"Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like."

~Lao Tzu

After the excitement of last night, it was time to start a new day. Again Kohaku wokeup beside the lizard, correction, dragon, this time feeling less stressed. Her mind was still trying to comprehend the situation, but it didn't make her panic as much this time. She will have to do what she always does; persevere through the madness.

The sun was still low, meaning it wasn't too dark, but it wasn't bright out either, with muchof the surrounding area barely visible to an average human. The shadows from the trees looked ominous, like willowy monsters watching from afar. The fire from last night had already burned out, leaving only charred sticks and ash behind.

She let out a small yawn and stretched out the stiffness from sleeping on the ground. Feeling that satisfying pop, she let her blurry eyes wander, searching for the man (Sesshomaru was his name). She didn't see him at first until her vision finally cleared enough to see that he was standing a little ways from her, his gaze towards the surrounding woods.

Despite him having shown little emotion so far, Kohaku couldn't deny that Seshomaru was a beautiful man. And she remembers that yesterday he claimed to be a lord, which could explain his regal and clean appearance. She would even say she felt slightly jealous of him; she bet his hair was way easier to manage than hers could be.

"It's rude to stare, you know!" a voice screeched at her. Confused, Kohaku stared at the imp next to her, who was angrily staring back at her, its bulbous eyes narrowed. This is the first she stopped to look at the demon and take in his appearance.

The imp was tiny and green-skinned. It appeared male, but she wasn't sure; one can never assume nowadays. His mouth was big, almost like a bird's beak. His eyes were large with a yellow sclera, while the pupil was just a black pinprick, the size of his eyes almost taking half his face. And his ears were pointy, like how Seshomaru's was as well. He wore a simple brown robe with yellow sode-kukuri laced on the cuffs and open shoulders, a white undershirt, and light brown baggy pants. He also had no shoes and what seemed like two toes, with a small black hat tied to his head and a white strap under his chin.

"What?" she asked. She didn't know what he said, but she didn't think it was anything pleasant. Seeing that she didn't understand, the tiny imp ranted and raved at her; all the while, she just stared at him in confusion. From the corner of her eye, she saw movement.

Turning and ignoring the imp, she saw the handsome lord walking gracefully toward her. He held her open sketchbook in his left hand with a new message on it. He handed it to her before he swiftly turned and headed towards the trees, the imp following quickly behind after giving her a stink eye. Even more confused, especially since she had just woken up (she's a real airhead after waking from any sleep), she looked down and read the message.

"When you are fully awake, mount your belongings on the dragon and put their masks back on before following me. I will take you to the nearest human village, where you may find the answers you seek. Take too long, and you will be left to fend for yourself, so do not test my patience."

The note was short and straight to the point. She could comprehend that if she didn't get up now, her chances of getting answers were cut to zero. Closing the book, she quickly shook the leftover sleepy fog from her brain and speedily got to work to follow the lord.

She had fallen asleep on her bag, so she didn't have to look for that, and the dragon wasn't far either; they were already up and grazing on some nearby grass. Hefting up her bag, she clumsily walked over and tried to strap her backpack to the saddle upon the dragon's back, something she didn't remember seeing yesterday. It took a few attempts, but she finally got the bag to hook onto the side and stay on her fifth try.

"You ready to go?" she asked the right head while the left had stopped eating to sniff at her hair. They cocked their head before bowing slightly to allow her access to the saddle. Seeing a slight bulging poach on the side, she went inside, pulling out two black masks with ornate silver metal designs, with reins attached. Carefully she slid the masks onto both heads, scratching them behind the ears, feeling their skin was scaley and soft.

Giving them one last scratch and a pat, she hefted herself up and got comfortable on the saddle. Taking the reigns firmly, she ushered the dragon towards the direction Sesshomaru left.

It only took about fifteen minutes for them to catch up, which was good because if she didn't have the dragon to ride on, there's no telling how long it would have taken for her to follow behind. Sesshomaru barely acknowledged her presence, just giving her a bored side eye while still maintaining his leisure pace.

It wasn't long before the tiny demon was mouthing off again. Its little hands grasped firmly onto a weird staff she was now taking note of (Which was strange since the thing was twice its size). It was long and made of wood. It looked well crafted with the way the two heads on it had so much detail to them. One head was of an older man with a long white beard, his face carved in a way where he was laughing with his eyes closed. The other head was that of a woman who looked like she was having a peaceful rest, her long black hair winding along the staff halfway. It was a cool-looking staff, she will admit.

"Hey? Little creature? What's your name?" Kohaku tried to ask the imp. It stopped blabbering once it noticed she was trying to talk to it. "What do you want, stupid girl?" it angrily screeched at her, waving the staff at her in a threatening manner. She knew the language barrier would cause a problem, so she put her charade skills into play.

"Kohaku." she said while pointing towards herself, "You?" she then pointed towards it.

"Leave me be stupid, girl! I don't do not know what you are saying, idiot!" it rudely replied. Seeing that she was getting nowhere with it, she reached down to the side of the saddle towards her bag. Digging inside with one hand while the other kept the reins secured, she fished out her sketchbook and a pen. Steading herself, she quickly wrote a message before tossing the open at the imp to read.

"What is your name? How old are you? You are a guy, right? I like your staff. It looks very cool."

She only wrote a little, but it was a start. Starting to feel slightly excited, she waited patiently for the imp to return her book with answers. But the creature was just plain stupid. After reading her message, it threw her book back at her, and it did not look happy. But so far, she hasn't seen it happy.

"I am the great Jaken! How dare you insult me, you filthy witch? I am Lord Sesshomaru's most devoted and loyal vassal! And I will not allow some foreigner witch to disrespect me!" it ranted. Threatenligly it held up its staff as if to strike. After putting her stuff back, Kohaku gripped tightly to the reins and prepared herself to fight back all because of what seemed to be a miscommunication.

"Jaken. Stand down, or I will kill you." Sesshomaru warned, only briefly turning a wicked glare at the imp. "Yes, my lord." the imp (Jaken is its, no his, name from what she was able to clue together.) whimpered, only momentarily giving her the stink eye before continuing to follow the silvered-haired man.

For the rest of the trip, she decided to stay quiet. It wasn't long, maybe twenty or so minutes, when they came upon the opening of the woods. They were up on a small hill, leading down a path to a little village. She could see people in old feudal-era clothing, some working in the fields, some washing clothes while others tended to animals and children. She could also see a tall structure in the middle of the village with a small platform at the top. And it had a person on top who was pointing and looking straight at the group.

Sesshpmaru didn't see all that bothered and just kept walking towards the village. Still, she followed behind, and as they got closer, she heard shouts from the villagers and saw men armed with spears and bows lining up at the gate. Standing with them at the front was an older woman with tied back long grey hair and an eyepatch-wearing what she knew to be traditional priestess clothing from the Edo period of Japan.

Once they got to the gate, she could feel the tension in the air. Kohaku heard the priestess woman saying something she couldn't understand, but she guessed it was a threat or something of the like. Sesshomaru said something to the woman that caused her eyes to shift and narrow suspiciously at Kohaku before her eyes widened suddenly. The older woman then exchanged some more words with the lord until an agreement was made between them. The older then spoke some words to the armed men around her that made them lower their weapons, but it didn't make the tension leave their shoulders.

Satisfied with his agreement with the old priestess Sesshomaru, he came over to Kohaku, took her sketchbook from her bag, and quickly wrote something down. Once done, he handed her the book and said something to the dragon before turning away from her and the village, never looking back as he walked back toward the forest with Jaken going right along.

Everything was happening too fast. Kohaku did not know what was going on. Why was Sesshomaru leaving? Why did the old priestess lady look at her with wonder and questions in her eyes? Fingering that just sitting there won't solve anything, she read what the lord left her.

"Figure out what you need on how to get home from the old priestess. I will be in the area for three days; you will be on your own. The dragon will stay with you for the three days I'm in the area. Once the days are up, it will leave and return to me."

Thats it? Was he going to leave her here with a bunch of unknowns? She felt lost, and she thinks she felt a little hurt. She wasn't sure.

Feeling a tap on her left leg, she snapped out of the little daze she was in and saw the old priestess standing there. She motioned for her to get off of the dragon and follow her. "I am aware you can't understand me, child. Come with me. There is much to discuss," the priestess softly spoke. Kohaku went along, not understanding much, but she felt that this old lady could help her about getting home and if this place was just a dream.