Chapter One: Maiden in the Clearing
It was not the first time that Jaken had brought the news that Rin was missing, but the familiarity of the situation brought no solace.
The green little demon groveled on his knees, crying lamentations and pleas for his life.
"I left her in your care," he reminded Jaken coldly, not without reproach.
"I turned my back for just one minute, my lord! She was just behind me and then—"
This alone was not enough to cause concern. Rin often drifted along veins of wildflowers that ran through the rich grasslands, or chased fish down crystal-clear rivulets. It wasn't the so much her wandering that concerned him.
"How long has she been gone?" he asked.
"Well, uh, my lord," Jaken ceased his shrieking for a moment to think, ticking the days off his fingers. "As soon as I found she was gone I waited for a few days, just to make sure I wouldn't bother you if it was her pesky wandering again. She usually comes back, you know! Uh…after that…I started to look myself, so I wouldn't bother you…and then it took some time to find you…" The small demon became increasingly uneasy as he kept talking and as he eventually ran out of fingers, he began to visibly sweat.
"I asked a simple question, Jaken," Sesshomaru restated. "How long has she been gone?"
It was the way his vassal wailed "Three weeks!" that worried him.
Sesshomaru ignored the excuses and apologies that gushed from the despondent demon. If, indeed, she was in danger, action (and not displays of emotion) would be necessary.
He walked away from Jaken, and began his search relatively sure that this was all just another minor mishap that Rin had gotten herself into.
It was when he caught her scent that thoughts of darker misfortunes began to ebb into his mind.
The smell of wolves was closely mingled with Rin's scent.
I can't smell her blood, he affirmed. Not yet. And there's no wolf tracks…
He had followed the scent of the girl all night—across forested hills, tranquil valleys, and even through a quaint little mountain town. But the trail ended here. He could sense his ward nearby and knew that she was but seconds away.
With caution, he approached the small and wavering campfire, Toukijin bare in the moonlight. He proceeded carefully, biding in the flickering shadows beyond the light of the flame. He did not want to provoke Rin's captor. If things should go wrong, Rin could not be saved by the power of his Tenseiga. Not again.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Rin, who was either sleeping or unconscious. He did not have the time to assess whether she was bound or not; all his attention was on the second form, the one he didn't recognize.
So she was abducted. The thought made his fists clench tightly around the hilt of the Toukijin.
The camp was unguarded, and judging by the thin form beneath the fur pelt, Rin's captor neither wore armor nor wielded any weapon sizable enough to detect. It was on its side, even the head covered by the fur. It was unnerving; he could not see a thing about this abductor. A danger that could be detected could be dealt with. He would rather have stared at a horde of full-blooded yokai in the face then have a poisonous viper out of the range of his senses.
What shall I do with it? he wondered. His mind told him that he should judge according to what had been done to Rin, but seeing as how this whole setup was too easy he was incredibly on edge, and he didn't want to take any chances by removing the mysterious figure from his sight.
Better to play it safe, he decided at last, and knelt at the side of the sleeping captor, placing the tip of his long blade where he judged the base of the neck to be.
Before he plunged downward, he ripped the pelt off the body, suddenly feeling a need to know who had done this to Rin. When he knew, when he could look into their eyes as they died, he reasoned, then his vengeance would be complete.
Bright green eyes started up at him, wide and alert despite having been so recently awakened.
It was a woman.
A human woman, dressed only in a modest kimono, armed with nothing stronger than the hairpins that clasped tiny forget-me-nots into her midnight hair.
The woman, wisely, did not move, but breathed heavily with the blade poised at her throat. Slowly, she spread her palms wide and held them up in a gesture of surrender. "Lord Sesshomaru," she breathed, voice tight with fear. "I-It is a pleasure to meet you. Rin has told me so much—"
He silenced her with a flick of his blade across one milky colored cheek. The cut would sting, but it had not been deep enough to draw blood.
She opened her mouth to speak, and then bit her bottom lip, trembling beneath his scrutinizing gaze.
"Who sent you?" he demanded of her.
"My lord?"
"Do not toy with me, woman. You are not strong enough to hold a hostage by yourself. Who sent you, and where is he?"
"I-a hostage?"
Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed to slits. "Your feigning ignorance does not amuse me. Talk, or I will make you." He allowed some of his rage to seep into his poisonous fingertips, making his claws glow with their deadly light.
She blanched at the threat, but could not speak. Her mouth opened and closed noiselessly, occasionally she stuttered or shook her head, but she found herself incapable of a response.
"Lord Sesshomaru?" Rin said, rising up from under her heavy pelt. She rubbed her sleepy eyes with her small fists, yawning and stretching as she awakened. When she was less groggy, and she was sure that the voice of her Lord had not been a dream, her face began to radiate happiness, and she cried "Lord Sesshomaru!" laughingly as she threw herself around his legs. "You found me!"
Sesshomaru withdrew the sword and stared at the child that clung to his knees. "Rin, are you unharmed?" he asked solemnly, still keeping one suspicious eye on the woman.
Rin nodded, still beaming. "Of course!"
"This woman has not harmed you?"
"No!" She tilted her head, confused. "Why would she hurt me, Lord Sesshomaru? I don't understand."
Sesshomaru examined his ward with his full attention, even removing his sight from the woman to see if the girl spoke the truth. He could smell no blood. There were no bruises on her skin, not so much as a scratch. After he was certain that she was well, he began to notice other things. She was dressed in a new kimono, a cherry-blossom pink one embroidered with thread the color of pearl. Hanging from a branch was her old orange and white checkered outfit, drying from a thorough washing. The garment had been mended so well that it was unimaginable that Rin had worn it as she traveled for years on end. Her hair was washed, brushed, and trimmed so it was no longer so unruly. Around her neck was a pendant of jade, and on her feet were new, fine slippers.
She had been treated well in his absence.
"Hn." He turned his full gaze back to the woman, who had not moved except to clench the pelt that covered her in bloodless, trembling hands to her heart. Her eyes were wide, her breaths heavy and panicked.
"Rin, it is late. You will return to Ah-Un and Jaken and sleep under their protection."
"But My Lord, I'm very happy here—"
"Rin."
He did not need to say anything further. The girl understood and softly padded away without further question.
"I smell wolves," he said to the woman.
"It is probably just the pelt, my lord. We purchased it in town. It will keep her warm at night, and will last through heavy travel."
He turned his gaze to the fur Rin had been resting under. The woman spoke the truth.
"She was gone for three weeks."
She bowed her head humbly, eyes respectfully downcast. "I found her lost in the fields outside my village. I did the best I could to provide for her until you would return.
"You have traveled far. Why did you not wait at the village?"
"There were—some people who objected to my sheltering her, and we were hunted. It became necessary for the both of us to flee for our lives, my lord."
"Hn."
"My lord," the woman moved, slowly, to sit on her knees, and then bow before him. "It was an honor to care for your Rin. She is such a wonderful, spirited child…I am in awe of her strength."
Sesshomaru did not respond to this. "I do not bother carrying human money with me, as I have no need of such."
"I do not want payment, my lord. Take these things as gifts."
Sesshomaru's golden eyes narrowed. He did not like this woman, but he could find no reason to kill her. As far as he could see, she had done nothing but give Rin the very best.
And for some reason, that bothered him.
"You will not follow us." He swept up the pelt Rin had used, gathered her old clothing and her pack (which was bursting with supplies) and left. He had no further business with this woman. Rin was unharmed, and now well equipped for the days ahead.
If she should follow, he reasoned, it would grant an excuse to rid himself of her…permanently.
He frowned in distaste. The thought of her left him unsettled.
"Foolish woman," he murmured beneath his breath.