A/N: Hello everyone, and welcome to chapter 2! I estimate that the next couple of chapters will be relatively short, as I can't allow anything exciting or thrilling to happen, because that would cause them to bond, and we can't very well have that. I'll make up for that with lots of drama later on, though! But for now - enjoy!

Misery Loves Company

Sesshomaru woke from his slumber the moment he sensed the human stir. The sun had just risen, and the birds were busy greeting the new morn.

The human rolled over, coming to face him, and curled up into a ball while mumbling something. It seemed that she was about to wake up, but slightly reluctant to do so.

She finally cracked her eyes open and blinked at the scene in front of her, a look of confusion on her face. It took her a while to remember the events of the previous day, or at least that was what Sesshomaru assumed.

"Great", she groaned, her voice still thick with sleep. "This one wasn't a dream, either..."

He decided not to comment on that, partly because he had no idea what she was talking about.

She finally untangled herself from the blanket and sat up, her long, curly hair a total mess and her clothes wrinkled.

"When do you want to leave?"

"As soon as you have eaten."

"Okay."

She started rummaging in her pack and produced a hairbrush. Once she was done taming her hair, she tied it into a plaid and tossed it over her shoulder.

Breakfast was a silent affair. She didn't say anything, and Sesshomaru didn't feel the need for conversation, either. She was, at the very least, eating more than she had the previous evening, and Sesshomaru suspected that she might have had no appetite after all. However, he was still going to keep observing her eating habits.

Once she was done and had packed her things, they set off. Sesshomaru walked at the same leisurely pace as always, and the human trailed behind him. He scowled slightly as he thought back to his predicament. He wasn't entirely sure what to do with her – going back to the Western Fortress would be the easiest thing, but that would require him to give the people of his household some kind of explanation, and Sesshomaru didn't feel like explaining himself to anyone. This was also the reason he had taken Jaken and Rin to the fortress and ordered them to remain there until further notice. He didn't want the human anywhere near anyone he knew.

And then there was his mother. Yuki, the former lady of the Western Lands, had often lamented the fact that Sesshomaru still hadn't found himself a mate and had no pups. She had started pestering him about that as soon as he had turned 300, and now, two centuries later, she felt that he was long overdue. However, Sesshomaru had decided he wouldn't mate with anyone other than his perfect mate – for he had seen how that had ended for his own family. His father and his intended dead, their son half-wild, and his mother a widow. He wasn't going to subject his own mate or pups to such a thing.

He smiled a cynical smile that no-one could see. He didn't know if his mother would be thrilled to learn he'd found his ideal mate, or appalled that she was human. Probably both. His mother was the only person he couldn't read, the only person that he couldn't intimidate or frighten. She was clever, cunning and powerful. Yuki held court at her own castle, Sesshomaru hadn't seen her very often during the last couple of centuries.

However, he was quite determined not to let her find out about his newest pack-member.

The morning passed in an uneventful manner – they were walking in silence, neither attempting to start a conversation. Sesshomaru was glad about that – he wasn't one to talk much, to begin with, and he wanted to avoid talking to her at all, if possible. The less he knew about her, the easier it was not to care, after all.

There were no outside forces to disturb their travels, either – every creature nearby had enough sense to stay away from one as powerful as Sesshomaru – regardless of how tempting his human companion might smell. Actually, the only ones stupid/crazy enough to bother him were Naraku and his minions.

And Sesshomaru was almost willing to make a prayer to the kami so they would stay away from him now. The last thing he wanted was for Naraku to find out he'd taken in another human. The vile hanyou would probably not care what Sesshomaru said about her, he would probably abduct her simply to see what kind of effect it had on him.

But as it was, there were no annoying creatures nearby, the sky was cloudless, and everything was peaceful and quiet. The human had no troubles keeping up with his pace, and, apart from her footfalls, made no sound whatsoever.

However, hers was a strange kind of silence – it was filled with a peculiar kind of tension, hinting that her mood might change very abruptly. So far, she had shown less fire than he had thought she would, but Sesshomaru had quickly figured out that she wasn't the meek, submissive type. She was being silent because she wanted to. Sesshomaru wondered, for a brief moment, what he would have to do in order to break it, but decided not to venture down that path. The less he interacted with her, the better.

As the sun neared its zenith, Sesshomaru started to discreetly search for a place to rest. He spotted some boulders off to the right, and veered of his former course. The human just followed, apparently not caring which way they went. Once they reached their destination, Sesshomaru informed her in his indifferent manner that they were going to rest here and settled down underneath a tree.

The human strode over to one of the boulders and sat down on top of it, slipping out of her zori and depositing her equipment on the ground. For a while, she just sat there, staring at nothing, until a loud, rumbling noise disturbed the peace and quiet.

If Sesshomaru had thought she would be embarrassed by her body's betrayal, he was sorely disappointed – she was merely annoyed. What followed was a repetition of what she had done last night – she carefully inspected her food before choosing what to eat. Sesshomaru felt that his suspicions had been right – she had not mentioned that she was hungry, had not asked for a rest and only began preparing food when she was no longer able to pretend that she wasn't hungry.

This irked Sesshomaru greatly, because it made it very clear she either thought him incapable of keeping her fed, or that he wouldn't want to.

It didn't take her very long to finish her meagre lunch. Just like she had the previous evening, she produced her waterskin and washed her hands. Afterwards, she drank some water – Sesshomaru had noticed during the course of the morning that she would stop from time to time to take a sip from her waterskin, apparently she needed water more often than food.

After that, she resumed staring at nothing, not showing the slightest inclination to talk – or that she was ready to move on.

Not that Sesshomaru was in any hurry to get anywhere, but he had no intentions of sitting around for the rest of the day.

Even though she was quiet, she was far from relaxed – there was a peculiar tension surrounding her – not one stemming from nervousness or anxiety, it was more like every muscle in her body was constantly high-strung. Also, her emotions were rapidly shifting, from calm to angry to furious to happy to sad and back. Sesshomaru could only assume this must be in some way related to what she was thinking about at the moment, for there were no other reasons for her emotions to change so drastically.

After having observed this strange phenomenon for a while, Sesshomaru decided that it was time to move on. He immediately had her attention when he rose to his feet, her whirling emotions calming down instantly.

"We are leaving."

"Okay."

Without further ado, she started packing her stuff, and was ready to depart within moments. Sesshomaru had already started walking away from their resting place, but stopped again as soon as he heard that she was following.

"And try to keep your emotions in check."

She froze on the spot, surprise emanating from her.

"You can sense what I feel?"

"Apparently."

"Oh."

She kept standing there even after Sesshomaru had resumed walking, and for a moment he wondered whether he should tell her to move, when she roused herself from her stupor and came jogging after him. Sesshomaru inwardly shook his head. She was a strange one.

Sesshomaru stopped as he reached the edge of the forest and perused the village nestled in between the hills, surrounded by fields. It was a human village, but he wanted to know about everything moving around in the vicinity before going in.

The human came to a halt beside him and took a deep breath, mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like "here we go". He cast her a sideways glance.

"This is a human village. You have nothing to fear."

She let out a humourless laugh.

"I know. I'm not scared of them, I'm just mentally preparing myself for their reactions."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Look at me. What do you see?"

Sesshomaru frowned. Was that a trick question?

She sighed.

"Humans rely mostly on their eyes as opposed to other animals that use their noses or ears instead. Humans see me and see a youkai."

"Ridiculous", Sesshomaru scoffed. "You do not resemble a youkai at all."

"You say that because you know the difference. My looks might have fooled you at first, but, since you are youkai, you can sense that I am human. Humans can't do that. They can't smell it, either – they rely solely on what they see. Tell me, have you ever met a human like me?"

"No", Sesshomaru replied.

"Hm. My kind is not native to this land – you would have to travel very far to find people that look like me. To those villagers, all humans have dark hair and eyes, because they have no evidence proving otherwise. Why should they assume a human's hair could be red, or blonde, or his eyes green, or blue? I might just as well tell them that sunrise is an illusion. They would never believe me."

Sesshomaru blinked. He was fairly certain the sun rose every morning, but he could detect no lie coming from her...

"So, those humans would assume you are youkai based on how you look. That does make sense, in a way. Did you experience such things often?"

"Yes. Every time we came to a village. The didn't mind Sango and Miroku, but the rest of us received odd looks."

She sighed again.

"I told Kagome to get herself some different clothing, but she wouldn't... stupid, head-strong teenagers... Anyway, it was funny at first, people thinking I was a youkai. But they were terrified... I'm a curious person by nature, but I could never talk to anyone, because they'd run away screaming as soon as I got too close... they never gave me a chance to prove that I wasn't the monster they thought me to be. It's an instinctual thing, you know, fearing that which you do not know. It might be harmful – might even kill you. So, being wary is a good thing. But not if it keeps you from learning, from growing. This is what really makes me angry – when people refuse to broaden their horizon, because they are convinced that what they believe is right. People that will never give you a chance, no matter how hard you try..."

Sesshomaru decided not to reply to that, as it seemed to him that her last statement was partly aimed at him, and he absolutely refused to feel guilty about any of this. He wasn't doing this to make her miserable, after all.

"Are you ready to go?", he asked after a while.

Sesshomaru wasn't really the most empathetic or caring person, but he could understand that being rejected by one's own people because of such a trivial things as looks might be difficult to deal with. They might have been better off visiting a youkai village, but the drawback of that was that Sesshomaru might have to defend her against villagers that would want to eat her (or kill her just for fun), or that someone who knew who he was would spread the word that he was travelling with a grown human female. And Sesshomaru was pretty certain what the consequences of that would be.

"Yes. Let's get this over with."

Sesshomaru nodded curtly before setting off at his usual pace, the human trailing a few steps behind him.

The village was bustling with activity, the people were going about their daily lives in a happy, carefree way. No-one paid them any attention at first, and Sesshomaru used this opportunity to try and find out if there was a shoemaker in town. However, Sesshomaru's tall frame and their exotic looks eventually drew the attention of someone, and the frantic cry "youkai" sent the village into a panic.

Behind him, his companion made a frustrated sound, which Sesshomaru commented with a "hn".

Not wishing to make the situation worse than it already was, Sesshomaru stopped where he was and waited. It didn't take long for the village miko, a middle-aged woman, to arrive. She took one look at them and paled – apparently being able to sense Sesshomaru's youki and correctly guessing she wouldn't be able to take him.

"What do you want, youkai?", she demanded, her voice firm and clear.

She was putting on a good show for the benefit of the humans, Sesshomaru had to admit.

"My companion requires boots", he replied evenly.

"Is there a shoemaker in this village?", his companion asked, smiling at the miko, effectively ruining the mood.

The miko blinked after fixing her attention on her, only now realising she was human.

"You – you are - "

"In need of a pair of boots. As soon as I got one, we'll be on our way."

The miko looked baffled.

"Very well. This way."

"Thank you."

Her overbearing friendliness began to irritate Sesshomaru – it wasn't fake as such, but it wasn't completely natural, either – she just switched into the role of the friendly, polite stranger. It seemed to work, though – the miko grew less hostile towards them – though she was still wary.

The miko led them to a small workshop and called for the owner. He looked ready to faint when he saw his patrons, and the human's irritation peaked. The miko seemed to notice as well, for she lost no time informing the shopkeeper about what had transpired.

The shoemaker now hesitantly approached his customer and, in a rather shaky voice, said that he would have to take measurements. She just sat down on a block of wood, pulled off her right zori and held out her foot for his inspection.

"I think I might have something for you", he muttered before hurrying inside.

The human sighed again, slumping slightly.

"See? I told you they would be scared out of their wits."

"Hn."

"I take it you have been mistaken for a youkai before?", the miko asked.

"Happens all the time. It's gotten pretty annoying by now."

"I see... But you do look rather odd, if I might be so blunt."

"I know, and I understand how this might make people uneasy. But it doesn't make any of this easier for me, believe me."

The miko nodded slightly in understanding, but remained silent.

The shoemaker returned, bringing with him a pair of boots he presented to the human. She inspected them closely before trying them on. She then proceeded to walk to and fro at a brisk pace, apparently wanting to test the boots. After a short while of pacing, she stopped and turned to face the shopkeeper.

"You have a good eye, they fit perfectly. I'll take them."

The shopkeeper looked very relieved (whether it was because she wasn't displeased or because he wanted them to be gone as soon as possible, Sesshomaru didn't know). As he named his price, Sesshomaru produced his wallet and handed it to the woman, who took the hint and proceeded to pay for her purchase. Afterwards, she packed her zori into her bundle and gave Sesshomaru a look that clearly meant she wanted to leave.

Sesshomaru turned on his heel and made his way to the nearest exit, while the human and the miko exchanged farewells.

As soon as they were far away enough so the humans could no longer hear them, Sesshomaru turned to face his companion.

"What was that all about?", he demanded.

"I'm sorry?"

"The way you acted just now. It seemed very – odd."

"Oh, that. I simply acted that way because it makes dealing with people easier. They usually like you better when you seem friendly and approachable – which I am not by nature. I mean, I can be nice if I want to – I just don't always want to. That's all."

"So – this was an act?"

"Sort of. I would rather think of it as showing a different aspect of my personality. You could call it opportunism, I suppose."

"Hn. This Sesshomaru sees nothing wrong with that. A good strategist always acts in such a manner."

"Why thank you."

"Where does your kind live?"

She blinked, apparently not having expected a question like that.

"To the west, very far from here. First, you need to cross the sea to get to the mainland. After that, you need to cross all of Asia, the continent we're on – and, depending on the route you take, overcome deserts, mountains and rivers. Asia is the biggest of all the continents, too, so crossing it alone takes a long time. And, once you reach Europe, the continent I'm from, you need to cross half of it in order to reach my homeland."

"Can you travel by sea?"

"Yes, but I think that would take even longer... you see, there is no connection between the Pacific Ocean – the one surrounding Japan and bordering Asia – and the Mediterranean Sea – the one south of Europe – which means that in order to get there, you have to round all of Africa – the second biggest continent. It's also a dangerous route."

Sesshomaru frowned slightly.

"Would it be possible to make such a connection, by, let us say, digging a channel?"

"Indeed – the strip of land connecting Asian and Africa is relatively small. However, the way things are now, this would probably be a project for many generations of humans – and, even if one ambitious ruler were to start it, his successor might not carry on with it, as he would not see the value in something he will not profit from himself. Also, the co-operation of several rulers would be needed... and I trust you know how hard it can be to achieve that."

"Hn. What is your homeland like?"

"Mountainous. Covered in woods. There's some big rivers, too, but also plains and rolling hills. My home town lies to the south of some smaller mountains, and at the banks of one of the biggest rivers. Woods cover the surrounding land in the north-west, and more rain falls there than in the southern and eastern parts of town."

"Hn. And there are many people there that look like you, yes?"

"Quite a few. But, like I said before, we come in many different colours, builds and sizes. Though some characteristics are typical to one area. For example, people from the south usually have darker skin than those from the north, which I believe is due to the difference in heat and the amount and power of the sunbeams."

"How would that make a difference?"

"If I were to take a leisurely stroll in a desert, I would end up with a nasty sunburn. Which is why we tan in summer – it's a form of protection. The more time you spend out in the open, the darker your skin gets. At least that's true for humans – you seem unfamiliar with this concept.

"Hn. Youkai do not get sunburned."

"Good for you. Anyway, people living in places where radiation is strong have the darkest skin tones, as far as I know. That includes people living far up north, where there's lots of ice to reflect sunbeams. Water is also good at doing that. In other words, if a human wants to stay pale, he mustn't go out into the sun."

Sesshomaru frowned.

"Why would people want to stay pale, if that makes them more susceptible to sunburns?"

"Beauty standards. It's stupid, really, but people who worry about those kind of things usually have servants to do the hard work outdoors for them. So, they have all the time in the world to worry about their looks..."

"You sound like you never had servants yourself."

"Me? Keeping servants? Where'd you get that idea?"

"You do not strike me as a farm-hand. Your skin is too smooth, too pale. You look nothing like those villagers."

"True, but that has nothing to do with me being too lazy to do work myself. The work I do simply doesn't require me to go outside very often..."

"You are not a runaway noble, then?"

She looked rather surprised at that.

"I am neither a noble nor a runaway. I was travelling, and now – I am kinda lost. If I could return to my homeland, I would have done so ages ago – but as things stand right now, I cannot. That is all."

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes at her.

"If you were travelling, why did you only bring zori? You ought to know that they aren't particularly good for walking."

She paused at that, and from the way her bearing changed, Sesshomaru got the feeling that she was thinking, and rather fast.

"Zori were the only kind of shoes I could use", she replied at last.

Sesshomaru's frown deepened. Her statement wasn't a lie, but he guessed from the way she had acted that it wasn't the truth, either – she had deliberately phrased her answer so that it wouldn't be an outright lie – she was hiding something. However, Sesshomaru got the very distinct feeling she wouldn't respond well to an interrogation on his part.

Still, he glared at her for good measure, but she was not impressed – she met his gaze with a calm and confident aura. Sesshomaru clenched his jaw muscles before turning on his heel and continuing on his way.

He could detect smugness and a feeling of victory coming from her shortly after that. It only served to make him angrier...

Sesshomaru proceeded to be rather silent throughout the rest of the afternoon, and Lillia didn't feel the need to chat, either – the amount of interest he had shown in her homeland and people earlier had surprised her, she hadn't expected him to express any kind of curiosity towards herself or other members of a race he didn't consider worth his time. However, his assumption that she was a runaway noble had amused her somewhat – she had no idea how he had come up with that one. She might have been a runaway servant just as well... Then again, she probably didn't act like a servant, and the fact that she was carrying weapons had probably lead to him assuming she was a woman of elevated rank.

As the shadows started to lengthen, something occurred to Lillia, and she frowned slightly as she considered her new predicament. Suddenly remembering Sesshomaru's claim that he was able to tell what she was feeling, she increased her musings, hoping that he would catch onto it and realise something was bothering her.

When he stopped not long afterwards and turned halfway around to face her, she almost felt elated.

"What is it?"

"I was just wondering... are there any hot springs in the vicinity?"

"We can make it to one before nightfall."

"Ah, that's good. I'm used to taking daily baths, you know. I can make do with a brook if need be, but I do prefer hot water."

He gave her a bland look that made it perfectly clear he didn't really care about her preferences, but that didn't bother her – it was in his own interest, after all, if she didn't smell bad. She'd already been deprived of her bath yesterday and wanted to rectify that as soon as possible.

As the sun was nearing the horizon, Sesshomaru stopped in a small depression that did not only offer cover, but also shelter from the wind. It was, Lillia decided, a rather nice place to camp – especially considering they were in the middle of nowhere.

"We will camp here tonight."

Lillia had already guessed as much, but refrained from commenting. She dropped her equipment to the ground, spread her blanket and then changed her shoes – she hadn't been wearing her new boots all that long today, but she was still glad to be able to take them off. After that, she ventured into the brush to look for firewood. Luckily, it hadn't rained for some time and so she found some sufficiently dry branches and also some dead leaves she could use as kindling. She'd only have to make sure the wind wouldn't carry them away – for she didn't know if Sesshomaru's demonic abilities allowed him to quench forest fires.

She hummed tonelessly as she worked, for once being able to appreciate the beauty of the surrounding nature. She hadn't had much time for that as of late, because they had always been travelling, hunting shards, Naraku or some idiot youkai running rampant. Travelling with Sesshomaru had actually been a lot less hectic – he didn't seem to be in any hurry to reach whatever destination he was headed for, and they hadn't been attacked by youkai (or humans) either. Whether that was for lack of jewel shards, or because Sesshomaru just seemed very intimidating in general, Lillia didn't know – but she thought the latter to be very probable – she had seen the miko's reaction to Sesshomaru, after all. While people were uneasy around InuYasha, they had never reacted in such a manner.

Once she had collected enough wood, Lillia made her way back to camp. She did not retrace her steps, as she had been circling the camp to avoid straying too far. Instead, she guessed in which direction it was, and headed straight that way. She soon spotted the white gleam Sesshomaru gave off, and allowed herself a brief smile. If there was something she was good at, it was not getting lost.

If Sesshomaru was surprised she'd come back by another way, he sure as hell didn't show it – or maybe he just didn't care. Lillia had already guessed that he was pretty egocentric – as long as something didn't affect him personally, he didn't care about it.

Lillia cleared a section of the ground of needles and leaves before piling the wood up and stuffing the leaves in between. She wasn't going to risk burning any needles if she could help it – they'd just ignite right away, and might be blown away by the breeze. The leaves were hopefully too big to get out before they combusted.

Sesshomaru watched silently as she finished her preparations and fetched the flint-stones he had given to her – since he hadn't demanded them back, Lillia had assumed it would be okay for her to keep them. It wasn't like he could use them with just one arm.

Lillia still felt stupid for not having noticed that earlier – a lot of people lost limbs during their lives, even in her time. It just had never occurred to her that the same thing might happen to someone as seemingly perfect as Sesshomaru.

Not that having only one arm lessened the amount of perfection he possessed in any way – he was still stupidly handsome and so goddamn graceful. Even the way he walked was graceful – Lillia, on the other hand, had a way of moving around you could call aggressive – it was pretty useful, though – whenever she encountered two or three people occupying the sidewalk, all she had to do was continue on her way and they would move to let her pass.

Plus, you got where you wanted to be faster and needed less time to get there. Time you could use otherwise. Lillia's travelling methods were nothing but efficient.

Which made tagging after Sesshomaru a bit trying.

It didn't take her as long as last time to get the fire started, however, Lillia was surprised when Sesshomaru rose to his feet the same moment.

"Stay", was all he said.

Lillia blinked up at him, not understanding what was going on, when he unleashed his youki without warning. Stifling a startled cry, Lillia dropped to the ground and rolled away from the fire – before realising the whirlwind of power was neither affecting her, nor the fire.

She had no idea as to why Sesshomaru was doing this, but after a while, he reined his powers back in and gave her a look that clearly told her not to do anything stupid before disappearing into the forest.

After she had recovered somewhat, Lillia dragged the blanket closer to the fire before huddling down and wrapping her arms around her knees. She had no idea where Sesshomaru was going, or when he would be back – if he would come back at all – maybe he had already grown tired of her company and decided that leaving her was the best option after all...

Deciding not to dwell on such dark thoughts, Lillia instead deliberated whether or not she should eat. She didn't really have much food left, and, just in case Sesshomaru shouldn't come back, she would have to find help on her own, and would need supplies. So, she didn't move from her spot despite her growing hunger. She would give Sesshomaru an hour – if he wasn't back by then, she would go look for the hot spring to take a bath and then leave in the morning – leaving now, when dusk was falling, wouldn't be clever, and she would be hard-pressed to find a better camping spot.

Lillia glanced up when Sesshomaru emerged from the forest, carrying the carcass of a rather capital looking deer – the antlers were massive. His step faltered for a moment as he took in her form, and Lillia figured he probably saw clouds of doom hanging over her head.

She started disentangling herself and was about to ask what the hell this had all been about when he dropped the carcass at her feet without saying a word.

Lillia lifted a brow at him

"And what is this supposed to be?"

"Dinner."

That brought her up short, and she thought for a moment to have seen a glimmer of amusement in those cold, golden eyes.

"You – hunted this – for me?"

He arched a brow.

"Did you think this Sesshomaru would neglect his duties?"

There was an accusing tone in his words.

"No, rather – I didn't know what your 'duties' entailed – it's not like we set up a contract determining them. That's all."

"So you rationed your food."

"You noticed?"

"Hn. You were not eating enough."

"How do you know what's enough for a human?"

"I am not as ignorant about your race as you might believe", he replied haughtily. "Now eat. Properly."

Lillia glared at him – where did he get off, telling her how much to eat? Lillia remembered all to well how her mother's attempts to force her to eat more had usually ended... and she was not eager to suffer through this again – though Sesshomaru would share her suffering to some extent. But that thought did little to comfort her.

Lillia inspected her dinner and tried to figure out how to go about preparing it. She finally decided she'd start with the legs, as she wouldn't have to gut it that way – that wasn't something she enjoyed doing.

"Do you have a knife or something?", she asked the demon lord, who was still watching her.

He pulled out a dagger and handed it to her. Without thinking, Lillia reached for it with her right hand, momentarily forgetting that in Japan, it was custom to hand things over with both hands – something he couldn't possibly do with just one arm. She realised her error too late and hoped Sesshomaru wouldn't think even less of her now...

Lillia unsheathed the dagger and set to work. The fire was, by now, already collapsing in on itself and Lillia hoped it would soon be reduced to embers – for she was already pretty hungry.

Finding wood suitable for skewers turned out to be a bit more tricky, but in the end, Lillia had two ready. So she sat down again to wait.

Her stomach chose that moment to rumble loudly, and Lillia grimaced. Though she always ate less than a normal person would, she couldn't go with this little food indefinitely.

"What are you waiting for?", the dai-youkai inquired, no doubt having heard the growling of her stomach.

"It's not really healthy to put meat into the flames. I'm waiting for the wood to stop burning."

"So you intend to use the heat from the embers?"

"Precisely."

He made no answer, and Lillia busied herself with watching the flames and occasional sparks.

Finally, dinner was ready, and Lillia took the skewers off their makeshift racks. Since she'd have to wait a bit for it to cool down, she got up and made her way over to Sesshomaru, offering him one of the skewers. When he just looked at her blandly, she rolled her eyes.

"Your share", she said, somewhat vexed.

Sesshomaru blinked.

"I do not require food at the moment."

"You don't? Then why the hell did you kill something as big as that? Am I supposed to eat it all by myself? Not even my brothers – who are infamous for eating everything in sight – would manage to do that!"

Sesshomaru just kept looking at her – whether it was because he didn't know what to say to that, or he just didn't want to discuss this, she didn't know – she didn't care, either.

"Look, I don't know why you decided to drag something as big as that all the way here – I don't care, either. For the record: I can't eat that much. While I know it's not going to go to waste, I still don't like the thought of it being left just like that. Whenever you're hunting just for me, something small will do – a rabbit, or a bird. Fish is okay, too. Just so you know."

Lillia turned away and returned to her blanket. Had she known that he would refuse to eat – had never planned on eating at all – she wouldn't have bothered with the second skewer. Stupid dog.

Still angry, she began tearing the meat off the skewer with her teeth – not willing to get her hands even dirtier than they already were. Once she was done, she tossed her skewer into the still glowing embers before eyeing the second one. She'd already eaten enough, and she just knew how it would end if she ate more. Letting out a sigh, she tossed the skewer into the woods as far as she could. Something would eat it eventually... so it didn't count as waste. Lillia hated wasting food – which usually puzzled people, since she rarely ever finished her meals. Some people would then tell her that people in Africa were staving. Her cynical reply to that was always whether they thought it would be better if she sent her leftovers to them...

Returning to her blanket, Lillia sat down carefully, not wishing to upset her stomach. The time after meals was critical – she needed to steer clear of anything smelly, avoid any kind of physical activity (such as walking) and stress. Living with these odd conditions wasn't always easy, but Lillia had gotten used to them by now.

Once she felt that she had waited long enough, Lillia prepared her bathing supplies before fixing her attention on the inu she had been ignoring until now.

"Which way to the hot spring?"

Sesshomaru wordlessly pointed in one direction, and Lillia resisted the urge to roll her eyes – he had probably used up his daily ration of spoken words already.

The hot spring wasn't far away. It wasn't very big, either, but Lillia didn't really care about that. She quickly shed her clothes and got into the steaming water. She had to wash her hair, too – and she had no idea how she should go about doing that once it got cold – right now, it was still warm enough for her hair to dry by itself, but that wouldn't last forever... was she supposed to not wash her hair during the entire Winter? That didn't sound like it would be fun...

Lillia knew that she shouldn't stay in the hot water too long, as she would get dehydrated and might even faint. So, she finished quickly and then made her way back to camp.

She had planned on practising some kyudo before going to sleep, but it was already too dark. She would have to do this earlier tomorrow – preferably while Sesshomaru was off hunting. Assuming that he would hunt again tomorrow – but, seeing as how Lillia was unable to preserve or carry the meat, he would have to bring her something fresh every day.

Lillia sat down next to the fire again and began untangling her hair, hoping that it would be dry soon – she wouldn't get anything out of staying awake, after all, since Sesshomaru was still being as silent as before, so she might just as well call it a day.

Since the fire had almost completely died by now, Lillia put on some more wood and fanned the embers until they started burning again. She hoped that the fire would last for a while – though she knew that she would wake up if she got too cold. So she kept stoking the flames while she waited for her hair to dry. It wasn't a particularly entertaining activity, but better than doing nothing, and staring into the flames gave her the opportunity to let her mind wander.

Lillia had no idea how much time had passed when her hair was finally dry enough for her taste. She got up from her spot next to the fire, wrapped herself in her blanket and closed her eyes, hoping that sleep would soon find her.

A/N: I've been working on some illustrational work for my fanfics lately, if you like, you can check out my DeviantArt-account - I go by the same nick. Also, I've decided to start writing a glossary, since some of you might be unfamiliar with the terms I'm using. Also, please note that the Japanese language doesn't know plural endings (e.g. one miko - two miko). It is, however, not considered incorrect to add them when using those words in another language. Anyway, here's the glossary for the first two chapters, in order of appearance:

kappa - toad-demon. Also mentioned in the Harry Potter-books.

miko - shinto priestess, shrine maiden. Their taditional outfit consists of a white haori and a red hakama. No exceptions. Trivia: it is not uncommon for Japanese people to be shintoists as well as buddhists.

hanyou - half-demon

youkai - "demon", animal spirit would be a better description.

shikon no tama - jewel of four souls (shikon=jewel, tama=soul).

kyudo - "way of the bow" (as opposed to kendo or judo), a meditative form of archery.

hakama - trousers that are tied around the waist using two sets of ribbons. There are men's and women's hakama - men's hakama have a reinforced part in the back.

gi - a short-sleeved shirt worn underneath a haori. There is such a thing as an under-gi, as well.

haori - a long-sleeved top.

yumi - a bow made from bamboo. I don't know if there are separate words for longbows and "normal" bows, so yumi always refers to longbows.

teme - a very rude version of "you". InuYasha uses it primarily for Sesshomaru and Naraku.

kaze no kizu - wind scar (kaze=wind, kizu=scar). Not to be confused with kaze no kissu - wind kiss.

dai-youkai - great youkai, a youkai who possesses significantly more power than others.

inu - dog

zori - sandals. Some resemble flip-flops, but there are other versions, too.

hime - beautiful lady. Often used as a synonym for princess.

yuki - snow

kami - gods

youki - a youkai's power, which can manifest itself in many ways.