Chapter 2
He opened his eyes to the sound of soft footsteps; his gaze falling in the direction of the sound. Through the darkness of night he could see the small feline walk away from their camp. It had been a few days since his ward had found the black creature and each night he had noticed a pattern. The creature would wander off into the forest at night after everyone was asleep.
At first he had no interest in the beast. The fact that it was feline put a stench in his nose that he wasn't fond of but in the end got somewhat used to. By the second day it had more than once put his vassal in his place; his ignorance to animals making itself apparent. The imp would say the wrong thing to Rin or even touch the feline in the wrong place and it would attack. He had to admit that it was somewhat amusing to hear the imp's cries of pain in the background.
What caught his attention the most though was that the feline seemed to understand the things that Rin would tell it. It had also become fond of the small girl that wanted so desperately to take care of it. He had watched the creature endure whatever treatment the girl would place upon it and still end up curling up against her.
It was curiosity now that brought him to his feet to follow after it. If it was so fond of his ward, then what reason would it have to leave so late into the night? Where would it need to go? He followed after it silently until it stopped at the side of the river. Standing next to a tree he watched as the beast stared down into the slow moving water. After a few moments passed, it crouched down and his brows furrowed. What did it think it was doing? Did it plan on drowning itself? Was that why his ward had found it on a riverside to begin with?
His hand tightened into fists at the thought. It was a young feline. He could tell by its scent that it wasn't very old. Somehow the thought of this creature being suicidal at such a young age irritated him and as it barely landed in the water, he found that he was holding it by the scruff of its neck. It was drenched from head to toe as he turned it to face him. Its bright green orbs met his and they were filled with what he thought was confusion.
"You are a pet to my ward," he stated tonelessly, "You will not pointlessly waste away your life."
It wasn't like he cared for the creature. He did it for Rin's sake, who he knew would be distraught about her pet if it were missing in the morning.
The feline didn't struggle against him as he carried it back to his ward's side by the scruff of its neck. Its head was turned away from him as he set it on the ground next to Rin and went to a tree trunk where Ah-Un was resting. He would stay and make sure that the creature didn't wander away again before morning.
Rin hummed happily to herself as she braided together some fabrics she had found; Seiichi purring in her lap as they rode on the back of the two headed dragon. The threads she had found were bright in colour and most likely lost to a traveling merchant between villages. With them she was planning to make a collar so that if her pet were ever to get lost, she would be able to find it.
"What a lazy creature that thing is," she heard master Jaken muttering to himself ahead of her, "All it does is eat and sleep all day."
"Leave Seiichi alone master Jaken," she told him as her fingers tied the threads in her hands together, "It was probably up playing all night."
"Not likely," the imp scoffed, shaking his head.
Choosing to ignore him, the girl finished her craft and held it up with delight.
"Look lord Sesshoumaru!" she called proudly.
At his name, her lord turned back to look at her and nodded his head before turning ahead once again. With his nod her grin became wider and she picked Seiichi up from its sleep. Tired green eyes met her brown ones and she rubbed their noses together.
"Look what I made for you Seiichi," Rin said happily, holding the collar up to her pet, "Now you won't be able to get lost."
It sat and waited patiently as the girl tied the threads loosely around its throat. When she was done Seiichi licked her fingers before rubbing the side of its head against them.
"Oh you're so cute," she praised, gently rubbing the animals small ears.
In all her life Rin couldn't remember ever being fortunate enough to be able to have a pet. She had spent so much time struggling before her lord had saved her. Now that she was with the lord and his vassal her life had become much brighter. In the times when there were other demons attacking them, she knew that there was no reason to fear. Lord Sesshoumaru would surely keep them all safe. There was no denying that she wouldn't trade these moments for anything else in the world.
Seiichi's head slipped out of the reach of Rin's fingers and she watched it walk up to one of Ah-Un's heads. Its black tail was flicking from side to side and the hair on the back of its neck was standing on end. The girl watched with concern as her pet started to hiss lowly, as if sensing something that couldn't be seen.
"What is that thing's problem now?" master Jaken complained, turning back to look up at it with frustration.
"It senses an enemy," lord Sesshoumaru stated plainly.
"What enemy? There's nothing here," the imp asked, looking around them.
"Not that you can sense."
'Of course the lord would be able to sense it as well, even if master Jaken can't,' Rin thought to herself, leaning forward to call her pet back to her.
As she did, Seiichi leapt from the dragon's head and onto master Jaken's before taking off into the forest.
"Wait Seiichi, where are you going?" she called after it, jumping down from the mount and to the forest floor.
"Where are you going you brazen child?" master Jaken demanded, "You can't go through the forest alone."
"But master Jaken, Seiichi could get hurt out there!"
"You will stay here Rin," lord Sesshoumaru told her, "It is nearly sundown. We will make camp here for the night."
Disappointment filled her at her lord's words. What if Seiichi didn't come back? What if it got eaten by a demon? Her face fell at the thought.
'Please don't let anything bad happen…'
Nightfall came and he watched his ward's face become sullen at the loss of her pet. He had warned her that this might happen and that it may not return. She now slept curled in a ball by the two headed dragon; her brows furrowed even in her sleep. Closing his eyes for a moment, he rose to his feet and proceeded into the forest.
When the small feline had run for the forest he had sensed what it had. It had been the same presence that he had felt nights before when that strange girl had crossed his path; the presence belonging to the cackling women. It was a cold presence, one that would fill humans with fear and a sense of death. There was no question as to why such a small creature would flee from it.
As he stepped through the trees, the familiar feline scent caught his nose. He followed it through the dark, knowing that he wasn't far behind it. Drawing closer to it, he noticed that there was a slight change in the scent; one that smelt more of fresh water and fallen leaves. This caused his brows to narrow. How could a scent like the feline's change so drastically within a matter of a few passed hours?
Passing a bush, his eyes fell to the forest floor and his brows narrowed at the sight. This was where the scent had led him and instead of a small black feline, he found a teenaged girl lying clothes-less on a bundle of fallen leaves. His brows narrowed as he noticed her face and he knelt to get a closer look at her. It was the girl that had found him in that clearing; the one that had looked directly at him without fear. From her curled up position he could see bruises on her ribs and along her back. Her feet were scraped nearly bare at the balls of her feet.
Brushing the hair out of her face, he could see a bruise on her forehead and her dirt smudged cheeks. Her sleeping face was peaceful, as if she wasn't even aware that she had turned back to her human form. His brows pushed together as he almost felt sympathy for the poor creature. It was true that it was an unfortunate fate being forcefully changed into a beast, but there was nothing that could be done. This was her fate.
Standing to his full height, he left the girl sleeping as she was. He would stand guard not too far away to insure her safety, but that was all that he would do for her.
As morning came the next day Rin sat up and looked around the small camp before being filled with disappointment. Seiichi was nowhere to be seen. She let out a small sigh before pushing herself to her feet.
'I guess I got greedy,' she thought to herself.
Things had always gone well since she had joined with her lord. Now she never would have thought that the small animal wouldn't have stayed with her.
"That creature didn't come back last night?" she heard master Jaken mumble to himself, "Thank heavens."
A shot of anger flowed through her at the imp's words and she turned to tell him to 'shut up' her lord had already stepped on him and kept walking. She couldn't contain the small giggle that escaped her at seeing master Jaken's face buried within the dirt.
With the small distraction, Rin turned to take hold of the strap to lead Ah-Un before she felt something brush up against her leg. Then she heard a familiar meowing noise and looked down with some disbelief that quickly turned itself into wide grin.
"Seiichi you came back!" she cheered happily, picking the small feline up into her arms.
She felt the rough tongue running itself over her cheek and she couldn't help but hug her pet tighter.
"Did you find it lord Sesshoumaru?" Rin asked, turning to look up at him with a hopeful gaze.
"It was sleeping in a pile of leaves," he stated simply before turning to leave the campsite.
Unable to contain her joy, she placed the feline on the ground and motioned for it to follow as she went after her lord; leaving the annoying imp still lying face first in the dirt.
While they walked Rin watched as Seiichi would chase after fallen leaves that were blowing in the wind. Occasionally it would stop and crouch down before pouncing and trying to catch a leaf before it once again got caught in the wind. She couldn't stop herself from laughing every time one would slip through the animal's small claws. On the odd time that Seiichi would be able to catch a leaf it would chomp on it a couple times before getting bored and leaving it lying on the ground.
The girl couldn't hide the fact that she was happy her little companion had come back to her. Every once in a while she would double check to see if the black feline was still following her. She didn't want it to get separated once again.
"Thank you for letting me keep Seiichi, lord Sesshoumaru," she thanked, looking ahead to him with a pleasant smile.
He didn't reply to her, but she had known that he had heard what she said.
"I think that creature should thank lord Sesshoumaru itself," Jaken nearly hissed from behind them; having taken over the reigns of the two headed dragon.
Rin couldn't help but roll her eyes to his words. She didn't understand why he didn't like Seiichi at all. Everything that had happened to him was because of his own doing. It wasn't her pet's fault that he was just being plain stupid in handling it.
"Don't worry Seiichi," the girl assured the feline, "You don't have to listen to anything he says."
She got a happy mewing noise in response and a head brushing against her hand.
'I wouldn't trade any of this for anything.'
He listened to the bickering and the laughter that was going on behind him. If anything he was grateful to the feline for putting a smile on his ward's face. When he would glance backward to the sounds of his ward's laughter he could see the creature foolishly chasing after leaves and trying to catch them. He knew that these would be the actions of a true feline, so the curiosity rose as to why the girl inside the feline body was acting as if she were the actual feline.
The situation raised questions that when he found himself trying to think through them, he would tell himself that there was nothing to be done. Questions like, why would those elderly women change her into a feline in the first place? Their every intent was to kill the girl in the forest, so why give her the chance to continue living?
'Why not just simply finish the job and be done with it?' he thought as he closed his eyes for a moment.
It was no wonder that the feline had reacted the way it had upon sensing the aura of those women. They had been the ones that had done this to her, so her fear and hatred of them was deep…
His brows furrowed before he pushed the thought away. It was no concern of his. There was nothing that he could do to change anything. He had never been one to get involved with the problems of others, let alone mortals. This mortal girl turned into a feline was no different.
"Lord Sesshoumaru," his ward called up to him, "I think Seiichi likes you."
His golden orbs glanced downward and there was the black creature, walking idly beside him as if it were something that it had done every day. He felt as it brushed its side up against his leg while they were walking before turning itself around and going back to walk with his ward.
There was truly something questionable about the intelligence of the girl within the feline. While she was afraid to death of the two elderly women that had chased her, there was no fear of him at all. He couldn't sense nor smell any fear from being near him. He once again pushed the thought away. Why was the girl's situation all that seemed to fill his mind?
End of Chapter