It hadn't been long since Sesshomaru had left. Well, actually, that had been a lie. One that Rin muttered silently to herself each evening before she fell into her deep sleep. Memories would flood her dreams over the past that they had shared. The countless times that great demon saved her life and protected her. Lord Sesshomaru had been someone she looked up to in the highest manner. He had always been there for her whenever she needed him, and that is what kept the hope in Rin's heart that he would one day come back to this village and finally take her with him on a brand new adventure.

This very same hope lasted her long over a decade.

The once young, frail Rin had reached the ripe young age of twenty two. Her height had grown to being just under five and a half feet, and her long raven black hair reached down to the middle of her waist. The only bits about her that hadn't changed over the years had been her thin figure and the friendly yet still independent personality she grew up with.

Also though these years, Rin had remained in the same village that she had been left behind in. Kaede had been kind enough to let Rin take shelter in her home for a good long time, but once she could manage the task of living on her own, a purchase had been made for her own shelter. With neighbors like that elderly priestess, Inuyasha, and the Demon Slayer, Rin really couldn't be worried about anything. The young girl made her friends among the village and grew into being quite the star villager. Whenever there was someone who needed an extra helping hand, Rin would be there to aid them. This was her own way to repay the debt she owed the village for taking her in in the first place. Plus, it always put a smile on her faced to hear their appreciation.

Even with all these good deeds under her belt, all Rin could wish for herself was that one day Lord Sesshomaru would come walking back into the village and finally see how strong she had become. She wasn't technically alone anymore, but there was a constant void there in the center of her chest. Yes. Rin loved that demon Lord. How could she not with all he had done for her as a child? The deeper meaning behind this affection was still unclear, but that didn't matter to her. Rin knew how she felt.

The sun was already beginning to set over the western mountains causing the sky to be painted a multitude of colors from orange to yellow and even smears of indigo. Rin would let her eyes wash over the sky in search of any stars. A wonder would set in her heart to ask if Sesshomaru was staring up at the same time. If he too was thinking about her. Rin had to believe that he was. All this time she knew that he left her here so she could be around humans. To live as they did, but enough had to be enough.

He'll come for me.

There was that hope again.

Rin couldn't let that die.

As she pulled away from the window in order to ready herself for bed, a shriek had been shot through the air alerting the town to a terror none would have imagined.

Over this decade of time, Rin had also managed to concur the act of running into danger than away from it. She had used her luck in friends to help train herself so that no one would have to defend her anymore. So that he would see that he didn't have to protect her. Inuyasha had taught her the skills of a true swordsman as did Sango. Kagome helped in the education of firing off arrows to hit that mark. Of course Rin was no priestess herself, but she was a damn good shot. The monk, Miroku, had shown her how to write out special talismans, and Shippo even taught her a thing or two. All of her friends helped in making her a warrior of her very own caliber; a woman with the skills in the expert arts of dueling with two deadly sharp katanas.

Rin already stained her blades with blood in the past in battle to help protect this village, and it appeared as though she was going to have to do the same thing tonight, but when she had rushed out of her home and into the face of said danger, she hadn't expected to face off an enemy that they all figured they defeated so long ago.

Naraku.

Mixtures of shock and confusion set in on each face of those standing around bearing witness to this corpse using those tentacles of his body to tear a woman limb from limb. Rin had known that woman. She just had a new born child not too long ago, and now her intestines were falling out onto the grass in a pool of blood. A smirk had fallen onto the man's face as the deed feel into the completed stage. Naraku let her body fall with the rest of her innards on the ground. Treating her like nothing, he stepped over her and chuckled. Rin remembered that man's eyes; the eyes of a true monster.

"I don't understand… He's supposed to be dead."

The terrorizing demon flashed a menacing grin, and somehow the wind that blew in their direction then only led to a shiver being sent right down Rin's back. "Truly this can come as no surprise to you, Kagome. This has happened on an occasion once or twice before, has it not?" They all knew that it had, but to take it to this level of waiting over ten years to come back. They had all relaxed into their own lives. All of them were as happy as they could be, and now Naraku was back to bring it all right back down to hell.

Wasting no time with any chatter, Inuyasha ran past them all on a flash. UnsheathingTessaiga in mid leap, the blade was on its way coming down straight onto Naraku's disgusting form. "I've had ten years, Inuyasha. Ten long years to gain my strength back and then some. You fool." The blade of Inuyasha mighty weapon didn't even scratch the surface of Naraku's body.

"You bastard!" Inuyasha had fallen back a few feet. His mind would clearly be racing with strategies on how they were going to defeat him. Even Kagome had tried to fire off one of her sacred arrows, and even that didn't work. Kaede ordered the rest of the villagers to take cover; assuring them that they would handle this. As of right now, no one in their group believed such a thing seeing as that the attacked they tried so far didn't leave any mark.

Night had fallen over the sky now. The fiery shades that had made Rin so happy only moments ago now fell into a sorrowful state of colors that fit in well with the demise they all felt. What would they do if their weapons didn't work on him? How could they defeat an enemy that they could not cut?

Over the course of the next several minutes, Naraku demonstrated some new strength in power. A slaughter of several citizens was left in that wake. Two young children included in that count. Rin couldn't stand to see this happen anymore. Even if it killed her, she didn't want to back down from at least trying to take this guy out, but before she had the chance to fight, Naraku was gone.

Vanished with the wind.

Only bloodies corpses and ruined lives were left.

Scattered in different positions around the fire, Kaede led the conversation on what their next plan of attack would be. Clearly they were all in agreement that Naraku couldn't be left alive. This much was obvious, but none of them knew the goal now. What would Naraku want from them seeing as that the jewel wasn't even mentioned? There had to be something more to the story of why he waited so long to make a move, but none of them could think of an answer.

"We need help," Rin finally said. Her comment caught the attention of each member in the room. Sango offered the suggestion of asking Koga and his fellow wolf demons for help. Kagome named off some other few allies they had made in the past as well, but none suggested the only name that Rin had thought of. "What about Lord Sesshomaru?"

Silence.

Each of them knew how Rin had been left behind in the village without a word over the past few years, and none of them had heard from the demon either.

"Tch. We don't need his help! We don't even know if he's even alive!"

Of course Rin knew that on some level Inuyasha could be right, but that didn't mean the comment irritated her any less. "You're wrong!" The young lady got up to her feet with a set expression of determination on her face. "He is alive and I'm going to go find him! You'll see! Lord Sesshomaru will be able to help!"