Title: Where the Birds Sing
Rating: K+
Status: One-shot.
Time taken: Approximately 50 min
Background: Purely inspiration with the first line of the song, no initial reason for putting it into words.
For: Rin, who should never be included in an evil plot again.
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or, for that matter, Master Jaken's hat.
Where the Birds Sing -Clemency Lime
"Master Jaken had a silly little hat, On his head,
Master Jaken had a silly little hat,
Yeah!
Master Jaken's little hat,
Had a hole And a point as big as a--"
"Stop!" Jaken screeched, whipping around to stare down the nuisance. "Enough with your singing, you useless human!"
Rin objected with a giggle, "but Master Jaken, I like to sing. I'm singing with the birds." She raised an appealing hand and pointed at the trees surrounding their slim descending path down the steep mountainside. "And the birds always sing in the morning, with the sun." A sun that was now rising steadily ahead of them.
Ahead, the tall fair figure of a man strode on, seemingly ignoring the commotion behind. His ward, Rin, quickened her pace to reach his side.
"Aren't you hungry, Lord Sesshoumaru?" Her face bore a troubled expression.
"No Rin."
"Rin saved some breakfast," she proudly held out a half of a fish. "Master Jaken didn't eat it." There was a piercing squawk from behind as said demon realized the ill fate of the breakfast he'd earlier accounted losing to the forest spirits' greedy hands. "It still tastes okay."
"You give me that back!" Jaken demanded. Rin tossed it over her shoulder and grinned shamelessly as he groped for it.
A sharp cold wind shuddered through the branches, causing the three to pause their descent towards the valley between the cliffs. Jaken disregarded his fish and gathered his long sleeves about him for warmth while Rin huddled over protectively. Sesshoumaru glanced at the two soundlessly and drew his sword.
In a matter of moments he'd hewn down the demons hidden among the branches and returned to walking.
As the toad demon muttered something incomprehensible about his lord's keen sense of smell, Rin glanced in awe at the severed bodies and noticed something that caught her interest. She exclaimed softly, taking a hesitant step towards it.
There was something shining in the hand of a particularly mean looking boar demon, it glowed faintly with ethereal light.
A smile tipped her face and she reached for it, dropping quietly to her knees to retrieve the spark. As her fingers brushed away the hand and clasped over the small brilliance, Rin caught a fleeting glimpse of a bird casting away from its nest in the trees. Remembering the words to the song in her mind, she began to hum the tune, careful to keep her voice low as not to remind Jaken of his fish.
The glow emitting from the demon passed easily into her hands, only causing a brief moment of disgust as his cold skin touched hers. But then she had it, and she stood to hold it up and catch the sunlight on its polished surface.
It looked like a sliver of glass, with a faint purple aura that made Rin smile.
"How pretty," she murmured, examining it carefully. She held it to her cheek to feel the smoothness on her skin, and stroked it lightly with her fingertips.
But only when she held it to her lips did she feel the strong pull of something strange and bubbly that caused pricks in her stomach. It gave her a funny sensation, but not altogether unwanted. Strangely she felt drawn to it, and frowned with incomprehension; wanting desperately to know what it was.
"Rin!"
"Yes, Master Jaken."
She wouldn't tell them now, just let it wait a little longer.
Lord Sesshoumaru would be proud of her, for this find. She knew it.
And Jaken, well, maybe he wouldn't complain too badly, but he might be a little jealous.
Yes, she could tell them later, tonight even...or tomorrow. When they weren't so busy.
For now, just hold it.
It was hers, after all.
Not that silly demon's. Just, hers.
The smile grew on her lips; the shard still held lightly against them, pulsating, shimmering.
Just hers.
And she would keep it, because, because...
"Rin."
The little girl looked up listlessly into a pair of inquiring amber eyes, and felt numb.
"Come."
Her treasure dug painfully into the palm of her fisted hand, relief flooding her being as he turned away.
Was there a reason she wanted it? Should there be?
"Yes, Lord Sesshoumaru."
Just hers. Hers alone.
"Lord Sesshoumaru? Where are we going?"
To where the birds sing.