First: Disclaimer: I own NOTHING! Only Amaya Misaki.
Second: Again Sesshomaru is questioning not only why he's still with Amaya, but he's also beginning to feel for her.
Thirdly: Constructive reviews are welcome!
Fourth: I kept my promise! Its up! I'm sorry it's shorter than other chapters. Been real busy and such. Working on chapt 7 so IDK when that'll be up.
Lastly: If you see any mistakes I may have overlooked please let me know so I can fix them
Arigatō mina for staying with me :)
~Wafflez

In the days to come Amaya noticed a slight change in Misaki. Her eyes had a new light to them. Dull and still partially buried by sorrow and grief, but it was there. She still didn't smile or speak, but she was communicating in her own way. She kept close to Amaya and stayed clear of Sesshomaru. Not out of fear though. Never out of fear. But out of respect instead.

She sees him as her alpha. Amaya realized one day. Though true foxes didn't travel in packs, fox youkai stayed close together in large packs made up of several different families, led by a single alpha and mate. Usually they were the most powerful in the clan. Amaya eyed Sesshomaru as they walked, Misaki was close to Amaya, her long hair brushing the bare skin of her thigh. I guess I would see him as my alpha too…if I were her that is. Sesshomaru wreaked of power, incomprehensible power that once fully unleashed, anyone who tried to take him on was…well…Idiotic Amaya concluded

Misaki tugged on Amaya's sleeve and Amaya looked down. The young hanyou rested one hand on her stomach and the other on her throat. Amaya had learned some of the signs Misaki used in place of her words. This particular sign meant she was hungry.

"You'll eat son." She said, patting Misaki on the head. The child pouted and made a small whimpering noise. "I'm sure you can hold out." Again the child pouted but her whimpering had stopped. Amaya eyed Sesshomaru, seeing the slight amusement in his eyes as he glanced back at the two. Amaya smiled inwardly. In the days since the travels began Amaya had noticed a slight change in Sesshomaru as well. He was still cold and distant but there was something there. A protectiveness of not only herself, but also the hanyou child. Which had surprised Amaya since Hoshiko had told her that the Lord of the West had a strong distaste for half breeds, that he found them a disgrace. And though he had been more than a little hesitant to take the child in and take her to her mothers people in the mountains, he seemed almost to enjoy having her around.

While lost in her thoughts, the air around Amaya had changed drastically. It was thicker than it had been mere seconds before and Amaya could smell the strong scent of human blood on the wind. Freshly spilled and in large quantities. She slowed to a stop her nose wrinkling in disgust.

"Sesshomaru…" She muttered as a strong demonic aura entered the game. Sesshomaru was tense and Amaya knew he had sensed it too. Beside her the young child was trembling violently. Amaya realized that the girl had never had to deal with any other demons then the ones she lived with. Only ever hateful humans. And to make things worse, this aura was probably ten times as powerful as she had ever felt before. Amaya felt for the girl. She had dealt with her fair share of powerful and dangerous youkai, but this presence was different, foreign to her. And in truth it frightened her. Not only because it was different, but because she recognized it. It was much stronger now, but it was unmistakable, as it was the same presence she had felt the day before she and Sesshomaru had left the Western Castle. And now, it fully intended to be a threat.

Instinctively, Amaya stepped in front of Misaki and drew Ho-ou slowly. What ever was out there had sensed them and it was heading their way, very quickly.

Sesshomaru readied himself for a fight.

Power surged all around them, enveloping the world that surrounded them and trapping them in a bubble of demonic essence. This made it damn near impossible to sense where exactly the demon was coming from. Amaya tried to use her other senses to find the enemy while her insides twisted with unease. Her nose was assaulted by the smell of blood, decaying meat and soil, her eyes saw nothing but shadowed forest and she could absolutely nothing but a heavy silence.

"Not even a heart beat." Sesshomaru said, voicing Amaya's very thoughts. His voice seemed to boom around them in the dead silence. Amaya nodded. Misaki's small claws dug into Amaya's and though the trembling had stopped, the girl wreaked of fear.

"It's like there's nothing out there."

Amaya spoke far to soon.

A monstrous beast lunched itself from the forest to their right. It was a blur of black skin and fir. A snarling mass that carried with it the smell of decaying meat and old blood. The smell of death. It had no eyes that Amaya could see and no visible ears. It stood on four legs, but soon rose to its hind legs, the muscles twisted and knotted under its thick hide. It's face was stretched into a long muzzle and its lips pulled back to show red stained teeth and black gums. Long canine teeth passed its bottom lip, looking very lethal, along with long sharp claws on both its hind, and front feet.

This was like nothing Amaya had ever seen before.

"What is it?" She gasped in disgust, her stomach lurched and she felt as if she was going to be sick. Sesshomaru had not time to answer as the beast had dropped back to all four feet and sprung toward them, its claws reaching for Misaki. Amaya spun quickly and grabbed the girl, discarding her sword and jumping into the air. She landed on a tree branch high off the ground. "Stay here." She ordered. Misaki watched her leap away with wide eyes.

Amaya landed effortlessly on the balls of her feet on the packed pathway, going straight into a run. Sesshomaru was already in a heated battle with the monster. The two were lunging at each other their claws and fangs bared. Amaya grabbed Ho-ou up off the ground, ready to charge into battle. The beast sensed her approach and knocked Sesshomaru away, charging toward Amaya. The demoness had barely enough time to conjure a barrier which shattered almost instantly when the beast collided with it. She held her sword between her body and the beast, the sharp edges of the blade cut into her palms, causing her blood to drip to the dirt. Sesshomaru's sudden, unexpected burst of rage startled Amaya and caused a feral snarl to rip from her throat. The weight of the monster and the pressure used to keep it away from her throat was putting to much strain on the blade, and it began to pulse and absorb as much of Amaya's blood as possible in order to strengthen itself.

With a powerful thrust Amaya was able to throw the youkai off of her. She lay panting for a brief moment before getting to her feet. Ho-ou was quivering, thirsting for blood.

Misaki could see Sesshomaru was standing several feet away from Amaya, the monster youkai was between them. Standing on it's bag legs the monster was nearly a meter and a half taller than Sesshomaru, it's thick muscles quivered and twitched under its black skin. From her seat in the dress, she had the perfect view of the battle field. Sesshomaru and Amaya were both ready for the next attack, their bodies tense, ready to spring. Amaya had returned her rattling sword to its sheath, despite it's obvious protest. She, like Sesshomaru, planned to fight using naught but her claws and fangs. Misaki hugged the tree trunk and watched as the battle began again.

The large beast was first to strike by lunging toward Amaya, obviously going after the weaker of its two opponents. Though Amaya was strong, Misaki knew Sesshomaru was strong yet, and the beast knew too. The two inu-youkai would make formidable opponents if they every battled one another. The beast moved with blinding speed, dropping to all fours and pushing off the ground with it's powerful back legs, its fangs bared and a horrid sound ripping from its throat. It sounded like metal scraping against metal drowned in the screams of the innocent who it had murdered. Misaki's ears went flat against her skull and even Sesshomaru and Amaya flinched at the sound. Misaki watched in anxiously as the demon charged and Amaya jumped, making away just in time.

She landed beside Sesshomaru, her aura was pulsing with irritation and pure, raw anger, the streaking colors of Sesshomaru's aura were nearly identical to the females. The two made no eye contact nor did they speak a single word as the monster reeled back around and charged again. Both moved at the same time to meet the attack head on. The two inu-youkai move as one, their movements seemed as if they had been choreographed before hand. They moved swiftly and gracefully, fueled by their anger and annoyance that this beast would stand in the way of their travel. The two looked almost as if they were dancing. A dangerous dance of death.

Misaki watched as Amaya twisted and spun around to one side of the monster, her claws slashing and stabbing into its hide. The young hanyou was amazed to see the two inu-youkai use the exact same attacks on opposite sides of the beast. The monster swiped and snapped at its attacks but the Lord of the West and the Lady of the Rain were quick to defend. Blow after blow, claws tore into the black flesh, crimson blood soaked into black fur. Yet the "dancing" youkai seemed able to avoid getting any blood on themselves, save their claws.

Finally the monstrous beast collapsed dead to the ground, muscles twitching, blood soaking into the ground. It died from both loss of blood and Sesshomaru's poisonous claws. Misaki shifted uncomfortable in the tree, trying to get Amaya's attention. The female turned and looked up from the dead demon to the tree where Misaki was stranded. Before the hanyou could blink Amaya was standing before her, lifting her off the branch and jumping down again. They landed at the edge of the pool of blood at the head of the dead youkai.

"You were injured." Sesshomaru sated as Amaya set Misaki on the ground. Misaki looked to Amaya, startled at the news.

"Its already begun to heal…" She mumbled, her hands curling into fists. Sesshomaru held out one of his hands, demanding that she show him hers. Amaya frowned and unclenched her fists, placing her hand in Sesshomaru's. "I told you it's already begun healing." She mumbled again. Misaki's nose was attacked by the scent of Amaya's blood. She had noticed it before but now it was twice as strong. There was a long gash in Amaya's palm that went clear across her hand, from her pinkie to the base of her thumb. It was rather deep but it had stopped bleeding and was beginning to stitch itself together again. Even with Amaya's ability to heal faster than any mortal, this particular wound would take up to two days to fully heal. Sesshomaru's eyes were hard, but he gave no other signs of emotion. Even his aura was gray and contained.

He lowered his head to Amaya's hand, his tongue snaked out to run along the straight gash in her palm. Misaki watched in awe as a venom, completely different from his destructive poison, seeped into Amaya's wound and sealed it off, continuing to heal it as it did. He did the same to same to her other hand before letting it go. Amaya stared at her hands, crimson blood crept up her neck.

"Th-Thank you." She said quietly. The words that came from Sesshomaru's mouth were a surprise to Misaki.

"You are welcome." It wasn't the words themselves, it was the way Sesshomaru sounded. He sounded…strange to the child. There was something deep with in his words, something that caused the blush that had crept up Amaya's pale neck to darken. Misaki looked away as the two adults stared at each other. Something was passing between the two, something that Misaki, as a child, did not understand. But as a fox, instinct told her that it was not her business and casting her eyes to the ground was the most respectable thing to do. After several long moments, Amaya's voice reached Misaki.

"Come child. Let's go find you something to eat, shall we?" Amaya was already walking away. Misaki bowed quickly to Sesshomaru and ran after Amaya, smiling to herself as she did.

I was rather happy with the battle and the description of the beast. Finally some action! Sorry if my other chapts have been kinda boring. I'm still working on a...external plot if you will. Things will start getting good between Amaya and Sesshormaru real soon I promise you that.
~Wafflez