Chapter Four:
Movement.
Sesshomaru's ears could pick up the sound of the woman's awakening as the tempo of her breathing changed, fabric rustling as she stirred.
Rin and Jaken had waited where he had left them a short distance out of the tiger's castle after he had made certain to dispose of those intolerable creatures. Tokao and his family lay dead and splattered over the floor. One of his females had brought her dark blue kimono out, following after him, and he had accepted it as a sign that she had been put in her place. The black haired woman had sprinted off just as quickly, but at least he had been able to cover Shaya's exposed back with it before placing her face first on Ah and Un.
Rin had been over joyous. The little human ward of his had come running in worry when he'd returned because her caretaker had not yet returned from going to fetch their midday meal.
"Shaya? Are you awake Shaya?" Rin's voice wavered. She had been fussing over the woman since he had returned her, walking next to his dragon mount. Jaken's leading AhUn abruptly stopped, and he glanced back.
The woman rubbed the side of her jaw, sitting up. "Shaya!" Rin tugged on the jagged ends of what had been that ridiculous white kimono. "Please be ok Shaya."
"Rin?" Shaya's eyes opened on the little face peering up at her hopefully. "Rin." Easing off of AhUn's back she dropped to her knees before the girl so that she could pull her into her arms, the kimono that had been draped over her sliding to the ground behind her.
Rin's tears reached his nose. Hn.
"It's ok sweetheart." Rin used the fabric in front of her nose to wipe her eyes.
"Rin was so scared!" Rin let out a sob.
Shaya lifted her eyes over Rin's shoulder to find him watching their reunion. Her eyebrows lowered for a second before Rin reached up to touch the side of her face where the bruise was fading. "You're hurt."
"Stupid woman, don't you know any better than to get yourself kidnapped?" Jaken grumbled quietly.
"But Sesshomaru-sama saved you right?" Rin wiped at her eyes again.
"Yeah, he did." The woman's eyes found him again and he wasn't able to discern her expression.
"Go-od." Rin sniffed again, burying her face against Shaya's shoulder.
"Did you kill him?" She was asking him?
"He and his family have been slain." She relaxed slightly, resting her chin on top of Rin's head. Perhaps she had been nervous about being attacked again by those lowly youkai, lowering themselves further by allowing such a petty addiction to lead them as such.
Disgraceful.
"I-I knew Sesshomaru-sama wouldn't let anything happen to you."
"See?" Shaya rocked the girl back and forth gently. "And I'm perfectly safe. Don't be sad." One hand reached up to run through the girl's dark hair in an attempt to soothe her.
Even Jaken was not balking as he had expected. Looking over to the kappa quickly he saw that his aged retainer was watching Shaya with an uncharacteristic softness to his face. What was this? He was not some sentimental fool, a fool yes, but sentimental? He had an appropriate dedication to the young human that had been following them for quite some time now yet he had not expected his loyalties to include this woman so quickly.
"How long have I been…asleep?" Shaya asked. He imagined that she changed words so that Rin's temperament might better more quickly.
Jaken answered for him. "It has been less than an hour or so since milord returned with you."
She nodded, pressing a quick kiss to the top of Rin's hair. "Poor girl, I don't want you to be worried about me. I'm not going anywhere."
"I know."
"Sesshomaru-sama?" His eyes flickered back from Rin's saddened form. Her very dark eyes seemed…hm. Perhaps he should be more attentive to female emotions. These women fluctuated so quickly that it made even he a bit unsure of what was going around in her head. "Thank you."
Her gratitude was expressed very quietly. But sincere. At least the female did not fawn over him, he thought. He kept his gaze straight and calm, almost…relieved, he would say, when she returned the full brunt of her attention to Rin. He had merely been fulfilling the weight of his responsibility towards the caretaker of his ward. Truly, he cared nothing for the welfare of this female as long as it did not interfere in Rin's health.
OoO
Time had passed since the affair, but he noticed the small changes in his own group as the summer's heat changed into the coming fall's winds. Rin continued to stay close to Shaya, going with her when she went to gather fruit.
The girl's growing attachment to the female astonished him. She encouraged Rin's excitement about the world, yet it had also, somehow, made the already happy girl…happier, it seemed. Rin's laughter frequently rang in his ears, usually accompanied by that of hers.
Not that her affection for him had dwindled by any manner with the introduction of her new caretaker. She still brought him flowers that bloomed less frequently now with the coming of the new season…usually after showing them to Shaya for confirmation that they were proper "gifts" for "Sesshomaru-sama".
But more of her time now was spent talking to Shaya, playing games with her, eating, letting the woman comb through her hair…
What was this emotion he felt? Was it jealousy? He had not felt this way since before he'd given up on procuring the Tessaiga as a distasteful arrangement the entire way around. But why would he feel this about a little human girl?
His eyes flickered over the pair sitting close by once more. They sat on the river's edge playing some ridiculous game with sticks while Jaken finished cooking the fish they had caught. Rin in her orange kimono and Shaya in her blue one.
Rin was edging on stick out from the pile, trying not to disturb the others. It was the point of the game though he could see no reason why it would be entertaining. Shaya giggled lightly as she only managed in knocking a few of the sticks around.
"Would you silly people just give me my firewood already?" Jaken grumbled, coming over to take a few sticks of fuel for the fire.
"Play with us Master Jaken!" Rin beamed up at him. The kappa only rolled his eyes. Shaya tapped her wrist lightly and pointed back at the sticks, distracting her with another turn. Rin went back to pulling her stick out of its place.
Shaya's fish lay ready for her next to the fire while Rin's cooked. Since he had reprimanded her for her humanness he had been surprised to see her actively seeking to consume raw food. The youkai female was only waiting now for Rin's to finish so that the girl would not be eating alone.
Hm.
Yet they seemed perfectly content, staring at…sticks. Nothing but useless sticks. How was Rin so intent on edging out a single stick from a pile? Why was Shaya? These two females made no sense in anything to him.
Rin giggled, waving her stick victoriously from the pile. "Look Shaya!"
"Now you get to go again."
Senseless. Why waste their time doing such a menial task? Not even a task, a game. Why play such an uninteresting game? He could see no reason that she would play with Rin and lower herself in that way to the level of a child.
The wind blew again. Rin shivered, and that in itself caught his attention. His senses told him that cold was coming soon and he was certain that snow would not be far off. Looking up at the sky he could see the heavy gray clouds blowing in from the mountains. An early winter was certainly on its way soon.
Shaya and Rin went over to eat, leaving him to glance at the pile of sticks that still seemed…strange to him. Rising from his feet he ignored the others watching him as he stood over them, kicking at it with the toe of his shoe.
"Sesshomaru-sama could play with us Shaya!" Rin gasped, getting the idea. "Would my lord like that?"
He did not honor that question with a response. As if he would resort to playing with sticks with females. Hm.
"Rin honey…" Shaya cautioned. Once again Rin's attention shifted like the path of a leaf in the sky, forgetting that she had ever put the question in the air. While Rin was grinning up at Shaya Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed.
Who was she to warn Rin so? It would go against his honor to ever raise his voice to the human girl, or was she unaware of that? Was that was this female thought of him?
"Onna." She seemed surprised to be spoken to, but raised her head accordingly towards him.
"Yes?"
"You will explain this game now."
"Wh-at?" Behind her Rin giggled. "You mean with the firewood?" Shaya tucked a few strands of her long red hair back behind her pointed ear.
"Sesshomaru-sama, Shaya made up the game so that Rin would have something to do! You have to move the stick without moving any of the others, until there are none left!" Rin explained brightly, happy to know something that her lord didn't. "It's very fun."
As he had determined. "I fail to see the value."
"It's…It's just something to entertain Rin for a few minutes. Is there a problem?" He turned away from the campfire to return to his chosen place under the tree.
He pondered this on the road later.
He had never played games as a child…yet that seemed to be all that Rin ever did. Shaya usually participated in these games also, and every once in a while he would return to them to find them "playing" such things as hide and seek, with Rin seeking the two youkai in his troupe.
How very odd.
He knew that Shaya was slowly teaching Rin some various plants, about what was edible and what was not, about wildlife that they sometimes encountered…she told the girl stories and she invited Rin to do the same.
Yet he was eventually going to…be forced into the position of teaching her about her own heritage. The female knew more about humans than about the laws and traditions of her own kind! Launching into this new area of thought he could feel the anger rise in him towards the humans who had robbed her of this knowledge.
He continued to think when Rin and Shaya went to bathe in the hotsprings that night. Since her kidnapping weeks ago he had never strayed out of hearing range whenever they left his company to forage for food, bathe, play… The woman attracted nearly enough attention from youkai to make up for three of Rin.
Yet he knew why. She smelled female, and was obviously young, a maiden unbonded by the standards of any normal youkai's nose. She attracted more trouble than Rin on her worst day. Especially when the years went by while more and more females were being eradicated by other youkai during their most…
There was the scent of fear, as well as…
Rin screamed his name.
He came into the hotsprings a few moments later to see that Rin was still in the water, damp hair covering her shoulders. Shaya lay on her side, pinned forcefully from the youkai feigning a human appearance holding her down. One hand was clamped down hard over her mouth, his leg pinning hers under the weight, his other arm around her waist. "Sesshomaru-sama!" Rin cheered.
He judged his surroundings quickly. Her kimono lay flat on a rock, folded with her white susoyoke and her dark obi by the water. What she wore now was nothing more than a bathing sheet around her, struggling against the fool youkai behind her. The creature saw him, grinning as it bent down suddenly to lick the side of her face teasingly.
Going forward he grasped the fool by his back, surprising him enough that he could throw him into the nearest tree. Removing Tokijin it did not take him a moment for him to strike Shaya's newest attacker down.
"Shaya!" Rin had clumsily wrapped her kimono around herself, out of the water.
His attention fell to the woman then. She was sitting up, knees together but calves splayed. He could see the utter…the emotion on her face was overwhelming. Glancing up at him her bottom lip trembled suddenly before she covered her face. Rin came running to kneel next to her, attempting to hug the woman. Her arms were not long enough to accommodate for the onna's arms too.
The distinct scent of tears…the remains of the utter terror that he could sense from her still. Rin was muttering useless words meant to comfort the woman but she wasn't listening.
It angered him that these youkai continued to pursue her like this. He had not seen the good-natured Shaya cry before, and it made his blood boil at the way her crying made him suddenly feel…helpless. Rin cried because she was still a young child, but this was something completely different.
And if something were not done immediately, Rin would also begin crying.
Without her kimono she appeared smaller somehow. She certainly looked much thinner than the weight the kimono allotted her. As considerably tall she was for a woman he would have expected someone more…more. She was as tall as his shoulder and yet she appeared so frail sitting there.
He kneeled then. "Shaya."
She didn't look up from her hands. Rin met his eyes then, staying silent. "Onna, you will look up." It was an order that he spoke softly in an attempt at not spooking the already nervous woman.
She did, barely lowering her hands from her face to see him. "Cease your tears." She still had tears leaking from her eyes; she bit her lip. Using his fingers he gently pressed on her wrists to lower her hands down to where she quietly folded them in her lap.
"Please don't cry Shaya." Rin hugged her around the arm, laying her head on her shoulder.
"There is no need to be frightened." She nodded her head, eyes shifting to Rin's hair. That she was not speaking for once concerned him; the female dearly loved to talk.
"Shaya," he growled lightly. He was becoming more frustrated with the fact that she seemed to have no command over her own emotions. What was wrong with women?
Rin let go of Shaya's arm, looking up at him. "She's upset," Rin whispered.
Yes, he knew. That youkai had probably intended on using her in front of Rin's very eyes, not that the child would suspect such a thing. It was good that she was such an innocent little one.
"I don't know why it's always me." Shaya finally said, biting her lip again to stop the trembling. Talking to Rin.
"I think you're the nicest, warmest…"
"Rin." That had nothing to do with what they knew these creatures were after; Shaya wiped a few more tears from her eyes. The girl nodded her head and stayed on her knees.
Shaya pushed some of her hair back from where it was tumbling into her face.
Rin sighed. "Sesshomaru-sama, why does…"
Arms came around his neck, making his posture straighten up even more, and Shaya's chin landed on his shoulder. His eyes widened with the realization that the woman was…was…
Hugging him.
And her tears hadn't ended. Truly, it almost seemed like they had increased. She shifted slightly to avoid the spikes of his armor but she did not release him.
The hair close to his nose caught the light from the moon, though it appeared darker than in the daytime even to his eyes. He had the oddest urge to reach around her to tuck it behind her ear.
Rin was smiling again, motioning for him to do something. Since he could not determine what she meant he ignored her advice and continued to rest his hand on his thigh, though he clenched it to avoid this urge that was battering at his mind. Why was her hair so voluminous anyway? He should make her cut it off.
Her head shifted. His ramrod back straightened even farther upon feeling what he imagined was Shaya's nose against his collar. This could not be allowed to continue.
"You will release me," he ordered. At least he did not think that she was still crying. Her arms lessened around his neck as she leaned backwards, tugging on the top of the white sheet that was not doing very well in covering her body. Her eyes were no longer a floodgate for saltwater and he was relieved. In fact, the ends of her mouth tilted up slightly at the ends.
"You're blushing!" she covered her mouth in a giggle. Behind her, even Rin was trying to hide her smile.
"This Sesshomaru does not blush," he sneered. Were her eyes faulty?
He rose to his feet quickly at the anger that was rising in him now. But at least she did no longer smell of fear and salt water.
Shaya was still smiling when she stood up. As she went over to pick up her things he was struck by how very slim she was. Willowy, even. He could span her waist with room to spare if he were still in possession of both hands.
"Shaya." She glanced back at him. There was still the scent of her attacker on her. "You will complete your bath." There was no way that he would stand for her to dress with that still clinging to her skin. Lowering her eyebrows she froze from where she kneeled next to her clothing. "I shall stand guard."
Indeed, on the other side of the clearing he chose a large boulder to rest on, bending his leg to rest on another stone nearby. Behind him he could hear the sounds of water splashing and cloth moving as Rin returned to the water, soon followed by a second upset of water.
How long had this occurred? Were these attacks increasing in frequency or had it always been this way for her? He did not see how she could have fended them off alone before…yet she still had the scent of a maiden unclaimed.
That must mean that it was indeed involved with her traveling with them.
Hm. There were several reasons that youkai attacked…generally. Hunger, lust, anger, defending territory, pride, greed…There were many if he chose to list them.
Pride. Yes, pride might indeed be the answer to his current dilemma. There were many who would do much less to gain some standing among youkai kind than to attack a woman accompanying him.
And if they were to actually succeed?
He allowed himself a small growl. They were trying to shame him through Shaya. Among all these attacks over the time that she had been traveling with his group he could not remember one where the youkai had been more intent on eating Rin than chasing after the inuyoukai female. They would continue to assault her in the hopes that one time he would not be able to interfere. It would reflect poorly on him if he were to allow the woman to be injured in any manner.
Dammit.
Inuyoukai tradition demanded that any female in his company was one that he was responsible to maintain the welfare of. And that included this particular kind of situation. Especially since she was a maiden. And her status in his strange pack was placing his ward in danger.
So how was he to put an end to it? He would no longer stand for these attacks now that he knew that there was a distinct reason provoking them. Not random.
Jaken was no fit deterrent. That left only himself to provide the role. On the way here he had taken note of several youkai that had fled as soon as he had approached this onsen. There would be no attacks while this Sesshomaru was here.
Yet it was impossible for him to always be present. There were was a certain hanyou that he was searching for after all.
Where did that leave him?
He briefly wondered if Inuyasha had the same trouble with his human miko. That hanyou did not have the reputation that he did in these lands for being powerful as it should be but it did leave the question lingering in his mind about how one went about preventing harm from coming to a female when not present.
"Sesshomaru-sama?" Rin asked with a giggle. Looking down he saw his ward standing by his knee. Laughing. How long had she been standing there? He had not noticed her. "Sesshomaru-sama has not listened to Rin's question! Shaya wants to know if we can return to Master Jaken yet."
Letting his eyes drift to the side he noticed the newly dressed woman standing there with a concerned look on her face.
Concern?
"Sesshomaru-sama, are you all right?"
"Hm." It did not suit him that he had allowed himself to become so distracted by his thoughts that he had not even noticed them. Rin slid her hand into Shaya's as he stood.
This would require further thought.