There was a man, no, not a man, a demon. Full blood. Black feline ears popped up through his shoulder length dark brown hair. He stood next to another full demon, a… fire spirit. She was beautiful with fire red hair, streaks of orange and yellow here and there. They embraced and kissed… then faded…

                A creature, seemingly mixed between cat and fire, stood next to a human woman, where they too kissed before the man faded. The woman then turned to her other side where she began kissing a human man, and then finally, both faded…

                Then stood Lenezma and Taire. But Taire faded shortly after, leaving only Lenezma.

                Her eyes turned completely azure, her slit eyes as thin as possible. She suddenly burst into flames and grew larger, the flames covering the outline of a large creature. As soon as the flames dispersed, a large, vicious cat stood there, fangs bared, claws unsheathed. She was pure white with brownish-black spots covering her body, the tip of her tail covered in a ball of flame. The creature reared its head back and made a screeching roar, then looked at a tiny village that appeared at its feet where it roared again, flames shooting out of its mouth, destroying the village… The master’s mansion included. The beast began catching parts of the forest on fire… but then a different row of pearly white fangs flash by, heading straight for the beast…

                Lenezma shot awake, eyes wide, gasping for air. Her senses became alert, and she looked around, noticing she was in her room, the sun nearly hidden beyond the horizon, Taire still asleep at her side.

                She got out from under the covers and covered Taire back up. She knew she wouldn’t be getting any sleep for a little while yet, still hearing the party continue down the hall. “How can they do that? I’m part demon and can’t even go on like that,” she muttered under her breath. Even if I am a cat demon!

                She sat at her mirror dresser and stared for a short moment, smelling the vase full of red carnations next to her, which she picked and arranged herself.

                Lenezma opened a drawer and pulled out a small pot with a lid and set it on the dresser, along with a small cask filled with some other gooey liquid.

                She opened the first pot, holding a mysterious cream, which she gently massaged into her skin at the base of her neck.

                She put the pot away and opened the small cask, putting a tiny drop on her finger, then barely tapped her eyes with it, and blinked wildly. It stung, but it had to be done. The liquid began fusing with her eyes, making the pupils normal, and concealing the glow.

                Folding her ears back, she slipped the fake ears back over them. Finally, she pulled out a different pot and began rubbing the lotion on her face, neck, arms, and parts of her legs, blocking her demonic scent from even the strongest noses.

                She even made sure all of her clothes were washed with a type of soap that was able to hide any trace of demon scent. She washed her own clothes, just to make sure they were free; after all, she was the clothes washer of the mansion… as well as cook and cleaner.

                She put all of her remedies away and looked over herself, making sure everything was taken care of. She was just about to walk off when she did see something. She grabbed a section of her hair and could see silver hairs coming through.

                You’d normally think she’d freak out, being so young and all, instead, she reached into her drawer and grabbed another cream. She wet the hair down and then rubbed the cream in, instantly blending the silver in with the dark chocolate brown. Alas, another part of demonic heritage that she had to conceal.

                Lenezma got enough questions about her brown hair – what would they think if they saw silver?

                She went behind the screen and changed into another pale yellow kimono, and put her hair back up. She had just finished with everything when she could hear footsteps approaching, and then stop right in front of her door.

                She sniffed the air… Dolce. What did he want now?

                He’d had a crush on Len ever since she and Taire were first brought to the manor to work,; she was eleven then, making Taire only four. Dolce was the master and mistress’s son, a few months younger than herself. Though he’d taken to her quite well, she ignored him, kept him distant.

                Besides, he wasn’t her type. She didn’t know what it was, but there was just something about him that repelled her.

                He knocked on the door and swallowed hard. He wasn’t used to going to her room – wasn’t used to girls in general as hard as he tried to befriend Lenezma.

                His parents had kept a close eye on him even before Lenezma came, judging every female he came in contact with, even a servant girl who brought a loaf of bread to the manor.

                Len opened the door and smiled when she saw him, “Yes?”

                “Hey, uh, listen… is Taire awake yet?”

                “Not yet, why?”

                “My father, the master, he wants you guys to come down to the main hall right away.” Figures, he just had to mention his dad was the Lord of the mansion –which they’d just moved into. They’d come from a manor southeast of here, apparently inheriting this one from a family member or another.

                “Uh, sure… Thank you,” she said and shut the door. Dolce wanted to say something, but couldn’t think of anything. After the door shut, he sighed with disappointment at himself and walked back to the main hall.

                Len wiped the stupid smile off her face and walked over to Taire’s bed, angry that she had to wake her up so quickly. “But it’s what the master wants!” she mocked. And Dolce hadn’t even bothered to apologize!!

                She never liked the master, that’s why she always had the glare when she was forced to be around him. She and Taire were found nearly five years ago and brought to him; he bought them from the man and put them to work almost immediately, even little Taire.

                But after the forest incident, she started hating the master even more. She tried to warn him in a way he wouldn’t suspect anything of her, but he just ignored her like usual. Since they had just moved here from a distant village, no one knew of the dangers nearby or the story behind the beautiful, yet eerie, forest.

                But most of all, Lenezma hated him for the way he treated her. He was nice to all the servants except for her, treating her like dirt. The only reason she stayed was because Taire was well taken care of, and that’s all Len could wish for: Taire’s safety. After all, that is what got them into this.

                “Taire? Taire?” she lightly shook the young girl awake.

                She opened her lazy eyes and looked up at Len, “What’s the matter? Did I sleep in again? I’m sorry…”

                Len couldn’t help but smile at her; she was the only one that could get a real smile out of Lenezma. “No, nothing like that. I’m sorry, but the master is calling, he wants both of us to come down soon,”

                “Mmm…” she grumbled. “Why?”

                “I’m not sure. But that’s what we’re going to go find out, all right? Come on, up we go…”

                She helped Taire up and helped her dress since she was too sleepy to do it all by herself. They walked to the door and shut it behind them, heading down to the main hall.

                “Glad you could join us,” the master said impatiently.

                “My apologies, my Lord… We came as fast as we could,” Len bowed, not even daring to blame it on Taire.

                “Hmph!” He turned to the rest of the crowd, who were mostly guests, a few other house workers, a large grin on his face. “I have called all of you back here again, to tell you that in just a few short minutes, we’re heading back to the forest!!”

                All of them broke out into cheers, glad to hear it, all but Len, who was now scared. She cautiously looked down at Taire, who obviously didn’t know what was going on, still too tired to concentrate on anything except keeping her eyes open and staying on her feet. They may have been lucky enough to avoid running into the head demon in the forest, but he would surely be in wait for them this time.

                She couldn’t risk Taire’s life again! “My Lord, I must object to this, I…”

                “Shut up!” he smacked her across the face. “You keep your damned mouth shut! I don’t give a damn if you have a bad feeling about the place! You’re full of suspicion is all!”

                Len, misleadingly affected by the slap, opened her mouth to protest yet again, but stopped herself.

                “Now, get to the kitchen and help take the goods down to the woods! And for god’s sake, woman! Wear something decent!” he yelled at her before turning his back on her.

                Len bit her lip. “Yes, my Lord.” she bowed. Calm down, it’s okay… I don’t give a damn if they get killed, it’s Taire I’m concerned about… But that wasn’t the only thing she was ticked about – he told her to put a better kimono on! This was one of her best ones!

                Everyone started to leave the house, a few others going to the kitchen to help carry the kegs of alcohol out to the party sight.

                Len returned to her room where she pulled out the lone six items of clothing she could wear, grabbing the nicest one she had. It was dark green with red lining and small red berries. She then went down to the kitchen where Taire waited for her. They grabbed two small kegs and followed everyone out of the house and into the dark forest.

                By the time they got to the small clearing, the sun was set nearly an hour. People had lanterns set up around the small clearing to light the place up, attempting lighten up the dark and mysterious trees. All the way there, Len kept a strong look out for the demon, all of her senses alert. When they got to the same clearing they were in the night before, she could smell him very strongly. He couldn’t have showed up long after they had already left; so what was stopping him from keeping an eye on the place?

                She set the keg down next to the others and tried smelling him out, pushing the smell of alcohol away… His scent was old, meaning he left a long time ago, but… as hard as she tried, she couldn’t catch the fresh scent of a demon. But that wasn’t the only scent she found: there was another, much weaker demon scent as well as… a human? A human girl at that. But what would a human be doing with a powerful demon like the one she sensed?

                Len and Taire stayed out of the festivities and drunken stupor of everyone else. Dolce came up to them then. He hadn’t drank the other night, and wasn’t drinking tonight either, he mostly enjoyed watching everyone act stupid as drunk as they were.

                “Come on Lenezma, join in the dance,”

                “Where’s the music?” she said coldly.

                “Ah, come on! You don’t need music to dance! Come on, just one, please?” But Len just stared at him. “Then what about you Taire? You feel up for a dance?”

                Taire replied weekly, having never been asked to dance for anything. “I don’t know, I…”

                Len put her hand on Taire’s shoulder abruptly, stopping her from speaking. Dolce and Taire looked at her funny as she looked towards the woods to the right of her, as if seeing something move in the bushes. She turned to Dolce, “No she can’t. Now if you’ll excuse us, we’re taking a walk,” she spoke hastily with a tone he’d never heard come from her voice.

                “I’ll come with you,” he offered politely.

                “No!” she yelled. He looked at her confused. She calmed her voice and spoke softly, “We’re taking a bathroom break – I’d forgotten Taire had to go! Besides, your parents might get ideas if they noticed the both of us gone,” she made a sly smile. Also fake.

                “Heh, yeah, you’re right. All right, but be careful and don’t wander far! I’ll be waiting for you to return!” he said, grinning wildly at Len.

                Len just turned, holding Taire’s hand, and walked into the forest. After moving a good deal away from them, Taire looked up at her sister, “What’s the matter, Leny? I don’t have to go…”

                “I think he’s near.”

                Taire’s heart nearly skipped a beat. “You mean…?”

                “Yes, now just be quiet.” she squinted her eyes a bit, her cat like abilities returning to her, allowing her to see in the forest as clear as day. “Follow me,”

                She led Taire straight into a tiny opening in the trees. “We’ll hide here for a little bit, all right?”

                Taire nodded. She sat down on a rock and stared at the ground, which she could faintly see due to the tiny bit of moonlight shining down. “Hey… What are these?” she asked, picking tiny objects up off the ground. Len paid no attention, staying alert for any signs of the demon coming near their exact location. “They’re rose petals… I wonder who crushed these roses?” Taire asked.

                “Rose petals?” Len asked, suddenly interested at who would do something like that, being the gardener she is. She sat on her knees and picked two of them up herself. She loved the feel of flower petals, the look and aromas they gave off… exactly why she collected flowers for her room as often as she could.

                She sniffed the petal, hoping it would still hold some of its scent on it, but that’s not the scent she picked off from them. She dropped the petals and commanded Taire to do the same.

                “What’s the matter?” she said, setting the petals down reluctantly.

                She decided not to tell her it was the demon who crushed the roses, instead, noticed something else of interest. “Listen…”

                Taire stood up and strained her ears, hoping she’d hear what her sister’s strong ears were picking up. “I-I don’t hear anything…”

                “Exactly… Come on,” she took Taire’s hand and slipped through the forest, back to the clearing. I can’t believe they’re already dead… I didn’t hear a single scream!

                Just before getting there, the lights in view, but no people, Len stopped. “Stay here!” she commanded Taire with a whisper.

                Using her cat stealth, she sneaked up to the clearing, staying hidden behind a few trees. She looked into the clearing, and saw that the demon did in fact pay a visit. She sniffed the air. Yes, it was definitely the same demon from before. The scent was strong; even through the strong stench of blood she could tell he was still close by. He’d probably smelled Taire and herself, and decided to wait for them to return, but she wouldn’t let him get a hold of them.

                She was getting ready to take a step back when she heard Taire start crying, but it wasn’t from behind her like it should be, instead, she saw Taire a few trees down, seeing all the dead people she once knew. She began to cry and walked slowly out into the clearing, getting closer to the bodies, as if hoping it was all a dream, that none of this was real.

                Len was just about to run over and stop her when she heard a twig snap to her right. She looked over quickly and saw the demon rushing out, ready to strike Taire down! … But that wasn’t going to happen.

                Taire also saw the demon jump out from the trees and rush her, a clawed hand ready to strike her down. Her eyes filled with fear at the sight before her, her fright heightening when Lenezma jumped out and tackled the demon, slamming her shoulder against his side roughly.

                “Leny?” she asked shakily.

                Neither Len nor the demon fell, both catching their balance on their feet before falling. Len ran to Taire and stood before her protectively. She watched the demon stand at full stature, a large fluffy at his shoulder and silver hair swaying in the slight breeze that blew through the trees, expressionless golden eyes staring at her, but she only stared back.

                Sesshomaru took a few steps forward, obviously unafraid of a couple of human girls. He had heard her jump from the trees, not to mention he could smell her hiding there, but didn’t expect to be tackled. Humans normally weren’t so noble to each other. He could hear the girl’s heartbeat quicken, but the woman’s heart seemed to speed up to a different beat, as if she weren’t experiencing true fear.

                Taire poked her head around Len’s legs and looked up at the strange demon.

                Sesshomaru noticed the girl peek up at him, and stopped in his tracks, surprised though no one would have guessed it. She looks like Rin…

                Len glanced down at Taire, then back up at Sesshomaru, wondering why he stared at her like that.

                Sesshomaru returned his gaze on Lenezma; he continued his walk towards them and was but a few feet away when Len began to yell at Taire, “Get out of here, Taire!”

                “But…”

                “Go!! NOW!!” she shouted again, and Taire went running for her life. Len rushed forward and made a swing with her right fist for Sesshomaru’s face, but he dodged it easily with his amazing speed and grabbed her wrist, gripping it tightly instead.

                Not exactly what Len didn’t want.

                “You don’t really think she can escape, do you?” he asked her, staring deep into her eyes, tad baffled at what made them glow like that.

                It did, in fact, hurt a little, but Len continued her act by forming tears and acting like she was in immense pain, “I won’t let you get her!”

                “What can you do to stop me?” he asked, his face getting scarily closer to hers. She watched as his hand started glowing green, and felt something begin to eat at her skin where he held her.

                “What are you doing to me?!” she asked, already knowing the answer, but still playing it off, faking tears and cries of pain – a few being real. “Run Taire!!” she screamed again, realizing Taire had stopped just a few trees away from the clearing.

                She put up a fake struggle, and almost tripped on a body as he wouldn’t let her go. She looked down at the body, recognizing it as her Mistress, and glared. See you in hell, stupid bitch.

                Sesshomaru remained silent, continuing to pour his venom onto her arm, surprised that it was taking so long to eat away at her whole arm, but it didn’t seem to go much farther than where he gripped her wrist. He could hear Taire running farther and farther away. “She won’t last long,” he spoke, as if trying to make her death more miserable as she obviously cared greatly for the child. He hadn’t been able to pleasure in the killing of the other humans for their crimes, so intended to at least make one suffer.

                But instead of more tears, he got a wicked smile and laughter. This confused him greatly.

                She looked up at him, the tears having washed the liquid out of her eyes, making them return to her normal slit irises; upon moving her head slightly to the left, he saw a light reflection in her eyes. Now he was definitely confused.

                “I just hate it when kids so young have to witness such violence,” she said calmly but deeply. Just then he began feeling a burning in his own hand, it just kept getting hotter and hotter, as if it were melting his own skin right off. Then he felt a strange aura surrounding the girl. Just as he was about to let go, unable to take the heat, a clawed hand struck at his chest, barely missing the skin, but slashing his clothing.

                He let go of her when he dodged the attack, jumping back as she, too, stepped back. But just as she had stepped over the mistress’s body, she was jerked back again as he grabbed her wrist once more, just above where he held her last, the heat gone. She stumbled forward, almost tripping on the body once more.

                She looked back at him angrily, “Hey, what are you…”

                Sesshomaru raised her wrist high with a tug, pulling her towards him and back over the body, her wrist just above his eye level. He stared at her wrist and watched as her skin began molding back over the burn marks, rejuvenating her wrist like it never happened. He looked down at his chest where she slashed at him. It seemed that a few of her claws had managed to make tiny tears in his shirt – but she didn’t touch him.

                He didn’t like this. It wasn’t so much as he was scared as that sentence may have sounded, it was that he didn’t understand the girl and disliked the feeling.

                He looked back up at her, knowing now that he wasn’t dealing with a normal human, but a demon that was somehow able to hide her scent. But after her skin had reformed, he could detect her demonic scent very clearly, even amongst the stench of blood and alcohol. The aura had died as soon as she tried to run off.

                “Shocked? Most people would be…” she smiled, fangs glittering in the light between her lips. But her smile only masked the uncertainty in her heart, afraid of what he might do.

                She began to force herself to relax, “You have my gratitude,” she said, bowing to him as much as possible as he still held her arm up.

                Gratitude? “For what?” he asked gruffly, still very confused about this woman.

                She stood straight up again and held out her hand, motioning to the mass of dead bodies on the ground, “For killing these people,”

                “You’re a demon, why could you not do it?”

                “Because I had not the wit to!” she replied, unable to hide her anger from such a response. It was true though; she had thought about killing at least half the people here so many times, but continued to remind herself of Taire. “I couldn’t bring myself to do it, not with Taire constantly at my side. But no one would dare come out here to find them all dead, not when I’m sure all the locals know this is demon territory,”

                Lenezma continued to grow more uncomfortable as Sesshomaru remained silent, staring at her. What was he thinking? Never mind that, how close to town was Taire getting? She needed to get to her quickly before she ran down the streets crying “Demon! Demon!”

                Lenezma glared at the hand that still held her.

                “Would you mind letting go of me now?” She waited impatiently, glaring into his eyes. A few seconds later, his claws opened and Lenezma rubbed her wrist where he held her.

                If anyone who knew Sesshomaru were there right now, they would have surely dropped their jaws. Since when did Sesshomaru listen to others? When did he release his victims?! Especially one who spoke so rudely!

                He continued to stand there, unmoving as he stared down at her. She eyed him strangely before backing away, stepping over the body yet again, not taking her eyes off the mysterious demon.

                She grinned and gave a slight wave, “Well, it’s been fun, but I really must be on my way.” She turned, ready to run in the direction Taire headed, keeping her senses alert should he try to attack her with her back turned on him.

                But before she could break into a sprint, before she could really go anywhere, she sensed the demon approach her quickly; he came around and stopped right in front of her, blocking her path.

                She sighed and looked up into his golden eyes again, “What now?”

                “You’re not going anywhere,”

                “And why not? I did nothing to offend you in anyway except for the intrusion on the land – which was completely my late idiot lord’s decision.”

                Sesshomaru did not reply, merely continued to stare into her sapphire eyes that gleamed in the light.

 

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Hmm... I don't think there was anything that really needs to be explained...
Oh, well, just remember, when it says "Sesshomaru was confused" you've got to remember this is Sesshy we're talking about: you can't tell the difference between one feeling and another when looking at him - he has the same blank face as always, his eyes just glare a little from time to time.