AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is my first attempt at an Inuyasha fan fiction. I hope you enjoy it. For now I'm posting this as a one-shot. Simply because I'm not sure how good it will do. If I get enough positive responses I would definitely love to write more. So if you want more please tell me – I have an awesome idea where I would like to see this go. So yeah, please leave me your thoughts. I'd love to know what you think!
The Moon's cycle had changed once more and now coveted a larger expanse of the evening sky. Lord Sesshomaru paused his internal contemplations for a moment to stare up into the abnormal magnificence before him. The Moon in all its ethereal splendor and mystery had a routine of just over twelve different cycles before it started from its beginning once more.
Sesshomaru silently shifted his position against the tree he sat under as he continued to stare at the sky. To his right a warm fire still flickered with life and licking death at the small insects that were drawn to its brightness and finding a sudden burning end. Sesshomaru allowed his gaze to flick to his right to see his companions sleeping silently around the fire's warmth. Sesshomaru let a small, quiet, and incredulous laugh slip through his lips at the sight before him. To think that he, Lord Sesshomaru had companions. Though, it was not as if this was a recent change in his life but it was a constant realization of disbelief to him that he had let such a thing happen.
A small green Imp, Jaken, lay on the side of the fire closest to Sesshomaru, curled up close to fire with a two headed sleeping dragon to his right. And across the fire he could see the top half of a young girl's back. Sesshomaru focused on the girl now, or rather the now young woman that slept the farthest from him. He listened closely to her breathe as it came in slow and calming exhales to his ears and her heart beat at a steady pace. Like the Moon, so did the sound of this young woman's heart pause his internal musings and its steady beats enchanting the demon across the fire.
The stoic faced Sesshomaru began to feel his face soften and his amber eyes begin to droop, he rarely needed to sleep and as such almost never indulged in it. But tonight the sound of his human companion, Rin's heart was like a song lulling him into that calming darkness, that ever evasive creature to him known as sleep.
His head began to droop to his right and he jolted up, awoken by the sensation of falling. He blinked a few times and glanced back up towards the night sky. The Moon was near the horizon now and no longer high up in the center of the sky. He let his eyes flick back towards his right, the fire now gone but he could still clearly see Jaken, Rin, and Ah-Un.
The Sun will soon up. He thought as he ran long elegant fingers effortless through his bangs and hair. Letting out an almost inaudible sigh Sesshomaru stood up to stretch his limbs, he had not planned to sleep any the night before. The strange Moon and Rin's heart had not been a distraction he'd planned on nor was, what he assumed was, almost a full night's sleep. Cracking his fingers he flicked the strands of hair across his chest over his shoulder. After a moment standing there, smelling no other demons or humans in the vicinity, he walked back into the forest for food.
xxx.
Sesshomaru stood up from the kneeling position at the stream, walking back through the forest towards his camp. The sun was now rising and as he walked back he flicked the water off his hand and regarded it for a moment, making sure there was no blood on it any longer.
When he returned he found Jaken awake bustling over a new fire and a still lethargic Ah-Un lying by him.
"Lord Sesshomaru!" He shrieked in his usual annoying voice. Sesshomaru walked past him and the fire, his face showed no emotion and he did not regard the small demon with his gaze. Walking back over to the tree he spoke his eyes never leaving the horizon right in front of him.
"Where is Rin?"
Sesshomaru's baritone voice demanded, the Imp began to stutter and if possible screech even louder than before, "Rin went to catch fish, Milord! Though she has been taking her time! Impudent child, making the great lord Sesshomaru wait on her!" Jaken began to babble, at this point Sesshomaru stopped listening – tuning Jaken out he searched for the sound of Rin and her scent.
Immediately finding it and hearing her footsteps coming closer he turned his mind back to the issue he had meant to spend time thinking over the night before. The Lord of the Western Lands was on his way to Totosai, the unreliable swords-smith with a very unbecoming desire to avoid Sesshomaru as much as possible. Which only lead to irritating the great dog demon, whose patience was surprisingly short, for someone who seemed to be so calm most of the time. He was like a match, one strike and on fire – it was, as Sesshomaru considered with an almost unnoticeable grimace one of the few, if only similarities between he and his half-breed, half-brother, Inuyasha.
The problem was Tokijin was a sword forged from the fang of low level demon spawn of the demon that once terrorized the lands named Naraku. It had been many moons since the destruction of Naraku. The Tokijin was now beneath him. Sesshomaru desired a new, stronger sword, perhaps forged from one of his own fangs. As he now had a rather tremulous, to say the least, but civiler relationship with Inuyasha, perhaps Totosai would consider working with him now. Sesshomaru was no fool and had discerned that Totosai's apparent displeasure in working with him was knowledge he would kill his own flesh and blood at one point. But that was neither here nor there; Sesshomaru held no grudge against Inuyasha any longer and thought little of his brother. The Great Lord of the Western Lands had better things to fill his time with than the arrogant twaddle of his half-breed brother and his band of humans. He wanted a stronger sword that a lord of his power and standing deserved, not that of a lesser demon from that filth, Naraku.
"Good Morning, Lord Sesshomaru!" Sesshomaru was pulled from his revere by the cheerful greeting from Rin, he did not move his head in her direction, but shifted his gaze down on her. Rin was still much shorter than him, but she now came right up to his shoulders. She was smiling brilliantly up at him, Sesshomaru pulled his gaze from her and continued his trek towards Totosai's mountain.
"Come on Master Jaken!" Rin yelled as she jogged to catch up to Sesshomaru. Faintly, Sesshomaru heard Jaken yelling something and fumbling around. His mind had traveled back to the woman who still traveled with him.
It had been many moons since Naraku had been defeated and as such since Rin was a child and even many more moons since the day Tenseiga compelled him, pulsating at his hip to save the young girl.
Not only was Rin taller but her hair had grown longer now half way down a slender back, she had a petite figure but remarkably she had curves as well. She now wore a purple kimono with gold embroidered flowers up the arms and across her chest. The small childish ponytail on the side of her head was now gone but from time to time she used a small red ribbon to tie back her hair.
xxx.
The sun was setting once more.
Rin was now walking along side Ah-Un along with Jaken, Sesshomaru had stopped in a small clearing in the woods. Rin watched as he walked to the middle of the clearing and stood silently for a moment, she had been traveling with him for many years now. And was used to this routine, he was checking for danger.
After the moment passed and no danger immiment Sesshomaru made his way to a tree across from the clearing's center and sat down leaning against it with effortless elegance.
Rin watched him sitting there is aloof detachment and sometimes she wondered what he would think about all the time, and an even smaller part of her wondered if he ever thought about her.
Rin shook her head at that thought, though a powerful youkai he is, he could not read minds but Rin still felt embarrassed at the thought. Jaken was fiddling with Ah-Un, who seemed to still wish to stand while Jaken was miserably failing to command the Dragon to sit.
Rin felt her face getting flushed, Oh god; I've just been standing here staring at him! She held either side of her face with her hands and stared at her feet feeling the heat underneath her hands and aware of the blush she knew had risen to her cheeks.
"Rin! You insufferable girl! Go get the fire wood, if you can't continue to be helpful Lord Sesshomaru will surely make you –"
"Jaken." Sesshomaru's voice cut Jaken's threat short, knowing where the Imp was going with the threat – though empty he knew, it still bothered the demon lord. He glanced over at Rin and fought the urge to turn his fully towards her. His eyes did not leave her though as he watched the young woman jolt at Jaken's words. His eyes narrowed, Rin's face was red – Is she Ill?
Sesshomaru thought off handedly as he watched her step into the forest. He glanced back up at the sky, the sun had practically set and it was dusk now. Rin usually was returning back to camp at this time.
xxx.
"Lord Sesshomaru, where are you going?" Jaken implored as he saw his Lord suddenly stand and begin to retreat into the forest. For a moment Jaken thought he would not receive an answer but then the dog demon responded, "I will return, Jaken."
xxx.
Okay, um…one, two, three, four, five, six…twelve, thirteen – okay that should be enough for the fire tonight. Rin thought to herself as she began her walk back towards camp, it was dark now and she would have been lying if she had said she wasn't a little nervous out in the words on her own at night.
The loud hum of the summer cicadas followed her through the light of the intermittent fireflies that danced through the air. She could not see the sky for the trees but she knew tonight the sky must be beautiful. Rin continued walking for quite some time and finally stopped realizing she was probably lost. She bit her bottom lip and glanced around for some sight of sound, but there was no fire as of yet at camp, of course. Nothing looked the same as it had during the light of the sun and all she heard were the cicadas singing.
"Oh gosh.." she muttered, still nervously chewing on her bottom lip and shuffling the wood in her arms.
She was considering yelling out one of her companion's names but thought better of it, If they did not hear her and some rogue demon did – she would have more things to worry about than her poor sense of direction.
Rin was backing up to look around again when she knocked into to something, she stiffened.
She knew there was no tree that was close behind her.
She shut her eyes for a moment and attempted to stay calm.
Slowly turning around and expected something horrible to face her, she slowly opened her eyes and gasped almost dropping the wood in her arms.
"Lord Sesshomaru!" she breathed in surprise.
"Rin, you should not wander so far from camp."
"I'm sorry, Milord!" She bowed slightly and then looked back at him, he was already walking back towards camp.
"Rin, do not fall behind."
xxx.
He had been following her since shortly after she left the camp, keeping a distance and simply making she did not get lost. When she had wandered too far and he could smell the anxiety and fear rolling off her he stepped in before the intoxicating scent found its way to some wandering demon in the forest.
He had walked into the very small clearing she was in and was about to say something when she walked right into him. Sesshomaru was rarely thrown off balance by anything and physically he was un affected. But as soon as she bumped into him and stood there, her back to his chest, for some strange reason he'd forgotten what he was about to say.
He furrowed his eyebrows, irritated at his break in thought. He felt her heart beating fast and her scent was overwhelming to his sensitive nose. She smelled of flowers and faintly of strawberries, he opened his mouth to speak but when he inhaled he tasted it. Closing his mouth he stood in stalwart silence till she turned around to face him. The small gasp that left her mouth and the breathy, "Lord Sesshomaru!" that left her in response to his sudden appearance.
For a moment he did not respond because of a very slight response he'd noticed in himself, "Rin you should not wander so far from camp."
"I'm sorry Milord!"
It was slight but he'd noticed it, of course he had, when her eyes had met his something happened.
Strange…
He thought abjectly as he sat back against the tree at camp, Rin humming as she gave Jaken the firewood while the Imp berated her for her lateness.
Sesshomaru was still lost in thought and paid no heed to Jaken's words this time.
It was strange but for a moment…in that moment I..
He was uncertain and it was absurdly irritating to him, but for a fraction of a second…her closeness, scent, and gaze had overwhelmed him. And for a moment the Lord of the Western Lands had felt his chest constrict as his breathe caught and a unknown and foreign warm sensation spread through him.
Bewildered and angry Sesshomaru sat in quiet contemplation for the rest of the evening, ignoring Jaken's comments and Rin's customary 'Good Night'.
He felt the cold night breeze wash over him and closed his eyes, wishing for it to rush over him a few more times.
Anything to make this strange warm sensation leave him so he could return to his thoughts of lordship, power, and conquest. And most of all to drown out the sound of Rin's heart, it had found its way again to him tonight.
He glanced over at the fire and scoffed silently, both his companions were asleep.
Perhaps it's time I make a change..
These distractions would not do, he stood up and decided to patrol outskirts of their camp. He told himself it was to proactively maintain safety to his companions, but deep down he knew why he really did it. He would not admit it even to himself.
But what Lord Sesshomaru had really wanted was to escape the sound of the enchanting mortal heart beat across the fire.
xxx.