Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha only my oc

"Why did you follow me here?" he asked.

Sesshomaru continued to talk to Shiori with his eyes closed. She thought he'd drift back to sleep at any moment. Why wouldn't he look at her?

"Jaken told me about your injuries. I had to see it to believe it," she said bluntly.

"I see," he sighed softly. "You arrived here quickly."

She looked away from him and frowned. Shiori was hoping it wouldn't be that obvious she flew to him. She wanted him to believe she took her time, but of course Sesshomaru wouldn't be fooled that easily.

"Why did you really follow me here?" he asked.

"You left the portal in such haste, I was just curious to see where you were going," she responded after some silence. "Besides, I did say I'd return to you."

Was that the answer he wanted to hear? She wasn't exactly sure, but that was all he was getting from her. She knelt down in front of him to get a better look at his blood soaked sleeve. His forearm was completely gone. Had Inuyasha really done that to him? She moved a little closer and began pulling up the sleeve to his kimono.

"Don't touch me," he demanded.

She ignored him and pushed it all the way up to his shoulder blade.

"I said don't touch me,"

"My lord, you've also told me to drop dead on a few occasions," she paused while examining his shoulder. "But you can see how I'm responding to that request."

He opened his eyes and scowled at her, "such insolence will earn you a shorten lifespan."

"Unfortunately for you, my life's already been threatened. You'll have to take your place in line if you want my blood," she said dryly.

If he really wanted to kill her, he would have already done it. She knew he wasn't completely tapped out because she could smell the scent of death on him. It was fairly recent.

"It looks like he slaughtered some of the humans in the area. They must have opposed him."

He said nothing and averted his attention to the bushes behind Shiori. He too noticed the human who was hiding among them, but did nothing.

"Who were you with?" he asked as he picked up a strange scent on Shiori. It was similar to Shiori's scent, but no quite the same.

"Oh," she said a little surprised. "You noticed that? Well, you aren't the only one dealing with family affairs. I received a visit from one of my tennin sisters."

She wasn't the only one to pick up on a strange scent. Sesshomaru's sense of smell was so great, it allowed him to pick up Emi's scent from Shiori's skin. He wasn't, however, able to pick up on the scent death like Shiori.

"And she threatened you?"

Shiori pulled Sesshomaru's sleeve back down, "because I refused to return to the sacred lands with her."

"Is that the only the reason?" he seemed adamant on a certain answer.

Shiori was hesitant to answer, "yes."

"There's something she doesn't want me to know," He thought to himself.

For a moment, their eyes locked.

"Why is he staring like that? Is he attempting to look into my soul?" Thought Shiori.

"What do you intend to do?" he inquired.

She didn't respond at first. In fact, Shiori hadn't given Emi's warning much thought. She said if Shiori continued going down the path she was headed, they'd kill her. Should she take their threat lightly? She wasn't exactly sure. Shiori could hold her own against a few tennin, but what if they sent an entire lot of them? She was sure that's what Reika would do. Reika feared her. She would go to any measures to make sure Shiori was taken care of. But when? Were they waiting for Shiori to do something specific? Was she just supposed to wait in suspense?

"Fight them," She responded. "I know where to find them, and they know where to find me as well. I won't run from them."

" So she's putting on a charade, pretending to be fearless," Thought Sesshomaru. "Interesting."

She could tell Sesshomaru wasn't satisfied with her answers. What was she suppose to say? That the other tennin were threatened by both Sesshomaru and herself? That they thought she was becoming too reckless and dangerous? That they lived in fear of her overthrowing their precious leader, Reika? Of course she wouldn't tell him any of that. It was her business and it didn't concern him. But still….Shiori could feel Sesshomaru's intense gaze tugging at the corner of her mind. He wanted this information—but he wasn't going to get it. He could stare all he wanted to, but he wouldn't scare her into submission. No one could. Shiori proved to be just as stubborn as he.

"How long do you plan on staying here?" She asked hoping to change the subject.

She was curious to know why he'd chosen such a peculiar resting place. He was right on the outskirts of a human castle, and she could feel the presences of more humans in the forest. Such an odd choice for him.

"I just needed to get as far away as possible," he said flatly, "and gather my strength back. This just happened to be the first place I landed."

His amber eyes hardened as he reminisced over his encounter with Inuyasha. Shiori took note of his horrifying expression. Maybe she shouldn't have asked him that. When she first found Sesshomaru, she was surprised by how well he was taking his defeat. Now, it appeared she reminded him of his initial rage.

"Damn that Inuyasha," he spat.

"What I'd like to understand," she pondered, "is how that human girl was able to pull tessaiga from the stone, while you and Inuyasha could not."

"Father must've put some kind of seal on it to reject demons from wielding it. Hence the reason Inuyasha was able to wield it."

"Still doesn't explain how he made it transform from a rusty katana to fang like blade," She pondered to herself.

Shiori couldn't help but stare at his missing arm. How would he learn to adapt with just one arm? Would he be severely weakened by this? She didn't dare bring it up because it would only make him mad all over again. Not that Shiori was afraid of Sesshomaru; she just didn't feel like receiving a death glare. Only she was allowed to give those out!

Shiori stood up and turned to leave. She could hear the rustling in the bushes again. The mortal was still spying on them. Apparently, a certain human had nothing better to do then to spy on 2 demons conversing in a forest.

"Where are you going?" Sesshomaru inquired. His eyes were once again shut.

"I'm tired, I need my rest too. Besides, you said you could still smell Emi's scent on my skin. I need to wash it off," she said. "If you're gone by the time I'm finished, I'll just regroup with you later."

She headed back down the path she took to reach him. As she moved on, she felt eyes on the back of her neck and she could sense yet another human presence. There was an entire group of humans lurking behind her. She could feel them as well as their ill intentions. She ignored them and traveled deeper into the wooded area.

"I know there's a hot spring nearby," she thought as she searched the forest, "I remember seeing it when I was flying in."

After some more searching, she found the hot springs she was looking for. She walked over and gently placed her hand in the warm waters. It was very refreshing. Shiori wanted to undress and jump into the waters, but the humans followed.

"You can come out now," she casually called out. "You've lost your element of surprise."

Suddenly the bushes started to rustle. 10 human soldiers came swarming out from behind the trees. They all had their swords unsheathed and pointed straight at her. They glared at her with murderous eyes.

"I'm beginning to grow tired of being on the opposite end of a blade," she thought.

"Gentlemen," she said courtly. "Good morning to you. How may I help you?"

"Woman!" hissed one of the samurai. "Are you from Asano castle?"

"Asano castle?" she asked. "They must mean that human castle on the cliff….. no, I'm not from this Asano castle. Sorry to disappoint."

"She's lying! I bet she's really a spy! What kind of woman carries a sword?" Shouted one of the men.

"Kill her anyway!" Another one shouted.

They were now edging closer to Shiori. Were they trying to slash her, or drive her into the river? Either way, Shiori wasn't afraid. They were nothing but a bunch of weak humans.

"Let's not kill her just yet, my men," said the samurai in the front who was obviously the leader. "Let's enjoy her first. It's been awhile since any of us have had a woman."

He clamped onto Shiori's wrist. She stared at him, motionlessly, as he grabbed her neck with his other hand.

"What a fine looking young woman you are," he wickedly stated.

"So they intend to have their way with me, eh? Hmph, these weak humans can't even pick up on my demonic aura!"

"Let me have her first!" shouted an eager solider.

"No," growled the leader. "I want her first."

"Release me," she said sternly.

"Shut-up you stupid broad! A woman should only talk when spoken to by a man!" He released her wrist and attempted to hit her across the face, but she caught his hand. Shiori gripped his hand so hard, that she broke it. The sound of broken bones echoed through the air. He yelped in pain and released his grip from her throat, but she held it in place.

"Is that so?" she said devilishly, "Then I won't speak…"

His eyes widened in horror as her hand jammed through his stomach and shot out of his back. Shiori removed her hand from him and tossed his lifeless body with ease. The other men shook with fear as they witnessed the death of one of their own.

"She's….she's killed him!" cried one of them.

"You little wench!"Said another solider.

All of the men came charging at Shiori at once. She calmly stood her ground as they prepared to attack. Just then, Shiori crossed her arms over her face and quickly flung them out to her side. A purple aura erupted from her body and deflected all the soldiers back. The samurai scrambled as they tried to get back on their feet. They ran off, cowering in fear.

"Another demon?" they shouted as they ran for their pathetic lives. "We can't lose anymore men to them!"

Shiori watched them leave and diverted her attention back to the hot springs. Someone was still watching her, it was a tennin. She'd been watching her the entire time, and just witnessed her kill a human. Would she take action now? Shiori got her answer when she felt the presence leave. She thought for sure they'd hound her for killing a mortal, they always did. But, she was technically acting in self-defense.

"I was hoping for Reika herself to appear, guess I have to really do something bad in order for that to happen."

She looked over at the man she killed. Blood was spewing from the hole in his chest. His eyes forever fixated in a horrifying glaze. By his body were brown miniature demons called soul pallbearers. They came to drag the soul to the netherworld. Soul pallbearers were of a much lower class of shinigami than she was. Or rather, than her father was. Because the blood of a shinigami ran through her veins, Shiori was able to see unworldly beings, like the pallbearers. However, because she was only half shinigami, she couldn't harm any of the spirits she saw. They operated on a different frequency than she did because they weren't a part of the physical plain. They were spiritual. She said a prayer as the pallbearers took the man's soul away.

She undressed herself and neatly folded her clothes into a pile. Shiori untied the ribbon from her hair and stepped into the warm waters. It had been ages since she was able to just relax. She closed her eyes as she sunk down into thewater.

"His blood," she thought. "It's stained all over my hand."

Shiori didn't enjoy killing, but she didn't mind doing it when necessary. She wasn't the kind of person to go out of her way to kill someone. She simply did what she wanted. Of course she didn't need to kill that human, but she chose to do so. And she would continue to do whatever she chose to. She made her point to the tennin watching.

After much time in the hot springs, Shiori pulled herself out to sit along the rocks. She began ringing out her hair as she air dried. It was a good thing the tennin spy left before he saw Shiori with her hair out. Only the highest level of tennin were allowed to wear their hair long and down. When she was living in the sacred lands, Shiori was required to keep her hair back in a ponytail. Tennin such as Emi and Reika were allowed to keep their hair down. Before Shiori left home, she and Emi had the same rank. Shiori continued to keep her hair pulled back, but allowed a single strand of hair to remain free. She didn't like wearing her hair out anyway; it often got in the way of battle. If it weren't for that, Shiori would've openly defied the other tennin by wearing her hair out. She picked up her clothes and started to dress

"Lord Sesshomaru!" called a familiar voice.

"So Jaken managed to catch up to us, huh? He must've come with Ah-Un."

"Lord Sesshomaru! Where are you! Oh, please be nearby! Lord Sessho-" his face instantly dropped the moment he saw Shiori's naked body.

"Jaken," she said as she slipped her arms into the sleeve of her kosode . "There you are."

"Gah!" he yelped. "What are you doing! Have you no shame?"

"No, not really," she pleasantly responded.

Jaken quickly covered his eyes and took a step back. Why must this girl constantly scar him? He was forever catching her naked!

"Please woman, put on your clothes!" Jaken shrieked.

"I've gotta say, Jaken, that's honestly the first time I've ever heard that," she teased.

She was almost dressed, but Jaken insisted on keeping his eyes closed. Because Shiori didn't show any shame from being seen naked, Jaken took it upon himself to be the shameful one. He was visually uncomfortable. Shiori couldn't figure out why he was so embarrassed, she wasn't bothered at all. She was finally dressed and bent down to put on her sandals.

"Where's Lord Sesshomaru!" he demanded. "And I can't believe you left me back there!"

She didn't even look up at him as she fastened her sandals. "Are you really surprised?"

"Err, just tell me where he's gone!"

Shiori stood up and walked pass Jaken. He hadn't even realized she was leaving because he refused to reopen his eyes. He was beginning to wonder why she suddenly fell silent.

"Shiori?" he called. "Shiori are you still there?"

He peeped open an eye and found himself alone again.

"No! Wait for me, you stupid girl!" he yelped as he ran after her.

As Shiori was returning back to Sesshomaru, she could feel a large number of humans coming in their direction. She'd seen more than enough humans in one day and didn't feel like being bothered with anymore. She knew Sesshomaru wouldn't want to be bothered either. Suddenly, she heard the sound of a flute ringing from the trees. She stopped and looked in the direction it was coming from.

"It's coming from those hills," She thought. "Those notes…they're so sad."

"You scoundrel!" Jaken had finally managed to catch up with Shiori. "Hey, what's wrong with you?"

Shiori instantly became captivated by the flute player's sad song. It was overwhelming her body with such….sadness. Never before had she felt such raw emotion transferred through an instrument. Shiori couldn't even move.

"Shiori?" Jaken tugged at her hakama. "Shiori? What's going on? Is it that flute?"

Suddenly, they heard a loud series of bangs, and the music abruptly noises were coming from Sesshomaru's direction. Now that she was finally free, Shiori raced to Sesshomaru. Jaken, who was still tugging on Shiori's pants hakama, was dragged along. He clung onto her for dear life as she leaped over rocks and tree roots.

"Ack!" he cried as his head slammed into a stone. "Slow down!"

When she reached Sesshomaru's tree, she found dozens of slain soldiers on the ground. Sesshomaru calmly sat at the base of the tree, exactly the way Shiori left him. There were more soldiers there, but after witnessing the death of their men, they kept their distance.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" Jaken beamed. He examined the scene and realized Sesshomaru slew the men because they tried to attack him. "How dare you attack my lord!"

"Retreat men!" hollered the one in front as he galloped away on his horse. The other men followed in purist.

After they left he ran over to Sesshomaru, who was finally able to stand.

"The flute," he said looking to the hills, "it's stopped playing."

"He heard that ghastly thing as well?" Shiori thought.

"Lord Sesshomaru, don't you worry, I'll take care of those pesky humans!" said Jaken as he prepared the staff of 2 heads.

"Jaken, let them go," he turned his attention to Shiori.

Shiori couldn't help but stare at his empty left sleeve. How would he adapt to only having one arm? Would it significantly weaken him?

"Shiori," he said.

"Yes?" she inquired.

"Your hair," he voiced, as he pressed pass her, "it's down."

She placed her hair over her left shoulder. Sesshomaru was already behind her, but for some reason he stopped walking. She and Jaken walked after him.

"How could I've forgotten to tie my hair back up? And more importantly, why did Lord Sesshomaru even notice that?" Shiori pondered, "I suppose this is his first time seeing me with my hair out. Even so, why did he feel the need to comment?"

"Yes, I meant to tie it back up," she responded.

"I see," he said and continued walking. "We're going."

"Yes, of course me lord!" said a cheerful Jaken. He was very happy to be with his beloved lord once again.

The 3 of them walked on in silence. Neither was sure where they were going next, but it was obviously time to leave this area. Every once and awhile, Shiori found herself glancing at Sesshomaru's empty sleeve. Would Sesshomaru try to seek revenge against Inuyasha and tessaiga? Would he find a replacement arm? All answers Shiori didn't have.

"Huh," she gasped and she looked to the tree tops.

She got the faintest feeling that something was watching them. A tennin? No, this was something different….something ominous. Sesshomaru didn't seem to react to anything at all.

"I guess it's nothing," she thought. She and her companions ventured on into the unknown.

Shiori had been right about something watching over them. High in the trees, sat a man in a baboon cloak. He'd been watching them for quite some time and felt it was almost time to make his presence known to them…..

Each chapter so far has revealed more and more about Shiori's origin and lifestyle. More info on that in future chapter.