Night had set upon the world below, engulfing everything in darkness. An occasional cricket sounded in the distance, breaking the blanket of ever present silence. Sesshomaru's group had set up a small camp for the night, and Rin was happily munching on some of the fruit Nazoki had gathered that morning. There was still no sign of the woman. She had completely disappeared. Rin would occasionally talk about her and voice her worry, which still had not seemed to fade. When Jaken and Rin had fallen asleep, Sesshomaru found himself gazing at the moon, wondering if the fox was okay. While it was unlike him to feel concern for any but Rin, he could not help himself. The woman had shown that even if she could do nothing else, she would defend the child, and proved to be more useful than Jaken.
Her background also intrigued the lord. He was positive that he had not seen any Kitsune in his land. Well,other then the one with Inuyasha, and its despite that, she didn't appear to be one of them. Her clothes were different, as well as her hair. Shippou's pack didn't have curls. Only one place he knew of was home to that form of Youkai, and it was the east. A group of Kitsune was rumored to be of the most powerful clan for a few years. This led him to believe she was hiding something. Within the past years, Sesshomaru had heard that some form of scandal had caused that label to be long dismissed. Of course, gossip was not always a reliable source of information. But with nothing else to associate, the woman with he would assume that she had something to do with that rumor. The lord stared at the jeweled night sky until morning came. He found himself unable to think of anything but Nazoki, yet ruled it off as simply trying to understand exactly who she was.
The group set out to patrol the lands as usual, still having received no sign of the Kitsune. An entire day passed, only adding to Rin's panic.
"Rin, that vixen is of no importance to us. It's good that she's gone, she would just get in Lord Sesshomaru's way!" Jaken's words seemed to only further Rin's sadness, and Sesshomaru shot him a warning glance.
"Jaken. That kitsune owes this Sesshomaru a favor. She will not take her leave until it is repaid." The lord spoke in his usual cool tone, and Jaken immediately fell silent.
"Nazoki will return, Lord Sesshomaru?" Rin asked, and the man offered a slight nod. This seemed to satisfy the girl and a small hopeful smile curled her lips.
When darkness had once again settled over the land, Sesshomaru waited for his companions to fall into a deep slumber. Once he was sure they were indeed asleep, he gracefully pushed himself to his feet. More than anything, Nazoki's absence had filled Rin with worry. The lord resolved to find the woman, and bring her back. Leaving the cave to commence his search, he raced back to the last place the vixen had been seen. Weaving through the trees, it only seemed to take a few minutes for the man to reach the smell of stale blood. The moment he approached the source of the smell, something sparked in front of him. There was a snapping sound, and some form of image; a very hazy, light illusion, appeared before him. As he passed a tree, it only got louder, and clearer. The lord found himself walking through a mountainous area, surrounded by daylight. He was standing on a cliff, and continued to walk around the narrow bends, searching for the familiar scent of blood. The end of the cliff brought a spacious forest, which he calmly entered. The sun easily reached the bare, stony ground. Decent space was between the trees, which broke into branches and leaves far above Sesshomaru. A bush rustled a few meters away, and he glanced towards it. Sunlight illuminated the red fur of a fox which was sitting beside low foliage. It looked like Nazoki, but when he stepped towards it, the fox ran off. Before he could walk behind it, another fox was standing by his side.
Peering down at the creature, he could not help but frown. When the man knelt down, the fox started to move, yet he was faster. He reached to grab it, and it's image burst into mist. Needless to say, it was not a real fox. It was all an illusion. The thought sparked obvious surprise in the man, and he stood up. He would have to ignore every fox he saw, and focus on the metallic smell he had originally followed. Walking over the uneven ground, he paid no attention to the various foxes, which started to circle around him, or trail behind him. It was not until he saw an unexpected image lurking behind a tree that he grew slightly confused. A woman, who looked almost like Nazoki, was grinning, and laughing lightly. He stared at her, and she peeked at him from behind the thick truck; beckoning him to follow her. Straight brown locks of hair fell to her shoulders, and she giggled again; motioning to him. He had already been headed in that direction, so the lord continued to slowly walk towards her.
When he covered half of the distance between them, she turned and ran to another tree. Yet something was wrong. She was barely clothed. Frowning in confusion, Sesshomaru stopped. He was not sure if he wanted to follow such an odd, explicit illusion. The woman was obviously trying to entice him, and that was never a good sign. That's when he heard it. Multiple voices, giggling. The trees around him rustled, and he peered up towards the sun. Soon, countless women all started to prance from behind trees. They all skipped in the direction of the first woman, and Sesshomaru tried to make sense of the situation. He was trapped in an illusion, no doubt about it, but this was getting ridiculous. Such things did not appeal to him. Possibly a lesser demon or a huntsman would fall for that, but not him.
"Lord Sesshomaru!"
"Lord Sesshomaru!"
The women all seemed to be calling him, and he wondered what the hell they were trying to accomplish; where they intended to lead him. Having had enough of this, the lord extended his aura. It appeared to help dispel some of the sight before him, and he continued to push the false world away. It was no match for his superior strength, and everything started to disappear; to fade into the nothingness of night. Seconds later, he remained in the original forest. Darkness had returned, as well as the sounds of crickets, and other creatures of the night. After gazing over his surroundings, Sesshomaru continued to look for Nazoki.
He used his senses to locate the woman, and the scent led him to a burrow. A small den had been freshly dug in the ground below a tree. Just as he suspected, the fox had retreated to regain her strength. Only a lesser demon would need to do such a thing. Though the woman appeared confident in her skills, it seemed she was still fragile; easy to harm. Kneeling down, Sesshomaru gazed at the black hole at his feet.