Torunn ran hard and as fast as the winter winds to whatever was heading towards the village. She felt the aura- as Lady Kaede called it- approaching closer to where she was. Torunn took a sharp turn towards the western horizon, hoping that whatever it was would follow her instead of heading towards the priestess' home.
As Lady Kaede explained it to her, Torunn let off this strange and powerful energy that the older woman could sense with her priestly powers, but that it also meant that other beings of power, mainly the yokai that every one kept talking about, could sense Torunn's power too. So she gambled on this concept, hoping that her plan would work.
She stopped for a moment and sniffed the warm air, the scent of wolves and something else drawing near. Torunn looked around the empty field near a river with large boulders dotting the rushing waters, her instincts telling Torunn that she was far enough away from the village. She set down her shield and tied the wolf pelt across her shoulder and waist tighter, feeling the powers from it begin to mingle and thrive within herself. She let out primordial growl, low and loud.
Torunn watched as the grass danced all around her as the warm wind of the night breezed through, then was assaulted by the scent of wolf and the same power she felt before. Torunn felt it rippled across her skin but she didn't budge from her spot. The howls still continued but they were still far away. So why in Frigg's name did the smell of wolves hang in the air as heavily as it did?
From the distance, she caught sight of a whirlwind that came barreling across the field that whipped up the gentle breeze into a frenzy, kicking up dust and plant life into the air. Torunn shielded her eyes from the debris as the whirlwind began to die down and in its place stood a man as tall as she was, with long black hair tied in a high pony tail. His light blue eyes glared at Torunn, although she had no idea why. She had never met this person before, and yet the practically loin clothed man in front of her - save for his cuirasse armor around his torso - still held disdain.
He sniffed the air again for good measure. "Yup", the man said with a gruff voice, "There's no mistaking it. You're definitely the source of the weird energy and weird wolf smell." Torunn was taken aback, raising an eyebrow incredulously.
"Come again?" She said, becoming irritated with his attitude. To her knowledge, Torunn had done nothing to earn this man's scrutiny. And who was he to say that she had a weird smell? He's one to talk!
"You heard me," the man shot back. Torunn had just noticed that he had a brown bushy tail of a wolf that whipped back and forth angrily, "Your scent and power have stunk up the area for the last couple of days and it's starting to make my fur prickle 'cuz you don't smell like any wolf or demon I know of." Torunn eyebrow twitched out of annoyance.
"Stunk up the area?" She repeated incredulously, "You're one to talk, prick! Your stench has assaulted me since earlier this today. Just who do you think you are, huh? You don't even know me and yet you're acting like you've got a rune stick up your ass as though I shoved it up there!" He stepped back in surprise at the odd female's out burst but then collected himself.
"Keh. Better watch your mouth - you're talking to the Leader of the Wolf Demon Tribe," he said, pointing to himself with with a grand gesture of his thumb, "The names Koga. Now just the hell are you? You kinda smell like us, but you ain't one of us." Torunn rolled her eyes, already fed up with him.
"You know, you're the second person to tell me that since waking up here. Why don't you go sit on a spear and twist on it," Torunn said disparagingly, picking up her shield and her pack, "I don't have time to deal with fools like you, even if you are the first demon I've met." She began to walk away from him, feeling agitated and if she were being honest with herself, slightly disappointed. Koga stood stunned however, not willing to believe this woman would dismiss him like he was nothing at all. Within a blink of an eye, he was right in front of her.
Koga looked her up and down, trying to get a sense of who this weird female wolf demon was. She was tall for one thing - she stood eye to eye with him, and her clothing was just a weird, her shirt almost blood red in the oncoming moonlight. His eyes caught the embroidered design of what looked like to be a kind of wolf.
Her unearthly blue eyes were as hard as ice, and only made him trust her less. Koga didn't know what to make of her, the feeling of her aura radiating all around her, and he didn't like that. The only time he ever felt like that was when he was near Naraku or one of his monstrous reincarnations. He sniffed again and then jumped back about ten feet.
"I know what you are," he said in a low tone, narrowing his eyes accusingly.
"Oh great," Torunn said, half sarcastically but also half relieved, "I'm so happy I don't have to repeat myself again."
"Yeah, you're one of Naraku's reincarnation lackeys," Koga snarled. Torunn gave him a blank stare.
"What in Odin's name is a Naraku?" Now it was Koga's turn to give her a blank stare.
She can't be serious, can she? Koga thought to himself but then shook his head.
No. She's tricking me. She's got to be from Naraku and probably after the shards in my legs. That bastard. Making an wolf demon to try to deceive me- that's low even for him. He then lowered himself down into a fighting stance.
"Nice try, but you can't fool me," he said, "I'll kill you before you can even think of taking my jewel shards!" Torunn continued to give Koga a blank stare. She wasn't trying to fool anyone, nor was she trying to steal his jewel shards, whatever the Hel they were. All she wanted to do was find what's-his-face Demon Lord guy and then find Totasai, fight and then go home.
"I hate to disappoint you Koga, but I don't have any idea what you're talking about," she said, "I don't want your shards or whatever else you got. I'm just trying to find someone, so I suggest you walk away now if you don't want to get your ass kicked by me." Torunn grabbed her shield tighter, readying herself for an attack. She could tell that he was trying to egg her on to make the first move, but she wouldn't give him that satisfaction.
"Liar!" He shot back, "You're just like the rest of those monsters; you'll take 'em and then give them to Naraku. Or worse, you'll use them yourself." Torunn had to hold back a laugh and chose instead to scoff at him.
"Trust me when I say I don't need anything to help me beat someone like you," she said scornfully, lodging her shield into the ground to further prove her point, "I'm Torunn of Asgard, and I will put you in your place so help me Thor." He snarled again, bearing his sharpened fangs.
"Enough!" He charged straight at her and tried a jump kick to the face but when he tried to land the attack, he hit nothing but air. Shocked was written all over his face as Koga looked around for Torunn, only to find her on top of a boulder in the river bed, smirking at him.
"I have to hand it to you Koga - you're pretty quick," she called out from atop of her perch. Koga gave a cold glare and raced up the boulder to her with a powerful roundhouse, which she blocked but when her forearms came in contact with his leg, she felt that same weird almost false-like power like before. Torunn pushed him away off the boulder, feeling unnerved by the sensation. She didn't like whatever energy it was giving off.
What is this power? She asked herself. She was momentarily lost in her thoughts when Koga swung with a right hook, nailing Torunn in the face. She was sent flying down into the waters, where she came up sputtering for air.
"Well that was a cheap shot," Torunn called out to him, her face covered covered by her wet golden hair, "Do you always fight dirty?" Koga bristled for a moment, insulted by Torunn's accusation. It wasn't his fault she wasn't paying attention.
"Well maybe get your head outta your ass and start fighting me," He said but she shook her head.
"No, I mean the things boosting your power. I knew I felt something off about you," she said, "Are those your shards you were talking about before?"
"And if they are?" Koga asked, cracking his knuckles. Torunn shook out the water from her long hair, spraying him a little bit. She looked up at him, her blue eyes judging him.
"I guess I'll just have to try harder, then."
SPLASH!
Sesshomaru's attention turned sharply when his ears picked up commotion in the river below him. He saw a small tidal wave crash against the boulders, and Koga standing on top of one of the large boulders, scowling.
His eyes then came to see something moving in the water. A moment later, a figure shot up, gulping air like a drowned rat. Golden hair covered the face of the being that he had been tracking.
So this is her, Sesshomaru mused to himself, seemingly less than impressed given the state of her current appearance. To Western Lord, she didn't look the part of formidable warrior that her aura gave off but there was no mistake that she was the source. He watched her try to shake herself dry, flinging water every which way, then opened her eyes and glared at Koga. Sesshomaru could feel her flex her aura just a little as though she was trying to establish being the alpha wolf of the two.
"At least I don't need some shards to boost my powers," the female being taunted the wolf demon who only deepened his scowl more.
Sesshomaru decided to keep himself concealed for the time being, his curiosity being piqued by her statement. He did not detect any hint of a lie in what she said, only absolute truth. That cur of a wolf demon was too dense to realize that she hadn't even begun to use the full extent of her powers on him, but Sesshomaru could sense it.
Admittedly Sesshomaru was surprised that this strange foreigner did not want anything to do with the shards. He always thought that he was the only one who had no use for the Shikon no Tama - the Jewel of the Four Souls, but it looked like the woman didn't want them either. That only further fueled the questions he had about this woman.
Then what is her goal? What is she trying to find that she could not find where she came from? The Demon Lord of the West asked himself. His attention was soon back on the pair that continued to fight, but to Sesshomaru, it looked as the Koga was just being toyed with by the female. It was as though she didn't want to do any real harm to the wolf demon.
"How long are you going to keep up this charade, fraud?" Koga asked, avoiding her scathing statement and punches. The female stopped for a moment, growling low. Within a flash, Sesshomaru saw that she was next to Koga, her knee jabbing into his gut while she brought both hands down onto his neck. The wolf demon didn't have to time register the pain when she grabbed him by his chest plate and tossed him to the ground like a broken toy with one hand. He laid sprawled out in pain on his back on the grass. Sesshomaru's eyes widened with surprise for a split second as he felt her aura flex ever so slightly. Again, as a sign of her being alpha over him.
Sesshomaru watched with slight amusement as the woman in the wolf pelt jump gracefully down from the boulder, walk over to Koga and crouch next to him. There was little remorse in her blue eyes as she took Koga's face by the chin to make him look directly at her like she was a mother scolding a petulant child.
"I don't care how many times you call me a monster, but when you continue insult my honor and integrity without any true claim, that is something I cannot forgive," she said with deadly calm, any hint of playfulness gone, "My name is Torunn of Asgard and you best remember that Koga, because if you cross my path and insult me like that again, I will not hold back the next time you call me anything else other than my name." She dropped him, making her way towards her pack and round, wooden disk.
Torunn, Sesshomaru repeated silently to himself, Such a strange name for a strange female. He looked down at her as she gathered her things and headed away from Koga. This might be worth it after all.
Torunn walked a few paces away from that idiot of a clan leader. She knew that Koga demon would be fine - he was strong, especially with those power enhancing jewel whatevers, so she felt it was okay to leave him there. She smelled other wolves coming in any case, they would help him out surely. In that moment, she had more important things to do.
As soon as she got out of the water from Koga's one successful hit, Torunn had sense him. At first she couldn't put her finger on where it was but she felt that same energy she first had woken after the Beifrost Bridge, the power that lead her to this point.
At first it stumped her briefly, because although she could not physically see him, Torunn knew it in the very core of her being that it was the same aura. That and she knew whoever it belonged to was watching her, sizing her up almost.
Torunn had decided to cut her fight with Koga early in order to confront this being finally, but sensing the sheer power of him this up close made her think that they needed a bigger space, somewhere far away from any mortal beings.
Alright, she thought to herself as she picked up speed, This is it. Or at least, I hope this is it. She was becoming impatient - Torunn already wasted enough time play fighting with that Wolf Demon. She needed answers and she needed them sooner rather than later.
She continued running at a fast pace, the feeling of being followed never ceasing. If anything, it increased and Torunn smiled bigger. Now the real fun was about to begin. Glancing around, Torunn took in her surroundings, feeling at ease at the amount of space there was and not a soul around for miles from what she could tell. Torunn came to sliding stop and dropped her gear on the ground and not a moment later, she felt the presence stop, too.
Good, she thought.
Still as the stars that hung above, Torunn waited in the middle of the field in trained silence. Her ears picked up nothing but the breeze around her but after that silent moment, Torunn whipped her head around to find something resembling a man dropping down from the heavens with measured grace. Her ice blue eyes grew wide with surprise and then narrow with puzzlement.
What is it with almost everyone here wearing such flowing garments? Those words echoed in her mind as Torunn watch the towering man with almost knee length silver hair stare silently at her, his amber eyes seemingly trying to bore into her very soul. Her eyes finally broke from his and traveled downwards to his red and white flowing cloths that shone in the moonlight, adorned with flowers and tied together with a cloth of yellow and navy blue material of equal luxury- it was nothing like Torunn had ever seen before. Not in any of her raids, nor in all of Asgard. Not even Freya had garments as exquisite as this being's.
The beautiful man's front was adorned with a fearsome chest armor that bore spikes on his shoulder. And at his hip held a sword that seemed to radiate an equally fearsome power, rivaled only to his own. He clawed hands seemed to drip with a bright green viscous substance. When it dropped from his perfect nails, the ground hissed from its contact.
Poison claws, Torunn guessed as her eyes caught his pointy, elven-like ears and his brightly adorned cheek. She couldn't even begin to guess what color those markings were - Torunn had never seen a dye or color even that vibrant before. It was like red but brighter and if possible, a softer hue. And in the middle of his forehead was a blue-green crescent moon, adorning him like a crown jewel like he was a prince of some elven kingdom in the heavens.
How can anyone this... Pretty - wield this sort of power? Torunn thought to herself in slight disbelief. The only one Torunn could say was more gorgeous than this creature was Baldur, the Beautiful, but that was only ever so slightly. Yet his posture, his very nature screamed King. It screamed power. His aura screamed Alpha. Torunn raised an eye brow at him. Well, she was going to have to pull out all the punches if she was going to get away with her plan.
"Are you the one they call "Lord Sesshomaru" by any chance?" Torunn said, a slight smile threatening to sneak across her face. She noticed that only his cool eyes stole his emotions of surprise, a perfect eyebrow raising on his otherwise impassive face. He said nothing, and continued to stare at her. Torunn put her hands on her hips in a huff. "Well, are you or aren't you? Where I come from, you speak when spoken to unless you are enemies, and as far as I can tell, we are not."
"Hn," was all he said and Torunn had to roll her eyes.
What's with all the men having attitude problems? Do all men here think themselves as Gods? She thought exasperatedly to herself. After a moment awkward tense silence, Torunn swallowed both her frustration and pride like strong ale.
"How do you know of this Sesshomaru?" He finally said, his voice deep and commanding.
Ha! He broke first! Torunn thought smugly to herself, a grin so close to breaking across her features.
"I'll take that as a yes then," Torunn continued. She then finally could no longer hold her smirk back and she locked eyes with him, a look of mischief in hers. "I - Torunn of Asgard, the All Father's prized Ulfhedinn- challenge you to a contest."
Koga laid in the grass, his wounds healing but still feeling like absolute shit. He really had underestimated that Torunn chick. Was what was she? The way that she moved wasn't like anything he had witnessed before, with or without the jewel shards. The only person faster than her was that stupid mutt's older brother, Sesshomaru. If it didn't hurt as much to breath, Koga would have growled in annoyance. That stuck up bastard always irked the wolf demon, thinking that he was better than everyone, too good for everyone.
He groaned, closing his and picturing the weird wolf demon woman that wasn't a wolf demon. What the hell did she call herself? His head was kind of still fuzzy from the pain. Maybe it was because of that same pain but Koga had to admit that she was indeed beautiful, even if she could kick his ass to the gates of the underworld and back. He chuckled to himself, and then groan in slight pain - his ribs were definitely bruised from that knee jab of hers.
"Koga! Where are you?" A frantic voice shouted in the night.
Finally those two idiots made it, Koga thought to himself tiredly as he tried to sit up before Ginta and Hakkau found him. He didn't want to look like he just gotten his ass handed to him, even though that's exactly what just happened.
"Hey Koga! Koga!" The two young wolf demon men came running up with a small pack of wolves right behind him. The two finally caught sight of their leader who was getting off of the ground, stretching himself carefully.
"There you are! We were worried about you," Ginta said they reached him. Hakkaku's white hair bobbed up and down with enthusiasm.
"Yeah, especially since we saw Sesshomaru not too long ago headed this. Was he the one who did this to you? Or was it that person with the weird wolf smell and aura?"
"Did you find out if it was one of those Naraku reincarnation?" Ginta asked, his brows furrowed under his head of silver hair.
"Will you two shuddup for a moment? Give me a moment to breath. Jeez," Koga said, annoyed that Sesshomaru was in the picture now. He was so busy with Torunn that he hadn't even noticed the pompous bastard's aura near here. "I did find out who that weird aura belonged to, but I don't think she's related to Naraku in anyway." Both Ginta and Hakkaku's eyes grew wide.
"Really? And a girl did this to you?" Hakkaku asked, astonished while Koga shot daggers with his eyes, but then brushed past the comment as if he hadn't heard it. He stared to walk away from them in the direction of where he last felt Torunn's power.
"You two stayin' here?," Koga asked, "I need to still find Torunn and teach her how the Wolf Demon Tribe deal with people like her." Both Ginta and Hakkaku gave each other uneasy looks.
"Maybe you shouldn't try and find this Torunn if you're this badly hurt," Hakkaku said, "She seems pretty strong."
"Yeah, what if she kills you next time? Then what?" Ginta asked, worried. Koga growled internally; as much as he didn't want to admit it, the two of them were right. He needed to heal if he ever wanted to see her again, and if he were honest with himself, Koga did want to see that Wolf Warrior again, and maybe not only because he wanted a little revenge.
No.
Koga hated to cheat on Kagome, but this Torunn all but stole his breath away, both literally and figuratively. It was decided then. Koga was going to make her his mate - what better way than break her like that he thought to himself. A sly smile crept across his face.
"Come on," he said, "Let's go home. I need some rest before I see my future mate." The two other wolf demons exchanged looks with one another and the wolves.
"You saw Miss Kagome tonight, Koga?" Ginta asked confused, but the young wolf demon leader shook his no and then took off back to their home, leaving Hakkaku and Ginta even more confused in his trail.
"You think he means that chick who beat him up tonight?" Ginta asked but Hakkaku just shrugged.
"Who else? I guess he finally got over Miss Kagome," replied Hakkaku, slightly sad.
"Or maybe Koga is just really a fickle guy," Ginta said said with his own shrug. The two of them sighed, shaking their heads as they made their way back to the Eastern Wolf Demon Lair, wondering who this mysterious woman was that wanted to make Koga stop going after Kagome. Whoever this Torunn person was must have been pretty strong. Koga always did like the strong willed types that kicked his ass one way or another.