Thin sheets of ice crept out from the banks of the pond, glittering with a different sheen than the water in the moonlight. But for the faint rushing of water that seemed to be from the pond - curious - the courtyard was very still. The smell was somewhat muted by distance and the cold in the air, but was not gone - going to the shed meant crossing back closer to it. Sesshoumaru shuddered slightly but did not react beyond that this time - odd that he should react at all, but....

The door was locked. The thought of it was enough to make him want to collapse, but he still summoned the poison to his claws and let that slide across the lock. And couldn't, he found, do more. Maybe in a minute....