~Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters (including Sesshomaru and Rin), I do own Shiawase,Onryō, Fushoujiki, Persephone who is loosely based in the poem by Algernon Charles Swinburne The Garden of Proserpine and Amatsu. I do not make any money from this fan fiction!

I thank everyone that reviewed my chapters 5 and 6: mulayhna, SesshomarusPegasus, icegirljenni and also everyone that added my fan fiction as favorite story.

~~HNH~~

Up in the peak of the highest mountain in the South the wind was blowing furiously taking anything in its path. The haunted sound of the wind resounded throughout the mountain, across the marshes and a village in the vicinity.

The villagers thought that the eerie noises were created by the angered cries of a giant demon that lived in the deepest part of the hill. This folk tale had become wide known throughout the South and soon afterwards the mountain was named "The Demon Den".

No human dared to travel to the high mount in fear of provoking the fearful demon but little did they know that Lord Akihito taking advantage of the ignorance of the villagers had made the mountain his base.

A group of seven soldiers were running wildly towards a secluded cave near the peak of the mountain, with their clawed hands covering a side of their faces from the fierce strikes of the wind. Once inside the cave there were several trails lighted with torches on the walls, the soldiers followed the trail of the left until they reached a wooden door that once opened led to a spacious chamber.

The soldiers silently knelt in front of the figure of a tall, sturdy demon with shoulder length gray hair in the middle of the chamber, "Lord Akihito".

The demon turned to look at the soldiers and in his coldest voice asked, "What news you bring me general?"

The general slowly stood up, "My Lord, spies spotted Lord Sesshomaru and it seems that one of the soldiers told the demon lord of the army."

"That does not worry me, no matter how much he tries to find about the location of my army he will not able to find anything, I have them scattered in different bases for that sole reason."

"What about the girl?", asked Lord Akihito casually.

"We haven't been able to find the girl"

Lord Akihito's right hand was pressing violently on the hilt of his sword and looking annoyed at the general, "Amatsu … where is Amatsu?"

The general was interrupted by the sighting of a flying dagger directed towards Lord Akihito but before he had any time to react the demon lord caught it easily with his left hand, the soldiers that were knelt down looked shivering behind them to see who had dared to attack their lord while the general stood petrified.

"Father"

"Lady Zen!" ,all the soldiers shouted alarmingly.

"I am happy to see you too my dear, now what brings you here?", said Lord Akihito in a humorless manner while letting the dagger fall carelessly into the ground.

"I have grown tired of waiting in that distasteful cottage in the woods."

"Patience my dear, we still haven't found that wretched human girl."

Lady Zen walked graciously towards her father and slowly took her father's hand and staring sweetly into her father's eyes asked, "Father, then can I have your permission to visit Lord Sesshomaru ?, There I can find information that could be of benefit."

"How manipulative of you Zen!", said Lord Akihito coldly while tearing out his daughter's hands from his, "What will you tell Sesshomaru about me?"

"We will work something out", answered Lady Zen walking to the door.

~~HNH~~

"Fushoujiki, where are we going now?" , asked Onryō looking happily at the road.

"I am going to the nearest base from Lord Akihito is South-West , I am sure that there I will find Amatsu, I need to report that the jewel was not found and you will wait around here watching carefully for any suspicious behavior, remember that Amatsu said that the bases have to be kept secret so we don't want people finding anything about them."

"Hmm, in other words you will report our failure to Amatsu while I stay here and play", said Onryō in a disinterested way.

There was a village up ahead of the road and Onryō tired decided that it was best to make a small stop to distract himself and rest since the next village was a long way.

In the local inn Onryō was sitting looking out the window while many of the servants had stopped their work and were now in a trance staring at the young man near the window.

"He is so handsome…", one of the servant woman murmured in a daze and the other females responded in agreement.

Onryō heard the complements and discreetly smiled but he never departed his gaze from the window, he was entertained with the multitude of people outside moving in a tumult from one place to the other.

From all the people outside he wasn't paying attention to anyone in particular until one peculiar petite young woman caught his attention.

She had a very light brown hair almost golden that reached her shoulders and the rest of her hair was accommodated in a braid that reached her thighs. That particular girl seemed anxious walking between the crowd looking suspiciously behind her and then walking hastily ahead.

"Shiawase…?", upon this realization Onryō stood up abruptly and ran to the crowd pushing the people that stood in his way to reach the young woman.

Shiwase was walking stiff among the crowd, she didn't want to be found by Inuyasha or to get in some sort of trouble, she had never been alone in such a big village and seeing all of the people pushing each other to get through was overwhelming. She didn't know where she was going but she knew that she needed to keep walking until she felt a pair of arms hold her shoulders.

She gasped in panic and slowly turned to catch a pair of honey colored eyes staring at her, "Onryō!", the young man smiled mischievously and gently grabbed her arm guiding her to a clearing.

Onryō cautiously looked at his surroundings and when he made sure that no one suspicious was near , he switched his gaze to the young woman, "Shiawase you are insane! Why are you here all alone?"

"Onryō! I am so glad to see you!", said Shiawase delightedly and extended her arms to hug him.

"Shiawase I am glad to see you too but it is dangerous imagine…", POW!, Onryō 's sentence was interrupted by the flawless connection of Shiawase's fist with his nose.

"Ouch !...Ok, I deserved that", said Onryō in a breathless voice with both hands covering his nose, "Ou! , This is going to leave a bruise".

"Really! It's going to leave a bruise? , Then good because you deserve that and more for what happened to Rin", said Shiawase staring at Onryō coldly.

"To my defense I was expecting the demon lord to save Rin sooner", said Onryō still covering his nose.

Shiawase was staring seriously at Onryō when the feeling that something was missing hit her, "Fushoujiki! Where is he?"

"Oh he went away for a while but he will be back after a few days, when he comes I will not be able to protect you since you cruelly destroyed my nose!" said Onryō accusingly.

Shiawase stared at Onryō's face and holding a laugh said in a mocking manner, "You have a bruise".

Onryō sighted heavily, "Ok, we really need to get you out of here before one of the spies sees you with me and starts to suspect something."

"You are going to leave me alone!"

"Well I am going to disguise you and conceal your scent while I take you somewhere safe. "

~~HNH~~

Village in the South Reaching West

"There is the existence of two realities one dependent of knowledge and what it is unknown yet that doesn't change the fact that it still exists."

"Yesterday I had spoken with Persephone and asked her about what Amatsu had said to me that I was not human either and she gave me that answer but I never imagined that her phrase could also inspire such fierce will in people…"

Lately many villages were being attacked by bands of demons and the group was on their way to the Sacred Village when they stumbled upon a particular village that was under the mercy of them, each villager had to offer their food to these demons or else…

No peasant had dared to escape because they didn't know anyone that had done so and serving these foul creatures had turned into a daily routine.

Their looks upon the group said that they weren't used to greeting outsiders unless they were servants for their self-proclaimed rulers.

This scene had shocked each one in the group and realizing that they had to do something, Dai the leader of the group said that they needed to show them that humans were strong enough to stand up against the fiends.

The demons were not inciting fear into the minds of the people at that moment, Dai grasping the opportunity shouted, "Everybody there is life outside this place you can all be free from these creatures!" But the words spoken had fallen into deaf ears for they all kept gathering food, until one child no more than eight stood up from the crowd and in shy steps walked towards Dai, "Can we really be free from them?, What if they kill us?"

These words coming from that child were heartbreaking for Rin who was reminded of her past childhood and unconsciously said, "The reality is that now you are not free but you will never know your chances unless you fight."

The boy smiled brightly and turned to look at his parents, "Let's do this!"

Dai proudly addressed the crowd, "Yes we may not be as strong as demons in force but we do have the advantage in strategy and intelligence, let us teach them the respect that we deserve!"

It was as if these words along with the smile of that child had woken the will of the people from a deep slumber because they all stared at Rin with a bright light firing in their eyes. The people exchanged glances between each other and one of them stood up and said, "This is not life, we have nothing else to lose!" This phrase was received by many people shouting in unison, "YEAH!". One villager threw away his fork used to gather straw, the others amazed by his action followed and others who thought it was not a good idea soon joined the riot.

The starry curtain of nightfall had covered the wide sky and the heavy steps of demons made the ground tremble. This was the cue, they all hid strategically according to Dai's plan and it was bound to work because the demons never expected to be received by an angered crowd.

The first one setting foot seemed to be the leader and his senses alerted him quickly that something was amiss, silently walking forward to the now empty village he tried to trace the scent of any of the villagers but the rancid smell of smoke was making that task difficult.

Intrigued the other demons followed slowly their leader into the village and divided to search different parts of the village. One of them entered into a deserted spacious hut and approached a closet, moving his hand to slowly open it he felt a piercing stab in his back, lowering his sight he saw his blood gushing out, turning fiercely he saw his attacker and another stab from the other side and, the final one through his heart with a blessed sword.

In another part of the village with one swift maneuver one of the demon hunters stroke the demon in half with his blessed katana, the remaining demons saw the corpses of the others and ran in hopes of making their escape but halted at the moment their eyes encountered a young woman with a bright sword covered by a black cloak staring at them menacingly in the middle of the road.

"AMBUSH!", one of the demons shrieked retreating while the other demons followed.

The rest of the demons were so caught up running for their lives that they didn't notice that their numbers were diminishing the nearer they reached the exit of the village.

One demon smiled proudly when he noticed that he was the only one left standing in that bloody battlefield of dead demons and was reaching the exit but with eyes filled with horror he looked up to be greeted by the fierce villagers now standing with weapons marching towards their next prey and with one final shriek his existence came to an end.

Delighted shouts echoed loudly through the still standing village, none of them ever thought that they could stand against demons and even less win.

"We want to thank you all, because it was all of you that showed us that we being simple villagers with no mighty weapons could defeat these demons."

"Please tell us the name of your group, it must have a name", the villager said looking with hopeful eyes.

Dai was staring nervously at all of us and I was biting my nails nervously, "Rin do you have an idea for a name?"

Rin blurted out without thinking, "Renritsu"

The adventures from this group hadn't seized since day after day they helped villagers and revived the lost hope from the people; it was so inspiring for many that Renritsu soon enough had people joining their cause and even spying for them.

And so from that village glorious tales traveled like the wind across many other villages and in a month, tales about Renritsu the fearless group of demon hunters that had incited the people to rebel against demons had even reached demon lords.

~~HNH~~

The sky was opaque and bleak; the usual voices that surrounded the Western domain had faded out, the cheeriness that filled the castle had vanished the day that Rin had left. Surrounded by the darkness and lonely atmosphere in the study, the demon lord was standing with his clenched knuckles tightly pressed against the window frame, staring at nothing in specific.

"Loneliness never bothered me, in fact I considered it essential in my journey, for being too fond of someone becomes a weakness in the long run. But then I found Jaken and although I find him deeply irritating, I can tolerate him…yes he is a loyal servant and I protect those who serve me. Now Rin, she is not a servant, she is a human and her company is…comforting, yes, that's why I tolerated her. But then again I kissed her but why …I really can't stand seeing her sad and that time that bastard had dared to kissed My Rin…"

"Just what are you on my life Rin?, What have you done to me?."

Knock Knock"My Lord", Jaken was at the other side of the door, ever since the news that Rin had somehow vanished , his lord along with his soldiers had been searching endlessly for a month but to no avail, they haven't found any scent or clues as to where Rin could be. Last night Sesshomaru arrived to take care about the issues arising in the lands, there have been attacks of demons in the Western Border along with villages in the North and East and some group of demon hunters inciting people to rebel.

"Jaken", answered Sesshomaru in his usual emotionless voice.

"My Lord, the Lords of the Northern and Eastern Lands have arrived"

Sesshomaru did not say anything, he just stayed staring at the window as if he were on a trance, this behavior was starting to worry Jaken but he understood since he also couldn't stop thinking about Rin.

The demon lords were sitting in a round table when Lord Sesshomaru entered and sat quietly, "My Lord none of our troops have found clues about the whereabouts of Lord Akihito or Lady Zen and what is even more alarming is that there are no traces of that demon army", said the Lord of the North cautiously.

"There is another thing, I am sure that you have heard about a new group slaying the demons that have attacked the villages and have also incited the peasants to fight against demons by blessing their weapons, we fear that these villagers would soon rebel against ourselves since we haven't been protecting them according to the treaty, so we both were wondering if you could assist us if this matter ever got out of hand", said the Lord of the East worriedly.

"I haven't had that problem in my lands since I always do my JOB as Lord of the West, my only issue at the moment is the rogue demons attacking my border, but I have already sent my troops which are sure to take care of that small nuisance as for that pathetic group of humans I really have no concern as long as they don't mess with me", Sesshomaru stared at both lords with his same stoic face but there was something menacingly in the air that quickly sent shivers to the lords.

"M-M-y Lord there is one last issue GULP Amatsu, that demon that attacked that village in the South sent a soldier to my castle inviting us all to a gathering in the South to discuss some sort of treaty…it will be in two days", remarked the Lord of the North.

"Hmm, how interesting that Amatsu would send word to only you…"

"My Lord I thought that it would have been best if I tried to befriend Amatsu… to have more information about him."

"And you Lord of the East, have you also befriended Amatsu?", asked Sesshomaru with a warning tone.

"No! My Lord I was not even aware of the actions from the Lord of the North!", quickly responded the Lord of the East while wiping the sweat with his shivering hand.

"Well then there is nothing else to discuss", with those words Lord Sesshomaru made his leave and the demon lords did not dare to say anything else.

A commotion at the entrance of his domain caught his attention, when he was approaching the source of the loud chatter he halted immediately at the unexpected sight.

All the servants, Jaken and even the guards at the entrance were hovering like pups over Lady Zen, "Lord Sesshomaru"said the demoness warmly smiling at Sesshomaru.

Sesshomaru only responded with his stoic face and a "hmm", "Where were you?", asked Sesshomaru with disgust in his tone.

"Oh Lord Sesshomaru it was terrible! My father kept me imprisoned saying that if I was not with him in his plan then I was his enemy", Lady Zen was covering her face with the palm of her hands making weeping noises.

"Very well", with that Sesshomaru made a turn to leave only to the shock of everyone including Zen.

"B-but you are leaving?, Aren't you happy to finally know that your mate to be is save!"

"You have appeared, now I can completely focus on more important matters", with those words the demon lord left.

~~HNH~~

"What makes the difference between winning and defeat is not power but strategy, for this I have to think like the enemy", closing her eyes and concentrating on the target, "I can't always rely on power"

Breathing deeply in a flawless move she throws the dagger, piercing the objective, finally her hard work had paid off, now smiling proudly she makes her move to retrieve her weapon from the trunk of the tree. While striving to regain the dagger that was now stuck in the sturdy wood, the subtle noise of leaves alerted Rin. In a fast maneuver she throws a backup dagger to the source of the noise.

When Rin sees that the dagger went directly to the ground she sighs relieved, "I must be imagining things"

"You have broken the first rule of combat, never let your guard down", it was a manly familiar voice.

"Amatsu!, what are you doing here?", says Rin happily.

"It suits you… my cloak suits you", Amatsu had a devilish smile and retrieved the dagger from the trunk of the tree and walking slowly towards Rin "I was around and decided to stop by", "If it weren't for Fushoujiki telling me that the girl that Lord Akihito wanted dead was named Rin and the descriptions, I never would have guessed"

"And you what are you doing here, besides killing that tree?", asked Amatsu watching Rin's movements closely , "I need to finish this job quickly" he thought.

"I have to train myself if I don't want to depend on others to save me", Rin blushed looking at the ground while moving her feet nervously, "I need to prove myself".

"This girl is so interesting… her reactions are so amusing", thought Amatsu perplexed by her reaction and answer, "To who do you want to prove yourself?", he asked curiously.

Rin was taken aback by the question and looked at the sky for a moment thinking what to say , "Have you ever been in love Amatsu?"

This question had shocked him beyond words in all of his long life nobody had ever asked him such a question, it brought him bad memories "Yes… but I prefer not to talk about it"

Rin turned and stared at him bewildered and then sad which confused Amatsu even more, "This girl is quite something, she acts as if she cared". Rin turned to look at the stars once more and Amatsu taking his chance walked slowly towards her and moving his hands to summon his weapon, "Amatsu was it an unrequited love?"

This stopped him in his tracks, "Really is she doing this on purpose, asking these questions, does she know what I'm about to do and is trying to stop me?", he was frustrated now.

"I want to prove myself to the one I love even if he will never return his feelings to me; I want to show him that I can still move on even stronger", she was smiling while looking at a shooting star passing by.

This was something that Amatsu was not expecting, he lowered his hands and now standing next to Rin focusing on the stars, "What happened to you Rin?"

"He made his choice and I was foolish enough to let my feelings grow for him, he said it was because I'm human … now I want to make my own choices"

"She must be speaking about Sesshomaru…", Amatsu couldn't help but feel connected with Rin's story and desire to help her.

"I am going to make my own choices too", turning back to leave Amatsu suddenly halts and with a sigh, "Rin there will be a gathering and Sesshomaru will be there…"

Rin turned shocked and couldn't get a chance to ask him "How does he know about Sesshomaru?" when Amatsu now looking at Rin seriously says, "If you wish to let yourself be known ,you and your group are more than welcome to be there under disguise and you will have my help in whatever you wish to do there."

Authors Note: The meaning of Renritsu is alliance and Dai means to shine. The part when Renritsu inspires the village to fight back was inspired by the Allegory of the Cave by Plato.

Icegirljenni: Amatsu and Lord Akihito are working together but they have their own hidden agenda and interests. About Amatsu his story will be revealed in Chapter 8, the thing that Sesshomaru couldn't perceive his scent is something very similar to Rin with the weapon that Persephone gave her, but although they share that similarity they are different, Rin being human and Amatsu (a different being). With Persephone, she has some good intentions but she also has her own plans.

SesshomarusPegasus: Glad you liked it!

Mulayhna: Glad you have liked the story and yes you will see parts of mythology as well as philosophical theories, which are mostly seen with Persephone and Amatsu.