-From the Sealed Well to the Feudal Age-
"Are you sure this is the place?" Rin gulped, rolling down her window. The area was dark and decaying with age. A single alley cut into the side of an abandoned building, leading into what was an even darker place.
"Yup, this is it! You ready, Rin?" Shippo placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and smiled as warmly as he could. "Hey, don't even worry about it. I'll be here watching from a safe distance."
She nodded unsurely and opened the car door. Reluctantly, she placed one heel on the pavement under her and took a deep breath. Sesshomaru Sensei is counting on me… I can prove to him that I can do this thing – properly!
"Good luck!" the cute fox demon cheered.
Along the walls of the alley were disgusting drawings of pornographic images, and traces of blood. Rin hoped it was the blood of stray cats, and not humans. Every click of her heel echoed down what seemed to be an endless pathway.
"Hey boss, I think she's here!"
"Man, she smells good! Do we get to eat her after?"
Rin froze in terror, breaking out into a cold sweat. Should she turn back and run for her life? There were obviously more than one of them… whoever these people were. But her legs were planted into dirty cement and footsteps were echoing nearer with every painfully passing second. "St…stay where you are," she choked out.
Three figures approached her, each cloaked in a dark brown cape made of fur. The one in the middle was tallest, and brooded over her like a menacing tower. He reached out and pulled her aggressively deeper into the alley and held her tightly against his chest. She screamed out, but it was useless. Rin's mouth was tightly covered by this man's warm hand and trying to break free from his strong arms was an impossibility.
"Shh," he hissed in her ear. "I won't hurt you, just wait a second."
Trusting her instincts, she did as she was told and watched the other two men stay on the lookout near the entrance of the alley. After a few moments of silence, they turned and sighed. "They're gone, boss."
He released her and watched her scurry back like a frightened mouse. Her hair was falling in odd places and her pretty little chest hovered up and down with every deep breath she took.
"I'm Koga, leader of the wolf demon tribe," he said, raising an eyebrow and standing up. He reached out a hand to help her up, only to be rejected by a shaken Rin. "Alrighty…" he crossed his arms. "Do you have it?"
Without opening her mouth, she reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out a professional looking envelope.
Before Koga opened it, he stared down at her with amusement. "Sorry if I scared you. I'm currently in hiding right now… right boys?" he shot a glare at his henchmen who nodded. "And don't worry. We won't eat you," he almost laughed. "Now, let's see…" he grumbled, reading the note from Taisho. "Looks pretty legitimate to me… here you go." Koga handed her a small black, leather box.
"Um," she finally relaxed enough to say. "What exactly is this?"
"You mean you don't know?" One of Koga's henchmen cried. "That's the Shikon Jewel of Four Souls!"
"You idiot!" Koga barked. "Pipe down!"
But it was too late. They were ambushed by a group of foul looking demons. Koga slapped his forehead with great agitation and stepped out, cracking his knuckles. "You want a piece of this? Well, come and get it!"
-Attack-
Rin watched this new Koga character leap from the walls of the alley and kick the demon men that approached. She stared with amazement at this wolf's strength and noticed that his two henchmen remained in hiding like she was.
"Hey you two, protect the human girl, got it?" Koga commanded between punches. "Or I'll kill you both!"
"Yes sir!" they scrambled over to her and dragged her to a safer area behind a foul smelling dumpster. "Don't get hurt, got it human?" one of them pointed a finger at Rin. "Or our own lives are at stake!"
Pathetic, Rin thought, shaking her head and watching Koga fight. I need to do something… "Koga, look out!" she screamed at the sight of a demon charging for the wolf.
"Fox fire!" a new voice echoed.
There was now a large spinning top in the middle of the alley, frightening the demons that attacked Koga. "What the…" the wolf scratched his head. "Where the hell did that come from!"
From amongst the screaming demons, Shippo appeared. "Where's Rin?"
"Oh, it's you…" Koga scoffed. "Rin? You mean the human girl? She's behind the dumpster. Take her away from here. I can handle the rest of these pathetic fools."
Shippo nodded and took her by the hand. "Man, Sesshomaru's going to kill me if he finds out about this— oh crap." Rin looked up to see the image of her own Sensei. He stood, eyeing the fight and extending his claws. "Spoke too soon I guess," Shippo gulped.
The demons' attention went from Koga to the dog demon that stood behind them. They snarled, grunted and threatened to attack Sesshomaru as well. But of course, he remained unshaken and unaffected by their actions. Instead, he walked right past them and towards a frightened Shippo. "I thought I told you to take care of her," Sesshomaru hissed. "You let Koga in charge of that?"
Koga raised a fist angrily at the pompous demon before him. "Hey, I could have easily killed your little girlfriend if I wanted to. You should be thanking me, you bastard!"
"I'm sorry sir. I thought she would be okay by herself," Shippo looked down.
"She cannot be left alone, Shippo. Not even for a second."
The words rang in her ears and bounced around inside the walls of her heart. She cannot be left alone, Shippo. Not even for a second. What had he meant by that? Did he really think of her that lowly? Was she so pathetic that he knew she needed to be protected 24/7? Before she could protest, Shippo gripped her hand and escorted her to the car.
With that, Rin watched Sesshomaru turn away from them and face the villains. Although she didn't see exactly what he did to make the demons suddenly scuttle away with fear, she knew that even they weren't foolish enough to pick a fight with him. The chaos was settled, and she was left with a new feeling of guilt and self-disappointment. I failed him…
(a/n): I'm glad I didn't quit on this story. It's actually starting to come back to me, you know, about how fun it is to write an AU. REVIEW!
