Rescuing Rin
By: Sessho-Maru
When the crescent moon and the sparkling stars dominated the night, Naraku decided to emerge from the shadows. Before revealing himself from the shadows, Naraku sensed around for another aura. Satisfied that no one was around, he stepped out in the open, then he pulled his baboon cap back revealing his flowing, black hair, which soon started to sway back and forth from the breeze. After a few moments of staring at the night sky, Naraku began to speak aloud. "The sun will rise soon, so I must move quickly to find that idiot Sessho-Maru." With his words, Naraku pulled his cap back over his head and dashed in the direction of Sessho-Maru's aura.
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Sessho-Maru awakened with the rising sun and the first thought that came to his mind was to satisfy his hunger. Before heading to the nearby stream, Sessho-Maru equipped on his armor and sword.
"Wake up already, you stupid girl!"
The unexpected yelling caused Sessho-Maru to postpone is his trip to the stream because he wanted to investigate the yelling. Sessho-Maru slowly walked over to the area where he had left Rin and Jaken to sleep the night before. He discovered Jaken beating Rin with the Staff of Heads because she refused to get up.
"Damn it! Wake up already!" Jaken yelled with rage.
Sessho-Maru walked over to Jaken without being noticed, and grabbed onto the staff before Jaken could make another blow. Surprised, Jaken turned around and quickly became scared when he laid eyes on his Master, Sessho-Maru. "M'Lord!" Without saying a word, Sessho-Maru pulled the staff from Jaken's grasp and gave him a blow across the face. Sessho-Maru then dropped the Staff of Heads beside the fallen Jaken.
"Leave her be for the time being."
"Forgive me, M'Lord." Jaken then got to his feet before picking up the Staff of Heads, and then followed behind Sessho-Maru, who was heading for the stream. As the two youkai left for the stream, the young girl, Rin opened her eyes and smiled at the sight of Sessho-Maru. When they were totally out of view, she rolled over and closed her eyes to sleep.
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Naraku silently slipped into the thick brush as the sun started to make its way into the sky. "Sessho-Maru shouldn't be far off because his aura is becoming strong." Naraku broke into another sprint towards Sessho-Maru's camping grounds.
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Sessho-Maru sat down on the stream's edge before speaking to Jaken in a low voice.
"Jaken."
"Yes, M'Lord!"
"I want you to catch those fish swimming in the stream." Sessho-Maru then pointed to the fish in the stream, who were fighting the water's force to make it upstream.
Jaken glanced at the area where the fish fought against the flow of the stream. "M'Lord, how am I to catch the fish in the swift stream?"
"You act like a frighten mortal, how pathetic. Now, go and catch some fish or feel the wrath of my claws,"
Jaken's eyes widen with fear of Sessho-Maru's words and he quickly headed for the school of fish. He laid the Staff of Heads on the ground before hopping into the icy water. Jaken shivered to the touch of the cold water as he muttered under his breath. "Why do I put up with this?"
After a few minutes of trying to capture a fish, Jaken finally succeed in capturing a three feet salmon. Jaken held up the salmon up towards Sessho-Maru to show off his prize. "Look Sessho-Maru-sama, I caught one!"
Sessho-Maru stared at the fish for a few seconds before replying. "Bring it over to me."
"Yes, M'Lord!" The toad demon began to wade back to the stream's edge, but suddenly slipped on a moss-covered rock causing the fish to be released back into the stream.
Sessho-Maru stared at Jaken in anger as the toad demon struggled against the force of the stream to stand up.
"M'Lord, please help me!" Sessho-Maru slowly raised to his feet, and then walked over to the fallen Jaken while pulling out his sword, the Tenseiga. "M'Lord, please hurry!"
Sessho-Maru stared at the worthless toad demon with cold eyes before answering to Jaken's cries for help. "You worthless demon." As Sessho-Maru spoke he swung at the toad causing him to flow downstream.
"SESSHO-MARU-SAMA!!!"
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Naraku began to softly walk through the woods, as the aura of Sessho-Maru became very strong. "What is this? I can feel Sessho-Maru's aura, but I can also feel an aura of a young human child." Naraku finally came to a halt when he was positive that the human child was behind the bushes that laid in front of him. Naraku quietly pushed two sections of the bush from each other to make small clearing so he could see. The sight of the young human child sleeping soundly immediately caught Naraku's attention. "Hmm… Sessho-Maru is certainly close by and I am sure he would kill any mortal that strays to close. Could it be that Sessho-Maru took in the child?"
Naraku's thinking became interrupted as the child began to awaken from her slumber. She sat herself before giving off a short yawn and rubbing her left eye with her right hand.
Naraku stood behind the bush in silence, but his silence did no good to keep the girl from noticing him. Rin jumped at the sight of the mysterious stranger and began to slightly shake with fear. "Don't worry child, I am only a poor traveler that will do no harm to any living creature."
With his words, Rin's fears vanished and she quickly jumped to her feet and ran to a patch of wildflowers close by. She picked a blue flower with reddish tips and ran back to the stranger and handed him the flower. Naraku held out his right hand and took the flower from Rin's hand.
Naraku looked at the flower for a minute before turning back to the young child. "Thank you for the beautiful flower child. Now may I ask you something?"
Rin smiled at the stranger and nodded rapidly.
"Do you travel with a full-blooded youkai named Sessho-Maru?" With the name Sessho-Maru, Rin's smile grew larger to express her happiness and nodded rapidly.
"Heh. Just as I thought." Without another word, Naraku dropped the flower to the ground and grabbed unto the young girl. In panic, Rin made an attempt to escape the hold of the stranger by struggling.
"A brave one you are."
After a couple of minutes, Rin's little body began to become exhausted from struggling. Getting tired of watching Rin struggle from his strong hold, Naraku hit the back of Rin's neck, knocking her unconscious. Naraku then removed his baboon skins revealing the stolen form of Inu-Yasha before taking Rin's body in his arms. With the body of Rin, Naraku quietly walked over towards the aura of the full-blooded youkai, Sessho-Maru.
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Sessho-Maru sheathed the Tenseiga while heading back to the spot, where he had left Rin to sleep. The full-blooded dog demon quickly came to a halt with the scent of his pitiful half-brother, Inu-Yasha. "What in the hell is that shameful hanyou doing so close by?" Sessho-Maru began to walk quickly towards Rin's sleeping area until the hanyou dashed in front of him. Sessho-Maru only got a glimpse of the hanyou abducting Rin, but it was only a glimpse that was needed for him to run after Inu-Yasha.
"You worthless hanyou! Release the mortal at once!" No response came so Sessho-Maru picked up his speed and prepared his claws to strike. He held back his right arm back and swung his claws at the hanyou, but before Sessho-Maru could land a blow the hanyou vanished into thin air with Rin. Sessho-Maru came to a quick halt and looked up at the sky until a voice came from behind.
"Sessho-Maru-sama…" Without turning to look at the owner of the voice, Sessho-Maru replied. "Jaken."
"Yes, M'Lord." Jaken then walked to the side of his Master and looked up at him. "The day is still young, so after we dine we'll head to Inu-Yasha's village to obtain Rin." Jaken's eyes widened with Sessho-Maru's words.
"But M'Lord, why do you want to bother with that worthless mortal?!" Sessho-Maru didn't answer Jaken, but he did take the Staff of Heads from Jaken, whacked him hard on the head, and then dropped the staff onto the ground.
"Forgive me M'Lord for my insolence."
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With the child in hand, Naraku neared his destination, Inu-Yasha's village. After about a half an hour of running Naraku came to a halt behind a couple of trees, where he had a good view of the village. Unknowingly, Rin began to regain consciousness, and slightly open her eyes and she glanced at her captor before slipping back to being unconscious. Naraku quietly dashed for the outskirts of the village, but when he reached his destination an unexpected visitor approached.
"Damn, it's that stupid reincarnation of Kikyo!" Naraku dropped Rin's body into the tall grasses before making a fast get a way.
"Inu-Yasha, wait up!" Kagome called out. When Kagome reached the spot where she had spotted Inu-Yasha, she came to a halt with the sight of a young girl's body.
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After Sessho-Maru and Jaken had eaten their fill of fish, Sessho-Maru began to start walking towards Inu-Yasha's village.
M'Lord, shouldn't we take an ogre to shorten the journey?" Sessho-Maru stopped walking and looked back at Jaken.
"I am in no hurry." After the terse remark Sessho-Maru turned back around and continued to walk on.
"Yes, M'Lord!" Jaken then rushed after his Master to catch up. "Please, wait up Sessho-Maru-sama!"
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Kagome knelt beside the girl's body before picking her up in her arms. "What was Inu-Yasha doing?" She then stood up with the child in her arms and headed back for the village.
When she arrived at Kaede's hut, Kagome entered the hut and found no one inside. So Kagome placed the child's head onto a pillow and covered her with a blanket, but noticed bright red marks on the child's left arm.
"Huh… these marks look like someone had a strong hold on her. Could have Inu-Yasha saved her from someone?"
As Kagome thought aloud, the young child began to regain consciousness. Rin looked up at Kagome, who hadn't noticed the child's awakening. After a couple of minutes talking to herself, Kagome finally realized that the child awakened. "Oh! How long have you been awake?" Rin just turned her head away from Kagome and gave no reply. "Well, no matter, you must be hungry, so I'll just go and get you something to eat."
With her words, Kagome stood up and headed to one of the other huts to obtain some food for Rin. While Kagome left the hut, Rin staggered to her feet and slowly walked out of the hut. Outside of the hut, Rin immediately took notice of the demon with long, silver hair and the dog-like ears. Rin's eyes bolted wide open with fear because she was certain that the dog-demon was her captor. So in fear she rushed back into the hut, and soon after Kagome returned with a bowl of soup and a pest.
"I told you that, I don't know what you're talking about!" As Kagome placed the bowl of soup on a small table in the corner of the hut, she snapped at Inu-Yasha.
"I know! I know! I heard you the first one hundred times, but you don't have to hide your good deed!"
"What good deed!?" Ignoring the hanyou, Kagome walked over to Rin and pointed to the soup that she had brought with her. Rin ignored Kagome because her captor was standing before her keeping her alert and afraid.
Inu-Yasha gazed at the girl for a few minutes before speaking again. "What's wrong with the whelp?" Kagome closed her eyes and once again snapped at the hanyou. "Well, maybe because you're scaring her!"
"What did I do!?" Kagome looked at Inu-Yasha for a moment before shoving him out of the hut.
"Just stay out!" Once Inu-Yasha had come out of view, Rin became at ease and headed for the soup to dine. Kagome smiled at Rin because she was eating and relaxed.
"May I believe have your name?" With Kagome's words, Rin stopped eating and looked up at Kagome. The two looked at one another in silence until Kagome began to speak again. She smiled and placed her right hand to her heart while speaking. "My name is Kagome, what's yours?"
Rin continued to stare at Kagome. "Do you speak?" Rin shook her head from side to side, causing Kagome to be somewhat saddened. "I'm sorry, I didn't know, but can you write your name down on paper?" Again, Rin shook her head.
"Well, then could I give you a name that I could call you?" Rin stared at Kagome for a few moments before nodding slowly.
"Okay, let's see. What could I call you? How about Nekomi?"
Rin thought for a few shot moments before nodding rapidly. Kagome smiled as she spoke to Rin. "Okay, Nekomi it is! So..." Kagome stopped talking as she felt an evil youkai aura approaching at a fair pace. "Rin, stay here!" Rin watched Kagome run out of the hut before slowly walking out of the hut to follow the one who had been so kind.
Kagome ran to the outskirts of the village, where she met up with her traveling companions, Sango, Shippou, Miroku, and Inu-Yasha, who was holding onto the transformed Tetsusaiga. "Inu-Yasha!" Sango, Miroku, and Shippou turned towards the direction they heard Kagome's voice, but Inu-Yasha turned his head to get a glimpse of Kagome before turning back around.
"Kagome-sama, can you feel the demon aura approaching?" When Kagome reached Inu-Yasha's side, she turned to Miroku to answer his question.
"That's the reason, why I came to find you guys?"
"Kagome, go back to the village, where it's save because I sure that Sessho-Maru is going to put up a fierce fight like last time." With Inu-Yasha's remark, Kagome crossed her arms in anger. "Do you honestly think I'm going to leave you all here to fight on your own?!"
"Feh. You mortals are hopeless, but if you get killed then it's your own fault!"
"Geez! You can be so mean sometimes!" After Kagome's remark, silence fell as the group waited patiently for the approaching youkai, but suddenly Inu-Yasha shattered the silence because he picked up a familiar scent.
"Hey, Kagome."
"What?"
"The whelp from before is behind those bushes on the right. You might want to take her back to the village where it's safe." Kagome smiled at Inu-Yasha causing him to slightly blush before quickly trotting over to the bushes. As Kagome pushed an opening in the bushes, Rin dashed passed Kagome but quickly got caught by the hanyou. Memories of her kidnapping rushed back to her causing her to struggle violently from her believed captor.
"Kagome take her now!" Kagome rushed over to Inu-Yasha and took Rin in her arms, but as she took hold of Rin the unwanted guest finally arrived causing the group to become alert.
Sessho-Maru looked at the Inu-Yasha and his comrades before turning to look at Kagome, who held onto a struggling Rin. Then the full-blooded youkai turned back to stare at his half-brother before speaking. "You worthless hanyou, you shall pay dearly for stealing from your elder brother." As Sessho-Maru spoke, he brought his left hand in front of him and cracked his claws to display that he was prepared to fight.
"Miroku, what did he mean by brother?" Sango asked with curiosity. Without taking his eyes off of Sessho-Maru, Miroku quickly replied to Sango's question.
"The youkai you see before you is Inu-Yasha's older half-brother."
"But, unlike Inu-Yasha, this one is a full-blooded youkai." Shippou added.
Inu-Yasha pulled the Tetsusaiga up to his face before replying. "What the hell are you talking about!?"
Without answering Sessho-Maru charged towards Inu-Yasha without warning before swinging his claws at the hanyou, but Inu-Yasha dodge the attack by swiftly moving to his left. Desiring, to help Inu-Yasha in the battle Sango and Miroku positioned themselves on opposite sides of Sessho-Maru.
"Hmm... Inu-Yasha, you are truly the embarrassment of the family for it seems you constantly take help from worthless mortals." Sessho-Maru's words angered the opposing trio.
"You foolish youkai, you shouldn't underestimate your enemy!" Sessho-Maru turned his head to his left, where he met the angry eyes of Sango, but Sessho-Maru stood there in silence waiting for her to attack.
"Hiraikotsu!" As Sango finished her battle cry, she threw her over-sized boomerang but was dodged by Sessho-Maru. When the boomerang returned, Sango caught it with frustration.
"Sango! Inu-Yasha! Get behind me, I'm going to release the Kazaana!" Sango nodded at Miroku before quickly running around Sessho-Maru to reach Miroku's side. Inu-Yasha placed the back of the Tetsusaiga on his shoulder while replying to his comrade. "Forget it, Miroku! This battle is between Sessho-Maru and me only! Just make sure Kagome and the whelp are unharmed."
"But..."
"Just do it!" After a few moments of frustration, Miroku finally nodded his head to show that he understood his wishes. "Haven't you learned by now that you will never wield the power of our father's fang!?"
Unemotionally, Sessho-Maru stared at the hanyou for a few short moments with cold eyes before finally answering. "I have not come for the Tetsusaiga this time."
"Then, what the hell do you want!?" Without answering, Sessho-Maru once again charged at Inu-Yasha. "Dokkasou!" As Sessho-Maru swung his claws at his younger brother, he released deadly poison into the air with his claws. Unlike, Sessho-Maru's last attack, this one hit Inu-Yasha's left side causing him to drop the Tetsusaiga, which untransformed as it hit the ground. "Kuso...." Not thinking much of his wound from his brother's claws, Inu-Yasha took the blood from his wound to do one of his special moves. "Hijingetsusou!" The blood from his claws formed themselves into claws of blood and flew swiftly towards Sessho-Maru, but only one was able to land a blow on his face.
Kagome smiled with joy that Inu-Yasha finally landed a blow on his opponent, but not everyone felt the exact same way for Rin started to struggle from Kagome's hold. "Nekomi, what's wrong?"
Miroku, Sango, and Shippou turned to look at Kagome and found that the child tried to escape from Kagome's grasp, but Kagome only held the child tighter. "Nekomi, please calm down. Everything will be okay."
"Maybe she doesn't like the sight of blood." Everyone turned their heads to look at Shippou. "What!?"
"I'm becoming quit bored of this game. You may die now." As Sessho-Maru spoke he swung his claws at Inu-Yasha's face scratching it in the process, but in anger Inu-Yasha punched his brother in the stomach shattering his breastplate.
When Sessho-Maru's breast plate shattered, Rin's desire to be free from Kagome's grasp increased dramatically, which lead her to bite Kagome's arm. "Ow! Nekomi, what did you do that for?!" Shortly, after biting Kagome, she released her grip on Rin, and immediately, Rin began to run towards Sessho-Maru.
Again, Rin was caught but this time by Miroku. "Kagome, are you all right?"
"I'm fine, but what's got into Nekomi? It's like she trying to run to Sessho-Maru." Kagome's words, grabbed everyone's attention.
"Hey, Kagome, when Sessho-Maru was saying that Inu-Yasha stole something from him, could he have been referring to Nekomi?" questioned Miroku.
"Now, that you mention it, I did see Inu-Yasha in the outskirts of the village and Nekomi's body was where I saw him. So maybe Inu-Yasha did steal something."
"No, that can't be it because I was with Inu-Yasha all day and we never went to the outskirts of town." stated Shippou.
"Then, who was it that I saw earlier today?"
"The only name that comes to mind is Naraku."
"Miroku's right, Naraku must have taken Inu-Yasha's form again." agreed Shippou.
"Miroku."
"Yes, Kagome-sama?"
"Let go of Nekomi, so she can go back to Sessho-Maru."
"But, you can't possibly believe that Sessho-Maru wants to keep this girl around him!"
"Please, Miroku... let her go."
"Err... as you wish Kagome-sama." With his words, Miroku released his grip on Rin allowing Rin to run towards Sessho-Maru. When he realized that Rin was running towards him, Sessho-Maru gave a strong swipe of his claws at Inu-Yasha throwing him to the ground.
"Err.... I've had enough of you treating me like dirt. Hijin--"
"OSUWARI!!!" With the subduing spell, Inu-Yasha fell to the ground.
"What the hell are you doing wench!?!?!"
"Inu-Yasha, Sessho-Maru is only here for Nekomi, so there is no point in fighting anymore!"
Sessho-Maru stared at Kagome for a few moments before turning to look at Rin, who was finally at his side. "Jaken."
"Yes, M'Lord!"
"We're leaving now. We have no more business here."
"Hai!"
As the conversation ended Sessho-Maru turned his back on his enemies and began to walk away with Jaken and Rin following behind. While walking away, Rin turned her head towards Kagome and smiled with thankfulness and waved good-bye. Kagome responded to Rin, by smiling and waving back.
"Why did you allow them to go!?"
"Because Sessho-Maru was only here because he wants to take back Nekomi."
"Feh. You mortals are too soft sometimes."
"But, you know if your brother did take in Nekomi for whatever reason, he could actually be good deep down just like yourself."
"FEH!!"
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Meanwhile, Naraku watched the full-blooded dog demon walk off from the scene from a safe distance. "So it seems that I have failed once more to kill Inu-Yasha. I will try again some other time, but for now I must return to the castle." After his words, Naraku vanished.
~End~