West of the Moon
Chapter Ten
Sesshomaru made it back to the front lines sooner than he expected.
His troops had been forced to withdraw a little and the loss aggravated him but it was not a significant amount of land. This could be fixed.
After all, he still intended to win this battle and not only take back his own land but capture Tomoji's as well.
Unfortunately, there remained the question of what to do with Kiyoshi. Jiroemon was a brilliant tactician and a fearless leader in battle, but he didn't have the initiative of his cousin.
Most of the time, Sesshomaru didn't mind that. Jiroemon was never going to make the same costly mistake Kiyoshi had, but it was trying to have to give orders and supervise everything.
Not that he wouldn't do that anyway.
At any rate, he knew he could trust Jiroemon to think before he acted but he wasn't sure he could trust Jiroemon to win this war on his own. Jiroemon and Kiyoshi worked best together and that's all there was to it.
He found Jiroemon seated at the edge of the encampment, just under the shadow of the trees. "Sesshomaru," he greeted, muddy gold eyes flicking to his lord and then back to the moon gilded grass.
Sesshomaru nodded, gazing out at the view himself. The grass was long here, swaying in the breeze and looking silvery blue in the moonlight.
"Kiyoshi?"
"Hn," Sesshomaru said, running his fingers over his pelt. The breeze stirring the grass rippled over the fur and he could smell Rin's scent still clinging to him. Even though she was ill, the smell was intoxicating. "Kiyoshi is impulsive."
"Is?" Jiroemon asked, half turning to face him. His features were in shadow and Sesshomaru wasn't looking at him directly, but he knew his general was studying him intently.
"He has much to learn," Sesshomaru mused.
Jiroemon studied him a moment longer. "Will he be coming back?"
He would be, Sesshomaru knew that. But when, and in what condition, were less clear to him. He needed to win this war and he wanted to do it without dragging the combat out longer than necessary, but he knew that Tomoji would try and drag it out. After all, it was Sesshomaru's lands that would bear the brunt of the destruction and Tomoji had always preferred sneak attacks and covert plots to open battle.
Sesshomaru preferred the instant gratification of bloodshed and no-holds barred attacks. Unfortunately, that also meant he preferred to dole out punishments immediately and without thought to the consequences.
If he hadn't had Rin to protect, he would have killed Kiyoshi on the battle field. If he hadn't been worried over her safety, he would have killed Kiyoshi in the gardens. If he hadn't been distracted, he wouldn't have thought about the fact that he needed Kiyoshi alive if he wanted to be victorious.
But Kiyoshi deserved punishment.
The breeze tugged at his hair gently but Sesshomaru made no move to tuck it back behind his ear.
Jiroemon was still waiting for an answer to his question. Was Kiyoshi coming back? What was Sesshomaru going to do with him?
"He is no longer my general," Sesshomaru decided. "But you may see him again."
Jiroemon frowned, opened his mouth to question him, but Sesshomaru ignored him and faded back into the darkness.
"My Lady." Rin's heavy eyes blinked open again. The voice was unfamiliar but very soft. Comforting. That didn't stop her from looking for Sesshomaru though. "How are you feeling, my Lady?"
Sesshomaru was no where to be seen but a young woman knelt by Rin's head, eyes lowered.
Surly this woman wasn't addressing her, right? And…were those ears?
That's exactly what they were, Rin decided. The woman – demon – had shining black hair that was held back by two long, grey ears. Rabbit ears.
Huh. A rabbit demon living among dog demons. That seemed…dangerous.
"My Lady?" the woman prodded again, eyes flicking to Rin's face and away again. She seemed nervous and Rin wondered where Sesshomaru had gone. "Are you well?"
Rin opened her mouth to answer but all that came out was a sort of horse squawk that was reminiscent of Jaken after he'd been stepped on. She tried, ineffectually, to swallow moisture back into her throat.
"My Lord sent me to see to your needs," the rabbit murmured, deftly repositioning Rin so that she was more seated than reclined in the strange bowl-like depression. She held a cup of cool water to her lips and helped her to drink.
Rin wished she could have done that herself, but her body ached and her head swam and she doubted she would have been able to move, much less drink without soaking herself. The pounding in her head was reduced minimally by the water and even more so by closing her eyes.
"Thank you," she croaked. "What is your name?"
"Fuu, My Lady."
"Rin," she corrected.
There was half a second of silence, then: "Lady Rin."
"No." Rin swallowed again because her voice sounded unfamiliar to her own ears. "Just Rin."
She cracked her eyes open enough to see Fuu looking very confused and shoot her another worried glance. Fuu was careful to keep her head lowered, but Rin thought she might have caught a glimpse of green eyes in her pale face.
"Where am I?" She gazed around the room, taking in again the enormous pelt lined depression and the intricately painted screens arranged around it. She caught sight of a few door panels, some lit by moonlight and others by lamplight, but that didn't tell her much about her whereabouts.
Fuu fidgeted a little in what Rin recognized as nerves. "These are My Lord's chambers."
Rin jumped a little and pain spiked though her but she ignored it. "Sesshomaru-Sama?" she questioned. "Sesshomaru-Sama's chambers?"
Fuu nodded and Rin collapsed back, shocked and exhausted. "Why?"
Fuu didn't answer beyond smoothing a few strands of sweaty hair off Rin's damp forehead carefully and readjusting one of the pelts around her.
"Where is Sesshomaru?" she asked dazed.
Fuu's eyes shot up again and then dropped instantly. It was enough that Rin could see her eyes really were green. "He will return, Lady Rin." But then she was offering a spoonful of thin broth to Rin's lips, effectively cutting off further conversation.
By the time Sesshomaru got back to the palace he wanted nothing more than to lay amongst his pelts and watch Rin breath. Actually, he wanted to see her awake and hear her ask questions, tell her about what he had done without her, hear about her life, make her understand that he hadn't meant for her to be unhappy…But he would be content with watching her sleep.
What he got was his mother waiting for him on the front steps, just where she had been waiting when she had sent Rin into hell.
"What will you do with Kiyoshi?" she asked, doing away with greetings all together.
Sesshomaru tried to ignore her.
"If you were going to kill him, you would have done it by now." Her mouth twisted in a strange sort of smile. "If you were going to demote him, you wouldn't have given him a room. You don't know what you are going to do with him, do you?"
Sesshomaru didn't answer but his mother laughed anyway. "My son, the mighty Sesshomaru, doesn't know what to do. Your father was not so indecisive."
Sesshomaru knew that was true. But he also knew his father had made many decisions in the blink of an eye that had led to more trouble than they were worth. One of which had been abandoning his wife in favor of a human woman.
"He is no longer my general," Sesshomaru answered at last, not turning to face his mother but his fingers tightened in the white fur over his shoulder. "I have given him to Rin."
His mother made a sort of sputtering noise that was anything but dignified and he ignored it, choosing instead to sweep by her and towards his chambers. He knew she was angry and that she would inevitably try to change his mind in the morning, but she wasn't going to follow him tonight.
Kiyoshi's punishment seemed fitting. It had occurred to him while speaking to Jiroemon that Kiyoshi valued his honor over his life and that he could not really demote the man when he was a necessary tool in his victory.
But he could let Kiyoshi keep his title while forcing him to follow Rin's orders. Rin, at least the Rin he remembered, was fair and intelligent enough to know that Kiyoshi would have to fight, but she was undeniably human. A human acting as a demon's superior was most definitely a blow to one's pride, but Kiyoshi would still be allowed the glory of battle.
And if Rin had her own general to protect her, Sesshomaru would be free to fight for himself without the constant worry over her safety.
He slid open the door to his room silently. He could smell Rin and the lingering scent of a rabbit demon here, but more importantly he could hear Rin breathing soft and low. It was a rhythmic sound, like waves on the shore, but more peaceful.
He could tell she was asleep and that she wasn't in pain. He rounded one the various screens and caught sight of her curled around a pelt with her hair glimmering around her like silk.
She looked very small.
He knew she was full grown now, no longer a pup, but she looked tiny. It might have been the fact that she was dwarfed by his bed – it was designed to accommodate his true form after all – but he didn't think so. It was more that she looked fragile and breakable. He could kill her with one finger, without even having to resort to using his poison.
He could still smell the fever on her, he could see her skin gleaming with sweat, but her color was healthier. Even in the faint moonlight he could see that she looked less pale.
Before he had really thought about what he was doing he had settled himself on the furs beside her, studying her face again. It was like the time he had taken her back from Naraku, when she had slept curled against him. It was like the fist time Tenseiga spoke to him and she had smiled through her injuries. It was the beginning all over again.
Except this time he wasn't going to let her be taken and he wasn't going to send her away. If there was going to be another ending, it would be because Rin chose it.
"Sleep, Rin," he whispered. The trailing end of his pelt looped itself around her waist gently and he made no move to take it back, even when her fingers curled into the fur reflexively.
When she woke up again, there was sunlight filtering through the screens and Sesshomaru was close by her side, gazing at the far door without seeing it. It was a familiar expression than made Rin's heart clench painfully.
"Sesshomaru-Sama?" She asked, sitting up carefully. She was still sore, but she could manage. He didn't answer, but the soft ribbon of fur around her body tightened gently. She laid a stiff bandaged hand on it and felt the warmth of the fur. It was so familiar, but…she followed its path with her eyes until it looped over Sesshomaru's arm.
"Sesshomaru-Sama?" she asked again, fingers brushing over the fur wonderingly. A ripple went through the white fur that resulted in an almost invisible shiver through Sesshomaru's still body. His golden eyes turned to her locking on her face.
"Rin."
Her face lit with a smile brighter than he remembered ever seeing before.
A/N: You guys rock, even those of you who read and don't review. (I read a lot and don't do many reviews either... whoops!) You all made my day awesome. Thanks!