The Dog and the Deer

by DanyDamn

Summary:

You could never call yourself fortunate in the face of fate. In a world of war and in a time of demons you resided on the side of the impartial observer, simply trying to survive. And while you, yourself, were a demon, you were never fond of your own kind nor were you partial to the humans. You existed solely to exist. But while the moon waxes and wanes, so does your chosen path. Armed with a mysterious past and an uncertain future, you venture on into a branch of life that opens into a world of possibilities. A world that involves uncertainties and affections from a particular dog demon of whom you find yourself sharing an unlikely harmony with.

Chapter 1: Fate’s Frown

Far be it from you to expect anything less than yet another middle finger that life had to offer you. How could you even hope for anything else? It wasn’t like you caught a break before, so why would this time be any different?

Cold, muddy and out of breath, you lept over yet another fallen tree. Your cloven hooves struck the ground and you nearly lost your footing, but your legs adjusted accordingly and you shook off any hint of wavering as you pushed deeper into the forest. You had been running far too long in life to let a simple buckle of your knees down you. No, not this time. Not after the many times you had escaped this very situation.

Just a short distance behind you revealed the cause of your scurry through the trees. A human hunting party. One that fared a great deal more trouble than what you were used to, which was the reason you were in such a state. It wasn’t the first time you were in such a bind, no, you had done this many many times before. Unfortunately, the odds were far more against you now than they had ever been before.

While it was clear the humans had been staking out this part of the forest to hunt for food, these humans were no ordinary hunters. It was clear by the armor they donned and the weapons they bore that these men were demon hunters. And fate was frowning on you that night when they came upon your camp as you slept, awakening you from your slumber with such a fright that you transformed into your demonic form, that they discovered they could kill two birds with one stone. A deer demon, the food they were hoping for, and a creature in which they had dedicated their lives to exterminate.

No, perhaps fate wasn’t frowning. It was most likely cackling at you.

One of the humans barked something that you did not have any willpower to comprehend, and a spear whistled past your ear. It was close enough to nick you, but fortunately the person who threw it was not a good enough shot and the spear seated itself into the ground in front of you. Your experience as a chronic prey manifested into a voice that determined that running straight ahead was no longer favorable and you sharply turned right, ducking through a crop of shrubs. It was only a brief cover but anything was helpful at this point.

More shrubbery stood ahead of you, and you took no time to sprint towards it. Perhaps this line of greenery could continue to thicken and you could find yourself finally stopping and hiding within to wait the hunters out. The hope of such a possibility graced your legs with more strength, and you pushed yourself harder. Your muscles ached greatly but you paid them no mind. You were so close to discovering your means of escape.

You were never the spiritual kind, but in that moment you prayed.

But you would have no such luck.

With one more leap you broke through the shrubbery, and found yourself galloping through an open field.

Your thoughts exploded in anger. This wouldn’t do. You were at a far more disadvantage than you were before. Out in the open you lacked any sort of cover and would be a much easier target. For just a moment you stalled, ears swiveling frantically, searching for another means of escape. Behind you the hunters sounded far enough that you had time to think, but they were closing in fast.

Your ears picked up something, the sound of rushing water. A river!

Another sound, something whistling caught your attention. The voices grew and just as your legs picked up strength to run once more, something sharp penetrated your right flank and you released a pained cry. The hunters hit their mark.

The spear sent a searing pain through your hind leg, but the shock sent enough adrenaline into your veins that you were able to push past it, and you were bounding at a rate fast enough that you still held hope. The rushing river was your opportunity. Anything that loud was wide enough and certainly had a depth that would hinder the hunters’ chase. If you could get across it, you could live to run another night.

The group of humans had audibly broken through the shrubs and were now partway through the open field by the time you hit the tree line again. The sound of the river grew closer, and you almost felt a sense of joy at the thought. Even through the sting of the metal in your leg, you experienced a dose of dopamine that harmonized with the adrenaline and together they were a powerful narcotic.

There it was, the river that would be your salvation. Bordered with trees and a crowd of rocks, your eyes scanned along its visible length, searching for the place in which you would make your final leap.

It was a vast thing indeed. Wider than you expected, rocky and moving at a thundering pace. No human would dare to venture across to the other side, for it would only sweep them away fatally. It was perfect.

As a deer you had a great skill to jump a far distance if needed, and as a demon it only improved upon that skill. You would make the jump indeed, you just needed to find the part of the river that was most shortened in it’s width. While you were confident in your abilities, you didn’t want to risk taking a jump without the best precaution, considering you were technically being hindered by the spear in your leg, even if the shock of the wound made it so that you weren’t actually feeling it at the moment.

Hitting the edge of the river you had to make a swift turn to the right to continue along it. You still couldn’t find the right conditions to make your jump. The change in direction made it so that you could now hear the hunters to the right of you. This was not a good thing, as it was closing the distance between you and the group. No matter, in just a few moments you would be free.

Running freely along the river you had no obstacles and had picked up your pace, hearing the hunters fall behind. And as you felt a sense of success, you finally spotted the exact place in which you would make your launch. Emboldened by the sight, you willed your body to its absolute limits.

From behind the voices of the hunters grew exponentially to the point that you were able to make out their grievances. They knew what you were up to and they were not happy. If you weren’t in your deer form, you would’ve smirked.

With one final stride you said a celebratory goodbye to your human predators, took a small leap onto an outcropping of stone, and made your jump.

Time felt like it slowed as you soared into the air. The moonlight cast a silver glow onto your spotted body as you left the cover of trees. The wind bristled through your fur, and you finally tasted hope.

But it was short-lived.

The dreaded whistled cut through the air, and a spear embedded itself into your left side. The sheer force of the weapon had been too great, and it pushed you off course, breaking momentum and sending you down into the thundering river. An almighty animalistic cry escaped your snout, reverberating into the air, sending slumbering birds to scatter out of the trees and into the sky. It was all you could do to admire the flapping of feathers, glinting from the light of the moon as you plundered into the frigid waters of the river.

Adrenaline dissipated into pure pain, you no longer had any strength. At the mercy of the mighty river, you sunk into its depths and all thoughts fell into darkness as you lost consciousness.

—————————————

Sesshomaru was in no need of rest. He never was. He could travel for weeks without ever tiring. He could climb mountains without ever losing breath. He could even be engaged in battle for days without ever breaking a sweat. No, he was immune to it all.

But unfortunately, he was the only one. As for his follower Jaken and his ward Rin, both suffered the disadvantage of requiring time to recover their strength and stamina after a day of travel, and would spend the nights sleeping while Sesshomaru stood guard over their camp. The dog demon rarely slept and would only find himself resigned to taking care that the party would not be open to any attack. While they slumbered he would protect them from such things.

A small fire crackled in between the child and the imp. Jaken lay against a stone border, sprawled over the incline with the Staff of Two Heads loosely clutched in his arms. He had earlier declared that he would join Sesshomaru on guard tonight, but had fallen victim to his own mental shortcomings and fallen away to sleep all too quickly. Rin lay curled betwixt the legs of A-Un, who’s two heads encircled the child protectively. Along the ground were discarded sticks, remnants of their dinner, skewers that pierced fish they caught from the river, of which they cooked over the fire.

Sesshomaru stood tall above his party, observing the child who had become his ward. Such a strange creature she was, stranger even than any demon he had encountered. So full of joy and hope, with a fearlessness that would be found in only the strongest of man. She was an enigma to the dog demon, intriguing even. Sesshomaru found himself often encased in the mystery of why she continued to follow and travel with him. It was beyond his comprehension, and the demon prided himself on the ability to understand anything.

Turning away from the girl, Sesshomaru walked the short distance towards the river that bordered them. The waters roared with such a might, the demon wondered how his party could sleep through it.

Earlier in the day the river had been much calmer. But far up the mountain there had previously been a heavy rain, which came to meet them in the form of rising waters later in the evening. They had just finished catching their dinner when it came. Rin nearly didn’t make it back to the bank, but with a swift move Sesshomaru had plucked her from the water and set her safely back on ground. They had to move back their camp and start a new fire, for the one they had already made got washed away by the flooding. After determining the safest place to do so, they cooked their dinner and went to sleep.

The light of the moon cast an illuminating glow off the flooding waters. The river had grown exponentially larger than anybody would’ve imagined, even Sesshomaru. Anybody foolish or unlucky enough to set foot into it would be swept away for good. Rin certainly would not have survived if the dog demon wasn’t there to sweep her away from danger.

Scanning the trees as he guarded, Sesshomaru’s ears picked up a sound. Instinctively, a clawed hand grasped the hilt of his sword Tokijin, ready to draw if needed. But the sound was too far away to warrant it. His hand fell away as he turned in the direction of the sound. What he heard was the cry of a deer, one in pain. He focused his ears and found more noise, the voices of men in the far distance. A hunting party, he determined, having struck their prey.

The dog demon wondered if the poor creature had met a swift end. That thought was quickly struck, however, when the voices of the men continued. If they had caught their hunt, they would have ceased their shouts. Slowly the noise drew nearer, still far too distant to be any sort of a problem, but with Sesshomaru’s skilled hearing he could easily understand what the men were shouting.

One man from the crowd bellowed and Sesshomaru understood that the hunters were frustrated, for they were panicking at the realization that the deer was headed towards the river and intending to cross it to make an escape. Another glance at the thundering waters bore the implication that if the deer was successful in its attempt, it would break free from the hunters and they would lose their hunt.

Sesshomaru could have smirked. Clever thing.

A silence then seemed to fall for a brief moment, and Sesshomaru found himself wondering if the river had calmed inexplicably, before an almighty cry of despair cut sharply through the night. The sound was so great that the birds resting in the trees scattered suddenly into the sky, and the combined sounds of the cry and the flapping awoke the three sleeping by the fire.

“Lord Sesshomaru!” A small voice, one that belonged to the young Rin reached the demon’s ears, causing him to look back in their direction. “What was that noise?”

Jaken had jumped to his feet in a panic, his staff raised high, remembering in a stupor that he was supposed to be on guard and not, in fact, sleeping.

“Are we being attacked, mi’lord!?” The imp questioned, swiveling in place as the staff opened one of its jaws on the off chance he would need to use it.

Sesshomaru turned fully to face the group, stepping closer towards them. “Lower your staff, Jaken.” He commanded coldly, eyes narrowing when the weapon had unintentionally faced Rin for a moment. “What you heard was an animal being hunted.”

“An animal being hunted?” Rin echoed in a soft voice, glancing over at the imp while he closed the jaw of the staff and ashamedly surrendered it to a horizontal state. “But it was so loud. Do you think they killed it, lord Sesshomaru?

“It sounded gravely injured! If they haven’t killed it, it will be too weak to escape them now!” Jaken answered in a trilling voice.

Sesshomaru walked towards his ward, intent on commanding that she go back to sleep. But as he approached, he noticed her eyes flick behind him, towards the direction of the river.

“Lord Sesshomaru, look!” She exclaimed.

The dog demon turned to face the water, and in the near distance he spotted a body being swept along by the rapids. For a moment he thought to declare to Rin to pay no mind to the poor creature, but when his eyes deciphered the sight before him, he predicted what his ward was going to say next.

“There’s a person in the water! Save them, my lord!”

Jaken sneered at her. “Impudent child! Lord Sesshomaru would not waste his breath on a random person!”

But when Jaken turned his head expecting to confirm that the dog demon would agree with him, he found the white-haired man gone. Sesshomaru had leapt from the safety of their camp to land on a jutting rock in the middle of the thundering river, expertly pulling the limp body from the rapids, and swiftly returning right back to where he stood in a matter of seconds.

Hardly a drop on him, the dog demon gently lay down the body onto the ground, right next to the warm fire that illuminated the faces surrounding it.

Below the peering eyes of the group lay a woman with two spears implanted in her, one in her right thigh, and one in her left side.

Chapter 2: The Survivor

The sensation of waking raised you slowly from a dreamless dark. A child’s voice seeped into the endless space, echoing off non-existent walls with words that you couldn’t comprehend but of which brought you comfort nonetheless. You faintly sensed a presence in the darkness, something large and overbearing looming over you. Another voice trickled in, trilling and harsh, less pleasant than the child’s.

Through a conversation that you couldn’t quite grasp, you detected hands grazing your left side, soft and warm for a moment before you felt a pinch below your ribcage, sending a searing pain throughout your body and thus waking you from your sleep.

You shot up from the ground with a start and a cry, attempting to sit but hindered from doing so by the wound. Your own hand had flown to the area on your body, attempting to silence the deafening pain but proving only futal. Your eyes opened to meet another pair sitting in front of you, the wide gaze of a human child who’s countenance matched the voice that spoke comforts to you in your sleep. You swiveled your head around, breathing hard and fighting off the sting of tears.

“Who are you— where am I?” You groaned through your lips, squeezing your eyes briefly to bear the pain.

“Please don’t move!” The child in front of you exclaimed, raising her hands to attempt stilling you while you squirmed in place. “I’m not done dressing your wound!”

You paused, looking at the child then glancing down. You noticed that you had been partially undressed, the top of your kimono pulled down and a small blanket draped over your chest to protect you from indecency. A long white fabric circled your torso, flush against your skin and tightly holding a part of your wound together. In your struggle you had undone the dressing, reopening the wound and coloring both your hand and the bandage in a deep red. You stared at your fingers, senses now overwhelmed with the scent of blood, and looked back up at the child sitting before you.

“You fool!” A sharp voice broke out, and your head jerked to face a small green creature sitting next to you. “You have reopened your wound! And after all the time and effort Rin put in to fixing you up!”

You looked back at the girl, who gazed back with an encouraging grin. Her hands touched your arms, urging gently for you to lie down again. You complied, now realizing that it would be smart to let the girl finish. When your head touched the ground, you finally spoke once more.

“Who are you?“

The girl smiled again, hands working quickly to stop any additional bleeding before she continued to wrap your torso. ”My name is Rin, and that is master Jaken.” She gestured to the creature beside you.

“How did I get here?” You asked, sucking in a sharp breath when she pulled the wrapping tight.

The girl opened her mouth to speak but the imp cut her off. “We found you floating down the river nearly half dead, and if it weren’t for the kindness of our gracious master, Lord Sesshomaru, you would have been a goner, so you should be more grateful!”

Your eyes furrowed. “Lord Sesshomaru?”

At the mention of the name you were reminded of the overbearing presence you sensed when you were suspended in darkness, and realized that the presence was still lingering. Following your senses, your eyes lifted from the pair next to you up into the sky, where looming above you stood a figure clad in white, staring piercingly, as if he was gazing at your soul. You felt yourself shrink under him, noticing that his chin never tilted down at you, only his striking gold eyes. The hairs on your arms raised, this figure invoking your fight or flight response with his mere existence. This was a dangerous man, a demon, and every instinct you had was telling you to run.

Unfortunately you were in no condition to escape, if the wounds that peppered your body had anything to say about it.

For a moment the pair of you stared at each other in utter silence, before the child’s voice broke the air.

“What‘s your name?” The little girl, Rin, queried, tucking in the end of the bandage and finishing her work.

You broke your gaze away, free from the spell, to look back at her. Now that she was done, your thoughts lingered on the concept of escape. It was very clear that the demon standing above you was not welcoming of your presence, and you were nothing if not in agreement with the idea that you did not belong here.

“It doesn’t matter.” You answered, lifting your head and propping yourself onto your elbows in an effort to try and stand up. “I have to go, I can’t stay here.”

“But you’re too injured to move!” Rin advised, standing on her knees as you efforted to get up.

“Don’t be stupid! You will open your wound again you fool!” Jaken asserted, waving his staff to accompany his words.

You waved them both off, just barely able to fully sit up, clutching the blanket that protected your chest. Your body reacting to the change in position, a fire set ablaze in your side again, causing you to hunch over. You grunted, wrapping a single arm around your midsection.

“Thank you for saving me from the river and bandaging my wounds,” you said, taking notice that you had more dressing wrapped around your right thigh where the other spear had impaled you, “but I must take my leave now.”

The imp made an annoyed face, “You will do no such thing! Lord Sesshomaru made the unnecessary decision to rescue you from certain death! The least you could do is honor that by resting and getting better!”

“I am grateful to his Lord for his kindness, but I have overstayed my welcome and will be leaving now.” You said in return, pushing Jaken away from you as he swung his arms around in frustration.

Rin looked at you in worry, but her eyes glanced at the man who stood behind you. “Lord Sesshomaru…” she trailed off softly, requesting support from the demon.

A silence followed, and a low commanding voice cut through the air like ice, sending a chill down your spine. “The hunters believe you dead and are long gone. You are safe here and will remain until you have recovered.”

Your head turned to face the white-clad man once again, being able to fully perceive him now that you were upright. He gazed back unwaveringly, then turned and walked away.

The sensing of presence was a two way road. Just as you were able to figure out that he was a demon, he had come to understand the same thing about you. How he knew about your chase through the forest was beyond you, until you looked down and finally noticed the two discarded spears that were the cause of your damage. You glanced in another direction and were now aware of the roaring river not far away. You realized that the part of the forest in which you ran from the hunters and the camp you currently resided in were not a great distance apart from each other.

You looked back down at your midsection, spreading your fingers away from the bandage and noticed that you were bleeding again. Your eyes lifted once more to face the girl, who silently offered a face of compassion.

Fate may have been laughing at you earlier on in this night, but that laugh transformed into the soft smile that graced the kind child who sat before you. You sighed in surrender. Whether or not your instincts were telling you that you needed to get away from the demon behind you, his chilling voice rang true. You seemed to be safe here, and you had no business in trying to leave in such a state.

Resigning yourself, you followed Rin’s urging to lie back down and rested your head on the ground once more. Unnoticed until now, the nearby crackling fire bathed you in a warm golden glow, and the hairs that were raised on your arms finally subsided and lay back down to rest just as you did. Despite your gut feelings, you were in no real danger at the moment and you started to consider yourself, in fact, lucky instead.

Even if the demon man was one to be feared, the gentle little girl who resigned her hands to once more retighten the bandages around your midsection proved to you that staying here would at the very least not make the situation worse. She was determined to help you and somehow had the support of the demon.

Perhaps your welcome had not been overstayed after all, even if the foreboding presence of this man reflected his clear disdain. It was obvious that he complied with Rin’s good nature, and his respect for the little girl was strong.

You decided that fate had officially stopped laughing at you, and finally gave you a break.

“You said your name was Rin?” You asked, the child’s hands finishing her work one final time.

She grinned in response. “Yes.”

“Where did you learn to dress wounds like that?”

Rin twisted her face thoughtfully. “My family was killed by bandits when I was very young. I had to learn all by myself how to take care of a wound whenever I was hurt.”

Helping you to lift your kimono back over your shoulders and hide away your nakedness, Rin removed and folded the blanket that once protected your dignity.

“I was alone for a very long time.” She added, her eyes briefly glazing over with the look of great sadness, but it was gone in a flash and she lit up with joy instead. “But then I met Lord Sesshomaru!”

Once again your attention was brought back to the demon behind you, but you weren’t able to see him from where you lay on the ground. Empathy filled you with the child’s story, but the resilience of her presence was striking. You could almost understand now why Sesshomaru held her in such high regard.

“You’re a funny little thing.” You quipped, cracking the very first smile you had bore in a long time. Amusement was a foreign emotion for you. “But brave. And I’m very grateful for you and your skills. I’m assuming you’re the reason I didn’t pass away in the river.”

Rin nodded with her brightening smile while Jaken cut into the conversation. “Oh yes, little Rin was the one who spotted you in the river and implored Lord Sesshomaru to pull you out! If it weren’t for her, you would have been washed away to die from your injuries.”

Your smile went wry, and you cupped your mouth to speak in a lower voice. “Then I should thank you far more than him. Between you and me, I don’t think he likes me being here very much.”

Rin giggled at you and glanced over at the man who stood away from your view. Even without being able to see him you sensed that he had heard your statement and was not looking fondly upon it. You felt yourself shrinking in a disembodied gaze that cast you in a chill. You suddenly felt the urge to move closer to the fire.

“I think you should get some sleep now.” The little girl advised in a more serious tone, but the smile on her face persisted. “I’ll take a look at your wounds in the morning. And don’t be afraid of anything happening to you tonight. Lord Sesshomaru is always here to protect us if anything happens, so you’re perfectly safe.”

With a nod from you, she finally stood herself from the ground, and made her way to the two headed creature that lay sleeping on the other side of the fire. She curled herself between its legs.

“Good night Jaken, goodnight lord Sesshomaru.” She said, laying her head down with a yawn.

The imp returned her words, while the demon said nothing, but you felt his presence warm for a second. In silence you stared up into the night sky, gazing at the glinting stars for a while, pondering. Only when your ears deciphered the steady rise and fall of Rin and Jaken’s slumber did you decide to speak again.

“Thank you, Lord Sesshomaru, for saving me. I figure if the girl had not spotted me you would not have done so, but I am grateful nonetheless.”

“Tell me your name.” The demon commanded in a cold, unfeeling tone.

You sighed with an open mouth. “My name is not important. I won’t be staying here for long, so it’s no use knowing it.”

“You have yet to come to terms with the fact that you will not be leaving until you have recovered from your injuries. And judging by the severity of them, you should understand that you shall be staying with us for longer than you intend.”

His words held a great power over you, his aura commanding and decisive. It seemed you never once had the choice to do anything but stay. You sighed again, your eyes fluttering with an oncoming wave of exhaustion.

“Fine.” You said, relenting yourself into the darkness.

And as you slipped away into a dreamless state, you surrender your name to him, to that foreboding creature they called Lord Sesshomaru.

Chapter 3: Taken Aback

Your voice cried out into the air, pain and fear.

Illuminated by the bright glow of the raging fire that burned the trees, you stood knee deep in a calm river. Flames danced in your gaze, chaotic and mesmerizing and terrible. Within the orange glow you searched desperately for something that would never come, and your legs failed and you were down.

In the fading dusk of the sunset, the river beneath you swallowed your tears and the fire around you consumed your hopes.

The orange blaze glinted off the blue waves and you were just a child, casting the lone shadow that would forever haunt you.

——————————-

A hot sweat had perspired every inch of your skin when you awakened. Your head was blazing hot and your wounds burned in a rage. You felt stiff, your muscles aching with even the slightest adjustment. This was not good.

What little movement you could make translated in only the slightest lift of your head so you could scan your surroundings. The first thing you noticed was that you had been moved. The fire from last night, the one in which you had been laid beside previously, now stood smoking in the distance. You currently lay under a line of trees, graced with a merciful shade. The sun was high in the sky, indicating it was far later in the day than you had intended to wake to. The group must have moved you when they realized you would not be rising from sleep before the sun came to cast its heat upon the ground.

Your head dropped back with a thud and you coughed, finding yourself suddenly parched and licking your chapped lips in response.

“You’re awake!” Rin chimed, popping into view. “Here, drink this.”

In one hand she gingerly held a bowl, while her other hand snaked beneath your head to help lift it back up, so as to meet the bowl with your lips and bless you with a much needed sip of water. Your eyes fluttered in a moment of pure bliss, before you finished the drink and the crushing reality of your failing body overcame you once more.

“I’m very ill, I believe my wounds are infected.” You proclaimed as the child gently set your head and the bowl back down onto the ground.

Rin smiled at you cheerfully, exuding compassion and encouragement. From behind your head she lifted a wet rag from a bucket of cool river water and laid it across your forehead for some mild relief.

“Yes, we discovered that this morning when I tried to change your bandages. Lord Sesshomaru said we will have to stay here for the next few days until you’re better.”

At the mention of the dog demon’s name you realized you hadn‘t actually detected any trace of his presence since you woke up and you glanced around your surroundings in reaction. “Where is he?”

“I don’t really know. When I told him that you were burning up and showed him how bad your wounds were, he told me would be staying here longer and just walked away, taking master Jaken with him. But don’t worry, he does that sometimes and he comes back eventually.”

As Rin once more raised the bowl of water to your lips, you thought about the strange little girl who sat before you. She had such an optimistic constitution about her that no other person in the world would ever be able to mimic. This child who had lost her entire family to murder, lived alone long enough to learn how to take care of herself, and travelled happily with a dangerous demon whom she had somehow captured the favor of. She had great sadness in her life that was only overshadowed by an even greater cheerful disposition. Her resilience was astounding. Not to mention her faith.

Her faith in Sesshomaru was particularly powerful. In the short time it had taken for you to experience this group of strange characters, you had already come to understand two things:

1. Sesshomaru would do anything for this girl if she would just ask.

And 2. Rin would follow that demon to the ends of the earth.

Yes, you had a perfect grasp on the reality of the pair’s relationship. Somehow, this extremely powerful and, frankly, terrifying demon had come upon a child, a human child no less, and taken it under his wing as if it were his own.

However, understanding the facts was a far cry from comprehending the reason. And not a single shred of your thoughts could break down why he would undertake such a thing. Why a demon, who clearly held a deep scorn for the human race, would adopt one of their children.

It was the greatest mystery the world would ever know.

The day carried on as you relied on your thoughts to manage the fever ravaging your body. Hours had flown by and Rin did the best she could with what little she had. Her hands worked tirelessly to water your throat and cool your head, all the while she attempted to feed you bits of fish and berries, hoping food might take part in your healing journey. Though the effort was relentless, in your agonizing state it didn’t make a difference. Your body temperature raged on like the fire you witnessed in the nightmare that woke you earlier in the day.

That nightmare crept into your thoughts every now and again. This wasn’t the first time it had decorated your slumbering state. Having led a dreamless life, it was the only thing you ever saw, if you got to see anything at all, when you slept. The fire burning the trees, the despair that painted your mind and the lowering dusk of the sunset were all but a recurring vision that had haunted you for your entire existence. Speckled throughout your years it itself was a tantalizing mystery that beckoned for you to solve. You had yet to discover a means of doing so.

Pondering this train of thought as you had done so many times before, the soft voice of your little nurse cut through the silence. As the fading glow of the sunset fed brightness to the fire in the camp, you heard Rin calling out to the dog demon of whom had finally made his return.

“Lord Sesshomaru!” The child cried in delight, running to meet the white-clad man as he emerged from the trees. “You’re back!”

Sesshomaru did not return any words, stoic as ever. You heard his footfalls approach you and your eyes fell upon his towering figure cast in orange from the fire. He studied you in what seemed like thoughtfulness, if he was capable of doing so. You returned his gaze, as unwavering as he. You felt a drop of sweat trickle off your temple, and you wondered for a moment if that was due to the fever or the anxiety you felt from being gazed at so intensely.

Jaken appeared next to the dog demon, finally making his presence known after having been gone all day along with Sesshomaru. “How is she feeling?” He pointedly asked Rin.

“Not so great. She’s been burning up all day.” The little girl answered, a slight worry in her voice betraying her. She had spent the day being optimistic, but with no yield from your fever that optimism was starting to break down. “I can’t seem to do anything to heal her.”

“Rin.” Sesshomaru spoke up, as unfeeling as ever. The little girl poked her head out from behind his tall frame. “Take this.”

Into her open hands Sesshomaru dropped a clutch of dark green plants. When her fingers curled around the leaves of the flora she looked up at him quizzically. He turned and began walking away.

“Grind up the herb and brew it.” He instructed, making his way to the trees. “Its medicinal properties will break the fever.”

And with that he was gone.

Rin erupted in an excited gasp. “Thank you my lord!” She called out towards him, and whirled around towards Jaken. ”Is this why you and Lord Sesshomaru left?”

“Oh yes!” The imp chirped. “I told Lord Sesshomaru about this particular herb that I once encountered in my youth, which has the ability to cure infections! He set out to find it without question. The only problem is that it only grows in a certain environment about a half day’s distance from here. That is why we were gone for so long.”

Rin exploded into a massive grin, and leapt to envelope the imp in a suffocating hug. “Oh master Jaken I am so happy to call you my friend!”

Jaken resisted her hug and efforted to swat her away to no avail. “Let go of me you impudent child!”

After some struggle Rin released him with a giggle. The imp huffed and turned his attention to you.

“You better find a way to show Lord Sesshomaru how grateful you are that we went on this mission for you. It took a great deal of time and he would never do such a thing if he did not expect anything in return.”

You were never paying attention to either of the figures before you. Instead your eyes were lingering where Sesshomaru had disappeared into the trees, greatly taken aback. For a man so incapable of showing feeling, you could hardly believe this turn of events. The man who’s mere gaze and existence called upon your every instinct to flee had just surrendered a side of his character you believed no other demon nor human had the privilege to have experienced.

In this moment you weren’t sure which was more surprising, that he was able to carry such compassion, or the fact that he cast aside his better judgment to expose a most vulnerable version of himself, leaving him open to be judged by these actions.

It was clear the dog demon took great care to uphold a certain image of himself, hence why he was often partial to silence rather than speaking unnecessarily and therefore surrendering anything that might affect that image. It would take a great deal of suppression of his pride to have decided upon the help in which he offered and perhaps that was the most unbelievable of all.

If revealing anything at all, this entire ordeal only served to confirm your previous suspicions that the stoic, white-haired man would indeed do anything for Rin, whether she asked or not.

The cheery child in question excitedly fetched the tools she would need to brew your medicine, and you watched in mild amusement as you pondered the little girl’s ability to find such joy in the strangest of things. How liberating of a life she must live, choosing happiness, always, in the face of any and all adversity.

After some time and a successful performance of skills, Rin approached your still frame upon the ground holding aloft the bowl of medicine. She merrily assisted you in drinking the brew to fullness, then made you as comfortable as possible to attempt slumber.

The girl sat next to you by the fire, having instructed A-Un to encircle the both of you now rather than keeping the creature to herself. You were grateful for it, as having something so large surrounding you and acting as a barrier for you in your vulnerable state was much more ideal than simply laying exposed on the ground.

My, you were having a couple of strange days indeed.

Rin had fallen asleep rather quickly, having used a lot of mental and physical fortitude to be your personal nurse the entire day. As you watched the steady rise and fall of her chest, you finally felt the warm tendrils of sleep grasp your mind, and you too drifted off.

 

——————————-

 

“Please… please come back!”

Fire raged in the forest. Tears trickled down your face. The river was so cold and the flames were so hot, but you paid neither of the sensations any mind. You only kept your gaze on the treeline.

“Please don’t leave me!”

 

——————————

 

It was the chirping of birds that woke you this time, a sweet crescendo of trills and chirps scattered across the tops of the trees. When you opened your eyes, you felt a sense of peace. And for the first time in two days you took an unlabored deep breath.

Your fever had broken.

With the help of A-Un’s body you propped yourself upright, leaning heavily on the large creature. The two headed animal stirred and one of his heads lifted to take a look at the disturbance. The two of you met gazes and you smiled, while he only assessed you for a moment, grunted, and laid his head back down. You lifted a hand to pet his side, whispering a silent thank you for lending you his protection and warmth.

Rin slept peacefully beside you and you could see Jaken to your right, leaned up against a mound of dirt, also still sleeping.

It only took a second before you sensed an all too familiar presence.

“Are you well.” The stone voice said, lacking the enunciation for his words to form a proper question as the dog demon emerged to your left.

You turned your head to look at him, but he wasn’t looking back. “Yes, the fever is gone. I never got the chance to say it, but thank you for bringing the herbs. I am eternally gratef—“

“I didn’t do it for you.” He interrupted, his gaze remaining on the river in the distance.

Caught off guard, you paused to consider your next words. “Yes I know that now. It was Rin’s wish to keep me alive.” You turned to look down at the little girl resting beside you, your hand moving from A-Un to her, stroking her dark brown hair. “I supposed she is who I am eternally grateful for.”

When you looked back up at him you met with his striking gold eyes. Taken aback but not wavering, you watched the way he studied you, the way those eyes followed your gentle stroke on Rin’s hair.

He looked away again.

“We cannot stay by the river any longer. Now that you are able to move we will be leaving today.”

Chapter 4: On the Move

Sesshomaru seemed to be in haste. It wasn’t long after your conversation with him that the rest of the group awoke, and after sensing on their own that he was ready to take off they had packed up what little belongings made up the camp and were ready to leave.

You stayed by A-Un, who also remained motionless to reserve all his energy before undertaking the day’s journey. Your health had greatly improved and you were capable of moving at this point, but standing and walking were still very much out of the question, so the two of you remained close to each other before action would be taken in which you would be placed upon his back for the journey.

Rin stood kneeling beside you, wrapping your midsection and thigh with a fresh set of bandages. Your kimono had to be pulled down again and you clutched the blanket which protected your dignity. You once again admired the exceptional skills this little girl upheld.

“Where are we going?” You asked the child as she finished tucking in the end of the bandages.

She showed no signs of knowing, the same pleasant expression that continued to stay plastered on her face. “We never stay in the same place for more than a night.”

“Lord Sesshomaru is a man with many enemies.” Jaken interjected with his grating voice. “We can’t ever stay in the same place for too long, lest humans or demons come upon us and attack!”

You looked towards the demon in question, who stood facing the river as still as stone. You were not surprised by this information. A man with such a powerful and overbearing aura, not to mention a cold disposition, would certainly be easy to hate. And you were well aware of the motives of demonkind, that which drew them to fight each other in a performance to prove who was the most powerful. It was a given that Sesshomaru would be one in which many would seek out and attempt to subdue, if only to boast that they could.

“So is this all you do? Just move from one place to another?” You questioned, pulling your kimono back over your shoulders and surrendering the decency blanket to Rin. “Or is there a bigger picture here that I am not aware of?”

“Actually, Lord Sesshoma—-“ Rin began, but was sharply cut off by Jaken.

“That is none of her business!” He squealed at the child, emphasizing his words with a wave of his staff, then turned to address you. “You would do well to keep your nose out of something that does not concern you! You are only coming with us because our Lord Sesshomaru is showing you great compassion by not leaving you here to fend for yourself and being vulnerable from your injuries. Remember that your accompaniment is temporary and will last no longer than the time it will take for you to be healed, and then you will be free to leave. So butt out!”

You sneered at the imp’s unmannerly tone, but resigned yourself to the logic of his words. Instead of pursuing the subject, you looked upon the dog demon and pondered. So there definitely was more here than the eye could see. You wondered what purpose drove this man forward. What great mission he was carrying out. It would certainly be a significant venture, for this clearly formidable being would not lower himself to pursue anything that was not worth his time. And the way that his eyes looked upon the world with such intensity exposed enough for you to understand that you had no role to play in this performance.

Not that you wanted to. You wanted nothing more than to be free of the group and continue on in your life of running and solitude.

Although…

You glanced at the little girl beside you, who had been arguing with the imp while you were lost in your thoughts. You had only met her the other day, and yet you felt yourself growing fond of the child. She, who smiled in the face of fear and adversity, and spared no effort to be kind for the sake of being kind. Her joy and resilience was almost intoxicating, as it was easy to get lost within her disposition, and be greatly influenced by her optimism.

The more time you spent with the funny little thing, the more you understood why Sesshomaru might have been keeping her around. She was the humanity that he lacked.

“Jaken.” The man in question spoke in a tone that faintly hinted at impatience. “Are we ready to leave.” Once again refusing to use any enunciation to make his words an actual query, it came off as a demand.

“Yes mi’lord!” The imp answered, almost frantically. As if in fear that the dog demon was going to leave the group behind, he turned to you. “Quickly, climb onto A-Un!”

You nodded, sitting up and turning so you could crawl onto the back of the two headed dragon that lay behind you. Once the animal realized what you were trying to do, however, both his heads huffed and he stood up abruptly, bucking you off his body mid-climb. You hit the ground on your good side, pain exploding from your wounds.

“Oh no!” Rin exclaimed, bending down to try and help you off the ground. “A-Un, that was not nice!”

Though her efforts were received gratefully, Rin’s small body bore no strength to assist you off the ground. The heads of the dragon both grunted at her exclamation and almost seemed to roll both sets of its eyes, turning to walk away in defiance.

“A-Un.”

The group paused, looking up to find Sesshomaru standing in front of the creature, who froze mid-stride. The ice that normally laced the demon’s voice had been replaced with a surprising sense of indignation. The air was tense, and you found yourself mildly terrified that the inflection of just one word could make such a creature suddenly cower in fear. Its ears lowered, following both of its heads. It turned and moved into position beside you, still refusing to lie down but complying with Sesshomaru’s silent command.

You were able to struggle to your knees, then onto your feet, holding yourself steady onto the animal. You placed one foot in a sturrup, and attempted to haul yourself up, but no strength would come to you. You huffed and grunted but it just wouldn’t happen. Pain persisted upon your wounds, and the damage on both sides of your body made it impossible to hoist yourself up.

But when you looked down at Jaken and Rin who stood beside you without the ability to help, you suddenly found yourself being lifted off the ground. Startled, you looked down to find a single arm wrapped around your midsection and felt a firm body holding you from behind as Sesshomaru effortlessly picked you up and seated you onto A-Un.

Not a second later his warm touch went missing, and you looked upon with an open mouth at the towering figure already walking away ahead of you. Jaken picked up his stubby legs to catch up, while Rin took A-Un’s reins and began to follow.

You were struck with complete silence, unsure how to feel.

It was for some time that the party was on the move before anything happened. Nobody, even Rin, chose to speak until you all came upon a field of white flowers that stretched across a great distance.

Rin laughed delightedly. “Oh how pretty!”

Letting go of the dragon’s reins she ran joyfully through the field. For the first time since you had met her, you watched the little girl finally act like a little girl. After experiencing the most mature attitude from her for the last day or so, it was almost odd to see her act her real age. And infectious as she always was, watching her brought joy to you as well, and you let a smile grace your lips.

Sesshomaru ceased walking, seeming to be considerate of Rin and allowing her a moment to express her childlike wonder. Briefly it warmed your heart seeing him regard the child in an almost fatherly fashion. It was out of character, but to you it was a welcome sight to behold. Seeing the complex nuances of their relationship only served to ease your weary and distrusting heart, making the effort to be comfortable around the dog demon all the more natural.

The moment of peace and Rin’s infectious joy didn’t last for long, however, when a disturbance beyond the field caught the attention of the group and the mood shifted entirely.

There, at the tree line ahead, emerged a party of men, dragging their feet across the flowers. Your vision had never been the best, and at a distance you could barely make out the figures that approached. But as they moved closer, trudging along like bobbling drunkards, your breath caught in your throat and you felt yourself freeze.

It was the demon hunters.

Rin had made her way back next to the safety of A-Un, holding a handful of flowers and never taking her eyes off the men.

“Who are they?” She whispered from the side of her mouth.

You couldn’t bring yourself to reply, you couldn’t even form any words in your head. The breath you held came in with a vengeance, and your chest began to rise and fall heavily. Rin looked up at you in worry, but you didn’t have it in you to assure her of anything.

You would not have found yourself so worried coming across these demon hunters if they had only ever seen you in your demonic form. This would not be the case, however, since that night in which you crossed paths you had been sleeping in your makeshift camp in your human form, and that was the one they came upon. That night they awoke you in such a fright that you transformed unwillingly and that was when the hunt began.

If they saw you now they would surely recognize you and then it would all be over. Despite all he had done to help, you didn’t believe that Lord Sesshomaru would continue to protect you if these hunters demanded that he hand you over. With Rin in the picture, her life would surely be in danger, and he would give you to the hunters without question, if not to whisk her away to safety. He would have a duty to protect her first, whether or not she protested his choice to give you up.

“Lord Sesshomaru.” You whispered harshly, clenching a handful of your kimono as you broke out in a cold sweat.

You saw the back of his head shift ever so slightly but he never turned his attention to you.

“Please, we have to leave.” You begged with a clear worry in your throat, your heartbeat growing louder with every step the hunters took.

The demon did not acknowledge you.

You were in a bind. Unable to move or even dismount A-Un and unable to sway Sesshomaru with your words, you were stuck in place and having to resign yourself despairingly for a confrontation. Beside you, Rin addressed you softly and placed a small hand on your leg for comfort, but it made no difference.

The men were too close now for you to attempt to beg Sesshomaru again, and you willed yourself with all the mental fortitude you had to stay calm and not surrender any means of recognition or fear that might tip off the hunters.

Unless, of course, it didn’t matter. Perhaps that was why Sesshomaru did not make a move. Perhaps he was waiting for them to approach so he may present you on a silver platter, ripe for their picking.

No, you decided to yourself. Sesshomaru would not do such a thing, not after everything he did to help you… right?

The men stopped in front of the dog demon.

“You there.” The leader of the group said, a stout man with a hand resting lazily on the hilt of his sword. “We implore you to answer a question. The other night we lost our hunt to the river. A deer whom we pierced with two different spears. It should have one wound on its side and one on its leg. The deer is a demon who can transform into a girl at will. Have you come across this creature of which I speak?”

For a moment you thanked whatever gods may exist that the kimono your wore had previously been washed and stitched into pristine condition by Rin so that it may reside on your body free of evidence and mercifully covering your wounds. The men showed no sign of recognition yet, and you silently offered a small thanks to the girl next to you. Maybe if you didn’t move they would not notice you.

A tense moment followed, the men waiting for the demon’s response, and the demon making them wait.

“No.”

Your body wavered, weak with relief. Oh thank the stars.

With that the white-clad man began to move, the rest of your group in tow. When you passed the hunters, however, while trying not to acknowledge them, yourself, the leader spoke up again.

“My men are hungry and haven’t eaten in two days. That deer is the only thing we have seen in a week of hunting. Are you sure you have not seen it?”

Sesshomaru did not stop walking. “I am sure.”

Finally getting past the hunters, you wavered again, exhaling into a slouch. You could feel all the eyes of the hunters on you and you willed yourself not to look back at them. However, once you heard the shuffle of their feet commencing the continuation of their trek through the field, you could not stop yourself from taking one tiny glance.

You met eyes with a single man who remained facing you while the others had turned and were walking away. Your heart stopped. His gaze narrowed.

You whipped around again, squeezing your eyes shut and mentally beating yourself up. You dared not look behind you again, not until you were safely behind in the tree line, and they were long past the field.

“Are you okay?” Rin questioned sympathetically, sensing the tension finally dissipated.

You swallowed, “Yes, I’m fine.

“They were looking for you, weren’t they?”

You looked down at the girl in surprise, but let the feeling fall away. Even though you had never revealed your true nature to the group, you realized they would have obviously figured it out with this encounter. It would take a fool not to realize that you, who they found impaled by two spears, was the creature of which the hunters had put those spears into.

You nodded at her and looked up at the man that led the group. “Lord Sesshomaru.” You called, noticing him pause ever so briefly. “Thank you.”

He said nothing.

For the rest of the day, even though it had now been long since you encountered the hunters, you still did not yet feel free of danger. The suspicion in the lone man’s eyes haunted you. It was clear he did not understand his own suspicions, but he seemed to be listening to his gut enough that he chose to linger his gaze upon you. Even though he did nothing to raise those doubts to the rest of the men, there would be a fear plastered upon your mind for a long time. His gaze had been harrowing, and due to your vulnerable state, it kept you from finding true peace during your journey.

The rest of the day continued without any other disturbances. Rin had eventually joined you to sit upon A-Un, having reached her walking limit for the day. The two of you chatted amongst yourselves for most of the time. She had kept the flowers she picked from the field and braided them into your hair. You found her spirit refreshing and her conversations captivating. Even for a child she spoke very maturely, but never once lost her light-hearted nature.

With the flowers in your hair you flattered yourself with the thought that, for once in your life, you might’ve looked pretty.

Jaken had walked alongside the two of you, interjecting here and there with his trilling voice, sometimes annoyed and sometimes in earnest, but he too seemed to enjoy your company.

Only when the sun was halfway behind the horizon, and the group happened upon a gentle creek, did Sesshomaru halt and declare that this was where camp would be made.

This time A-Un was more merciful when he sat down gently to allow you to dismount him. You made sure to stroke one of his necks to show him that you were grateful for allowing you to travel on his back. He showed only indifference, but you believed he enjoyed the attention.

Rin and Jaken busied themselves with starting a fire, followed up by entering the creek to catch some dinner.

It felt good to be on the ground, leaning against the creature again. After a full day of sitting upright you had an almighty ache in your side wound. Resting in a more leisurely manner took the pressure off of it, and you could relax.

It didn’t take long after reaching this point of relaxation that your eyes began to feel heavy, and you would soon slip away into darkness.

But as your mind faded, a single image persisted. Before you surrendered to slumber, all you could think about was the haunting suspicion in the hunter’s gaze.

Chapter 5: Reunion

It was merciful that you did not experience your nightmare on this night, but when you suddenly awoke to an indecipherable noise that cut through the air, you almost wished you did.

It was dark. The fire, which once glowed brightly against the trees surrounding you, had burned down to nothing but smoldering embers, taking all the light with it. The moon hung in the sky, full but hidden by a smattering of clouds, offering very little in terms of light.

You swiveled your head around, ears straining. You could feel the little body of Rin beside you, curled up and sleeping peacefully. A-Un at your back rumbled with snores. Jaken was nearby too, his figure harder to see but he looked just as ensnared in sleep as the rest of them.

But where was Sesshomaru? You thought you could faintly sense his presence, but you weren’t sure. For some reason, your heart began to beat faster, and you felt a glint of fear pierce your mind.

In the darkness of the trees across the camp, something snapped and you froze.

The hairs on your arms raised and every instinct you had suddenly screamed RUN.

Then it came. The dreaded whistling sound. You inhaled a deep gasp and squeezed your eyes shut.

There was a swish and a clatter, and then silence.

As you cracked your eyes open in confusion, the clouds that hid the moon gave way, and a bright glow casted itself upon the dark night, revealing to you the towering form of Sesshomaru. He stood with his back to you, one arm raised, claws to the sky, and a broken spear at his feet.

The noise woke Rin and Jaken, who stared up in bewilderment at their leader.

“Lord Sesshomaru?“ Rin said groggily, sitting up next to you.

He ignored her.

“You call yourself hunters.” The dog demon uttered into the darkness, inflecting a similar commanding tone as he did when A-Un wouldn’t accommodate you. But this time his voice was laced with malice.

“We have come for our hunt.” A voice in the darkness spoke, and you instantly recognized it as the leader of the hunters. “You lied to us and we are here to retrieve what is ours.”

Sesshomaru moved his hand down to the hilt of Tokijin, a hair’s breadth away from drawing it. “And yet you attack with no concern for my ward who lies next to your target.”

“The little girl was in no danger. My marksman is very skilled, and had you not interfered, the spear would’ve struck the deer demon. Nobody else would’ve been hurt.”

“I do not appreciate the cowardice of men who attack in the night, in secret and unprovoked.”

“And I do not appreciate the dishonesty of a man who does not respect a hunter’s right to his kill. We felled that deer. We are owed the reward of feasting after the effort we made.”

You heard a soft click, the telltale sound of a sword popped ever so slightly out of its sheath.

“You are owed nothing.”

The man laughed wickedly. “And who are you to decide that? You should hand over the demon. My men have surrounded your camp and they are hungry enough to kill everybody here to get it.”

Your eyes glanced around frantically. Through the light of the full moon you saw the hunter’s words rang true. Shrouded in shadows, you could faintly make out the tips of many weapons and the tops of many heads. You clutched Rin in your arms.

“You insolent fools!” Jaken’s grating voice cut the tension as he stood next to his master, the Staff of Two Heads held aloft. “You dare threaten the great Lord Sesshomaru!? You should leave now before he cuts down each and every one of you!”

The hunter scoffed. “We are fifteen. He is but one. We will easily subdue him.”

“You will try and you will fail!” The imp cried defiantly.

“Enough talk!” Roared the hunter with indignation. “Hand over the demon or be slaughtered!”

Nobody made a move. Sesshomaru stood still as stone. Rin cowered in your arms, and you felt A-Un grunt quietly behind you.

“No.”

Silence.

“So be it.”

Chaos exploded around you. Sesshomaru leapt into the trees ahead, drawing his sword as the voices of every single hunter bellowed into the night. A-Un stood from the ground and charged into an attack at the men behind you. Jaken laughed maniacally and held up his staff, unlocking the jaw of one of its heads and breathing projectile flames wildly into the trees.

Rin whimpered in your arms, and you squeezed your body around her protectively. War encircled the two of you. The burst of flames from Jaken’s staff overpowered the light of the moon and clarified the scene.

You could see Sesshomaru in the distance, sword swinging, legs darting. He moved so effortlessly, so fluidly, that in the combined light of the moon and the fire, he was ethereal. You watched him slice down one man, then two, then three. Another burst of flames drew your eye and you watched Jaken set two men ablaze, who then resorted to running away screaming as their armor burned and their flesh blackened. A roar from behind you caught your attention, and you turned your gaze upon A-Un, who swung its heads around and swiped away a handful of the hunters with its sharp claws.

The battle was surprisingly short. With the combined skills of the three who defended you and Rin, the hunters were slaughtered within a matter of minutes. Sesshomaru had taken care of the bulk of the hunters with his one sword, and before long he was standing among a pile of bodies in the distance, swiftly returning Tokijin to its sheath.

Everything finally stilled. Rin lifted her head off of your chest to survey the scene. It was over.

“That was easy enough!” Jaken exclaimed proudly as the jaw of his staff closed. “Nobody who threatens the great Lord Sesshomaru lives to tell the tale!”

With the danger gone, the little girl you held squirmed.

“Lord Sesshomaru!” She called, fear dissipated and relief coloring her voice.

But as she stood up to address her guardian in the distance, a rustle to your left caught your attention. You turned your head to see the stout leader of the hunters stand up from the shrubbery with one arm limp and the other lifting a spear, eyes affixed on Rin. In horror you realized what was happening and all time seemed to slow.

Without any thought to your condition, you jumped forward off the ground, screaming the little girl’s name. The spear whistled and your body met hers, tackling her out of the line of fire. You both tumbled to the ground.

Frantically you looked back at the hunter, who now lay dead. Sesshomaru stood above him, his claws dripping with blood.

“Rin,” You said in a panicked voice, sweeping the child’s hair out of her face. “Are you okay?”

She looked up at you with wide eyes, unmoving. “I think so.”

Propped up on your knees and elbows above the child, you were suddenly struck with pain. Now that she was safe and the danger was officially over, the adrenaline in your body ceased to course your veins and your wounds once again inflicted agony upon you. You groaned through your clenched teeth, struggling to keep yourself up on your arms. Beneath you, Rin addressed you with worry, but you lacked the ability to give her a response. Your vision began to blur.

That was when you felt a new pain, a new wound, a different one from the ones you already had. Embedded in your back was the spear that was intended for Rin.

You had lost too much blood and your body was failing you.

The red liquid trickled down your sides, dripping off and dotting the little girl’s orange kimono. Seeing this, you used what little strength you had to move off of her, allowing her to scoot away and stand up. She looked upon you with horror and regret and you noticed the tears welling up in her eyes.

Another figure stood next to her, but your strength left you and your head dropped, unable to look back up. Overcome with the pain, you faced the ground, squeezing your eyes shut. You were fading and you started to come to terms with the possibility that you would not be coming back from this one. This was it.

“Thank you for everything.” You whispered weakly to the pair standing above you. “I’ll miss you, Rin.”

The last thing you felt before you died was your cheek hitting the cool dirt.

 

———————————-

 

Wailing echoed through the forest, a child’s desperate cry.

You sat with your knees in the river, the water at level with your chest. The fire had subsided, the forest was quiet. Smoke and death scented the air, choking your throat and burning your lungs. You paid it no mind as you screamed into the grey sky.

“Why did you leave me!”

———————————

 

With a gasp you woke up, sitting up suddenly from the ground. Your chest heaved and your mind raced. Fear and confusion consumed you as your head swiveled around wildly until your eyes landed on a familiar white-haired man who sat beside you.

“Sesshomaru,” you hailed, your breath quickening. “What—“

“Calm yourself.” The dog demon ordered.

With his icy gaze and commanding voice, you found yourself complying. After taking a moment to catch your breath and still your thundering heart, you managed to bring yourself to a manageable stillness.

“I died.” You stated.

“I know.” He returned.

A deep furrow decorated your brow, and just as you opened your mouth to question him, a child’s voice called your name. Rin addressed you in the distance, and it was this that broke your gaze away from Sesshomaru to finally scan your surroundings.

You were no longer in the previous camp. Noticing the lack of dead hunters, it was clear that the group had moved to another place in the forest with a lot less blood. The sun was setting, peaking just barely above the horizon, casting columns of warm light through the trees. In the near distance was a running Rin, arms clutching a collection of vegetables that looked freshly harvested.

She had a huge smile on her lips, as cheery and joyful as ever. Her countenance seemed to lack every shred of worry and fear that painted her features the night before.

It was almost as if the battle with the hunters never happened.

The little girl approached you, dropping the vegetables onto the ground, spreading her arms and leaping into you for an almighty embrace.

“You’re awake!” She cried, her little arms squeezing around your neck.

Jaken came in tow, breathing raggedly and also bolstering an arm full of vegetables. “You’ve been asleep nearly the entire day!” His trilling voice added.

“What happened?” You asked, holding Rin in the same fervor for as long as she held you. You glanced at Sesshomaru. “I thought I died.”

Sesshomaru made no move to speak, but Jaken was all too happy to reply. “Oh you most definitely did! But by the grace and kindness of Lord Sesshomaru, as a reward for saving young Rin, he chose to save your soul and bring you back from the dead!”

This answer only served to confuse you further. “But how?”

“By using the Tenseiga!” The imp answered. Sesshomaru’s hand moved to the hilt of the other sword holstered on his belt, emphasizing Jaken’s words.

“You see,” the green creature continued, “While the Tenseiga is indeed a sword, it is unable to actually kill. Its blade is dull and no matter how hard you try, it will never make a cut. However, the sword is still a powerful object. It has the ability to bring back the dead. On a large scale it can save 100 souls at once!”

Before you could even think of something to say in response to this information, Rin lifted her head off your shoulder with a grin. “It also heals wounds! Have you noticed that you are not in pain anymore?”

Enlightened with her words, your eyebrows lifted dramatically. Snaking one arm off of Rin you nearly tore a part of your kimono from your legs, revealing the undisturbed flesh of your right thigh. That same hand slipped under the fabric at your waist and you felt around to find that your side had also been completely healed.

“That is impossible.” You said, your eyes wild with bewilderment.

Your perplexed expression dissolved, however, when Sesshomaru stood up from the ground. Watching with a parted mouth as he walked away, you found your words again.

“Thank you.” You blurted before he got too far. “For saving me.”

He paused mid-stride, turning his head. You saw only the corner of his eyes.

“For Rin.”

And with that he was gone.

Chapter 6: Becoming Friends

You never once believed that you would become friends with Sesshomaru. At least, not until now.

‘Friends’ was perhaps a term used loosely, though, as it was hard to engage with him in a friendly manner unless you were Rin. But ever since the day you sacrificed yourself for the life of the child, his regard for you shifted. Even you, a demon with very minimal power, were able to sense that he now accepted you into the party and no longer held any disdain for your presence.

Some weeks had passed since the battle with the hunters. You were once told by Jaken, back when you only lingered with them because of your injuries, that when you healed you would be free to leave. However, since you were resurrected from the dead and all your wounds disappeared, that expectation was completely forgotten. No one told you to leave and you were never asked to stay, but somehow time managed to pass by without you ever noticing and you found yourself a permanent fixture in the group.

You were perfectly happy with it. Having spent most of your life alone, on the run, and in a constant state of survival, you were very content with the idea of being a longterm part of this strange band of characters.

Rin was a joy to be around. Acting as the humanity that Sesshomaru lacked, the friend that Jaken needed, and the companionship that you always craved, she bore the light of the group and was the glue that kept it together. You and her had been inseparable since the day of the battle, and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

Even A-Un, who once made it clear he refused to acknowledge your existence, changed his attitude towards you, acting far more agreeable as time passed on. You and the two-headed dragon were on good terms now, and he bore no protests to you riding on his back anymore.

And as your place in the party continued to cement, it was slowly revealed to you what great manner of mission Sesshomaru was engaged in. You found out through the means of Jaken, who after realizing you were here to stay and saw your potential to play a role in the undertaking, that the dog demon was intent on killing a half demon named Naraku. Through a steady feed of information you came to understand the situation of the sacred jewel, the Shikon No Tama, and the great race to finish off the man who sought to collect all the shards of the broken stone with the intention to fulfill his wish of becoming a full-blooded demon and enhancing his power.

Having spent your entire life isolated from the said world, all of this was news to you. Struck with enlightenment of the dire circumstances, a part of you grew terrified, but with a new lease on life, the other part of you felt emboldened to discover that this gave you another purpose to drive you forth into a new future. A future in which you could find some peace and settle into an existence, that once Sesshomaru had completed his mission, where you could forever be a part of this strange little family.

What awaited the completion of this expedition was beyond your imagination, but for now it only served to encourage and strengthen your new resolve. Working towards this goal fared a far greater definition on the meaning of life to you than you ever had the privilege to know. Thus you took the opportunity and accepted your role, one offered indirectly by Sesshomaru, who made no protest and never spoke against the implicated proclamation.

As for the demon in question, you still were unsure of the concept of the friendship regarding the two of you.

The man spoke very little. And when he did it was only ever a command. Alternatively, on the rare occasion he would offer a one-worded answer to a question, it was often particularly reserved for Rin. The most you had ever heard him speak was the night with the hunters, where he defended Rin and refused to hand you over. Ever since then he never formed any more sentences to the same extent as he did when he spoke to the leader of the hunters. It was a shame really. Having spent this much time around him you gradually became more curious of the man, and often found yourself wondering about him and his life. You wanted to pick his brain and discover his secrets, if only to understand him on a greater scale. But you never dared do such a thing. In all honesty you were afraid that if you did so you might only serve to annoy him, that it would break the spell that kept you there and he would demand that you exit their lives.

No, you weren’t going to pester him with your curiosity. You were far too comfortable now to put your circumstances in jeopardy.

But within the same vein of learning more about the dog demon and his motives, the most recent bit of information Jaken offered you was that of a particularly sore subject concerning another white haired demon whom Sesshomaru shared blood with.

“A brother?” You echoed, lowering a bowl of soup from your lips. “He has a brother?”

“Oh yes, and a half demon at that, too.” Jaken said in response, lifting his own bowl and slurping its contents.

“Ah.” You said, suddenly realizing why you had never heard about this brother before. Even you, with what little knowledge and understanding you had of Sesshomaru, could figure out why there was never any mention of the other dog demon. “What’s his deal?”

Jaken sneered. “Inuyasha is such an insolent creature in his own right, but beyond that his very existence brings shame to my master. His half-demon blood taints the family line. Not to mention that Lord Sesshomaru holds contempt for him partly due to the decision their father made to even have the unholy union with a human, thus even creating his brother. But it doesn’t stop there. There are many reasons that—“

“Jaken.”

Oh dear.

The two of you froze, while little Rin beside you, upon hearing the frigid and, frankly, irritated sounding voice, sat up quickly to greet the dog demon.

“Lord Sesshomaru, welcome back!” She hailed, oblivious to you and Jaken’s plight.

It was not lost on you the reason for Sesshomaru’s displeasure. The only reason Jaken surrendered the information about Inuyasha was because the white-clad man was not within the vicinity and the two of you believed you could speak freely. Unfortunately it seemed that was not the case.

“Forgive me mi’lord, I did not mean to make you angry! I should never have been speaking of your personal matters behind your back!” The imp blubbered, having dropped his bowl of soup and flipped around to face his master in an ill-attempt to appease him with a series of frantic bowing.

Sesshomaru ignored the miserable creature and approached to stand next to Rin, his eyes falling upon the pot of soup that boiled over the fire, of which the three of you had been dining on. Rin noticed his gaze and quickly busied her hands to fill another bowl with the meal.

“We just made it, please have some!” She urged cheerfully, holding the bowl aloft.

Sesshomaru stared at it and you wondered what was going on inside his head. Now that you thought about it, you never actually saw him eat. You wondered if he even ate at all, and if he would accept the food that his ward offered him.

Maybe he was hungry or particularly agreeable on this day, but to your surprise he reached down and took the bowl from Rin’s hands, lifting it to his level. In a single motion he tipped it to his lips, swallowing the entirety of its contents and gave it back.

For a moment you thought you saw the faintest flash of a smile, but whatever expression he had was gone before you could decipher it.

Watching him hide his hand back beneath his long sleeve, you were reminded of another bit of information Jaken told you about the fact that the white-haired man was missing his left arm.

Having done a very good job of hiding it, it came as a shock to you to find out. Who knew that a person could still very well function while missing an entire appendage? If you weren’t told, you would have lived for the rest of your life completely oblivious to it.

As you thought about it, you looked back up at Sesshomaru, who had caught you staring. You blanched when you met his eyes, suddenly embarrassed. He seemed to study you for a moment, he who had the most intense gaze, before he looked away. You sighed inwardly, lifting your bowl of soup to your mouth and side-eyeing Jaken who hadn’t yet stopped furiously bowing.

“What did you use?”

You paused, once again looking up. “What?”

“In the soup. What did you use?”

You were not sure how to answer. At the moment, in fact, you were not sure if you were hallucinating or not. Did Sesshomaru just ask you a question? Did he just start a conversation completely off his own accord? Was he actually talking to you?

It took you a moment to recover your bearings and find your words. “Um… not much, just some herbs that we found.”

The silence was awkward. For a moment the dog demon looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn’t. You weren’t entirely sure, but you thought you saw the faintest of a nod before he turned away.

Was this his version of a compliment?

Still unsure if you had just hallucinated, you finished eating your dinner alongside your two other traveling partners, engaging in a conversation that was far less likely to upset your leader.

 

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When you rose from sleep the next morning, you realized you were up far earlier than you needed to be. Rin and Jaken slept peacefully in their respective areas and you thought about perhaps waking them, but then decided against it. You didn’t see Sesshomaru anywhere but figured he was off on one of his outings. The man often disappeared for a few hours at a time in random increments. It was pretty normal and you knew that he would be back fairly soon.

At this opportunity you toyed with the idea of getting into the river for a quick wash. It had been some time since you last bathed, and even though it was early in the morning and the water was most likely very cold, you couldn’t pass up this chance. If you did then it might take another few days before you could do it again and you would rather get it over with now instead of waiting and getting filthier.

At the river you stripped your clothes off your body, discarding them on the bank and stepped into the frigid waters, your arms collecting goosebumps from the sensation. Pushing past it you waded deeper until you were able to fully submerge yourself and then you began to wash whatever parts you could for as long as you could bear it.

While you bathed, your thoughts strayed to the dog demon again.

You wondered if him engaging in conversation with you the night before was a sign of him warming up to you. While you somewhat understood that he already held a low level of respect for you due to the sacrifice you made for Rin, there were never any telltale signs to actually prove it. But then again, there weren’t any telltale signs to prove that he didn’t, either. Perhaps his odd version of a compliment was the sign to make you believe.

As you scrubbed away the dirt on your legs and watched the filth drift away from your body down the river, you wondered if Sesshomaru ever bathed. It was just another thing from a long list of things that you never saw him do. It was odd, he always seemed to be doing everything and nothing at once. Maybe that was why he would often disappear when you travelled together. Perhaps he was taking off to do these things by himself. Perhaps he was embarrassed to be seen doing them.

You snorted to yourself. Sesshomaru? Embarrassed? Please.

Now satisfied with your work, you stood up out of the river and hurriedly waded out of it towards the bank. As you approached your clothes, however, your ears picked up a sound in the trees. Just before you leaned down to gather your clothes, your eyes lifted from the ground to meet with the striking gold pair of the demon who filled your thoughts.

Frozen, the both of you stared at each other.

You weren’t sure what expression you wore on your face, but it certainly did not reflect his own. Sesshomaru made no face, no indication to reveal what he was feeling or thinking in this moment, he only continued to stare. His eyes never strayed from yours, holding your gaze unwaveringly. It felt like forever before he broke it, turning and walking towards the camp in a manner that did not at all seem like a man who had just come upon a naked woman in the river.

You stayed frozen for a few seconds longer before a breeze reminded you that you were still very wet and still very cold. Snatching your clothes from the ground you hurriedly dressed yourself, now aware of a hot blush coloring your face.

It took you a long time to get over your embarrassment before you resigned yourself to return to the camp, your head hanging low.

Chapter 7: The Brother

A few days had passed since you experienced the vulnerable moment with Sesshomaru at the river, but you had yet to stop thinking about it. Bothered by the fact that you could not read his expression and couldn’t understand what he was feeling at that moment, you spent your time trying to figure it out.

Was he pleased? Was he disgusted? You would never know.

With an exasperated sigh, you dropped the subject. At least you didn’t have to face him much since it happened. Not long after you had awkwardly made your way back to the camp to find Rin and Jaken awake were you told by the demon himself in as few words as possible that he would be taking off to take care of something for a couple of days, and the three of you would be left to fend for yourselves. Instructing you to protect Rin in his place, Sesshomaru then took off and you were left to your thoughts. Not that you were complaining, really. In fact you felt relief. This gave you time to process what had happened and you could leave it in the past.

The only problem was that you couldn’t seem to actually leave it in the past. Two days had already gone by and yet your mind continued to linger at the memory. It was maddening.

“Insolent child, give it back!” Jaken’s abrasive voice cried, breaking you free from your thoughts.

Turning your attention to the pair nearby, you watched with mild amusement as a giggling Rin was engaging the imp in a chase. She held his staff tauntingly, her legs taking strides across the camp that the green creature could not match. He sputtered and shouted but she refused to relent. You laughed along with her, taking pleasure in Jaken’s frustration.

This was a feeling you had only learned to experience since you began traveling with the group. Before, you never had any reason to feel joy or express laughter. Years of solitude and survival kept you from understanding what true happiness was. And while you may not yet be experiencing true happiness just yet, the time you had so far spent with this strange band of characters brought you closer to it than you had ever been before.

Watching the two traveling companions quarreling over the staff, you suddenly found yourself parched. When reaching for the water bucket, however, you saw that it was empty. Resigning yourself to the task of refilling it, you informed the other two and set away towards the river.

As you got to the water, you wondered what Sesshomaru was up to. Why did he often disappear for hours and days at a time? What could he possibly be doing? Sometimes your curiosity killed you and you would find yourself urged to ask him. You dared never do so, however, for fear of indignation. And so you only continued to ponder as you dipped the bucket into the river.

But then, just as you filled and lifted it, a voice you had never heard before came from across the water.

“I know he’s here somewhere, his scent is all over the place!”

Lifting your head, you found yourself looking upon a group of strangers on the river bank across from you, headed by a white-haired man clad in red. You stood still, eyes blinking, being reminded of the conversation you had with Jaken the other day.

Was that…?

“Hey you!” The man hailed, noticing you.

Startled, you whirled around to run back towards camp.

“Wait, come back!”

You ignored him, darting into the safety of the trees, clutching your bucket of water that splashed around wildly from your sprint. But before you could get far enough, a flash of red appeared above you and that white-haired man landed in your path. You stopped, but only for a moment, and in a split-second decision grasped the edges of your bucket and chucked the contents all over him.

“Yo what the hell!?” The man bellowed as you took the distraction and ran with it.

You would not be able to escape, however, for as soon as you darted past him to run off, you felt him take a handful of the back of your kimono. In doing so, it caused you to lose your footing and you were jerked back, knocked to the ground with your heels lifting above your head. A single sandal flew off your foot and landed next to him.

“That was so uncalled for!” The stranger roared, dropping down to his haunches.

“Inuyasha!” Another voice said from behind him, and you watched as the other strangers you had seen previously ran up to meet the two of you.

So you were right, this was Sesshomaru’s brother. You realized that even though you hadn’t known what to expect, this certainly wasn’t it. This man, who sat crouched beside you, shaking the water off of himself like a dog would, was not what you pictured to be the blood sibling of the far more elegant demon you had come to know. You started to understand why Sesshomaru distanced himself.

“Inuyasha, that wasn’t very nice.” A girl, wearing the strangest attire you had ever seen, chastised as she approached the two of you.

“Hey, she’s the one who dumped water on me for no reason!” The half-demon said back, standing up from his crouch.

The girl swiped at him half-heartedly. “That’s no excuse! You scared her, what did you think she was going to do!?”

Inuyasha just huffed annoyedly while the girl crouched down, picking up your sandal and holding it up to you.

“Sorry about him.” She said with an apologetic smile. “We didn’t mean to startle you. Are you okay?”

You hesitated before you accepted the sandal and stood up to slip it back onto your foot. “Yes, I’m fine.” You brushed off and adjusted your kimono before looking at the red-clad man again. “You wouldn’t happen to be the Inuyasha that’s related to Sesshomaru, would you?”

Inuyasha made a face of recognition, his ears twitching as if he just remembered why this whole misunderstanding had taken place. “Why, have you seen him around? I’ve been picking up his scent around here and I’ve got a bone to pick with him, so if you know where he is you should tell me now.”

You shrugged. “He took off a couple of days ago. It might be another couple of days before we see him again.”

“We?” The half-demon made a suspicious face. “Hold on a minute, how do you know about me anyways?”

“Jaken told me.” You admitted.

“Jaken? The little imp that travels with my brother? You’re lucky Sesshomaru’s not here. That bastard isn’t a big fan of strangers hanging around his group.”

You shrugged again. “He doesn’t seem to mind it.”

The dog-eared man made a face. “Wait, are you also travelling with Sesshomaru?”

You nodded. “For a few weeks now.”

“That’s so weird. Sesshomaru doesn’t tolerate any humans beside Rin.” The girl in the strange clothes said, cocking her head.

“That’s because she’s not human.” Inuyasha said, crossing his arms, staring at you pointedly. “Isn’t that right.”

Unsure of what to say, you could only nod in reply.

“Well that’s a shame.” Another voice in the group lamented, a man wearing the clothes of a monk and brandishing a sacred staff. “And here I was about to ask her to bear my children.”

The group all collectively made the same face of disgust, and another woman amongst them lifted an enormous bone weapon and cracked him over the head with it. You shared their expression. What monk in the world would ever ask a stranger such a question?

“Sango, please, I was only joking!” The monk pleaded.

“Save it Miroku!” The woman snapped back, hitting him again.

“Anyways!” The girl in the strange clothes piped up, diverting from the awkward moment. “Since you already seem to know who Inuyasha is, let me introduce everybody else!”

Proceeding to learn the names of the rest of the party, you were struck with the notion that your own band of travelers wasn’t the only collection of strange characters that walked the earth. In fact, these people were a lot stranger. Each person had their own unique individuality that both clashed and harmonized with one another. It was like they were the worst of enemies and the best of friends at the same time.

“So, what is a demon like you doing hanging around someone like Sesshomaru?” Inuyasha asked with a disapproving face, his body language conveying just as much as the condescending tone of his voice.

You proceeded to detail the story about how you came to be a traveling partner of the dog demon. The group listened in interest, expressing mild shock and befuddlement at the turn of events that led you into this situation. They were particularly fascinated to find out that Sesshomaru had used his Tenseiga to resurrect you from the dead, and all but clamored over each other to pronounce just how unlike him it was to do so. You realized as you spoke with them that they all had knowledge and insight into the man of which you had yet to discover. A part of you wanted to see if you could fish some of that information out.

“Listen, I still find all of that highly unlikely,” Inuyasha announced, having grown tired of the storytelling. “But whatever the case, I came here looking for Sesshomaru and if he’s not here, then we’ll be leaving now. Good luck to you. Let’s go Kagome.”

Maybe you would fish for information another time.

Kagome and the rest bid their goodbyes soon after the half-demon. It seemed they were on some great mission of their own. They never surrendered what in particular, but you had a feeling that it coincided with the one Sesshomaru was on. You waved them off, struck with yet another unfamiliar feeling. Was this a way in which one could make friends?

After watching them disappear, you returned to your earlier task of refilling the water bucket. Realizing that quite some time had passed since you originally set out to do so, you hurried back to the camp. Just before you reached it, however, you encountered Rin and Jaken.

“Where have you been?” Rin asked as you approached each other.

“You were gone for so long, we thought something might’ve happened to you!” Jaken added, a surprising worry lining his voice.

You smiled assuredly at the two. “No, I’m perfectly fine. I just got held up by something.”

“Like what?” The imp questioned, falling into step with you back to camp.

“You won’t believe this, but I ran into Inuyasha and his group.”

“You what! Where are they? Where did they go!?”

“They’re gone now. They went down the river.”

“Then we might still have time to catch them! Let’s go!”

Setting the bucket onto the ground, you looked at the imp confused. “Why, what for?”

Jaken spared no exasperation for his next words. “Because Inuyasha carries the Tessaiga and it has been the long desire of Lord Sesshomaru to take it from him and wield the blade for himself!”

That was when you sat down and listened to a new tale about the dog demon concerning the fangs left to him and his brother from their shared father. You learned in interest the nuances of their family dynamic and the almighty battle for power they constantly found themselves in. Jaken spent so long telling the story, that by the end of it, he realized he took too much time doing so and had missed his opportunity to face Inuyasha and take the sword from him.

Truly you doubted if he ever had a chance, but you sympathized with the miserable creature and comforted him for his failings.

That night, as you lay down for sleep, a lot was troubling your thoughts. Sesshomaru, Inuyasha, the swords… there was far more depth to the demon than you had ever imagined. You wondered how much more you could learn about him, as well as how much he would even allow you to know. Would he be unhappy if he found out about what you had already been told? Perhaps you would never know.

And so for yet another night, you drifted off into sleep with the dog demon on your mind.

Chapter 8: Comforting Touch

It was different this time. The scene had changed. Instead of standing in the river, you were now inside the burning forest.

Like an almighty beast, the fire ate away at the grass. It lapped up the bushes and devoured the trees. It surrounded you entirely. You couldn’t find a way out, you had no means of escape. Everywhere you turned were flames and death. The air roared and the heat seared.

You were screaming. The fire was getting closer, you had nowhere to go. Your skin began to blacken. Your lungs began to choke.

You were burning alive.

 

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In the dark of the night you woke up screaming, but the sounds that came from your throat were not human. Your cries were that of a deer. The nightmare bore such a terror that you had unwillingly transformed into your demonic form.

Fear gripped your wildly beating heart. You had no control over your body. Standing on all four legs you heaved and bucked, your breath hot and blowing from your snout in a vicious billow. Through your wide black eyes you only saw shadows but it felt like you were being surrounded by those who would try to kill you. You had no sense of space or time, only despair.

“Stop it!”

A child’s voice cut across the night air, grabbing your attention. Swiveling wildly, your gaze landed on two figures in the dark cowering before you. You breathed heavily as you stared into them. A faint sliver of recognition pierced your heart, but you could not see who they were, could not understand that the little girl and the imp were your friends. In that moment, to you, they were enemies.

You cried aloud again, bucked your knees, and charged towards them. The little girl screamed and both figures turned to run.

But before you could reach them, a flash of white darted in your path and struck your legs, forcing you off balance. You tumbled to the ground with a thud and another cry. Your legs frantically searched for purchase, and when they found it, you stood to face the man who had struck you. Once again you could feel the sensation of recognition in your heart but it bore no strength and you could only view the man with white hair as a foe.

“Calm yourself.” He commanded in a dark voice, holding up a single hand to emphasize his words. “We are not your enemies.”

There was a part of you, a tiny voice in your mind that screamed for you to listen, but you could not. The terror in your heart had far too much of a grip on your consciousness that it buried the voice and prevented you from realizing what was happening. You were scared and you were dangerous.

You heard the little girl again, but she screamed your name this time. You would never realize that she was only beggin for you to turn back, pleading that you stop this madness and return to the person she had come to call her friend. Your eyes followed the sound of the voice and you began to charge again.

The man darted and cut across your path, preventing you from getting anywhere near the girl. He struck you again, and once more collapsed you to the ground. His attacks were harmless. He never meant to hurt you, only to hinder you. In your state of mind, though, it felt a lot more sinister.

Instead of getting up and attempting to attack him back your fear grew stronger, and you only stood to turn away and sprint into the dark forest.

“Stop!” The man bellowed, but you would not listen.

As you disappeared into the trees you could faintly hear the little girl’s voice. Guilt began to creep into your soul. You couldn’t figure out why, but instead of listening to it you buried it further. Beating your legs upon the ground you pushed yourself to run harder, aiming to escape and free yourself of those who you thought would kill you. It felt like you had been running for ages before the man appeared once more, commanding you to put an end to the madness and holding a sword in his hand.

In a furious rage you beat your legs harder, aiming to tackle him. The white-clad man would be too fast for you though and he easily stepped out of your way. After doing so, however, a single arm encircled your body. You were jerked back, and you felt your heavy frame fall against his. The two of you hit the ground hard, sliding into an outcropping of stone at his back.

In a single motion the man had plunged his sword into the ground next to the both of you, using it as an extension of the arm that held your frantic body against his, acting as an anchor. You screamed in fear and confusion, all four of your legs kicking and bucking, but his grip was too strong and you would not be able to free yourself from him. Sandwiched between you and the stone behind him, he held you in place.

You used every bit of your strength, every bit of your energy to fight against his grip, but you would never be successful. You didn’t know how long you struggled against him, but you battled until your mind grew tired and your legs became weak. It felt like hours before you would finally give up, chest heaving with effort, resolve weakening with exhaustion. Only when you finally let up the struggle and let your legs fall motionless did the man make another move.

Releasing his grip from the sword, the arm that held you against your body moved to your neck, his hand resting at first, then gently stroking you.

“Steady.” He said in a benign voice. “Calm yourself and remember who you are.”

Your chest heaved, your breath quickening, then slowing. Steadily, with the help of his comforting touch, your breath became balanced, and your mind began to clear. Your head dropped against him and you closed your eyes, grasping at a growing light in your heart that began chasing away the fear and darkness. In your ear you heard a gentle whispering, but you could no longer comprehend the words, you only listened to it, following it towards the light and letting the warm glow wash over you.

You cried a desperate cry into the dark, a deer’s call that morphed into a human’s voice. You had turned back, and in doing so, had gained clarity of what happened. The guilt and the shame overtook you and you sobbed at the realization that you had tried to kill your friends. The image of Rin’s fearful face overtook your heart and it broke you.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” You wailed, lying helplessly against the body of the man who rescued you from yourself.

Sesshomaru said nothing and made no move. He only remained, holding you in an embrace, his hand over your heart. He let you have your moment of lament, let you cry your fear and anger out, until your whimpers finally silenced.

“What happened.” He asked in a low voice, and you almost didn’t recognize it from the uncharacteristic tenderness that laced it.

“The nightmare.” You replied with a ragged sigh. “It was different this time. I wasn’t just watching the fire, I was inside it, burning alive.”

“What nightmare.”

Realizing that you had never before spoken to him or anyone else about the plight you faced in your sleep, you resolved to tell him the story.

“I’ve been plagued by nightmares for as long as I can remember. They don’t haunt me every single night, but I do not dream and only see darkness when they are not present. All I’ve ever known in my sleep is a scene in which I am standing in a river and the forest around me is burning. In each one I am always crying and searching for something or someone I can’t find. I’m always alone and afraid.”

Your head turned and you felt the cool metal of Sesshomaru’s armor against your cheek. It was a comforting feeling.

“This time it was different, far worse than any and all others. I was inside the fire now, and the flames began to consume me. I was burning alive.”

Your voice cracked and wavered and you clenched your jaw to prevent yourself from crying again. Sesshomaru’s hand on your heart moved ever so slightly.

“I don’t know why, but the fear of it is what caused me to transform. I never lose control like that. It’s been years since the last time I lost such self-restraint. There have been many times in which fear caused me to turn into my demonic form, such as the night I was being chased by the hunters, but I’ve always had clarity and a grasp on myself. It’s rare that I lose my entire sense of self like I did tonight.”

“What purpose do you believe these nightmares serve.” The dog demon asked, and you revelled for a moment at the gentile nature of which you had never heard him speak before.

“I don’t know. They’ve just always been there. Sometimes I believe they are a reflection of my mind, an amalgamation of everything I’ve been through and seen that has caused me all forms of suffering. But sometimes they feel real. Like a memory.”

“And are they? Are they a memory?”

You shook your head against him. “I have no way of knowing. I have no memories past a certain age. I don’t know where I’m from, I don’t know who I was before. I don’t even know my real name, if I have one. The one I gave you is something I gave myself.”

Having never before told your story to another being, it was strange revealing your mysterious past, to a man like Sesshomaru, no less. You had always been plagued by the mystery of your childhood. You didn’t have any parents, any siblings, any friends, no one. For as long as you could remember, you had been running. Perhaps you were running towards something, but with no memory, you would never know what.

Strangely, you felt a sense of relief being able to finally share your misfortunes, when you had spent your entire life keeping it to yourself.

“I’ve been all alone for as long as I can remember. My first memory was waking up in the forest. I was covered in burns and my clothes were only smoke. I was by myself. I started running and I haven’t stopped since. I always assumed there was a great fire that gave me the burns and thus was the reason for my nightmares, but I’ve never found anything or met anyone to tell me what happened. Whatever horrors I experienced have been blocked out of my mind, and I have never been able to unlock them. I don’t even know what age I am.”

A silence fell over you as you finished speaking. You could hear Sesshomaru’s steady breath at the back of your head, feeling warmth seep into your hair. You wondered what he was thinking. You wished you could see his face right now, but you were far too comfortable being held in his warm embrace. You had never been privy to such a position before. Not even a hug from Rin came close to what sensation encircled you, both physically and mentally. It was so intoxicating that you began to experience a feeling you had never felt before, one you had yet to even identify.

“Can you stand?” The dog demon asked, breaking you from your thoughts.

You looked down at your legs and noticed how damaged they were. Cut up and bruised from where Sesshomaru had to knock you off your feet to protect Rin, you were now aware how much they hurt. You shifted them around to feel out your strength.

“My legs feel very weak, but I can try.” You said in response, and sat up to allow the dog demon to move away from behind you and get to his feet.

In a swift motion he pulled his sword from the ground, sheathed it, then held out his hand to you. You looked up at it, hesitating, before taking it and attempting to stand.

Your legs were a lot weaker than you originally thought, and you ended up clutching his whole arm to keep yourself from falling back down. It seemed you had done quite a number on yourself. Between running yourself to your limit and viciously struggling with Sesshomaru when he held you down, all your strength had left you and you faltered and sat back down, unable to take a step.

“I’m sorry, I can’t do it.” You said pathetically, hanging your head. “Just leave me here. I’ll sleep and recover my strength and then return to camp in the morning. Besides, I don’t know if Rin would want to see me now… not after what I put her through.”

Sesshomaru said nothing, and you prepared yourself for his silent exit, struck with the pain of having to be left alone. You were used to the feeling. You would survive it this time, just like you had been surviving it your entire life.

The dog demon seemed to have other plans, though, as he swooped down, and his arm snaked underneath your rear. You gasped suddenly as he hoisted you up against his right shoulder, your legs straddling his side. To keep yourself from falling over, your arms instinctively went around his neck and you found yourself with a face full of fur. You were being held the way a mother would hold her child against the hip, and you could almost laugh at the absurdity of it.

Still, this brought a very warm feeling to bloom in your chest, the one you could not previously identify as you had never felt it before. Admiration was laced within it, however, as you had to give it to the demon; for someone with only one arm, you had yet to see any situation in which he was hindered or even bothered by the fact. The man was very good at adapting.

Perfectly perching you against his body, Sesshomaru began walking towards camp without a word. Peeking from out of the fur, you suddenly found yourself quite emotional, and tried to hide some tears.

You told the man to leave you behind, but he chose not to. Perhaps you were friends after all.

“Thank you, Sesshomaru.”

His striking gold eyes met yours for a brief moment. He said nothing, looked away, and kept walking.

Chapter 9: Growing

As Sesshomaru carried you through the forest you had a lot to think about.

What was this feeling that blossomed in your chest? What was this warmth that spread across your heart and seeped into your bones? You had never encountered such an emotion and you weren’t even sure if you could call it an emotion at all.

Having spent your entire waking life on the run and all alone, you never had any opportunity to gather experiences with other people. You never made friends or kept any company whatsoever. You spent your days hiding and entertaining only yourself.

You never got to feel touch the way you felt with Sesshomaru, both physically and mentally.

You almost didn’t want it to end.

But it couldn’t last forever. Before long Sesshomaru broke through the trees and you had come back to your camp. Ahead stood Rin and Jaken standing over a freshly stoked fire. Your heart wrenched when the little girl turned to face you. You almost looked away from her gaze, but chose not to. You were going to make this right.

The little girl called your name with such a relief that you could’ve broken down and cried right then. She wasn’t angry or scared of you, she was just happy you were okay.

Sesshomaru approached the fire and stooped into a crouch, releasing you from his grip and setting you down on the ground gently. You had to will yourself to let go of him, lamenting the removal of his warm body from yours. Rin fell into your lap with an embrace that you returned whole-heartedly.

“Rin I’m so sorry. I couldn’t control myself. I would never hurt you willingly, there was something wrong with me tonight and I promise it will never ever happen again.” You sobbed, fresh tears pricking at the corners of your eyes as you buried your face into her.

The child shook her head into your neck, her grasp tight. “Don’t be sorry, I knew there was something wrong. I’m so glad that you’re okay now.”

The two of you held each other for a while as you continued to cry and tried your best to be comforting to her. She was the one to do most of the comforting, however, and it seemed like she was entirely unaffected and even dismissive of your earlier actions. The maturity of this little girl was so striking. You had a very hard time believing that this had no negative impact upon her psyche, but she only continued to prove her loyalty and understanding. Perhaps that was what made you cry the hardest. You had never before met someone so forgiving, let alone grown such a close bond with.

That feeling bloomed in your heart again, but this time it was different. This time you could identify the vein of motherliness.

When the crying stopped and everything finally settled into a stillness, Rin had eventually fallen asleep in your lap. A-Un had laid down behind you, allowing you to lean back and support the child you held against you. While stroking her hair and staring at the fire, you caught Sesshomaru in the corner of your eye. He was looking right at you, almost contemplatively. You dared to look back, catching his gaze as a question you had been wanting to ask finally rose to the surface of your mind.

“Why didn’t you kill me?” You asked in earnest. “I was erratic and a danger to Rin, I could’ve hurt her. Why didn’t you just kill me?”

The demon said nothing for a few seconds. You stared unwaveringly, but he didn’t speak. Only when you sighed and looked back down at the fire did he answer.

“Whether I like it or not, Rin has bonded with you. Even if you had hurt her, she never would have forgiven me if I killed you or returned without you. You are the only woman she has known in her life since her own mother was murdered by bandits.”

A look of surprise decorated your face. This must have been the most words you had ever heard the dog demon put together in a single instance. That and the sobering way in which he spoke put you in a state of shock. He was being entirely serious, and it was only more exposing of the heart that he often kept guarded. You swelled in appreciation for his honesty, as well as the pure devotion he had for his ward. He was as fatherly as you were motherly to the girl. You realized that, inexplicably, she saw the two of you as parental figures. And though he might not be the fondest of the idea, Sesshomaru would protect her beliefs as fiercely as he protected her.

You didn’t even mind that, if Rin wasn’t involved in this, he wouldn’t have cared so much and you wouldn’t be alive. For now you only cherished the circumstances for what they were.

Looking back down at the child in question sleeping peacefully in your lap, you stroked her hair with a warm smile.

“There have now been several times in which you have saved and protected me, all for the sake of Rin. You have my respect and my gratitude. You are a man of great honor, and Rin is very lucky to have you as her guardian.”

With the same smile you looked up into the gold eyes of Sesshomaru and you thought you saw something flash across his expression. But as always, it was gone as soon as it was there and you would never decipher it.

At least now it began to feel more and more like you could comfortably hold a conversation with the silent demon without fearing indignation.

 

———————————

 

When you awoke in the morning you were grateful that you had only seen darkness in your sleep and didn’t experience the burning forest again. Checking the strength of your legs, you found that they were doing a lot better. Still very sore and battered, you were at the very least able to stand and walk without too much pain. There was a limit to how long, you knew, so you resigned yourself to the fact that you would have to utilize the help of A-Un if you were going to make it through the next few days of traveling.

“I see you are able to stand.”

Sesshomaru approached you as you sat yourself down onto a rock, and you looked up at him with a smile.

“Yes, my legs do feel a lot better. I will still need help from A-Un here and there but I should get along just fine.”

You watched as his eyes traveled down to where one of your legs stood out of your kimono, showing off a large bruise from his strikes. Your hand came down to readjust the fabric and cover it up.

“It doesn’t hurt too bad.” You said in encouragement.

“I’m sorry.”

Your eyes flickered back up. “What?”

“I’m sorry for hurting you.”

“Oh.. it’s okay. You were only trying to protect Rin. It was either that or kill me.” You spoke in a joking manner and expressed a laugh, but you it cut short when the dog demon looked away.

Was that… shame?

“We will be leaving soon.” Sesshomaru declared, and walked off as he often did.

You watched him go. Your chest felt heavy.

 

The distance you traveled was far this time. The group efforted through great hills and valleys and you ended up spending most of your time on A-Un. Trying not to rely on the creature too much, however, you attempted several times to walk on your own. Rin kept you company the whole time and was both encouraging of your efforts as well as cautious of your injuries.

“You don’t have to keep doing this.” The little girl said as you once again slipped off of A-Un and landed on the ground. “You can stay on A-Un, he doesn’t mind and he’s very strong.”

“I know that.” You responded, waving dismissively. “I just want to keep my strength up. If I’m on him the whole day then my legs aren’t going to get better.”

Rin, who had been sitting upon A-Un with you before you decided to get off, made you a sympathetic face and took the dragon’s reins. “Okay but be careful. You don’t want to accidentally make them worse.”

“I promise I’ll be careful.”

“You should listen to her.” Jaken’s trilling voice spoke up, appearing next to you as you fell in stride with the dragon. “You keep getting yourself hurt. If you don’t take care then one day Lord Sesshomaru might get tired of having to save you all the time and then you’ll be sorry.”

“You really have a way with words, Jaken.” You quipped dryly, and used one of your legs to push him off balance.

The imp stumbled and fell with a cry. You and Rin dissolved into a fit of laughter while he stood back up and began chastising you. You had paused walking for a moment to hold your stomach as you laughed, finding yourself far more amused than you thought you would. After a few seconds, however, you realized Rin had stopped laughing and Jaken stopped shouting very suddenly.

They had made a few steps ahead of you, and as you looked up you noticed they were turned to look behind you, even A-Un. Sesshomaru, who had been walking farther, was now also fully facing in your direction. The air was suddenly tense, but you didn’t know why.

“What’s… wrong?” You asked, scanning the faces of your companions. Nobody said anything.

But then you felt a hot breath against the back of your neck and your arms sprung with goosebumps.

“Well what do we have here?”

The voice was one you never heard before. It was dark and sinister. And all the times you thought Sesshomaru spoke in a cold manner paled in comparison to what you were hearing now.

Slowly you turned around, and behind you stood a tall man whose face and body were hidden in a white baboon pelt.

“And who might you be?”

You couldn’t find your words. A powerful and dangerous aura seeped off of this stranger that made you aware that you were not in a safe position at the moment. As you stood there trying to figure out how to respond you heard the telltale sound of a sword being unsheathed behind you and you took it as your opportunity to turn and try to lunge away from him. You wouldn’t be able to, however, as the baboon only darted forward and pulled you back, holding you hostage in front of Sesshomaru who you now saw stood nearer with Tokijin held aloft.

“Why, Sesshomaru,” The baboon said tauntingly while you struggled in his firm grip. “I didn’t know you were in the business of making friends.”

“Let her go, Naraku.” The dog demon commanded.

Your eyes turned fearful, realizing that you were now in the presence of the very object of Sesshomaru’s mission. Your breath quickened, your mind racing through all the stories Jaken had told you. From what you heard, he was only evil. And now he held you captive and there was nothing you could do to change that.

“I think I’ll hold onto her.” Naraku responded, a sinister lilt to his voice. “You picking up one stray is already unlike you, but two? I’m just curious about her. Who is she? A bed wench?”

The dog demon made a move to strike, aiming for the head that stood above yours. Naraku jumped easily out of the way, pulling you along with him. He landed and one of the hands that held you against him snaked up to grasp your jaw, forcing you to turn your head as he lowered his own to your level. In the shadows underneath the pelt you faintly saw a face and a cold chill ran up your spine.

“I seem to have struck a nerve. You must be more than a body to keep him warm at night.”

“Let me go.” You whispered, willing strength in your words but failing.

“She speaks.” The baboon returned with amusement. “Won’t you tell me your name?”

Before you could even think of what to say you saw Sesshomaru from the corner of your eye, launching for another attack. Your captor simply leapt away again. But this time, as he soared up into the air, you watched his body begin to change. From beneath the edges of the pelt sprung tentacles, far bigger in size and larger in number that were even possible to hide in his frame. His arms released you, only to pass you onto the extra appendages, and you now hung far above the ground as those tentacles encircled you and squeezed you painfully.

Naraku towered above Sesshomaru now, his mass of tentacles spreading down to the ground and acting as the legs that held him up.

“What do you want, Naraku.” The dog demon demanded.

The beast chuckled. “I don’t want anything, Sesshomaru. In fact, I didn’t come here for you at all. I was in the area attending to some business when I happened upon your party and discovered that you had a new friend. I only thought it proper that I should introduce myself.”

“Okay, we’ve officially met, now can you let me go?” You asked him, struggling to breathe.

“Not yet.” The baboon replied, bringing the appendage that held you closer to him. “I want to see what he will do to get you back.”

Naraku’s grip tightened around you, forcing you to exhale all the air from your lungs as he began to crush you.

Chapter 10: The Shard

As all the air left your lungs and Naraku’s tentacles began to crush your body, your vision blurred.

Out of the corner of your eyes you saw Sesshomaru, sword in hand, leap off the ground and make an attack. He swung at the tentacles and chopped off one, then two, then three. They kept coming and only growing in numbers but he persisted, moving faster than they could charge at him while he continued to sever each one from the body they sprung from. He used the falling limbs as stepping stones to push himself farther into the air until he finally reached you.

With one more swing he detached the tentacle that held you captive. Separated from the body, its grip on you released and you were able to finally fill your lungs with air as you fell towards the ground.

With his one arm Sesshomaru plucked you from the sky with ease, making you acutely aware of the sword still in his hand. It bore no danger to you, however, as he sailed his way back to solid ground and set you down gently. Before you could even think of thanking him for the rescue, the dog demon whirled back around to face the beast who had yet to fall.

Naraku’s laugh bellowed as he spread out his tentacles like an almighty fan, his towering form swooping towards you.

Sesshomaru lifted his sword to point it towards the sky. “Dragon Strike!”

With one final swing a burst of energy boomed into existence. Blue lighting in enormous columns struck the ground, crackling and tearing across the land. The attack razed the trees surrounding, and for the beast that charged ahead, it only tore across its body and dissolved it into chunks of flesh.

Where you sat on the ground Rin had found herself in your arms, and you shielded the little girl with your body from the bits and pieces of the creature that rained from the sky. Standing above you, Sesshomaru used his sword to knock the debris from getting near the two of you, and before long, the chaos had ceased and it was finally over.

You looked up from the child in your arms, finding Sesshomaru standing in front of Naraku’s severed head, sheathing his sword.

“He’s dead?” You asked, puzzled. “That seemed a little too easy.”

“It was.” Sesshomaru replied, crouching down and thrusting his hand into the head.

You watched in mild aversion as the dog demon fished around for a second, then removed his hand to reveal a broken pink shard.

“That’s because it wasn’t Naraku. It was one of his puppets.”

As soon as the shard was removed, all the flesh and chunks that remained of the body disintegrated into nothing. You only grew more confused.

“Why, that good-for-nothing half-demon!” Came Jaken’s voice, and the imp came to stand near you with an emphasizing wave of his staff. “Figures he wouldn’t come to fight with his own body! And to use a jewel shard too!? The coward!”

“A jewel shard?” You echoed, looking back up as Sesshomaru approached, holding his hand out to reveal the shard in question.

When he had his hand out for a few seconds longer, you realized he was waiting for you to receive it. Lifting your own hands he dropped it onto your open palms and you inspected the glittering piece of the sacred jewel, finally, after all the stories you had been told.

This was it? This was the all powerful Shikon No Tama that turned men against each other and drove demons wild to possess? Why, it just looked like an ordinary piece of pink glass. And as a demon, yourself, you felt absolutely no desire to use it. You couldn’t understand the rage, even if you knew the power it beheld.

Sesshomaru walked past you but you hadn’t given it back yet.

“Wait,” you called, turning your body and holding the jewel out. “Aren’t you going to use it? Isn’t it supposed to make you more powerful and then you’ll be able to defeat Naraku?”

Sesshomaru paused, only turning his head slightly so that he looked at you from the corner of his eyes and held your gaze for a moment.

“I have no desire nor need for it.”

He turned away again and resumed walking. Beside you Jaken scoffed dramatically.

“Stupid girl! Don’t you know that Lord Sesshomaru is already powerful enough! He can defeat Naraku with his own skill just fine without the help of the sacred jewel!”

“Lord Sesshomaru is very strong.” Rin added with a toothy grin, then she got out of your lap to be able to stand up. “Now come on or he’ll leave without us!”

You stared at the shard for a few seconds longer, before you enclosed it into your hand and also got off the ground. Unsure why he had given it to you at first, you now understood that he was entrusting it to you to keep safe. Though he wasn’t intending on using it, it made more sense to hold onto it than to let it fall into the hands of another demon who would abuse its power.

Standing with a little bit of difficulty, A-Un approached you and allowed you to climb onto his back. After that entire ordeal, you had suffered a little bit of pain from Naraku’s tentacles and thought it best that you utilized the dragon’s help for the rest of the day’s journey. Perhaps Rin was right, you didn’t want to accidentally make your situation worse.

 

When the group made camp and fell into slumber that night, you were kept awake with a lot to think about.

You had come to the revelation that you weren’t actually contributing to the journey the way you wanted to. Yes, you were accepted here and you provided comfort and some survival skills that added to the overall mission, but you had no fighting skills and were completely useless when time came to battle.

Pairing that with the fact that you constantly got into trouble and kept getting hurt as a result, you faced the notion that there were only so many ways you could protect Rin. So far you had only used your body as a shield, and relied on Sesshomaru’s help to actually take care of the danger.

You wanted to do more. You wanted to actually help. And as you stared at the shard of the sacred jewel in your hand, you wondered if this little piece of glass could do that for you.

“That thing will not grant your wish the way you believe it will.”

Startled, you enclosed the shard with your palm, looking up at Sesshomaru, who stood nearby. You were so focused on the jewel that you hadn’t even noticed when he walked up.

“I wasn’t going to use it.” You tried to say assuringly, but even you didn’t believe your own words.

“I have fought many demons who thought the shard would give them everything they wanted. It never did. I watched peaceful demons, who never wanted to fight, devolve into monsters who killed without reason.”

“But their hearts weren’t actually pure, were they?” You asked, opening up your palm to look at the shard once more. “I’ve heard that the jewel reacts to the heart’s true will. The jewel becomes tainted if the heart isn’t pure.”

“And you believe yours is?”

You looked up at the demon with a furrow in your brow, then looked back down with a sigh. “I just want to be able to protect Rin by actually fighting. I don’t know how to fight and I have no power. I get injured all the time and I feel more like a burden than a help.”

Sesshomaru stared at you for a moment. “That shard won’t grant your wish. It’s an illusion. If you use it, then you would become a danger to that which you desire to protect, and I will have to kill you for it.”

“Then what do I do?” You asked, looking back up. When your gaze met the demon’s again, hot tears had formed in your eyes, angered and helpless. “What other options do I have?”

In a vulnerable moment, you sobbed silently. You lifted your arm to wipe the hot tears streaming down your face, keeping as quiet as possible so as not to wake up the sleeping child beside you.

“I will teach you.”

You paused, no longer intent on drying your face. “What?”

“I will train you to wield a sword for battle.

Frantically you wiped away the rest of your tears to find the sincerity in Sesshomaru’s gaze. “You would do that?”

“If your wish is to protect Rin, I would rather teach you how to fight than let you succumb to the power of the jewel.”

You sat quiet for a moment, considering your options. If Sesshomaru was right, then using the shard’s power, regardless of your intent, would only serve to endanger Rin. You had yet to hear a story about the jewel that did not end in a demon’s downfall and many people being killed as a result. The risk was too great, regardless if your heart was in the right place or not.

And if you took it and got the bad result, then just as he told you, Sesshomaru would have no choice but to end your life because he, too, was in the service of protecting his ward. You wouldn’t fault him for that. With the jewel it would be a far different situation than the night where you lost control of yourself. Even by the objection of Rin, the dog demon would have no choice but to kill you because that would be the only way to separate you from the shard.

“Okay.” You finally said, closing your fingers around the shard and pocketing it out of view. “I will train with you.”

“We start in the morning.”

Sesshomaru walked away, and with that you were left to your thoughts again. Leaning back onto A-Un, who encircled you and Rin like always, you gazed up at the stars. Reflecting on your conversation with the dog demon, you felt that odd feeling bloom in your chest again.

It was different this time. Though still you couldn’t identify exactly what it was, you were able to detect traces of respect and admiration lacing your heart. You and Sesshomaru had come a long way since you first met. Your friendship was evolving and it only served to grow your opinion for him in only the most positive manner.

The more time you spent around him, the more you learned of just how multi-dimensional he was. He had far more depth and even far more emotion than you ever thought he was capable of.

When once you thought he was cold and unfeeling, you now knew he was guarded and protective of his image. The man had feelings. He just had to hide them and put up a front. And though it felt like he, himself, was still learning how to understand those feelings, it did not at all change the fact that he had them in the first place.

And here you were, learning all these things in a gradual timeline, coming to discover and understand your own emotions as a result.

It seemed like the two of you were on a similar psychological journey. Though undisclosed to each other, you were in it together, whether you realized it or not.

As you finally lay down to try and get some sleep, you smiled to yourself. You were starting to like the dog demon more and more. You would not yet realize the stakes in doing so, but the admiration was there and it was justified.

Because it seemed like Sesshomaru was starting to like you more and more as well.

Chapter 11: The Student

It was only a week after the battle with Naraku and your injuries had healed enough for you to bear it that Sesshomaru decided to wake you early one morning for your first day of training.

You rose from the ground with an almighty yawn, hyper aware of the fact that the sun was still far behind the horizon and only offering little light for you to find your bearings. Beside you, Sesshomaru stood patiently as you gathered yourself from the ground and stood up with a stretch.

“I didn’t think we’d start so early.” You said with another yawn, willing with all the strength you could muster not to keel over in exhaustion.

“Discipline is the first skill to master. Struggling to wake for training only proves to me that you will only persih should a demon attack you in your sleep.”

You side-eyed the white-clad man who began walking away from you. “I seem to have gotten by just fine so far.”

Though you said it in the slightest whisper, the dog demon paused his stride and turned his head slightly so that he glared at you from the corner of his eye, indicating that he had heard you.

You froze for a moment, only to look away and busy yourself with readjusting your clothes. When he turned and began to walk away you ran to follow.

The short trek to your destination was done entirely in silence. Sesshomaru kept a steady pace ahead of you, just a few steps away. You trailed along his path, your fingers fidgeting as you tried to think of something to say. If there was any moment for you to try and gently pry any personal information about the man, this was certainly the time. You couldn’t will yourself to make an attempt however, as once again the notion of annoying him persisted as your biggest obstacle.

It wasn’t long before Sesshomaru came to an abrupt halt and turned around to face you, forcing you to slow your pace quickly to avoid bumping into him. Leaning down, the dog demon swooped a stick from the ground and tossed it at you. Catching it with both hands, you held it up to inspect it. It was as long as your torso with a girth that allowed your fingers to wrap around it fully.

You glanced up at him with a cocked eyebrow. ”What’s this for?”

“That is your sword.”

You looked back down at the stick. “But this is just a hunk of wood. How am I supposed to learn to swordfight with a hunk of wood?”

“With no training, if I allowed you to wield a real sword, you would only hurt yourself. We will be utilizing the stick to teach you the very first step of handling a weapon.”

“And what would that be?” You asked, holding the end of the stick with both your hands to test its weight.

“Stance.”

The white-clad man moved to walk around you. Behind you he traveled just a short distance to retrieve another stick that lay on the ground, one that was significantly longer and thicker than the one you held. Returning to you, he lifted it up and demonstrated a particular pose.

“When wielding a blade, one should have an understanding of the position in which the feet and body assume in order to optimize their attack. If you are not balanced there will be no power behind your swing and you will fail to hurt your opponent, thus giving them the perfect moment to counterattack and kill you.”

You watched in wonder as Sesshomaru’s body moved to illustrate his words. You never realized how much thought actually went into the art of sword fighting. The way his arms moved to match the flow of his weapon as his feet slid and darted across the ground revealed a great deal of care that you had never even considered. It was performative and powerful, all aspects working together to assure that his arm had the strength behind it to land the perfect blow.

You became so wrapped up in the awe of studying the dog demon that you didn’t even realize he had stopped demonstrating and held up his stick at you.

“Do you understand?”

Snapping out of it, you blinked a couple of times and nodded furiously.

“Good. Now you try.”

Pursing your lips you lifted your stick, still holding it with both hands as you attempted to imitate what you had seen. Your body did not cooperate the way you wanted, however, as your feet wobbled and you could not stand still. You tried a swing but it only caused you to stumble forward and nearly lose your footing.

“Release one hand.” Sesshomaru instructed, using his stick to point at your grip. “For a weapon of this size, holding it with both hands is unnecessary. Too much grip for something that is not heavy is what causes imbalance.”

You followed his direction, removing one hand and putting it into a position he showed you. You could not yet remain fully still, but with another swing you felt a significant improvement from the last attempt.

“That was better, but you still lack form.”

Sesshomaru walked a slow circle around you, using the end of his stick to poke and urge parts of your arms and legs to move into certain positions. You almost felt like cattle the way he herded you to move around. When he seemed satisfied with the way you stood, he took up position in front of you, holding up his stick.

“Now attempt another attack.”

You nodded and made a swing. The sticks made contact and a loud crack resounded through the silent forest. It was a great improvement from your earlier tries, but you had overestimated your footwork. Instead of stumbling like previously, this time you had jumped forward for a reason beyond you and fell against the man before you.

The towering frame of his body remained unaffected by your blunder, but your face smacked into his armor. Your stick fell to the ground.

“Ow.” You whispered, rubbing your cheek and regaining your footing.

“Putting more strength into your leg rather than your arm is what caused you to fail. Both appendages need to match their movements in order to make a successful strike.”

You looked up at Sesshomaru, who gazed back with a look that lacked all the disappointment you expected. He was a lot more patient in this situation than you thought he would be, but given all that you had come to understand about him, that really shouldn’t have been a surprise.

“There’s a lot that goes into this than I ever thought would. I thought sword fighting was just swinging and lunging until you made a hit.” You said while stepping back and retrieving your discarded stick from the ground.

“And it is that sort of mentality that will get you killed.” The white haired man responded. “Sword fighting is an art. It takes care and thought to make every movement. It requires a sharp mind to make quick decisions while attacking or being attacked. That is why starting training at the most basic level is important. Even a man with the strongest arm and powerful swing will fall in battle if he does not consider his stance.”

Your mind wandered at Sesshomaru’s words, imagining yourself in a field of war and being surrounded by those who meant to kill you. As a much smaller and weaker opponent you could be slain quickly, but as a nimbler person you could be light on your feet and have advantage over the larger more brutish types. Sesshomaru was both large and light on his feet. He knew when to dodge, when to block, when to spot weaknesses and when to best strike. Even without his advantages as a demon he had mastered the skills of a swordsman. His skill greatly outweighed his power.

You sighed, absentmindedly swinging your stick at the ground. “I have a lot to learn.”

Sesshomaru lifted his own stick again, assuming a position. “Try again.”

For the next several hours you continued training in this caliber. Sesshomaru never moved you on from perfecting your footwork and strike. He relentlessly poked and prodded at you to stand this way, move that way and swing your arm until you could no longer hold up your stick. He worked you to exhaustion. Only when your legs ached and your arms failed you did he relinquish his instruction and declare that you were finished with your training for the day. You could hardly keep yourself from faltering as the two of you made your way back to camp.

By that time the sun had risen high into the sky, casting a harsh heat on your aching body. You hadn’t eaten or drank any water since you were awoken in the morning and the unmerciful sun was making that extremely apparent. You were afraid that if you didn’t make it back to camp in time you might just faint.

Luckily the two of you hadn’t strayed too far away from your traveling party and before long you had broken through the trees to find Rin and Jaken huddling above a boiling pot over the fire. When they saw you approaching, the little Rin broke out into a beaming grin.

“You’re back!” The young girl exclaimed, prancing up to you as you all but fell into a bucket of water to take a much needed drink. “How was training?”

You gasped after chugging from a bowl, reveling in the cool sensation of the water as it slid down your throat and dripped from your lips. “It was brutal. Lord Sesshomaru worked me to the bone.”

“Good!” Jaken said, approaching you and a giggling Rin. “Then I hope you actually learned something, since you are such a weak and frail thing!”

You sneered at the imp, lifting the bucket and chucking its contents over him. The pathetic creature squealed and sputtered.

“For your information I learned a lot.” You chided.

Satisfied with your work, you humphed at him and put the bucket back down, setting off to the fire to calm the overwhelming pain of hunger. Your travelling companions had concocted a delicious smelling soup and you were hellbent on devouring it.

Behind you Jaken cried in indignation while you prepared yourself a bowl. Rin followed suit, the two of you settling down to enjoy your meal and chat cheerfully amongst yourselves. You found your condition improving as you ate. It seemed that the ache of training subsided when you finally swallowed something other than your frustration. Rin and Jaken had learned a thing or two about cooking, and every time they created a meal it was better than the last.

Sesshomaru had stayed at the outskirts of the camp the entire time, and you had more than once caught his gaze. You weren’t sure what you saw swimming around in those endless gold eyes, but every time you looked into them you swore you saw something different, like something had changed in him.

While the relationship between the two of you was always changing, it seemed like things took a subtle but noticeable change in the dog demon’s behavior ever since that night you had lost control of your body. You couldn’t pinpoint exactly how he changed or what he even did differently since then, but you definitely noticed it.

It almost felt warmer to be around him, like his cold demeanor and icy gaze had melted ever so slightly.

You wondered if he would continue to warm the longer the two of you were around each other. If that were the case, then the two of you might get closer the more time you spent training.

You wondered for a moment what the limit of Sesshomaru’s positive regard for another person was, and if there was a realm beyond that that he allowed himself to venture into.

Chapter 12: Slaying

For the next several days, the training you did with Sesshomaru remained the same. He spent hours teaching you how to stand and stay balanced. Each day however, he took you to different parts of the forest, rivers, and fields to get you used to the idea that if and when you were in battle the ground would always be different. It was important to learn your skills through different environmental obstacles so as to never be surprised or hindered by them in the future.

Sesshomaru worked you relentlessly, but as time went on you found yourself aching from the laborious training less and less each day. Your arms and legs began to grow strong from your daily exertion with the dog demon, and you found yourself being able to tolerate it for longer periods of time. You had never before thought yourself to have been able to build such strength.

Every day you were awoken at the crack of dawn, whisked away, and made to relearn the same thing you had learned previously to a redundant extent. Today, however, you found that things would be different.

The two of you stood by a river, and as you gazed across the flowing waters catching glints of the rising dawn off its surface, Sesshomaru removed something from his belt and lifted it up to you.

In his hand he held a sword. It didn’t seem like anything special, with a basic sheath and hilt.

You cocked a brow at him and took it from his hand. “I thought you told me that I would only hurt myself with a real sword.”

Pulling the blade from its casing, you lifted it for inspection. As you suspected, it wasn’t anything special. It was as simple as a sword could get. You tested the way it felt, giving the air a slash. You enjoyed the weight in your hand. It was a far cry from the various sticks you had been using as a replacement for the last week.

“I am satisfied with your stance and swing, and believe you will be able to manage with a real blade. Today’s training is going to be different.”

You swung your sword again. “How so?”

The white haired man said nothing, turning around to walk towards the tree line. Your face furrowed curiously, watching as he disappeared behind the trees. Moments later he returned, dragging with him a squirming figure tied up in ropes.

Realizing that the figure he dragged out of the trees was, in fact, a serpent demon, your mouth dropped open and your body moved almost instinctively to hold your new sword aloft. If you hadn’t been so focused on Sesshomaru and his writhing victim you would’ve actually been shocked at the fact that you had even developed such an instinct after a week of only training with non-lethal items.

Stopping just ahead of you, the dog demon dragged the serpent in front of him. It wasn’t overwhelmingly large, but it certainly was not small. Wrapped up in ropes it struggled in his grip, unable to break free of the expertly made ties. It hissed at you and you took a step back.

“You will slay this demon.” The white haired man commanded.

You balked, taking another back step. “I can’t slay him! I haven’t even learned any actual attacks, you only taught me how to stand and swing! And this is my first time holding a sword!”

“Experience is often the best way to learn.”

Without any warning, Sesshomaru tossed the demon into the air as if it weighed nothing. He leapt up to meet it high above you, and with a slash of his claws, shredded the ropes that kept it bound. Now free, the creature stretched out to fall towards you as Sesshomaru leapt into the distance to leave you alone with it.

In a panic you sprung out of the way, unintentionally abandoning what little training that had been bestowed upon you. You crashed into the shallow end of the river as the serpent hit the ground. Pulling yourself out of the water and onto your arms you attempted to stand, but as you looked up you met the eyes of your foe and froze. The creature stood at the river bank with a menacing look painted upon its features.

If serpents could smile, this one certainly was.

Panicking, you realized that you no longer had the sword in your hand. You shuffled through the water, desperately searching for the object that would be your salvation. The river rushed through your fingers, cold and unyielding. You felt your limbs turning to ice, but just as you heard an almighty cry from the river bank, you wrapped your hand around a hilt.

Behind you the water sloshed, and with all the might you could muster you pulled the sword from the river and twisted your body to swing it at the serpent as it closed the distance between you.

The sword made purchase. The serpent, who had only been a foot away from you, shrieked in pain and backed away, a gash stretched along its face. Breathing heavily, you scrambled to get to your feet and faced the whining creature, your instincts once again taking over as your body assumed position.

Blood colored the river, pouring down from the serpent’s face. It writhed in pain for a few moments more before it realized you were now standing, and it focused on you with its last remaining eye. With a screech it lunged at you.

In a moment’s passing, you fought off the urge to close your eyes and cower, but your legs decided to move instead. You charged back at it, releasing a cry of your own and you swung your sword with all the might you could muster.

Unfortunately you had overestimated your skills and the creature’s own awareness. It had quickly dodged your slash and used its body to slam against you, causing you to lose your balance and be tossed back into the shallow river.

This time you managed to keep your wits about you and held steadfast onto your sword, but felt the wind get knocked out of you as you crashed into the water on your back. You gasped and wheezed, struggling quickly to get onto your elbows. Cracking open your eyes you saw the serpent charging once more.

Wide-eyed, you could only lift your sword out of the water to place the hilt against your chest, blade pointed at the creature at the moment it sprung at you.

With one final gargling cry, it pierced itself onto your sword through its remaining good eye, all the way through.

Breathing raggedly, you stared into the face of the now dead serpent. It’s body went slack, a near-crushing weight, entirely on you. With one final push, you sloughed it off of you, wriggling out from underneath it. You sat up slowly, chest rising and falling heavily. Around you the river became stained with red.

Hearing sloshing footsteps, you looked up to find Sesshomaru standing in front of you. Seeing him, you suddenly remembered why all of this took place, and you became emboldened with anger, a new rush of adrenaline allowing you to stand out of the river.

“Are you crazy!? Why would you do that?!” You screamed, moving to stand close and glaring up at him.

“I was confident you would not fail.”

“Not fail!? I was nearly killed!”

“If that were the case then I would have brought you back.”

Your mouth dropped open incredulously and without thinking, your hand lifted to slap him. The dog demon easily caught your wrist mid air.

You struggled against his grip. “You are absolutely despicable!”

Sesshomaru tugged your wrist upward, jerking your body closer to him and bringing your face close to his. You balked into his piercing golden gaze.

“There is only so much a mentor can teach his student. You will never truly learn how to use a sword if you do not use it in battle.”

You only stared at him, and with one final tug, pulled your wrist out of his grasp. His hand fell to his side while you turned around to wrench your sword out of the dead serpent. Your demeanor had calmed, but while you understood his methods, you couldn’t yet agree with them. With one more look in his direction, you turned away and set off out of the water.

By the time you had made it to the bank of the shallow river you looked back to see that the dog demon had disappeared. Shaking your head, you retrieved the discarded sheath of your sword from the ground and headed towards camp.

You stewed and seethed in your thoughts. Who did he think he was? How could he just toss you into the throes of battle with no warning? You just couldn’t believe it. The audacity of the man baffled you. And to be toting the idea that if you died he would bring you back just like that? Like it was nothing?

Bringing you back to life after you sacrificed yourself for Rin was one thing, but to dangle it over you like a quick fix was diabolical. Did he understand the fact that the whole point of you learning to fight with a sword was to protect Rin and be able to stay alive when facing enemies? How could he possibly think it was comforting to you that if you failed to survive then he would be there to revive you from the dead?

You stopped mid-stride, taking a breath and attempting to calm your thoughts. You were starting to get too angry for your own good and needed to calm down. You didn’t want to walk into camp with this energy and have to explain to Rin why you were feeling this way. You didn’t want to worry her.

But while you stood amongst the trees steadying your chest your ears picked up the peculiar sound of activity in the distance. Freshly out of a battle you unsheathed your sword on impulse, intending not to be caught off guard this time. You listened closely, trying to determine whether it was friend or foe approaching you. As the moment stretched, you realized what you heard was the sounds of people talking.

“Are you sure it’s around here somewhere?”

“Yes, I can sense it. It’s close.”

You instantly recognized the voices that slowly approached you. They were that of Inuyasha and Kagome, the brother of Sesshomaru and the girl with strange attire whom you had met by chance a while back. The last time you had seen them, you left the encounter unsure of whether you had made friends or came upon enemies. They certainly posed no immediate threat to you, besides the chase Inuyasha gave when trying to stop you for a question.

Even through Jaken’s mystifying storytelling, you still couldn’t make a proper assessment. But since they had yet to actually show you they meant harm, verbally or by action, you decided that this would be a friendly encounter. Sheathing your sword, you strapped it to your belt and waited for them to come to view.

“Hold on.” The voice that belonged to Inuyasha said, followed by a pause. “I can smell Sesshomaru.”

“Where?” Kagome asked, laced in mild concern.

“Over here!”

Breaking through the brush, the red-clad figure of the half-demon leapt into your sight, as if hellbent on a confrontation. But as he spotted the shape of a woman who was very much not his brother, he came to a screeching halt. Behind him came Kagome, donned in the same other-worldly attire you had previously seen her in.

“Hey.” Was all you could say, with an unsure tone and an awkward wave.

“Oh, it’s just you.” Inuyasha addressed indignatingly.

“Hi, long time no see!” Kagome added, in a much more cheerful tone as she came to recognize you. “What are you doing here?”

Inuyasha humphed. “The better question is where is Sesshomaru? I can smell him all over you and around this area.”

You shrugged. “We were just by the river but he kind of disappeared. I don’t know where he went. What about you? What brings you guys all the way out here?”

“That’s none of your business.” The half-demon barked, turning to the side and crossing his arms.

“We came looking for a jewel shard. I sensed it around here somewhere.” Kagome answered, completely disregarding her companion’s intentions.

“Hey! You can’t just go around telling everybody what we’re up to!”

“Oh relax, it’s not like she’s any danger to us!”

The two devolved into a heated argument about each other’s agendas while you stood nearby and thought about Kagome’s words. She could sense jewel shards? Was she sensing the one you had in your pocket?

Reaching down, you retrieved the shard in question from the place you hid it, and held it up.

”Do you mean this jewel shard?” You asked, which caused an abrupt silence to still the two in their verbal battle.

“Hah! I knew you were trouble!” Inuyasha exclaimed, turning back to face you.

In a swift motion, the half-demon pulled a sword from its sheath at its side, and as it left its casing, it grew exponentially larger and longer than you ever thought a sword could possibly be. With a mouth agape you watched Inuyasha point the blade at you.

“Now hand it over or you’re going down.”

Chapter 13: Predicament

You stood in utter silence, unsure of what to do. Before you, Inuyasha remained steadfast, holding his enormous blade at you with the full intention of cutting you down for the little shard of glass in your hand. Time stayed frozen for a few moments.

“Well?” Inuyasha coaxed, the lilt of befuddlement painting his voice when you did absolutely nothing. “Aren’t you going to fight me?”

“Am I?” You questioned, making a show to look left and right, thinking perhaps he meant someone else. When you didn’t find anybody, you looked back at him bemused. “Why would I do that?”

“Because… you have the jewel shard? Demons who have a jewel shard usually attack us.”

“Inuyasha, would you put that thing away?” Kagome jumped in, putting one finger on his large blade to push it in another direction. “She’s clearly not using it.”

“I don’t understand.” The half-demon expressed, but heeded his companion’s words, and sheathed his weapon.

You could only watch in awe as the almost comically large sword devolved back into its previously unassuming form as it slipped back into its casing. Was that the Tessaiga that Jaken mentioned? Was that the blade that Sesshomaru had been fighting his brother over ever since it was discovered?

“You’re a demon, why wouldn’t you be using the shard to make yourself more powerful?” The dog-eared man asked, jutting his chin.

You looked down at the object in your hand, shrugging. “I don’t have any need for it. I’m not looking for power. And I’ve heard that any demon who uses it, no matter the intention, becomes a monster. I would rather not sacrifice the person who I am for the illusion of wish-granting that the shard promises.”

Kagome watched you with a thoughtful look in her eyes. “I’ve never met any demon who didn’t want to use the shard for their own gain. Except for Sesshomaru, that is.”

“Yeah, well, the difference between her and my brother is that he thinks he’s too high and mighty for the Shikon jewel. Pompous bastard.” Inuyasha explained with a scoff.

You noted the amount of disdain the red-clad man laced his voice with. You never once heard Sesshomaru speaking about his blood sibling before and wondered what tone of voice he would take if he ever referred to him. Jaken certainly showed enough of his own contempt through his colorful storytelling detailing the tremendous feud between the brothers. His feelings often reflected that of his master’s, so there was no doubt Sesshomaru felt the same.

“He actually, truly, does not need it.” You said, thinking back to all the times you had seen the dog demon fight just fine without any ancient mystical power to aid him. “I wouldn’t call it arrogance. He just knows his own strengths and skills.”

Inuyasha made a look of disgust. “Are you defending him?”

“Well, yeah.” You replied. “Sure, his demeanor might reek of self-importance, but I’d say it’s justified. The man is pretty powerful, he has every reason to believe that he’s too good for the jewel.”

“I don’t believe this! Are you hearing this Kagome?” The half-demon exclaimed with a look of exasperation.

Kagome only looked back at him with a shrugged frown. She wasn’t as deep in disbelief as her companion was, but even she seemed surprised at your words. It wasn’t lost on you that Sesshomaru did not have many people in the world who defended his name.

“You know what, I’m done hearing this crap, I won’t stand to listen to anybody making a case to me about my brother.” Inuyasha put a hand on the hilt of his sword to draw it. “Now, are we going to fight over the jewel shard or aren’t we?”

You looked down at the object in question, then back up. “Oh. No. Here.”

Tossing the sacred jewel at the pair, you watched the expression of the dog-eared man morph into that of mild surprise. He snatched it from the air with one hand and stared at it for a moment.

Kagome broke the silence first. “You’re giving it to us, just like that?”

“I already told you that I’m not interested in using it.” You answered. “And since neither Sesshomaru nor the rest of our group really needs or wants it, I see no reason to keep it around. We’ve only been holding onto it to keep other demons from getting their hands on it. You two seem like you’ll keep it safe.”

“You’re putting a lot of trust in two people you don’t even know.” Inuyasha spoke, looking unsure about your behavior. “How are you so sure that I am not just going to use the shard right now to kill you?”

You shrugged. “You don’t seem like the type.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” The white-haired man cried, his expression turning defensive, as if he was offended by the notion that you didn’t find him threatening.

“Inuyasha calm down.” Kagome ordered, taking the shard from his hands and sealing it into a small glass bottle she had tied around her neck. You noted the other shades the bottle contained. She turned to look at you. “Anyways, thank you for giving it to us. It’s nice not to have to fight for it for once.”

“We can still fight. Shard or no shard.” Inuyasha muttered, one hand lifted to flex his claws while a devious expression painted his face.

“Inuyasha, sit boy.”

Startled, you watched how a simple command from Kagome manifested into the mighty crash that was the half-demon going face first into the dirt. A chorus of groans emitted from the defeated man on the ground.

“Kagome why the hell—“ Inuyasha had started to speak his grievances, but halted his words mid-way, lifting his face from the dirt with a dark expression on his features. “Sesshomaru.”

During the commotion, you had never even noticed the foreboding presence that was the leader of your group. Turning behind you, you watched Sesshomaru’s tall form approaching. A fleck of anger pierced your mind as you were reminded that you were still upset with him for the transgression you faced earlier that day. You crossed your arms, rolling your eyes off to the side as he stopped to stand beside you.

“I was wondering when you would show up. I’ve been itching for a rematch.” Inuyasha said darkly, standing now with his hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw.

“I have not come to fight you, Inuyasha.” Sesshomaru addressed, coldly.

“Oh yeah, and I bet you don’t want to take my sword from me either.” The dog-eared man challenged, emphasizing his words by drawing the sword in question. “Come on Sesshomaru, every time we meet we battle. What makes this time so different?”

Sesshomaru chose to discard the rest of the conversation with his brother, and turned to address you instead. “Naraku is here.”

Your anger at him instantly dissipated. “What? Where?”

“That is unclear. His presence surrounds us.”

The energy amongst the group converged and became shared. Upon Sesshomaru’s words, you and the two ahead of you became acutely aware of the dark energy in the forest. Your senses had never been that strong, but the fact that nobody else had noticed it until Sesshomaru said something was concerning. It was too obvious now to have remained undetected up until this point.

Inuyasha and Kagome both responded accordingly, swords and bow drawn at the ready. You pulled your own blade from its sheath, the hairs on your arms raising. What was Naraku doing here? Was he after something? Did he want the shards hanging around Kaghome’s neck?

“Well, well, well.” A smooth and sinister voice spoke from an undeterminable direction. “All of my favorite people in one place. How delightful.”

”Naraku.” Inuyasha uttered with all the venom he could rally. “What do you want?”

“Oh Inuyasha,” the disembodied voice replied. “Can’t a man come and see his friends every once in a while?”

“Not when every time you come to see us you try to kill us and take our jewel shards you can’t.” Kagome responded, swiveling the direction of her drawn bow, trying to pinpoint where the voice was coming from.

Around you a purple mist began to gather. It seemed to seep from the ground, rising into the air as if to corralled the four of you into one place. The group took several steps towards each other as the circle of untainted air started to close.

“Be careful,” Kagome warned in your direction. “That’s Naraku’s miasma. Don’t let it touch you.”

You could only take another step back at her words, feeling your arm faintly graze against Sesshomaru.

“What do we do?” You whispered, feeling a cold sweat gather at your brow.

The dog demon did nothing to reply.

Naraku’s sinister laugh echoed around you. “I only wanted to stop by and say hello, that is all.”

“Cram it, what’s the real reason you’re here?!” Inuyasha roared, swiping away at the miasma with his blade.

“Don’t worry, you’ll find out soon enough.”

In the distance a child’s cry cut through the air. Your eyes widened and you turned, catching Sesshomaru’s gaze.

“Rin.” You whispered.

Kagome acted quickly. Pointing her bow in the direction of the scream, she let her arrow loose. A crackle of energy shot with it as it whistled through the miasma, and in a burst of light, purified the purple mist. A clear path lay ahead, and you and Sesshomaru wasted no time to take off in the direction of your camp. Inuyasha and Kagome followed in your footsteps, escaping the trap Naraku had you in.

You’re chest heaved, your legs pumped. Your mind raced with all the grim threats Naraku posed and the dreadful possibilities of him harming Rin. The man in question was nowhere to be seen. Once the four of you had escaped the miasma, it all but disappeared, leaving no trace of the foul demon behind. You began to quickly realize that his presence in the forest bore no harm to any of you. In fact, the presence you had been made aware of began to seem more of a distraction rather than a threat.

Your dread grew with every second you thought about it. Rin’s scream echoed in your mind again and again.

The white-haired brothers both drew far ahead of you and Kagome, their abilities as demons giving them the advantage of great speed. Sesshomaru had his sword drawn like Inuyasha. Though you could not see his face, you could only imagine the expression he wore. While he was a man of very little facial emotion, when it came you Rin it was an entirely different story. When it came to his ward, he was ready to burn the world down.

The men ahead broke through the trees, and you followed quickly behind. The camp came into view and you nearly faltered at the sight of it.

The only thing left of it was the dying fire and A-Un, laying wounded on the ground. Rin and Jaken were nowhere to be seen and a smattering of gashes littered the dirt.

“He took her.” You whispered hoarsely, your sword slipping from your hand and clattering to the ground. You went down with it, falling hard onto your knees. “He took Rin.”

“Oh no…” Kagome said quietly.

Buzzing filled the silence. You looked up to see a single giant wasp hanging in the air.

‘Where is Rin.” Sesshomaru demanded the wasp, his voice layered with levels of anger you had never heard him inflect before. “Where did you take her.”

The wasp laughed in Naraku’s voice. “Don’t worry, she is safe. For now.”

“Why would you take an innocent and defenseless little girl?” Kagome cried.

”Now that is a very good question. Why do I take people, I wonder. Maybe you should ask your friends the monk, demon hunter and fox.” The wasp paused for a chuckle. “Oh wait. I took those too.”

“You what?” Inuyasha shouted. “What do you mean you took them!?”

“Oh yes, I grabbed them up just like I did Sesshomaru’s friends. You see, while you and Kagome were off on whatever task you had taken, my Samyosho easily found them in Kaede’s village. Without the two of you to hinder me, they were easy to subdue.”

“But why!?” You yelled, standing up from the ground and emboldened with anger. “Why would you take all of them? Why did you take Rin? What do you want?”

“Oh, my dear. I’m just gathering everybody for a party.”

Chapter 14: Abandoned

“What the hell are you going on about!?” Inuyasha shouted. “Where are our friends!?”

The wasp hanging in the sky just chuckled. “Why don’t you visit me at my castle. If you can find it, that is.”

The wasp beat its buzzing wings and turned to fly away. In front of you, you heard Sesshomaru make a peculiar sound, almost like a growl, before he leapt into the air and slashed the bug to pieces. When he landed soundlessly back on solid ground he sheathed Tokijin.

“What are we going to do?” Kagaome spoke up in a worried voice. “How are we going to get them back?”

Inuyasha grunted as he sheathed his own blade. “We are going to find that castle and kill Naraku. Don’t worry Kagome, we’ll figure this out.”

You had no words to speak, you couldn’t find any even if you tried. Your thoughts were racing in your head. What will happen to Rin? And Jaken? Were they going to be okay? Were they going to die? Your bottom lip trembled at the thought, you could hardly bear it.

A shuddering grunt, one that came from the wounded two-headed dragon that lay nearby, drew your attention. Your breath caught in your throat, fully realizing A-Un’s condition, and you practically flew to his side.

The creature lay still on the earth, the only movement coming from its ragged breathing. Gashes littered the side of its body, gaping and bleeding. The riding blankets and stirrups were shredded to pieces.

“A-Un, you poor thing.” You whispered, wanting to touch the beast to comfort it but afraid to hurt it by doing so. “You must’ve fought so hard to protect Rin.”

The creature released a whine, and you then became aware that one of its heads was missing its mask. It must have come off during the battle. The head lifted close to you, opening its mouth to display a strip of torn fabric caught in its teeth. Puzzled, you reached into the beast’s mouth to pull the fabric free.

You inspected the article closely as a presence approached you from behind. You looked over your shoulder to find Sesshomaru looming above you.

“I don’t know what to make of it.” You said. “I’ve never seen this fabric before.”

“Hey I recognize that. That’s from Kagura’s kimono.” Kagome piped up, approaching you as well.

“Kagura? Who’s that?” You asked.

Inuyasha grunted at the other end of the camp. “She’s one of Naraku’s pesky incarnations. Does all his dirty work for him.”

Sesshomaru stared silently at the fabric before reaching down and plucking it from your hands. In his eyes, though vacant they may have seemed, you saw a fire rage. Through all the time you had spent with him you had learned to decipher his gaze at certain moments. There were still many expressions and emotions that were completely lost on you, but in times like these his eyes would betray him.

“We are leaving.” The stoic demon declared, turning on his heel.

“But, we can’t,” You stammered, looking between his retreating form and the wounded beast beside you. “A-Un is hurt, he can’t move. We have to help him.”

“His wounds are too great. Leave him to die in peace.”

“No!” You shouted, getting to your feet. “I will not give up on him! We just lost Rin—“ Your voice cracked and you almost devolved into sobs. “—and Jaken. I will not lose him too.”

You had stood up defiantly but your legs faltered immediately. Despair wracked your body, tears hot and freeflowing. Sesshomaru had halted his step but he remained facing away from you. Beside you, Kagome wrapped her arms around you to offer a comforting touch.

“Stay and help the beast, if that is what you wish.” The cold voice of the dog demon spoke. “I do not care. I will find Rin on my own.”

He resumed his step, and you watched in agony as he disappeared into the trees. You shuddered with sobs. Kagome tightened her embrace. In that moment you were grateful for her presence.

“Inuyasha,” The black haired girl called to her companion. “I need you to go to Kaede’s village and get me some medicine, quickly.”

While Kagome listed off the things she needed Inuyasha to retrieve, you stewed in your despair. Rin and Jaken were taken, A-Un was dying, and Sesshomaru bid you his final farewell. The group you had come to be a part of, one of which you had even ventured to call your family, was broken and lost. You were all alone again.

But this was different than all the other times you had been by yourself. Before meeting Rin, you had never truly known friendship. Before Sesshomaru, you had never felt safety. By knowing them you were allowed access to an entire world of things you would have otherwise never been able to experience. They were your family. And now they were gone.

This pain was far worse than any wound you had ever sustained.

Kagome called out to you. You looked up to find her kneeling over A-Un, her companion now missing from the scene.

”It’s going to be a while before Inuyasha comes back with the things we need, so all we can do right now is try to stop the bleeding.” The black haired girl explained, salvaging what she could from the shredded blankets on the beast’s back to fashion a sort of bandage. “Come help me put pressure on his wounds.”

Stalling your pity party, you momentarily removed yourself from all feelings. Tears were no use in a crisis and your willpower shifted from sadness to resolve. A-Un was now the last member of your chosen family left at your side, and you would be damned if you let him pass on.

The two of you worked tirelessly until mid-evening came when Inuyasha finally returned with the medicine. It had been hard to keep A-Un’s injuries sustained with nothing more than minced fabric to stop the bleeding and cold water to clean the wounds. You never gave up hope and remained vigilant, and A-Un seemed to have his spirits up enough to prove he wished to live.

You now could no longer question your friendship with Kagome. On her own accord, through compassion or complex, she proved to you that her character was honorable and to be respected. No questions asked, no rewards expected, the girl with the otherworldly clothes chose to help you and save a creature she hardly even knew. No matter what her and Inuyasha meant to Sesshomaru, your regard for the both of them reached the highest of good graces by the time the half-demon returned to the camp toting a large bag stuffed to the brim with much needed supplies.

As soon as he arrived, Kagome put the two of you to work. Entirely, and surprisingly, knowledgeable in the world of herbal healing, she directed you both to assist her in the concocting and application of medicine. It took the entire day, but the mission to save the two-headed dragon was a resounding success. By the time night fell, A-Un was entraptured in a peaceful sleep, stitched up and bandaged. He was entirely out of danger, and all that remained of his recovery was time.

“Phew. I’m really glad it worked out.” Kagome said whilst washing the last of the blood off her hands. “I’m sorry it took so long. Normally I have my backpack full of things from my world that would’ve made things go a lot faster, but we kind of lost it.”

“What sort of things would those be?” You asked curiously, noting her use of words that signified she was not from this land. It made sense, if her attire had anything to say about it.

“Well, from my world we have our own kind of medicine. Years and years of study and improvements yielded much stronger and fast-acting medicine than that of this era.”

“Era? Are you implying that you come from a different time?” You queried, growing more confused the more she spoke.

“I am.” She replied with a smile.

“Yeah, the kinds of remedies that come from Kagome’s time are really weird.” Inuyasha added, making you turn to look at him lounging casually in a tree. “Everything comes in these tubes or bottles that either smells gross or tastes worse.”

“How interesting.” You said aloud, returning your attention to the girl in question. “But how do you travel through time? How is that even possible?”

Kagome kind of shrugged. “I don’t quite have a great explanation for it. I accidentally fell into a well in my time and stepped out of that same well in this time. The Shikon jewel is ultimately the reason it’s possible.”

You let an incredulous chuckle escape your lips. “That only raises more questions than answers.”

Inuyasha humphed. “Then I suggest you stop here before your head starts to spin. It only gets more confusing the more you ask. Trust me.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” You said.

The three of you went silent. You made a move to help stoke the fire that you and Kagome sat around. As you poked and prodded the burning wood, the sound of activity caught your attention at the far side of the camp. Your head snapped to the direction of the noise, eyes lighting up, a faint sliver of hope piercing your heart.

But when the sound revealed itself to be an animal and not the particular dog demon that you wanted to see, your hope dissipated into nothingness. Sighing silently, you returned your attention to the fire.

“Hey…” Kagome spoke in soft encouragement. “I”m sure he’ll come back.”

You shook your head. “I don’t think he will. You heard what he said. He’s finding Rin on his own. He doesn’t need me.”

You couldn’t hide the melancholy in your voice, though at that moment you didn’t care much. There was a tightness in your heart that you couldn’t quite explain, and with it came that great pain you felt when you watched Sesshomaru walk away from you. You felt almost like you had been betrayed, but you couldn’t understand why. The feeling of abandonment made much more sense in this case, so why did this feel a lot worse than what it would’ve been if it was just that?

Kagome said your name softly. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but… do you care for Sesshomaru?”

You looked up at the girl next to you, with a slight furrow of your brow. “I suppose I do. I care for him like I care for Rin.”

She shook her head. “No, I mean… do you have feelings for him?”

Inuyasha jumped down from his tree between the two of you with a disgusted look. “Kagome what are you going on about? There is nobody in this world that could possibly have feelings for that cold-blooded monster.”

He looked at you, expecting you to agree with him. But when your expression showed no such promise, he balked.

“There’s no way!” The half-demon cried, pointing an accusing finger at you. “You do have feelings for Sesshomaru!”

You didn’t know what to say, partly because you didn’t know what they meant. Having feelings for another person was a concept you had yet to have even heard about. What did such a notion entail?

“Um.. before you jump to any conclusions, can you explain? What does it mean to have feelings for a person?” You asked, having to raise your hands in defense of the half-demon who was frozen in near shock with his finger still pointed at you.

“You mean you don’t know?” Kagome asked, bemused. “Are you telling me you’ve never been in love?”

Chapter 15: The Concept of Love

“Are you telling me you’ve never been in love?”

Love? You were sure you had heard that word before, and yet it remained foreign to you. As you stared into the puzzled eyes of Kagome, you wondered why she was so shocked by the fact. Was it a bad thing that you didn’t know what it was?

”I guess not.” You replied. “What does it mean to be in love?”

The blacked haired girl only stared at you, utterly bewildered. “Everybody knows what love is. Didn’t your parents ever teach you?”

Oh, right. She had no idea about your past. And if common practice to learning a subject depended on one’s parents having taught them, then it made sense why you didn’t know anything about it. After all, you had no idea if you even had any parents.

“No, my parents never taught me.” You responded, preparing yourself to verbally recount your history for only the second time in your life. “Or at least I have no idea if they did. I can’t remember them.”

“What do you mean you can’t remember them?” Inuyasha interjected, having become enraptured by the conversation and finally sitting down to join the two of you by the fire.

“A long time ago I woke up in the forest by myself, covered in burns and no memories. I don’t know if I had a life or a family before that. I have never regained any recollection. Up until I met Sesshomaru I’ve been all alone, so everything I’ve learned about myself and the world I had to figure out as I went along.”

You decided that you would leave out the nightmares from your story. You didn’t feel like getting into that particular subject.

“Well I guess that explains it.” Kagome noted, looking at you thoughtfully. “So you don’t know how you feel about Sesshomaru because you can’t even recognize those feelings.”

“Knowing it or not, I don’t understand how anybody in this world could possibly like Sesshomaru!” Inuyasha exclaimed with a disgusted look on his face. “That guy is cold-blooded and unfriendly.”

”Yeah but you have to admit, he is handsome.” Kagome added, staring off into the distance with an expression of admiration.

“Kagome how could you?!” The half-demon roared in exasperation.

“What? I’m just stating the obvious.”

“Ugh I am not listening to this. I’m gonna go patrol or something.” Inuyasha declared, standing to his feet. With one more repulsed look at the two of you he took off into the trees.

Kagome only giggled. “He hates when I say stuff like that. I think he’s jealous.”

You could only barely acknowledge her words, for you were trapped within your thoughts. Having been told the concept of having feelings for another person, your mind was combing through all the instances in which you and Sesshomaru were around each other. Was there something there that you had missed? You thought back hard, searching the memories of your heart for discrepancies.

Then you remembered the night that you had lost control, when Sesshomaru had to guide you through your fear and help you transform back to your human self.

“Kagome,” You started, looking into the girl’s eyes earnestly.” This love thing. What does it feel like?”

Kagome had to think for a moment, searching for the right words. “That’s a hard one to explain. But I guess love is kind of like… a hug.”

You cocked a brow at her. “A hug?”

”Yes, a hug. Because when you’re hugging someone how does that feel?”

You twisted your lips in thought. “Warm? And safe?”

”Exactly! Loving someone is like a really good hug. While you’re hugging, you feel warm and safe and good. When it ends you just want to go back to that hug. Now transform that idea into a feeling. When you’re around the person you love you’re happy and you want to keep being around them. But when you’re not, you miss them and wish you were with them. Do you get it?”

You placed your hand over your heart, still searching for recognition. “I’m not sure I do.”

“Okay, then think back, was there a time with Sesshomaru where you couldn’t quite explain what was going on in your heart?”

The memory of you and Sesshomaru that night resurfaced.

”Yes, actually. There was one night…” You paused for a moment, searching for the right words so as not to reveal too much detail. “…where I got injured and he kind of saved me from myself. We had a quiet moment where I ended up telling him about my past. He listened and was uncharacteristically attentative, even comforting. When I wasn’t able to walk back to camp because of my injuries he chose to carry me back without question. I think that might’ve been where things changed for me. Ever since then, I occasionally have this strange emotion that I can’t identify. t’s not all the time that I have this emotion, but it’s there.”

Kagome’s face lit up with a smile. “That’s it! That’s you having feelings for him.”

“By why? What reason would I have that for?” You asked, unable to grasp the purpose of it all.

”There is no reason. Love has no motive. It strikes when you least expect it, and once it does it is incredibly hard to get rid of.”

You palmed your temple. “This is all just so confusing.”

Kagome pulled you into a side hug, unable to hide her delight. “I think it’s really cool that Sesshomaru has someone like you with him. He’s always been a very one-dimensional being. When he met Rin he did change a little, but it wasn’t too noticeable. But between the last time I met him and now, there’s definitely something there that wasn’t there before. And I believe you have something to do with it.”

“You really think so?”

“I know so!” She gave you a squeeze. “I have a feeling he thinks something similar of you that he won’t admit to himself.”

At the thought of Sesshomaru potentially experiencing these same feelings that you were, your heart skipped a beat and flushed with warmth. You grabbed at your chest, a smile creeping to your lips. You only thought about it for a moment, however, when the crushing reality of his abandonment came back to you. You sighed.

“I don’t think it matters anymore, anyway.” You muttered with dejection. “He’s left me behind.”

“Don’t think like that. Sesshomaru has always been on his own path, and much of that path is occupied by Rin. Just because he went on his own to find her it doesn’t change how he feels. He’s just more preoccupied with saving her than anything else.”

You sighed again. “I understand that. My heart hurts thinking of what she’s going through right now. I would do anything to find her, but I couldn’t just let A-Un die. I feel terrible. I wonder if Sesshomaru thought I was choosing A-Un over Rin.”

“I don’t believe he thinks that.” Kagome defended. “I think his priorities are just different. For all we know Sesshomaru might not think of A-Un as highly as you do. Searching for Rin right away was probably the obvious choice for him. He doesn’t operate by the same limitations as we do, so he must have more direction and confidence to be able to find her than we do.”

“I hope that’s the case.” You lamented.

———————————————————-

The fire burned around you and in the river you sat, lost and directionless. The glow of the fading sunlight glinted off the water. Chaos surrounded you but there was an inexplicable calm.

In the distance you saw two figures. Sesshomaru and Rin stood hand in hand, watching you and unmoving. You tried to call to them, but no sound would leave your lips. No matter the effort, they would not hear you.

You watched in despair as they turned around and walked away from you, the flames growing to obstruct your view, as if a door closing.

————————————————————

You woke up slowly to the sensation of wetness coating your cheeks. Your arm raised to wipe away the tears that painted your face.

As you sat up you saw that Kagome was still asleep by the dead fire. Behind her, Inuyasha also slumbered, propped up against a tree. You got to your feet, seeking out A-Un.

The two-headed dragon was doing a lot better. It had been a couple of days since you and Kagome made great effort to keep the beast alive, and by now his condition was showing significant improvement. When you approached to check on the creature, he was upright, one of his heads dipped into a bucket of water for a drink. You sat down next to him, your hand gently petting a spot on his back that was free of bandages. He grunted in approval.

For three whole days you and your companions had not left your camp. Due to A-Un’s condition you had been grounded. It had been a laborious time, having to change his bandages and clean his wounds every so often in an effort to promote healing and prevent infection. Each new day he showed more progress and activity from the last. He was even able to finally stomache. It would be any time now that he was well enough to move and the four of you would be able to begin your mission to search for your friends.

The image of Sesshomaru walking away never left your mind, and you spent all of the last few days ruminating on your conversation with Kagome. Having learned the concept of love, it became more and more clear to you that you thought of the dog demon more than just a friend. While still unable to fully grasp the idea, you understood there was something in you that was far deeper than you expected and you were slowly coming to terms with it.

You wondered what the dog demon was doing at this very moment. Was he hot on Rin’s trail? Had he discovered something that would lead him to her? While you hurt at the idea that you couldn’t do anything to search for her, yourself, just yet, you found comfort in the fact that Sesshomaru was diligent enough in his own intentions. He was a resourceful and intelligent man, and if there was anybody in the world that had the ability to find that little girl, it would be him.

You were still gently caressing A-Un when you thought you heard a noise in the distance, pulling you out of your thoughts. Your gaze lifted into the direction you thought the sound originated from.

You had spent the last few days worried that the camp was at high-risk of being attacked. Having spent a long time living within the parameters of Sesshomaru’s rules, ones that decreed you couldn’t spend more than a couple of days in one place, it made you paranoid at the possibility. Though you trusted that between you, Kagome and Inuyasha, you had enough manpower to fight off any danger, it didn’t change your worry.

Standing up, you drew your sword, unsure if you wanted to wake the two sleeping by the fire and make yourself more known to whatever might be at the outskirts of your camp. You noticed that A-Un lifted both of its heads, but for some reason there was recognition in his eyes rather than the sensing of danger.

A figure revealed itself in the near distance, a white-clad man walking towards you. You remained still, mouth agape. The man approached you, coming to stand right next to you, facing A-Un.

“Sesshomaru…” You mumbled through an escaping breath. “…you’re back.”

Chapter 16: Embark

“How is A-Un.”

You never thought you would feel happiness from the sound of Sesshomar’s cold and vacant voice, and yet there you stood frozen in front of the dog demon filled with that very emotion. You dared to admit that you even missed it.

Sesshomaru turned his head to look at you, expecting your response while you had to swallow the shock you were feeling from his return.

“He’s over the worst of it.” You finally said, returning your sword to its sheath and turning to face the two-headed dragon alongside him. “It took a few days, but he’s in the clear now.”

A-Un, though lacking the features to express happiness, showed great delight at seeing his master. Sesshomaru lifted his hand to the beast, where one head pressed its cheek against his palm.

You watched the dog demon passively caress the creature while a steady warmth crept into your heart. Being face to face with him after everything you learned and spoke about with Kagome, you became acutely aware that your eyes looked at him through a new lens. It made you conscious of your own self, presenting in a way where you felt just a little bit embarrassed and struggled to match his gaze.

“You should be thanking Kagome for all the hard work she did.” The voice of Inuyasha said suddenly with a noxious tone, having been awoken by his brother’s presence. “If it wasn’t for her then he wouldn’t have made it.”

Seshomaru’s eyes caught that of his brother’s. “What she did on her own accord is not my responsibility to thank.”

“You could still show her a little gratitude!” Inuyasha barked, raising a fist as if to challenge Sesshomaru to a fight.

“Inuyasha, sit boy.”

While the half-demon’s face held a meeting with the earth below him, Kagome sat up from where she had been sleeping. Ignoring the pile of groans behind her, she stood up to face the two of you by A-Un.

”Sesshomaru, I’m glad you’re back. Does this mean you found something that will help us get our friends back?” Kagome asked, a ray of hope painting her voice.

The dog demon said nothing back, turning an intent gaze upon you. Your heart skipped a beat. Had he always looked at you like that? You knew it was naive of you to assume that was the case, considering your regard for him had reached entirely uncharted territories, but you couldn’t be sure. Though you did spend a lot of time during your travels studying those golden eyes and deciphering what was behind them, you couldn’t rightly assume things had changed.

“Did you find something?” You asked softly, repeating Kagome’s question.

“I found Kagura. She has revealed Naraku’s location.” Sesshomaru replied, never breaking eye contact.

You took a step back. “But… isn’t she the one who took Rin and Jaken?”

“Hold on.” Inuyasha cut in. “You want us to believe that the woman who took your kid also told you where to find her? How can you even trust that?”

“But wait Inuyasha, it wouldn’t be the first time Kagura has gone behind Naraku’s back.” Kagome said in defense. “Just because she carried out his order doesn’t mean she doesn’t have her own agenda.”

“I don’t understand. Why would she help you after what she did?” You asked in disbelief.

Sesshomaru moved towards you, lifting his arm to take hold of your bicep, preventing you from taking another step back. “Listen to me. Naraku has always been difficult to find. This is the only way we will find Rin quickly.”

“But we can’t trust her.” You muttered through a breath.

Inuyasha spoke this time. “The problem with Kagura is that she would not give you what you wanted unless you promised her something back. So the question is, what did she ask for in return?”

Sesshomaru finally broke his gaze from you and released your arm. “She wants us to free her from Naraku and kill him.”

Inuyasha scoffed. “As if killing him hasn’t been our mission this entire time. Look, it’s obvious Naraku is luring us to the same place so he can carry out some plan to kill us all at once. For all you know, her telling you where he is is just the next step of that plan. There’s no telling what kind of trap we would be walking into.”

“Actually that’s a good point.” Kagome agreed, rescinding her earlier statement. “It’s completely in his nature. He took our friends somewhere we can’t find them and now he is dangling the carrot in front of us. Kagura might be the bait.”

“I am aware of the possibility.” Sesshomaru stated. “But other than your previous failed attempts to destroy Naraku, this time it will be different.”

Inuyasha made a skeptical face. “How so.”

“I will be the one to kill him.”

Inuyasha raised a fist. “Are you implying I’m not good enough to take him down on my own?!” He exploded in anger, taking a step closer to his brother.

”Yes.”

“You bastard!”

You watched Kagome order her sitting command upon the half demon, whose face once again came to meet the dirt. While the black haired girl chastised her companion, you had drifted off in thought.

From everything that you knew about Naraku, both what you heard and experienced for yourself, this mission had its risks. While you struggled with the idea of trusting the woman who snatched Rin from your life, you had the wherewithal to understand that this was the only way to save her. What other option did you have?

“Okay.” You said quietly, prompting Sesshomaru’s gaze to find you. “I’ll go.”

It had taken some time to get Inuyasha to agree to come as well, though Sesshomaru made it clear that he didn’t care if his brother or Kagome went along. The only reason he had come back was to appraise you of his findings and give you the choice to join him.

It was at this revelation that you realized that what Kagome had said the other night might have been true. Perhaps Sesshomaru did care for you, in whatever way that was. It seemed that despite how indifferent he presented himself when you watched him walk away, he had every intention to return. He might have made the deliberate decision to forgo telling you this in the first place, but in the end this was always his plan.

The man had an ever persistent tendency to keep you guessing. You both admired and hated him for it.

Still, this gave you a reason to overhaul your feelings. You spent the last few days believing that you had been abandoned by the dog demon. You held out no hope that you would ever see him again. Everything you had learned about the concept of love and having feelings for another person were expelled by you, for you were under the impression that the information did not matter anymore.

And there you were, staring at the back of Sesshomaru’s head as you, Kagome, Inuyasha and A-Un all followed along. Armed with the supposed location of Naraku, the dog demon led the group and you were able to return to deciphering your own heart.

Leaving the camp was immediate. A-Un, despite still in recovery, was all too happy to get back on the road. It seemed that being near his master again emboldened him, and he showed no struggle with being able to keep pace. You and Kagome kept an eye on him, making sure to watch for weakness or trouble in his body, but he seemed free of all pain. Perhaps he healed a lot quicker than the two of you thought.

Sesshomaru never actually told any of you where Naraku’s castle was hidden. As was normal to you, he kept that information to himself, allowing you and the rest to ponder on how long the journey was going to take. Surely it wouldn’t be for very long, if his intention to retrieve Rin from Naraku’s clutches in a timely manner said anything about it.

You thought about Rin. Your heart only ached wondering what she was feeling at that very moment. Was she scared? Was she hurt? You could hardly bear not knowing. You could only hope that she was okay.

The group traveled for several hours, filling the time with only bits of conversation here and there. It was a sobering journey where nobody had anything to say, even Inuyasha.

As the day drew into the evening, the sun began to disappear behind a steady approach of rain clouds. It seemed that a storm came to join you in your search for Naraku. But unfortunately for you, it would serve to hinder your mission. No sooner than the wind began to howl did the heavy rain begin its descent.

The group unrelented to the storm’s forces. Despite becoming soaked and chilled to the bone, nobody brought up the idea of taking cover. Everyone was diligent in their intention to save their friends, even when the lightning began to crack across the landscape.

It wasn’t until the ambush that the group faltered.

The party was following along a thundering river when it was noticed. Sesshomaru, with his keen sense, had seen it first. There was another type of cloud within the storm in the far distance. Inuyasha followed his brother’s lead, noticing it as well. The group halted, having been made aware that an enormous crowd of demons were barreling towards you.

“What do you think the likelihood is that Naraku sent these guys over to us because we are exactly where he wants us to be?” Inuyasha speculated over the sound of the rain, Tessaiga transformed into its fighting form. “Or that we are getting too close to his castle and he chose to take care of us now before we got to it.”

“It matters not.” Sesshomaru responded in indignation, seemingly fed up with his brother as he drew Tokijin from its casing.

“Whatever the case, that’s a lot of demons!” Kagome pointed out. “If we don’t find cover, we might be overwhelmed.”

You could only watch in fear as the demons approached, the sound of screeching breaking through the thundering rain. You didn’t know how you were going to manage this. Everybody else had much more experience in battle, even A-Un. You, however, had only received about a week of training, and fought just one foe, of which you barely even beat. You weren’t cut out for this.

Sesshomaru and Inuyasha were quick to take action, leaping into the air to face the demons head-on. Kagome did her part with her bow, firing from the ground to help the brothers. Her arrows were accompanied by the energy you had witnessed before, powerful and deadly bolts crackling across the swarm.

Though the two dog demons fought vigilantly, there was no stopping streams of enemies from making it to the ground. You fought as best as you were able, hacking and slashing at anything that approached you. So far it seemed to work, your little training being put to the test and you holding your own.

However, each time you slashed a foe down you were made to step back until you realized there was no more ground behind you. The river that the group traversed along had been flooded from the storm and you were backed up against it, unable to move while you fought.

It was due to this that you failed to notice the demons who had circled around the group and approached you from behind. In your frenzy to stay alive, you never once thought they might have come from any direction other than forward. Only when you heard Kagome scream your name did you turn.

But just as the wayward demons came upon you, the towering form of Sesshomaru flashed into your view to face them. Now becoming overwhelmed by the attack from both fronts, it was all you could do to keep up with your side of it before you missed your mark and the stinger from the demon you failed to subdue made purchase into the left side of your chest.

You cried out in pain, your sword slipping from your hand, your legs faltering. But before you could even fall to the ground, Sesshomaru’s arm had encircled your midsection and he took off into the air.

His one hand preoccupied with holding you, he was unable to fight off the demons who pursued. With this disadvantage he could only hold onto you for a second before the demons began to pull at your legs and wrenched you free from his grasp.

The dog demon, with his arm free, took his chance to pull them off of you. He had lost the momentum from his jump and the two of you began to plunge towards the river. Despite this, you had full confidence in him to defeat the demons, pluck you from the air and retreat to safety.

That was, until, the lightning struck.

You hadn’t yet been back in Sesshomaru’s embrace when it happened. You were still freefalling by yourself, watching helplessly as the white-clad man slashed away at the foes that now swarmed him. The lightning found purchase at the tip of his blade right as he lifted it for another swing, and in your horror, you could only see a burst of white electricity render him and the demons that touched him inert.

In an instant Sesshomaru’s had lost consciousness while the demons that were unfortunate to receive the strike alongside him only burned away to dust. It was all you could to scream his name as the two of you plunged into the thundering river

Chapter 17: Separated

You were no match for the river. The roaring waters swept you down currents that your legs could hardly fight, and with the injury in your chest it was extremely painful to use your left arm. But by the grace of whatever higher being that existed in the universe, you had managed to break the surface of the water.

Gasping for breath, your right hand scrambled to grab something to slow you down and made purchase with a branch that jutted from a log at the bank. You would only hold onto it for mere seconds, however, for as soon as your eyes cleared to spot Sesshomaru’s body being carried down the river, you let go and set off towards him.

The dog demon was unmoving. Having been struck with lightning, even he who seemed impervious to most things, was rendered unconscious. This did not bode well for you. He was injured and so were you. Even if you could reach him, you didn’t know what you could possibly do to help him. He was a large man and you were losing your strength.

Still, it did not deter you from trying. Pushing past the pain in your chest you moved your limbs as hard as you could, letting the current help you close the gap between you and the white-haired man. It took some effort, but with one final reach of your hand, you grasped onto the long fur that the demon sported on his right shoulder. Slightly longer than the rest of his body, it allowed you the extra inches you needed to grab him. The fur in your grasp, you used it to pull your body against his.

It took every ounce of your strength to keep the two of you afloat, but you persisted. You couldn’t give up now.

“Sesshomaru!” You cried over the sound of the rain and rushing river. “Sesshomaru, wake up! Please!”

He showed no signs of response. If he didn’t wake up then it would be over for the both of you. You held him firm with both arms around him, ignoring the way that the spikes of his armor stabbed into your chest. Your head swivelled wildly, desperately searching for salvation.

Unfortunately for you, you would not find any, for while your eyes came to land on where the river flowed over a cliff, you had to quickly come to terms with the idea that this was it. It was over.

As you approached the waterfall, you felt your legs falter and you clutched against Sesshomaru. All you could do was hold him in a tight embrace as the two of you went over the cliff.

The journey down was short and chaotic. You had never let go of your counterpart, no amount of water was going to wrench him from your grasp. When you hit the pool below, you found yourself eternally gracious that it was deep enough and the two of you did not hit the bottom.

Your body rushed with adrenaline and you were somehow able to find the strength to kick your legs again. The force of the waterfall pushed you against the rock wall behind it, which allowed you to release one arm from Sesshomaru and use it to grasp at the rock and help pull the both of you to the surface.

When your face finally met air you gasped and filled your lungs frantically. You held Sesshomaru’s body against your own, sandwiching him between you and the wall. Your hands felt a slope in the rock, and when you cracked open your eyes to find your bearings, you could have sighed in relief.

You had discovered a cave behind the waterfall. Though it was dark and cold, it was dry and discreet. Here you could be shielded from the rain and prying eyes, and considering Sesshomaru’s condition, it was the best possible place to be.

If it wasn’t for the whole ordeal that you had just gone through, you could’ve considered yourself lucky. Instead you were only grateful.

The edge of the rock wall was sloped enough that you were able to drag half the dog demon’s body over it before you climbed over it yourself. You had to position yourself behind him, holding both his arms and pulling as hard as you could to get him fully out of the water. After some strain you managed to drag him into the cave.

The man was a lot heavier than he looked, and if you hadn't spent all that time training with him previously, you might not have had the strength to move him. It also didn’t help that the left side of your chest and arm burned with pain from the wound you sustained in battle. After everything that just happened you dared not inspect it, for fear that you might’ve made the injury worse.

When you felt satisfied with how far you had gotten Sesshomaru into the cave, you finally let yourself rest. Huffing and heaving, you sat next to the unmoving man, inspecting your surroundings. The cave was dark and empty, free of anything but the stone that surrounded you. A draft of cold air blew against you, sending a chill across your wet body. You shuddered, wrapping your arms around yourself.

You needed to get warm, but with the storm raging outside of the cave you had no means of retrieving wood for a fire. And without a fire, taking your clothes off to dry them in this draft was out of the question. Not to mention that you were quickly growing too exhausted to do anything else. Looking down at the unconscious man, only one option presented itself to you. You weren’t sure if it was the best idea, and you shuddered to think how he would look at you afterwards, but at the moment the only way you could get warm was to combine your body heat with Sesshomaru.

Your hands fought against time, moving quickly to remove his armor before you froze from the cold. It took some effort having to figure out how to disassemble his pauldron and breastplate, especially considering that your exhaustion grew exponentially with each passing moment. But once you managed to get the dog demon free from his protective attire, you tossed it to the side. When you took off his swords, you noted that one of the sheaths was missing its occupant. Tokijin must have been lost to the river. Setting the casings aside, you allowed yourself to curl up against Sesshomaru.

He was so much warmer than you thought. You held some reservations about being so close to him and feared how he might feel about it, but the only thing that mattered was that it felt so nice to be next to him. Feeling around the fur on his shoulder, you found that it had dried a lot faster than the two of you. While still damp, it provided some cover from the drafty cave and you laid it over the both of you. Reveling in the warmth, you pressed your body against his. It was not long after doing so that your mind finally gave way and you fell into a deep sleep.

——————————————

You had no nightmares this time. You would even dare to say that you slept peacefully.

When the first inkling of waking grazed your mind you initially noticed how warm you felt. It was a much different warmth than the one you fell asleep to. You also noticed that you were dry.

You were laying on your side and your body was wrapped around something very soft. When you opened your eyes you found that you were cuddling fur. Your mind filled with confusion, you turned your head and twisted to look behind you, where you found Sesshomaru sitting behind you.

A fire crackled in front of him, lighting up his face with a warm glow. When he noticed you moving, his head turned to meet your gaze.

Sesshomaru had been sitting cross legged with his right knee close to your back, allowing you to embrace the fur that sprouted from his shoulder. He was entirely dry and looked perfectly fine as if he never even got struck by the lightning. All of his armor still was on the ground and he sat only sporting his white kimono. Your gaze wandered the scene as you sat up a little, wondering how long you slept. When your eyes landed on your clothes basking in the heat of the fire on the other side of the demon they flew wide open.

Wrenching the fur from the ground and back against your body you looked down, only to be surprised by the fact that your nakedness was wrapped up in the large sash that Sesshomaru normally wore around his waist. Your face flushed with heat, finding the dog demon’s gaze again. It seemed that while you slept the man with white hair had taken it upon himself to undress you and dry your clothes.

Despite being grateful that he did you the courtesy of lending an article of his own clothes to cover your shame, you sat in disbelief at the thought that Sesshomaru had seen you naked. You looked away from him, clutching the fur tighter, no longer able to look him in the eyes.

“Are you alright?” You asked, facing away from him, choosing not to bring up your plight. “You don’t seem like you’re hurt.”

“I recover quickly.” The dog demon answered, monotonous as ever.

“But you were struck with lightning. And then you nearly drowned because you were unconscious.”

“It is not that easy to kill me.”

You worried your bottom lip, still refusing to turn around to face him. Talking to him was only a brief distraction from the thing you were really worried about—figuring out how to get your clothing without having to stand to retrieve them. The only thing you found yourself doing was stretching one arm out behind you, towards the dog demon.

“Do you mind handing me my clothes?” You asked sheepishly, burying your face in the fur.

Once you felt the fabric in your grasp, you shot off the ground to find safety in the darkness of the cave behind him. Though making great effort not to be seen by Sesshomaru, you knew that he was not the kind of man to try to spy on you while you changed. That was all but proven to you when he never made a move to look behind him. He didn’t even twitch.

When you unwrapped the sash from your body, you were surprised to find that your wound had been bandaged. Where Sesshomaru had found bandaging was beyond you, but you were grateful to find that your chest and arm did not hurt as bad as it did before. He must have made something to treat it.

His large sash in hand, you returned to the fire beside him, offering it back.

”Thank you.” You said, still not meeting him in the eyes. “For taking care of my clothes. And my wound.”

“What happened after we fell into the river?” Sesshomaru asked, taking back the sash and setting it down with the pile of armor beside him.

Images of the night before flooded your mind. “We were separated and swept away by the current. I managed to swim and get a hold of you but I couldn’t do anything to get us to safety. I could barely keep the both of us afloat. And then we fell over that waterfall.”

Finally your eyes lifted to the dog demon. He briefly turned his head to glance at the waterfall in question.

“Luckily the pool was deep enough that we didn’t hit the bottom.” You continued. “It pushed us against the rock wall and we resurfaced at the mouth of this cave. Then I just dragged you inside. I figured it was as good of a place as any for us to hide until you woke up.”

“I’m impressed.” Sesshomaru stated, lacking the inflection that normally came with that particular set of words.

“I guess this makes us closer to being even.” You said, cracking a small smile. “I mean, you’ve saved me many times before. I could never measure up to you but I at least managed all right.”

The dog demon said nothing back. You nearly resolved to staring at the fire in silence, but your thoughts returned to the lightning strike.

Can I see your arm?” You asked carefully, hoping your request would not annoy him.

Sesshomaru stayed still for just a moment, seeming as if he was studying you before he lifted the appendage in question. You turned your body towards him. One of your hands took his, while the other took the edge of his sleeve and slid it up his arm. Your eyes lit up in awe at what you saw.

Starting from his fingers a dark red pattern stretched along his limb. Like the shape of the lightning that struck him, it frayed into branches across his skin, reaching up to his shoulder. Absentmindedly, your finger traced along the pattern, enthralled with it. It was almost beautiful.

You hadn’t realized how close you had gotten to Sesshomaru while you inspected his scar until the hand that you held removed itself from your grasp. You looked up, finding yourself very near to his face. You did not move, your breath caught in your throat as Sesshomaru’s eyes looked into your own with an intense gaze.

His patterned hand lifted to you. It swept away a strand of hair from your face and fingers came to rest on your cheek. You were frozen, unsure of what to do. Sesshomaru’s face remained unreadable and stoic. You could not decipher what was going on behind those golden eyes.

Time stayed still. You did nothing. He did nothing.

And then the moment was over.

Sesshomaru removed himself. He stood up rather suddenly and you backed away as soon as you felt him move. Your heart raced and pounded against your chest. You almost felt breathless. You looked up at the dog demon as he picked up his a rmor from the ground and began to dress.

It seemed he had decided it was time to leave the cave.

Chapter 18: Searching

By the time Sesshomaru decided to leave the cave, the storm had been long gone.

Instead of taking the way of the waterfall, the dog demon elected to travel deeper into the tunnel. You trusted that the dog demon knew what he was doing, but if it were you who made the decision, going deeper would have been out of the question. It just made no sense banking on the possibility of an exit and you would much rather take the short distance through the water rather than the long way though the rock.

Still, you relented yourself to the decision. It wasn’t like you had any means of protesting against the white-haired man at the moment. Not after what you just experienced with him.

You could still feel where Seshomaru’s fingers had touched your face. The phantom sensation was akin to burning. Your mind hadn’t stopped racing since he removed his hand.

Ever since the conversation you had about love, your eyes watched Sesshomaru through a new lens. Everything he did was now up for scrutiny. Though you were already familiar with the concept of having to decode his words and actions, the circumstances had dramatically changed. You were in unfamiliar territory and the idea of navigating through those metaphorical rapids frightened you more than the river you had nearly drowned in.

Listening to the soft footfalls of Sesshomaru you felt your way around the dark cave, one hand against the rock wall to help guide you. You could only faintly see the man walking a few paces ahead. He seemed to have much better bearings than you. Your sight in the dark was better than that of a human’s, but only marginally. The dog demon walked as if he had no such trouble.

Some time had passed since the two of you set off into the foreboding tunnel of the cave, and you had to wonder how much longer it would be before you saw light again. You once more wondered why this was the path Sesshomaru decided to take. In mild amusement, you entertained the idea that he was following his nose. He was a dog, after all.

Speaking of dogs, you began to wonder at the whereabouts of Inuyasha and Kagome. You and Sesshomaru had left the two to fight the demon swarm on their own. It was already a difficult battle, but having lost two members they couldn’t have fared well. You worried for their wellbeing. Were they okay? Did they manage to escape? Were they captured or killed?

Your heart tightened at the thought. Over the course of the last few days you came to know Kagome very well. She was a kind woman who had the charming disposition of being good for the sake of being good. She trusted and provided help without condition. Those were the qualities of an individual to be admired, and you even dared to call her a friend.

You hoped at the very least that her and Inuyasha were only captured, and like Rin, they awaited you and Sesshomaru to find Naraku’s castle and get them out. Alternatively, killing Naraku was also something that could be done to assure the mission’s success, but that option was easier said than done. And judging by the fact that Sesshomaru had lost his sword Tokijin to the river, it might not have been an option at all.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t save your sword.” You said aloud, feeling guilty even though there was nothing you could’ve done about it.

“Tokijin is not lost.” Sesshomaru replied rather matter-of-factly.

You made a face. “What do you mean? The river’s current was incredibly strong because of the storm and for all you know the sword was dragged off into an entirely different part of it. How would you even be able to find it?”

“Tokijin is not a normal sword. It was forged from the fang of a demon. It emits an aura that I am able to sense.”

His words clicked. You now knew exactly why Sesshomaru went deeper into the tunnel rather than through the waterfall—he was following the aura. However, you wondered for a moment if it really were faster to go this way instead of the other. For all you knew, the tunnel stretched too far and the two of you could pop up to the surface and have to backtrack to the part of the river that the sword was dropped in. Wouldn’t that just be an inconvenience?

You could only question the dog demon’s motives silently. Who were you to tell him that his choice seemed nonsensical? Regardless of his methods, he needed to find that sword.

Though you didn’t doubt that Sesshomaru had plenty of skill to fight Naraku on his own without the blade, the chances of beating him were significantly greater with its assistance. Sesshomaru, it seemed, was taking no chances. After all, the life of his ward depended on it.

“Here.” The dog demon spoke, halting the both of you.

You looked around. “Here what?”

“I found Tokijin.”

Before you could even think of a response, Sesshomaru had snatched you away from the rock wall. He lifted you with his one arm and dropped you onto his back, where you were forced to wrap your arms and legs around his body to keep yourself from falling off. You clutched against the man, utterly bewildered.

“Hold your breath.” He ordered.

Without warning Sesshomaru leapt into the cave ceiling. You could hardly keep yourself from screaming, but kept your mouth clammed. Having realized what his intentions were, you took a breath, shut your eyes, and clung for dear life.

With one swing of his claws the dog demon had undone the rock in the ceiling and burst through it. You could only shudder as the sensation of cold water enveloped you. Escaping from the now compromised cave the two of you found yourself at the bottom of the river.

Whether the border between water and cave was thin or Sesshomaru just broke through several feet of rock like it was nothing was beyond you. You would never fully grasp the extent of his abilities. You would, however, continue to question his methods. This was an entirely nonsensical way to find Tokijin. If the man could sense the blade’s demonic aura, then wouldn’t it have been just the same to search for it from the surface?

If you weren’t under several feet of water and holding your breath you would have sighed in exasperation.

Your eyes stayed close for the entire ordeal, but you assumed that the two of you remained in the river for as long as it took for Sesshomaru to find the sword and finally surface. When once you felt cool air hit your face you sucked in a much needed breath. The dog demon brought the two of you to the river bank and let you off his back.

You all but plopped onto the ground, gasping and trying your best to calm your unsteady heart.

“Have I ever told you you’re crazy?” You said between heavy breaths. “Next time you do something like that can you give me a little more warning?”

Looking up at the white-haired man you watched as he flicked water off the newly found Tokijin and slid it back into its sheath where it belonged.

“I gave you enough warning.” Sesshomaru answered matter-of-factly.

You shook your head, sitting up from the ground with an inaudible sigh. You looked down at yourself, lamenting the fact that you were wet again. When your eyes cast across the ground, you found yourself sitting on top of an arrow. Brows lowering with recognition you pulled it out from under you.

“Kagome.” You whispered.

Looking up, you hoped you would not see any bodies that belonged to your friends. Fortunately you only found the bodies of demons. They littered the surrounding area. Kagome and Inuyasha must have fought hard but had to have been subdued. With no trace of them, it was safe to assume that they were also captured. If that were the case, then Naraku got a hold of the extra jewel shards that Kagome had. This did not bode well.

Sesshomaru held his hand towards you. You stared at it for a moment, noting the pattern that the lightning bolt decorated his skin with, before you took it and allowed him to help you up.

“Are we close to Naraku’s castle?” You questioned, wringing water from out of your clothing.

“We are not far now.” He confirmed.

Your eyes swept the scenery while you tried to squeeze every last drop of water out of your attire. When a glint of light hit your gaze you blinked and made your way over to where you had seen it. Surprisingly, you found your sword hidden in some brush.

“That’s lucky.” You stated, reaching for it. “Unlike yours, this thing doesn’t have any aura to sense.”

You inspected the blade, finding that it was only covered in demon’s blood and had nothing wrong with it, you sheathed it and looked back at Sesshomaru. With a nod the two of you set off.

With the storm long gone and the sun shining down upon you, you revelled in the warmth after your dip in the river. Though continuing your journey without drying, walking in the sunlight did the job for you. After spending the night wet and in the frigid cave, you were very grateful that this day turned out so nice. It was something to be thankful for considering all the obstacles you continued to face in this mission. It did you good to look at positives now and then.

Sesshomaru lied to you when he said that the castle wasn’t far away. Perhaps to him it wasn’t far, but to you, having walked half a day’s journey with no sight of your intended location yet, it was pretty damn far. You still had some weakness in your legs due to your efforts to keep you and the dog demon from drowning in the river. This became apparent the more you walked, but you found the strength to push on.

The thought of rescuing Rin drove you. It had been far too many days now that she had been taken from you. You only dreaded to think what she was going through at the moment. No amount of pain nor weakness was going to stop you from making it to that castle now. You had her and Kagome to save.

You and Sesshomaru crested a hill. Just as the expanse of the land came into your view, your eyes were immediately drawn to what lay ahead. Atop its very own hill stood a structure shrouded in purple mist.

Your mouth fell slightly agape at the sheer size of it. “Is that? Is that Naraku’s castle?”

“Yes.” Sesshomary replied, with much less awe in his voice.

“How are we going to get inside?” You asked. “Do you have a plan?”

Sesshomaru said nothing to answer your query. He only continued to gaze upon the structure for a few extra moments and then continue walking. You closed your mouth and followed

Chapter 19: The Castle

The journey continued and the looming presence of Narkau’s castle drew nearer. Sesshomaru made no indication that he intended to do anything besides head straight for it. You began to wonder if he even had a plan at all.

”What are you doing?” You asked the dog demon, concerned that you would be spotted if you stayed out in the open any longer. ”Are we just going to walk inside? Just like that?”

“There is no point in doing anything else.” Sesshomaru replied, completely unbothered by your anxiety. “Naraku already knows we’re here.”

He stopped walking and turned to look behind the both of you, prompting you to follow his lead. Turning to the direction he faced, you came to understand what he meant.

From a safe distance a large wasp hovered—Naraku’s Saimyosho. You gritted your teeth in annoyance. That damn demon was relentless. You looked back to Sesshomaru, who had resumed walking.

“How long has it been there?” You asked, wondering why you had never sensed it.

”It has been following us since we retrieved Tokijin.”

“All the way from there?” You said incredulously. “Why hasn’t it done anything? Why wouldn’t Naraku just attack?”

“It would seem that he is making sure we are going in the right direction.” The dog demon replied in a tone that did not reflect even an ounce of concern.

“Well that sounds like a trap.” You said, now too conscious of the feeling of being watched. You quickened your pace to walk beside Sesshomaru instead of behind him. You felt safer there.

“It most certainly is one.”

The conversation came to an end, but your anxieties did not. There were too many uncertainties at present. If the demons that attacked you last night were sent by Naraku, then he must have wanted to stop the group from finding the castle. But if that were the case, then why was he simply following you and Sesshomaru rather than attacking again? The two of you were much closer to the castle than before, what was stopping him from sending his demons again?

Was his original intention to separate you from the other half of your group? That couldn’t be. Those demons were intent on destroying everyone. If Naraku wanted to separate you, wouldn’t they have just snatched everybody up and taken off? Not to mention that the lightning ultimately did the separating. Naraku couldn’t possibly have known that Sesshomaru would be struck.

Unless…

Something felt off. Things weren’t making sense. Naraku’s actions had no clear pattern and that made the situation feel more dangerous and unstable. There was definitely an angle here but you couldn’t quite grasp it. The lightning was the variable that threw things off and you scoured your mind to figure out how it played a part.

You thought hard and something rose to the surface of your consciousness. Did… Naraku have something to do with the lightning? You thought back to the battle and the behavior of the demons. You recalled how they had been grabbing at you and pulling you away from Sesshomaru’s grasp. It seemed like they were trying to separate you rather than kill you. And it struck you as odd that none of the demons came to follow you down the river when they could have easily plucked you from the water and taken care of you.

Something clicked. Those demons never meant to kill. You slowly began coming to the conclusion that the demons were supposed to take everybody but Sesshomaru. The fact that he had gotten to you first was ultimately the reason that you and he were separated from Inuyasha and Kagome. As far-fetched as it might have seemed, you began to believe that Naraku was behind the lightning. You couldn’t say how, you couldn’t even think of an explanation, but your instincts fell upon that deduction.

You started to have the foreboding feeling that the lightning strike would make another appearance at Naraku’s castle. If Naraku was behind it and he had been watching when it happened, then he was aware of its effects on Sesshomaru. That sort of knowledge was dangerous to the dog demon.

You had the sudden urge to apprise the white-haired man of your suspicions.

“Sesshomaru wait,” You started, one hand reaching the edge of his sleeve as the two of you came upon the gates of the castle.

You did not have the chance to speak. Before you could grab his attention, a loud creak filled the air. The gate began to open and Sesshomaru wasted no time walking towards it. You followed after him, still trying to speak to him but he seemed uninterested in what you had to say. His eyes stayed forward, holding the gaze of Naraku, who stood alone in the center of the castle’s courtyard. When you saw him, your attempts to speak were all but forgotten.

This was the first time you had ever seen the demon’s face. The last time you had met him he was donning the white baboon pelt. You had only gotten a hint of his appearance peering beneath his hood, but from what you were seeing now you never would have guessed what the man looked like.

It struck you just how appealing his image was. Long curly black hair and angled sharp features painted a face that was far too attractive for a man famously known for his sinister nature. If you weren’t set on hating him you would have found him very attractive. He was almost distracting.

“Naraku.” Sesshomaru said in a dark and cold voice, unsheathing Tokijin. “Where is Rin.”

Naraku laughed, a sinister sound. “Why Sesshomaru, how very good to see you again. I have been patiently waiting for your arrival.”

“Where is everyone? Why did you take them?” You asked, pulling your own sword out of its casing even though you didn’t know if it would even help in this situation.

Naraku’s gaze shifted to you. “Ah, I’m glad to see you still alive. I saw you take a nasty fall into the river. How did you manage to survive such an ordeal?”

The demon’s words only served to strengthen your suspicions. Of course he was watching. You wanted to accuse him of having something to do with the lightning but chose not to. You didn’t want to reveal to him what you might’ve known. That information might’ve come handy soon. You glanced at Sesshomaru, a part of you hoping that he had the same suspicions in mind. But then again he wasn’t questioning Naraku’s motives, he was only focused on saving his ward.

“I’m tougher than you think.” Was all you said to reply, hoping it didn’t come off as arrogant. There was also a part of you that didn’t fully believe in your own statement.

Naraku chuckled. “I’m sure you are.”

”I grow tired of your voice.” Sesshomaru said, lifting his sword to point it at the demon. “Tell me where Rin is or die.”

“Oh Sesshomaru, you are so impatient.”

Naraku waved his hand. The doors of the castle began to slide open, and from them figures emerged. With the daylight steady fading it was hard to see what approached you at first, but just as you squinted to see what it was, your eyes immediately flew open.

Everybody Naraku had taken from you walked out of the castle.

Rin was the first person you made out. She was front and center, coming to stand next to Naraku, brandishing an axe in her hand. Her eyes held nothing, a vacant expression on her face. Inuyasha and Kagome came after, as well as the rest of their group. They all looked like Rin, lacking any emotion in their eyes and faces. They all sported their weapons as if ready to fight. You looked upon them in horror, particularly at Rin. They were not themselves. Naraku had done something to them.

Whatever he did to them did not extend to A-Un or Jaken it seemed, as they were missing from the picture. They must have been kept under watch somewhere in the castle. Whatever Naraku had done to these who stood before you could only apply to them. It must have had something to do with the fact that everybody was human or had human in them. That was why Inuyasha was under the spell as well.

But for what purpose? Why did Naraku hijack them? You had every right to believe that Naraku would more likely kill the people standing around him due to the threat they posed to him. Not that you were complaining that Rin was still alive, though, it just wasn’t in the demon’s nature. What exactly did doing this serve him?

“Rin,” You said in a breathless whisper. “What has he done to you?”

“Unfortunately she cannot answer you. She belongs to me now.” Naraku said with a sickening grin.

You heard a low growl seep from the mouth of Sesshomaru, and watched as the dog demon leapt forward, aiming his blade for a strike. Naraku’s smile only deepened before the little body of Rin jumped to stand in front of him, directly in the path of Sesshomaru’s strike.

In the face of this obstacle Sesshomaru could only stop dead in his tracks, practically screeching to a halt to avoid from harming Rin. He stood frozen, locked eyes with the little girl who stood to protect the demon that had kidnapped her.

“Rin, why are you doing this?” Sesshomaru asked.

For the first time since you had met him, you heard the faintest hint of betrayal in the white-haired man’s voice. If there was any time for him to express any emotion this was it. Who else would be able to evoke such a thing from him?

Rin said nothing. No expression crossed her face. She was so vacant that if she didn’t have her eyes open, you would’ve thought she was asleep. You didn’t know what to do. Sesshomaru would not move and Rin would not relinquish her space in front of Naraku. It was a stalemate, and all Naraku could do was laugh.

“How interesting it is that the little girl whom you have come to call your ward now stands to protect me.” The black-haired man taunted.

“What have you done to her.” Sesshomaru spat back, his voice now betrayed by the tone of rage.

You could only shutter at the expression he wore on his face.

“I have turned her into the perfect weapon.” Naraku returned. “You are far too powerful for me to destroy on my own. And with that sort of threat I couldn’t possibly allow you to continue in this world to hunt me. So I discovered the perfect way to finally get rid of you without having to face you myself.”

“I will destroy you.” Sesshomaru seethed.

”I will see you try.” Naraku said. “Rin, kill him.”

The little girl spared no time to carry out his order. With a speed you had never seen her reach she lifted her axe and charged at Sesshomaru. All the dog demon could possibly do was avoid her attacks, leaping backwards as she swung at him. You could only watch helplessly as she continued to strike at him while he only jumped away from her each time she got close.

There was nothing he could do, and there was nothing you could do to help him. Especially since now Naraku had his sights set on you.

“Kagome.” The black-haired man started, his wicked grin sending chills down your spine. “Take care of her won’t you?”

The girl whom you had come to call a friend only responded too quickly, lifting her bow and arming it with an arrow. You had no choice but to leap out of the way as she let that arrow loose and it pierced the ground where you had been standing. You had sprawled across the ground, and scrambled to get up while you watched her nock another arrow.

The others who stood around Naraku had come closer to form a tighter circle around the demon to protect him. Sesshomaru was occupied with avoiding Rin’s attacks, unable to make his own upon his ward. And now you were running to avoid the arrows that your friend shot at you.

It seemed that Naraku had devised the perfect way to get rid of all of his foes without even lifting a finger

Chapter 20: In a Bind

“Kagome, please stop!” You cried, leaping away to narrowly avoid another arrow.

Kagome would not react nor respond to your pleas, she was not present in her own body. When one more time her arrow struck the ground rather than you, you attempted to rush at her and grab her shoulders, shaking her as if she were asleep. In the process you had dropped your sword on the ground beside her.

“Wake up Kagome! This isn’t you!” You cried.

The girl in your arms jerked out of your grasp, choosing only to lift her bow and strike your arm. You gritted your teeth, jumping away from another attempt. Realizing that you were separated from your sword you could only avoid your friend’s attacks. Though, even if you had the sword you would only use it in defense. Despite the state she was in she was still Kagome. You would never choose to strike at her. You just had to figure out a way to get her back.

As you darted from one direction to another, a flurry of movement caught your eyes. Sesshomaru was in a similar bind. The little girl whom he had come to call his ward was in pursuit of him as well. Though her small frame normally lacked the speed and agility it took to challenge the dog demon, whatever Naraku did to her had made her an unstoppable force. Sesshomaru, a being known to be impervious to most things, struggled to keep away from her. He did not allow her to land a blow but he could not retaliate for fear of harming her. Regardless of her current state of mind, the dog demon would never do anything to hurt Rin.

You could only observe his plight for mere seconds before returning attention to your own. Kagome had chosen to stop chasing and instead created more distance between the two of you, nocking another arrow. You were still holding your arm where she had struck you, aching with a dull throb when once more you darted out of the way.

Miscalculating your dodge, you fell to one knee and found that you had landed near where your sword lay on the ground. Picking it up, you quickly got to both feet and made a move towards the castle where you could have some cover from the arrows. You broke through a set of doors just as one landed into the wall beside you.

Sprinting through the halls you had no idea where you were going. Being inside Naraku’s castle couldn’t have been the safest option with or without the cover you needed from the arrows. Unsure of where to go you only darted down the corridors aimlessly, trying to put as much distance between you and the archer as possible.

You broke through another set of doors and found yourself standing atop a stone staircase that led down into an underground passageway. Glancing around for only a moment you elected to go down the stairs. Stone would be a much better cover than the paper walls that surrounded you.

You went down those stairs as fast as you were able, turning a corner into a dark hallway lit up only a single torch. Seeing as there was no other light in sight, you pulled the torch out of the wall and continued. Your journey remained quiet, you maintaining silent footfalls so as not to alert the person who hunted you above.

The hallways seemed to stretch endlessly. At some point you wondered if you were really escaping Kagome or if you were actually trapping yourself in a corner. You found yourself trekking too far and taking too many turns to even be able to find your way back should you be caught. If Kagome came down here you wouldn’t even know where to escape. Still, you persisted. The more you walked through these halls the more of an inkling you got that something was very strange about this place. Strange enough that it made you wonder if Naraku was hiding something here.

Your inkling grew into suspicion quickly as you walked down a particular corridor that had no turns and no end in sight. By the time you saw the flickering light in the distance you had come to the conclusion that you might have stumbled upon something significant.

Reaching what opened up into a large cavern you peered inside with caution. The flickering light you saw was a singular candle that stood on a solitary table in the center of the room. You approached it, noticing that neither its light nor your own reached the edges of the space. You tested this by swinging your torch with an extended arm. The light never caught anything in particular.

You were tempted to call out into the cavern, but the sensation of something watching you made you pause. The hairs on the back of your neck raised, and just as you turned to look behind you, you heard the sound of something running towards you. In a panic you twisted with your sword raised and you swung hard. You felt the edge of your blade sliced through something.

Kagome’s arm, along with her bow, fell to the ground. The girl screeched into the silence, the sound reverberating across the stone. You fell back against the table, nearly knocking it over, horrified by what you had just done.

“Kagome I’m sorry!” You cried, a coal forming inside the pit of your stomach. “I didn’t mean to, I’m so sorry!”

The black-haired girl’s screeches did not sound like something Kagome would make. In fact, they didn’t even sound human. As what you perceived to be your friend straightened her posture and glared at you with eyes you could not recognize, you started to feel like maybe this wasn’t even Kagome at all.

You wouldn’t have a lot of time to think about it, however, as the girl that wanted to kill you pulled an arrow out of her quiver with her remaining hand and charged at you. Not wanting to hurt her again you ducked to the side of the table and began to run. She followed behind quickly and you prayed that the cavern was not about to end just a few feet in front of you.

Unfortunately, the cavern did end a few feet in front of you. However, what you slammed into was not stone. Your face had planted into something soft and kind of gooey. You had to pull your body out of a squishy mass, filled with confusion as to what just happened. It was in a split second that you lifted your torch to see what it was that Kagome came in with her arrow in hand. You had barely given yourself a moment to process what you saw before you leapt away from the mass.

Kagome thrusted her arrow into the mass where your head was just a moment ago. You had sprawled onto your back in the process of jumping, but you were quick to sit upright and hold your torch up to the scene.

You looked upon in confusion and horror at two Kagomes. One with an arrow thrusted into the mass, and another curled up inside that same mass. The attacking Kagome had frozen and her body went limp and began to slide down. The arrow piercing the mass went down with her, tearing what seemed to be a membrane and causing whatever goo that filled it to pour out. The Kagome inside came out with it, taking in such a loud breath of air that it echoed in the cavern.

The real Kagome, now free of her confines, sputtered and coughed. The imposter began to melt, morphing from the perfect image of your friend into a pile of ash.

“What—“ Kagome started, falling into another coughing fit. “What’s going on?”

You wouldn’t yet answer. Your torch and sword clattered to the ground as you relinquished your hold on them and flew in to embrace your friend. You didn’t even care about the goo that transferred from her to yourself. You squeezed her tight while she only cautiously returned your hug.

“Kagome I’m so glad you’re okay!” You said into her hair.

”What happened? Where are we?” Kagome asked, allowing you to hold her for a few seconds longer before you retreated.

You helped her wipe goo off her face. “We’re underneath Naraku’s castle. I kind of just stumbled in here while escaping that thing.”

You pointed at the pile of smoking ash on the ground. Kagome’s face twisted.

“I don’t understand.” She said, glancing at the pile then into the darkness surrounding the two of you. “How did I get here? The last thing I remember was fighting Naraku’s demons.”

You nodded. “That’s right, but I guess what you don’t remember is that you were captured. Me and Sesshomaru were separated from you guys and we came to the castle to face Naraku.”

Kagome palmed her temple. “Not remembering is probably the reason for my headache. How did you find me here? And what were you escaping?”

In the quickest recap that you were able to give you explained to your friend about the copy that chased you through the castle. You tried not to linger on the conversation for too long but while you spoke you cemented the theory about what was going on. You were still aware that Sesshomaru was above you avoiding attacks from Rin. Now that you had come to discover the reality of the situation and that Sesshomaru was not, in fact, being pursued by the real Rin you had a responsibility to do something about it. Your new mission was to search for Rin’s real body and free her.

You became emboldened by this discovery. Finding out the truth brought hope in your heart, and you knew you had to hurry to get Sesshomaru to learn that truth before it was too late. It did not escape you that Sesshomaru would sooner let Rin kill him over doing anything to hurt her. You would never forgive yourself if it got to that point. You had to take care of things quickly.

Helping Kagome to her feet, you apprised her of your plan. If she was hidden away in this cavern then perhaps Rin and everybody else was too. Having learned everything the black-haired girl shook off her remaining uncertainty and put forward all her intentions. Once you picked your sword and torch off the ground the two of you set off on your search.

Members of Kagome’s group were found first, one by one. They were all clustered together nearby where Kagome had been. While you were relieved that it didn’t take long to find them, you didn’t want to linger on helping them for too long. You needed to find Rin so you gave Kagome your sword and torch while you took to the table with the candle.

At the table you remembered the bow on the ground. You picked it up as well as the candle and began your search.

At the other end of the cavern you could hear Kagome slice open the squishy masses that her companions were held in, one by one. You could only pray that Rin was in a similar state, suspended in the goo but physically safe. You held onto that hope until the end of your search where you happened upon another opening in the cavern that led to a smaller space.

There, in the flickering light of your candle was Rin, floating in her prison. You stood in front of her for a moment, gazing at how the little girl wore the sweetest expression despite her situation. You wondered for a moment if she knew what was happening or if she was simply dreaming. You hoped it was the latter. You almost didn’t want to break her from the spell and let her fall back to reality. But you couldn’t let her stay like that.

You set down your candle and lifted the bow in your hand, bringing it down for a hard swing

Chapter 21: Rin

Sesshomaru had never once felt powerless in his entire existence. He didn’t even know the meaning of the word. But while the little girl who he had come to care for and call his own chased him with her axe he began to understand what it meant. He was stuck in a loop of keeping away from Rin’s reach and unable to retaliate for fear of harming her. He was far from being at his limit but he truly did not know what to do. Time seemed to stretch on forever as Rin leapt and darted at him with her weapon in hand.

The dog demon kept his eye on Naraku, who stood encircled by Inuyasha and his group in a protective ring. Given the chance Sesshomaru did not have an issue with cutting down his brother and his companions to get to Naraku, but while Rin was under his spell he couldn’t make any other move for fear that she would be made to do something that put her in a different kind of danger. For now all he could do was keep her occupied while he figured out his next move.

Rin seemed to have developed abilities she previously never had. Whatever evils Naraku subjected her to gave her skills that she would normally not be able to acquire. How her body was capable of moving at such speeds and striking with such agility was not normal, not for a human child. Sesshomaru had to wonder if she could even feel the toll such exercise was taking on her body. He worried that she would be in great pain once she snapped out of the spell she was under.

She was relentless but Sesshomaru allowed her to simply chase and only attempt at landing a blow. Despite her abilities she was no match for him and hardly even got close.

It was at some point during the seemingly endless game of cat and mouse that the dog demon realized the companion he arrived at the castle with was nowhere to be seen. The last he had seen of you, you were engaged in your own battle with the girl Inuyasha traveled with. Sesshomaru glanced about his surroundings to find no trace of you nor the archer. Though he had no reason to worry that anything happened to you he had to wonder where the two of you went. But as soon as he allowed his mind to wander something else caught his attention.

The ring of people that surrounded Naraku had begun to melt. It seemed to happen out of nowhere, without any warning. If it wasn’t in Sesshomaru’s periphery he never would have noticed it, for not even a sound alerted him of the fact. He watched in mild apathy as Inuyasha and his traveling party diminished into a pile of ash on the ground, much to Naraku’s dismay.

The dog demon, seeing his brother be reduced to powder, couldn’t pinpoint exactly how he felt on the matter. When a long time ago he would have felt satisfaction seeing his brother perish, something inside him now seemed different. Though he had yet to even consider any sorrow on the matter, there was a sliver of remorse piercing his heart that he struggled to accept, regardless of how he felt about him.

Sesshomaru would only have a few moments to think about that particular subject. His attention was redirected towards Rin. Not long after the others completely dissolved did she start exhibiting evidence of doing the same. She was frozen now, standing completely still with her axe in hand. Her body began to change and break down. Sesshomaru wasted no time getting to her side, throwing down his sword and taking her with his one arm as she fell to the ground.

Seeing his brother cease to exist was one thing, but when it came to Rin the dog demon felt things he would never admit aloud. To see Rin reducing into nothing was like a sword to his heart, something the dog demon did not often feel. Despair took over his thoughts, another unfamiliar feeling. Even his carefully crafted facade began to crack.

“Rin, stay.” Sesshomaru could not hide the plea from his voice, but he didn’t even care to try. “Do not leave.”

The little girl in his grasp said nothing, no expression present in her soulless eyes. It took only moments for her body to completely transform, the weight of her small frame turning into ash in his hand. Sesshomaru said nothing, staring down at the pile. Time seemed to stop moving.

In the center of the courtyard Naraku stood, devoid of his protective circle. His eyes shifted towards the castle, surmising that you had figured out his scheme and were the cause of its failure. Anger and indignation seeped from his gaze and the demon quickly began to plan his escape. He needed to make a move before Sesshomaru gathered his wits about him.

But when the half-demon glanced back over to the dog demon in question, he was quick to leap away from a sudden attack. Sesshomaru, having left the remains of Rin, surged forward with Tokijin. The suddenness of the action had caught Naraku off guard and barely sprung to safety. A small cut appeared on his cheek. Sesshomaru stood in the spot he left behind with a dark expression in his golden gaze.

Naraku, with all evidence pointing to Sesshomaru believing that he had just seen his ward die, decided to play upon those emotions.

“Well isn’t this unfortunate.” The half-demon said with an apathetic chuckle. “It looks like little Rin is no more. I can’t imagine what you’re feeling right now.”

“Naraku, this is the day you perish.” Sesshomaru declared in a voice as sharp as the tip of his blade.

“Forgive me if I refute your statement. I have far too many plans to allow death to take me today.”

“Death will not be taking you. By my hand you will diminish into so little that the pieces left over will not be able to cross into the afterlife.”

Pairing his words with action, Sesshomaru took off into the air to battle with Naraku.

———————————————-

By the graces of all that was good, Rin was unharmed. Though terrified of having woken up in a dark cavern covered in goo, she thankfully had no memory of her kidnapping. Whether she had been harmed or not did not matter, regardless of the case she came out of it with no memories and no mental scarring.

Knowing that once the little girl was freed from her gooey prison her copy would dissolve, your next mission was to return to the surface quickly and apprise Sesshomaru of the situation. Since he did not yet know that the girl he was fighting was not his ward, you shuddered to think what might be going through his head watching the imposter disappear.

Kagome helped her companions gather their wits while you helped Rin wipe away the goo that covered her body. The little girl was soaked to the bone and shivering. It was cold in the cavern you inhabited and for a moment you wished you had Sesshomaru’s fur so you could wrap it around her.

You spent some time explaining to Rin what was going on. She listened intently and sympathetically. When she decided to speak there was only one question on her mind.

”Where are Jaken and A-Un?” She asked.

You paused, realizing that the other two of your traveling party had not yet been found. “I don’t know.” You responded, turning your head to look about the cavern.

You had earlier inferred that the imp and the dragon were not a part of Naraku’s farce due to the nature of their existence. They were demons and the only ones who had been subjected to this scheme were human or at least had some human in them, such as Inuyasha did. Naraku must have been keeping them elsewhere.

“We have to find them.” Rin expressed.

“I know. I just have no idea where they could be. I only found you and Kagome’s group down here.”

You and Rin came to join the others in the larger cavern. Kagome was doing her best to explain the situation to them with what little knowledge she had. Everybody was experiencing different levels of confusion and disgust, cleaning themselves of the matter that covered their bodies. When you approached, they all turned to you for answers.

“Look, I’m sorry but I don’t have time to explain, I’ve been down here for too long already and I need to go back up to tell Sesshomaru what’s going on. I want to ask you a favor.” You said.

Inuyasha made a face. “Don’t count on me doing anything. I’m going up there to kill Naraku once and for all.”

”That’s fine, but I need some help finding Jaken and A-Un from everybody else. This place is absolutely massive, both these caverns and the castle above. Can I ask you guys to find them while I get to the surface?”

“Don’t worry,” Kagome responded. “We can take care of that. You guys go ahead and get to Sesshomaru.”

You looked at your friend in gratitude and pulled her in for a quick hug. “Thank you.”

Everybody set off to the corridor at the end of the cavern. Half the group split off to continue searching underground, while the other followed you to the path that took you to the surface. That part was actually easier than you originally thought. Earlier when you had made your way down here, you were concerned that you would never find your way back due to the twists and turns that you had taken. Perhaps it had been just an illusion caused by stress, for it seemed that you managed to find the staircase just fine. With your friends in tow, you flew up the stairs.

Running through the castle, a flurry of commotion seemed to be happening outside of it. You figured Sesshomaru was engaged in battle with Naraku. Once the copies had all disintegrated then Naraku had nothing to keep Sesshomaru from making a direct attack. While this normally was a good thing, at the moment it meant that Sesshomaru had just watched what he thought was Rin die. There was no telling how he was feeling or how far he was willing to go to destroy Naraku.

While you had no problem letting that part play out, you knew Sesshomaru was not doing it with a level head. Rin was everything to him. There was no telling what sort of recklessness he could be subjected to due to the circumstances. You just couldn’t allow him to go on thinking Rin was gone.

When you made it through the last set of doors, you, Rin, and Inuyasha looked upon the disaster laid out before you. Though it was nighttime, you could clearly see that the courtyard was in shambles. Sesshomaru had laid waste to everything in his path. At that very moment he was in the air, engaged in battle with a cloud of demons similar to the ones he had fought before.

You looked down to where Naraku still stood, planted in the courtyard. Beside him stood another man, one you had never seen before. The both of them had their eyes up at the commotion above. Naraku wore a sinister smile.

You instructed Rin to stay hidden behind the doors of the castle. There was too much going on to allow her out in the open. You and Inuyasha ran into the courtyard.

You cried out to Sesshomaru, cupping your hands around your mouth to carry your voice. This caused Naraku and the unfamiliar man to look down at you and Inuyasha. The half-demon next to you pulled out Tessaiga, transforming it.

“He can’t hear you. He’s too busy.” Naraku said. He turned to the man next to him. “Do it now.”

The man nodded and looked up, raising both his arms. Watching him, a terrible feeling gathered in your gut. The man said something too quiet for you to hear, but you had already figured out what he was doing. The clouds above Sesshomaru swirled and you screamed the dog demon’s name as a bolt of lighting shot from the sky.

Chapter 22: Lightning

For a moment the sky was blinding. Your hands reacted, flying to cover your eyes.

Following the booming sound of the lightning was a deafening silence. The demons who had been engaged in battle in the sky had gone quiet. The scene fell into such a stillness that while your eyes were still covered you had to wonder if you had been transported into a different place entirely. But when you regained your vision you found that notion to be untrue. You still stood in the ruined courtyard in front of Naraku and the strange man, looking upon the sky that was missing a particular dog demon.

The next time you spoke Sesshomaru’s name your voice was pathetic and cracked. Your legs faltered and you nearly fell to the ground.

He was gone.

“Naraku!” The voice of Inuyasha shouted from beside you. “What did you do!?”

The demon in the center of the courtyard caught your gaze with an ominous smile. “I have rid myself of my greatest threat.”

“No!” Came the voice of Rin, who came bounding out of where she was hiding in the castle. “That’s not true! Lord Sesshomaru is not dead!”

The little girl’s voice cracked and as she drew nearer you could see the tears that welled in her eyes. Your heart ached at the sight. Rin tried to run past you towards Naraku but you reached out and snatched her into your arms. She fought against you for only a moment before she could no longer control her emotions and dissolved into a fit of sobs.

“He can’t die. He can never die.” She trailed off in a voice that brought you more pain than a wound ever could.

“Rin, I’m so sorry.” You said, trying but failing to keep your wits about you as your own tears made a presence.

Naraku could only laugh at the sight of you. “Sesshomaru was no god. He was powerful, yes, but even he had a weakness. Finding that weakness was the only obstacle of this venture.”

The unfamiliar man that stood next to half-demon took a step forward as if to demonstrate his words.

“Meet my newest incarnation,” Naraku continued. “Inazuma. As you have probably already figured out, he has the power to cast lightning. I spent a considerable amount of time and effort to create him, and it has all paid off. He did, after all, kill my greatest opponent.”

Inuyasha grunted. “There’s only one problem with that statement. Sesshomaru was not your greatest opponent. I am.”

The half-demon beside you stepped forward, lifting Tessaiga to charge an attack. He shouted a phrase of which you had never heard before, and you watched in surprise as a powerful force of energy sliced across the ground and laid waste to the courtyard.

When the attack came to a finish, revealing the ruins of the site before you, Naraku seemed completely unaffected. He and the man now known as Inazuma had made their way to a rooftop at the edge of the courtyard. When your eyes came to find where they stood, the clouds that surrounded the moon and shielded the land from any light gave way, casting a blue glow at the men you gazed at.

Inazuma greatly resembled the man who had created him. He had sharp features and long curly hair, with a color that was hard to distinguish in the moonlight. Whether it was a dark purple or a deep blue was hard to say, but it wasn’t black like Naraku’s. He had pale skin and eyes with a faint red glow. Wrapped around him was a dark kimono with a cloud pattern plastered across it and he seemed to lack any weapons and possessions beyond the clothes on his back.

You studied him. After Rin had been kidnapped by Kagura, Kagome taught you about Naraku’s incarnations. There was little information she could give about how exactly they were created, but there was plenty to learn about the danger they posed. For each one that came into existence they had unique abilities, and every time a new one came along, their abilities were greater than that of the previous.

You came to understand that all of it was related to the sacred jewel. It only made sense that the Shikon No Tama, with all its vast powers, would have something to do with creating life and granting supernatural abilities. Without that particular element, these creations would not exist.

You had to wonder what the point of it all was. You were under the impression that Naraku sought the shards in order to restore the sacred jewel and use its powers to become a full-fledged demon. While it was still questionable what else he intended to do with it, it still did not make complete sense that he was using the shards to create these incarnations instead. Wasn't using the shards for this purpose counteractive to his overall plan? What did stand to gain by making this detour?

There was a flutter of movement in the castle behind you that broke you out of your thoughts. Kagome and the rest of her group came flying out of the doors. A two-headed dragon and small green imp exited the castle behind them. In your arms Rin lifted her head and called out the names of her friends.

They all came to join you and Inuyasha in the courtyard and every single person drew whatever weapon they possessed to face Naraku. The half-demon on the rooftop just laughed.

“Looks like the party is over. Forgive me for I cannot stay. Now that the task I have sought to undertake is completed, I have other things I must attend to.”

The group nearly exploded in protest. Several members made a show of attacking, but all were stopped mid-stride when a cloud of miasma rose from the ground in quick succession. It grew to shroud Naraku and Inazuma from sight, covering all surroundings. Even the castle became hidden away, despite your proximity to it. The group was forced to squeeze into a small circle to keep from touching the poisonous mist.

You wondered for a moment if this was how you would die. Perhaps it was a merciful way to go.

That would not be the case, however. The miasma lingered for a short while, and before long it faded away, taking everything with it. When your eyes could finally see your surroundings, you found that it was all gone. In place of Naraku and the castle was a field of grass and trees, undisturbed. It was as if nothing other than forest had ever existed here.

For the rest of the night you were in a daze. Kagome and her group fell into an argumentative state, shocked with the knowledge of Sesshomaru’s death and fuming at Naraku’s escape. You could not join in on the matter. You couldn’t even think of anything to say. You only held Rin in a tight embrace, and the two of you wept for a long time.

At some point a camp was constructed. A fire was built and both groups fell into a slumbering state, all except for you and Kagome. When Rin had finally given way to her exhaustion you curled her up against A-Un for sleep. You made your way to the end of the camp to sit down in the grass and stare at the moon hanging high in the sky. It wasn’t long after that Kagome came over to join you.

You had been lost in thought. Something was not quite making sense and you were trying to figure out what that was.

“Hey,” The archer said softly, sitting down next to you and putting a gentle hand on your shoulder. “How are you holding up?”

You sighed, leaning into her touch. “It doesn’t feel real. Sesshomaru is gone but… I’m having a hard time believing it.”

“I know what you mean. It’s hard to think that someone like him could ever die.”

“It’s not just that.” You said, turning your head to look at her. “The thing is, I don’t know if I can fully grasp his death until I see his body.”

Kagome cocked her head. “Why do you say that?”

“Because the last time it happened, Sesshomaru only lost consciousness. I know the first time Naraku did it was to test if the lightning was effective, so it would only make sense that he would do something to make it more lethal for the next time he attempted it. But for some reason I don’t believe that any amount of extra power would make Sesshomaru’s body completely disintegrate.”

Kagome twisted her lips. “I think… I understand what you mean.”

“And it’s not just his body.” You continued. “Where are his things? Even if his body fell apart, what about his swords? Where did they go? Both of them are extremely powerful in their own right and I don’t think they could be destroyed just like that.”

Kagome looked at you sympathetically. “Look, I want to be able to support you and help you figure this out, but I also don’t want to encourage something that could only hurt you further.”

“You don’t believe me?” You said, brows furrowing.

She pulled you into a hug. “It’s not that I don’t believe you, it’s just that I know that you’re hurting. I’m here for you and I will listen, but I’m afraid that you could be holding onto something that’s not there. You saw something devastating and I get you trying to rationalize it, but that could make things worse.”

“But what if I’m right? What if he’s still alive and he’s out there somewhere, hurt and waiting for help?” You asked, your voice cracking as you pulled away from the embrace to look at her with a pleading gaze.

“But what if you’re wrong?” She said sympathetically. “What if he is really gone and you spend all this time hoping to find him only to find nothing? That would hurt so much more than accepting the fact that you will never see him again.”

You couldn’t say anything else. At Kagome’s words you finally broke and you dissolved into tears. She pulled you into another tight embrace, holding you together as best as she could while you fell apart in her arms. The two of you stayed like that for a while until she had decided it was time for her to go to sleep as well.

“Are you coming?” She asked softly, standing up and brushing grass from her skirt.

You shook your head. “Not yet. You go ahead. I just need to think some more.”

Kagome’s smile was bittersweet, leaving you with one final pat on your shoulder before she walked back to the camp. You kept your eyes on the moon. It was so bright and white. It reminded you of Sesshomaru’s hair.

Feeling like you were about to cry again, you opted to talk a short walk. With everyone sleeping so peacefully after a very long and difficult day, you didn’t want to wake them with your depressing sobs.

The forest around you glowed underneath the moonlight. It bathed you in silver. You made your way through the trees, appreciating the silence even though you wished there was some noise to drown out your thoughts. Your chest was tight and your heart weighed heavy.

You thought about the conversation you had about love and everything it entailed. Kagome used a hug as an analogy to describe the feeling, and it was at this point that you fully understood what she meant. With Sesshomaru gone you felt cold, and that had nothing to do with the night breeze that grazed your skin.

Walking alone, you felt yourself getting lost in your thoughts, spiraling. You had to pause, physically shaking your head when you felt the sting of tears once more pricking at your eyes. But while you lifted your arm to wipe them away once more, there was a sound nearby.

Your gaze lifted, head swinging in different directions to determine where the noise came from and what could have made it. It wasn’t until a flash of something came into your periphery that you stopped looking and stared in the direction you had seen it. It was only for a brief second, passing through the trees. Your heart began to race and you took off towards it.

You could have sworn that what you saw was moonlight glinting off the strands of long silver hair

Chapter 23: Alive

You ran. You were not religious, but for a moment you prayed. You prayed that you had just witnessed Sesshomaru, alive and well, wandering through the forest even though he had been presumed to be dead. You didn’t have anything to prove it, however, for the only thing you had actually seen was a flash of silver passing between the trees. It happened in the corner of your eye and was gone too fast to exactly determine. Still, you ran. If there was any chance that Sesshomaru was alive, you were going to find out here and now.

There was another flash to the right. You banked hard in that direction. The moonlight was what made it flicker so, and that only continued to solidify your hopeful suspicion. The only things you had ever seen reflect moonlight so brightly was a body of water and Sesshomaru’s hair. Even Inuyasha’s white locks did not have the luster to shine so incandescently. Nothing in the world compared to Sesshomaru’s.

You thought about calling out his name, but you couldn’t bring yourself to do so. The chance of being wrong weighed too heavily on your heart to make the attempt. You had to see the truth before you could speak it.

It was when you came upon a river with a white-clad figure standing before it that you stopped running. Chest heaving and heart pounding, your hand pressed against your mouth.

“Sesshomaru…?” You whispered with a wavering voice.

He turned around, and you found yourself gazing into his golden eyes. Your legs wanted to falter but you urged them to move again. You ran once more and practically threw yourself at him, wrapping your arms around him and pressing your face into his armor.

“You’re alive.” You muttered.

The sting of tears once more pricked against your eyes, but they were different this time. Instead of despair, these were formed from happiness.

You weren’t sure how long the two of you stayed like that. Sesshomaru said nothing and made no movement while you embraced him. It was only when you felt the palm of his hand against the top of your head that you decided to release him, though hesitantly. You took a step back, wiping the tears off your face.

You suddenly felt mildly embarrassed at yourself. You weren’t exactly thinking straight when you all but threw yourself against the dog demon, and it was only after the fact that you remembered that he was not one for physical touch. You tried not to let self consciousness overtake the feeling of happiness while you looked back up at him. You thought you saw sadness in his eyes.

”I thought you were dead.” You stated, your previously wavering voice having been calmed.

Sesshomaru stared at you for a moment. “Naraku has never had the power to kill me, nor will he ever.”

“So what happened? Where did you go?” You asked, furrowing your brows. If Sesshomaru had never been harmed, then why did he stay away for so long? You were struck with the notion that if you had never decided to go for a stroll in the woods at night then you never would have seen him again. Was he running away?

“I was well aware of what Naraku intended to do. I knew his plan to kill me. I only used it to make him believe I was dead.”

You shook your head. “Then why not come back after he disappeared? Why did it take me wandering the forest to find out that you’re alive? Did you want us to believe that you were dead too? Were you not going to come back?”

Sesshomaru looked away from you, gazing out at the river glinting off flecks of moonlight. “I watched Rin die.”

Then everything clicked. The sadness you thought you saw in his eyes made sense. Sesshomaru had never been apprised of the other part of Naraku’s scheme. He never got to see the real Rin. He only saw the copy that turned to ash. He was hurt by that. So much so that he chose to fake his death and go off on his own rather than staying with the party. Without Rin he would not care for anything again.

Without thinking, you reached out and took his one hand in yours. This prompted the dog demon to look down at you, but he did nothing to react.

“She’s not dead.” You said with a breath, squeezing his hand ever so slightly. “It was her copy. I went into the castle and found an underground cavern, where she and everybody else were being held. Naraku was using their physical bodies to feed the fake ones. They were in pods that, when destroyed, broke the connection between the two. It was her imposter that you watched die. Not her.”

After all the time you had spent learning Sesshomaru’s mannerisms and studying him to understand how he operated, you witnessed something unexpected. There was a visible shift in his face as you broke the news. The sadness that you perceived in his eyes melted away and his facade cracked. His lips parted ever so slightly, indicating an emotion that he could not hide this time. You were slightly taken aback by this, but you of all people were the only one who could understand why this happened. If anything would cause Sesshomaru to wear his feelings even in the slightest, it was Rin. And the news that she was still alive had you bearing witness to something few in the entire world would ever see.

“Where is she?” The dog demon asked.

“Back at camp, sleeping.” You answered.

The moment the words left your lips, you watched his facade return to normal—cold and reserved. Despite feeling enough emotion to cause it to crack, Sesshomaru was not one to let it linger. At least, not outwardly. You counted your blessings that you were lucky enough to have witnessed it at all, even for a moment.

You chose to release his hand, but when your fingers went slack, his tightened. You looked down in surprise. When you glanced back up at him in question, he tugged your arm and pulled your body against his. You tensed as he leaned in and gave you a very gentle embrace, his face near your shoulder and his hand placed on your back between your shoulderblades.

You stood bewildered, not knowing what to do. It was one thing when you embraced him out of sheer recklessness, but it was another when he did it to you out of the blue and on his own accord. This was completely unexpected of him and utterly out of character.

After a moment, you found your wits again and chose not to question it, leaning into the gesture. You wrapped your arms around him in return. You felt warm again, and that had nothing to do with sharing body heat. This warmth bloomed inside your heart, an oddly missed but welcome feeling.

———————————————————

There was no fire this time. The scene was different.

Rather than flames, the trees and grass flourished. Rather than crying and screaming, you sang a soft lullaby in a childish voice. It was so peaceful that it almost felt wrong.

You were sitting in a field, holding a clutch of white wildflowers, braiding them into a halo. In the distance stood a small hut, overgrown flora painting a beautiful picture across its walls. A creek babbled nearby.

Behind you a voice called your name. You felt a smile stretch across your face.

Mom?

———————————————————

You woke up with a crease in your brow.

It had been a very long time since you last experienced anything while you slept. But everything you had ever seen previously was all the same, except for now. This time it wasn’t a nightmare, it was a dream. Or perhaps… a memory?

Sitting up, you palmed your temple, looking around you to find your bearings, remembering what transpired the night before.

You had brought Sesshomaru back to the camp with you, which caused a peaceful scene to erupt in activity. Inuyasha was the first person who had noticed your arrival, and through an exclamation, had woken up the rest of the group. When Rin was brought back to the waking world, all stood fighting off empathetic tears while the little girl sobbed in joy and relief at seeing her adoptive father alive. You spent a good portion of that time explaining to the rest a short version of what Sesshomaru had told you, and even though everybody in that camp had never been on the best of terms with him, they all seemed mildly relieved that he was alive.

The thought of Naraku having the ability to defeat Sesshomaru painted the future in a harrowing and uncertain light. Now that they knew it was not true, however, the world felt a bit less burdened.

You rubbed your eyes, still seeing the edges of your dream, trying to decipher what was going on inside your head. Where did the nightmare go? Why had it changed? Of course, not that you were complaining. In fact, you were a bit relieved to have experienced something so peaceful for once. However, this alluded to something completely new and foreign to you, and you felt hesitant to figure out what that was.

“What is the matter?” A reserved voice asked.

Removing your hands from your eyes, you turned behind you. Sesshomaru sat nearby, leaning against an outcropping of stone with his legs crossed and a sleeping Rin curled in his lap. You had to hide your smile. She had imposed herself upon him this way the previous night and he had yet to move. He sat like that for many hours and, despite having his reservations, would never dare to disturb her.

“Another nightmare, I presume.” Sesshomaru said while you turned your body to face him.

You shook your head. “No. It wasn’t a nightmare this time. I think… it might have been a real memory.”

“Elaborate.”

You twisted your lips in thought, trying to grasp at the fading dream. “I was sitting in a field by an overgrown hut. I think I was very young, singing some sort of lullaby and braiding flowers. Someone called my name and I had this sense that it was… my mother.”

“I suppose you did not see this person.”

You shook your head again. “No. I woke up before I could.” You sighed, leaning against one arm and lifting your eyes to look at the morning sky wistfully. “It’s so strange. I have this feeling of loss in my heart all of a sudden. I know I’ve been missing a large chunk from my life but until now I’ve never really felt this kind of empty space inside me. Becoming aware of it… it almost hurts.”

“What do you plan to do now that it’s there?”

You looked back over at Sesshomaru. He was being oddly attentive and conversational this morning. You thought back to the night before where he, off his own accord, embraced you. He seemed to be doing plenty of things these days that were normally not a part of his character.

You shrugged. “I don’t know if there’s anything I can do. This is a first for me.”

The two of you fell silent. After a while of combing through the details of your dream you decided to give it a rest. There was too little to go on and if this was something you were meant to figure out, you would do it later. If this dream was the first of many, then you would wait until more became revealed to you before you did anything about it.

For now you would enjoy what little peace you were allowed. With Naraku’s whereabouts unknown and your strange little family back together again, you were going to savor the feeling.

There was no telling how long the peace would last, so it only made sense to linger on it as much as you could before it was again taken away from you.

Chapter 24: Rin’s Hope

Before you knew it, a week had passed since the battle with Naraku.

Kagome and her group had decided to go off on their own only a day after the fact. Having regained all the members of their party there was no more reason to travel with yours. It was for the best, ultimately, since Inuyasha refused to be near his brother any longer than he needed to be.

You and Kagome had to bid a heartfelt goodbye. Over the course of your time together the two of you had become very close friends, and you mourned the idea of not getting to see her very much, but understood why she couldn’t stay. She shared the same sentiment and your farewells came with a tear or two.

Despite missing your friend, there was an overwhelming happiness in your heart. You finally had your family back together again. Everyone was alive and safe and the traveling party resumed in normalcy.

Well, almost normalcy.

Naraku was yet to be defeated and remained at large. Having gone off with all the jewel shards in Kagome’s possession and shadowed by a new, more powerful incarnation, he posed an even greater threat than before. There was no telling what new scheme he was preparing for nor when he would strike again. This had you on edge. After this last stint, you only shuddered to think what else he was capable of doing.

Whatever the case, you were ready to face him, just as long as he kept his grubby hands off of Rin. As long as she was safe, you didn’t care what he threw at you.

The group travelled aimlessly this time, although that was your assumption. Sesshomaru, like normal, never really divulged any information about his intentions. But the group followed blindly, just as it had always been done. You didn’t mind not knowing. The mindless travel actually gave you some time to think.

You ruminated on the dream you had the week prior. The things it implied troubled you. Before it, you never had the sense of loss or emptiness in your soul from not remembering your past. Because you had no memories beyond a certain point, you had no way of knowing what kind of life you led during those years. In fact, due to the nature of your occurring nightmares in the burning forest, the only thing you felt on the matter was that you were grateful to not truly know what it was about. You even felt as though you had escaped something and felt thankful that you could not remember what could have been an awful childhood.

But since you had the dream of the peaceful life in the forest and the potential mother figure of which you were never truly aware of, all that had changed. Once you experienced the overwhelming fullness in your heart in that dream, it was over for you. The second you woke up you were engulfed in the loss of something you still could not fully remember and it was troubling.

Dude to this, you waited with bated breath for the next dream to come along. Unfortunately, you had yet to see anything besides darkness in your sleep for the past week. You weren't even sure if you would have another, but due to the fact that it had happened once already, you had a feeling it would happen again. You had the strange sense that something inside you changed that caused it to happen. What exactly, you couldn’t say, but you had no other theories. Otherwise you would have still been afraid of seeing your nightmares.

For the first time in your life, you didn’t fear the nightmares and even believed that they were finished tormenting you. It was strange having this feeling, especially considering for a while now you had been extremely anxious of getting another one that would cause you to transform like it did that one night a while ago. You were certainly afraid of that happening again. After nearly trampling Rin and posing harm to the party, it was what you were afraid of most of all.

But with this sudden development in the slumbering world, it didn’t seem like you had to worry about it anymore. While the feeling of emptiness and loss was difficult to bear, it was a far cry from the fear and anxiety you normally felt. And it was far less dangerous to Rin, which was the only thing that mattered to you in the end.

You looked at the little girl overtaking your thoughts. She was sitting atop A-Un, her little head bobbing of exhaustion from the long day of travel. You figured that if Sesshomaru persisted to continue on the journey then she might just pass out. You considered calling out to him to ask to be done for the day and make camp.

As if reading your mind, Sesshomaru turned to face the group and said exactly what was on your thoughts. Rin, perking up at his words, made a small sigh of relief and climbed off of A-Un. She approached you, tugging at your arm.

“Come on, let’s gather some firewood!” She said cheerfully, all evidence of her exhaustion magically erased.

You smiled at her and allowed her to lead you into another direction through the woods. The two of you walked a considerable distance before you realized that she had been passing by all sorts of useful kindling. You suddenly got the sense that she wanted to be out of earshot of the others. When you opened your mouth to say something, she let go of your hand and turned around.

“Do you love Lord Sesshomaru?” The little girl asked in a surprising level of sincerity.

The question caught you off guard and you practically balked at her.

“I’m sorry?” You spoke reflexively, unsure of what to say.

“Do you love him?” She repeated.

You truly did not have an answer to her question. You were still learning the emotion itself, let alone being able to actually feel it. While you could recognize elements that could define how you really felt about Sesshomaru, you were incapable of deciding on what it was exactly.

“Why are you asking me this?” You questioned in return.

Rin looked down, kicking the ground in a moment of bashfulness. “When he disappeared, I saw the way you were sad and it wasn’t like the way I was sad. And I see the way you look at him sometimes. I just want to know if it’s true.”

“Oh, Rin.” You said softly, leaning down to your knees to be at her eye level and taking her little hands in yours. “Would it be a bad thing if it were true?”

She looked back up at you with a thoughtful look in her eyes. “No, I think it would be so sweet if you and Lord Sesshomaru were in love!”

A small laugh bubbled from your throat. “Is that so?”

“Yes!” She beamed, throwing her arms around you for a hug. “Then it would be like I had a mommy and daddy again!”

Your laugh disappeared as you were suddenly struck with a mix of emotions. While the little girl held you in an embrace you were overwhelmed with the feeling of sadness as well as affection. It pained you to remember how she lost her parents, but it honored you to think that she considered you a mother figure. Another feeling, one of embarrassment, swirled amongst the others. It came with the thought of Sesshomaru having feelings for you in return. You knew, of course, there was probably no chance of it ever happening. Still, the idea made your heart skip ever so slightly, which was such an incredibly foreign phenomenon that you almost worried for a second that you were having a physical malfunction.

“Rin,” You said, pulling back from the hug with your hands on her shoulders. “I don’t know if I love Lord Sesshomaru, I’m still trying to figure that out. Also I don’t think he would ever think of me that way. So I don’t want you to hope for something that might never happen.”

“But I think he does!” Rin countered, her smile brighter than before. “I’ve seen him looking at you when you’re sleeping, and he has this weird face. Lord Sesshomaru doesn’t have a lot of faces that he makes and I know he has feelings that he never says aloud. I think he likes you but he doesn’t know it yet.”

You couldn’t possibly say how you felt about knowing Sesshomaru watched you while you slept, but you wished you hadn’t just found that out. A turmoil of emotions roared through you.

You lifted one of your hands off her shoulders and smoothed the hair on her head. “Lord Sesshomaru does weird things sometimes. Watching me while I sleep is strange but it doesn’t mean that he feels that way about me.”

Rin shook her head. “It’s not just that. He’s always looking at you when you don’t know it and he always has that weird face on. I’ve been with him for so long that I know what his faces mean.”

You weren’t sure how much more of this conversation you could take. If you learned one more thing about what Sesshomaru was doing that you weren’t aware of you were going to break. Your oddly patterned heart beat was becoming too much.

“Listen, I think it’s very sweet that you want me and Sesshomaru to be in love, but don’t count on it, okay? I don’t want you to be disappointed or sad about it when it doesn’t happen.”

Rin’s smile fell and your heart sank at the sight. Resigning herself to accepting your words she ended the conversation and went about resuming the task of collecting firewood.

It pained you to turn down her hopes and see her so dejected, but you felt like it necessary not to feed into her colorful imagination. While the idea of you and Sesshomaru acting as her parental figures together was a heartwarming concept, the fact remained that the dog demon was a very cold and reserved man of whom was not likely to ever be in love with another person, certainly not you. You would much rather Rin be sad for a moment right now over being disappointed later when her hopes got dashed.

The two of you moved about the forest in silence for a while until you had collected a substantial amount of kindling. By the time you had made it back to the rest of the group with your arms full, Rin had thankfully returned her usual self.

When you went to bed that night you felt paranoid. After your conversation with Rin, all you could think about was Sesshomaru watching you while you slept and it kept you awake. The idea of him standing silently over you with his piercing gold eyes was both frightening and… endearing? You were absolutely frazzled by that mix of emotions.

The strange beating of your heart returned, and could only sigh. Was this a symptom of love? You couldn’t say. In fact, you wished it would go away. The fluttering was far too much for you to handle.

“You look unwell.”

You nearly jumped out of your skin at the sound of Sesshomaru’s cold voice seeping out of the dark. Of course he would show up at the exact moment that you were thinking about him. It was one of his special abilities after all. Sometimes you truly believed that he could read your mind, which only served to terrify you.

“I’m fine.” You whispered, trying not to wake up Rin who slept beside you. You kept your head turned away from him, afraid to look him in the eye. “I’m just having trouble sleeping.”

Sesshomaru said nothing, the sound of his footfalls indicating that he was walking away. For some reason that was the moment you turned your head in his direction.

“Sesshomaru?” You called softly.

He paused mid-stride.

“Goodnight.” You whispered.

A moment of silence passed.

“Goodnight.”

Chapter 25: Revelation

You were walking through the forest with a lullaby on your lips, the same one from your previous dream. In your hands you held a basket of assorted vegetables that glistened with water from the river. They were freshly picked and washed, causing an earthy smell to follow them and fill your senses. You swung the basket back and forth, moving your body cheerfully and in tune with your singing.

Behind you, a woman’s voice joined in on the lullaby.

“Mommy,” You said in a childish voice. “I’m so happy you’re finally letting me go to the village with you.”

The woman who walked behind you said nothing, but you knew she was smiling at you. The two of you picked up your voices to sing just a little louder.

Around you the dream began to fade, darkness engulfing the trees and the grass until you walked alone on an unseen path. The lullaby continued on, getting louder and louder and louder…

Your eyes fluttered open. You stared up at the dawning sky in confusion. You could still hear the song as clear as day. Were you still dreaming?

No… you weren’t. You were not dreaming. The song was very much still being sung, only it was done so by someone else.

You sat up from the ground, head turning to follow the direction of the voice. Your eyes landed on a lonesome Rin in the near distance, sitting upon a large stone and watching the flow of the nearby river. It was her. She was the one singing.

How could she know the lullaby? You had only ever heard it in your dream, and you scarcely remembered it when you woke up. You never showed it to her and yet there she was, using her voice to convey something you thought only you knew.

You hurriedly stood from the ground and made your way over to the little girl. By the time you had gotten to her, she noticed you were awake and had stopped singing.

”Goodmorning!” She greeted in a cheerful voice.

You smiled at her, though tensely. “Good morning, Rin.”

Unfortunately you were not able to uphold your facial pleasantries and Rin noticed it all too quickly. As you kneeled in front of where she sat, she reached out and took one of your hands with a compassionate look on her face. This was probably the only little girl in the world who had the ability to convey such an emotion through her features. It was never lost on you that she held a level of maturity not many others had at her young age.

“What’s wrong?” She asked sweetly.

“Nothing’s wrong.” You answered, placing your other hand over hers. “But I heard you singing just now and it was very pretty…” You had to think about what you wanted to say next. “Where did you learn that song?”

Rin beamed at the compliment, losing the look on her face. “Thank you! My mom used to sing it to me before she died. Sometimes I can’t remember it at all because it was so long ago, but then it’ll just come to me and I can’t help but let it out.”

The implication of Rin’s late mother knowing the lullaby was strange to you. All this time you had thought you were the only one to bear it. It seemed as though that notion was incorrect. This made you hopeful. If the lullaby did not, in fact, originate from you and was instead created somewhere else, then perhaps those origins could lead you to the house you saw in your dream. Perhaps then you could discover your past and refill the ever present and haunting void in your heart.

Perhaps then you find the woman in your dreams that was apparently your long lost mother.

“Rin, can you tell me where you lived? Where your village is?” You asked, having trouble tampering down the smile creeping across your lips. You were beginning to feel too hopeful to contain yourself.

At the mention of her village, Rin’s own smile had left her face. She had a mix of emotions cross her eyes, and at this, you found your face falling. Without intending it, you had pushed the little girl into a space in her mind that recalled all the things she had gone through in her past. And since she had previously told you about the troubles she bore after her parent’s passing, you too found yourself wandering through that story and you suddenly felt awful for asking the question.

You scrunched your face in regret. “Oh, Rin, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to remind you about everything that happened.”

Rin took a moment to look away, seeming to compose herself before she looked back at you and offered a reassuring smile. “It’s okay, it was a long time ago. But why do you want to know where the village is?”

Before you decided to reveal your thoughts, your hands tugged her gently off the rock she sat on. You moved her to rest in your lap and wrapped your arms around her in an embrace. You rocked your body gently back and forth, and she was all too willing to follow in your lead and embrace you warmly in return.

“I know it might be hard for you to do, but I think I have to go there. The song you were just singing, the one your mom used to sing to you… I’ve been hearing it in my dreams. I thought it only existed there. And in the dreams there’s a woman who I think is my own mother and we are in a place that might be where I used to live. I don’t have any idea where it could be. But off we go to your village and find where that song came from, maybe we’ll be able to find out where I’m from as well.”

Rin let out a soft ‘oh’ as she took in all the information. The two of you stayed in your embrace for a little while, before a clear revelation seemed to hit the little girl and she jerked her head away from you to catch your gaze.

“Wait, does this mean you’ll be able to regain your memories!?” She cried out in surprise.

A smile cracked across your face at her excitement. “I don’t know about regaining any memories, but I can at least learn a few things about my past. It’s been far too long that I’ve been in the dark about who I really am. I think it’s time I find out.”

The joy in Rin’s face was immeasurable. She dove into a hug, her arms wrapping around your neck, toppling you to the ground. The two of you dissolved into a fit of laughter, rolling across the dirt.

Moments like these never existed to you before you met the little Rin. Up until your fateful meeting, you had spent every single day alone. You had never known a life out of survival. You had never known friendship. There was even a time that you lamented that you would never get to know what it was like to be a mother.

But here you were, holding close a little girl who laughed with joy at the mere thought of you discovering your roots. She was happy for you. She was supporting you. She was hugging you.

You thought back at the conversation you had with Kagome about what it meant to love. While you could recognize that what you felt about Sesshomaru was different to what you felt about Rin, you began to realize that the two feelings were not that separate from each other. They were entirely two separate entities, and yet they both meant the same thing.

During the time in which Rin was gone, you were cold. That sort of cold had nothing to do with the temperature.

The two of you stilled in your fit of laughter. You lifted your body off the ground and Rin followed suit. She had such a warm smile on her face. You looked her in her eyes and your hand came to move a wisp of unkempt hair from her face.

 

“I… I love you, Rin.”

The words came as such a surprise to you. Before this, you had only ever considered the notion of love to be one-dimensional; that it was something held between two people who wanted to be together romantically and intimately. You never considered that love also came in the form of a parent caring for their child. While you had previously lamented the idea that you might never be a mother, although you understood how a child could even come to exist, you never once thought what kind of connection one would have with that child—and the connection that it took between a man and a woman to even bear children in the first place.

All at once, things began to click in your head, the pieces of the puzzle finally lining up to finish the picture. Love, partnership, family, childeren… all these came together to solve the mystery that had been plaguing your mind ever since the conversation with Kagome.

You could no longer say that you didn’t understand what love meant. At this revelation, you knew exactly what it was.

You had come to understand that you loved Rin. And through this, began to recognize exactly what it was that you felt for Sesshomaru.

Rin’s face, upon hearing your declaration to her, sobered suddenly. As soon as she processed what you had said, her lips tightened into a thin line. You wondered for a moment if you had upset her, but when her eyes began to well with tears and her mouth formed into a quivering smile, you realized you had done no such thing.

”I love you, too.” She uttered through a shaky voice.

At the sight of her, your eyes got wet and your face became hot. In contrast to the laughter that two of you previously shared, you now dissolved into a fit of tears and heavy breaths, pulling each other into another tight embrace.

It was a while before you pulled apart from each other, wiping the streaks from each other’s faces. Silence had long since filled the air and it was striking compared to the chaos that filled your heart.

You smiled at Rin as you patted and smoothed her unkempt hair while she only smiled back. Though you had no more words left to say, you hadn’t yet been finished with this interaction.

When you briefly glanced up to fix the tie in her hair, however, you locked eyes with a particular dog demon, of whom had been standing in the near distance, watching the two of you intently. Your mouth dropped open.

Had he been standing there the whole time?

Rin, upon noticing your expression, turned to look behind her. When she saw it was Sesshomaru you gazed at, she broke out into excitement and called out to him. At her beckon, the white-clad man moved to approach the two of you.

You were not ready to be looking into his eyes as you were, but you could not look away. He hadn’t broken the gaze either, locked onto you as he came to stand before you. If Rin had been facing you, she would’ve picked up on your expression, but since she was only looking upon the usual stoicism of Sesshomaru’s countenance, she was unaware of what was happening.

“How long have you been standing there?” You asked in a small voice, having barely managed to find it.

Sesshomaru, as usual, took a second before he decided to answer. But before he did, you noticed a very, very faint tug at the corner of his lip. But it was gone as soon as it came, leaving you only to wonder what it meant.

“Long enough.”