CYCLE OF RIN
By Lady JenDragon
Summary: Poisoned by a powerful sorcerer demon, Rin suffers from a condition simply known as 'the Cycle'. Now, on the eve of the Hunters moon, the Cycle has taken violent control. With what consequences? No one knows. Never has this happened to a human. But there are plenty of demons willing to find out. Sesshomaru, the powerful dog demon who abandoned her seven years prior for unknown reasons, re-enters her life. Sess/Rin, Inu/Kag, Mir/San pairings.
Rating: Teen for action sequences and some romance.
Disclaimer: Of course I don't own the Inuyasha characters. That honor belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, ROCK ON! I just want to take them for a little ride.
Chapter One
The New Demon
Wind swept around the form on the cliff, the pale face turned to the moonlit horizon in the distance. The white of his silk kimono contrasted against the dark of the forest, the long strands of white hair fanned out around him. The white fluff sash around his right shoulder coupled with the red across his shoulders and lower cuffs gave him an aristocratic air. Battle armor covered his chest and waist, tied by a yellow-blue sash at the front. His swords, Tokijin and Tenseiga, clung at his waist, sheathed beneath his missing left arm. His arm removed during an earlier battle with his half-demon brother, Inuyasha. A debt he needed repay.
His eyes on the cliff below, his thoughts focused on the matter at hand rather than the landscape around him. Time passed quickly since the miko, Kagome, broke Inuyasha's curse that secured his brother to the Ancient Tree. Almost thirteen years since the day of the half-breed's release. This Sesshomaru did not expect ridding his clan of Inuyasha's contamination to be a difficult task. However, the deplorable half-demon continued to live. And now a child resulted from his brother's relationship with the miko not too long ago. Another mark against Inuyasha. His brother required reconciliation, and soon. 'Another time, indeed.'
He lifted his eyes to the horizon, taking in the moonlit quiet that was the land below him. Jakken failed to arrive back from his task with Ah-une at the requested time. The Imp would pay for his tardiness. A new demon arrived a month ago, engaging in battle with an army of demons and discarding them with skill and tact not seen in demons. Word among the demons described the new creature as powerful. No demon proved brave enough to face this new threat, for none lived once they met this new demon. Thus, the lack of description of the new enemy required his immediate attention to find the demon and confront it. Jakken's only task was to gather information from demons within the area who chose to separate themselves from the threat.
Sesshomaru turned from the cliff, returning to the forest's edge with short, calculated steps. His lands were quiet and peaceful these past few months. With the exception of this new demon, no other powerful demons forced necessary battle. Surprising, the new demon kept a low profile. Did this demon believe to wait until its enemies sought him first? He narrowed the demon's whereabouts to this area of the southwest. Not too far from the forest of Inuyasha. But, the creature remained hidden. He was close to finding it.
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Her body twisted, barely evading the striking claw. The long braid slapped her shoulder as she landed, nimbly leaping into the air once more. Her arm band came free as the long nail ripped through her armor. 'Damn! The armor didn't hold.' Anger piqued, her eyes narrowed. This was a mere Lion demon. The information proved false! More scales would have to be located and used for new armor. 'Good luck.' The idea irritated her. Demons kept low profiles recently. The sacred Jewel of Four Souls, the Shekon Jewel once again became shattered as a diversion that allowed Naraku to escape another losing battle.
As usual, she thought acidly. But, the lesser demons did not trust Naraku to remain hidden this time. None wanted their power to be absorbed by the half-breed. True, the journey to acquire the shards proved a hassle. However, plenty of people volunteered their lives to salvage the dispersed Shekon jewel. Some demons proved more competent than others, using all means necessary to retain the sacred jewel.
Unfortunately, this demon did not obey common sense. Risu, the Lion demon, possessed one of the tiny Shekon Jewel shards. His behavior and recent increase in power led them to him. She could sense the jewel's power as well as Risu's aura. The demon swayed for several seconds, dazed from the blow from another demonslayer. In that instant, she disappeared around the only thick bush, crawling through the tall grass on hands and knees. She needed a vantage point to attack. Growling from the wounded demon echoed in the clearing.
Suddenly, a pain sheared through her abdomen. She blinked for a moment, pausing in her attempt to gain an advantage. Holding her breath, she waited. Nothing. Just as quickly as the pain came, it disappeared. A figment of her imagination. Perhaps she had been wounded. There was no time to think about pain or wounds. This demon required her sole concentration.
A smile crept across her lips. Risu made her job far more interesting, she reminded herself. Her senses heightened, allowing her to track the demon's movements. Her cohorts continued to hold Risu's full attention, distracting him while she circled back around behind him. The fire mane burned low tonight, the demon assumed no one would attack him shortly before bedtime. They caught him off guard. He was not a powerful demon but he was still a formidable foe with the shard to aid him. Weakling or not, the shard had to be collected. It was her job. She was a demonslayer, raised among demons as a child. But she was more than that.
She was Rin.
Now, she was in the perfect position to strike. Her black hair pulled into a tight braid beginning on top of her head. She squatted on her toes gauging the best time to launch her attack. Normally she left her hair loose and natural. During battle, she kept it tightly bound and out of her way. She flicked the end of her braid off her shoulder, edging closer to the Lion demon swinging out at the other four demonslayers with his right claw.
Beneath her calm exterior, her blood boiled from the anticipation of another battle. The first attack only wetted her appetite for more. Her body felt tense and nimble, loose and responsive. Her chest pounded as blood rushed to supply muscles with necessary energy. Every second passed was spent calculating. Soon, Risu would show her where to strike, where his weakness lived. His aura weakened as the four demonslayers launched strike after strike. But they were tiring fast. She needed to take Risu out. Then she felt it. 'An undulation in his strength.'
'Now!'
Rin took a running start and leaped into the air. Pulling a long sword from its sheath at her waist, she aimed its tip at her target. With a final burst of strength, she swung her right arm wide. The length of her sword blade sliced the demons head off cleanly as she glided through the air. Landing on both feet, she jumped out of the way as the headless body fell to the ground with a thud. There was a slight vibration as it settled.
Her breathing returned to normal, her blood settling from the heat of battle. Rather anticlimatic, she thought. Cheers rang out from her fellow demonslayers, standing in a semi-circle around the dead demon, maintaining their distance in case of latent muscle spasms. The four demonslayers stood watching it for several moments to verify its deceased state. She walked over to her friends, sheathing her sword.
At eighteen, she had become a tactful, efficient demonslayer. Her skills at spells and seals needed improvement, but that would come with age. She took on a number of demons and succeeded in sending them to the netherworld with the little magic she knew. But, it was her prowess with a blade and the three 'Kotes' (smaller versions of Sango's large Herykotes) that gave her a solid demonslayer reputation.
The corpse remained still. It was dead for sure. Rin kicked the paw with her foot. Suddenly, the flesh around the shard opened. Though she could not see the shard inside the creature, she had been taught to recognize where it broke free from the corpse. Rin knew how to recognize enhanced power from the Shekon shards. She picked up the shard, lying on its side, between her index finger and thumb. Her brown eyes stared at its pinkish-brown translucent color. Kagome could purify the shards once they met up with her tomorrow. 'All in a day's work.'
"That makes two shards we have now." Natomi cheered.
Natomi was an inch shorter than Rin at five nine, her black hair cut short. She wore a green bandana around her head. Unlike Rin, her armor survived the Lion demon's attack. Her black slayer uniform remained unharmed as well. Her skills improved every battle thanks to being a member of Rin's team. It was difficult work obtaining jewel shards on one's own. A good thing five demonslayers formed this group to split the work. Natomi saw the wince in Rin's face as her leader bent over the demon's corpse. 'Oh no!'
It was getting close to the Cycle again. Every month, her leader would become engulfed in spasms of agony. No one fully understood the true nature of Rin's chronic condition. All anyone knew was that Rin had been poisoned by demon blood back when she was eleven. Slowly, the demon blood was trying to take over her body. Probably kill her. She was hopeful that would not be the case. No one really knew what would happen in the end.
"Yes. Kagome and Sango will be pleased." Rin agreed, placing the shard into a small glass bottle.
A bottle she received specifically for Jewel shards. Miroku placed a small sacred sutra on the bottle to prevent the evil in the shard from absorbing into the demonslayers once they acquired it. It would not be good to have her friends turning evil on her once they collected the shards. She would have the hard task of sending them to the nether world.
Rin ignored the pain growing in her abdomen, previously equivalent to an overworked muscle. No longer a minor churning, the pain turned into a continuous throb in her hips. So she had not imagined the pain earlier. 'The Cycle was coming early this month?' It was too early, she felt positive. This was not the time to try figuring out when 'the Cycle' was to come. Rin needed to consult her calendar to be sure this was the case.
The Cycle. An odd occurrence in Humans according to Miroku. No one knew its exact purpose for it struck every once in a while. It was nothing more than minor rumblings in the past. But now, in the last year, 'the Cycle' came every month. Miroku said nothing about its meaning but he spent an awful lot of time conversing with other spiritual leaders over he condition. Rin chewed on her lower lip without thinking. Perhaps, she should send Natomi and Hiroshi ahead with the shards. If they kept them too long, stronger demons would come looking and another battle would ensue. Her group pledged to help Kagome, Sango, Miroku and Inuyasha to restore the Jewel once again.
Odd, the four friends remained together after all these years. She remembered the foursome from when she was a little girl. The Jewel had been shattered thirteen years back. Kagome vowed to chase down all of its shards with the half-blood, Inuyasha. Rin smiled. Inuyasha had reasons for obtaining the Shekon Jewel for himself. In the end, Kagome captured Inuyasha's heart and had not returned it. His plans for the Jewel momentarily forgotten. But not all went as planned and happy endings were placed on hold.
Naraku made a nuisance of himself many times, attempting to become a full demon by obtaining the Shekon Jewel for himself. For a half-breed, Naraku knew more about demon power than most demons. Much fighting continued among the demons over possession of the Jewel under Naraku's careful handling. The coward currently hid out in the world somewhere, biding his time to make another return when the Shekon Jewel was restored. Severely wounded, Naraku escaped before succumbing to Tetsusaiga's Backlash Wave. Inuyasha proved to be a worthy teacher during her demonslayer training along side Sango. Rin shook her head to focus.
Two other teams were out looking for the shards beginning this past year. Naraku shattered the Shekon Jewel into tiny pieces, more than the first shattering, over a thousand she estimated. It was going to take a lot longer to locate all the pieces if they remained as a single group. Her team would meet up with Sango's team tomorrow then Kagome and Inuyasha the day after to hand over the shards they possessed.
The pain came back again, more acute this time then dulled to a throb. But the pain did not disappear like before. It was now a constant nagging dull ache. Yet, it felt different. 'A twinge along with the spasm?' She could not think about pain right now.
Rin forced herself to concentrate on the list for Sango. Her free hand reached to her waist to pull the seals from their place. The demon parts would need to be cleansed before transport. Demons sought out newly deceased demons to absorb their power. It was also another method for demons to locate them and take the Jewel shards. Her thoughts shifted to the dull ache coming again.
'I was hoping to get back before it came.' Rin said softly for herself.
But this Cycle was unusual. There was a definite tingle this time, her blood felt warmer. Could she say the feeling was a tingle? A smell on the air made her pause. She frowned momentarily, shaking her head. 'A stronger demon was approaching?' She felt an aura nearby but could not identify its owner. Then it disappeared. Waiting several seconds, nothing more came to her. Rin sighed. Now she was imagining things. The remaining thoughts were left at the back of her mind, time to concentrate on her task.
"Nice work, Rin!" Hiroshi patted Rin on the back, kneeling beside her.
Hiroshi's maroon armor, pulled off a turtle demon a year back, had taken a few direct hits during the attack. But his armor remained intact compared to Rin's. A half a day's work would be needed to pound the dents out. He pulled a dagger from his waist, slicing open the demon's skin. Sango wanted them to collect and bring back more parts for weaponry.
"Thanks. Let's get this corpse buried and the seals put in place." Rin glanced around the dark field over her shoulder. "We need to be quick."
More demons could be waiting for the demonslayers to lower their guard before picking them off one by one. The moon was brighter tonight, she noted silently. Rin paused as another spasm churned. She shook off her thoughts of the coming hours of agony with mild disgust. The Cycle could not be avoided.