Once more, Lord Sesshoumaru found himself wasting time on his little brother and female. He wouldn't have minded, but the sudden bite and burning in his shoulder got his attention very well. He gracefully floated up, away from his brother and out of striking range. He blinked at the arrow that stuck out of his fur now, and then blinked down at the little miko. Had the pair drawn him into a trap? The nerve.. Did they think Kagome's petty arrows would have enough effect on him to drive him away? He smiled gently at that thought-almost laughed, actually.

He reached up and broke most of the shaft off, twirling the broken half in his hand for a moment before casting it away.

"This Sesshoumaru is not so easily vanquished, however..." To attack the miko would bring his brother in again. While he was far from finished fighting, Sesshoumaru knew when to back out and cut his losses. "I am finished with you for today, Inu Yasha. You may keep your lives a little longer."

Bleeding, armor shattered and an arrow head in his shoulder, Sesshoumaru rose up and into the clouds, out of sight before turning and headed back towards where he had left Rin, Jaken, and A and Un.

The runt had been in top form today, but for what reason? And had the Tessaiga strengthened once more? Sesshoumaru's brow shifted only the slightest as he pondered the possibilities.

It didn't take him long to return to 'camp' and find Rin napping, curled up against A and Un's belly and Jaken seated atop the two-headed dragon that Rin had so lovingly named with a bubble pulsing in rhythm with his slowed breathing of sleep. Sesshoumaru made barely a sound as he landed in the grass and strolled towards a nearby tree. For once, the little girl had a good idea. He would clean up later. Sesshoumaru slowly closed his eyes and fell into a light sleep.

He woke with the first sounds of Rin rousing, opening his eyes just enough to watch the girl sit up and stretch. Seeing Jaken wake as well, he opened his eyes fully, and watched the girl straighten her kimono before looking his way.

"Lord Sesshoumaru! You're awake!"

He closed his eyes for a moment. Again, she stated the obvious.

"Where are we headed today, m'lord?"

"Girl! Let Lord Sesshoumaru wake up before you start pestering him with your useless questions!" Jaken croaked.

Sesshoumaru paid their bickering no mind as he rose to his feet and sought out the river that was not too far.

"I will return." was all he said as he left.

He knew Rin and Jaken would feed themselves and be ready to leave by the time he got back. The river, he found, ended in a deep pool a little way downstream, and he took advantage of this. Carefully, he shed what was left of his armor before slowly working his way out of his two kimono. He would never admit that without his other arm, it was a bit of a struggle now. He scanned the area one last time to make sure he was completely alone.

((mind if other people jump in?))

go for it)

Black ears perked up with the sound of footsteps coming near. Kaisumi stood slowly every movment that of a hunting predator. She was a shifter not a demon but not human either. As a panther her senses were much sharper and she spent alot of time in such a manner. Prowling quietly toward the sound she shifted so that she walked on two legs. She came to the sound and discovered a man slipping into the pool fed by the stream. Her black lined eyes gleamed as she perched on a rock carefully facing away from the man. Her long raven colored hair was tossed over one shoulder a she spoke in a lofty tone.

"Not very polite to disturb a sleeping cat." She didn't bother to turn around when she spoke.

Sesshoumaru shifted his eyes to look at the cat. A quick sniff of her scent told him all he needed to know. She posed no threat to him. He wouldn't tell her how rude it was to trespass in someone else territory-especially his. Did she not realize that the felines had their territories in the south? The west was for him and the rest of the canines. Surely she was aware she would be killed or eaten. If she was too stupid to realize it, that was her problem. He blinked once at her.

"...Leave."

While he didn't care what she made of him-one arm or no-, he still had a sense of privacy he wasn't about to forsake for a stubborn feline.

Kaisumi closed her eyes tiliting her head back so her face was aimed skyward. She knew she was playing with fire. A cat in a dogs den but at the moment she didn't exactly care. She raised an eyebrow without otherwise shifting her position.

"And if I don't?"

The girl was naturally obstinate and didn't take lightly to commands. It was part of what led her there.

"I will make you leave." he said simply again. It wouldn't be difficult for him to. He was Sesshoumaru, the killing perfection, and he had been up against creatures far larger, far meaner, far faster and far stronger than this whelp of a shifter. True, she was neither demon nor human, but shifters posed the smallest threat to him. He let a bit of a smile creep over his lips, one that those who saw it instantly knew it was a bad thing. He wondered if this feline would listen to her instincts enough to know she was either running or dying within the next few seconds.

A dark laugh escaped Kaisumi's lips. It was often for her to be underestimated but rare for those who crossed her to live long. Though this was true she had no intention of attacking or running for that matter. Her voice was a lilting purr as she turned to stretch on the rock she had perched on.

"You think it you be easy don't you? To make me leave?"

She had caught the scent of his blood early on. It probably wouldn't hinder him much but she would call attention to it anyway.

"I'm really not in the mood to fight to be honest. Especially since you wouldn't exactly be at your best. Now where's the fun in that?.............Lord Sesshoumaru."

The girl realized who he was now. As a drifter she often heard of powerful demons and his name was often repeated.

It wasn't a surprise to him that she knew who he was. It was neither flattering nor impressive and he simply blinked at her, analyzing. It would be all too easy to just kill her off now, but he doubted the battle would be worth the effort. Instead he plucked Tokijin from his belt. The sword pulsed violent blue. "I will not ask again." he said cooly, unaffected by the purr in her voice or her reluctance to leave. He was Sesshoumaru, he would have his way one way or the other.

"Someone's grumpy!" Kay said in a singsong voice. She jumped out of a tree and landed beside her long-time fighting ally/enemy Sesshoumaru. "What crawled up your butt and died?" she asked, hands on her hips. She was intune with his moods and right now his mood was telling her to back off but she didn't care really. She loved bugging him at any point. She ignored the girl and focused all her attention of him. She smirked.

Placing her chin in one palm Kaisumi rolled her eyes skyward as was normal for her she had begun to lose intrest in what was going on around her. A terrible habit. She allowed her thoughts to wonder a bit before she heard the demon speak. Looking down at him with the espression of a lazy hunter she grinned.

"I can't say that I would expect you to."

Sighing she repositioned herself on her back drapping one arm across her middle and the other behind her head.

"Not that I would've listend if you did."

When the other girl came into the area Kaisumi simply sighed. The place was getting crowded but she was stubborn.

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes for a moment. Just what he needed, another annoying female. One he was willing to deal with, to shoo off, but Kei's (as it would be spelled in Japanese) arrival made cleaning up seem an impossible task now. Any other time he simply would have packed up and moved on, neither of them being worth his time, but still, for whatever reason that was beyond him, he felt the need to protect the little human girl back at camp. He would not lead these two to Rin. It was one of the few times he longed for his lost arm, if only so he could be finished with the both of them in one move.

He said nothing to Kei, simply glanced over at her with his usual look that told her 'now was not the time', not that she ever listened. As was his usual habit, he surveyed the both of them, weighed odds-those were easy- and balanced the usefulness of the fight with its required energy expenditure. It wasn't worth it. With an inaudible sigh he tucked Tokijin back into his belt and gathered his kimono in his arm. He didn't need the ruined armor. He kicked off the ground and rose into the air, high past the clouds. He could always find another river where he could be alone, even if at the price of lesser demons' lives.

Kaisumi allowed one eyelid to slide open as Sesshoumaru made his exit. A yawn slipped from her and delicate looking fangs caught the light briefly. "Amazing how quickly the highs and lows of my days pass by." Part of her mind considered following him and pushing more buttons but her current spot was peacefull and a good place to think. Glancing at the girl in the clearing she spoke again.

"I hope you don't plan on standing there all day."

Kay ignored the girl and took off into the trees, not giving the girl a second glance. She debated on follwing Lord Sesshoumaru but figured he was going back to the human girl and the demon. She didn't like the smell of the girl so she kept her distance. She giggled to herself, running amongst the treetops.

Sesshoumaru did, eventually, find another place to wash up-a nice hot spring this time- and he took his time relaxing. Rin was in good hands and A and Un would whisk her away if any danger came too close. He allowed himself to sigh as he lounged back against a rock, up to his navel in water. He clawed through his hair slowly, contemplating his previous fight with his brother and his female.

Surely Tessaiga had grown again, or perhaps Inu Yasha himself-the insufferable half-breed- was the one getting stronger. Conceivable; the mutt did, after all, have their father's blood running through his veins. Each time he was reminded of this, though, it made his stomach churn. How could his father bed a human? Princess she may have been, but a human none the less. His time with Rin had yet to show him what his father had seen in the mortal.

He paused, realizing he was on an unpleasant train of thought. There were better things to contemplate, like where he was going next. He had heard a rumor of Naraku being active in a mountain range not terribly far off to the north of where he was. He would go there and investigate. He WOULD have his revenge against THAT half-demon. Inu Yasha could wait..

Kasumi growled softly as a group of storm clouds rolled in ending her time in the sun. Her mind roamed wildly as she sat up and looked into the calm water. Her gaze brushed briefly over the abandoned armor before her attention was pulled upward by the rain that had begun to fall.

Shaking out her onyx hair Kaisumi allowed the shift to take place. Standing in the spot of the girl was a feline resembling a panter with a spalsh of silver running from her throat to the base of her chest. Digging her hind claws in the cat lept foreward covering the ground in long easy strides. The ground was hilled beneath the light paws as she weaved between the trees.

Kay reclined in a tree, loving the way the sun shaded her eyes. She thought back to the day that some Half-Demon mistaked her for some Ka-go-me or something like that. She shrugged it off and pushed her jet-black hair from her face. She scowled. "Stupid half-demon." She could still smell his scent and it frustrated her to no end. Not only that but she had figured out that this Ka-go-me was a human. Me! A human! Never! She wrinkled her nose in distaste.

(Mind if I join? My character has a crush on Seshomaru.)
A brown haired wolf demon was spiining in a cyclone. Her name was Catrina. Catrina of the wolf tribe. She had been looking for Sesshomaru everywhere. Just like Rin and Jaken she was a faithful servent to Sesshomaru.
"Lord Sesshomaru, where are you?" she called for her master. She hoped he wasn't in a fight with his brother Inuyasha. That half demon was always causing trouble for her master. She hated when they foght. Inuyasha was an enemy of her brother. If you haven't guessed it all ready she is the sister of Koga from the wolf tribe.

Sesshoumaru dried off and dressed-with minor difficulty- and headed back to his camp. By now, Rin and Jaken were roasting fish over a fire for lunch. He was met with the normal chorus of 'welcome back m'lord's and 'you were gone so long's, which he let pass as Rin ran up to him with a pair of skewered fish, which he took. He gave a quick pat to A and Un before settling in by the fire to eat. Above the smoke and smell of fish, he caught another scent on the wind.

Ookami. Wolf.

It wasn't quite Kouga's scent, but it was the same smell of the mountains. A wolf from his tribe? He turned his head to catch the breeze better. The wolf was coming from the northwest. He set the fish aside, ignoring Jaken's worried cries about Sesshoumaru's lack of armor, and stood to wait for and meet the coming wolf. At least it wasn't those irritating felines again. He didn't want Rin to be witness to such violence.

Rin noticed Sesshoumaru's attention was elsewhere and stood with him, looking the way he did. "...Lord Sesshoumaru..? Is something coming?"

Sesshoumaru inclined his head just barely, which she had learned was as good as a nod and she took her fish and scampered over to hide between A and Un's paws.

"So that's the little smelly thing," Kay muttered to herself as she sat in the trees, watching as Rin ran to A and Un. She was debating on leaving or staying. If she stayed she'd probably get killed...but if she left then she'd be bored out of her mind. She sighed, resting her head on her hand. What to do, what to do? Decisions, decisions....In the end she stood, not really ready to die today. She figured she'd go relax in the springs until she found something to do. She turned and dashed off, away from Sesshoumaru and to the the springs.