Lady Kaede stepped out of her small raised home, shielding her one good eye from the bright morning sun. It was especially welcomed after the last few days of rain that the village had seen. She smiled as she saw the people already wide awake, milling about with one another, hard at work in their fields and homes. She was getting older and her days were not always this peaceful and quiet, so she relished it, especially given their last "guest" in the village from the past week. Lady Kaede thought fondly of Torunn and hoped that wherever she was, that she was doing well, and hoped that she would see her again. Although she dared not hold her breath.

Walking with the aid of her long bow, she made the rounds to the houses and huts, some of them bowing low in respect, while others, mostly children, grinned and waved happily at the aging priestess.

"Good morning, Lady Kaede!"

"Beautiful morning, isn't it Lady Kaede?" The old woman smiled as the children played all around her, lines of a long life dancing across her face but she didn't mind them. No, Lady Kaede had led a good life thus far, despite its best efforts sometimes. She was truly content where she was.

"OI! OLD HAG!"

"Inuyasha!? SIT BOY!"

A loud wail and thunderous crash echoed through the village, disturbing its peace and tranquility for the day. It was Lady Kaede's wake-up call back to reality; even old age would never give her complete respite. She chuckled to herself as a group of what Lady Kaede would describe as mismatched band of adventurers came into the village. She had idly wondered when they would show up.

"Hello Lady Kagome," the old priestess said to the young woman riding on her strange two wheeled contraption. She then turned to the monk that followed her and the demon slayer riding on a fire neko-youkai, followed by a pink and round floating creature. With a small pop and a poof, it transformed into a small kistune. "Miroku, Sango," she continued with a small bow to the two of them as they bowed and smiled warmly in return.

"Hi Lady Kaede!" The small fox-demon exclaimed happily.

"Why good day, young master Shippo. How ye be faring?" She asked turning to the rest of the group.

Well- almost the rest of them.

"What the hell was that for, Kagome!" A young, hot headed half-demon with white hair and matching pointed dog ears exclaimed as he bounded from behind the group. The young woman on her strange bi-cycle – as the she called it – turned to the dog hanyou.

"Because you're such a rude jerk, Inuyasha!" Said Kagome angrily, "You shouldn't talk to your elders like that." Lady Kaede always had to ready herself whenever she saw the strangely dressed time traveling priestess. She cared deeply about her, but Kagome had a striking resemblance to deceased older sister, Kikyo. But the longer and more she got to know Kagome, the easier it became for the older woman. She knew this reincarnation of Kikyo was nothing like her sister. She smiled at the bitter-sweet thought.

"That doesn't mean ya hafta go pulling a stunt like that!" Inuyasha shot back, tugging angrily at the beads around his neck.

It still struck Lady Kaede as odd when she looked upon the young hanyou dog demon. That this was the same Inuyasha that had loved her sister Kikyo over 50 years ago, when she herself was just a little girl. He didn't look a day older than when she saw him pinned to the tree those many years ago. He hardly acted any differently as well - still the same hot headed young half-demon she had known, but over last year or so, he had also matured. In his own special ways, at least.

Time is a funny thing, Lady Kaede mused to herself. Slowly she made her way to the way-ward group of travelers. "And hello to you too, Inuyasha. I've been wondering when ye would be coming to the village." The female demon slayer looked quizzically at her.

"You have?" Sango said as her neko-yokai Kirara, shrunk down to its kitten-like form and climbed onto the slayer's shoulder. Lady Kaede nodded.

"Mmhmm," she replied, motioning them to follow her, "Come with me. I'll make ye some tea and we can discuss the odd aura we all sensed."

"So, you felt it too," Miroku, the young monk said with a serious tone. The aged priestess laughed light heartedly.

"Ye don't give this old priestess enough credit," she replied with a good natured smile, leaning on her long bow. Miroku immediately blushed and bowed low, "And I think everyone and everything within a hundred miles felt it."

"I meant no disrespect, good Lady," he said, embarrassed, but she waved him off, still smiling all the while.

"See? She even calls herself old!"

"Inuyasha," Kagome said with a warning tone. Shippo appeared on the young miko's shoulder.

"Yeah, you better watch yourself," the small kistune said. He then stuck out his tongue at the half-demon. "Or you'll end up in the dog house." Inuyasha growled at him annoyedly.

"What's that supposed to mean, ya pipsqueak?" He barked, "You better watch yourself or else!"

"Or else what?"

There was a rather large thump and Shippo began to cry, a lump had started forming on his head from where he had been hit by the temperamental hanyou dog-demon. Kagome glared at Inuyasha with such a ferocity as the rest the group sighed and looked onward with embarrassed amusement at the quarrel.

"Here we go," Sango said with another heavy sigh, as Kirara mewed on her shoulder in agreement.

"SIT BOY!" Another thunderous sound and groan echoed through the entire village. It was so loud that it made some of the birds fly from their perches in the forest nearby. Lady Kaede shook her head but kept the smile on her face.

Somethings will never change. She then led the group to her simple house and began to the make tea. Each of them took a seat around a small wooden table on the ground, save for Inuyasha who lied down on the porch outside of the house. He had always preferred it that way.

"You don't seem very worried about the odd energy that showed up a couple of days ago," Kagome commented as she sipped her tea. Lady Kaede raised an eyebrow at the young miko.

"Yeah, and we all felt it even though were miles away from it," continued Sango, "We thought it might be another reincarnation of Naraku's since it was nothing like anything we've ever felt before." The group nodded solemnly in agreement, but Lady Kaede only laughed as she poured the rest of the tea for them - they were all in for a big surprise. All them looked at one another and then back to the older woman.

"Why are you laughing?" Asked Shippo innocently as helicked a sucker treat that Kagome had given to him earlier.

"Because I know for certain that she has nothing to do with Naraku," she replied pouring herself the last bit of tea and taking a seat near Kagome. The group's faces were one of utter surprised, but then the monk's face softened.

"A she hmm?" Miroku said, a devious grin appearing.

"Don't get any ideas, you lech," Sango said, smacking him on the back of his head. His shoulders slumped and the monk starting pouting where he sat. The older priestess took a sip of her tea, thinking about the woman she met previously and how to describe that force of nature. Truth be told, Lady Kaede had know idea how to.

"Is she a demon?" Asked Kagome, but the older woman shook her head in disagreement. "But she's not human either? Then just what the heck is she to give off that sort of aura?"

"Let me try to explain it the best I can, I suppose," Said the wise priestess, once again sipping at her tea, "It all began when one of the children of the village disappeared from a nearby field where they were playing." Lady Kaede went on to tell the group about the strange warrior woman that came into the village who had saved Tsubaki from some bandits that were on the outskirts of the it and how she was able to defeat them and scare them off all on her own. Lady Kaede continued to explain that after she had rescued the little girl, she came back to the village to return Tsubaki to her family.

"She was indeed a strange one," the older woman continued, "She was very tall for one thing - taller than most of you and the rest of the village! - with wild golden hair and the brightest blue eyes that I had ever seen. Despite the intimidating aura she carried, she was very humbled and respectful." She furthered commented that the strange warrior woman stayed to mingle with her and the village, sharing dinner and swapping stories of where she came from.

"And she asked about that Totosai demon you know," she remarked to Inuyasha. His ears perked up at the sound of that name, his head whipping around to look inside Kaede's hut as he still lied sprawled out on her front porch. The rest of the group gave puzzled looks to one another.

"She's not from around here but she knows of Totosai? This person gets stranger and stranger with each new revelation, Lady Kaede," remarked Sango. Lady Kaede only shrugged. In her long life, she had see just as strange, if not stranger things and beings but had become used to it. Lady Kaede was surprised by how surprised the group was by this oddity.

"She said she came from a strange place called Asgard, and that her leader sent her here to find Totosai. I think she called him Odin or some such name." At that, Kagome's eyes lit up as though something clicked in her head. She began to rummage in her large yellow back pack, obviously looking for something but what that was, was lost on everyone else who looked on her.

"Aha! Here it is!" She said triumphantly, pulling out a strange book. The young woman began sifting through the book and then stopped on a page. Everyone leaned in - aside Inuyasha who still stayed on the porch but his ears were at attention - and stared at the page she had opened up to. Kagome looked at the older priestess, "We're learning about them in school right now! She's a Viking!" Lady Kaede gave her a perplexed look. She didn't remember Torunn calling herself that, but there was no denying when she looked at the pictures in Kagome's book that it reminded her of the warrior woman. Lady Kaede wracked her brain to try to recall what Torunn had called herself.

"Aye, she did look like that," the older woman pointing to a figure in the book that Kagome had on her lap, "But she didn't call herself a Viking. She called herself an Úlfheðinn." At that word, everyone's confusion only grew deeper. "Yes, that was the word she used." The rest of the group turned their attention back to Kagome who looked just as confused as the rest of them who merely shrugged.

"Well what did you tell her about Totosai? What did she want?" Inuyasha asked, sitting and turning towards the rest of the group.

"She only asked me how to find him, and I mentioned that Lord Sesshomaru knew of him, and that your swords were fashioned by him and that she should try to seek ye out," Lady Kaede said, "She never mentioned why she had to, but only because her visit was cut short due to wolves encroaching the village." The group all gave a look to one another, then to Kagome and then to Inuyasha who's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "She could sense something not quite right and went off to try and fend off whatever was heading our way."

"Do you think it was Wolf-Demon Tribe?" Sango asked, and then in a hush whisper to Kagome, "More importantly, do you think it was Koga?" Inuyasha let out a low growl.

"Of course it was that prick - I thought I picked up on his rank scent on the way here," the half demon fumed, "But it's pretty faint now."

"The question is why was he out this way?" Asked Miroku, but Inuyasha merely scoffed.

"Doesn't matter 'cuz I'm going to finally kick that his ass," he said, cracking his knuckles while Kagome let out a sigh in frustration.

"I think it does matter - maybe this viking chick and her weird aura have something to do with the jewel shards, and that's why Koga came this way," the young priestess mused, "She could potentially be a good lead to more shards."

"And you're sure she has nothing to do with Naraku?" Sango asked the older priestess.

"No, her aura wasn't tainted like one of his incarnations, but I also don't think she wants anything to do with shards either. She was only intent on finding Totosai," Lady Kaede replied thoughtfully.

"I'm surprised we haven't ran into her yet, seeing how Inuyasha is one of the few people who know where he lives," said Shippo with his mouth full of the treats that Kagome had brought for him from her time period.

"I think she went looking for Lord Sesshomaru," the older priestess said as she shook her head but a smile still stayed on her face. Everyone else looked at each other wide eyed, collectively wondering if this stranger had some sort of death wish. Inuyasha on the other hand only let out a grumbled hmph as cracked his neck.

"Even better - I'll finally get that mangy wolf and Sesshomaru," he said smugly while the rest of the group collectively rolled their eyes.

The day had begun to pass by them without incident, the sun just starting to dip into the western sky when Rikichi came by her humble home as Inuyasha's group began to pack up to get ready to leave her and the village. Lady Kaede noticed that he wore a confused expression on his face but didn't sense any immediate fear from her trusted friend.

"Is everything alright?" She asked him.

"I'm not sure," he replied warily, "There is a strange, old man asking about that warrior that came through." Kagome and the rest of the group's ears perked up when he said that, as did Lady Kaede's curiosity. She stood up and made her way to her to the perplexed man, and walked past him.

"Where is he?"

"He's at the edge of the village," replied Rikichi as he and the group followed closely behind, "He doesn't seem to be a threat but we can never be too certain, you know." Lady Kaede nodded her head, looking for the man that Rikichi was talking about. It was subtle but the older priestess felt a familiar yet strange aura. One that was not too dissimilar to Torunn's, but one that felt much older and more restrained as her eyes caught sight of an old man wearing a large brimmed hat. He leaned on a gnarled walking stick patiently, slightly hunched, but lifted his head and gave a soft nod and smile to Lady Kaede. The older woman did not feel any malevolence from the stranger but still she kept her guard up.

"Good morrow, sir," Lady Kaede said stiffly.

"And a good morrow to you, kind lady," the man said, his voice gruff and gravely, "Might I ask if you are the leader of this village?"

"Why might ye asking such a thing?" She replied as the hanyou's group stood at attention behind her, ready for anything that might happen. The old man bowed respectfully to her, a chuckle dancing off of his lips.

"I swear I mean no harm. I only inquire so I may address you correctly, good lady," replied the old man, "If I am permitted, may I inquire about a woman that may have passed through? She is one of my kinsman and I have something of importance to relay to her." Lady Kaede eyed the man warily. She might have not known Torunn for that long, but she only wanted the best for the thoughtful warrior, and would do anything within her power to keep her safe. Silence hung between the two groups until the mysterious man sighed, though his jovial presence did not wain.

"I swear an oath on Gungnir that I mean no harm to Torunn or to your village, good Lady," he said warmly, "In fact, I only wish to keep her safe." Though Lady Kaede had no idea what his Gungnir was, he did seem earnest and honest as he spoke, though she kept an eye on him.

"Safe from what?" She inquired.

"Her past," he replied solemnly, "Now, which way did she head off to, if I may pry." Lady Kaede mused for a moment, wanting to believe that the man, whomever he was, meant no ill will to Torunn. That he was in fact, a friend and ally of hers. She squinted her good at him, sizing him up.

"She headed north," she relented. The wanderer tipped his hat to her, a thoughtful grin upon his age weary face.

"Aye," he replied, his sight moving northward and then back to Lady Kaede, "Thank you Good Lady." He bowed one last time and started to take his leave. The older priestess and the ragtag group watched him hobble along, not really knowing what to expect next. Kagome leaned into Sango.

"Do you think we should accompany him?" She asked the demon slayer, "I mean, he's just an old man and we are going to look for her any way." Ever the compassionate soul, the young miko couldn't in good conscious leave a the poor man to defend himself on the road. Sango looked at Kagome and then to old man, but before she had time to say anything, Kagome called after him, saying "Hey mister! We're headed that way ourselves - would you like for us to accompany you?" The man in question turned around, a smile on his aged face.

"Are you sure? I don't want to slow you young folks down," came his reply, and while Kagome, Sango and Miroku all said that it would be no problem, the hanyou had differing opinions on the matter. He crossed his arms over his chest, letting out a grunt of frustration.

"Yeah Kagome," Inuyasha retorted, "We don't need another dead weight -"

"Sit, boy."

CRASH.

A groan echoed from the hole in the ground as the group walked over to the old man. Kagome smiled and continued to say that it would be no trouble at all for him to accompany them, while everyone except for Inuyasha, agreed with Kagome's sentiments. The stranger smiled again, gladly accepting their company for the journey ahead, saying it had been quite some time that he was last here and would appreciate their guidance. Eventually Inuyasha caught up to them as the group set out from Lady Kaede's village, waving a good bye to her as they set off towards the north.

Miroku was the first to break the silence, introducing himself to the kindly stranger, followed by Sango, Shippo and finishing with Kagome introducing herself and Inuyasha, who merely grunted his reply.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," said the old man, "For now, you may call me Hoárr."

As the walked down the path, the old man couldn't help but to steal glances at the hot headed young hanyou who waked closely to the strangely dressed woman, thinking that somehow he looked wholly familiar to him but again, Toga had passed away some time ago but the feeling persisted as they continued their journey. Maybe his own curiosities would be answered eventually but first, he needed to find Torunn before it was too late.