Seshomaru clutched the frail girl tightly to his chest. The snake demon that attempted to attack his ward now lay in pieces, gore splattered on the grass and rock. Rin tightened her hold on his kimono causing Seshomaru to slowly drag hise gaze from the bloody scene down to Rin and an alarm went off in his head.
She was naked.
How could he have forgotten? She was taking a bath, of course she bore no clothing. He was not amused with the situation one bit, the blaring fact that this young human lay naked in his arms rubbed him the wrong way and Seshomaru quickly made an attempt to put her down. Girls of all ages should not be seen unclothed until they were with their mate, it was improper. He gently set her down and was about to turn and find her kimono when his amber eyes glazed lightly over her shaking form, concerned to see if she was hurt. Instead he was met with a sight that shook his core, causing unknown emotions to boil up from within him.
Her body was littered with scars. Seshomaru had only ever seen her hands, legs, and head. He had no idea what horrors lay beneath her thin kimono. Her back had four silver stripes that started at the base of her neck and ended at her hip. Another set of stripes encircled her torso. What appeared to be bite marks were sprinkled all over her upper torso and arms, even her neck. From the wolves. He thought, but what caused him the most surprise were the other scars.
On both forearms there was a long stripe that covered her arteries on the underside of her wrist, obviously a suicide attempt. Or a staged attempt forced upon her by outside forces. Her back bore the words 'Waste' and 'Trash' and, the most appalling, 'Whore' engraved crudely by a shaky hand and a sharp knife. Smaller stripes ran randomly over her body like a road map. Proof of the many times her flesh met with metal as a passerby decided to slice her. Is this why she fears humans? He thought, finally grasping why this innocent girl was so backwords with her beliefs. These wounds would cause anyone to fear their own kind.
Rin shifted, locking her arms around herself for warmth, eyes still closed. She refused to see the battle scene around her. In that slight movement, Seshomaru caught a sight that froze his heart and caused a fierce desire to kill something boil up within him.
Between Rin's child-like legs were more scars. But they were worse than any other that tainted her body.
Names. They were scattered all over her inner thighs, going down as low as the middle of her thigh and as high as her belly button. They grew in number the closer to her entrance, all male names, all clumsily sliced into her skin with a barberic savageness. Seshomaru quickly looked away. What had this girl been through? How could she sit here now, as light and carefree as the flowers in this meadow?
Rin slowly opened her eyes and looked up to see her Lord Seshomaru staring back at her. She suddenly realized how completely exposed she was.
"AHHHH WHERE IS MY KIMONO!" Rin screamed, frantically attempting to cover herself. Seshomaru's eyes visibly widened and he disappeared, ernestly looking for her clothes in attempt to stop her screaming and calm her.
He returned to find her huddling behing a rock and he tossed the kimono to her.
"Now GO AWAY!" Rin yelled, sprinting into further cover. Seshomaru sat there, not angry at her sudden outburst but lost in thought.
Within a few minutes Rin wandered back into view.
"I'm sorry Lord Seshomaru. I should not have screamed, I know it hurts your ears." She said solemnly when she was within speaking distance of him.
"Are you happy here?" Seshomaru asked,
Caught off guard, Rin blanks before finally finding her voice. "Of course Lord Seshomaru! I'm happier than I have ever been before!"
"Do you feel safe?"
"I'm always safe with you."
Satisfied, Seshomaru gave a soft grunt and turned back in the direction of camp.
"Lord Seshomaru?" Rin said softly,
Seshomaru stopped and glanced back at her, his body remaining stationary.
"I-I know that my body is ugly. I'm sorry you had to see it. It won't happen again." She whispers, looking at her hands. Suddenly she feels a hand on her cheek and looks up to see her Lord's eyes inches from hers.
"You are not ugly." He states, matter-of-factly. A pause draws on and Rin contemplates pulling away from his hand when Seshomaru seems to make up his mind. He slowly presses his lips to her forehead then rises to his full height.
"You are beautiful."
Then the great demon turns and walks back to the camp. Knowing his ward will follow, smiling the entire way.