CHAPTER TWO

SERIES OF EVENTS

Rin knew something was wrong. Her mother and her brother had been locked in the same room for more than a fortnight now. But no matter what she did… whether it be attempting to scale the stones leading up to his window, or pounding on the door 'till her fists bled onto the stone-covered floor… Rin could not get into that room. Often times, she would hear her mother, the Heavenly Queen of the North, singing a chilling lullaby to Kohaku, who she was told was in a trance. It was odd being without him- for Rin had never been separated from her adopted sibling for more than two hours at a time… they shared breakfasts, lunches, and dinners together, they slept in the same room and chased one another around when there was nothing better to do- or if they had finished all of their classes… Rin even slept in the crook of the door that Kohaku was hidden behind… and she soon stopped trying to get in… rather keeping quiet and hoping that she would see her brother soon.

It was here that she overheard what many children are not meant to hear. It was a cold night, especially for a summer's eve, and Rin had an extra blanket upon her silhouette, shivering in the damp doorway. Rumors from the servants were enough to keep her curiosity fulfilled one step at a time… but it was their priest, Miroku, who gave Rin the idea of a sacrifice… and informed her (unknowingly) of the sorceress in the woods who was famed for her ability to heal everything and anything.

"He will not last much longer, I'm afraid, my beautiful Queen.." the ragged voice of the middle-aged monk adorning handsome purple garments came from inside the room, and Rin stirred, her sleepy chocolate eyes opening at the sound of a voice within. Surely there must be a secret way into the room that she did not know… for all these people managed to get past her despite the fact that she was at the main entrance for the room… other than the window, she knew no way to get in. Holding her pale hand to the doorframe, the young princess strained to hear his next words that would soon slip from his wettened lips that he had just swept his tongue across nervously.

"What should I do, Miroku? Is there nothing that can save him?" Her mother's voice was mono-tone… and Rin knew that she had already given up hope for Kohaku. Was his trance so deathly to the point that he was going to escape the world itself without his own knowing? Huffs of breathing had continued to pass through the wooden doorframe since the day he was bedded down with the sickness that would soon flood all over the area, hitting most other people in the area, and few would survive its grasp… the black death. The plague. Miroku's next words were hushed… and very hesitant to answer the Queen, for even he knew that what he was about to suggest was both a long shot and very dangerous…. Unless one was in the most dire of situations, they would not even consider her as an option.

"In the forest, there lives a sorceress… it is said that she can do anything. Fix ailments… heal the wounded, give sight to the blind and bring the dead back to life." A long silence fell between the two adults… and Rin jumped to her feet, letting the blankets covering her pearly white sleeping garments flow to the ground. Suddenly, the door opened and Rin sped off, her bare feet tapping fleshily against the stone and wood of the castle. "WAIT! RIN!" The priest cried from behind her… but it was well known that the man would not go after her unless commanded to. And Kikyou was in a state of shock… to the point of which she could barely understand why Miroku was calling out her daughter's name.

Rin sprinted down the hallway, taking a back passageway through the kitchen area to get to her destination faster. On her way there, the girl found a small basket with patchwork cloth in it designed to keep pastries warm while on their way back from the town. Remembering fleetingly what Miroku said about the price she would have to pay and, with the innocence and naïve behavior of a desperate child, the eleven year old princess stuffed the pasket with goodies left out on the counter- from crescants to lemon filled pastries… and then she was off. It wasn't long before she stopped again and found herself squeezing her palms to her arms, which were covered with goosebumps. Deciding to take a left because of a slight draft, Rin passed by a cloak fastened upon a hook nailed into the wallpapered stone making up the wall, and she grabbed it with numb little hands, knowing that if she had thought herself to be cold before waiting for Miroku's opinion on things, she would never make it through the night without a cloak to keep in her warmth. So convienently placed were the things she needed (the pastries and the crimson hooded cloak) that the raven-haired girl did not think a thing of it. Now that I've pointed out… you're interested, correct? But alas, that is for an entirely different story… one that has little to do with the one I am telling now.

Miroku could not just do nothing about the girl he'd forgotten could hear anything she wanted to through wooden doors. Looking from Kikyou to Kohaku and back to the door, he flew to his feet and grabbed his staff, it's six circular ringlets ringing out in the tense atmosphere. Jiggling the key into the door and running out, the priest sprinted down the hall, ran out into the night and mounted the horse he'd ridden there on… but no matter where he looked, he could not find the young raven-haired girl. Turning his head, the man rode to the town and, after wasting precious time, found himself rushing back… but in the dead of night… he was too smart to go into that forest… the stories that had come out of there were enough to frighten even a holy man such as himself…

Rin jogged out of the castle through the maids route (which was connected to the kitchen might I mention)- this was only used by the cook and his or her crew to go to the town when they needed to retrieve utensils and ingredients to cook up a feast for the royal family… Rin marveled for a while on how she could see her breath on the cold summer night… and then hurried on in the direction of what one may refer to as the enchanted forest.


"I did not wish for the trip to last this long…" the handsome prince commented with no audible tone- his assistant, a squirly little man with a bald head and large round, yellowish green eyes, attempted in vain to bring his steed up next to his young master's own flank. The horse beneath the prince's torso was a magnificent steed… one that had been given to him on his tenth birthday by his mother who was the Queen of a faraway land. The stallion was gargantuan, standing 16 hands tall… which is about five feet four inches at the withers. His mane and tail were a pearly white color- creamified by three years of rolling around in dirt and mud and other such messes, but it was obvious to the naked eye that such a prized animal could only belong to likes of a royal heir…. Jaken, the odd little man that served as the prince's servant, sat upon a paint pony, and his eyes were nearly all the way shut when he tried to look up at his master.

"Lord Sesshomaru… you're father is at a very important … you know very well just what good he intends for you-" the short man was cut off by the young prince's poison words.. "Yes, Jaken- it would have been absolutely fine… if we did not have to bring the unholy offspring of a horse's back end with us…" Sesshomaru kept his golden eyes straight forward, his facial features unchanging, but Jaken found it hard not to laugh- so he disguised his inability to keep quiet with a cough and looked over his shoulder at the youngest offspring of the Great Dog Demon, Sesshomaru's half brother, InuYasha. The boy was only seven, and following his thirteen year old half brother seemed to be pleasing for him at first… but after a time, the ungrateful freak started shifting every two minutes in the saddle, waving his hand at the bugs that were obviously not going to abandon the home they'd lived in for many generations because his highness' sons were on a hunting excursion.

Jaken coughed again and waved his hand madly for the guards to close in tighter for the road became even skinnier than it already was. Jaken fell in behind Sesshomaru's beast, A-Un, and they entered the forest of enchantment. It was a long while before they caught a glimpse of the herd belonging to the stars. The deer here were not a dirty brown color like the many that roam our earth now are like. One might think that the herd was a break off the reindeer kind- but this is untrue, for these mammals merely lack a certain gene that causes them to be albino… for some reason, it passes down to each generation… and only the females escape the fate that the stags are bound to. The females are white in the winter and brown in summer. The stag is ivory all year long. Suddenly, Sesshomaru's hands tightened on A-Un's reins, and the rightful heir of the kingdom of the East clicked his heels against the stallions side, sending the touchy bronco into a dead run. Jaken followed behind as quickly as he could (a mere trot) on his bouncy little pony, and InuYasha soon passed him, screaming in delight at the break from boredom. The moon was rising into the night sky by now, and the stag was at its most vulnerable state- practically glowing with a white light because of its pelt. "Lord Sesshomaru! Please wait!" Jaken cried out to the awaiting forest, digging his heels into his pony's side and urging it to go past it's top speed. All he got was a good fart out of the animal, and he wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Why am I always chasing after him?! LORD SESSHOMARU YOU DOG!" But his high pitched voice fell upon none but the guards' ears and one stayed back with him while the rest flew after the two half-siblings on more suited equines.

InuYasha unhooked the bow from his saddle's side and reached back into the quiver on his back, hooking one of his arrows onto his long fingers and he set it, put it into place and let it loose. In front of him, A-Un swerved with Sesshomaru riding fluidly on his back. The older brother turned back and glared at the younger son, his long hair whipping behind him crazily in the gales created by the speed of their mounts. InuYasha raised an eyebrow at his brother's face and managed to pull the skin beneath his eye down with a finger and stick out his tongue at the same time. Sesshomaru narrowed his gazers and turned ahead, leaning into A-Un's mane and urging him to go faster. Soon, he came to a clearing, and he unhooked his own bow from the stallion's saddle, embroidered with gold and lined with velvet. On the blanket, there was the royal crest of Sesshomaru's family… the one before it had been changed to fit Izayoi's own heritage, the mother of InuYasha. Drawing an arrow, Sesshomaru hooked it into place and put another one between his teeth, raising up, he let the first arrow loose, and managed to pierce the stag in the hind leg, a small smile flickered onto his facial features, then disappeared as the animal still sped on. Damn thing had a pelt made of iron.

Back a ways from where they had been let off, the guard and Jaken were making idle chit chat… "And that is how I got the scar on my ass- she just couldn't keep away!" The bald man's laughter echoed in the distance, and the guard just kept riding alongside the pony. What your guess about his expression is just as good as Jaken's, for a helmet covered his face entirely. Just then, the stag jumped down into their path and Jaken watched with an awed expression as its large brown eyes stayed straight forward, as if they were but mere trees in the forest. A-Un followed the creature, with Sesshomaru riding quite eloquently on his back… as if his thundering hooves and large bodice did not faze him at all. Another arrow let loose from InuYasha whizzed by Sesshomaru's head, and the thirteen year old prince reached up and caught it. Jaken swallowed. InuYasha came next on Izayoi's gelding, Buyo. The horse was a dun, a golden color with a black stripe running down his back and black stockings on each leg. He was biting his lip furiously as he passed by. A few moments later, they were all gone, totally oblivious to the fact that the stag was taking them in a big circle. Jaken closed his eyes, smoothed back his non-existent hair and clicked the pony's sides, as if nothing had happened. The guard stuttered behind him. "You think Sesshomaru will be alright?" Jaken cackled loudly… far too loudly. "MY DEAR FRIEND! If there is anyone you should be worried about… it is young InuYasha!"

A mile or two away, InuYasha was running out of arrows and Buyo's stamina was failing him. He did not have the drive that A-Un did… be it having been a gelding, the age difference, or the stress of it all, Buyo just stopped, throwing InuYasha to the ground. Sesshomaru smirked as Buyo's hoof beats quit sounding behind him, (as well as VERY loud curses from InuYasha- but I'll keep quiet about those… such things are not meant for immature eyes) and he continued on A-Un to catch the stag… however… the pallid mammal eluded him, and the young prince was left in the forest, with no light but the stars and the occasional flicker of fire-flies to keep him company. A-Un's ears twitched in every direction after his master slowed him to a slow walk. "Well… at least we got rid of the nuisance… It would seem though… that we have lost our party in the process." Sesshomaru sighed and dismounted the stallion, walking him out after replacing the bow on the hook connected to the saddle side. Sounds that should not be in a forest echoed through the woods, and it would seem that every time Sesshomaru turned around to take view upon the path they had just traversed from, it looked far different than it did before… perhaps the forest really was enchanted.