Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.
Author's Note: Sorry for the cliffhanger but here is another chapter by way of apology. Enjoy! *Ack! Sorry it wasn't me I swear! I had major internet probs this past week. Finally fixed so here you go!*
Arinna had never been in this much pain in her life. The slap surprisingly had not hurt that much. Of course the tussle to get to the ground had been quite a fight and the result had ended with her head painfully connecting to the ground so perhaps it was all relative. However, when he'd drawn a blade down the center of her chest excruciatingly slow, that was definitely the height of the current pain cocktail. Then he'd been distracted and apparently they now had an audience. While that should have released her from the torment, it only created more. He placed one finger inside the wound he'd already created sending her screaming and thrashing. And then he was gone. Out of her field of vision and no longer touching her. She heard growls and snapping jaws and wondered if her savior was someone's dog. That would be just her luck.
With some serious difficulty she managed to press her sweater against the chest wound and rolled onto her side. Her eyes popped wide and she fought the urge to shriek. Squaring off against the man who had spent the last ten to fifteen minutes torturing her was none other than Sesshomaru Taisho. Of all people. What did she have some kind of homing device on her that only he could read? The growling and snapping seemed to be coming from him. The other man was taunting him but the words weren't registering in her brain. A clear sign of just how badly she was hurt. But she couldn't turn her attention away from the altercation in the clearing. She felt her skin break into a sweat but she didn't feel hot, another sign of bad health but again she ignored it. The two men weren't actually swinging at each other or even moving from their stances but it was clearly an intense battle of wills.
Then she felt it. The faint brush of something unseen against her exposed arms and lower legs. She struggled to move her head enough to see what had touched her but her body seemed unwilling to obey her. Her stomach rolled and she felt like she just might vomit and yet moving was clearly not going to happen. She felt her heart race as the panic set in. Her limbs were starting to go cold and then fade away. She couldn't feel her fingertips or her toes anymore. Blinking rapidly and trying to calm down she had a moment of pure disorientation where up was down and inside was outside, then it settled. Standing in the clearing was now a much larger version of the man who had taken her from the alley and a giant white dog. Ok she was clearly into the hallucinatory stage. She wondered when she would pass out when the dog lunged at the man too fast for her eyes to track.
Inexplicably the man wasn't there when the dog landed. She was clearly losing time here. Nothing moved that fast and especially not anything that large. As if there even was anything that large. She felt cold air hit her chest as her hands numbed out and she lost her grip on the sweater. Incapable of maintaining pressure on the wound she was certainly going to bleed out now. She watched as the giant dog snapped its head towards her and narrowed blood red eyes the size of her fist. The man took the opportunity to try a cheap shot but the dog moved lithely out of the way, whirling to enclose its massive jaws on the man's neck. Rin felt her eyes widening again and her body was beginning to shake uncontrollably. The numbness was gaining speed as it crept its way up her arms and legs. The dog growled loud enough to shake the earth beneath her, or maybe her body was doing that? Then it shook its head roughly, twice, until a sickening crack resounded through the clearing. The man in its jaws stopped thrashing and then crumpled to the ground unmoving as the dog opened its jaws.
She closed her eyes trying to control her spasms when she felt the ground shake again and then heard a loud sniffing. Fear overrode the pain and she opened them again to be confronted by the large rubies now dreadfully close to her face. There was a soft high pitched noise, like a whine, emanating from the titanic creature now lying on the ground beside her. One massive paw was pressed right next to her face, close enough so the fur was tickling her cheek. Soft white fur that smelt a little like something rotting but then again that was probably her open chest wound. She tried to rock her body enough to get a hand on all of that softness but in doing so she caused another round of mass distortion. When she stilled and the world righted itself once again, she was no longer looking at her hallucinated dog friend but the wide golden eyes of Sesshomaru. He was down on his haunches, balancing effortlessly on the balls of his feet and staring down at her with an impassive face. She tried to say thank you for the attempt at least but the only sound that came out was a gurgling noise. Finally her eyes drifted shut and pleasant numbing blackness took the place of all that pain. She didn't even care she was dying at that point.
Sesshomaru stared down at Rin as she thrashed around clearly no longer in control of her body. The flesh demon's poison had spread far enough to where the poor girl had lost consciousness. It was almost too late. He felt odd as he stared down at her. She'd seen him change into his full demon form. Her eyes had been right on him as he'd snapped the lesser demon's neck with his jaws. She hadn't flinched. She hadn't taken her eyes from him. She was no doubt paralyzed by the toxins in her blood which did put a damper on the whole running away in fear but she hadn't seemed afraid. In all of his crazy overactive lonely mental ramblings he'd never have hoped for that. How could she not be afraid of what he was? Humans in this century were bizarre in their faith for sure but they were blindingly intolerant of that which they didn't understand. She most certainly would not understand the world he had come from.
He frowned as his eyes focused on the mark he'd given her. What a stupid thing that had been. Look at all the trouble she'd caused for him. He should just let her die. It was the best thing, for him and for her. Demons would target her now to get to him and there was no taking that back. Besides, without her he could get back to his life. Boring and tedious though it was. He wasn't even sure if he could save her. Using his own poison to burn out the other was not necessarily a solution. He could just make the problem worse and end up killing her. There was no doubt in his mind that his toxin was stronger. It was however a chance and the only one she had. He spent another moment or two watching the color fade from her skin before he growled and snapped his jaws in frustration. She was ridiculously light as he slid his hands under her neck and knees then lifted her from the ground. Once safely in his arms he gathered his power around him and left the clearing. He didn't bother to check the corpse he left behind, he would send Jaken for it later.
He rematerialized inside Rin's apartment, setting her down carefully on her bed. Her skin was cold and getting colder by the minute. He had a flash of thought that he should probably have gotten the imp to undress the girl before he ran a clawed finger down the seam of her dress and dumped the tatters in a heap on the floor. Then again, he probably wouldn't have let the little toad undress her either. The wound was pumping blood out that looked more like engine grease and had the consistency of molasses. It certainly smelt vile. Not at all appetizing like the first wave of it had been in the clearing. He forced himself to turn away from those thoughts and instead hovered his extended claws over her chest. They began to glow with the green aura and he watched impatiently as the acid dripped slowly into the wound. The result was exactly what he expected.
Rin's eyes slammed open and her mouth followed suit prepared to let out a scream worthy of one of those ridiculous movies they called horror in this era. He was too fast for her and clamped one hand over her mouth and then pressed the other arm across her shoulders, holding her down as her body fought to get away. He let another few drops of poison land on the gaping hole before reigning it back in. Then it was just a matter of overpowering this new voice in his head that was gaining volume as it informed him that he was hurting her and NEEDED to stop. It was his job to protect her not hurt her. He growled again and waited until she stopped bucking against him and lay still once more. He watched as her glazed brown eyes slowly closed and her breathing did as well. Panic flared but there was nothing more he could do. Except call Jaken and tell him to get rid of that body before someone found it. He was growling and pacing as he flipped open his phone and dialed his office.
The message he left for Jaken was short and not exactly pleasant. Never having been what anyone in their right mind would have described as cordial he was now into complete asshole mode. He still had the adrenaline from the fight coursing in his veins, his sense of indignation at being duped not once but twice by that lowly flesh demon, and this new voice in his head that would not give him a moments rest. It wanted, no needed, to know what she was doing at all times and where she was. No matter how close he let himself get to her it was never enough for this new part of him. It wanted more. Always. He frowned again and stared out the window. There was a reason he didn't like humans. Actually there were several. They were a short lived, unimpressive, completely chaotic and downright smelly race. They often reminded him of insects the way they clambered about noisily before they perished.
They also seemed to be cursed by an overwhelming herd mentality. On occasion there were a few who stood out but not often. He had never understood how his own father had become so enthralled by one. Even now he didn't truly understand though he was beginning to see how it was possible. Inutaisho had been the Great Dog Demon, Overlord of the West. It was quite a shadow to be born under. Sesshomaru had never had any interest in the title but had wanted to distinguish himself in the demon world. Once his father, and then his half breed brother, had fallen for the tragically stupid humans he had made it his mission not to follow in their footsteps. Of course there had been Rin. Something about her had touched something in him he didn't understand. She wasn't like the rest of the huddled masses. He glanced over his shoulder at this new version of the girl he used to travel with and was catapulted into the memories of the last time he'd seen her.
He'd known she was dying for months. He could smell with ease what her subtle human brain would take much more time to point out to her. Though with the last visit he had sensed that it was coming quickly. The slow process of decay had increased in speed until finally it had brought her here to these last few moments. Her mate had passed from the world long before which had left Sesshomaru free to visit her as soon as night fell once again. He'd never been far away but he had given them their privacy. As he looked down into the face of his Rin he was momentarily confused. In such a short time she had changed from the innocent little girl in the forest to this ancient woman wise with knowledge and experience. Her face was lined with wrinkles and little wisps of hair as white as his trailed across her face.
He'd sat with her, listening to her heart beating slower and slower as the end drew near. His first irrational thought was he wasn't ready to let her go. He blinked several times as his eyes bored into her sleeping face, trying to find something. It was so frustrating to want to know something but have no idea what that something was. Some inner sense was telling him she had the answer. Then her eyes fluttered open and found his. A smile spread her dry lips and made the wrinkles around her eyes more pronounced. "So handsome." She said with a happy sigh. Her voice had changed as she aged. Growing lower and huskier and now it had the slightest of shakes to it. He reached out with one clawed finger and lifted a lock of her hair. Even though it was colorless now it was still as soft as ever. He let the strands fall from his grasp to rest on the floor again. "I knew you'd be here. I'm glad." She was always glad to see him. Which never made any sense to him but she never seemed inclined to explain. "I wanted to thank you." He raised an eyebrow at her. "For the life you gave me. I don't think I ever thanked you." She smiled again and he heard her breath rattling in her lungs.
"You have no regrets?" She ghosted another smile and raised a feeble shaking hand to clutch her robes.
"I have regrets but not about that." He waited to make sure she was going to be able to answer his question before asking it.
"What do you regret?" His pride tinged at the thought that she had wanted something and he hadn't provided it for her. She sighed deeply and he frowned again thinking she wasn't going to answer him. Then she took a breath and her eyelids fluttered.
"I would have stayed with you." She said quietly.
"There is no place for a human in my world."
"And there is no place for you in mine, but I still would have stayed." Her eyes focused on him clearly and she frowned. "I worry about you."
"Hn." That was just ridiculous. She had no need to worry over him and he had never been able to break her of the habit.
"Kagome told me once…that there are no demons where she comes from. I'm worried about you. All alone." Her eyes started to fill with tears and he felt his own widen briefly. No demons in five hundred years? He reached forward and ran his forefinger claw along her cheek.
"Be at peace, little Rin. This Sesshomaru is not a cause for your concern." She smiled at him and seemed about to say something else when her heart stuttered in her chest and then went silent. Her breath left on that one final rush leaving him alone with her corpse for some time. He just couldn't fathom a world without demons.
He sighed loudly, once again in the real world. Looking out over the city skyline with all of its hundreds of lit windows he recalled that feeling so well. No he never in a million years would have pictured a world like this. Rin had left him to guard her descendants and he had. Though over the years there had been so many and he had needed to acclimate himself to this new technology. And now here he was, in the same position just a different time. He was bordering on losing her again listening to her soft breathing and slow heart beats. He moved back to stand by her bedside and watched her chest rise and fall under the covers, the effort seeming to take a lot out of her. She was Rin but she wasn't at the same time.
The present Rin struggled in her sleep and began to moan. He was about to pull back the covers and check the wound when her eyes opened slowly to reveal those deep brown eyes. He went still as she focused on him and blinked. Great.