The dark hair on her head was still as ruffled as ever, despite her age of twenty years. It has been a good nine years years since Rin had settled in Kaede's village, even if Kaede herself had passed on to join her sister three years ago. The wind that picked up in the massive plains played cheekily with the tail end of her hitatare, the white cotton against her skin contrasting dramatically with her pale pink obi she wore as a sash around her waist. The pale pink material was the exact same one as the kimono she had gotten as a gift when she was eleven years ago.
Considering she had outgrown the kimono at least five odd years ago, the fact that Rin had altered it to use it as a sash now, should prove enough to anyone her attachment to her Lord.
Training under Kaede ever since she had lived in the village, Rin was a well accomplished healer by now. But when she had announced her desire to seek out her heart's peace, it was understandable that not only Kagome, but even Inuyasha displayed worry. Knowing full well how stubborn Rin had grown to be, they had seeked out help from their friends, and Sango attempted to give some form of self defense practice to Rin, not that it helped much.
In the end, Miroku had given Rin a bracelet to protect her from illusions, and a set of ofuda's which was the best he could do, before they all could only watch with a heavy heart as the youngest of their troupe left, her only companion a cat demon, an offspring of Kirara who Rin had taken a fancy to which they all called Kei.
The ofuda's, she kept in the spaces slid in between her obi, and her bracelet was covered by the sleeves of her hitatare, but her dark hair was left as free as her spirit, as she finally settled down under a tree on the edges of the field, with Kei at her side.
"Where is he?"
It was the same thought which had spurred Rin to even begin on what was beginning to look like a futile mission. The first few years, Sesshoumaru had visited often, once every month even, each time bringing a gift for her. But after giving her the kimono, his visits had become less and less, and his last visit was on the eve of her fifteenth birthday, right after the day she became a woman.
That was the last time Rin ever saw him, and five years later, the dark haired girl could not figured out if she did anything wrong.
"This is going to be a long journey, Kei. Technically, we're just assuming he's in the Western Wastelands. How exactly do you even find an inu daiyokai without any clue?" Rin rubbed Kei's head as she spoke, more to herself than anything. Despite Kei giving a purr as a reply, his young age meant he wasn't as knowledgeable as Kirara. He was a defense, at best, but Kagome had thought it better than nothing.
"How do you even plan on searching, Rin-chan? No one knows where that Sesshoumaru is." Inuyasha had done his part in trying to dissuade her, yet Rin had argued back that no one had any idea where the Shikon no Tama was when they did their journey either.
"Kagome could sense it. We had some lead."
"I can find him. Trust me."
That was what she had said initially when she started anyway, but after three weeks of wandering around without much aim, what else could she do? "What's that Kei?" Rin asked, when the pint-sized cat demon's head previously on her lap suddenly looked up, his muzzle twitching furiously. "There's a village nearby. You want to head there?"
Kei didn't wait long before he bounded ahead, leaving Rin to quickly scramble after her travelling companion. Her bag of medicinal herbs and remedies she had cooked up bounced against her hip as she ran, and it wasn't too long before a small village at the base of a hill loomed into view, and Kei stood waiting for his mistress.
"Kei, don't run like that. I'm not exactly a demon who can keep up with you like Inuyasha-oniichan." Rin panted, looking up only to have her attention distracted when she noticed the rather gloomy atmosphere hanging over the village. "Was this why you came here, Kei?"
Cautiously wandering closer to the edge of the village, the lone elderly male outside looked up, and took Rin aback when she saw the sunken cheeks, bloodshot eyes, and sickly aura around him. "Are you alright, Ojii-sama?"
"Don't come in here, if you value your life. We haven't been able to get rid of this plague for months. The last chiryo-shi who came by was taken by the plague. We've sent all our healthy children away, so I beg of you do not enter."
"But…" It rebelled against her every nature to walk away, not with what Kaede had taught her so far. She hesitated, but Kei started tugging at her robe towards the village. "What is it Kei?"
"Do not enter, chiryo-shi." the rattling voice of the old man sounded again. "But why, ojii-sama?" Rin asked, as she walked closer towards the village.
"I said do not enter!" Gone was the rattling voice, as it turned into a menacing hiss, and the old man suddenly changed to one of a snake, towering over the biggest house in the village. The surprise of which caused Rin to stumble backwards as Kei hissed and transformed to his full form, twin-tails lashing dangerously against the snake demon.
"I warned you, little girl. Stay away, from my home." the yellow eyes narrowed dangerously, the fangs dripping with clear poison as the demon bared it against Rin who was still on the ground.
Kei crouched, snarling and all prepared to launch an attack when a strong gust of wind kicked up all the dust in the area, clouding both her and Kei's vision. The cat-demon howled and hissed, scrabbling at his eyes with his paws, leading Rin to hurriedly scramble up in her attempt to calm her cat-demon, all while trying to see what was going on.
But it wasn't till the dust had settled, before she finally saw who it was, a familiar figure that brought hope to her heart, as the crackly voice spoke. "How dare you disturb the lands of Lord Sesshoumaru?"
His small figure was still the same, except the green skin looked just mildly paler then she remembered from those long years he was away, a few more lines adorning the face of the pint-sized demon. "Jaken-sama!"
"Rin?!" the surprised voice of the imp registered as Rin scrambled and ran closer to the imp-demon, ignoring his loud cries of protests as she swept him up in a hug. "Jaken-sama, why are you here?"
"This is the edges of Lord Sesshoumaru's Western Wastelands." Jaken scowled at the cowering snake demon, obviously injured from Jaken's nintojo. "This demon has been causing trouble for all of the Inu tribe residing within the wastelands. I'll be done with her once and for al!"
"Wait!" Rin suddenly noticed a rustling from the corner of the village, and held back Jaken as smaller snake demons made their way to the bigger one. "You were protecting your offspring, weren't you?"
"We were chased away from our home. This was the safest we could find, hoping that Sesshoumaru-sama's name would make other yokai less inclined to come here."
"You decided to use Sesshoumaru-sama's name?!" Jaken echoed in indignation, raising his nintojo which would've spelled the end of the snake demon had Rin not quickly yank it down. "Where is Sesshoumaru-sama?" she asked breathlessly. She had done it. She had found him.
"He's not around." Or maybe not.
Rin's features immediately fell at Jaken's answer. What was it with him? Where did he go, and why? "Where is he, Jaken-sama?"
"I don't know. No one knows. Sesshoumaru-sama set up the Western Wastelands as a safe haven for all inu-yokai to visit, and stay if they wish. I'm his Chief Minister, but as soon as things settled down here, he's left again."
"When did he leave?"
"He comes and goes."
It was as if the power escaped from Rin's pores, her body slumped in defeat. Was she destined to never find her Lord? A whimper distracted her from the sudden well of hopelessness building in Rin, and she turned to see the snake demon still looking fearful, her children hidden behind her. "What about the rest of the villagers?"
"The village was an abandoned one when we came."
"Jaken-sama, they mean no harm. Hebi-sama just wanted a safe place to raise her children. Leave her be."
"But they dared to use Sesshoumaru-sama's name in vain!"
"It is no harm to Sesshoumaru-sama or his lands, is it? If and unless they do harm the lands, then go forth and defend our Lord. But until then, do not sully his good name by doing mindless killings."
Jaken scowled at Rin's words. Despite so, he knew how much worth Sesshoumaru put in Rin's wellbeing, and it would not sit well for him to go against her word, and as such the demon imp reluctantly dropped his staff and scowled at the snake demon. "See that you do not breach the borders of the Wastelands."
"Jaken-sama."
"What is it, human child?"
"Where did Sesshoumaru-sama go?"
"No one knows." Which was true enough. When Jaken finally looked at Rin's face, her forlorn features almost made him want to pity her, but as much as he did, he couldn't help her. How could he when no one knew where he went? "Sesshoumaru-sama had always wanted to fulfill his father's wish, the Inu no Taisho's want for a safe haven for all inu-yokai. When he finally did a few years ago, he left. Why, I do not know. I only knew he entrusted me with the care of his lands."
"Do you know where can I search for him?" Why did she found so desperate? Jaken had been the happiest when Sesshoumaru stopped his visits to the human village out of the blue. He disliked the way he softened up around the human girl he had claimed as his ward, but ever since then Sesshoumaru's temper had been so vile, no one dared go near him. Maybe if Rin found him again, she'd figure out why?
"He seeks a solution. To what, I do not know. But the last I heard, he's looking for the Potions Master who resides on the Eastern Sea border, Sakurai-shi."