[A/N: Again, the poll, please take a look…]
Chapter 1:
Sesshoumaru blinked fuzzily as his vision cleared, and found himself staring at a bush. His aching head was too put-upon at the moment to give him much more information than that it was a bush, so he closed his eyes for a little while and tried to think of how he could have gotten there.
The last thing he remembered was going flying with Father and some of the other members of the court. Had he fallen? His cheeks flushed with embarrassment at the thought of tumbling from the sky in front of all the nobles. Father wouldn't take him flying again for months after this.
Sesshoumaru tried to sit up, but his head promptly began to whirl dizzily and he lay back down again, trying to shift his position a little so that he was looking at something more interesting than a bush. The fallen log on the other side had slightly better aesthetics, but not by much. Tucking his mokomoko behind his aching head, he waited for Father to come and find him.
After what Sesshoumaru deemed to be several hours (he had drifted off to sleep a few times and therefore wasn't sure) the sun began to set, still with no sign of Father. Sesshoumaru really began to worry now. How badly must he have disgraced himself, that Father would not yet return for him? He had only recently begun to participate fully in the events at the court of the Western Lands, and still knew little enough that it was far too easy to make a fool of himself. Falling out of the sky on a mere touring flight certainly would have accomplished that very thoroughly.
Still, if he had fallen, why didn't he hurt more? Aside from the headache and the dizzy feeling, he didn't seem to be at all injured. Daiyoukai were very resilient and healed remarkably fast, but broken bones from such a high fall couldn't possibly have healed yet. But if he hadn't fallen, Sesshoumaru had no idea how he could have gotten there.
There was a sudden rustling from the bush he had turned away from, and Sesshoumaru snapped his head around to look that way, ignoring the stabbing pain through his dizzy head at the movement. The rustling stopped, and Sesshoumaru thought he heard retreating footsteps. Perhaps he was near a human settlement, for he had sensed no youki from the intruder.
Too tired to care about what new trouble that might cause, Sesshoumaru lay his head back on the mokomoko and allowed his eyes to drift shut.
…
Sesshoumaru roused slowly to the uncomfortable sensation that he was being stared at. Then something poked his face, and his eyes snapped open as he grabbed for whatever it was. He found himself holding a small tanned wrist in his own pale hand, and looking into a pair of wide brown eyes. The sun was streaking through the trees—it was morning already, and still Father hadn't come. Maybe he wasn't going to come. Sesshoumaru must have failed him somehow, after all.
The owner of the eyes was a tiny little girl; well, not exactly tiny, she was actually about the same size as Sesshoumaru himself, or maybe even bigger (but only by a very little bit). She just seemed small and delicate. Her hair was shaggy and uncontrolled except for a small lock tied with a simple beaded ornament, and her clothes were worn and dirty.
They stared at each other for a few moments before Sesshoumaru released the girl's hand, pulling himself into a sitting position so that he would not appear vulnerable. The girl promptly reached out again and started patting his hair, making soft little sighing sounds as she stroked the soft silver locks.
"Stop that," Sesshoumaru said firmly. He was the Prince of the Western Lands and he would not be petted like a dog. Even if it did feel rather nice and help his headache.
The girl pulled her hand away, her mouth making a sad little 'O' shape as she whimpered unhappily. She sounded more like an orphaned inuyoukai than anything else, and Sesshoumaru found himself feeling a little guilty, even though she was just a human.
Turning away, he ignored her, hoping she would get distracted and go away so he wouldn't have to deal with the whole business. After a few moments, her footstep pattered away and he sighed with relief as he staggered to his feet long enough to make it to a nearby tree and curl up at its base. Why wouldn't his body respond properly? His balance was all off, and his vision whirled as he almost collapsed by the tree.
If his father would not return for him, Sesshoumaru must fend for himself, but in his current state he would be lucky to make it to the trail in the forest. This was not a good situation to be in; even if Father was angry with him, he would still make a good bargaining chip for anyone who wanted to kidnap him. Sesshoumaru was still far too young to fight off any powerful youkai, and his father's enemies were very powerful.
He was distracted from his reverie as footsteps again approached him, and he quickly recognized the scent as that of the bothersome girl. Preparing to snarl at her and scare her off, he whirled around, only to get a bucket of water splashed into his face.
Yipping in undignified surprise, Sesshoumaru coughed and spluttered, trying to get the water out of his eyes so he could see again. The girl was staring at him with what he now recognized as concern, the kind of expression his mother would use when he messed up in a spar and got cut or bruised. Sesshoumaru didn't like that look, it meant people thought he was weak. He wasn't weak, he wasn't! He was just still training; he would get better.
As Sesshoumaru finally got enough water out of his ears to be able to hear properly again—it had been quite disconcerting without one of his most important senses—the girl crouched down and started patting his hair again. Sesshoumaru glared at her but before he could say anything she grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet. The young inuyoukai staggered and, to his horror, had to lean on the girl's shoulder to remain upright.
The girl patted his hand gently, making a few soft cooing sounds that were oddly comforting, and led him through the brush to a dirt trail. Sesshoumaru struggled a bit getting through the bushes; he had been going flying, so his heavy court clothes were little good for walking through a forest. The heavy brocade and miniature armor were all right for weightless flying, but not so good on the ground, and the mokomoko kept getting caught in things. To Sesshoumaru's embarrassment, the girl always paused and painstakingly worked it loose before helping him further down the trail. Once or twice she paused to brush dirt off his fine clothing, as well. Sesshoumaru, of course, did not object to the servile acts, as they were only what he could expect for his rank. It was the fact that he had to rely on the girl for help that bothered him.
After a few minutes of walking down the path, the forest opened into a wide clearing. Sesshoumaru wrinkled his nose a little at the smell of so many humans and their animals as he looked at the village nestled into the clearing. It looked rustic and dirty, and very unprepossessing compared to the rich palace Sesshoumaru was used to.
He glanced over at the girl, who turned to him and silently put one finger to her lips before carefully leading him around the edge of the village. It didn't seem that any of the villagers had noticed them yet, being too busy with laundry or feeding chickens or whatever peasant chores they were doing. They would take notice if it was Father.
By the time they reached their destination, Sesshoumaru was beginning to feel dizzy again, and was glad for the chance to rest even if it was in a dingy little lean-to. Even though he tried to make it on his own strength, the girl again had to support him by the time they reached the door. She helped him inside and over to a tattered straw mattress in the corner; her own bed, apparently.
Did she expect a reward for her aid? She was quite mistaken if so, a daiyoukai of his stature had no time for tiny little human girls who petted him. Still, he was tired and dizzy and achy, so he permitted her to ease him down onto the mattress and gently lay a threadbare blanket over him. That done, she made another sign for silence before gently patting his hair—Sesshoumaru was getting quite tired of that—and darting out of the little hut.
This was an odd situation, but he would have to get some rest before he could try to sort it out. It seemed that the girl's intention was to help him, but he wasn't sure why. Also, where was Father? This wasn't like him, even if he was angry.
[A/N: So, Sesshoumaru's now about six, physically, and Rin is seven or eight. Clearly he is quite a precocious child. Also, this is my lowest-dialogue chapter ever, I'm quite impressed with it.]