The sun was inching its way to the midday sky when Torunn awoke the next day. She stretched underneath her wolf pelt, basking in the sun's warmth that still felt foreign to her. She sat up against her shield, enjoying the quiet and calm that she was not always afforded when she was home in Valhalla and Asgard. Although she did sorely the miss beds – both figuratively and literally. She cracked her back and yawned, her arms stretching into the air.
Looking at her clothes hanging up near where she slept, Torunn had to figure out a way to dress herself without sweating her ass off with every step. She would probably have to lose one of her tunics at least and maybe even cut the sleeves off of the one she kept. She dreaded putting on the heavy woolen trousers but at this point, had no choice until she could either make or find a better option. And telling from the size of the man she ran into from the previous evening, finding pants to fit her might prove to be a challenge.
She pulled her pants on and bound her chest for the day. Torunn then took one of the tunics and without much grace, cut away the sleeves of her favorite red tunic with her clawed fingers. She could ditch the other one since it was just a boring beige colored tunic, but her red tunic was made from a dye so rare, that the people she had pillaged it from literally threw themselves on her sword to keep it safe. It was a burnt red color that made her ice blue eyes sparkle and her pale skin shine in the sun, and on the front, she had taken the time to embroider a wolf onto the fabric when she was coming back from a different raid.
Torunn looked at the beige tunic that laid in a heap next to her bag, contemplating whether or not to keep the shirt. She had no idea how long she was going to be in this Japan place. Better safe than sorry, she scooped up the tunic and shoved it back into her pack. If anything, Torunn could use it to barter for something better to wear or make something useful out of it.
While she finished lacing up her hide leather boots, Torunn's nose caught a whiff of something new and strange. She could tell that near the large open path up a little ways from where she was, there were probably six to eight men – they were definitely men by the smell of them – and there was some food, but something else. She wrinkled her nose, taken aback by a fruity, yet nutty smell. There was also a hint of a floral scent that reminded her of the pink flowers she saw when she first got here. Torunn shrugged.
Might as well go and see. Torunn really didn't see any other options but to go and investigate anything new on her path, and if need be, interrogate anyone along the way. She really needed a solid lead to find the sword-smith-demon-guy and this might be her best bet. And if worse came to pass, she would at least get some food; the deer was hardly enough to fill her up. Maybe they would be the demons that the man had called her. She began to feel eager to see what these demons could look like.
Making sure she broke everything down in her camp, Torunn picked up her shield and heaved it on to her back, along with her pack and set off up the path. She hummed a song her father would sing to her when she was young and eager to be a warrior like him, the lilting tune matching her bright mood. Exploring this unknown land brought her back to so many memories from what seemed lifetimes ago, though thinking about her past life never brought her any sadness, nor did she long for it. What she was now was the highest honor she could have ever achieved, serving Odin directly. Thinking about her past only pleasant memories now.
A little over an hour later as the sun was beginning to dip towards the west, Torunn finally caught up with what her sharp senses had shown her earlier; there were eight men, sitting near a couple of larger boulders, laughing and drinking something out large gourd shaped jugs with one another. She was slightly disappointed to see that they were just mortal men, but Torunn's eyes also caught a kid off to the side, lying down with their hands tied behind their backs. She could hear their soft whimpering from where she stood. Her brows furrowed in annoyance and anger.
Though she was Viking and it was customary to take slaves when you sacked a village, Torunn never could adhere to that particular lifestyle. She never liked the idea of taking someone's freedom away for selfish gains, so she never did when she was still mortal. And especially not women and children. Obviously, these men had no honor and that she could not stand for.
Torunn continued up the road towards the group of men who wore strange clothing much different than the man she had met the previous night. They all some variation of the same kind of outfit; big billowy sleeved shirts with small armored shoulder and chest plates, and large pants that looked like they puffed out. Torunn had to suppress a giggle; they all looked like they were wearing gowns!
The men in question who were busy laughing and joking, when one stopped and pointed towards Torunn walking towards them on the path. All their eyes grew larger at the sight of the woman, her sun golden hair whipping in the wind behind her as she made her way over to them. They all grinned at one another, thinking they just got even luckier.
"First coming across that traveling merchant with their wares, then we found these brats to sell. Now a beautiful woman walking all alone on the road? What a lucky day for us, eh boys?" Torunn's sensitive heard one of them say among themselves. They all whooped and hollered like a bunch of drunken idiots, commenting on her strange clothes and why she was dressed like a man. They reminded Torunn of the men in Valhalla after a day of battling on a field, but they would never stoop this low as to attacking children for profit. Torunn would see fit that these men were taken out like the animals they were. No – they were worse than animals.
As she drew closer to the men, one of them stood up and leaned lazily against the rock. Torunn rolled her eyes, already annoyed that this fight was going to sorely unfulfilling. She didn't even have to use any real strength on these clowns, and that admittedly, made her feel a little sad.
"Hey beautiful," said the leaning man lazily, "Whatcha doin' on this road all alone? Don'tcha know it can be dangerous? A lot of bad people out here." His words were slow and sluggish, and from the alcohol Torunn could smell on his breath – it smelled nutty and floral like earlier – she knew that he and probably the rest of the men were drunk, or at least on their way to being. She scowled, her ice blue eyes casting daggers at him as she approached him. His eyes grew even wider as she got closer, taking in her size. The woman stood at least half a head taller than him and most of the men he was with. He gulped, slinking away from her and back to his friends who stood up in shock and awe. Torunn stopped and dropped her pack and shield.
"Dangerous?" She said as she cleaned the dirt underneath her nails, unimpressed with the lot, "You sure look like a sorry bunch of dogs to me. Attacking poor a defenseless little girl like the weak cowards you are." One of the other men was angered by this. He stood up from the rock he was sitting on, fuming.
"You better watch that pretty mouth of yours, lady," the man said, his hand going to hilt of his sword. The booze was making him feel braver and little reckless, but to him, she was only a woman. He and his men could take one measly woman easy. "You're out numbered and weaponless. You might as well just have some fun with us instead of trying to pick a fight." The tall, strange woman clucked her tongue disapprovingly.
"You would attack someone who wasn't armed?" She scoffed, spitting on the ground in front of him, "You know what? I was wrong; You're not dogs. No, dogs at least are intelligent and know when the alpha bears its teeth, it's time for the rest of the dogs to lie down and roll over," Torunn said, her hand resting on her shield, the fingers grazing the scars from battles past. The man let out an aggravated growl.
"I don't know where you come from but around these parts, women know their places." The rest of the men laughed, albeit nervously, as Torunn barked out a laugh of her own filled with malice.
"Do you want to find out what happens to men where I come from when they disrespect me?" Before the man could even blink in response, Torunn whipped her wooden shield directly at the man's stomach like a discus, knocking him flat on his back with at least four broken ribs. The other men looked at him, looked at one another and then back to Torunn, smiling smugly as fear grew on the men's faces . She loved to watch grown men go from "tough guy" to pissing their pants from fear.
Calmly, she strode over to pick up her battle scarred wooden circle that laid beside the groaning man. "Anyone else want to find out what happens when you disrespect me?" She said as she gripped the shield's boss and then beat against it like a battle drum, letting out a war like bellow. The rest of the men looked back at one another, some slightly dazed and frightened. Then two of them drew their skinny blades and charged at her, their weapons over their heads. Torunn shrugged and charged at them, shield first.
The faster of the two tried to take a swing at her but Torunn ducked quickly, using a sweeping kick and knocked him off his feet, with his head hitting the ground hard. As she came up, the second man came swinging downwards with his own thin blade. At the last second, Torunn raised up her shield, subsequently making the blade – and the man who still gripped it – stuck onto the wooden shield, his feet dangling off the ground. She grinned like a wolf.
"Too slow," she purred, then catapulting him over her shoulder like he was just a sack of barley grain. He shot at least ten feet into the air and another fifteen feet behind her.
Nonchalantly, she stepped over the unconscious man on the ground to man with the broken ribs, who was still groaning in pain. The other men gave her a wide berth as she crouched next to him, grabbing him by his collar to force him to look at her face.
"I should slit your balls open with my claws and watch you bleed out for your impertinence but since there's a kid here, consider yourself lucky," Torunn whispered into his ear as the man instantly stopped moaning, "Now, get your men out of here and if I see any of your faces again, I will not hesitate to take the balls you don't deserve." He turned to look straight into her ice blue eyes that only held contempt for him. He bit back a sob.
"Are you even human? Are you a yokai?" His brown eyes full of fear looked at the woman's almost ethereal face, with wild golden hair and a feral smile. She laughed again.
"What in Tyr's name is that? Are you calling me a demon? What's with everyone thinking I'm some demon thing?" Torunn asked, bearing her sharpened teeth, "No. I'm not a demon. I'm a wolf-berserk. Make sure you tell everyone you see about me, got it?" The man nodded furiously, and Torunn dropped him back to the ground and stood back up. She eyed all the men, silently telling that she would do unimaginable things to each and everyone of them if she ever saw any of them again. Almost simultaneously the remaining conscious and unharmed men gathered up their fallen and swiftly made their away as far from Torunn as possible in the opposite direction. She sighed, still disappointed that they were so weak, but then turned her attention to the kid still tied up next to the boulder, whimpering all the while.
Carefully as to not scare her, Torunn made her way over to the little girl who looked no older than seven or eight. The little girl must have felt her presence because as soon as Torunn got closer, she curled up in a ball and whimpered louder. Torunn squatted near her and gently laid a hand on the girl's shoulder who immediately whipped her head around to stare at Torunn, her brown eyes almost bulging out of her tiny head.
"Shhh," Torunn cooed, "It's okay little one, you're safe now. I've got you. Here, let's get you untied, okay? It will only take a moment." With the flick of her wrist, Torunn cut the little girl free with her claws. "What's your name? Do you live near here?" The little girl rubbed her wrists and smiled with appreciation at her savior.
"M-my name is Tsubaki," she said quietly, "Those bad men took me when I was picking flowers near my village. I didn't mean to wander away like I did, but my village isn't far. It's up the road over there." The little girl – Tsubaki – pointed in the direction where Torunn was vaguely heading towards. Torunn's blue eyes became as soft fresh snow as she smiled at her. She would always have a soft spot for children despite her Viking ways, and this time was no different.
"Do you want me to take you home, Tsubaki?" Torunn asked. The little's girl's eye grew large from utter joy.
"Really? You can do that?" She asked as her face broke out into a huge grin. Torunn nodded, smiling bigger herself.
"Yup! You can even ride on my back. That way we can get you home twice as fast!" Tsubaki laughed with delight as Torunn helped her on her feet. Torunn swung her pack onto her side and crouched low enough for the little girl. "Climb on and hang on tight, you promise?" Tsubaki nodded enthusiastically as she clambered awkwardly onto her back and gripped around Torunn's neck, just tight enough so she wouldn't let go. Torunn grabbed her wooden shield with yet another battle wound on it and readied herself. "Okay, let's get you home." Torunn started off in a sprint as the little girl laughed and squealed with delight, telling her which way her home was. If Torunn was lucky, maybe this village would offer her a bed and filling dinner after dropping off the child.
If she was even luckier, she would get some ale. By Thor, did Torunn need something to drink.
After a full night and day of following the strange scent, Sesshomaru came to a small clearing next to a river that fed into a small lake, and lost the trail. The smell and the energy that emanated from the mystery woman still hung heavy in the air but he could not tell where it went next. Annoyed, Sesshomaru wanted to claw the tree next to him, but let out a low growl instead. He would not succumb to such trivial feelings like his idiot half-brother, Inuyasha.
His cool amber eyes scanned the horizon, seeing the sky being painted a dark indigo with stars that began to twinkle like fire flies. He turned to see Rin sleeping soundly on the back of A-Un, who looked a little worse for the wear. Jaken fared no better but the little imp was trying his best to stay alert and at attention.
Sesshomaru was about to tell Jaken something to affect of "Wake up", but then wind shifted ever so slightly and he caught the scent again. It wasn't far at all and if he knew the area as well as he thought, this woman was in the hanyou's village, maybe a day's journey at most. If Sesshomaru had to guess, she was probably staying the night; the old priestess took anyone in who seemed in need of help. He turned to the imp, who was basically snoring where he stood, leaning on his two headed staff.
"Jaken," Lord Sesshomaru said, frightening him out of his nap.
"Yes m 'lord! I am at your beck and call!"
"We're staying here for the night." Lord Sesshomaru said, leaping into the tree above them. Of course being a daiyokai,he didn't need to sleep like lesser beings but would wait through the night until the sun rise, contemplating if he would have to fight both the mystery being and Inuyasha if he was there. He smirked ever so slightly and stared at the nearly full moon in the sky.