Years of the daily grind, that routine of getting up, dressing, eating, and helping Kagome, could grow relatively boring. When faced with the option of changing it though, Rin would continue with the normal, continue with what one could call safe.

Throughout this normal routine of life were sprinkled little drops of sunshine wrapped up in a blanket of snow and ice.

The greatest lord of the West, Sesshoumaru.

Rin sighed, bending down to gather herbs, her mind racing with the thought of seeing him. She knew that it had been quite some time since she last saw him, the beginning of last winter to be specific. Finally, the land was returning to the cold season, and it was coming time for Sesshomaru to visit again. He only visited at the beginning of winter; bringing a kimono or two for her to wear during the rest of the year.

"Rin!" Kagome yelled, disrupting her thoughts of her lord. Disrupting her silent begging, pleading, and pining for her lord. She turned brown eyes to see the cheerful miko jogging towards her, a slight bounce to her steps. "Rin, Sango is in labor. Can I trust you to gather the rest of the herbs?"

"Of course, Kagome-sama," said Rin in her cheeriest voice. She'd rather be with Sango now instead of gathering herbs but she knew how important this task was since winter was quickly closing in.

"Thank you, Rin, this means a lot to me." Kagome quickly pulled her into a hug before running off to Sango. Sighing, Rin, watched the woman go, watching as she disappeared over the hill and into the village. She turned her attention back to picking herbs, knowing that she had a lot more to cover with Kagome not helping.

0o0o0o0

"Rin," a deep, baritone voice said.

Lord Sesshomaru!

Rin's brown eyes gazed at the snow-white form of her lord. His golden eyes stared straight back at her bent over body. Rin quickly took the herbs in her hands and deposited them into a basket before standing and bowing to her lord. She could feel his gaze boring in the back of her head, igniting feelings of nervousness all over her.

There was one thing Rin always silently wondered when Sesshomaru-sama visited. When did she get to choose? It had always stumped her, seeing as she remembered her lord telling her when he left her here that she would get the choice when she was older. She wasn't an eight-year-old kid anymore so didn't that mean she should get the chance to choose?

"Rin," he said again, a signal to stand straight instead of bow. Rin had come to a conclusion long ago that Sesshomaru didn't like it when she bowed to him but because it was proper, her let it happen.

He reached into his sleeve and produced two beautiful kimonos. Rin had many kimonos from her lord, all of them silk and normally saved for special occasions or days that she didn't have to do anything. But the routine of day to day life required kimonos one could get dirty in and not worry about it ruing the beautiful material. That was why she wore a peasant's yukata now, instead of one of the beautiful ones her gave her each winter.

Rin saw white and blue. It was a beautiful kimono that reminded her of winter. How ironic. The other was gold and red, summer-like in her mind. Then she saw black.

Her wrists were bound to another's wrists. She groggily grasped for whoever's hands and found sharply pointed claws. Sesshomaru! Why were they bound together? And where were they at?

Rin's wide, frantic eyes took in all that they could. She took in the stone walls that went on forever yet were separated by thick walls of smoke. She took in the sounds of screaming and growling. She took in the feel of Sesshōmaru's silky white hair tickling her neck. She took in the feel of Sesshōmaru breathing beside her, obviously asleep.

Rin's heart was pumping loudly in her chest. She was in a strange place, surrounded by sounds of agony and bound to a sleeping yōkai.

She tried to move away and found that their hands had only been loosely tied together. Sesshōmaru slumped onto the floor, sleeping like the dead, as Rin slowly crawled away. All that blocked her from her escape was smoke, a thick wall of smoke yeah, and magically created smoke too, and it was also smoke that hid what sounded like hell away from her, but it was just smoke. It wasn't stone; she could get out.

It was as she crawled towards the exit though that she ran into the legs of someone and she fell backwards onto her rump. Brown eyes looked upwards and found the smirking face of a man, and the robing of a monk.

"You're awake," he commented monotonously. She found herself nodding slowly, wondering where the hell he came from and why, for a monk, she was getting a serious vibe of evil.

"Do you know why you're here?" he asked. She shook her head and he continued. "I'll cut to the point. To change things. You will help create a new world here, one that is free of death, violence, and yōkai."

Rin gasped.

"I know I must sound crazy," continued the monk, chuckling at her reaction. "But I'm not. We can do this, and you most certainly can be very helpful to our endeavor. Just think about it. No longer will demons pick us off simply because they were given strength unjustly. No longer will they steal our livestock and rule the lands we sow. Their blasphemous reign shall come to an end, and you m'dear, can help. And it's quite simple you see. You will give our cause soldiers; strong soldiers who usher in a world where the tormenters of humanity no longer walk on it."

He looked down at her, a giant grin on his face. In return, Rin looked at him in horror. He expected her to do what? And with whom? The only male she saw besides him was a sleeping demon, and weren't demons that ones they wanted dead? Right? What the hell was this man talking about? That was the real question.

"You look confused," he commented. "I shall right that. It's quite simple. Humans have tried time and time again to stop demons, but our soldiers have only ever been humans. Humans are ants in comparisons to demons. We stand no chance at that rate. But hanyō do. And hanyō, as time has shown over and over, are picked on by both species. Show a hanyō kindness, and they side with you and your race. That is what we plan to do. And that demon we found you with, the one that was try to bewitch you so, shall pay the price and also help in his own downfall."

She looked at the monk, still confused and horrified.

"Oh, I know he won't do so willingly, but I'm also well aware that even demons have weaknesses and that there are way to get them to do things. Don't worry, we've taken everything into consideration. And I know, it doesn't seem like that great a deal for you. Having to copulate with a beast and birth children from it's seed. Sounds like a nightmare to me, but please don't think of it that way. One needs to look at it as helping the future. It will cost you much, but it will make the world a better place for all future generations. You see?"

"No, I don't see," Rin said, finally finding words for her emotions. "I think your nuts."

The monk frowned. "I'm not insane; I'm a dreamer, a thinker, an idealist and a fighter. Anyhow, the only nuts you should be think of are his," he said, pointing to Sesshōmaru who was still out cold.

And then the monk stepped back out through the smoke. She tried to follow but found herself hitting an invisible wall. She was trapped.

Then she heard Sesshōmaru stirring. Excitedly she turned back to him, but what she found was not a pleasant sight. Eyes red, blue irises, jagged markings, and longer than ordinary claws. A growl escaped his throat, a vicious and feral growl.

She was trapped… with a beast.

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