So this was originally supposed to be a little one shot, but there was too much I wanted to put into it, so I changed it into a short story instead.
Please enjoy.
Spellbound
She ran; her feet carrying her as fast as they could take her. She didn't know where else to go except to retreat into the forest. It seemed to be her only salvation.
"Come on out little girl," an older woman's voice called tauntingly through the trees behind her, "We don't want to hurt you."
Lies. Everything that they were saying was a lie. From the moment she had seen the two elderly women outside of her village she had known they had ill intentions. Neither of them had been directly human. There was something wrong with both of them.
Her heart raced rapidly in her chest. She knew that if she didn't escape these two women then she would surely lose her life. The woman was drawing closer to her, going to be on her in any moment. Changing her direction, she burst into an opening in the trees. The moonlight shone brightly through the night sky, making many things visible… merely making her more vulnerable.
In that moment she heard a fierce hiss from before her, causing her feet to stop in their tracks. In the opening there stood a giant demon; the moonlight making his silver fur shine with a wonderful colour. As her eyes met with his, she wasn't filled with even more fear than she already was. In truth the sight of the demon almost calmed her.
"Would you rather die at the hands of a vicious demon?" the older woman cackled from hidden within the trees, "You would only make him hungrier."
Fear filled her once again at the sound of the woman's voice. It was shrill… frozen… It was almost as if the tone itself was lingering a sense of dark intent and death.
In her realization of the fact that she was being chased, her feet once again took to flight and she ran past the large demon that stood before her. Somehow the cold feeling that the two women had given her was more frightening than the idea of the demon engulfing her in a single snap of his jaws. Demons killing people was a natural way of life. These two women… they didn't seem like a natural way of life.
Panic filled her as she once again ran as fast as her feet would carry her. There wasn't anything else that she was capable of doing the way she was. She was much weaker than anything that lived within this forest. She could only run and hope that she could escape with her life.
He stood there silently in the middle of the night, the moonlight surrounding him. In the distance he could hear the cackles and horrid laughter of two elderly women. One had passed him by through the trees, seeming to chase after a frightened human girl.
He had returned from killing his prey that had challenged his strength as a demon lord. Knowing that the prey would not live through the battle, he decided to take out his frustrations on it. It had put up some resistance to its death, having tried to strike him down as best it could but to no avail. He had still come out the unyielding victor.
That had been when the girl had crossed his path. The way she stood there unafraid of him even in his demonic form… he found her intelligence questionable. She had just stood there even in her haste of fleeing what had been chasing her. She had even managed to lock gazes with him without breaking a stare for more than a few moments… The idea was somehow intriguing.
Reverting back to his natural state, he moved out of the beaming moonlight and into the trees. His vassal and the young girl companion would be waiting for his arrival in the morning. They would be ready to move as he so chose when the sun decided to rise.
Rustling caught his attention as the bushes nearby moved and he heard the young girl giggling to herself. She was coming closer; making her way over to where he had been sleeping. It hadn't been until her light footsteps had stopped that he had opened his amber orbs. They were met with a small pair of bright green ones and black fur. It took him a moment to realize that the girl was showing him what she had found.
"What is this Rin?" he questioned, raising a brow as he inspected the animal.
"I got up to get some water and I found it laying on the riverside," the girl explained with a wide grin, pulling the small animal close to her to hug it, "Can I please keep it lord Sesshoumaru?"
By the look of the animal it was a small feline with black fur and a white patch on its left ear and nose. The eyes were different though, as if saying that the animal had its own personality. The expression that it was giving him as the young girl hugged it tightly to her chest seemed to say that it wasn't impressed.
"Look here you brazen child!" his vassal's voice stated before the imp appeared from the bushes with Ah-Un behind him, "We are traveling around fighting demons. We don't need to worry about some tiny animal while we're at it."
"I don't care about what you have to say master Jaken!" Rin said, barely paying any mind to the new presence as she looked up at him hopefully, "Please lord Sesshoumaru?"
He turned his golden orbs back onto the feline resting in the girl's arms. Though the animal seemed unimpressed, it wasn't struggling out of Rin's hold. Its eyes locked with his and they almost widened with what they were seeing. It was indeed a curious creature.
"You may do as you wish," he stated tonelessly as he rose to his feet, "Do not be surprised if you find it does not stay."
"Oh thank you so much lord Sesshoumaru!" Rin chided excitedly, "I'll take good care of it I promise!"
With that the girl turned to the imp and stuck out her tongue at him while raising the feline up to show Ah-Un.
"Look at your new friend Ah-Un, isn't it cute?" she asked the two headed dragon with a wide grin, "I'm going to name it Seiichi."
As the girl got ready to make way, he had already started to lead the way back toward the west.
He could hear his vassal muttering about the girl and her 'pet' as they walked through the forest. It wasn't an unusual thing to hear the small imp complaining about the things the young girl did within a day. Each time she heard Jaken, she was sure to give his mouth right back at him. He himself would never admit that their bickering could – at times – be amusing.
"No master Jaken!" the girl exclaimed from behind him, "Don't pull on its tail!"
It wasn't a moment later that there was a loud hiss and Jaken was crying out in pain. Turning his head to the side, he could see the scratch marks that ran across his vassal's nose.
"What a nasty animal!" the imp cried, pointing at the feline in Rin's arms, "That's not the kind of thing you should keep around you Rin."
"You pulled on its tail master Jaken. It's your own fault!" Rin argued, letting the feline down to the ground.
Upon touching the ground, it hissed again at Jaken before turning and continuing walking the way they were going.
He paused in his steps, watching the black creature steadily walking behind him. As it almost reached him, it turned its head upward to look at his face with what seemed to be curiosity. The expression it its eyes caused his to narrow. The bickering between the imp and young girl seemed to fade as he just watched the small animal. Why did it seem like it was more than just a small feline? Pushing the question away, he continued walking in his steps. He was sure that it wasn't anything that deserved much attention.
He could hear the chattering behind him as he held onto the reigns of the two headed dragon. The girl had been so impressed with herself; constantly pointing out whenever that vicious creature would do something.
"Master Jaken!" Rin cried from the dragon's back, "Hey master Jaken!"
His brows pushed together even further at the sound of her voice. When was she going to leave him be? He couldn't stand it!
"What is it Rin?" he demanded, looking back and glaring at the small girl.
"Look! Seiichi's riding on one of Ah-Un's head!" she told him, pointing ahead of her.
Indeed the creature was sitting on the left head of the dragon; contently licking one of its paws. He could feel his eyebrow twitch at the sight of the contentment of the black animal. Did it not understand how fearful it should have been of his lord? Could it not comprehend that lord Sesshoumaru could kill it in a simple flick of his wrist?
'Ungrateful animal,' he thought bitterly, turning his head forward.
He lowly began muttering to himself; his eyes glaring at the ground ahead of him. What could his lord have been thinking to let Rin keep such a small creature with her? The thing was clearly vicious and detached from the things around it. One small mistake and the girl could end up with the same marks on her cheek as he had received early in the day.
'It will probably just run away anyway,' he thought with a small sigh, 'It probably just wandered away from its home.'
His mood picked up with that thought. The creature would just run away on its own anyway. Either that or get eaten by a stray demon in the not too distant future. The thought brought an evil grin to his face. Such a thing happening would indeed be pleasing.
'Would serve it right…'
His feet stopped walking as he saw that lord Sesshoumaru had stopped ahead of them. The demon's golden orbs were staring to the side and by the expression on his lord's face he knew that there was an enemy nearby.
"What's the matter Ah-Un?" Rin's voice questioned from behind him.
Glancing behind him, he could see that both the dragon and the small creature's eyes were cold; their pupils no more than small slits.
"What is it my lord?" he dared to question, looking up at his lord.
"Wolves," his lord stated tonelessly before turning his head forward, "They seem to have caught their prey."
"…Wolves?" he could hear Rin ask; her voice small.
"They won't come near," lord Sesshoumaru stated as he continued to walk on.
"As they should," the imp scoffed, shaking his head, "Mere mutts don't compare to the strength of lord Sesshoumaru."
He continued walking as well, pulling the dragon behind him.
Nothing could stand against lord Sesshoumaru. If they made it out alive it was because luck had favored them that day. His lord could stop any enemy that stray into his path. His brows furrowed as he could hear the purring of the creature behind him.
'It's something that damned animal needs to understand!'
He held tightly to the reigns of the two headed dragon. If there was one thing for sure, he knew that he and that animal would be enemies through this journey. He could feel it.
End of Chapter
