Chapter 65 - Wolves

"Jaken, what's all this commotion?"

The air was thick with tension, it fairly crackled with the heat of it. Even the birds in the trees had ceased their cheerful singing. As if the yokai lord himself influenced the atmosphere. Rin's chilling fear, only strengthened his resolve, swelling the intensity of his focus on the wolf pack before him. Initially when stepping into the clearing, Sesshomaru had believed it was just a random pack of wolves... but upong nearing them, the scent that touched his nose was the exact same as the scent that had clung to Rin's clothes. The same clothing she had died in. It was a scent he would not easily forget, since it was burned into his memory with the images of her tiny broken and torn body on the ground. Had he been given a moment, it was likely that Sesshomaru could even have picked out the precise wolves who had torn Rin apart on that forest path so many many months ago. When Sesshomaru stepped in front of Jaken, and Rin who huddled behind the imp, his eyes never left the pack who stood before him. The canines hesitated, swinging their heads as to not meet his eyes, and taking cautious but tiny steps backward.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin whimpered when she saw him, without hesitation she hurried over to the yokai Lord, abandoning her hiding place behind the imp. She made a mewling noise of fear, it sounded much like a kitten. The sound drew forth a fierc fire in his chest, the snarling canine that he truly was rising just beneath the surface. He couldn't see where Rin was hiding behind him, but he felt her grasp and cling to his mokomoko.

The two wolf demons looked at him, still frozen in their fighting stance - which had initially been aimed toward Jaken. Understandably, they'd likely thought that they could successfully battle the imp. But at this particular moment, their eyes were wide as they looked up at the yokai lord who stood before them.

"Who're you and what do you want?" Said the skinnier one.

"You lookin' for a fight?" Added the other.

Want to fight me, do you? Sesshomaru's gold eyes, which had been intense and hard, narrowed dangerously. Gold glinting like steel in the sunlight. The two demons blanched, all color draining from their faces as sweat beaded almost instantly on their skin.

"We're going to leave... but it ain't outta fear!"

"Yeah- you don't scare us mister!" Bold words, as the scrawny wolf demons, and their pack of mutts turned and raced away as fast as their feet would carry them. Sesshomaru watched them run, until they vanished into the distance. Slowly, his anger melted.

I could have slaughtered them... avenged Rin's first death. But, would it have traumatized her more, to see their bodies cleaved and bloody? He wasn't certain. To this point, he'd made at least some attempt to shield her from the violence of the world of demons. The one failure being Naraku's kidnapping. He had no intention of willingly subjecting her to the bloodshed which he had been raised with. Slowly, he felt Rin release his fur, as she peeked around his right arm. "Well Rin." Sesshomaru said, his voice and eyes had lost their flinty edge.

"Yes?" She said, her brown eyes wide as she looked up at him from her place at his side.

"Weren't you going to catch yourself some fish?"

The smile Sesshomaru had been hoping for, burst across her face like a sunrise. "Oh! Yes!"

The fear from Rin that had filtered through their bond, was gone, it was replaced by the dull warm glow that he knew to be her presence. The warmth was muted, by the barrier he'd fortified his mind with, not wishing to taint her youthfulness with his darkness... but it lingered there on the fringes of his consciousness nonetheless. With joyful eagerness, Rin left his side and hurried toward the water. Apparently, no longer afraid that the wolves would return. She has complete faith that I will protect her. That sort of trust, was no small wonder to Sesshomaru. No being he'd met had trusted him so implicitly, or viewed him with such earnest devotion. Even Jaken, who'd been with him for centuries, doubted his lord's abilities much of the time. Sesshomaru's thoughts wandered, as Rin and Jaken splashed about in the water, catching fish and playing in their odd but pleasant way.

Sesshomaru allowed them to linger until it began nearing sunset. Rin had refilled the sack with fish, along a stash of nuts that she had found from a nearby tree. It would keep her filled for a couple days, though Sesshomaru had decided that it would soon become necessary to send Jaken into the villages to purchase a wider variety of foods for Rin. Fruits mainly, things that were less frequently available this season, in the wilds of the forests and mountains. Loading the newly filled sack of food onto A-un, they readied to begin traveling again. They were nearing the mountainous regions, or would be in the next few days. If there was no further sign of Naraku, Sesshomaru believed it may be necessary to start searching closer to human occupied areas of the region.

Cheerfully, Jaken and Rin chatted about what fish they would eat for dinner, as they began walking through the woods once more. Rin was perched atop A-un, while Jaken waddled along at his lord's feet. It was a contented sort of coheisve group. The yokai watched the two beings in his care thoughtfully, listening to their conversation and banter as they walked through the trees. In a vague distant way, Sesshomaru was beginning to wonder if "home" was less of a physical place, and more of a feeling. Or even a sensation. It was a thought that would linger in the back of his mind for a long time after that.