demon flesh. She kept eyeing Sesshomaru thinking it would be better to just kill him and set off on her own. She could feel herself getting too relaxed with nothing to do but travel and keep Rin from hanging on to her constantly. She liked the little girl but she didn't like the way Rin kept looking between her and Sesshomaru as if she expected something from them. They had managed to be civil to each other and had not crossed each other and it had pleased Rin tremendously. She would have liked for them to talk to each other more often but Rin was just happy that they weren't fighting.
It was in the middle of the night as everyone slept around the fire that something woke Timmain up. A feeling of power that was too faint for Timmain to determine where it was coming from but enough for her to recognize it at once. It was the power of a Shikon jewel. Just as Timmain shifted to move a sleeping Rin off of her it disappeared. Timmain looked around wildly in a useless attempt to discover the source of the jewel. As she looked around, her eyes landed on Sesshomaru standing alone on a hill top not far from the camp, staring into the night sky. She got up to make the trek to the hill top.
"Did you sense something?" Sesshomaru asked Timmain as she approached without turning around to face her.
"Yes, but it vanished as quickly as I felt it," she answered stopping a few feet away from him. "Did you?"
"I caught a faint scent on the wind. It too didn't last long enough to determine the location."
They stood on the hill top in silence for a few minutes. Timmain stood there, fighting with herself whether she should ask what she'd been wanting to since her conversation with Rin at the hot springs. Finally, her curiosity won.
"Why do you travel with that child?" She finally blurted out.
"That doesn't concern you," Sesshomaru answered turning around to face her, clearly not happy with her questioning him about his business.
"She's just a little girl. You should leave her at a village where she can grow up with other humans. Traveling with you is not safe for her. It'll only put her in more danger," Timmain couldn't stop herself. She could see Sesshomaru's eyes narrow more and more as she continued but the thought of her own dead family kept Timmain going. "The child needs a mother and father to look after her. I'm sure some villagers would happily take her in and care for her. Besides, she's slowing us down. We'd be able to track down Gulden and Naraku a lot easier without the burden." She said what she had been wanting to for some time. She felt bad for referring to Rin as a burden but she knew she spoke the truth.
"Are you finished?" He asked calmly keeping his anger in check.
Timmain nodded in response waiting for an explosion of anger. But none came. Sesshomaru started walking towards Timmain. He continued until he tried to pass her without a word. Timmain turned as he passed her and pulled her sword placing it in front of him to keep him from continuing.
"Please," Timmain pleaded. "Leave the girl." She didn't want Rin to face the same fate as her own little niece.
"Why are you so determined to leave her behind?" Sesshomaru asked looking sideways at Timmain.
"I lost my family by Gulden's hands. I don't want to see Rin face the same fate as them. And she will if she continues to stay in your company," Timmain said trembling with grief and anger. She hated to show her emotions in front of Sesshomaru but she could no longer suppress them.
"You are unwise to create such attachments for humans. No wonder you failed and were killed by Gulden. You allowed your emotions to control you instead of skill," Sesshomaru said lowering her sword so he could continue to pass.
"Perhaps you are right," Timmain said watching him leave. "I haven't attempted to kill you for the little girl. So maybe I shouldn't care about her feelings anymore!" Timmain shouted as she lunged at Sesshomaru with her sword. But Sesshomaru moved too fast and side stepped her grabbing the wrist of her sword hand and started squeezing.
"You lack the power and skill to destroy me, so don't even bother trying," he hissed into her ear squeezing Timmain's wrist even harder causing her to lose her grip on the sword.
Timmain could feel the bones cracking in her wrist and her face scrunched up in pain. As she yelled out in pain she reached behind her for the other sword she kept sheathed on her back. Sesshomaru saw the sword come down towards his head and released her just in time. Timmain lost her balance as her sword came crashing down into the ground instead of a demon head and tried to turn around quickly to keep from being attacked from behind. But she was met with a swift kick to her stomach that sent her flying. She fell with a loud crack as her head hit a rock. But it wasn't enough to subdue her. She sat up breathing hard ignoring the pain and looked at Sesshomaru intent on killing him.
"You can be defeated. How else were you able to lose your arm," Timmain said indicating the left sleeve of Sesshomaru's robes that hung limply at his side. "I'm feeling a little generous. I'll leave you with your life, but I'll take your other arm!" Timmain pushed herself off the ground and ran towards Sesshomaru ready to attack again. Sesshomaru prepared himself for another weak attempt. But instead of attacking, Timmain stopped short, pulled a dagger from her belt and threw it at Sesshomaru. As he blocked it, Timmain threw another too quickly for him to stop. Sesshomaru looked down at the embedded dagger in his chest that burned and hiss. He felt his strength weakening and wasn't able to move fast enough to avoid the blow to his right arm from Timmain's sword. It only caused a flesh wound and Timmain cursed the demon for being too powerful for the ancient runes of demonic power suppression that was inscribed on the dagger still plunged into Sesshomaru's chest. Timmain swung back behind Sesshomaru pulling another dagger and plunged it with all her strength into his back yelling in rage. She had forced the dagger all the way in up to the hilt and Sesshomaru pulled his sword and spun around to face Timmain. She was ready for him and their swords clashed with such ferocity that the force of both their power flung them away from each other.
They stood facing each other gripping their swords tight and breathing heavily. Timmain's head throbbed while Sesshomaru's strength was further weakened by the second dagger.
"You're a fool," Sesshomaru spat out. "Do you think these daggers will suppress me for long?"
"Just long enough for me to take that right arm as a token of our journey together," Timmain said with a gleeful glint of triumph in her eye. She had him where she wanted him. She knew that if she could get one more dagger in him it would put him down long enough to take his arm. Timmain gripped her sword tighter and prepared her self for another attack but stopped her self at the sight of Rin running up the hill towards them yelling for them to stop with Jaken at her heels cursing her to be quiet.