I do not own Inuyasha.
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It was still dark when Sesshomaru woke up. There was no point trying to go back to sleep, a faint glow to the east told him dawn was near. His pack was sleeping peacefully and he could sense no danger near by so he decided to go for a walk.
The sun was up by the time he returned and Jaken was puttering around camp complaining to himself. Melissa was laying with her arms over her head, trying to block him out. Sesshomaru smiled a little inside, sometimes he felt like doing the same thing. Sesshomaru knelt to shake her shoulder and she mumbled something.
"Merissa, this one did not understand you."
She lifted her head and repeated "Throw a rock at Jaken." He complied with her request, momentarily silencing the kappa. It had sounded like Jaken tried to wake her and got smacked in the process.
When he looked back down she had her head on her arms but her eyes were open. She was watching him. Then she pushed herself to a sitting position, yawned and stretched her hands over her head then got up and started her day.
Near the end of the day once they had made camp she was foraging for vegetables when he heard her call his name. He went to see what she wanted and she pointed to a small reptile curled in a bush she had stumbled upon and asked a question.
"That snake is non venomous." He told her. Then to show her it was safe he picked it up and held it out toward her. She smiled and took the snake from his hand, letting it wrap around her fingers.
She showed her new friend to Jaken and quickly figured out he was terrified of it. She spent the next couple of hours pretending she didn't know, following him around camp with the snake either twisting through her fingers or hung casually around her neck. Then released it just before she went to sleep for the night.
The next day she started something different. She asked a question to Sesshomaru and Jaken then ran several yards ahead of them. She ran back and repeated her question.
"I believe the word you are looking for is run." Sesshomaru informed her. "Run."
She ran in a large circle around them. "Run?" He nodded. She then figured out skip, walk, and jump, before miming eat and drink. Then out of breath or ideas she stopped and decided to spend her time with an activity that was all to familiar to the youkai, she started picking flowers.
Sesshomaru arched an eyebrow when she ran up to him and tucked one behind his ear. She laughed and he waited until she turned away again to remove it. The woman was equal parts adorable and obnoxious.
She was several yards ahead of them when Sesshomaru heard a noise. "Merissa, come." He ordered.
She turned and stopped and said something in a sing song voice, not obeying him. Why did she choose now to be difficult? Now when they were being surrounded by bandits hiding in the thick brush around them.
"Merissa, this Sesshomaru commands you to come." She realized he meant business from his tone and began to walk meekly toward him.
"Not the most obedient woman in the world, is she? We'd be happy to take her off your hands." A man asked stepping out of the bushes. He'd been almost close enough to grab her. Other men came out of the bushes to the side and behind them. The only side on which they weren't surrounded was blocked by the river.
Merissa was between him and the man who spoke. She turned to look at him. Sesshomaru took her hand and pulled her closer, to his side. Then not taking his eyes off the bandit he gently pushed her behind him, out of his way.
"I would advise you to step aside."
The man laughed. "There are 10 of us and one of you, what chance do you have? leave your weapons, your armor, and the girl and you can go. If you cooperate we'll even let her go alive to find you later, if you still want her that is. Shouldn't take more than a day or two to ruin her."
"You will not touch Merissa."
"If you love your woman then leave her. Otherwise we'll kill her first so you can watch." He then laughed.
Incensed Sesshomaru ran forward and thrust his hand though the man's chest and ripped out his heart. He heard movement behind him, one of the men was running forward his sword raised, aiming for Melissa's neck. She had ducked fast enough that she would have avoided death even if Sesshomaru hadn't removed his sword, arm and all.
As she ducked she unsheathed her dagger and drove it deep into the man's rib cage. Then, shocked at what she'd done she lost her grip on her weapon, staggered back and dropped to her knees with her hands over her mouth.
"Jaken, keep her down." Sesshomaru ordered as the little kappa pushed her flat against the ground. She looked up and saw he lifted one hand and spun elegantly, light flowed from his index and middle fingers like a ribbon, slicing through the remaining men.
Once Jaken let her up she climbed unsteadily to her feet, then a gurgling cough caught her attention. The man she'd stabbed had fallen before Sesshomaru killed his comrades. Each rasping breath brought blood to his mouth, She'd driven Raven into his lung. She swayed and turned away with her hands clamped over her mouth.
Sesshomaru had seen this before. Knew what was to come next. It was common for young soldiers to become ill after their first battle, and she was just a woman.
Sesshomaru knelt beside her and placed a hand on her back. "Vomit if you must, but know that you did what you had to do."
She lost her battle to keep her lunch down. She tried to lower her hands when she felt it coming up but she wasn't fast enough and it splattered back all over her. She was covered in blood and vomit on her hands and knees weeping.
Sesshomaru stood and walked over to the dying man once she'd tossed her cookies. He knelt down and in a show of mercy snapped the man's neck to end his suffering. He gripped her dagger and he felt it burn his hand. It was not a barrier like his father had put on Tessaiga, but the blade it's self. He was not it's master.
"I do not wish to take possession of you, only to hold you until Merissa is ready to take you once more." The burning stopped as he spoke, but it continued to tingle, as though warning him not to double cross them. He pulled it from the corpse and flicked it so that the blood flew off then slid it into his obi next to Tenseiga and Bakusaiga. He heard his swords murmur with interest at the human blade as he turned to walk back to Merissa who was still kneeling on the ground.
"Let's go." He said to his companions. Merissa made no move to stand so he grabbed her around the shoulders and lifted her. When he realized she was not yet able to stand under her own power he placed one arm around her shoulder and the other under her legs and left the scene of carnage cradling the sobbing woman against his chest.