The early morning sunlight seeped through the leaves of the tree, its rays stirring the viking warrior awake who had tried to sleep underneath it. Still tired from the previous night's escapades, Torunn groaned slightly. She wanted more sleep but knowing in her gut that was going to be nigh on impossible. Once Torunn was awake, there was no going back to sleep.

Grumpily she got up from the ground and cracked her aching back. She glanced around, her eyes catching Rin still asleep on top of the two headed dragon and Jaken snoring at the base of the tree where yet again, Sesshomaru had made home in a branch. Her mind went back to their encounter with that Kagura woman, becoming even more irritated than she already was. She shook her head, trying to physically and mentally shake off the annoyance but it didn't help that her stomach had begun to growl incessantly. She heaved a sigh. Maybe some early morning hunting would help her mood - Torunn felt the need to take her frustrations out on something.

Heaving another great sigh, she looked up at Sesshomaru in the tree above, not seeming to care about anything in the world. Torunn grumbled to herself, still annoyed at him. If he would just shared what he knew about Naraku or Kagura or anything, maybe she would then understand why they were interested in her. Her gaze went back to the forest in front of her.

Yes, a hunt would do her well - it would clear head so she could think more clearly about the events and how to move forward.

Torunn tried in vain to get the attention Sesshomaru but after a few moments of her waving at the demon and him not seeing her efforts, she gave up. She figured that it wouldn't take her that long to find something to eat - she would be back before the others awoke. Torunn shrugged and made her way into the brush, feeling his amber eyes on her the entire time.

After sometime wandering around the unfamiliar woods, Torunn finally came upon a small, spotted stag, its antler starting to molt with age. The warrior knelt in the bushes, watching the creature graze in solitude. Her claws extended, her morale increasing at the prospect of having something other than nuts and berries to eat. She and her stomach agreed that it had been too long since she had a proper meal. Smiling, she fondly remembered the good Lady Kaede and the village, idly wondering how her and the small village were doing.

Crunch!

The buck's head immediately shot up from its grazing spot and looked around as Torunn tried to stay perfectly still. Her own blue eyes scanned the surrounding area but she couldn't tell who or what broke the silence of the woods. All she knew was becoming annoyed.

Again.

Luckily the animal continued its grazing while Torunn ground her teeth, trying to overcome the annoyance. Again. She took a deep and steady breath, sitting on it for beat and released it out slowly through her nose.

She was focused again. She was ready for her kill. She was -!

"Torunn."

The stag looked up again and this time it bolted into the brush without a trace. Torunn hadn't bothered trying to go after the deer. Instead, she rose from her crouch and turned around to source of the deep, baritone voice that had called to her. She tried to hide her frustrations from the Demon Lord, but not trying very hard admittedly.

"Lord Sesshomaru," she dryly, "To what do I owe the pleasure of you here, asking for me?" His amber eyes narrowed at her, not amused by her sarcasm.

"What were you doing?" He asked. Torunn rolled her eyes.

"I thought it was pretty obvious. I was trying to get breakfast," she replied and then added, "And to clear my head."

"Why? We don't need it," Sesshomaru stated, while Torunn scoffed.

"You might not, but I do," she retorted, "And I bet Rin and even Jaken would appreciate something other than nuts and wild mushrooms from time to time but now we'll never know." Torunn crossed her arms over her chest, cocking her hip out in defiance to the self indulged Demon Lord. "Because now our meal is gone. We could have made that deer last for at least a day or two." She threw her hands up in exasperation. She then stomped back to the clearing where the stag had been. Torunn knelt down to the imprint of where its hooves had been, and touched the grass, still soft and warm from where it stood and lifted her fingers to her nose, trying to grab the scent. Standing up, she lifted her head to the sky, inhaling the air deeply, seeing if she could latch onto the scent but found that she only smelled pine wood and cherry blossoms. Torunn grumbled, turning her eyes to the Demon Lord who stood un-moving with the slightest bit of amusement etched onto his features.

"Even you just standing there there is making nearly impossible to hunt properly." Sesshomaru's eye brow raised.

"Why is that?" He asked, seemingly entertained by Torunn's frustration and the notion of she had said but Torunn merely rolled her eyes again.

"Because your scent is overwhelming," she said flatly, "It drowns out everything else around here."

Suddenly, as if the Gods heard her, the winds changed their direction and Torunn grinned like a predator, her spirits rising again, "Well almost everything." She turned her gaze from Sesshomaru and in the direction of the smell of her prey, "Now if you will excuse me, I have a meal to catch. Maybe if you're lucky, I might even share with you." She winked her ice blue eye and darted off into the woods, only to notice the Demon Lord behind her.

"What do you think you're doing?" She called over her shoulder, "I thought you didn't need it?"

"I don't," he called back. A grin tugged at Torunn's lips as she sprinted faster and faster, with him tailing her.

"Are you trying to beat me to it? Still feeling the sting of your earlier loss to me?" Torunn turned around, feeling smug but was surprised to see a similar grin on his face. "Fine. Let's see if you can actually beat me this time." And with that, she sprinted off ahead of Sesshomaru, leaving him in her dust.

The Viking warrior dodged in out of the trees and bushes, the sun slowly creeping up higher and higher. She really wanted to get that deer before Rin woke up. She picked up her pace, following the unseen path of the before her. She had all but lost Sesshomaru's scent, which made finding the stag all that much easier but wondered where the Demon Lord ran off to.

Crunch!

Sharply, Torunn rounded the tree at the sound of the stag, finding it grazing again in the brush. She stopped, taking a moment to collect herself. She inhaled deeply, mentally preparing herself to pounce on the creature like the wolf that she was. She was so in the moment that when she saw the flash of green pass her line of sight, it almost stunned her as she watch it land right between the beast's eyes. After beat, the animal fell to the ground, a large thud disturbing the peace of the woods. Torunn rose from her hiding place and looked around for the source, and found Sesshomaru in the near her - only about 100 feet away. Shortly after that, he was near Torunn as she pouted slightly.

"Cheater," she said, cutting a look a to the Demon Lord.

"You never gave any rules," he retorted. Torunn narrowed her blue eyes at him, wanting to say something but found herself again speechless. She then smiled, her eyes still narrowed in on the Demon Lord.

"Fair," she replied with a shrug, "But since you killed it, you get to carry it." Without saying a word, Sesshomaru walked over to the fallen beast and slung it over his shoulder as though it weighed nothing and walked back to her. The two walked back to camp without a word said between them for awhile. Again the silence between them wasn't an issue; in fact it was comfortable. Torunn felt the her mood shift back to her normal, more jovial self as opposed to how she felt when she woke up - all tetchy and irritable. She stretched again, her arms high in the air as they continued to walk, basking in the sun's rays whenever they escaped through the tree's branches and leaves. Torunn had began to lose herself in thought on how she was going to prepare the stag when they got back to Rin and Jaken when she noticed Sesshomaru staring at her as they continued their journey, even noticing that she and the Demon Lord had slowed down to leisurely pace.

"You seem better now." Torunn turned to Sesshomaru, her head tilted in confusion, "You seemed disquieted this morning." Torunn's eyes went wide. After a moment, she ran her claws through her hair - she hadn't realized that her emotions this morning had been so palpable.

"So you noticed," she replied in a surprised tone but immediately felt flustered for pointing out the obvious to him. She scolded herself silently. She usually was so good at keeping herself and her emotions in check and under control. She needed to do that.

"It was hard not to," he remarked, only making her feel exposed - even more than the previous night. Heat started to creep into her cheeks, but she couldn't tell if what was from embarrassment from what he had just said about noticing her sour mood, or revisiting what happened at the hot springs in her mind. She shook her head.

"Sorry," replied Torunn lamely, "I'm just tired, I suppose."

"Why are you lying?" Torunn shot Sesshomaru a look of anger that did not hold any fire behind it. He was right -mostly.

She was tired, but not physically so to speak. Torunn was tired of having strange beings taking a sudden interest in her, thinking of her as some treasure to be taken or observed. Torunn was a simple Úlfheðinn that only wanted to get her sword fixed and go back home. She wanted nothing to do with the likes of Koga, Kagura or Naraku or whomever else decided to plant themselves as an obstacle to her on her quest. Torunn thought this whole excursion was going to be easy but nearly everyone she ran into made it hard to do almost anything.

She let out a long groan, eliciting a wary gaze from Sesshomaru. She ran her claws in her hair again, then began to fidget with one her long strong golden strand.

"I'm not lying," she started slowly, "But you are also right. I'm just tired of how complicated this is all becoming. I came to this new and strange land to fix a sword, and now I've got weird beings - demons? - whomever they are - following and tracking me like I'm some rare treasure or an object of desire. I'm just Torunn!" She had practically shouted the last part, again disturbing the peace of the woods, not even realizing she had stopped to vent her frustration to the Demon Lord. She breathed heavily, trying to regain control of her emotions - she could feel herself losing the battle with the rational part of herself and wanting to give into her emotions. Torunn inhaled deeply again, trying to regain her self control. Sesshomaru regarded her resolve to center herself, his amber eyes thoughtful looking on the warrior.

Torunn took a moment to pull in the stillness of the surrounding woods, trying to be that stillness. After a few silent, tense moments, she opened her eyes and looked at the Demon Lord.

"I'm sorry," she found herself saying again, "I don't mean to lay my woes on you. They probably mean nothing to you Lord Sesshomaru, but to me, that meant everything getting off my chest." He raised his brow at that, cocking his own head in confusion at her.

"How do you mean?" He found himself asking, re-positioning the dead stag on his shoulders, the sun now illuminating his face. Torunn looked at Sesshomaru thoughtfully, a faint smile smile gracing her face.

"Well, I know you don't see me as some prize or however Naraku sees me, or a monster like Koga did," she said, "You treat me as an equal - as much as your ego will allow you to. I trust these words with you, I suppose." His brow still remained raise as Torunn turned from him, looking at the path of them.

"You trust me?" He asked her, "How?" Torunn shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess I do," Torunn said still looking ahead, "I mean, you're still helping me get to Totosai."

"Because you earned it," Sesshomaru said. Torunn turned back to him, a laugh lilting in her voice.

"I sure did," she said with a smile, "But you're also a demon of your word. Any good leader is that way, Lord Sesshomaru of the Western Lands - even if I have no idea what those lands are still." She continued to laugh, but then stopped, her eyes narrowing on him again, thoughts churning in her head.

"Did you follow me to cheer me up?" She asked with a raised brow of her own. Sesshomaru turned away from her and started to walk away from Torunn. She caught up with him. "Thank you - I promise I won't tell anyone."

"Hn," was all he replied and then stopped, handing the stag carcass to Torunn, "Take this back. I must do something." Clumsily Torunn took it from him and watched in confusion as he walked away in the opposite direction. She was going to call out to him but Sesshomaru ran off, leaving her utterly confused by his actions. She shook her head again, and headed back to camp, greeted by a very excited and very much awake Rin, and much less than enthused Jaken.

What a strange being, Torunn thought.

A blur of white fur flung itself from tree to tree. He didn't know exactly where the strange warrior was, but Naraku figured all he had to do was follow her weird aura. He could almost feel it waft on as he sat on a sturdy branch. He took a moment to think about what he had exactly saw in the mirror the previous night, how puzzled he felt when he looked at the nameless warrior.

Naraku wondered where she might have come from and why she looked so alien, with her golden hair that danced win that danced wildly all about her when she was talking to animatedly to the incorrigibly infuriating Demon Lord of the Western Lands. He remembered his eyes growing large by how tall the woman was - Naraku suspected that she might be even taller than he was. He could just tell by the way the woman stood toe to toe with Sesshomaru, the temerity to talk to him like an equal meant she had tremendous power. He would have to be careful how he went about talking to this mysterious warrior.

No doubt that the insufferable Demon Lord spoke so ill about Naraku. He gritted his teeth in anger but let the anger seep out like sap. Naraku would soon put that dog down, his half-brother soon after.

Patience, he chided silently to himself. He soon would use the warrior woman for his own purposes, one way or another he had vowed to himself. Naraku was not someone you said "no" to, that much Kagura had gotten right. Naraku would get his way.

Blood red eyes scanned the woods, the half demon soaking in the sun light as he followed the unseen path ahead of him, a malicious laugh dancing on the wind.

Torunn had taken most of the day to preparing the stag - skinning, gutting and making breakfast and now dinner - and watching Rin play. Although she felt a bit on edge waiting for Sesshomaru to come back where he ran off so they could get on the road again, Torunn had enjoyed herself being able to relax. The previous night, whether she admitted it or not, had taken a lot out of her. She was still feeling that sense tiredness that she had described to the Demon Lord in the morning, but slowly it had dissipated through out the day. Rin's inquisitive nature and playing helped Torunn distract herself from those tired feelings.

As the sun began to set, Rin and Torunn had sat down to eat the stew that she had made, while Jaken sat in a huff across the female warrior, fuming that Sesshomaru had left him to baby sit the two of them and would not enjoy her meal. He wouldn't take handouts from the likes of her he had said. Torunn remarked that it will still be there if he ever changed his mind. It was during one of the stories that Torunn was telling Rin about Asgard and of Thor's hammer, Mjölnir, that Torunn had noticed some of the stew disappearing. She smiled, and continued on with her stories to the little girl, who's brown eyes were large with intrigue.

"Did you ever get to use that Miy- Myno- that hammer, Torunn?" Rin asked. Torunn let out a laugh as she ruffled the little girl's hair.

"No Little One," the warrior said, "I tried once but I couldn't even pick up the damned thing!"

"I don't believe that," the little girl said, "You're so strong so - probably strong as Lord Sesshomaru!" That comment elicited a scoff from the imp sitting across the fire from them.

"Impossible! The very idea of that is laughable!" he said, "No one is as strong as Lord Sesshomaru, foolish child." Rin shot up from where she was sitting, putting her hands defiantly on her hips, ready to argue when Torunn stepped in.

"Now, now you two," she said trying to quell the both of them, "There is no need to argue about this." Jaken vigorously nodded his head up and down in agreement while Rin fumed, grumbling about how dumb Jaken was for underestimating Torunn but otherwise didn't argue further and sat back down next to her. Torunn looked around again.

"I wouldn't look for him if I were you. He'll just show up when he does." Torunn heard the little girl say, tiredness creeping into her voice as the sun continued to dip over the horizon. Torunn gave Rin a quizzical look.

"Does he do this a lot? Just disappear?" She asked. Rin nodded her head but was otherwise nonplussed by Sesshomaru's absence. She rested her arms over her tiny knees, staring at the fire.

"Yeah, but it's okay," she said, "He always managed to find us so I never worry." Torunn wasn't completely shocked but it just added more complexities to the Demon Lord. Torunn joined in Rin with resting her arms on her knees staring into the fire. She turned her gaze upwards to the sky, beginning to see stars dot the sky when she felt the familiar aura start to encroach on them. She hadn't realized it at first but Torunn began to smile slightly.

Took him long enough, she thought to herself but didn't let on that she felt Sesshomaru coming towards them. It was Jaken who spoke up first.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" He sqwaked, "It's so good to have you back, sire." But the Demon Lord completely ignored him and walked straight to Torunn who only had a smirk on her face.

"Welcome back," she said while Rin had a huge grin on her face, despite feeling the sleep sneak into her. She let out a big yawn.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" She said sleepily, "We were just talking about you!" Jaken made a motion for her to stop talking, but like the Demon Lord, she completely ignored the imp demon.

Sesshomaru replied with his non verbal grunt and then turned his attention to Torunn.

"Come with me," he said, turning around. Both Rin and Jaken's faces fell, knowing that they would be left out, "Don't worry, we shouldn't be gone that long." Relief washed over them as confusion set in Torunn. She slowly got up and started to follow. "Bring your bag - you will be needing that." Again Torunn was confused, even a little weary. The Demon Lord was acting even more strange than usual. She paused briefly, causing the Demon Lord to turn around. Torunn saw something dance in his amber eyes.

"Do you not trust me?" Torunn gave him an incredulous look but resigned herself. She went to her bag and slung it over her shoulder and wandered behind Sesshomaru, giving a sort of reassuring look to Rin, trying to say that they would be back sooner rather than later, and followed the Demon Lord back into the dark woods, hoping that she was right for trusting him.