Rewritten with much trepidation. There's a reason for everything and I'll go into it at the end.
For Belas who caught my mistake in the first place.
I do not own Inuyasha. The puppy-boy is no stray.
Ivy
Chapter nine;
Falling sands and opening blossomsTime passes slowly for humans and quickly for youkai. It is because a youkai has eternity and a human's time is finite. For Rin, each day snaked slowly by. Each month felt like a forever of waiting. She was changing, blossoming as she knew the court and her parents expected her to. But the changes were painful and hard to deal with. Sons of other youkai Lords were sent to be in her father's court as aids and servants in his duties of governing. She knew their real reason for being there. Their eyes on her were reason enough. She detested them, but to her credit they never realized. She was all sweetness when she wanted to be scorn, innocence when she wanted to be ire, kindness when she wanted to be cruel. It wasn't because they were cruel or mean in any way, it was that they had other motives. They didn't love her. They coveted her. They coveted what she could mean for her and it sickened her.
By the time that Shippo returned after six months, he found her changed physically and emotionally. Her eyes begged him to hide her from the court and he did so obligingly, running with her into the forest at the edge of her garden, hiding, speaking of what had transpired for both of them, easing the pain of their separation.
No one questioned the propriety of him or her being off alone with each other. Shippo and Rin had always been playmates. It was only Inuyasha, Kouga and their parents who knew better and it was for that reason that both knew they were being watched even when they were mostly alone. Fear of being caught and separated even when Shippo would be leaving shortly kept them in line and ensured that nothing irreversible occurred. The night before Shippo was to leave again, she slipped out onto her balcony and waited for him to come to her. He climbed over to her and grinned, looking at her in the moonlight. She was so young. He wouldn't do anything that might sully her childhood, but he loved spending time with her and loved even more looking at the stars with her and lying with her until she fell asleep. The next day he left and she was again at the mercy of the young male youkai that flocked around her father in the hopes of grasping and holding her as their mate.
She fell into the monotony of it all and looked forward only to his return and the one month they would have where she knew she could hide without fear of repercussions or disappointing her parents. Seasons came and went, passing with aching increments until nearly four years of the same cycle of waiting and joy had slipped by her. Every afternoon she would take long walks in her gardens and pray at her mother's shrine, speaking softly to the ashes of the child that never was. She told her secrets to her brother even though he didn't understand. She lived for the stories she'd hear in the kitchen from the servants who had contact with the outside world about the generals and the Lord's son who went from town to town and territory-to-territory defending the Western lands.
One morning, before the sun even crept into the skies, she was woken by urgent voices in the halls and quickly moving feet. She frowned and threw on her robe, opening her door to see what the commotion was. She heard her father's voice roaring in rage and the sound of his footsteps heading toward the main room. She raced after him, finding herself beside her mother. "Mama, what's wrong?" She breathed, looking at the worried Kagome who was trying to comfort a fussing Souta.
"The servants said that there were a group of people insisting to see your father and that Inuyasha was with them." She said with a level, but tense, voice.
She felt her brows crease as the two women entered the main room to find a hastily dressed Sesshomaru talking in a hushed but angry voice to his brother. With Inuyasha were several members of Kouga's pack. She felt her legs tremble. Where's Shippo? "Where is he?" She asked suddenly before she could restrain herself.
Inuyasha looked to Rin. It had been nearly three years since he had left with Shippo and Kouga on their excursions. She was completely grown and carried herself with nobility that had not been so natural to her when she was a girl. "He's with Kouga and the others. They needed his expertise." He paused before turning back to his brother. "He's safe, Rin."
She felt the tension leave her back and she leaned lightly on the doorway as her father's aids entered the room along with his advisors. One looked to Kagome and Rin. "Should they be in a war meeting, my Lord?"
Sesshomaru scowled, then looked to Kagome and Rin. "Rin, take your brother to your room and keep him occupied. Your mother's place is here with me."
She nodded and frowned faintly, taking Souta who instantly went to playing with her hair. "Yes, my Lord." She said softly. Kagome kissed her cheek and moved to her lover's side. One of the aids that particularly had made his desires to mate her known smiled wolfishly.
She backed away, giving him a rather nasty look of distaste and distrust. "Go be a good dog to my father, Takaya." She said softly and turned from him to return to her room.
The young inuyoukai snarled and looked to Sesshomaru who hadn't taken notice of the exchange. He gives her too much freedom. That will change once I claim her.
She sat with Souta on her bed, playing with him and then cuddling with him until he fell asleep next to her. She sighed and looked out to her balcony. She opened the window and looked out to the East where the sun was rising. Shippo... Her door opened and she turned to see Kagome smiling sadly to her. "Mama, what is it?"
"War, sweet girl." She said softly and moved to her daughter's side after closing her door. She looked to Souta where he slept, then stood beside her daughter, speaking softly. "Your father and most of his aids and Inuyasha will leave tomorrow once supplies have been gathered. Jaken will be left here with us and it will be Satori and my duty to maintain the fortress while they are gone. I will need your help, you know."
Rin nodded and trembled. "Shippo won't come back until it's over with, will he?"
She shook her head. "As much as your father doesn't like the idea, he knows that to send him back would make Shippo look weak."
"How.. How long do they think the war will last?"
She sighed and looked at the rising sun. "At least a year. It is an army of dragon youkai from the mainland come to try and dominate the whole of the country. Sesshomaru and the other Lords are joining together to repel them."
She trembled and was instantly embraced by Kagome. "What will happen, Mama?"
"I don't know, baby. We have to be strong, though, and hope they all come back to us intact. You hear me? You have to be strong." She made Rin look at her then, trembling. "And I need you to promise me that if anything happens to me you will take Souta and hide. Get as far away from here as you can and live in secret."
"Mama..."
"Rin. Listen to me. If your father dies, I will follow him. I need to have your word that you will protect our son, your brother." She felt her daughter tremble and she held her tighter. "Rin."
"I hear you, Mama." She breathed, hugging her tightly. "I promise, I just... I don't want to think about it now."
"You don't have to, baby. You just have to make sure that you stay strong. For me." She murmured and sighed as the sun rose completely. "It will be so quiet in this castle without them.
She nodded, trembling. Her father. Inuyasha. Kouga. Shippo. "They will be back."
"Yes. They will." They have to.
------
The green fire ripped through the fine steel of his blade, burning through the invaders and cutting them down easily. The battle had raged two days and the armies from all four directions had repelled the invaders as well as could be expected. The kind of force that was upon them had probably taken a century to gather. It would take more than a few months of battles to force back the youkai from the mainland.
He cut down another group of advancing youkai, though was unprepared for a group that advanced from the side. He was almost cut down until he was pushed away by Inuyasha. The hanyo released the power of his sword and killed the group as if he had been slicing through a stand of trees. "You ok, kid?"
Shippo stood and nodded. "Where's Lord Sesshomaru?"
"Further back with Kouga defending the town. The mikos are being a great help there in exchange for our assistance defending the innocents they've gathered there." Inuyasha replied. It had been nearly six months since the first wave had hit the shores in force. It seemed as if they would never stop coming. Half their armies had already fallen. The Lord of the Northern lands had fallen along with his three sons. The Lord of the South and East were left heirless. The only army that had not suffered great casualties had been Sesshomaru's. Some called it a blessing of Kami, but Inuyasha knew better. The great Lord inspired every man in his employ.
He ran into battle only when he knew he could win, biding his time, giving up land only to strike when it was certain that he could make a difference in the onslaught. He was careful as well. Careful for reasons that his whole army knew. Careful because of her. Kagome.
------
Sometimes she dreamed of him. His auburn hair in the moonlight shining like it was made of copper. His eyes dancing when he looked at her... Just looked at her as if she were the most beautiful creature placed on the earth. She had only once felt his lips on her own, but in her dreams he always kissed her and held her and whispered how much he loved her. In her dreams they were one.
She walked the halls of the castle in a dream. Every month an emissary would come to give them word on the front. Every month they were given hope that the war would end. It had almost been a year. One night she'd woken to her mother's screams. She'd rushed to her side. Since the men had left, Rin had taken up residence in Kagome's old room across the courtyard from her current dwelling with Souta. Kagome couldn't wake for nearly a week. Across her chest were welts that looked disturbingly like claw marks. Satori had taken it as a sign that her son had been nearly killed in battle, but was alive. If he hadn't been alive, Kagome would have been dead instantly.
She'd woken and looked up into her daughter's eyes with fear. "I saw him fall and fell with him... It hurt so much..."
"Shhh... Mama, it's alright..." She put a cool cloth to her brow, then took her mother's hand. "You're alive which means he is alive."
"He wasn't for a moment... Then he fought his way back... Fought his way back with me in his grasp. Pulled me from death with him. He wouldn't let me go... Rin... Rin, I was frightened." She'd curled against her then and held to her mother. Kagome didn't admit fear. It wasn't because she felt it was a weakness. She simply wasn't afraid of much. The only fear she had was losing those she loved. Death didn't even intimidate the pure and beautiful miko whose bravery had entranced more than one youkai's heart.
"He'll come back, Mama." She breathed. "They all will." They have to.
------
He woke in the darkness surrounded by the stone walls of a cave. Nearby were the last coals of a fire dying away with Inuyasha standing guard at the mouth of the cave. He sat up slowly, wincing as he did. He'd never been damaged so much in battle.
His brother turned to him and walked over, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You shouldn't be up right now. You're still bleeding pretty bad."
"How long?" He winced as he lay back down but made no other sound of discomfort.
"A week. You were dead for a moment, then you came back. We didn't even do a damned thing to you. Like someone kicked you out of heaven."
"Kagome..."
"She should be alright if you are."
"No... She was there. With me." He murmured, looking off into the dark. He remembered the blow from the dragon Lord. It tore through his torso through his heart with three talons digging so deep he was almost cut in half. Death would have claimed him, surely. It should have. Then there she was... Standing there like an angel between death and me. He knew it was her, though she was a being of light and ethereal beauty before him, reminiscent of his Kagome, but as if she had transcended.
You aren't going to die, Sesshou... I won't let you leave me. Her voice had been so calm and yet so urgent. She had flooded him with her light and he knew more than he could feel his body suddenly knit back to a point where death would not claim him. She'd fallen onto him in their spiritual forms, spent and unable to fall away from death herself. He'd held her to him and dragged her back to life, desperate not to lose her. He met his brother's confused gaze. "She saved me, Inuyasha. She almost sacrificed herself to save me. To heal me at such great a distance."
Inuyasha was more shocked by the taiyoukai Lord's candor than what he heard. Of course she had... There was no way he should have healed as he did, mending right before them all and suddenly alive without them doing a single thing unless it had been her stretching out to encompass him. Finally Inuyasha nodded. "We all suspected as much."
"What happened in the battle?" He asked with a pained voice, suddenly noting that Inuyasha and he were the only ones in the cave. Had his brother abandoned his men on the field to save him and, by proxy, save the only woman he'd ever loved? He felt a bitter twang in the back of his throat at the thought.
"You were cut down at that sudden onslaught of youkai. No one could have foreseen that the dragon Lord would have kept his elite for last considering how many waves of great warriors we already cut down. When you fell, the whole of the armies rallied around you, to defend you, led by Shippo. Both Kouga and I were still back trying to defend the township. We saw him from a distance pushing the dragons back, slaughtering them unmercifully. He never left your side until we were able to safely abandon our posts and go to you."
He felt a sudden swell of pride in his chest. "Where is he now?"
"Still at the front with Kouga. With the death of the dragon Lord, most of his forces have retreated and abandoned the fight. Still there are stragglers who are making a point of bringing suffering to the humans who survived in the nearby villages. The soldiers who are not helping to rebuild and take stock of our losses are with them beating the last of the invaders back."
"So it is over, then?" He smirked faintly. "And I fell unable to see it."
Inuyasha smirked and shook his head. "From the way we were fighting up until you fell, Sesshomaru, we would still be battling now and losing."
"So you're saying my near death experience was all our troupes needed to rally and do what a living Sesshomaru could not?"
"Yeah well, what can I say." He actually smiled playfully at him, like a pup. "We were glad to see you go."
"Say that when I won't bust open these wounds and I'll make sure you'll be glad."
He only laughed more. The mirth in his eyes so very apparent and... Calming. It had taken him a while to forgive Inuyasha, but he'd never thought he'd actually come to care for his brother as he did now. He, like Kagome, wanted the hanyo to be happy. He wanted him to know the kind of happiness he knew with her and the joys of fatherhood. He put a hand on Inuyasha's arm and squeezed just slightly. "Thank you."
Inuyasha frowned lightly in confusion. "Why? I didn't save you."
"Thank you for letting me be your brother." He looked away from the shocked Inuyasha and smiled faintly. Kagome had definitely softened him. "I certainly don't deserve your friendship or your forgiveness after everything I did to you and took from you, Inuyasha. But thank you anyway. Until I found her... I didn't realize that I ached so much for family."
Inuyasha smiled faintly and squeezed his brother's hand. "Rest, ok? Kagome will kill me if I bring you back worse than you left."
The taiyoukai Lord nodded and allowed himself to fall asleep again so his body could continue to mend itself. Inuyasha returned to his post, clearly shaken but suddenly at peace. Family. I have family.
That evening Shippo and Kouga returned from the front looking more haggard than they'd left. Shippo's eyes fell on his father. "Has he woken?" He asked softly.
"Yes, kitsune, I have and am." The Lord's voice came from where he lay. He turned his head and met his son's eyes. "I am to believe that you were the one who saved me and rallied the troupes?"
Shippo nodded, smiling faintly. "Good to see you awake."
He nodded and studied the boy. They would probably be out for another six months to repair the damage of the war that had fallen on their lands. All but two of the taiyoukai Lords had been killed along with their heirs. Either some upstart would take their places or the two remaining Lords would inherit the power in the North and South. It was all still to be decided. "We need to send word to the castle. No doubt my mate fell with me and has left the place in a state of worry if not panic." Knowing Jaken, panic.
Kouga nodded. "I'll send an emissary. Do you... Do you think she's alright?"
Sesshomaru smirked and nodded faintly. "I pulled her back with me after she healed me. She's alive though probably in a great deal of pain at the moment."
The three men frowned at that comment, worry flooding their gazes even more. "She reached out and shared my wounds as she healed me with her powers... If she wasn't at least somewhat bruised I would be very surprised. Don't worry yourselves though. If she were dead, I would know."
Kouga nodded finally, his fear sated. He turned and went to find the aid Takaya who had survived the battle. He wrote a message and put it in his hands. "Take this to the castle. Inform the Lady and her daughter that their Lord and all his generals survived."
"Yes sir." He said and readied for the trek back to the palace. This is an interesting shift... If I play my hand correctly I might just be able to ensnare the taiyoukai Lord's daughter before he or his bastard adoptive son can do anything to stop me.
------
Satori read the emissary's note. It told of their winning the war and repelling the enemy but not of casualties. It was from Kouga, so she had not expected such frivolity in the content. "My Lord and son is well?"
"Yes, my Lady. Badly injured, but he lives and is healing."
"Have any of them fallen?"
Now it is time to see how well I can play this. "Shippo, son of my Lord, defended him when he fell. Unfortunately, of the four he was the only to meet death." He was a good actor, he knew. He could pull this off easily and knew he had at least for Lady Satori when the woman's shoulders almost imperceptibly slumped.
"Thank you for your information, Takaya. Please, go and clean up and then come back to the main hall to inform your Lady and her daughter of this news further. They will need to hear so they can prepare."
"Yes, my Lady." He stood and bowed, feeling his heart leap. I will have my chance now. That horrible little Kitsune doesn't deserve the power that comes with that mortal whelp.
He returned a while later, dressed well and clean. He looked to the worried women as he entered the room and bowed to them. In her Lord's stead, Kagome sat in his seat. She was paler than usual but still very intimidating. On one side were the Lady Satori and the other the object of his little ploy.
"Please, Takaya. Tell us again what you know." Satori said softly, holding her daughter's hand as Kagome held Rin's.
He cleared his throat and began. "While on the field, I watched as your Lord, Sesshomaru, fell. He was dead, I was certain. We all stood transfixed for a moment, then Shippo stood and rushed to his side. He fought with great valor and rallied us to the front line. I lost sight of him until then end. By then he had fallen, slain while our Lord had miraculously survived."
Rin sobbed and shuddered. She tried to stand, then fell to her knees. "No! You're lying... He promised..."
"Shhhh... Rin, come here, baby..." Kagome crooned, though tears were falling and her voice broke. Rin fell into her mother's arms and sobbed. The Lady looked to Takaya intensely. "Where is his body?"
"They will bring his ashes back with them once their task is finished on the front as said in the letter... My Lady, Rin, Lady Satori... You have my expressed condolences. I was asked to remain here to attend you all in your grief until Lord Sesshomaru and his generals can return."
Her senses were assaulted suddenly by everything. The light was too bright. Everything was too loud. Her heartbeat pummeled in her ears and she felt faint. "Shippo..." She moaned, suddenly watching as the world went black.
She woke and it was dark. She curled onto her side and moaned, feeling as if her heart had been ripped from her chest. She would be eighteen in a few weeks. It didn't matter now. Nothing mattered. She felt her mother's cool hand on her face and looked up to meet her gaze. "Mama... Why would Kami take him from me?"
Kagome's face was tear stained. She hadn't been able to stop them until now. She had to be strong for their daughter, for Shippo's love. She couldn't break down now when Rin needed her to be strong. "I don't know Baby. I just know that we have to keep going. You have to keep going. He'd want you to. You know he would."
Rin sobbed and curled into her mother's embrace, weeping and gasping for air. She cried herself back into blackness and did so for several weeks. She couldn't stop crying, wanted nothing to eat, but ate when prompted if only to calm her mother and grandmother's mournful looks. She walked as if she were a ghost, her heart broken and dying all around her. All delight she took in her little brother who still followed her like a shadow was gone. He was her constant companion... Aside from Takaya.
She hated him. She wanted him gone, but she didn't have the strength to push him away. A few more weeks passed, a month, two... She wanted to stop feeling. She wanted to be numb and dead.
One day she was walking in the forest behind her garden with Souta following close behind, examining the pine cones and declaring each one to be ugly and worthy stomping before he did just that. She would have smiled at his words. He was trying so hard to make her smile. But she couldn't. The laughter had been cried out of her. Shippo... My love... She dreamed of him every night as if he were alive. As if he were working along side her father, Inuyasha and Kouga. But it isn't possible... He's dead. It's just a wish your mind is using to make you insane. She didn't even hear the extra set of footsteps behind her until it was too late.
He grabbed her around her waist and pinned her to a tree face first. She cried out and writhed against her attacker. Souta screamed and began to cry. "Let me go! Leave me alone!"
"You frigid bitch..." He snarled into her ear, making her freeze. Takaya had no intention of letting the Lord come home before he'd impregnated his daughter. "Poor little mortal wench... I will enjoy making you scream."
She cried out and fought even harder as she felt him push and rip away the back of her kimono, thrusting into her savagely before she knew what was happening. The pain didn't end as it should have. He was taking her too forcefully. She sobbed and screamed for help, but knew none would come. She was too far out. When she heard Souta's sobs and weak cries for his sister, she forced herself to calm. It was mostly the confusion of what was happening that was frightening him but also the terror and pain he sensed in her and could hear in her cries.
Takaya smiled wickedly and continued to take her again and again, never releasing her once from where he held her prone. He only let her fall back when he scented the child within her. She slumped to the ground, sobbing silently. He gripped her dark hair and forced her head back, gripping her throat in his teeth. He tried to bond to her, but she refused to submit. He tried to rip away her aura and force his own upon her, but she was too strong willed. After a few moments he snarled and threw her to the ground. "The child will be enough to cement my place here, pretty Rin."
Souta crawled to his sister, petting her hair, confusion in his face and voice. He could scent her blood and the strange new scent in her. He didn't understand. He wasn't more than a boy. He looked up at Takaya and snarled hatefully. He knew enough that it was him who had hurt his sister. "Get away! Leave my sister alone!"
Takaya laughed and spat cruelly. "Oh yes, young Lord. I'll leave her alone. Now."
She didn't move. She didn't respond to her brother's frantic pleas. Her mind was gone and in agony, shame and hatred. With the last of her strength before her thoughts collapsed, she screamed out one name into the ether as if she could make him hear across the divide of death. Shippo!
------
He started awake, her voice ringing in his ears. He was up and looking panicked, startling the three other men who were settled around the fire near him. He'd fallen asleep after another hard day's work. I heard her... I swear I heard her this time...
"Shippo?" He felt his father's hand on his bare shoulder, calming him. He met his eyes with fear and a sudden rage. "Shippo, what's the matter?"
Why do I want to tear someone apart? Why do I want to tear Takaya apart? He snarled and pulled back, turning suddenly to the wall of the cave, hitting it repeatedly until he could control the rage that threatened to overwhelm him. He fell to his knees, looking at his bloody, broken hand as it began to knit. He felt their eyes on him. They'd think he was mad.
"Shippo... What is wrong with you, Kid?" Inuyasha asked, not approaching him, worried it would set him off again.
"I heard... I heard her screaming for me..." They knew very well that the "her" was that he was talking about. He'd been hearing her voice for a while now, calling him home, but he'd thought it had been a dream. He'd said nothing of it, but this... Now... It was too real. It had been real. "She was screaming my name as if someone was killing her. Someone..." His mind suddenly grasped it and he snarled, hitting the wall again, not even wincing as he heard more bones break. "Someone Takaya. He hurt her. He's... She's gone now... Like she folded into herself and is just... Gone... Kami... Rin..."
He felt his father's hand on his shoulder again and he looked up to him. He was already ready to leave. They all were. "Get your things together. We'll leave when you are ready."
He nodded and stood, dressing hastily, gathering his things. He had to get to her. I'm coming, Rin... I will be there soon... Don't leave me Love. Don't leave me.