Chapter 12

Rin drags Kaida outside of the village and into the forest just to the north. "I think you will like it over here. There are so many different flowers," she says cheerfully.

"Okay," Kaida laughs nervously, letting the young girl lead the way.

It's so bizarre that everyone in this poor village is so accepting of Kaida. Normally, very few people, if any, would treat her like an average human being. Was it because of her unnatural eyes? Could it be that because she keeps to herself, others were always wary to approach her? She couldn't remember the last time that a whole community had welcomed her so whole-heartedly. And this child, most willing to befriend a complete stranger with a disastrous past. If only she knew what misfortunes trail close behind me…

As much as Kaida wishes to be able to stay and pretend to be a normal person, she knows that she has to leave the village soon in order to protect the people who live here.

They're here...

The whisper echoes in her ears, causing Kaida to stop in her tracks-clenching tightly onto Rin's hand. The world around her shakes; an earthquake in her mind rattles violently as she tries to steady her feet on the ground. What's happening?!

"Kaida!" Rin's voice sounds distant, as if she is far away from her. "Kaida, answer me! What's wrong?"

She sounds so concerned. "Urgh! My head!" Kaida complains, dropping to her knees. The violent tremors continue as she releases the girl's hand and clutches onto her temples, placing pressure to get rid of the pain and high-pitched ringing associated with it.

"I'll go get help!" Rin assures her, starting to run back to the village.

"No," Kaida protests through clenched teeth, "I'll be fine. Just…"

The rattling finally eases; the ringing in her ears becomes quiet. She gradually removes her hands from the sides of her head and looks up at the girl, both of them staring at each other with a confused and frightened expression upon their faces.

"What happened?" Rin gasps, unsure of what else to say.

"I…I don't know." Kaida looks down to the palms of her hands. They are sweaty and shaky in result of whatever that was.

"Maybe we should go back," Rin suggests.

"No, it's fine. I'm okay," Kaida shakes her head, lifting herself up off the ground. She looks over to the young girl and gives her a reassuring smile, "Come on. You wanted to pick flowers for Sesshomaru, right?" Rin nods eagerly at the mention of the tall, mysterious dog-demon, so she adds, "Well, then we better get going."

The child trails through the thin forest, with Kaida close behind, until they reach a colorful clearing. Blues, reds, and violets; wildflowers of every shade scatter across the glade. It is one of the most beautiful pieces of land she had ever laid eyes on.

"Wow," Kaida gasps, "where do I even start?"

Rin skips ahead to a patch of blue flowers, plucking from it the best bloomed. While she is preoccupied by gathering the appealing weeds, Kaida scans the trees around them. The feeling of someone watching them is making her u easy. She, then, kneels down to a patch of flowers, picking the yellow ones from the ground; she focuses her attention on their surroundings as a sense of danger looms in the air.

"Kaida?" The child's serious tone distracts her from her own thoughts.

"Hm?" The eerie atmosphere dissipates in an instant when Kaida places her attention on Rin. "What is it?" she asks.

"Do you like it here?" the girl inquires.

Surprised by the question, she replies, "Yes. It's beautiful here. You really know your wildflowers." Her smile fades when the girl continues.

"No. I mean, do you like it here at the village?"

"Oh," Kaida says solemnly. "It's nice—friendly."

"Do you think you are going to stay here—with us?" Rin doesn't look up from her handful of colorful weeds. She appears to be thinking hard about what she is planning to say next.

"Why do you ask, Rin?" Kaida questions, getting up from her knees and approaching the young girl.

Rin sighs, "I know how it feels…to be lonely…"

Kaida blinks. Her mind isn't processing what was just said. She stands there, speechless.

Rin finally looks up at her, a charming and happy smile filling her face, "You can stay here with us!"

Her heart warms and she returns the smile, "That's—."

"Very touching…," a male voice interrupts, sounding utterly annoyed.

Rin and Kaida jerk their heads to see a man clad in all black standing with his arms crossed over his chest. His face is concealed by the shadow from his hood — everything except his menacing smirk that is revealing his sharp, white fangs.

Kaida positions herself in front of the young girl and reaches for her sword. Anxiety rushes over her as she realizes that she had left it in her room.

The man chuckles, "Even if you had that pathetic sword of yours, you would still be no match for me."

"What makes you think that?" she asks while scanning her surroundings quickly, analyzing what items she can use for weapons or for assistance in getting Rin to safety.

"Humans are weak and vulnerable creatures," he replies, disgust filling his cold voice.

"It sounds like you really can't stand them," she responds sarcastically, spotting a small area of rocks and dirt a few feet behind Rin. That may come in handy.

"They are beneath me," the hooded man growls, irritated.

"Then what do you want? Why are you bothering us? It's not like you have any business here, if humans are so low to you," Kaida smarts off.

He chuckles with amusement, "As a matter of fact, foolish woman, I do have business with you."

"Kaida," Rin whispers nervously.

Kaida backs up slowly, keeping her eyes on the being before her. She guides the child back, reassuring her that everything will be okay.

A sharp pain shoots through her foot and up her leg as she steps on a pointy rock with her bare foot, slipping slightly on the pile of dirt. Urgh, perfect timing to hurt myself, Kaida groans to herself. Now to get Rin out of here. "Rin," she says quietly, "I will distract him while you run to safety."

"But—," the young girl tries to protest.

"Don't even bother," the man interjects. "Neither one of you are escaping. Shoumetsu wants you to come back to the castle and I will make sure that happens by any means necessary."

"Do whatever you want with me, but let the girl go. She doesn't have anything to do with this," Kaida demands, protectively shielding the child behind her.

The stranger raises an eyebrow beneath his hood, slightly amused by the woman's bargain. "Do you really think that she will be safe on her own? The whole village is surrounded by demons. The child will merely be a snack for them if she is to be by herself."

Kaida hisses through her teeth. Damn it! This is all my fault. I knew I should have left the moment I came here.

"Now, as much as I'd rather kill you and be on my way, I am under direct orders from Shoumetsu to keep you alive," he says as he begins to tread towards the girls.

Kaida and Rin back up slowly, trying to keep a little distance between them. The man gets closer and closer, but Kaida remains calm and focused, just enough to get him near enough for her plan to work. The hooded stranger finally gets in range. Now, her mind signals. She quickly reaches down and grabs a handful of rocks and dirt, then throws it into the man's face, the hood trapping most of it.

"Ahh!" he yells in anger and pain.

"GO!," Kaida commands. The girls run quickly towards the village only to make it to the edge of the clearing. Vines and branches grow rapidly in front of them, barricading them in the field. Snakes slither along the vines, their tongues hissing, preparing to strike if they get closer. "What?!" Kaida gasps, grabbing a hold of Rin to stop her from going any further.

"You fool!" the man behind them barks, "You really thought that you could get away that easily?!" Kaida turns to glare at him. His hood is now pushed back and off of his head, his short, brunette hair standing up in disarray over his black headband. His serpent green eyes are sending daggers at her, displeased by her actions. "You'll be lucky if I let you live, after all," he growls.

A loud explosion is heard in the distance, along with screams and yelling. Kaida looks over to see where it was coming from. She hadn't realized that the sky had darkened, but now it had grown so cloudy that the flare-ups make the sky appear to be glowing red hues. A bright, yellow light illuminates the sinister atmosphere for seconds at a time. She has seen many things in her lifetime, but never anything like this. The distraction leaves her vulnerable.

"Kaida—!" Rin tries to warn, but it is too late.

Kaida jumps, started by the strong grasp on her right bicep. The demonic man jerks her around to him, staring down into her eyes with his menacing, green ones.

"Where is it?" he growls.

She tries to pull away. "Where is what?" Kaida struggles, "Let me go!"

Ignoring her demands, the man unexpectedly thrusts his free hand into her kimono, feeling for something. Her face flushes from embarrassment as she tries to break free from his grasp, her protests being unheard. After a moment of searching, he pulls his hand out and opens his fist to observe the item in question. A white ribbon with several stones—the hair ribbon.

"Hey! Give that back!" she demands, trying to retrieve it. She yelps in pain as he squeezes her arm tightly. Kaida glowers at the demon, then shifts her attention to the ribbon. Suddenly, her eyes widen. Is that?...But how? On the center bead, there is not only one crack along its middle, anymore. A second crack is forked from the median of the first one.

The nameless man studies the hair-tie in a perplexed manner. Is this really the seal that he was told to destroy? He expected something more elaborate than a woman's hair accessory. He glances over to the woman; her confused expression is locked on the item in his hand.

A loud boom echoes through the surrounding forest. Trees collapse to the ground outside of the clearing. Then a large boomerang flies out and above the group, destroying a large, birdlike demon.

"Get away from them!" a woman's voice calls out. A large cat jumps out of the trees and the woman straddling the feline raises her hand in the air, catching the huge, spinning weapon.

"Sango!" Rin calls out in relief.

Kaida hears what sounds like a mixture of a deep growl and a hiss above her, the man holding onto her stares angrily at the new comers.

"Takeshi! Hurry up and destroy the damned thing so we can be done here!" a familiar voice hollers. Mika lands on the ground beside the man, her eyes locked on Sango — the demon-slayer doing the same.

They must have been fighting previously before coming here, Kaida wondered.

"Are you guys okay?" Sango asks, keeping her eyes on the demoness.

Kaida takes a deep breath. Furrowing her brows and balling up her free hand into a fist, she swings her left arm over and punches the man's face as hard as she can. The second his grip slacks, she rips her other arm out of his hand and sprints over to Rin who is already standing next to Kirara.

"I'm fine," she finally says to the demon-slayer. "What are you doing here?"

"Kaede told me that you guys were out here and that you might be in danger," Sango explains. "Miroku is helping her hold up a barrier around the village while Inuyasha is busy destroying the demons that are attacking, so I came as fast as I could. That woman has been trying to keep me from doing so, though."

"That's Mika," Kaida nods, "She's trouble. Be careful with her."

"Don't worry, I will." Sango replies confidently. "Let's go, Kirara."

The cat replies with a loud roar and jumps up into the air, charging at the demons. When the demons hop out of the way, distancing themselves from the cat, Sango jumps off and starts swinging her weapon at the man, Takeshi, who was heading to retrieve the woman. Kirara continues to pounce at Mika, attacking her.

While they are busy, Kaida hurries to the forest's edge, looking for something to use so she can help fight off the demons. Rin follows her curiously, wanting to assist as well. As they scavenge around for anything useful, a well-known sound rings in Kaida's ears. A wave of restlessness washes over her as she looks around desperately for its owner.

Mixed emotions overwhelm her as a large black bird flies overhead, a sword dangling from its talons. She had never been so grateful to see a bird until now. Kangee drops the sword in front of her, then soars towards Takeshi and swipes past his hand — hair-tie hanging from his beak.

The demon yells out in anger, thrusting his hand out at the raven. In his palm, demonic energy begins to build up creating a ball of bright green light. Kaida's mind works quickly as she unsheaths her sword. She makes haste, her weapon raised for an attack, but before she could swing the blade down on his arm, the ball of light releases, striking the raven and the ribbon. The beam of energy disintegrates both the bird and the item he was carrying. When the blast is finally dimmed, nothing was left in its place.

Kaida's heart drops and she can hear Rin and Sango gasp in unison. Her body is still going through the motions of her attack, but she was cut short, the demon instantly catching her wrist and then throwing her to the ground.

"Now, to teach you a lesson you won't soon forget," Takeshi hisses, stalking towards Rin who is standing alone by the edge of the field, her eyes widened with fear.

Kaida hurries to her feet, determined to protect the child. She notices his gloved hand beginning to glow once again. Panic rises in her and her adrenaline kicks in. In the same moment he raises his hand and releases his power on the young girl, she throws herself in between them, the very same adrenaline expelling from her body. The last thing Kaida hears, before the screams of pain and agony, is Rin calling out for Lord Sesshomaru.

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. Author's Note:

I'm sorry that it has been awhile since I have last updated. I haven't forgotten about all of you. But unfortunately, school work comes first. But as a reward for the professor telling me that on my first assignment, I did exceptionally well (a lot of gratitude to Eclipse89 for giving me advice on my writing material), I posted this chapter a little ahead of schedule. I was trying to wait until I had chapter 15 typed out. I hoped you enjoyed it. Another special thanks to Eclipse89 because she is also my beta-reader. I would be lost without you, girl!

Please leave your reviews and comments below. All are welcomed! Guys, girls; demons, angels; even Leviathans! (yes, I went Supernatural there. Dean and Castiel are my babies! ;) ) See you guys next time! ~Gibbous1992