Hiya guys!

this chapter's a long one, the next one shouldn't be quite so long but please read and review, even if only to tell me that I can't put a decent sentence together (big puppy-dog eyes.) in any case. please enjoy the second chapter of my first ever fan-fiction. i don't own Inuyasha or any of it's characterssob but hey, what can I do about it.

A flash of silver: What came before...

Sesshoumaru's Point of View

It had started off as a normal day, well as normal as a day in the life of a demon lord could be when accompanied by a toad-like retainer and a human child.

Sesshoumaru had recently started having troubling reports from his villages in the south, about a rogue demon of vast strength (obviously no match for his own,) had been attacking livestock and had now apparently started attacking people, a far more serious matter, mainly due to the fact that those villages and the land in that area where under his protection. Not wanting the matter to linger Sesshoumaru sighed inwardly as he put down his brush, neatly shuffled and stacked up numerous scrolls and reports and rose from his seated position, his mind decided in his course of action.

Heading into the garden he decided to see what his retainer and ward where doing, smirking inwardly as he sensed the toad's discomfort.

'Oww, stop that, HEY!'

'Jaken, you really can't play catch very well for a demon. You're meant to catch the ball. Not bounce it off your head.' Rin giggled.

'w-what!' the toad-like creature stuttered in outrage. 'Are you implying that I'm not a good enough demon!' he carried on insulted.

'No' Rin said, still in her sing-song voice. 'I just mean that you can't catch a ball very well.'

-Thunk-

A ball flew into the bushes behind which Sesshoumaru was concealing himself, narrowly avoiding his left ear. Deciding enough was enough Sesshoumaru stepped out into the open (by the way guys, he wasn't in the bush [way to undignified, could you really imagine him doing that!] but just behind it.)

'lord Sesshoumaru' Rin said happily, behind her Jaken was once again apologizing about Rin's 'lack of manners' and 'respect', also as usual everyone else was ignoring him as he did so.

'Rin, I'm going to be away for a few days sorting out some business in the southern villages. Obey what Jaken tells you to do and don't cause too much trouble.' Sesshoumaru said.

'Okay.' Rin replied, her eyes already gleaming with mischief at the trouble she could cause for Jaken when Sesshoumaru was away. By this point Jaken had stopped groveling and as he walked away Sesshoumaru could already hear him telling Rin that she should behave, to no avail.

As their voices receded into the background Sesshoumaru went back to his chambers, dressed in his amour and swords and left the castle through the south portal. Before starting on his journey Sesshoumaru had decided to take his time when out as he had been cooped up too long in the castle and was in dire need of solitude and something he could have a decent fight with, he had had no good opponents recently who could should their ground for longer that a minute when he was serious.

Walking through the forest he felt his mind calm as he walked between the thick trunks and broad canopies of the trees that had been old even before he was born. He knew that Jaken was competent enough to look after his lands and not destroy them in under a moon cycle, however much Rin may annoy him and however stupid he may seem.

Having decided to take his time Sesshoumaru walked, it would have been faster to use his mist or to run but either would only draw attention to himself and for the time being he had no wish to be found and disturbed from his pondering as he enjoyed the late summer sun. He knew that there was no pressing need to rush as the rogue demon wasn't going to go very far and would be dealt with when he got there but no sooner.

It was around noon the next day when he passed by the bone-eaters well in the forest of Inuyasha where his hanyou bastard of a brother resided. As he had neither Rin nor Jaken he had no need to stop every night and had continued walking through the night, as he walked further into the forest of Inuyasha he realized that the scent of the miko (that a small part at the back of his mind thought smelled quite nice) seemed to come from down the well. A few days ago, judging by the scent, she had come up out of the well, walked a few hundred meters down the path, met his bastard brother and walked to the village.

Carrying on Sesshoumaru mused about the rogue demon and whether it would be strong enough to give him a decent bout of exercise, but his mind kept being drawn back to the case of the human miko coming out of the well. And seemingly disappearing down it.

The next day, shortly after nightfall, Sesshoumaru was getting close to the attacked villages, masking his aura he continued this time moving a little more cautiously. Not that he had any pressing need to as he was one of the strongest demons on the area, however he wished to remain unnoticed for as long as possible if it would avoid another unnecessary fight with his insufferable half brother.

He had noticed some strange demonic auras not long before and soon recognized them as shards from the cursed jewel that his pathetic brother was trying to collect. There where probably about six of them, but seemingly in two groups, one to the south-east and the other also in the south-east but further away, both within the next five Ri. (About 1.2 miles) No doubt the rest of his travelling party would be there, the dragon slayer and the monk seemed to have a lingering loyalty to his brother and the miko. Not that they posed any great threat to him. The only one that could be counted a future threat was probably the miko, and she had no control over her powers as of yet.

Soon enough he recognized their scents on the wind, they where roughly a Ri to the south-east, close to the attacked areas, no doubt the miko had the shards he sensed in that direction. The others where probably already in the hands of the rouge, and for once Sesshoumaru was pleased that the jewel shards existed as this would lend the monster some borrowed strength giving him a stronger opponent to defeat, even if only for a short while.

The one thing that made Sesshoumaru wonder was that the miko was a while away from the rest of the group and night was going to fall soon. In the end he reasoned that he may as well see what she was doing, ways away from his brother. She needn't know that he was watching her, she would have great difficulty in sensing him due to his shielded aura and would probably only notice him if she where to catch a glimpse of him.

Is Sesshoumaru was truly honest with himself he found the girl a bit of an enigma, she often used strange words, she had slightly odd manners and wore unusual and almost indecent clothes (a little voice at the back of his mind reminded him that she did have very nice legs…) that voice though was swiftly dismissed and ignored. It would not do for a lord to have such thoughts; however he would freely admit that the miko was a puzzle if he ever knew one.

'I wonder what her reaction would be if I was to show myself' Sesshoumaru mused.