Chapter Three: Q&A

Sesshomaru didn't stand long in the clearing after Nakia walked away.

With his mind eagerly at work on the incredible enigma that he had stumbled upon, he changed direction, and headed toward the place where one of the few people he knew he could trust to have answers resided.

'One really must wonder what she is, no one has spoken to me so disrespectfully in decades… she claims to have been on my land long before it was my land, but she looked and smelled like a regular human, they don't ever live that long, unless she's some kind of sorceress. Hmm, I wonder if it's possible that she's a demon? If so, I've never seen a better concealing trick. But what kind could she be? That would make things very interesting…it looks as if I won't be bored for a while.' This was the line of his thoughts as he approached his destination.

"Lord Sesshomaru, it's been a while. What have you need of?"

"Good afternoon Bokusenou. I have come to inquire after a creature that I have encountered recently." As he finished he came to stop in front of the tree demon, giving him a stare that dared him to refuse this audience.

And with as much of a smile as a tree can muster he said, "Interesting, continue please."

"Her appearance and scent are that of any human, but her comments imply that she has surpassed the normal human life expectancy by hundreds of years, I was unaware that there were any spells that could be used to prolong human life."

"Intriguing, was she attractive?" 'I fail to see how that's relevant.'

"Hn," was his response until he saw that Bokusenou wouldn't continue till he'd really answered; and so, as though he couldn't care any less he replied, "Not particularly… are you aware of a race of demons able to so completely mask their powers?"

"Hardly any demons, no, and no spells or incantations for prolonging life either, but I am having other ideas. Obviously her reaction to you was not expected, or you would not be in such a quandary over her now. Did she by any chance tell you her name?" 'why can't he just tell me what he thinks, I have no desire to be playing Twenty Questions right now.'

"Tenakia." 'Well, if he's pushed he'll get ornery and then I might not know anything, best be patient… I hate being patient.'

"Ah, yes. I knew her name would give away some of the most useful clues…" 'Like what? How her parents didn't completely hate her? I wish he'd commence with the point of all this.'

"This Sesshomaru is waiting."

"Always the impatient one. It's curious, isn't it? A name that's a modified version of 'heaven demon' or 'heaven death.' I wonder… did she have any markings?"

"No." 'Well not any that I saw. But you wouldn't mind looking closer, would you? Of course this Sesshomaru would mind, it would not be, in any context of the word, entertaining; I'm not at all interested……Riiiiight. I need to stop arguing with myself before they declare me clinically insane; that wouldn't be pleasant, it would be a shame to have to replace my medical staff… and I would mind looking, that's final.' And though the other part of his brain didn't respond it left no doubt that this discussion was far from over, and went smirking, back to it's corner.

"Well, without having seen her, and with no definitive evidence, I have only theories to impart, for the present." Bokusenou said, pulling Sesshomaru back into the present, extremely entertained and curious by his lapse in attention.

"Very well." 'Does he think I'll just walk away with nothing?'

"I've heard legends about a creature of incredible power, born in the center of a volcano, called a phoenix. They are extremely rare, and are gifted with powers similar to that of a priest or priestess. Among these powers is the ability to morph themselves so that their powers and true appearance are hidden and they blend in and appear inconsequential, just as you described, and this is only the beginning of their abilities. It is possible that this female is one of these creatures. Your current knowledge however, is inconclusive at best. She could more easily be an exceptionally rare and adept kind of chameleon youkai, they are able to produce the exact same concealing effect and they are much more common. Another creature with the abilities you described would be a vampire, but by all accounts I've heard they are nocturnal." '……Well, that was hardly what I was expecting, but I already knew that about chameleon youkai and I've heard of these vampires before.'

"Does a phoenix have any other defining features?" 'Obviously this merits closer inspection. I think I'll take Rin home, her skills when it comes to stealth leave much to be desired, and I'm not certain what this Tenakia's reaction to being followed will be.'

"Oh yes, many, but if a phoenix doesn't desire you to see anything but a normal human even you would have enormous trouble distinguishing her from an insignificant village priestess with a strange abhorrence for rain." 'That will make tracking her more difficult than I had planned, if her shape changes so drastically one can assume that her scent would change as well. Hmm, how to go about finding her…and what was that about rain?'

"My thanks Bokusenou, this Sesshomaru must depart."

"You're quite welcome. Oh, and Lord Sesshomaru, if you find her again and, by some miracle, she does turn out to be a phoenix, I should like to meet her."

With a final nod of his head Sesshomaru walked out of the clearing and started towards the place where he had left his ward.

-0-

It was huge, hidden at the edge of the clearing in the large shadows created by the sunset, eyeing the girl with large red eyes, and it was then that she realized that no matter how fast the dragon could be up, awake, and fully functional, the bear would still get there sooner. 'Eww, I thought rabies was a regular animal thing, I didn't know that demons could get it.' Was one of the few things she was thinking as she sprinted toward the bear unclasping another of the charms from her bracelet.

She felt, with a smirk, the tiny charm grow into a full-size sword; he'd never even know what hit him. The girl had turned around and started to scream in her potent distress, just as Nakia landed the only blow she needed to decimate the creature completely. As the white glow on her sword diffused so did the dust that had once been a bloodthirsty bear. 'Good thing it wasn't paying any attention to anything but the little girl or this might have required more effort. Speaking of the little girl…'

She turned around to find one of the most adorable children she'd ever seen staring up at her with a mix of awe and horror flashing across face. She realized that she was disguise-less, Nakia had probably scared the girl more than the bear had; she doubted that the girl had ever seen a humanoid youkai, few humans ever had. Her ears, retracting claws, fangs, and wavy long hair, not to mention her markings, contradicted the impressions that her otherwise human appearance gave off.

"Hello, my name's Nakia." She said, by way of introduction, kneeling down to the girl's eye-level, and praying that she wouldn't scream and/or run away.

After studying Nakia for a moment longer the little girl responded with, "hi Nakia, my name's Rin."

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Rin. Can I ask what you're doing in the middle of the forest so close to night?"

"Rin is waiting for Sesshomaru-sama to come back, he always does."

At the name of the infamous demon lord Nakia snapped her head back from her inspection of the woods behind the girl to look at her directly. 'Well his protective, fathering instincts definitely need work, if she really does travel with him. I guess that explains why she didn't freak out when she first saw me.' Knowing she couldn't, in good conscience, leave her alone again, she came to her decision to stay at least the night. Also because of that stupid conscience she would more than likely have another equally awkward meeting with the object of quite a few of her musings since her awakening.

Deciding to get back to business she asked, "Rin, have you had any dinner yet?"

"Nope, Jaken-sama usually gets my dinner, but Ah-Un accidentally stepped on him earlier and he still hasn't woke up."

"Well then would you like to get some dinner with me? I just saw some berry bushes and a little stream on my way through here."

"Sure!" was the excited answer, so when Rin took Nakia's offered hand they waked off into the woods on one side of the clearing.

The conversation, over their simple dinner of berries and fish, flowed nicely. Rin's conversation was innocently refreshing. She talked about her favorite flowers and how she braided the into necklaces and crowns, she talked about Ah-Un and his two different personalities, Jaken and his annoying voice, and her Lord Sesshomaru. However, this smooth flow only lasted till Rin looked up at Nakia and asked, "Are you a demon? You have ears, and teeth, and markings like a demon. What kind of demon are you? Are you an inu demon like Lord Sesshomaru?"

Nakia's mind sputtered to a halt. 'Should'a known she was smarter than she looked… what a bunch of extremely loaded questions and why didn't I leave that disguise on?' "Uhh, well, no I am not an inu demon, and though these markings look like a normal demon's, I can make them disappear unlike most demons. See?" And at that the bands on her wrists and the emblem on her forehead faded into nothing. And before Rin had time to notice that Nakia hadn't answered all her questions (or she thought Rin hadn't noticed) she mentioned that it was getting late, and that they should probably be getting to bed.

Sitting at the base of a nearby tree, preparing for a sleepless night of guard duty, Nakia was very surprised to hear Rin walk up to her and ask, "Nakia, do you think I could sleep by you, Ah-Un isn't very warm."

Having nothing else to say to the adorable girl using her best puppy-dog face she replied, "Of course," Lifted her arms and made room for Rin in her lap. As Rin happily snuggled in Nakia thought, 'Oh boy, lets hope I can leave before Sesshomaru gets back, I'm not quite sure how he'll like this and I don't really want to find out.' Little did she know that luck was against her that night.

For anyone who bothers to read author's notes, I do have a very good excuse for disappearing for a couple of months, I'm a Senior in High School this year and am frantically trying to get ready to go to college in the fall, apply for housing, register for classes (yes they do start this early), get scholarships, as well as get all my homework done so that I can graduate on time. So, in order to help make it up I made this chapter about 400 words longer than the others.

I would also like to publicly thank 'preistessofsorrow': you're a star and an inspiration, thanks! PS: I really hope this didn't embarrass you.

Review!