Author's Note: Oh my god, I had no idea it had been so long since I updated. I have no idea what I am going to do about GTP, though I have Not abandoned it, do not worry. This is something I am writing to get the juices flowing again, so to speak. I probably won't finish it, but consider it a filler until I get GTP going again! Enjoy my new fav couple!
Oh, this was perfect. This was just GREAT. What a place for him to meet his end, stuck in a godforsaken trap... if he lived through this, he was going to kill the person who set it up, desiccate their corpse, and...and...ugh...he'd think of more threats later.
Koga lay on his stomach in the grass, grumbling to himself, feeling dizzy, nauseated, and tired all at once. Now and then, he'd try and shift his right leg, which caused nothing but pain for him, since said leg was snared in a trap. The teeth were clamped around his calf, and seemed to tighten with every move he made. What made this even worse, was that there seemed to be some kind of seal on the trap, which inflicted the same pain as a demon ward every time he touched it; his hands were already covered in burns. It didn't put his leg in a much better situation either.
The teeth of the trap were dug in almost to the bone, so along with the burns and blood loss, he felt his leg was going to snap off any minute now. Once his leg was gone, his life was pretty much forfeit. He wouldn't be able to fight or hunt as well, if at all. He also refused to kill himself, meaning the rest of his days would be spent surviving on food brought to him, and waiting for someone to come along and off him. Either that or he would bleed to death on his way back home.
A soft laugh left him. "That's what I get for being greedy...Keh... never been one to resist temptation..." Having recently discovered the fresh supply of game to hunt in the far Western Lands, he had ignored all warnings about hunting in the Western Lord's area. For the past few days, he'd been bringing home some fantastic catches to his pack. But of course, all good things must come to an end, and he should have quit while he had the chance, when his comrades had begged him not to push his luck any more.
His thoughts turned to Kagome after a while, and a soft whine left him when it occurred to his tired mind that he was leaving her with the mutt. Pulling on his bangs a few times, he continued to berate himself for many different reasons. This was only interrupted when the scent of a human female filtered into his nose. As it got stronger, he opened his eyes, and blinked a few times as he saw a face framed with long, dark hair was kneeling in front of him. "Ka...gome..." He said quietly with a grin.
The innocent eyes blinked a few times in confusion, and as his sight focused more, he realized this was a child, not Kagome. She tilted her head and reached out a hand to smooth his messed up bangs. He let out the start of a warning growl, but it died away, seeing no reason in threatening her. She was a human child, what harm could she possibly be? She had hesitated at the growl, but when he calmed, once again fixed his hair for him.
Seeing the concern in her eyes quelled his suspicion about her, and allowed him to take in the details about her better. She seemed well dressed, not fancy or anything, but her clothing was clean and in good shape. Her hair wasn't NEAT, but wasn't the tangled style of an orphan, but more like an exploring child's hairstyle. While she was barefoot, she didn't seem to be in any pain, therefore he could only determine that she was indeed well cared for. A slight scent flickering about her caught his interest, and when he recognized it, he froze up. So she was HIS child, huh?
"You better run home to your demon lord, he wouldn't be pleased to find you in my presence." He warned dryly, remembering the attitude the Western Lord carried about him. The child seemed about to speak, but turned around as someone jumped in before she could.
"I'm more concerned as to why YOUR presence is in MY lands." The low voice of the Western Lord rang out. Koga had to hold in a groan as Sesshoumaru stared down at him, disdain obvious in his eyes. Oh yeah, he was going to die, here and now... well, maybe not NOW... he'd heard about Sesshoumaru's human charge, and had a feeling he'd wait until she was gone before he killed him. "I was wondering what kind of fool was hunting in my territory. I suppose you fit the description. You certainly look the part."
"So this little toy was YOUR idea?" Koga demanded, anger boiling up rapidly inside him. It was because of SESSHOUMARU he was doomed to never run again, be it through death or amputation. It was the silver demon's fault that he would never convince Kagome to stay by his side. And it was the Western Lord he wanted dead most of all right now. The only thing that kept him from tearing what was left of his leg off and attacking the stoic demon was the fact that the human child was still knelt beside him, playing with his hair.
"I didn't really expect it to work. Such a simple thing to avoid, after all. I was merely testing how smart the thief in my lands was. Not very, I assume." The two demons stared each other down, one baring his fangs and growling, which didn't seem to faze the child still playing with his hair, the other staring back without a single care in his saffron eyes.
After a long pause, Sesshoumaru turned and started walking away, apparently deciding to leave the wolf to bleed to death. "Come along, Rin." The child looked back at her guardian, then at the wolf, hesitating to leave him alone. Her worry for him touched the wolf enough that he calmed down, and he gestured to Sesshoumaru, who had stopped and turned to watch the two of them.
"Go on, girl. Don't keep him waiting." He used the same voice as when speaking to Kagome, strong and confident, as if assuring her he could get out of this on his own. It took her another moment, but Rin indeed did get up and ran over to Sesshoumaru, who continued on his way. Koga watched the little girl until they disappeared, and then started laughing quietly to himself.
Rin had reminded him of Kagome in so many ways, it wasn't even funny. Unafraid of demons, concerned for others in pain, not to mention she was going to be quite the looker when she grew up, he could already tell. He also noticed the similarities between the two brothers, as much as either one would kill him if he said so. Both of them had taken to a human female, and from what he had heard of Sesshoumaru's human charge, even though she was a daughter to him, whereas Kagome was a lover to InuYasha, both demons placed the girls before anything else.
He allowed his thoughts to entertain himself until after a while, he realized the demon and human's scents were returning. Opening his eyes, he jumped as he saw Rin kneeling in front of him, wincing as this jolted his leg. A bright smile was on Rin's face now, a look he felt suited her much better. "Little girl, I don't think your master will be pleased-"
"Believe me, he's not." Sesshoumaru stated simply, walking past Rin and over to where the trap lay digging into the leg. Koga froze, staring back at the demon lord warily.
"What are you-" His question stopped as a powerful yelp cut through, burying his head into his arms as Sesshoumaru began prying the trap apart. Feeling small hands combing through his hair, he believed he heard the human child speaking to him, but the pain from the teeth dragging out was making his head spin, and he could only focus on the sound, not the words. Surprisingly, listening to the child, and feeling her petting his head, calmed him if just a little.
The way Sesshoumaru was removing the trap, Koga assumed he was trying to inflict the most pain possible, proving he indeed did not want to do this. If this were the case, then why was Sesshoumaru freeing him? Any other attempts to reason this behaviour were lost with one sharp tug of the trap, making a huge wave of pain wash over him, causing the wolf prince to pass out cold.
Eventually the pain free bliss of unconsciousness wore off of the wolf prince. The first thing he became aware of was a steady, throbbing pain, just barely tolerable, in his injured leg. The second thing was that his back rested on rather soft sheets. Managing to force his blue eyes open, his cloudy vision cleared enough to realize he was indoors.
A sudden stab of pain woke him up entirely, and he sat up with a yell, freezing in surprise as he saw the young girl from before was sitting next to him, holding a tray with food on it. Her eyes brightened when she saw he was awake.
"I asked Sesshoumaru-sama what you would want to eat. Is it true that you eat raw meat rolled in dirt?" She asked with a curious look. Koga had to bite back a snarl at that, shaking his head as he looked to the tray. She nodded a bit. "I didn't think so. I did get you meat, but it's not raw, is that okay?" She seemed worried that he wouldn't like the food she had picked out for him, so he offered a smile to her.
"I haven't seen a tastier looking meal in days." He assured, then blinked in surprise as she began cutting it up, and held a piece out to him in a pair of chopsticks. "Um... I can do it myself..."
"No, you need to rest and heal your leg! That trap you got caught in really hurt your leg! That was a mean thing to leave there!" He was intrigued by the way she reacted; it seemed as though she didn't know Sesshoumaru left it there... had she tuned out the entire conversation the two demons had? Seeing she was still holding the meat out, and a rather determined look was now on her face (Which reminded him to no end of Kagome once again), he sighed in defeat and ate the meat off the chopsticks.
He really did prefer raw meat over the cooked, though NOT when it was rolled in dirt, SESSHOUMARU, but seeing as he was starving, and she looked delighted as she handed him another piece, he didn't see the harm in allowing her to feed it to him. As long as he got to feed HIMSELF next time. "What's your name, little girl?" He asked once he swallowed a mouthful.
"Rin is Rin!" She explained happily. He couldn't fight down the smile that rose at her innocent happiness. "What's your name?"
"My name's Koga, the wolf prince." He explained, an air of pride in his voice, which only increased at the awe that showed in her eyes.
"Koga-sama is a prince?" He nodded with a smirk. "Is there a wolf princess?" He laughed slightly at this.
"Not yet. Why, do you want to be a princess?' She shook her head with a smile, holding out some more food.
"No, Rin is happy being with Sesshoumaru-sama." The dedication this small child showed to such a ruthless leader interested the wolf, causing him to ponder over what could create such a bond while he accepted the proffered meat.
The door opened once they were more than halfway through the meal, and Sesshoumaru strode through. He walked over to the food of the bed and stared down at the injured leg, which Koga noted, was wrapped and splinted. Koga wanted to ask how bad the damage was, but he had a feeling speaking to the demon lord was not wise; he could catch glimpses of well controlled anger flickering through the golden eyes now and then.
"Rin, you shouldn't feed him too much just yet. Why don't you take that back to the kitchen?" He suggested. Nodding, the little girl hopped down off the bed, seizing the tray and skipping off. Sesshoumaru's face flickered once again, though he didn't try to hide it as much, the cold look on his face proved he was indeed pissed off.
"Do you have any idea how much it infuriates me to have you in my home?" He hissed. Oh yeah, he was DEFINATELY not feeling guilty over what he had done to the wolf...
"Then why did you take me here in the first place?" He snapped. "I thought it was more your style to kick injured demons, not care for them."
"I was planning on doing a far lot more than kicking you once I got Rin back here. Unfortunately, her being human, she was almost heartbroken at seeing you about to lose your leg, and begged me to heal you. I explained to her that the damage done to your leg would not be healed easily, and it was better to leave you there." His story stopped there, and he looked towards the window, an oddly uncomfortable look on his face. Koga's eyes widened, then he grinned as he realized why.
"She started crying, didn't she? When you told her you wouldn't help me, she started crying, and you couldn't handle it!" He all but crowed. His taunting was cut short as he found Sesshoumaru's claws beneath his chin.
"Would you rather I kill you here and now, and turn you into fodder for the castle gardens?" He hissed. When Koga shook his head as much as he dared, he lowered his hand, heading for the door. "Once you are healed enough to satisfy her, I'm taking you back to the woods and killing you. Whether or not it's a slow death depends on how you behave while here." The door slammed shut, and clicked, proving it was locked.
Koga sighed. So he only got to live for as long as Rin believed him to be injured? A slow grin formed on his face. Then he was going to have to make this a SLOW recovery. What other chance was he going to get to see the Western Lord interacting with his human charge, out of sight of prying eyes?
