It was the day after their "contest" when Sesshomaru finally turned around to take a look at Torunn, who idly sat chit-chatting on top of A-Un at the insistent request of his young ward, Rin, who took to the warrior woman only after a day of traveling. Torunn sat patiently as Rin braided her long, golden hair, all the marveling and saying that she had never seen hair like it before. Torunn smiled, looking content as ever while Lord Sesshomaru was lost in his own thoughts, reflecting about their skirmish.
After the disaster that was their fight, Sesshomaru took the warrior woman back to camp with him, fulfilling his end of the deal as agreed upon. And while he still seethed with rage on the inside at his loss, he was a demon true to his word, although Sesshomaru did have to hand it to her- the woman was more or less a gracious winner. At least better than any demon he came across - all of them braggarts when they shouldn't be.
She only had gloated for a brief moment when she sat straddling him after she ambushed him from the trees, covered in dirt and grime to hide her scent, even if only partially. Her victorious grin seemed to sparkle in the impending sunrise.
Then the woman - Torunn he had to remind himself - finally got off of him extended her hand to help him up, commenting that she had never fought someone as skillfully trained or as strong or fast as him, and it was only sheer luck by her Gods that her plan had worked at all. Torunn had even admitted that it was a cheap trick but a win was a win she had said.
Sesshomaru had declined her hand and got up on his own, brushing the dirt from her off of himself as she told him that she was going to run back, grab her pack and circular wooden disc (her shield, she had called it). She warned him that she could track him to the gates of Hel and back if he chose to run, but again, Sesshomaru was a demon true to his word and waited patiently - all of two minutes - as Torunn returned, a giant grin on her face.
"Alright, I got everything. Let's get going, Pretty Boy," she said, her wolf-like grin staying put. Sesshomaru rolled his eyes.
"Do not call me that in front of my ward and vassal," he demanded of her. Sesshomaru expected some push back from Torunn, but received none; only a solemn head nod of understanding.
"As you wish, Lord Sesshomaru," she said, surprising him that she had even included his title, "But only if you promise to never call me call me 'woman' again."
"Are you not that?" Sesshomaru asked of her. Torunn raised an eyebrow at him, her wide grin fading into a small smirk.
"True," she said slowly, "But I am more than just that. Where I come from - women, men - that does not matter. What matters is strength, honor and integrity. Nothing more, nothing less. So my name will do."
"And besides, if we were to go by your logic, then what's wrong with me calling you "Pretty Boy", huh? I mean, you are pretty, just like I am a 'woman.'" She finished, the corner of her lip still turned slightly upward knowingly.
Sesshomaru thought about that exchange as his amber eyes lingered on the wolf-warrior, who smiled and laughed brightly as Rin put flowers in her braided hair, listening intently on the young girl's stories. Never in his long life did he meet someone like Torunn. The closest comparison would be Inuyasha's miko, but even she wasn't as odd as this being. From what little time Sesshomaru had spent around her, Torunn was so many contradictions and yet all them made some semblance of sense.
As he continued to look, he heard a small cough from beside him. Sesshomaru broke his gaze and looked down at Jaken, who's eyes stared up the Demon Lord expectantly as the walked on.
"M' Lord," he started, "You said very little yesterday morning when you came back with that strange woman. Just who is she and why is traveling with us? And where are we headed off to?"
"We're headed to Totosai," Sesshomaru simply said.
"B-b-but why?" The imp demon asked, his voice rising in shock, "Your weapon does not look broken? Does that woman know the old fool?" He waited for an answer, but Sesshomaru made no reply and not because he chose not to; it was because he didn't know the nature of Tournn's intent with the old sword smith. He hadn't bothered asking her on the way back to Jaken and Rin. His pride was hurt too much still to talk to the her, despite Torunn's best efforts of trying to talk to him. Sesshomaru tried to convince himself that he didn't care her about intentions, whatever they may be. The way he looked at it, it would only take their group about seven days to reach Totosai, and then he would be done with her.
That was his thinking at least, and yet his questions still burned inside him like parchment in a flame, and there was nothing to put it out.
Well, except of course, for asking asking her the questions he needed answers to, but Sesshomaru wouldn't grovel to her, no matter how brightly his curiosity burned.
Jaken continued to look up at Sesshomaru as they walked, knowing full well he would never get an answer, at least not from him. Annoyed and wanting to take his frustrations out on something, his small ears picked up the giggles and laughter, and he turned sharply to the two on top of the two headed dragon.
"Would you two stop making such a racket?!" He screeched to them, Rin's face falling into a pout, while Torunn made a disgruntled face of her own.
"Jaken, is it?" She asked and when he did not reply, she pressed on, "Isn't that your name, goblin?" Jaken's face turned to a bright shade of red, a vein on his forehead looking like it wanted to jump out at her.
That certainly got his attention, she thought to herself, trying fight the urge to smirk.
"How dare you disrespect me so, woman!" He shouted shrilly, "I am the vassal to the mighty Lord Sesshomaru! And I am an imp demon, not a goblin!" Before he could say something else, Torunn was off of A-Un and holding the very angry and confused imp demon by the nape of his neck, who floundered in the air like a petulant child, his staff dropping onto the ground. "Unhand me, vile woman!"
Torunn gave him a once over, hardly believing that the cold and silent Sesshomaru that she had just barely met would keep this loud and annoying creature in his company. She had only been around Jaken for about a day and a half and she was already so close to chucking the imp demon into the nearest lake. Torunn continued to ignore his protest and gave her attention to the demon Lord who continued to ignore the commotion behind him and walk ahead.
"You really keep him around?" She asked of him, who merely kept walking in silence a head of them, while Jaken continued to flail about.
"Well of course he does!" The imp demon said indignantly, "I am his most loyal subject." He finally stopped wriggling around as Torunn weighed the options of chucking him into the nearest lake, and decided that it wasn't worth the trouble - even if it would make her feel better.
Instead, she lowered him on to the ground, and bowed slightly to him, remembering that's what other people in this strange land did in respect. Jaken, scooping up his staff looked surprised at the her actions, not sure what she was going to do next.
"If that is the case, please have my sincerest apologies. I did not know that, and I am sorry that Rin and I's laughter caused you such distress," she began, still bent at the waist, "In the future, we will try to keep our noise down." Jaken was shocked, flabbergasted even at her actions and words, as was Rin who sat in awe. After a moment, Jaken tried to compose himself as Torunn stood straight up, towering over him, blocking out the sun from his perspective on the ground. She then smiled brightly again, "Besides, you won't have to deal with me for very long. I'll be out of your robes in no time." Rin's pout sat even deeper on her face.
"Aw, you're gonna leave us?" She whined as Torunn made her back to A-Un, as Sesshomaru's ears perked up. Torunn sat next to the young girl again, trying not to be affected by her big brown eyes filled with such sadness, "But you're so much fun to be around! Jaken is a boring stick in the mud." Torunn laughed lightly and ruffled the girl's dark, brown hair.
"I'm afraid so, Little One. You see, I'm not from around here," Torunn began to explain to Rin.
"So that why you look so different? I just thought you were a demon like Lord Sesshomaru. All the demons I've run into look so different from humans so I just assumed that was the reason why," Rin commented but Torunn shook her head no, chuckling a little bit.
"No, I am no demon, nor am I from your world. I'm from a very far away place called Asgard."
"Asgard? That's a weird name. How far away is it? Could we ever come and visit you after you leave?" The young girl asked hopefully, as Jaken scoffed at the very idea. Torunn chose to ignore him and continue.
"I'm not sure where I live is a place for little girls like you and and it also takes great magics to travel across the Beifrost Bridge - that's how I got here. It's like a giant rainbow that connects my world to yours, and to many other worlds when summoned." Rin's deep brown eyes grew large in awe, while Sesshomaru couldn't help but be intrigued by what Torunn had said; that at least answered some his own questions.
"Wow! That sounds so cool! Is that why there was a giant rainbow in the sky a couple of days ago? That was you, wasn't it!" Rin exclaimed.
"Very clever of you, Little One. That was indeed my doing - well sort of. I had some help," the warrior woman continued, "I'm not very good at magic, but my ruler, Odin the All Father, is a master at magic and all different kinds! He was the one who sent me here to your world."
"Why?" Rin asked.
This girl is an endless pit of questions! Torunn thought to herself, but continued as she reached into her pack that sat next to her, "Well, he sent me here to find someone to fix my sword." Torunn pulled out a hilt of a sword that had intricate knots and rune markings carved into the metal but the actual blade itself was broken into two pieces, both equally long and thick. Torunn was so engrossed in talking with Rin that she hadn't even noticed that Sesshomaru was now next to them, examining the broken blade in his hand.
"No one in your world could fix it?" He asked as he felt the cold steel on his finger tips, feeling what little power still remained in it. Torunn shrugged.
"I suppose not, otherwise he would not have sent me here. Odin had told me it was imperative of me to come here to fix it, and specifically by this Totosai guy. Apparently they know of each other and he owes The All Father a favor," Torunn said, as if that quelled all of her questions. Sesshomaru wouldn't give it away but he was surprised by that revelation; somehow her world and his were connected and Totosai was the bridge between possibly. "So, here I am in your world and time."
Sesshomaru went to go give Torunn back her broken weapon when their hands brushed one another and their eyes locked once more, both of them feeling an electricity buzz in the air around them. As soon as the moment passed, both sets of eyes turned back to the road.
"How long will it take to get to Totosai, Lord Sesshomaru?" She asked, her blue eyes still looking ahead. He turned to look at her, his gaze seemingly trying to solve the puzzle that was Torunn but ignored the sensation.
"It will be about a week's journey," Sesshomaru replied simply. She turned sharply to him in surprise, but she tried to recover and act nonchalant at his answer, failing miserably.
"A week you say?" Torunn said, her voice rising, while Rin exclaimed with joy.
"Hooray! A whole week with you, Torunn! I can't wait!" Rin hugged Torunn, who sighed deeply.
A week? Torunn thought exasperatedly to herself, Oh Freya, help me.
Later in the evening, Torunn had gone with Rin to help forage for food for dinner. She was teaching Rin everything she knew about survival and hunting for the right mushrooms, fruits and nuts, but Rin surprised Torunn by how much she already knew. It still struck Torunn as odd why the stoic demon kept both Jaken and this human girl around. She recalled what Lady Kaede had said to her back in the village, that Sesshomaru had a deep disdain for humans, and yet it seemed as though this one was an exception.
Where are her parents. Her people even? Torunn wondered to herself as she looked after the little girl, as she found enough food for herself and made their way back to their camp. Torunn didn't want to pry but since she was going to be with them for a while, she couldn't help but be curious about their relationship.
As they walked, Torunn patiently waited until there was a gap in Rin's stories to voice her thoughts.
"So, Rin," Torunn started, "How come you're tagging along with Lord Sesshomaru and Jaken? They seem a bit dull to be around. Don't you have parents? A village somewhere?" Rin's face went from joyous, to slightly downtrodden, and Torunn immediately felt foolish for asking. "I'm sorry Rin - if it's too painful to talk about, you don't have to." But Rin shook her head, the smile beginning to return to her face.
"No, it's alright. I've been orphan for while now - even before I met Lord Sesshomaru. And truth be told, Lord Sesshomaru saved me. I owe him everything," she said thoughtfully.
"He saved you?"
"Yup! He brought me back from the dead after I was attacked by some wolves near my old village," Torunn's eyes grew wide with surprise. She tried to wrap her mind around not only his abilities to do that and how he could, but also choosing to bring life back into this little girl. He didn't seem like the nurturing type.
"Do you know how he did it?" The girl nodded vigorously.
"He has this magic sword and he'll slash through the air and poof! Somehow people are brought back," Rin replied excitedly, and then she said a little quieter, "Some people think that Lord Sesshomaru is bad, but I know he's not. I think deep down, he's a big softy, but don't you dare tell him I said that!" Torunn couldn't help but laugh at Rin but nodded to her.
"Of course," Torunn said in a serious tone but smiled, "Your secret is safe with me. I'll never let him know you think that." Rin smiled broadly again and went back to singing merrily while foraging.
It must get so lonely for her, Torunn thought sadly to herself as continued to watch over the young girl. She then turned her eyes toward the setting sun, the dimming lights streaming through the branches of the trees that surrounded the two of them. Torunn couldn't help but feel that something was off in the area but nor could place her finger on it. Something just felt off.
"Come one, Little One, it's getting late and we should head back to camp," Torunn said. Rin nodded and continued chattering about this and that and other things but Torunn's mind began to wander again, thinking about how Sesshomaru could bring back the dead.
Of course it wasn't impossible, Torunn had seen it done in Valhalla every day - all the warriors that laid slain on the field after a day's of fighting were all brought back from the dead and then feasted in the Great Hall but this talk about the sword's power was different. All those warriors were already dead, so they never truly died in battle, per say. Torunn tried to wrap her mind around the fact that Rin was once alive, then died and then breath was brought back into her? By a the swinging of a magic sword?
Even though the Demon Lord said very little to her since she had joined them, maybe he would talk about the sword to her if Torunn brought it up. It was worth a shot she thought to herself as the two them made their way back. Maybe Rin was right - maybe Lord Sesshomaru was at his core, a big ol' softy. Torunn smiled a little bit, trying figure out the demon Lord but thought better of it. The inhuman man was an enigma and while it bothered her that she couldn't solve him, she would just have to deal.