A trace of voices

Disclaimer: I don't own Inu Yasha, the characters, the plot, etc. ... But I own Koe.

A.N.: As this is the sequel to "Demonheart", it's an entire Sesshomaru x Rin fanfiction, so don't expect me to write about other Inu Yasha characters in this.

Chapter I – Prologue -

Golden splashes of dying sunlight illuminated his face, as they finally reached the center of the forest. A steep slope blocked their way to the woods' heart, but deep down there she knew they would find what he was looking for, so she tried not to focus on the valley's darkness. Nevertheless, a creepy feeling rose within her and made her body tremble slightly. "Rin?" He glanced down at her, his amber eyes almost the same color as the sun. "You're sure you want to follow us down there?" She hesitated a bit, then took a last look at the darkness below her. "Sure?" Her voice trembled along with her body, while he still stood motionless.

"I think we should leave her here, Sesshomaru-sama. She isn't much of a help anyway." The two servants exchanged some angry looks, then both turned away from the sight of each other at almost the same moment. She knew he didn't like her and he knew she would never agree with him, so where was the sense in arguing? "I'm sure." She said all of a sudden and turned to look at her master. "I'll follow you, Sesshomaru-sama. I'm not afraid of the darkness." The white haired demon looked at her again, a look that seemed to even go beyond her words. A look that stroke straight through her, trying to find out if she had told him the truth.

For a few moments everything was quiet, except the whispering of the wind that took the leaves from the edge down to the valley. She didn't tell the others, but somehow she had the feeling like everything that entered the valley was doomed to death - a feeling that made her tremble again.

"Quick - step behind me!" She hesitated for a few seconds, then followed his order. He was never kidding with things like that.

From the woods they had come from, pieces of calls and screams echoed through the forest, while he himself rather concentrated on the wind's smell. There was blood – blood, the smell of three different demons and... He stared into the woods' darkness, his eyes widening from confusion. That smell... He glanced at the girl behind him, wondering if she knew something he didn't, but she just gave him her most clueless look and continued hiding behind her master.

Suddenly a deep roar came from the dark space in front of them, a roar of pain and defeat, or probably even death. Some trees just fell like they were made of paper, others burst into thousands of splinters, covering the landscape with a carpet of wood. Out of the dusk's creepy darkness a woman appeared, chased by two demons, the blood on her sword still fresh. He could smell it was the third demons blood... but she didn't look like a demon slayer. She didn't wear their armor and she didn't even use their weapons. And that smell...

Another bunch of trees got shattered, as it was hit by a second demon hurled against it. He looked down at Rin again, but instead of vanishing, his confusion even increased. It wasn't likely she was afraid of something... it wasn't likely she would close her eyes in fear.

"Rin."

The sound of her name echoed down the valley, even though he had only whispered it, and caused a frightening silence, before another tree suffered from the fight. This time it was the demon's victory.

"This... this can't be..." Sesshomaru focused his servants again, noticing that Rin had now opened her eyes, opened wider than he'd wanted them to. She stared right into the direction of the hurt woman, whispering the sentence over and over again. He turned to look at the woman, then noticed her face was almost the same. There had to be some connection between the two of them... but what? Why did they look so shocked just by hearing Rin's name?

As he tried to ask, a second strike hit the tree, but the woman was quick enough to evade. He couldn't tell why he felt relieved at that, maybe because it was kind of what Rin looked like, but even it was like that...

A familiar voice interrupted his trail of thoughts: "Look, Sesshomaru-sama!" He turned around, looking for whatever Jaken wanted to show him, then noticed the woman had already recovered from her fight pretty well and was now staring at Rin again, as a short smile appeared on her lips.

Weaving a short goodbye to the visibly confused girl she made her way down to the valley, the last demon still haunting her. As both were gone, they woods laid quit again.

"That was one weird human..." The green demon's voice was a mix of both confusion and disgust. "Just crazy." He walked to the edge of the slope, noticing a trace of blood that led down to the valley. "Hm, whoever she was – she won't get far with such a wound."

"It isn't her blood, Jaken." His master mentioned in his usual voice, then turned to look at Rin again. "You're still wondering if you should follow us, Rin?"

A.N.: I know I'm not good at writing such scenes and I promise the next chapter will be better. Thanks to everyone who reviewed "Demonheart". I hope you liked that chapter anyway.

I guess now you can imagine who Koe is.