Hello. Guess what? It's Halloween tomorrow. What are y'all dressing up as?

Disclaimer: Hmmm. Can you guys help me think of a better waste of time than this? I don't know. I've only written a few of these disclaimer thingys... Maybe one or two... or maybe three or four... or even five. OR HOW ABOUT ONE MILLION? And no matter how much I complain, I still write these dumb things.

Alright? I don't own Inuyasha. Oh, you thought I did? GO GET AN EYE DOCTOR.

A/N: Yeah. Didn't want to scare away an readers, sorry. Just the lawyers. (Psh. Sueing a school kid, really? I'm broke, if any of you care.)

Anyways... I highly doubt you'll be reading this, so I won't waste any more of my time thinking about clever quirks to put here. After all, I already wrote that stupid disclaimer, didn't I?

So... Read and Review!

Enjoy!

Chapter One:

An ending is always a new beginning.

For my sixteenth birth-day, the one and only human that cared for me died.

The priestess that found time to criticize the angle at which I hold my bow, even when she struggled to breathe. The one that believed in me when everyone else didn't. And the one who, most of all, loved me with her entire heart for her entire life, with a true love from the bottom of her soul, not just a superficial 'care' that dissipated and blew away with time.

She called me to her bed on the morning of my birthday, which I had hurriedly prepared for. I chose a thin white haori, "man's wear" according to the sniffing village, and loose black pants. A few quick brushes through my hair and strapping of my dagger to my arm were subsequent and I was ready for the day in no time.

As soon as I stepped out of my hut, I regretted selling all of my old silk kimonos for lethal weapons and tools. The crispy, biting chill that turned tiny children's noses a healthy pink was back and the men were outside hustling and bustling about, hurrying with the late harvest for this year. Women were wrapping their babies in luxurious furs and themselves in layers of beautiful silks as they chattered about the large income of potatoes or rice this season and little kids ran around the marketplace, showing off their new leather boots or fur hats with excited, undistinguishable laughter. Merchants hung up lovely patterned silks comprising of lotus-designed kimonos, lily-decorated silks, and simply color wools and leather, perfect for making boots. Shopkeepers flounced their newly brought out foods: warm soup, soft rice and fish, roasted pig meat, the entire lot and weapon-forgers demonstrated their wickedly sharp katana and brandished their gleaming swords.

I wished I had money.

Sighing, I headed through the marketplace, trying my best to ignore the wonderful aromas of fresh bread and roast duck, forcing myself to focus on what spices from the villagers Kaede may want me to bring to her.

Ah, I will bring her some hiru. She likes chives in her miso soup.

And after speaking with Sango, who gladly lent me a copper piece to buy some hiru, I headed to Kaede's hut, planning on the wonderful dinner of fish in miso soup I would cook her tonight.

The room, once so brightly lit with passion, now rested in shadow. The windows were covered and the lamps were out, the only light entering were the sneaky little rays that inched between cracks in the wall. A dark shadow on Kaede's face obscured her from my vision, but even then, I could tell that something was awfully wrong.

I hurried over to her bed, dropping the parcel on the doorstep and knelt beside her.

And she collapsed on the soft bed, pulling my arm with her. "Rin."

I carefully wrapped my fingers around her hand. "Lady Kae"— And I stopped immediately when she squeezed down on my knuckles. I was glad that she still had strength to do so.

"Child," She rasped and wheezed. "It is your birth-day. Sixteen season-cycles is it, now?"

And I nodded after hushing her up. Talking took up too much of her breath. "Lady Kaede, you need rest." I pressed my palm to her forehead, shocked at how scalding hot and how chilling cold it was. As if Sickness and Illness had already planned to take her.

She protested, placing her other hand on top of mine. There was a pendant in the icy, sweaty palm. "Take this, childe, and wear it always." It was a flint arrowhead, cold to the touch. And I recognized it at once. It was the first arrow that Kaede had ever shot, one that had been around when the legendary Kikyo was alive and was currently scratched and rusted from old ago, and was Kaede's most valuable and sentimental treasure. I wanted to thank her, but the words choked up in my throat and froze.

My priestess gave one more squeeze before going limp. Say something! Say something, Rin! Her eyes shut, and she smiled, breathing so shallow that I doubted even the kami could hear. "K-Kaede?"

There was no reply.

I screamed.

And when the doctor came outside in the evening, from the dislocated, frightened look on his face, I knew at once that she was gone.

AWW. Not really. I know that was short, and I really want to put something quirky and humorous here to make y'all forgive me and laugh, but seriously, the brain juices are not flowing today. No show, guys. Sorry.

ToTALLy AwESoME AmAZInG REvIEwERs:

Puella Pulchra: Didn't think I would embarrass you infront of all my readers for being the first AWESOME reviewer, did you? Don't worry, there's only a couple of readers. I'm not THAT good of a writer yet.

Anyways. Hey! I take Latin! Your name means beautiful girl... ... ... ... Right?

Thanks for being the first reader! If I weren't so broke right now, I would send you a Inuyasha plushie through the mail. But for now, you only get a virtual one. And a virtual hug. :D

.: Well, you weren't late to follow! Second reviewer! I think you deserve a virtual plushie too! :)

Thanks for reviewing!

Now, the rest of you, if you have time to be reading this story in the first place, you should have plenty of time to review.

See this button? He likes being pushed.

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