Chapter Nine: In Training

Sesshomaru had been driven out of his own home by the smell of wolves. They had arrived yesterday, the day before Inuyasha had promised to return, and now Sesshomaru was pacing irritably back and forth outside, with Jaken at his heels. To get away from the wolves, he had had to go miles from the castle, and if he listened he could still hear their raucous barks and howls. He could not help but wince. By the time this was over they would probably have either eaten or scared away all the wildlife in the vicinity.

"Sesshomaru-sama," Jaken asked timidly, "these cats… you cannot honestly believe that they will be able to subdue you."

"Don't be so naïve," Sesshomaru said coldly. "Reinforcements are - unfortunately - necessary." He ignored Jaken's stammered apologies. Then he caught his brother's scent on the wind, and it was not long before the half-breed appeared.

"Inuyasha," said Sesshomaru with carefully controlled anxiety.

"I'll spare you having to ask," Inuyasha answered with a sarcastic tone. "Rin's fine. I left her at the village three days ago. Sango and Miroku promised to take good care of her. Oh, and I told her the truth. And before you say anything, she isn't mad at you. She told me to tell you she understands."

"How dare you meddle in…" Jaken began to screech, but Sesshomaru kicked him. Inuyasha's interference was annoying, but it did not signify. He had delivered Rin safely to the village, that was all that Sesshomaru needed to know.

"I smelled that the wolves got here," Inuyasha continued, ignoring Jaken's outburst. "Place reeks of them."

"Why did you send for them?" Sesshomaru asked, his voice snappish. "And why did they come? They are your friends, not mine."

"Keh!" Inuyasha snorted. "Koga's no friend of mine. The asshole blames me for… well, never mind. But I saved his lousy life, so now Ayame – his mate, you know – she acts like she owes me big time. I just told Shippo to tell her I needed a favor."

"But you are not the one under attack," Sesshomaru pointed out sharply. "You are free to walk away anytime you choose."

"No," said Inuyasha, looking Sesshomaru in the eyes for a split second. "I can't."

"And why not?" Sesshomaru demanded, put out by the expression in the half-breed's eyes.

The solemnity had hovered over them like a veil, now it was ripped away, the air cleared between them. The atmosphere was back to its normal consistency of bitterness. "We've been over this, jackass," Inuyasha retorted. "You're my brother. You're also an evil son of a bitch, but there it is."

"This Sesshomaru does not have any desire to be protected by the likes of…"

"Tch. Who the hell says I'm doing it for you, you arrogant creep? I'm doing it for Rin!"

The two brothers growled at each other, while Jaken squawked incoherently around their feet, not sure whether to intervene and risk more injury, or allow his master to be insulted by the half-breed. Finally Sesshomaru stopped growling and turned away, feeling foolish for picking a fight. He was acting like a child. There were more important matters at stake than his pride.

"This is ridiculous," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else. "The cats will be here in a week. We are not ready."

"Well, there's only one thing to do about that," Inuyasha snapped. "Let's get ready."

# # #

The following morning, Sesshomaru, Inuyasha, Shippo, Jaken, Koga and Ayame's wolves, and Hikaru's cats gathered on the edge of Sesshomaru's lands. This was the site where Sesshomaru intended the battle to take place, so it only made sense to practice there.

So far, nothing looked very promising. The wolves (rowdy and disrespectful) and the cats (skittish and haughty) did not trust each other. Sesshomaru frankly found them all infuriating, and kept having to remind himself that this was for Rin's sake. That truth was all that kept him from going totally mad from aggravation.

Now he was standing in front of the gathered crowd of muttering demons, trying to think of some strategy. It was hard for him, because he had always been better as a solitary fighter. Inuyasha, too, seemed to have run out of ideas, and was gritting his teeth, and allowing Koga's carelessly flung insults to get under his skin.

Suddenly, Ayame decided to take charge. "Everybody shut the hell UP!" she yelled. The wolves instantly obeyed her, looking sheepish. The cats were stunned into silence for a moment, but they started buzzing with annoyance a moment later.

"Ah, settle down, everyone, please," Hikaru called feebly. The cats complied, though grudgingly.

"Listen," Inuyasha said, "we've got a little less than a week to get ready for these cats. The sooner we do that, the sooner we never have to see each other again. Okay?"

"Sounds great to me, mutt," Koga hollered.

"I said shut up and that means you too!" Ayame snarled at him. Koga cringed.

Hikaru snuck a wary glance at Ayame before speaking. "Ah, as Lord Sesshomaru's brother said, we have little time. As the forces we will be facing are feline, perhaps we should begin by a demonstration of our fighting tactics to those who may be less than familiar with them." He cleared his throat and looked around. "If one of the wolves could volunteer to help me…"

Koga leapt forward and landed in front of Hikaru, who looked absolutely terrified. "Very well," he choked.

"Let's do this!" hollered Koga, and lunged for the nervous cat. He crashed to the ground… alone. Hikaru had leapt into the air too quickly for even Koga to notice, and landed lightly on his feet without a scratch. There was a chorus of light snickering from the cats and raucous shouts from the wolves. Koga, disgruntled, stood up and dusted himself off before making another mad dash. Hikaru dodged him once again, though with a little more effort than before. Koga avoided hitting the ground this time, and he backed up a pace, sizing up his opponent.

Hikaru leapt into the air and vaulted over Koga, landing on his back with a hiss. Koga bellowed and reached around, fumbling to get the cat off of him. He finally got a grip and hurled Hikaru to the ground, but not without taking a few shallow scratches to the arm. The cat landed on his feet once more, and spun around, ready. Koga, an excellent fighter, was quickly learning how to read the cat's moves, and it seemed for the next few minutes that they were evenly matched. Finally, though, Koga wrestled Hikaru to the ground and pinned him there. There was a tense moment where it looked as though he were about to snap the cat's neck, but he got up and stepped back.

Hikaru was on his feet in one single, lithe motion. He yowled and swiped his claws at Koga – a blow that the swift wolf was barely able to avoid. "Surprise," he said. "Your enemy may be down, but that doesn't mean he's out. Break their spines – that's the only way you can be sure." The cat quailed, however, under Koga's furious glare.

"Enough," said Sesshomaru quickly. "I think that Hikaru has demonstrated the cats' fighting style effectively. Everyone choose a sparring partner. And remember," he said drily, "you're more useful with your spines intact."

Meanwhile, Rin was waking up in her makeshift bed in Sango and Miroku's home. It was her third morning there, and, in small ways, she was already putting her plan into action. She sat up, stretched, then reached down, pulling her legs out from under the blankets. She poked at them, and as usual, felt nothing. Part of her soul sank, though it didn't make sense to be dismayed. This was nothing new. She could not expect a year's worth of weakness to vanish in only a few days. She had done these stretching exercises with her legs periodically throughout her seclusion (though not anywhere near as often as the healers had recommended) so she knew there was some hope that her legs would move again. It was a small hope, but it was all she had.

The stretches done, she crawled slowly to a nearby post. Wrapping her arms around it, she pulled herself up until she was kneeling. Her legs wobbled, but as long as she held on to the post, her knees supported her. This was most encouraging – yesterday they hadn't. Hardly daring to breathe, Rin tightened her grip on the post, and, using only her arm strength, pulled herself up, inch by inch, until she was standing on her own two feet.

Her heart leapt, but she knew she was still just leaning on the post. Her legs were shaking furiously. Did she dare let go and see what happened? Taking a deep breath, Rin released her hold.

She fell too fast to stop herself. She made a grab for the post, but missed, her fingertips barely skimming the wood, and crashed to the ground in a painful heap.

Rolling onto her back, Rin closed her eyes against the pain, both emotional and physical, that assailed her.

In the same moment, she heard running footsteps headed her way, and Sango burst in, sword drawn. When she saw Rin on the floor, she hastily sheathed the weapon and bent to help the girl sit up. "What happened, Rin?" the older woman asked her, pushing the tumbled, tangled hair out of her face. "Why aren't you in bed?"

Rin shrugged, hoping Sango would stop asking questions. She did not want the demon-slayer to know how she had failed. But Sango's eyes flicked to the post at the foot of Rin's pallet, and back to the girl, and Rin knew that she understood.

"It's okay to ask us for help," Sango told her, her eyes warm and kind. "There's no reason you should have to do this alone." Her tone was gentle, but firm.

Rin turned red, but nodded. Sango was right, but it still embarrassed her to be seen in such a vulnerable state by anyone. But she only had a few days to prepare. A little help would be nice.

"After you've had something to eat, would you like for me to show you around the village?" Sango offered kindly. Rin nodded and smiled.

After a hearty breakfast, Sango strapped the baby to her back, got the children ready and sent them to their training classes, and bid Miroku farewell as he set off for the day to exorcise a demon. Then she helped Rin onto Kirara's back, and they went out to see the village.

Rin could not remember the last time she had been around so many other humans. It was rather unnerving. They were so lively! There was constant motion, constant noise. They did not have the time to stand still. They were all occupied with one task or another. And throughout the village, there was the constant undercurrent of talk. Life with Sesshomaru-sama had never been so busy or so loud. The monotony had mainly been punctuated by various battles and kidnappings.

This environment was rather overwhelming to Rin, who had always been solitary. However, Sango did her best to put the girl at ease. Everyone nodded and smiled when Sango passed by, and she stopped to introduce Rin to them. She introduced her as "my friend Rin" which gave Rin a warm feeling inside. She had never really had a friend before – aside from Sesshomaru-sama and Jaken, of course. She put aside the worry she felt for Sesshomaru, and forced herself to be present in the moment. A nice young man in the forges asked her if she wanted to help him hammer a piece of armor into shape, and Sango encouraged her to agree. They got her a seat and she allowed the young man to wrap his large hand around hers and help her hold the heavy hammer. The clang of metal on demon bone resonated throughout the forges, and sparks flew from the white-hot material. Though her arm tired quickly, it was a very satisfying, accomplished feeling, especially when the young man found her later and showed her the shoulder plate that had resulted from her efforts.

By the end of the day, Rin was thoroughly tired from all the activity, but it was a good kind of exhaustion. Her lungs were full of clean, fresh air. Her belly was full of nourishing food, and her heart was full of hope. Sango helped her do some stretches before she went to bed. However, Rin did not sleep right away. She staved off her exhaustion until she was sure, from the dark and quiet settled around the house, that the others had gone to bed. Then she laboriously dragged herself to the post at the foot of the bed. More slowly and more carefully than she had before, her aching muscles protesting, she pulled herself up, hand over hand, until she was standing up straight.

This time, she did not loosen her grip on the pole. She knew she could not walk, she only wanted to test how long she could stand. And she did stand, for quite a long time. Her legs shook crazily, but she did not fall. She slid down – undignified, but no one was there to see – and crawled back under the blanket. She fell asleep within moments of closing her eyes.

The next morning, Rin's toes moved.

The early light was streaming through the window, and she felt deliciously rested and already cheerful. She didn't notice anything different, except that maybe she didn't feel as sickly as she usually did. When she yawned and stretched, though, there was a painful prickling sensation.

She looked down. She stretched again – and her bare toes stretched too.

I'm imagining things, she told herself. There's no way this could have happened so quickly. She didn't dare to believe it. Holding her breath, she wiggled her toes. They obeyed her.

She didn't allow herself to think about it. She pulled off the blankets; looked down at her legs. They looked no different; she knew that if she lifted her robe, she would see the same ugly white scars she had been seeing for a year. But something was changed. That tingling feeling. Sitting up straight, she gingerly poked her thigh.

It hurt. Only a little bit. It was a very dull pain, like an echo of pain, far away. But she felt it. It was there, and grateful tears were trickling down her cheeks before she even realized she was crying. She allowed herself only a few moments to break down, offering a silent prayer of thanks to whoever was listening. Then she pulled herself together. She had waited too long for this moment to allow it to be ruined by a crying jag.

Taking a deep breath, Rin began to move her legs. They were very weak, but they did what she wanted them to do. She was very quickly tired again from the exercise, and forced herself to rest awhile before trying again. She did not want to overdo it and lose what she had managed to regain. She smiled uncontrollably, her whole face aching. All life seemed filled with sunshine in that moment, the future within her grasp.

If only Sesshomaru-sama could be here to see this, Rin thought wistfully. But she did not allow his absence to mar her euphoria. She contented herself with imagining the look on his face when he arrived to retrieve her and she showed him what she could do. Only a few more days, she told herself. A few more days, a few more small victories… and she would be ready to reunite with Sesshomaru.

# # #

Meanwhile, at the castle, Sesshomaru's outlook on life had somewhat improved. The wolves and the cats had taken their mutual distaste for one another and directed it beautifully into training for the upcoming fight. Despite this, they had managed to avoid permanently damaging one another, and Sesshomaru felt confident that their enemies would not prove too difficult to defeat. He was consoling himself with the thought that tomorrow, he would be able to take out his aggression by ripping his opponents to shreds. It would feel good to get his claws bloody again – and then he would be able to retrieve Rin.

He had forced himself not to think about her unless strictly necessary to maintain the weak hold he still had over his sanity. If he allowed soft thoughts to creep into his mind, he would lose his focus. But now, as he sat in his rooms, readying himself for some much-needed sleep, he thought of her. He thought of the taste of her soft lips and the feel of her body against him. He thought of the fear in her eyes the morning she had left for the demon-slayers' village. He thought of her there, and wondered how she was doing. He wondered if he had made a mistake in sending her away. He had done it for her protection, because he knew that the monk and the slayer were powerful enough to keep her safe. But what if it had backfired? Having been exposed to other humans for the first time in years, would Rin decide that she preferred their company to his?

And if she did come to that conclusion… would he let her stay?

It was while he was still in this depressing vein of thought that Inuyasha burst unceremoniously into the room, Shippo on his shoulder, Jaken wheezing behind them. A withering comment died on Sesshomaru's tongue when he saw the looks on their faces. Sesshomaru knew what his brother was going to say before he even opened his mouth.

"They're coming."

Cliffhanger... bwahaha.