Angelus

Author note: I hope you enjoy this story. The mature rating will however start to be explained in the following chapters, so be warned!

Chapter 4

The smell of cooking meat brought her out of her sleep. Sitting up, Kitana was surprised to find the whole carcass of a deer at the far edge of the camp. Beside the bonfire, small strips of meat pinned upon sticks were slowly roasting, and many other stick where pinned in the ground, further from the fire. The little Rin was hungrily watching the meat as cooking juices spluttered when they fell on the hot rocks that surrounded the fire. Jaken was making other sticks, his small body covered in blood as if he had been the one who cleansed the large carcass and prepared the meat. Which was probably what happened, she thought.

Sesshomaru was sitting on a small boulder, seemingly relax, his pristine white clothes denying the fact that he was the hunter of the deer. But she could not imagine the kappa or the child killing an adult deer, she was not sleepwalking, and there was nobody else around who could have done that. How that man managed to keep himself so fresh and stainless while hunting an animal in the dense woods, she wondered. His voice brought her out of her musings.

“Stop making us wait for you. You will come and eat, Kitana.”

His cold tone was clearly a mask. For Kitana, it was no big feat to detect the pride of the hunter that he hid so well behind this icy voice of him. She carefully rose from her resting place and approached the campfire, and as she sat Rin quickly glued herself to her side, already starting to eat the half-cooked meat. The little girl was clearly happy to see her new friend still amongst them, but she knew her master would not be pleased if she voiced it out loud, so she chose subtle physical demonstration instead. As subtle as a child her age could be.

“I did not think you would resort to poisoning me”, Kitana commented to the cold lord. “With all those swords at your side, I have to say I am surprised that you would prefer such an indirect way of doing what I asked of you. I just hope you made sure Rin wouldn’t touch my intended part. As for Jaken, you are the judge.”

How could she put all his efforts to waste and imply he would dirty his honour and endanger the life of his ward in three short and simple phrases! It was completely unacceptable. But he was prepared for it this time. The woman’s temper was fierce and bitter, but they could play this game together.

“Do not tempt me, woman, poisoning your food would indeed be a good way to remove you from my sight. The meat is perfectly edible.”

“… Pardon me, but… I wouldn’t say so…”

Irritated, he bore his gaze into her peculiar eyes.

“After seeing your fangs and claws, This Sesshomaru came to the conclusion that you could safely be considered a meat eater. The probability that you were a grass-eating creature was… scant, at best. However if herbs suit you best, there is a nice meadow just below the hill. Ah-Un would surely not mind sharing his sustenance with you. Please help yourself.”

He was amazed to see mirth starting to appear in her eyes. It was not the reaction he expected from her. It was not the reaction he would have had. Mentally sighing, he decided he should be glad that his response triggered something in her other than the desire to end her days. That was… a beginning. He would eventually find how to instil anger and rage into her, it was just a matter of time.

She shook her head, a sad smile showing up on her lips.

“It’s not that, Sesshomaru. I am indeed a… predator, but your meat is not… fresh enough for my needs.”

That was it. She was strongly poking at his breaking point once again, completely overstepping her boundaries. It was easy to see that his deer was freshly killed; the scent coming from the carcass was that of fresh blood and teared-up muscles, not that of decaying meat, and the heart was still beating when his retainer cut it open to clean it.

Jaken was aghast, his beak couldn’t open wider than it did at the moment and his eyes would simply pop out of his head if his blood pressure rose a little bit higher. He could already see her head rolling on the dirty ground, her body reduced to shreds by his lord’s claws and energy whip. Then he would surely revive her, to kill her again in a much, much worse way. Yes, that was all she deserved, and it was well-deserved as no one should insult the Great Lord Sesshomaru and his mighty retainer and walk away from it alive. As the corner of his mouth started to climb into a grin, he froze. Things were not going as planned. Instead of the sweet sound of splattered blood, it was the icy-cold voice of his master that reached his ears.

“And what, exactly, does not please you in this meat?” Sesshomaru answered viciously.

Kitana hesitated, frozen in place. So, there was a limit to her rudeness, he thought. She really looked ashamed of herself, and he was glad that the impertinence of her behaviour finally came to light in her mind. Apologies would surely be quick to follow. And tears, as most regretful females shed them to soften up the males so they would accept their plea. But he could deal with that. Really, it would please him to accept her deep apologies. He would –

“It is… too… dead, you see?” she whispered, looking away from him.

One of his brow rose, his eyes opening slightly more than usually. Then understanding flashed in his eyes and the other brow joined the first one under his silver bangs. He rose to his feet, inviting her to join him.

“Then let us find some meat that is less… dead, shall we?”

She gave him a puzzled look. “Why?”

His intense gaze locked with her mesmerizing black and gold eyes.

“Do not question This Sesshomaru.”

The girl did not move, calmly waiting for an answer that would suit her. The taiyoukai never before encountered such a hard-headed being, and he would make sure to remember that sparing a life could only lead to disastrous consequences. Rin had to be an exception.

“You have to build back your health, only then you will be strong enough to fend off Naraku’s tentatives to capture you. Until then, you represent a danger so you will stay under This Sesshomaru’s responsibility. The faster you heal and get stronger, by feeding yourself correctly and training your body, the faster you will be rid of me and free to go die elsewhere.”

Not breaking eye contact, Kitana sensed no deception in the taiyoukai. He was genuinely offering to shelter, feed and train her, even though this decision blatantly originated from his desire to be freed from her. And now, he was clearly inviting her to a hunt. Although she felt weaker than ever before, and did not want to linger much longer in this world, she knew she couldn’t decline his offer. If he would not kill her, and this Naraku guy would only take advantage of her, she would have to be strong enough to find another one interested in ending her miserable life. And of course, strong enough to repel Naraku’s attempt at capturing her, on her own. A new determination came to her eyes, as she rose to follow him. Her eyes fixed upon him, she answered his declaration with one of her own.

“Hear my words Sesshomaru. I will never be enslaved. Never again. You can count on that.” With large strides, she moved pass him toward the forest.

He was perplexed by her words. So she had been a slave, had she? How could it be possible with the powers she manipulated, he did not know, but he would make sure to question her on this subject later. He joined her and soon the hunt began.

He was following the scent of a young, adolescent deer. Probably the young of the doe he caught earlier, he told himself. Kitana was following him, not really taking care of what he was doing. Really, he thought, this woman didn’t seem very familiar with hunting her own food, or she would be much more alert of her surroundings. Sighing inwardly, he smelled the air for the deer’s scent, which was still a good way ahead of them.

“Why did you spare the wind witch’s life?”, he asked.

What he really wanted to know is why he himself hadn’t been hurt by the two murderous, strange attacks she used in battle. Not that he could have been hurt, that was a ridiculous thought, but that was the point. She didn’t even try.

Kitana didn’t know what to answer. She had been surprised to see the witch escape unscathed from her attacks, and hadn’t given much thought to the subject until now.

“I think… I was in fact trying to avoid killing you. I tried to target the creatures emitting evil intentions toward myself. She was probably attacking me against her own will, harbouring no ill intent, even though she seemed pretty angered by my last attack. That’s the only way she could have survive those blasts”, she answered with a low voice.

Sesshomaru nodded, his intuition confirmed. The girl didn’t want to hurt him. That was good to know. Catching up on his prey’s track, he became silent again and resumed his hunt.

Kitana had already scanned the area for a potential meal, but found nothing suitable in a large radius. She would have to go far from there if she wanted to sustain herself. Shaking her head in defeat, she looked at the back of the taiyoukai. He was clearly tracking some scent, and she would not intervene, for her sense of smell was not much better than that of a human. Really she thought, this guy was something else. She had met long-lived creatures before of course, but ones still young after 10 or 11 human life spans were very rare. He was powerful too, that was the first thing she remembered feeling about him. What kind of power did he harboured she had no idea. However something else in this world was stronger than him, for he did not try to hide the fact that his left arm was missing. It was not a birth handicap, as the man was sometimes starting to move as if he was about to use the missing limb, and then change his motion as he remembered its loss. Contrarily to most handicapped males, he wasn’t ashamed of it at all and acted as if his power had not been diminished in the slightest because of it. He was indeed a dangerous element in her life, who strangely brought her a sense of security.

She almost bumped in his back when he came to an abrupt stop. Realizing what made him stop, she stilled. A creature similar to the one that was roasting in the camp was eating some plants amongst the trees, a couple of hundred feet from them. So that was what he intended her to eat… Shivering and shaking her head again, she realized he had turned and was now looking straight at her.

“I hope you know how to hunt your own food?”

That was it. Her humiliation would cease right there and then, she thought. This long-lived youkai would learn that she was not one to back away from challenges, as small and insignificant as they were. She was sure she couldn’t eat that thing, but she would try, just in case. Without a sound, she jumped straight up in a nearby tree and reached a low branch, silently laddering up in the tree’s foliage until he loose sight of her.

His brows were once again up in his bangs. What was she up too? The deer was straight ahead, ready to die, a simple sprint and then a short pursuit amongst the trees would have done the job. Or was she trying to escape from him? Frowning, that was when he discovered that he couldn’t track her scent. Sniffing the air, he met no lingering trace that gave her position away. How odd, for no creature he knew of had no scent, even after a bath. She should at least smell like the lower youkai she fought against earlier, like his ward and retainer who stayed close to her physically, like him, but there was no trace of these scents either.

As he was lost in his conjectures, his eyes caught a sudden movement ahead. Kitana was wrapped around the deer, holding it firmly with both her arms and tail, rendering its long legs inefficient at fleeing away. For once in a long time, he was surprised by the technique. She had stealthily moved across the tree branches, and let herself fall upon her unsuspecting prey. He moved toward her to see if she would need help in making the kill, but froze dead in his track. From what he saw, she was not going to kill the deer. Not yet.

Her neck was bent over the nape of the young deer, her body covering its back, and she was immobile. A small rivulet of blood appeared from the place she was obviously biting at. The deer was reduced to immobility by her hold, but he was unnaturally still. Sesshomaru was growing more and more uncomfortable, the whole display had something in it that he felt only once in his life, and that he had hoped never to feel again. That was the day of the snake bandit death in the cocoon cave. As much as the occurrences where different, one terrible and the second peaceful, both times a detestable feeling made its way to his consciousness. The dreaded feeling of being nothing more than a prey.

He almost jumped when she suddenly struck at the deer with one clawed hand, opening its belly. A guttural scream came from the dying beast as its intestines spilled on the floor and a sudden burst of life came back to it. She continued to drink at its neck despite its struggling, but her hand and tail were now making large wounds on the animal’s flanks and abdomen, literally tearing it apart alive. Only its neck was left alone. After minutes that felt like hours, in a shudder, the deer passed. Its body fell on the ground, lifeless and almost unrecognizable.

This gruesome demonstration left Sesshomaru speechless. Most demons were bestial creatures, and the humans were not far behind in their abilities to be cruel, but for most of them respect was due to the creatures that gave away their life to feed another. He was starting to reconsider his decision not to kill her, when something truly unexpected happened. She was struggling to get up, wobbling, and felt to her knees beside the carcass.

Kitana felt sick. Very sick. This poor beast had nothing in it that she could feed upon, even after wounding it severely to make its heart beat faster and project the so-needed nourishment into her, the nature of its blood never changed. There was nothing in there that she could absorb. Now her entire body was rebelling and telling her clearly that she should have followed her instinct, should have gone after the faraway preys and left this animal alone. Her whole body was violently rejecting the meal she just made, and she would not surrender to it. Not in front of Sesshomaru, who was looking at her as dispassionately as always, while his soul sent waves after waves of intense disgust. She was ashamed of herself, and not ready to let him in her secrets, not after seeing such a reaction from him. She fought back the nausea while she rose, straightened her back, gave the taiyoukai a challenging stare and when he did not answer back, she started going back to the camp. Or more precisely, to the river near the camp.