Sesshomaru's Euphoria

10

Night had fallen.

The small group had set up camp in a clearing that was close enough to another river, where they had caught some fish and cooked them over a fire. Naomi actually ate more than what she did the other night, which was most likely because of the excessive amount of walking they had done during the day, so it would be understandable that she was a little hungry. She decided to move a little bit away from the group, still not used to being around people all that much, her arms wrapped around her legs as she looked up at night sky. The moon was shining bright, matching the twinkling stars, a small sigh emitting from her nose as she leaned her head back against the base of the tree, loving the feeling of the cold night air against her cheeks.

But to Naomi, it still felt like she was trapped in her bittersweet nightmare, she was afraid she'd wake up and find out that her body was still in stone, no one being able to hear her and watching her hands go right through everything and everyone. She lifted the sleeves if her kimono, letting her hands feel the cold night air, looking at her black claws, a small smile forming on her lips at the memory of her mother, when she was sitting in front of her, smiling when her mother played with Naomi's hands. It may have been when she was a child, but she could still remember lots of things, even when she took her first steps and got into all kinds of trouble, but her mother would always laugh and clean her up.

She would look at her daughter curiously when she noticed the color of her claws coming in, she would look at them while her daughter slept, but she would always smile when her ears twitched. Naomi was brought out of her thoughts when Kirara pawed at her kimono, causing her to look at the small animal, a small smile forming on her lips when she met her tired eyes. She reached out, picking up the cat demon and gently setting her on her lap as she crossed her legs, letting the creature get comfortable, curling up as she fell asleep. Shippo crawled in Naomi's lap as well, holding on to Kirara as he fell asleep as well, causing Naomi to gently run her claws through his hair, leaning her head back against the tree, Inuyasha glancing at her every now and again.

Naomi closed her eyes, and for the first time since she was set free, she fell asleep.

.

Her ears perked up at the slightest sound, causing her eyes to open and rise her head from the tree, but this sound was different, it didn't belong in the forest, causing her eyebrows to furrow slightly, sniffing the air, picking up a scent that didn't belong. She looked over to Inuyasha, seeing that he had his arms crossed over his chest, leaning against another tree with his eyes closed, which made it obvious that he didn't hear or smell the thing that was close. But it could have been what Miroku had said before, that a foxes hearing, smell and sight were far better than that of a dog demon, and their sight was far better at night than any others, causing her to sniff the air once more.

She looked down at her lap, seeing that Shippo and Kirara were still sound asleep, causing a soft smile to form on her lips, reaching out and gently scooping them up, standing on her feet. With her silent footsteps, she walked over to Sango, gently setting Kirara on her chest and setting Shippo next to Kagome, standing straight and looking toward the treeline, her ears twitching once more before walking toward it. Picking up her sleeve, Naomi grasped the hilt of her blade with her right hand, being that her weapon was resting on her left hip, her eyebrows furrowing slightly as she walked farther into the trees. Her head tilted slightly, like a confused pup, continuing to walk forward toward the thing that didn't belong, not knowing how far she was going.

Keeping her hand on the hilt of her blade, masking her scent and keeping her footsteps silent as she stepped over dried twigs and avoided dried leaves, making her way toward the sound, which also turned out that she was making her way toward the river. From a very young age, Naomi was taught to hide her scent in case she faced anything potentially dangerous, her mother taught her that much, it was how she was trained, but her training was not completed, there had still a few things she needed to learn. Naomi made it to the river a few minutes later, watching as the water ran over the rocks, her hand tightened on the hilt of her blade, her ear twitching slightly at the sound of someone stepping on the grass behind her.

Naomi quickly removed her blade from her sheath, both hands now grasping the hilt, whipping around and kneeling down on the floor with her blade raised over her head just as another sword struck. A sharp clang filled the air when the blades made contact, a pair of amber eyes widening in genuine surprise while Naomi's narrowed at the demon in front of her. Naomi shoved him off, much to his surprise as she stood straight and kept her blade in front of her, the demon merely holding his own blade at his side, but her head tilted slightly as she caught his scent, causing her eyebrows to furrow slightly. The demon in front of her got over his surprise, masking any emotion from his face, but his eyes narrowed at her,

"How did you block my attack?" He asked simply

"You stepped on the grass" Naomi answered "I heard you"

His eyes were still narrowed, but she had been looking at him with curiosity in her eyes. She knew his scent, she knew it from somewhere but she just couldn't remember where, which had made her curious over the demon standing in front of her. Naomi knew he was a demon, not only was it because of his scent, but it was also because of the aura that radiated off of him like waves, she didn't know why Inuyasha couldn't feel it. He made no move to attack, causing Naomi to slowly lower her blade, keeping her hold on it with her right hand as she let it fall to her side, but still keeping her guard up,

"You have no scent" he said, looking at her

"I can hide it" she replied vaguely

He felt as if he'd seen her before, but he couldn't remember where, which was strange to the demon, normally a beautiful face like hers would never be able to leave his mind. He also wasn't expecting that thought to pop in his mind. Naomi's movements brought him from his thoughts, watching as she sheathed her blade once more, letting her hands fall to her sides and seeing that the sleeves of her kimono covered them completely. He didn't move when she started walking toward him, but she was actually walking past him and making her way back to the others before they woke up to find her gone. She didn't need them to fuss over her because she decided to investigate a noise that didn't belong. They all had other things to worry about.