A/N: I reply to all reviews with login IDs, so please check your account settings that enable private messaging. On another side-note: depending on how you write it, "tensai" can mean either calm or calamity. As the story goes on, I'll let you figure out which matches best.

Kelpie

After following his nose out of the winding northern caverns, Sesshomaru didn't rush to collect his retainer immediately. He gave scarce more thought to his recent conversation, returning to its precursor two days ago.

.

"Back so soon?" Under its layers of sarcasm, the comment had held just a touch of genuine surprise. "Are centennial visits now scheduled for decades?"

That day, not unlike many before it, Sesshomaru snorted at his mother's sing-song tone. He had come to root for answers, not nose up inquiries. "How came you matched to Father?"

"I was suitable," she answered primly. Then, pointedly ignoring her son, the Lady of the West redirected her attention. "Little Yokai," she addressed Jaken, "where are the rest of your master's menagerie?"

Terrified to refuse her a reply but even more so to speak out of place, Jaken frantically looked up to the dog-demon beside him who kept his gaze trained upon his mother.

"What's wrong, Little Yokai?" The purr raised gooseflesh on Jaken's spine. It didn't help that this woman looked exactly like Lord Sesshomaru. "Won't you answer me?"

"Answer me." Jaken sighed in relief to find himself shielded by white hakama. "Whom might I ask to give a more informative recounting?"

"Meddling with life again, Sesshomaru?" His mother's tone turned tart, and her lip seemed to curl with the taste. "Once you found a warren for your pet, why didn't you just leave well enough alone?"

Sesshomaru remained silent. Mother usually answered her own rhetorical questions within the season. "Where might I find Grandfather?"

"If you mean your father's side, not in this world. No one from that line has a very strong sense of self-preservation where glory or 'greater good' is concerned. Do you see now, Sesshomaru?" she chided. "This is why you can't grow attached to short-lives, it's a waste of the better part of a century."

"Jaken. Let's go." He made to leave.

"The Northern Borders. East-most range under Mount Kaena."

Without turning around completely, her son tilted his head in the Western Lady's direction to offer a rare "thank you."

"Mind yourself, Sesshomaru." She fixed him with a serious stare. "The purpose of mating – human, yokai, what have you – is to produce strong, fit offspring. You were already secured as heir before…your father's folly came into being." Amber eyes looked at him sideways, as if trying to find the angle of fracture. "Don't do anything stupid."

.

Huh. At this point, Sesshomaru believed he had mastered his reason. He hadn't clouded it with envy; he had what he wanted. He didn't chase after a phantom's standard; he had surpassed those. And, foremost, his strength was no longer unmitigated; he had a purpose. For over two hundred years, Sesshomaru had borne the responsibility of a Western Lord, but only for the past ten had he recognized a duty to specific lives. In faith, they were a handful, but they were his to punish, his to cherish, and his to protect. He couldn't "do anything stupid" where they were concerned.

No matter how stupid they may be.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" Tears streaming from bulging eyes, Jaken scurried to his master's side. One sniff and the dog-demon knew what had sent his retainer into hysterics. Mountain cat. Claws cracking, he readied himself.

Pines crashed and earth quaked under the thudding weight of the lynx-like yokai as it loped toward its prey, jaws wide open and ropes of saliva dripping with anticipation. From Jaken's perspective, it would have been like being chased by an endless tunnel of teeth. From Sesshomaru's standpoint, the monster had size but little else going for it. He finished it with a single stroke of claws, poison doing most of the work as the slashes hissed and expanded to eat through flesh and fur.

Jaken scuttled from behind Sesshomaru to inspect the remains. The daiyokai did likewise, but for entirely different reasons.

What if it were a weaker creature that faced this mountain cat? Say, a human? Surely vanquishing this yokai then would be no small task. He thought of the frailty of humans, of his own half-brother's weakness, even he was protected by a fang of their father. How easily they break and bleed. And how easy it would be to sever the life cord that bound Rin to this world she so wished to explore.

Rin, stay safe. And, if she couldn't fight them…Stay away from yokai.

oOo

Kichiruka, where are you?

The water demon didn't show up on the fourth day, or the fifth. By the sixth, Rin had grown antsy. With Sango in her last trimester, babysitting the twins and their two younger siblings was a chore made prickly enough by their mother's moodswings and worsened for Rin without the excuse to slip away back to the brook. And the past couple of days when she was there alone it just felt like there was nothing to do, even with the heavy nets flopping with caught fish. No point. Nobody.

Now it was high noon and, instead of checking the little river, she was in charge of a brood of little terrors. Well, the girls were okay. When they're not competing or trying to out-annoy each other. She had just settled everyone down for lunch when Miroku breezed in.

"How's it going, Rin?"

"I need a break," she sighed from her corner of the spacious room. Though the children were in her line of vision it was clearly apparent that she didn't see them.

Miroku sighed sympathetically. "Ah, well, I'm a working man, so I'll be on way to…"

"Where do you think you're going?" Sango stood in the entrance that connected the dining room to the next living space. She took a moment to kindly acknowledge Rin. "Why don't you step out for a while, hon?"

Not wasting a second, Rin edged to the threshold. "Really?" she checked.

"Yes, I feel much refreshed after that nap."

"How wonderful, Sango dear." Miroku sidled his way closer to the exit after Rin. "But I just remembered a job I was called in for this afternoon."

"This is part of your job!"

From the doorway, a strong hand reached out and hooked fingers into the monk's collar, dragging him back inside. The sliding door scraping shut.

Rin strolled back down the village's central dirt road, paying little attention to where she went. She'd have to be back in a few minutes. It's not like there was anything else to keep her occupied.

"Is something the matter, Rin?"

Startled out of her reverie, she refocused on the priestess before her. "Nope. Don't worry, Lady Kagome, it's nothing." Rin turned and scowled in the other direction. "Feh." Stupid Kichiruka…you can't just leave me sitting here without a clue.

Kagome arched an eyebrow at the telltale signs. Wonder how much she hung out with Inuyasha while I was missing in action. "Are you sure there isn't something on your mind you'd like to share, Rin?" she lightly pried.

"No," she answered honestly.

"Hey, Rin!" Kohaku greeted amiably. His lopsided smile had sprouted a few more whiskers since his return and Rin brightened somewhat in its glow. "Do you want to go for a ride?"

"Say, that sounds like fun," Kagome said, beaming at Rin.

"Where to?" she replied. While a little voice in the back of her mind cheered, I thought he'd never ask! another simply didn't care anymore. But both rallied for the chance to get out.

"There's a seaport not too far from here if we take Kilala," Miyoko said.

And then there's her.

"As the weather's warming up, more demons will have their hot blood roused and grow increasingly irritable…and violent," Kohaku added unnecessarily. "We'll be taking off by tomorrow, and are going to need some basic provisions beforehand."

Miyoko nodded, waving toward the nekomata. "Do you want to come into town with us? We're heading to the coast."

I guess if Kohaku's coming along. Rin looked over her shoulder to Kagome who nodded encouragingly. "Sure."

Following the plain-clothes rappa to Kilala, Rin mounted behind her.

"You girls have a good time!" Kohaku called.

"Wait, you're not getting—?"

With a swirl of flames that obscured Rin's vision, Kilala pounced into the sky. Once they were airborne, she looked at the company she had joined. Great, I'm going to have to sit through a whole ride with Kohaku's girlfriend. Rin didn't try making conversation. Just let her be the one to make the first move.

Miyoko wasn't sure what had spurred on this theirs was an uneasy friendship – or maybe more of a truce? – and she knew Rin didn't care for her company that much. Did she think Kohaku was coming, too? "So why did you want to come along?" she finally asked.

The friendly tone caught Rin off guard. "I wanted to get out some," she answered simply.

Miyoko considered this. Come to think of it, she had never seen Rin venture much beyond the local perimeter of the village unaccompanied. Well that…sucks.

"Kilala!" She squeezed her legs around the furry sides. "Up! Hang on, Rin!"

With barely enough time to obey, Rin felt their mount go nearly vertical in the sky only to spiral back into a freefall. Miyoko laughed and, once she remembered how to breathe, Rin realized the elation was contagious.

oOo

Sunlight, Kichiruka's mind dimly registered as his eyes blinked away sleep. He tried to stretch and winced at the soreness in his arms and stiffness plaguing his lower back. The physical and mental strains of attending to guests that had nearly overstayed their welcome were less than he cared for, but Lord Ichikawa had been presented a generous gift so at the very least an extra day's hospitality had been in order. With their departure, it felt good to be back in his own ship – moldering and upside-down as it was – away from all the noise and crowds of everyone shouting…

"Kichiruka!"

Bolting upright, the water demon nearly poked his eye out on his teacher's pointed nose. His own guise slipping after days' exhaust, Tensai's swordfish features stood out more prominently, sails and scales flushing dark blue.

"Well?"

Kichiruka just realized he may have missed an important line of conversation. "Yes?"

Tensai slapped a hand over his eyes, slowly sliding it down his face until his nose thrummed back into place. "You forgot to close the stalls?"

Stalls? "No, no! I did! I did! I thought you meant…well, wait, now that you mention it…there was a black one, too, right? It looked like it needed a good swim, so I let it…" He smiled weakly. "Sorry."

"Unbelievable! Those barbarians show a shred of courtesy by giving us some of their most treasured sea beasts and you go and let one of them loose? They aren't trained yet, y'know! And the black one, you say? That was Ichikawa's favorite! Gods! One tiny responsibility we allow you, but see what happens? This is why…"

Halfway through the tirade, Kichiruka was already on another planet. Actually, it's not that far away. A cool, grass-lined brook, the smooth sitting-rock in the center of it, and the pretty girl who was teaching him to –

"And what in the deep blue are you smiling about, boy? This is no laughing matter! Do you realize any of the political—"

"Master Tensai?"

"What?" he snapped.

"Aren't we wasting time?"

The veins on Tensai's sails swelled to bursting. "Find that steed!"

oOo

"I'm going to wander off on my own for a bit," Rin announced as they landed in the seaside town.

Miyoko gave the younger girl a considering look. She wanted to say yes, but…"Why don't you take Kilala with you?"

The two-tailed feline wore its miniature guise and mewed like a kitten, seconding the idea.

"I'll be back very soon," Rin assured, glancing to both parties. "And I promise to be careful." She patted the blade at her side.

As soon as she was well beyond the last shack in the seaside village, Rin raced down the beach. Kicking off her sandals, she pranced barefoot on the warm sand, then, hopping over a rope of kelp, buried her toes in the cooler, wet shore. With a cry of delight, she trailed her fingers through the cold, foamy waters. Here was the edge of her world and Rin longed to see what lay beyond its fringes, to experience every taste and texture, each sight and sound.

Even right here is fine, she thought. It's different.

Picking up some driftwood, Rin idly swished the stick through the Motion from her peripheral vision caught her eye. A beautiful, ebony stallion pawed the ground, impatient for her arrival. A loose horse around here? As she neared, he started to trot toward her, but always his hooves remained in the ocean. Too late she noticed the rows of serrated fangs that filled the horse's mouth. They were clearly not the teeth of an herbivore.

"Get back, Rin!"

A blue and silver blur arced between Rin and the demonic water-horse. Staff humming in threatening circuits, Kichiruka burst from the waves. Rin had only a second to see his dramatic entrance because in the next he swooped down on her attacker with all the vengeance of a sea god.

Wow…he really is graceful in the water.

Rin watched in rapt awe, waiting for the finishing technique. Perhaps he would end it with a tsunami strike or whirlpool's twister or…Kichiruka swung the staff down with all the finesse of a caveman. Indecorously, the water-horse crashed unconscious into the waves.

Rin suddenly laughed and Kichiruka wondered if the ordeal had scared her witless. When he pressed his hand to her forehead, Rin waved him away. "And here," she gasped between giggles, "I thought you were going to go into a comedy routine for that monster!"

Kichiruka snuck his nose in the air, feigning arrogance. "I am a selective artist. The rabble is beneath me." He smiled. "Actually, these creatures" – he gestured in the general direction of the unconscious steed – "are the 'glory' of the ocean." Blue eyes rolled skyward to demonstrate the sentiment was not universal. "A glorious pain are all they amount to. They were a gift to our lord by this week's visiting demons from far, far distant isles."

Rin marveled, wondering what other strange visitors Kichiruka was so privileged to encounter. "They were from beyond the Mainland?"

"So it's said. Now the task is to drag it back home." He scanned the area for a moment before dredging up some kelp from the coast. Muttering a single syllable, the demon transformed the kelp into an olive-green chain. Shaking off the loose sand, Rin watched him walk to where the unconscious water-horse lay and weave the chain into a makeshift bridle.

That's pretty handy. "Are you going to be safe taking that…thing back?"

Rows of bright white teeth glinted in a grin. "I'll be fine. I think it only eats humans."

Gee, thanks, Kich'.

Rin's dour expression must've been quite apparent because the water yokai quickly added, "D-don't worry, they won't be getting loose again. There's plenty of fish fare in our waters for creatures like Momo here."

Peaches? It was like naming a tiger Cuddles. Still minding a safe distance, she let her curiosity content itself with questions. "Can sea horses always be subdued with a solid blow to the head?" She pointed at his conch staff.

"I dunno. It was a test." His smile widened and Rin's confidence in him sunk a little lower. "I'm sure this staff is pretty sturdy, though. Master Tensai says it has to be considering who's wielding it." He paused as if just barely registering the comment. "So what brings you out here?"

Now, arms crossed over her chest, Rin drew herself up, though it was pretty tough to be upset with the slipshod water demon at this point. "You weren't at practice when you said you'd be." She hoped the voice didn't come out as small and lonely as she thought it did.

"So you're hunting me down?" he said in a joking tone. "Oo, I'm a wanted demon." At that exact moment the conch shell thrummed its hollow tune. With a sigh and apology, Kichiruka spoke into the cusp. "Yes, Master Tensai?"

"Did you find the black steed or not?"

Rin's eyes bulged at the sound of another voice answering through the seashell. It was one thing when Kichiruka had "talked" with his weird clicks and cackles, but for whatever reason hearing a regular response from thin air was something else. Somehow

"Got it, sir." Claws tugged on silver bangs. "Momo's been secured and, ah, tranquilized."

"Momo? Don't go naming those things now!" A disgusted sigh shuddered through the conch. "Quit dawdling and hurry it up."

The connection suddenly went dead, leaving only a succession of hollow beeps to echo through the shell. Kichiruka tilted the conch's mouth downward and it stopped. "Wish I got to be the one to harass him."

"You mean there's no one inside there?" Rin pointed to the shell.

"Nope. Master Tensai talks into one shell from somewhere out there" – he gestured to the vast ocean – "and it transmits to here."

"Cool."

"Not really. Anyway" – Kichiruka stood – "you have my word for the morrow. What time?"

"The usual," she said. "And have you been practicing?"

"Whatever gave you the notion that I haven't?" Kichiruka smiled innocently.

Rin eyed the surf that swirled around his ankles, bracing them at the joints and serving as a subtle lifeline back to the main ocean. "Just asking."

'Cause tomorrow you're learning how to run.

.

A/N: I guess you all can guess by the title from which mythology this is borrowed. And yes, Kichiruka has a shell-phone. Couldn't help it. :)