A/N: Alright, first InuYasha fanfic I've ever posted. I absolutely adore the Sesshoumaru/Rin coupling, so I've decided to finally write a story about it. Here's the only problems with me and writing; without enough motivation, I can easily forget about a piece I'm writing. So, comments and critiques are greatly appreciated. And also, I usually run out of stuff to say when I'm writing so my stories are usually relatively short. So, if you have any ideas or suggestions on how you want this story to go, then don't hesitate to tell them to me! I might just use them in this story! And if you see me getting off character, please tell me because that's my biggest issue right now with fanfics. (However, I think I do pretty go with keeping Jaken in character. : ) He's the most fun character to portray in the whole series!)
Thanks for reading!
Oh, and, unfortunately, none of the InuYasha characters belong to me. Rumiko Takahashi has full control. -sigh-
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Chapter One:
She had forgotten how much she'd missed spring.
Walking through the damp trail, she gazed up into the cloud streaked sky. She was glad that she had escaped from the hustle and bustle of the household; only the chirping of early birds and the croaks of tree frogs surrounded her here. As she passed, bullfrogs on the bank jumped into the murky pond and turtles ducked their heads under the dark waters. The ground was cold underneath her bare feet, but a breeze wrapped her body in warmth. The tepid air smelled of rain.
He watched her through his window. She walked so carefully that her footsteps were barely audible to his sensitive ears, only a crunch of a twig here and there. The breeze took her hair and threw it behind her shoulders in a beautiful ebony wave. The scent of it drifted up to his nose; she smelled of wildflowers. Her elaborate kimono was hitched up just above her knees, the ends of it tied into a little ball -- like the human workers in the valley below did to their cotton kimonos while working in the rice fields. In her small hands was a banquet of brightly colored flowers.
It was easy to tell where this girl's roots came from: even through all of the schooling, dancing and samisen lessons, she still managed to find the most enjoyment and peace in searching for flowers within the massive gardens. She was a hopeless mess.
He remembered when he had first found Rin, or rather when Rin had first found him and wouldn't leave him the hell alone. He remembered seeing her cold, lifeless body after the wolves had gotten to her village, how her toothless smile flashed into his head before he removed his father's sword from it's sheath. She was only supposed to be an experiment, a test to see whether his Tenseiga would actually work. But she had turned in to something so much more, something he didn't fully understand. And seven years later, after Naraku had been defeated and they had returned to the western lands, she was still at his side, forever faithful.
Sesshoumaru turned his attention away from the human girl and to the parchment in front of him. He studied the symbols carefully through golden eyes, scrutinizing every word. What foolish creatures the Southerners were! The idiots thought they could threaten the Lord of the Western Lands with shouts of war and bloodshed if western territory was not signed over to them! Pah! Let there be war then! Angered, Sesshoumaru cleared the table with one fluid strike of his right arm. The demon servant at his side let out a quiet yelp and jumped to his master's side as Sesshoumaru gracefully stormed to the door. The servant barely had time to pull the screen open before Sesshoumaru stomped out into the hallway.
"Kiyoshi, send word to the Southern leader. Tell him that this Lord of the Western Lands does not answer to threats and that immediate action will be taken if western land is threatened," Sesshoumaru stated. He then heard the meek demon utter a "yes, milord" and scurry back down the hallway.
Sesshoumaru made his way through the great room and out into the bright morning sunshine. His fingers were twitching with anger and Rin seemed to have the right idea by wandering the peaceful gardens. He saw her from a distance wading through a field of wildflowers: that small child he had met so long ago had grown into a young woman. Her silken, sable hair flowed over slender shoulders and her honey brown eyes sat above cheeks freckled by the sun. Staring at her, Sesshoumaru realized that this young woman would be the envy of all of the village men. Each one of them would be vying for her attention, striking up marriage proposals every few days.
But who could possibly stand being married to such a childish, lighthearted, carefree fool such as her? Rin was such an hopeless optimist -- she never saw the bad in anyone. That silly girl would have easily befriended a savage crocodile demon and then gotten swallowed whole! Sesshoumaru's lip curled at the thought of his blithe ward. It was not that Rin was unintelligent -- she excelled in all aspects of her schooling -- she was just . . . lost in her own happy world.
"Oh, Sesshoumaru-sama, look!" Rin exclaimed as she all but danced over to him, holding out her colorful banquet for him to examine. "Aren't they pretty?" she asked, as a bright smiled flooded over her face. "I think I'll put them in the hallway in front of the great room."
Sesshoumaru said nothing and, being accustomed to this type of treatment, Rin grinned and made her way to the house. He listened to her light footsteps as they faded into the great room and his golden eyes roamed the blue sky. There would be no way that his lighthearted child would ever be married off: no man would ever be able to tame Rin's wild ways and Sesshoumaru pitied the fool who would ever think of trying.
----
The next day surprised the household with more warm temperatures and sunshine. Servants brought sleeping mats and rugs out of the castle, beating the dust and the gloom of winter out of them. The porches that surrounded Lord Sesshoumaru's great western home were swept and mopped with the hope of more beautiful days to arrive and be enjoyed.
Rin took advantage of the day by laying in the tall grass beside one of the garden's ponds, listening to the song of the birds and the gentle breeze that floated through the trees. A hummingbird flitted over her head.
"Riiiiin!" came a squeal of a voice. "Riiiiin!"
"I'm over here, Master Jaken," the girl responded as she sat up, raising her hand above her head in a wave.
The little imp spotted her immediately and his yellow eyes narrowed as he hurriedly waddled over to her. "Where have you been, child?" he inquired with a snap. "I've been looking for you everywhere and here I find you taking a nap! What a foolish, arrogant girl you are! You have lessons today! Your teacher is waiting!"
"Oh, Master Jaken, must I?" Rin protested, her bottom lip curling into a pout. It was an expression she had used many times in the past. "I'd much rather go to the village. Oh, please, Master Jaken, please!"
"No! I will not allow it!" the imp squeaked. Her pouty expression had never worked on the tiny demon, why should it now? Rin's pout quickly turned into a scowl. "Lord Sesshoumaru has graciously given you these opportunities at a better, more refined life and you cannot just take them for granted! Now, come on, child, let's go!"
Rin folded her arms over her chest in defiance. "I will not," she stated.
"Rin," Jaken threatened, tapping his tiny foot in impatience.
"I will not, Master Jaken!" she exclaimed. "It is the first pretty day that Japan has seen in a while and I want to enjoy it! I will loose nothing by skipping one samisen lesson."
"What an impudent fool you are, Rin!" Jaken scolded, shaking his fist wildly above his head. "You will go to your lessons today!"
"I will not, Master Jaken. And you may punish me later!"
With that, the girl turned and sprinted across the field, heading towards the outskirts of the castle's territory. She heard Jaken behind her, shouting profanities and jumping up and down in the tall grass. She laughed, knowing that his tiny legs would never be able to keep up with her long strides. Rin knew that it wouldn't be long before Jaken had a servant sent out to retrieve her. She might as well enjoy however much of the day she had left.
---
Rin approached the edge of one of the western land's small villages with the sun gleaming brightly overhead. The town was busy, with people moving about in all different places. A small string of fruit and vegetable stands had been set up to show off the year's first batch of goodies. The air reeked of fish and other fresh catches. Smiling, Rin made her way to the stands, studying the bright colors of the fruits and taking in the pleasing aromas that came with them.
"Would you like to buy one?" a farmer asked, motioning to the array of vegetables spread out in front of him.
"Oh, no thank you, sir. I'm just looking," Rin responded politely.
She made her way to the creek that wound its way through the middle of the village. Taking advantage of the beautiful day, naked children splashed through the cool water, throwing mud and who-knew what else at their giggling companions. Rin watched them, laughing as they laughed. She sat down on the creek's bank and folded her legs to her chest.
Suddenly, a loud crack! sounded from behind her, followed by the screams of a few of the villagers. Rin's head whirled around and she was able to catch a glimpse of several streaks of black and gray and brown rushing through the interior of the village, crashing into houses and knocking over fruit stands. Droplets of blood rained through the air as villagers fell to the ground. Rin turned around and screamed at the now-silent children to run and they took off without questions. She jumped to her feet and headed in the opposite direction of the chaos, hoping to get away before one of the attacking demons spotted her.
She wasn't as fast or as lucky as she thought. One of the brown blurs stopped in front of her, blocking her path and she came to such a sudden stop that she fell over onto her haunches. The ebony haired girl let out a scream.
The wolf demon smiled down at her, his arms folded across his bare and scared chest. Pointy, yellow fangs showed prominently in his menacing grin as he spoke, "You smell of royalty, child," he said, flexing sharp claws for her to see.
Flashes of blood raced through Rin's head as she stared at the wolf demon. Memories from so long ago took hold of her and paralyzed every inch of her body: all she could see was the ripping of flesh and the only sound she could hear was the terror-filled screams of the villagers she once lived among.
The wolf demon knelt in front of her, balancing on his toes as he leaned in to sniff. "Are you a servant of the Lord Sesshoumaru?" he asked, his tongue flicking across her cheek.
Rin shoved at the demon's chest, which caught him off guard and caused him to wobbled back. She scrambled to her feet as he snarled, lashing out at her. She could feel his claws rip through the fabric of the shoulder of her kimono, but they did not pierce her skin. She stumbled forward, crashing into something solid in her escape. Surely, this was the end.
A string of light whipped at her side and snapped in the air behind her. The wolf demon let out a cry and she heard his body hit the ground. A vise grip dragged her to the left and, looking up, Rin nearly wept with relief at the sight of her stern-faced lord. He pressed her against his side and walked forward to meet the writhing demon on the ground.
Sesshoumaru's energy whip had severed the wolf demon's feet clean off. He laid on the ground, squirming over the blood-soaked dirt and clenching his teeth to keep his screams silenced. Rin watched in horror as Sesshoumaru knelt, placing his glowing green hand on the demon's face. The wolf howled in pain, fighting to removing the lord's poisonous hand from his melting flesh. After a few seemingly endless moments, the demon's movements ceased.
Sesshoumaru rose, his golden eyes piercing Rin's frightened face.
"I-I am sorry, milord," she stuttered quickly. "I shouldn't have. . ."
"Are you alright, Rin?" he asked, ignoring her apologies.
Taken aback by his question, Rin cocked her head. "Well, yes," she answered.
He gave no reply this, but instead turned to face the village. Rin saw that his guards (and a Ah-Un riding Jaken) were finishing off the rest of the small pack of wolves. She could see no living villagers in the area, only the bodies of a few unlucky souls. The green imp spotted Sesshoumaru and rushed to his side.
"They were sent by Yuuta!" he squeaked. "One of the demons confessed this before we finished him off!" he added, hints of victory and pride in his voice. "The demon said that this was only Yuuta's first string of attacks on western villages and that there will be many more until land is handed over! What a that Yuuta is to think that he can threaten the great Lord Sesshoumaru!"
Sesshoumaru seemed to think through this new information in his mind as he studied the destruction within the village. Once his lord's back was turned, Jaken whirled around to Rin, cracking her over the head with his staff with one mighty swing. The girl cried out and grabbed the back of her head, agony pouring over her face.
"Idiot girl!" he exclaimed angrily, stomping his foot. "You could have gotten yourself killed! Do you see what skipping your lessons can do! This is called karma!"
Ignoring his rants and rubbing at her tender head, Rin asked, "Master Jaken, who is Yuuta?"
"Do you know nothing!?" he retorted, shaking his head in disapproval. "Yuuta is the Lord of the Southern Lands. A harsh, cold-hearted lion demon who cares nothing for his own people, but thirsts for more and more land." Jaken explained, and at Rin's quizzical look he continued, "Yuuta started off as one of Sesshoumaru's head advisors on foreign issues, but Sesshoumaru, being the intelligent and level-headed demon he is, saw that Yuuta was not fit for such a position of high authority. The power was going straight to Yuuta's head and Sesshoumaru dismissed him quickly after the lion demon began talk of a country-wide war.
"This did not make Yuuta happy, of course, and by something miracle, a few months ago, he managed to climb to power in the southern lands and now the fool is out to get western territory!" At this last exclamation, Jaken pounded the ground with his staff for emphasis.
"Should I know this Yuuta?" Rin asked.
"You were only a silly child when Yuuta was an advisor. You knew nothing of Sesshoumaru's advisors. . . you hardly know anything now!" the imp snapped, fire in his yellow eyes.
Rin's mind flipped through her memories, trying to put a face to the name. She could picture a lion demon who she ran into sometimes as a child while roaming the palace. He was a large creature with the biggest hands she had ever seen on any demon and sandy brown hair that covered nearly every inch of his massive body. Could this be the same malicious demon they were talking about? She had always remembered him to have the most wonderful smile and the kindest black eyes.
"Lord Sesshoumaru, waiiiiit!" Jaken cried, and Rin's head snapped up to see Sesshoumaru take off in a wave of white. She called Ah-Un to her side and pulled Jaken on to the great beast's back before they took to the air after their lord.
Rin watched as the ground below them rushed by in a green blur. What did all of this mean? Why would Yuuta send a pack of wolves to terrorize a village of innocent humans? Was there truly to be a war between the western and southern lands?
She closed her eyes and let the wind wash her thoughts away.