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Rin woke alone. She looked around for Motoko but she wasn't there. She felt lost without the lady demon and wanted her near but maybe that's why Motoko wasn't here. Rin knew she'd been a little needy since Sesshomaru had disappeared and she never acted this way when she knew he was coming back to her. "I'll just have to be stronger like Kagome. Lady Motoko probably doesn't like it when I cling to her." She spoke softly to herself. Sunlight slid across the floor and highlighted Lord Sesshomaru's sword.
A tiny hand reached for and pulled the Tensaiga close to her body. He had used this sword to bring her back to life. When she met him, Sesshomaru had been hurt and he hadn't wanted her help. He had tried to ignore her but after she'd received that beating from some of the villagers, he asked about her. Before he even knew her, he cared enough to ask how she'd been hurt. Rin remembered how good she'd felt at that time and how much it meant to her that Lord Sesshomaru let her follow him around. "I won't wait for you this time Lord Sesshomaru. I'm coming for you." Rin's conviction was absolute.
Kagome, Sango and Shippo woke soon after and inquired after Lady Motoko but Rin couldn't tell them anything. They waited for her to join them as they bathed and dressed but she never showed up. When they joined Miroku for breakfast, she wasn't there either.
Miroku looked up at them appearing rested. "Morning, everybody sleep well? I'm surprised I slept as well as I did knowing that Totosai, Myoga and Jaken were out trying to gather information. Hopefully they'll return with some good news. Could be we'll find Sesshomaru and Inuyasha in the next few days." Miroku said with enthusiasm and was surprised that the girls didn't share his optimism.
"Morning Miroku. Yes, let's hope but have you seen Lady Motoko? She was gone when we woke this morning. We were wondering if maybe she said something to you. Like maybe she went out to stretch her legs?" Sango asked carefully as she sat by his side. She and Kagome were worried but they didn't want to worry Rin too much.
A frown appeared on his face, "No I haven't seen her. I wonder where she went."
"Where are Totosai, Myoga and Jaken?" Kagome asked. Hachi waved happily at them, his mouth too full to speak. He was starting to look better now since he'd gotten some more rest. "You don't think they stayed out all night, do you?"
"No Totosai is here but he's still sleeping and I assume that Myoga is on him somewhere but I haven't seen Jaken or Kirara." He looked over at Sango to see if this worried her.
There was a little fear inside Sango but she didn't let it show. "Kirara can handle herself. Maybe the thieves never showed up and she's still following Jaken. I did tell her to stick close to him." Sango toyed with her hair betraying her worry.
"Let's have breakfast then if they don't show up, we'll go looking for them, okay?"
"You know, Master Jaken has a tendency to sleep late. Maybe he fell asleep somewhere and just hasn't woken up yet. He'll probably come running in here in a little while all out of breath and apologetic for oversleeping." Rin offered the explanation. She too was feeling apprehensive to know that the two people she'd been counting were missing. Rin remembered her vow to be strong and offered the others a quick smile.
Everyone nodded to the little girl proud of her that she was being positive and ashamed of themselves for making her worry but none could forget there were some people missing. They ate in silence. Nerves were stretched taunt as they imagined the worst. Could Chitose have taken them or was there some other demon out there for them to worry about? Or was it the mysterious human that they needed to be concerned about?
"Food! Man I'm hungry!" Totosai said as he plopped down next to Miroku. He reached for his bowl and downed the rice in one gulp. Totosai snatched up fish and dropped some into his open mouth then followed that with some soup. It was only as he was drinking his tea that he noticed everyone was staring at him. "What?"
"What happened?!" They all asked loudly.
Totosai jumped and held one hand over his ear, "So loud." He complained. "Nothing happened. He never showed up." The old man shrugged.
"Damn." Kagome said then raised a hand to Rin to apologize for her cursing. "We learned nothing."
"Just have to try again. I won't drink so much this time and that way I won't fall asleep again." Totosai helped himself to more tea.
"You fell asleep?! How do you know he didn't come in if you fell asleep?!" It happened again. They all yelled and spoke at the same time causing Totosai to cover both ears this time.
"Well, I'm not used to drinking so much. That sake is addictive." Totosai spoke in a small voice his shoulders hunched but licked his lips at remembering the taste of the rice wine.
Sango's hand itched for her weapon but it was way across the room - fortunately. "Totosai, we're trying to help Inuyasha or don't you care he's being held against his will by a ruthless demon?"
"Hey! I didn't know I'd fall asleep! I want to find the runt too! The master would come back from the dead if he knew I didn't do all I could to help Inuyasha!" Totosai argued, trembled violently then hearing his stomach growl, shrugged and reached for more food.
"Oh never mind." Miroku sighed with one hand against his forehead. "What about Myoga? I'm sure he didn't fall asleep, not if there were some ladies around." Miroku got up and went to Totosai and started patting him down. "Myoga! Wake up Myoga!"
"Hey, hey!" Totosai complained, mostly because he was still trying to eat.
They waited but all Miroku found was clouds of dust. He patted the old man's head but the flea did not appear. Miroku stopped and stood up. He looked at Rin, Kagome, Sango, Shippo and Hachi and saw that their looks of apprehension must have matched his own. Where was everybody?
"Lady Motoko!" Myoga hopped up the large tree behind the house where they staying. "Lady…" His voice got cut off because he was suddenly enclosed in Motoko's fist.
"Silence flea. The whole point of me being in this tree is so that I won't be discovered!" Motoko hissed. She found it a little degrading to be hiding from a human but she thought it better to stay out of Gen's way for now.
After leaving Gen, she'd headed back to house they were using but before she could get very far, she'd sensed his magic reaching out for her. Motoko knew she had withstood his earlier spell but if he used something more powerful, she wasn't sure she'd be able to resist it. Unlike Lord Sesshomaru, she knew she could be affected by human magic.
Motoko had used her speed to flee the human. She had gone so far as to leave the village and travel back towards the way they had come. For two hours she'd stayed on the move to be sure the human wasn't still following her. Finally feeling safe, she headed back towards Rin and Kagome. Motoko knew they'd worry if they found she was gone but the damned human was persistent.
She made it back to the house and was already inside when she sensed his presence yet again. She'd slipped out and unwilling to flee the village again had sought refuge up in the tree behind the house. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on drawing her demon power in on itself. It was one step away from transforming into a ball of light like Lord Sesshomaru was able to do. She held her power close and if she did it right, Gen would only sense a low level demon and not her.
From her perch, Motoko saw Gen sneak inside using magic to conceal himself. She assumed he searched each room looking for her because when he emerged, Gen was frowning. He left shortly after that. Motoko waited and as she did she saw Myoga come hopping along but no Totosai. Breaking off a twig she threw it with deadly accuracy at the flea making him scream in horror. She couldn't help but smile.
"Come here flea, to me." Motoko commanded once Myoga sat up looking around for his attacker.
"My lady?" The flea was confused as to why she was up in a tree and why she had just tried to scare him to death. Slowly he made his way to her wondering if it was truly her but the closer he got, the better he could smell her dog demon blood. Obviously she'd noticed his wariness and had cut herself to entice him closer. In moments, he was on her palm drinking blood.
"Okay that's enough." Motoko picked him up and held him by her claws. "Where's Totosai?"
"He's still at the tea house. The old man fell asleep! No matter how much I drank of his blood, he wouldn't wake up. Thanks by the way, your blood is much tastier." Myoga made a smacking noise and kissed his fingertips.
Motoko just shook her head. "Tell me, did you see that human Gen on your way here? He followed me for a while but I managed to evade him. Then when I returned here, he must have sensed my power because he showed up searching for me."
"I did see him! I didn't think much of it but he did seem to be searching for something. Is he that interested?" Myoga asked wonderingly. A human who chased after a demon must be very confident of himself and his power. "You think he has something to do with Lord Inuyasha's and Lord Sesshomaru's disappearance? Why didn't you confront him?"
"Did you not sense his power? He's human but his power is close to that of a demon's and I might not be completely immune to it! I don't want him to find me until we learn more about him and I should let the others know what's happened. I did not tell them I was going to seek the human out. I made a mistake." She said quietly then asked, "What did you learn? Anything?"
As they talked, Totosai eventually returned. The sun rose slowly and several times, Gen returned still searching for the one that got away. When Gen finally seemed to give up, Motoko sent Myoga out to see where the human was staying because she really did not want to confront him again until she talked with the others. Also it was a good idea to know where the enemy was. There was something else as well, since she'd been hiding in the tree for several hours, Motoko had noticed that neither Jaken nor Kirara had returned. It seemed that she was not the only one who'd had a bit of trouble this night.
"The human went to the house of one of the village's widows. I saw him just as he went inside; both of them were wearing really expectant smiles. I figure he'll be there a while." Myoga told Motoko when he returned to the tree yawning for he'd gotten no sleep.
"Good. The others are already awake and no doubt worried. Let's go." Motoko exited the tree with absolute grace. She'd gone no more than a few steps when the door slid open and Miroku stepped out then froze in place.
"Why'd you stop?" Sango asked as she stopped short to keep from bumping into him. In her hand was her weapon and she was dressed for battle.
There was silence as everyone stared at Motoko standing before them unharmed. No one seemed willing to break the silence until a small sniff was heard.
Motoko couldn't see Rin but knew it was the child who made the sound. She lowered her head. "Please forgive me, I did not mean to worry you."
"Thank goodness!" Kagome said and with Rin in tow moved forward. "Look, she's here and safe."
Motoko stared at the silent child whose shoulders were trembling but not one tear was released from the over bright eyes.
"I'm glad you're okay." Rin's voice was quiet and low. She was determined not to cry or show any weakness but her heart resumed a steady beat knowing that she hadn't lost the woman she was coming to think of as a mother as well as Lord Sesshomaru.
Motoko dropped to her knees and held out her arms for Rin but the girl only shook her head and stood taller. Never had she contemplated the fear her absence would cause the child. Rin was already in a bad way with the disappearance of Sesshomaru and then she'd woken alone. Motoko felt a sharp pain in her heart. She'd done this to Rin – brought fear and hopelessness to her. "Please baby, come to me. I'm sorry. Rin…please." She inched forward and cautiously took the child's hand. When Rin didn't pull away, Motoko wrapped her arms tight about Rin. The human was soft and warm and it was one of the best feelings in the world. "I won't leave you again without an explanation. I promise you Rin, I'll always come back." Motoko held the girl tighter as tremors shook the tiny body.
Everybody watched with a tear in their eye. Sango took Kagome's hand and held it while Miroku stroked her hair. Even Shippo had been touched and leaned against Kagome's leg but something caught his eye.
"Myoga! Where'd you come from?" Shippo asked in surprise when the flea jumped onto his head.
"Long story. Totosai! You don't need to drink, you old fossil!"
"Shut up Myoga. And where'd you disappear to? I woke up only when I was thrown out! I spent several minutes gagging because of all the dust up my nose from landing face first in the street! You should have woken me!"
"I tried you old buzzard! You were out cold!" The two stared lightning bolts at each other.
"Okay enough! We'll we've found two of you but two more are still missing. Sango go on and look for Kirara and Hachi, you go with her. Maybe…" Miroku broke off when something green came hurtling towards them.
"Ha! I did it! I found out who the thieves are! And I know where to find Lord Sesshomaru!" Jaken was jumping up and down laughing madly at his success.
They retreated back inside the house. Miroku did as Lady Motoko asked and placed seals around the room to hide them from anyone who might come looking. Making it seem like the house was empty.
Standing in the center of the room, Jaken was trying to breathe normally because Rin had nearly choked the life out of him when she saw he was safe and because of his pronouncement that he knew where Lord Sesshomaru was. Next to a relieved Sango, sat Kirara who was munching on food and being stroked lovingly by Sango, not a scratch on her.
"Okay Jaken, you first." Kagome looked to Motoko who nodded. They would discuss everything but first they wanted to know where Sesshomaru and Inuyasha were.
Standing up importantly, Jaken began his tale.
"Since I'm so smart, I figured that if I followed some of the merchants, they would lead me to where they were keeping the food." A meow had everyone looking at Kirara who rolled her eyes and made them smile. Jaken coughed and brought the attention back to him. "Anyway, I followed them to an abandoned home where they were hoping the thieves wouldn't think to look for the goods and hid. At first nothing happened. I waited bravely among the goods and waited for the thieves to show up." The imp's eyes were wide as he walked among them telling his story. "Suddenly there was a noise and I knew it was them. I readied The Staff of Two Heads prepared to attack! At first they did not see me because they were so intent on taking the goods but then I jumped out at them!" Jaken smiled to see them so involved in what he was saying. Actually they were picturing the real story of Jaken hiding and cowering out of sight as the thieves showed themselves.
"I was ready to blast them with fire when I saw who they were – Imps! Imps like me!" He nodded as everyone exclaimed over the coincidence. "Yep but I did not know these imps although they were from a sister village I used to belong to before I left to follow Lord Sesshomaru." Jaken strutted a bit now. "Of course, they'd heard of me and fell to their knees before me – so great is my name and reputation among them." He preened. "I was gracious and bid them to stand and to tell me what they were doing here and boy did they have a story to tell."
Morning passed into afternoon as they discussed everything Jaken, Myoga and Motoko had found out. They now knew how to find their missing friends, how to enter the barrier and who Gen was. Now came the hard decisions.
"Well done Master Jaken!" Rin praised and smiled as the imp looked embarrassed but pleased.
"Yes well, once I found out they were imps – the rest was easy." Jaken couldn't believe that he was the one to get the information they needed.
"Thanks Jaken, you did a good job." Miroku added. He didn't like the imp and the feeling was mutual but he had really come through for them this time.
"So the imps steal food from any villages close to the Barren Lands and take it back to the prisoners. Inuyasha must be going stir crazy locked up in a stone cell. He's always lived out in the open."
"Yes, the same could be said for Sesshomaru too, right?" Sango asked and got a nod from Motoko.
"And this Gen person works for Chitose." Kagome joined in. "You went to see about him and he became very attracted to you." She crossed her arms. "That could be a good or a bad thing. Do we use his attraction for Lady Motoko to try and get more information from him or is dealing with him at all too risky?"
"I wish I had never gone out last night. Had I known Jaken would bring us what we needed, I never would have spoken to him." There was scorn in Motoko's voice as she thought of her impetuous behavior. She had thought herself smart in checking on Totosai and Myoga but now because of her distrust in her allies, she now had the unwanted attentions of Gen. That dark priest seemed to want her sexually and the mere thought of the human touching her caused her to feel guilty – as if she were cheating on her husband. Not to mention, getting involved with Gen in any way could cause problems for them in rescuing Sesshomaru and Inuyasha.
"What's done is done. Do not worry over it so, my lady. Who knows we may be able to use his affection for you at some point. You could be a distraction or something." Miroku was trying to make a plan but nothing was shaping up just yet.
"He's right. You were able to face him with no real consequences. I've had to deal with a dark priestess before and she overwhelmed me. It took everything I had to fight back." Kagome told her. "I knew I couldn't have faced him. Myoga said you were able to resist his spell."
Motoko hated the fact that she wasn't as strong as they all thought. "That spell was weak. I could feel it but I didn't succumb to it. If he'd been using a stronger spell…well I probably wouldn't have returned here at all." More than likely she'd have ended up in his bed. No one could see it but a shiver of revulsion traveled her spine.
Everyone but the kids knew what she was saying and was glad that she'd been able to get away from Gen. "Besides, what of the Tokijin? None of you can carry it and my lord will need it to destroy Chitose. If I'm distracting Gen, how will I get the sword to him?" Motoko stood and went to look out the window. She was feeling trapped within these walls and inside her head. They were so close to Sesshomaru yet still unable to rescue him immediately.
"Yes, there is that plus what to do with Gen himself. What type of man is he? He wants power obviously since he's partners with Chitose but are they really partners? Could he just be using Chitose to get what he wants or vice versa? Or they could actually need one another which would mean they would do anything to protect each other. It's bad enough that the demon we have to face is thousands of years old with immense power and growing stronger every time he consumes souls but now there's a dark priest who for all we know is just as old and as powerful as Chitose."
"But he still enjoys the company of pretty women and drink. For all his spiritual power and evil deeds, he still acts at being a normal human." Sango said. "If we could somehow use that…maybe we could learn something or at least find a way to stop him from returning to the canyon while we go rescue the others."
She made a good point. Gen still had human weaknesses, if only they could figure out the best ways to use them and before Inuyasha and Sesshomaru were forced into a battle they could not win.
The debate continued through the afternoon. Getting in would be no problem since Jaken told them of the imp's entrance. It was small but they could all get through it and the barrier would be no problem for it was intentionally weak there so the imps could get in and out.
The biggest shock was learning Chitose had human slaves meaning they had other people to rescue besides Inuyasha, Sesshomaru and Daiki. Then there were the other demons. What to do about them? Surely they wanted out but would they help in rescuing themselves or hinder their efforts. Of course there was still Chitose to deal with but none of them expected to face him at all. They would hand over the Tokijin, the Tensaiga and the Tetsusaiga and let Inuyasha and Sesshomaru handle him but staying alive while infiltrating Chitose's barrier and getting the brothers their swords was going to be the difficult part.