A Time Not So Remembered

Chapter 26

Escape

(A/N And here is the next exciting chapter. So, I can hopefully make my first short film this semester in school. If I do I will gladly show it with everyone. But first I have to write the script and shit like that so… But that will be so cool! But for now please enjoy this chapter.)

SOUNDS/sound

Thoughts

Telepathy/disembodied voices

(Last Time)

"Shut up, onna, I have my reasons," he said, eying her sharply. "If I don't marry by next week that clan of trash takes over. I'm not doing it solely to become the full head of the clan because I want to… I'm doing this to save my clan."

He had to marry or the opposing clan would take over? Okay this wasn't good. He was trying to find a wife quickly to save the clan. But what would happen to him if he didn't marry in time?

"And what happens to you if you don't?" Orihime asked, quietly.

"My father would take over and I'm pretty damn sure I'm not in his plans," Akihiro stated bluntly. "He'll either run me out, hold me prisoner, or kill me. It's that simple."

Orihime didn't know what to say but she still wouldn't marry the guy. No way, no how. She felt bad for him but even this was out of her hands. Now she would feel guilty if she tried to leave without doing something to try and help. But what could she do that didn't involve marriage?

(Present Time)

A thick silence took hold of air for quiet a while the only sound was from the frogs and crickets. Akihiro just continued to stare up at the moon and dull gaze. Orihime, however, found the grassy ground to be an interesting study. How was she going to help him? She wanted to help him, she really did but…

"Is there any—other options for you?" She asked in a quiet voice. "Like some tiny loophole that we could exploit?"

"Don't be stupid! I've already tried and everything is rock solid," he bit out, still glaring up at the moon. "I have to marry or I lose everything!"

"Well, maybe we can try again," she said with a weak smile. "You don't really want to marry just yet, do you?"

"I will do ANYTHING to protect this clan, do you understand?" he snapped at her as he got to his feet and closed the grab between them. "Even if it means I have to marry you or that little girl! In all honesty I would prefer it to be you than some child!"

"Then will you let Rin-chan go if she is of no use to you?" Orihime chocked as he reached down grabbed her by the front her kimonos. "NUGH! You're hurting me!"

"I can't do that! Once she's here she stays here," he growled out, getting right in her face. "She may not be my choice but she goes to one of the other men just like all the others I rejected."

"You can't be serious?" Orihime gasped, worry heavy in her ash colored eyes. "She's just a child!"

"Human children grow rather fast! Give it 3 or 4 years and she'll be old enough to marry," Akihiro stated, pushing Orihime to the wooden boards of the deck. "I'm out of time and I have to make my choice. I'm appalled at the fact that it has to be you but I am left with no other choice, onna. It has to be you."

"You can't make me," she snapped back pushing him off her as she scrambled to her feet. "I won't do it!"

Akihiro got back to his feet and glared at her with emerald colored eyes. She was his last chance. He would make her his bride one way or another. He didn't have time to make his servants go out and find more women. The marriage of this clan was long and drawn out requiring several days to prepare with other smaller ceremonies through out those days. They needed to start preparation by dawn. He had no time to try and court this human wench.

"I'm out of time. You are my choice whether you like it or not, onna," he said, moving towards as she backed up into a wall. "I have chosen you and you should feel honored to marry into a noble family."

"I don't care what your lineage is the answer is still no!" she bit out as he stood in front of her, keeping up against the wall. "Please, there has got to be another option!"

"Baka! I've told you there is nothing left! You and I will be married within a few days time," he said bitterly. "I suggest you get use to the idea of being with me for the rest of your life."

"Heartless," Orihime muttered under her breath.

"Heartless?" he snorted at her. "If I was so heartless I would run and hide and let that trash clan take over but I'm not. I care for my clan, which is why I'm doing this."

"But you won't ever be happy with me," she protested.

"When I tire of you I'll just lock you up somewhere out of my face," he replied coldly. "The law states that I have to marry you not procreate with you."

"And that's suppose make this situation better?" Orihime huffed out.

"Well, I keep the clan as long as we are married but as my wife you required to perform certain functions so even if the law doesn't require US to couple…" he said, looking her in the eyes.

"Never," she said in low voice. "I have someone else that I… GASP!"

"Love, do you? I suggest you for get about him," Akihiro growled out. "Tell me something about the human heart. What is it really? It's an organ that beats in the chest of everything living thing but you humans refer to it as something else."

"Just stop it! I want to go back to my room!" she snapped, trying to get away from but he put both hand on either side of her. "I don't want to talk about it! Let me go, Akihiro-sama!"

"Not until you answer my question, onna," he snapped back at her.

"NOOOOO!" she cried.

SLAAAAP!

The air grew silent again. Orihime felt her heart jump into her throat as she looked at the reddening spot on the price's face. She was in for it now. He just struck demon prince right in the face. He slowly reached up and white hand on his tender cheek. To be perfectly honest he wasn't expecting to get hit by the woman. She didn't seem the type but she was obviously pushed to her limits. He then noticed she was trying not to cry. He really did this piece of trash as a bride but it was for greater good.

"Very well, I will have someone take you back to your room," he said, backing up from her as she slid to the ground. "This still doesn't change anything. You are to be my wife by the end of week."

"I will get out of here," she said, whipping her eyes. "Whether I do it myself or if Akiyama-sama does it. I will get out of here!"

"Don't kid yourself. This territory has a strong barrier around it that's held for well over two centuries," he snorted at her. "You aren't going to be rescued and even if this Akiyama did get in he would be out numbered."

"Yeah, well, you don't know him very well," Orihime bit back, still, whipping away tears.

"We will start preparations by dawn," he said, walking inside his room. "Ryota, come take my bride to be back to her room. She'll want to get a good night's sleep for tomorrow."

"Hai, Akihiro-sama," Ryota said, opening the door and stepped inside room.

"Go back to your room, Inoue," Akihiro said, grabbing the girl and pushed back into his bedroom. "Ryota will take for here."

Orihime said nothing as she made her way over to her escort. She didn't even bother to look back a future husband. Ryota closed the door and started to lead Orihime down the dimly lit corridors and back to the room she was sharing with Rin. She needed to get out of this mess somehow. But right now she needed to get Rin out first. She wasn't about to let one of these men have a little girl for their bride either. If she could get Rin out first she would have more time think about getting herself out.

She had no idea how the barrier worked but she did surmise enough that it was designed to keep things out and not in. If she could get Rin out the castle maybe the girl could get to safety and way from this place. They stopped at the bedroom door and Ryota opened it. Orihime stepped in without a word and the door was closed behind her. She started looking around the room to see if there was anyway to free Rin.

"Yawwwn… You're back," Rin said, sitting rubbing her eyes looking at Orihime stand perfectly still in the dim moonlight that filtered through the barred window. "What's wrong?"

"I… I have to get you out of here—tonight," Orihime said, looking down at the girl with tears in her eyes.

"What's the matter, Inoue-san?" Rin asked, getting to her feet. "Tell me what's going on!"

"That young demon lord has to marry me in order to save his clan from being taken over by a rival clan," Orihime said collapsing to the floor. "But they won't you go either. All those women that were mentioned earlier they were made to marry other men from this clan. That is to be your fate as well."

Rin was a little taken aback by this bit of news. Orihime is to marry the prince and Rin was to given away to another demon as his bride. To Rin's surprise Orihime got to her feet and rushed to the barred window. She wanted to see if there was barrier on the window. She touched it and pulled on it and nothing reacted. There was no barrier and the window or on that wall for that matter. This was perfect.

"I'm going to try and get out with you but if I'm captured again I want you to keep running and don't you dare turn back," Orihime ordered as Rin looked up at her with wide eyes. "Stand back from the wall, Rin-chan. I don't want you to get hurt. When the wall comes down, run straight for the woods and keep running."

"How are you going to get through the wall?" Rin asked as Orihime reached of her hair pins again.

"I'm going to cut through it! TSUBAKI!" Orihime called out as one of her hair pins flicked slightly.

A split second later the sound of wood cracking was heard and long thin slits were being cut into the wooden planks that made up the wall. They creaked and groaned as its own weight started to make the wall collapse in on itself. Soon enough the wall collapsed making a straight path to the woods but the noise didn't go unnoticed.

"Let's move," Orihime said, running through the hole in the wall and grabbed Rin's hand.

They were half away across the yard when the guards started to follow after them. Orihime picked up speed still holding onto Rin. But Rin was having a hard time keeping up with Orihime's long strides and was starting to stumble. Orihime stopped of a moment to pick the girl up. The added weight of Rin made Orihime slow down but she would be damned if she or this girl was going back to dread full place.

Soon enough Orihime and Rin were in the underbrush of the forest. It was thinker than Orihime thought as her kimonos were getting stuck on all the vegetation. Rin was smaller and they would have great chance to get way if they split up.

"I'm going to set you down. I want to run as fast as you can," Orihime said, coming to stop as demons gain on them. "I'll try to hold them off! Don't stand there! Run! HURRY!"

Rin was a little hesitant at first to leave her new friend behind but Orihime was doing this for her. Rin bolted through the undergrowth. This was something she was use to doing and her small stature helped a bit. She could only wonder what was going to happen to Orihime but right now she needed to get away and worry about herself. All Ring could do was pray to whatever god would hear he to help Orihime.

Orihime turned to face her pursuers. If nothing else she could let Rin get away. Maybe this way she could make herself undesirable to the prince. She raised her shield as they came at her. She needed to push them back. She didn't want to kill anyone no matter who they were. She used Tsubaki to help disarm the men as she continued to make her through the woods. She headed in another direction from Rin to keep them away from her. They were getting wise to her tricks and fast. She was getting worried about Tsubaki's wellbeing. Despite their size they were a lot faster than the looked.

"Tsubaki, retreat," she called out as the small fairly returned.

"I can take them! You're getting soft," he said, flying up beside her head.

"I didn't want you to get hurt," she confessed, looking at him for a second.

"Pathetic excuse," he snorted at her.

The men were starting to thin out as the brush got thicker. She kept her shield up behind her to keep them from attacking from behind. If one of them got wise and got in front of her she would use Tsubaki as her offense. She then found herself in a small clearing. She paused for just a moment to catch her breath. Her legs were cramping something terrible but she had to keep going. She went to start run again as the men caught up to here only to notice the moonlight above her head flickered for a second. She looked up to see a silhouette dart over her head and quickly land in her path. She took a couple of steps back as a pair of emerald eye stared at her. It was the demon prince. He neatly folded his wings behind his back as he approached her. Damn this wasn't good if the young lord himself would come after her.

"You really are a piece of work, onna," he said, getting closer to her. "Who knew that a meek woman, such as yourself, could cause this much chaos."

"Stay away from me!" Orihime shouted at him. "I'm warning you right now! I will attack!"

"Oh? Will you?" he said, moving towards her. "You can barely maim any of men. You don't have what it takes to inflect real harm to anyone."

"O-oh, yeah, just try me," Orihime said, swallowing the knot in her throat. He means serious business. I've got to get out of here!

A split second later Akihiro was right in her face. He was a little shorter than Orihime was but was very threatening. She went to run only to find something wrapped around her left leg. She hit the ground and hard. She looked down at her leg to see a long thin tail wrapped around it. She didn't want to do this but damn it!

"Tsubaki," she called out as the small fairy charged at the thin tail.

He cut through it with no problem. Akihiro let out a scream of pain as Orihime scrambled back to feet and started run again.

"We'll go after her," Ryota said, only to have the prince move in front of them.

"No! She is mine to deal with. Find the little girl named Rin," Akihiro said, glaring at his men before turning back in the direction Orihime ran off in.

"Hai, Akihiro-sama," Ryota nodded, motioning the men to go off in another direction.

"Damn witch," Akihiro grumbled, looking down at his tail as he started to regenerate it. "Oddly enough I'm actually starting to like this onna."

At this point there was no telling what the demon prince was going to do to her. She cut right through his tail. Also the severed appendage was still wrapped tightly around her ankle but she didn't have the time to sit and fiddle with it. She needed to keep running but she knew she couldn't keep it up. She needed some place to hide to build back her energy. She found a small coving under some old dead trees. She quickly started to unwrap the thin black tail from her leg. It was on tighter than she first fought. It had actually started to cut the circulation off a bit.

She suddenly stopped moving as she saw Akihiro dash by at a distance. She clamped her hands over his mouth and nose to try to keep from making a verbal sound. She waited a minute or two before she took in a long breath of relief and started to work on the offending appendage. She finally got it free with a hard yank but her hand slipped and slammed into one of the logs she was hiding under. It started low a first as droning sound but then it started to build into a large buzz.

She wiped around to see that there were good size opening in the log. The darkness inside was moved and the creatures within headed toward the opening. It didn't take her anytime to realize she just woke up a nest of hornets. She would rather take her chance with Akihiro-sama. She could reason with him. No one could reason with giant hornets. Last thing she needed was to go into anaphylactic shock.

"Dammit, I know she's around her somewhere," Akihiro grumbled as he sat on a low tree branch hoping to better view.

She had to be in the area but she was up under something and he couldn't see her. He let a small sigh when he heard a woman scream back hind him. He turned around to see he shoot out from under a couple old dead trees faster than before. What was her problem? It didn't take him long to see the wispy trail of hornets giving chase behind her.

"There's not a chance in hell she'll out run them," he said, jumping from his branch and took off into air on his wings.

He watched her put that strange orange barrier up again in hopes to keeping the stinging insects at bay. However, that shield wouldn't be nearly enough. Once they get around that she was fair game. He only wondered how she would take to him grabbing her. Well, he was about to find out. He moved closer in order to swipe her up off her feet. Those hornets were right on top of her now.

He was almost in range of snatching her but to his surprise she grabbed him and hung on with a vice grip. She obviously felt that her chances were better with him than with the swarm. Well, that was easer than he expected. He quickly maneuvered upwards and over the treetops. Swarms were notorious for chasing people and animals for quite a distance. What he really needed to do was to get distance between them and the insects.

"Hang on," he said, picking up his speed. She quickly complied but maybe a little too well. He was finding it a little hard to breath. "I said: hang on! Not choke me!"

"Gomenasai," she squeaked out, loosening her grip a little.

They were starting to build distance from the swarm but they needed a good more still. A good gust of wind gave Akihiro a little more lift and speed to work with. Orihime looked over his shoulder and saw that the swarm was barely visible against the pre-dawn sky. Was it really that close to dawn now? Damn and her she was in the arms of the very thing she was trying to get away from.

"I'm still not marrying you," she grumbled into his snow white ear.

"You should be more careful about what you say, being this high up in the air," he replied back loosening his grip on her. "After all, you might just have a little accident on the way down."

"You wouldn't dare," she snapped and then gulped. "Would you?"

"That all depends on you, Inoue," he said, looking down at her. "Despite this little escapade this evening I still have every intention of marrying you."

"I won't," she snapped only to feel his arms go slack. "KYAAA! D-don't do that!"

"Hahaha! We can keep doing this for as long as it takes for you to say yes," he said quite proudly, looking down at her. "I can maintain this altitude for several hours."

She glared at him as his grip tightened again. So now it was going to be a game of wills. She obviously couldn't play "catch if you can" anymore being up in the air like this. What was she going to do now? She knew that even he would tire and have to return back to palace at some point. She just had to think of another way out of this.

"Oh, and just to be safe," he said, adjusting her slightly onto yanked one hair pins out. "I can't have you fighting me or my men again."

"OW! Hey, give that back! OW!" she snapped as he quickly pulled out the other one. "Stop it! Give them back to me, right now!"

"I don't believe I will," Akihiro grunted at her, making a tight fist around the pins. "You'll get them back after we are wed."

"My brother gave those to me not long before he died! They mean everything to me," Orihime snapped, trying to pry his fist open. "I want them back right now! Let go!"

"No! Only after we are married will I return these to you," he snapped, glaring down at her. "I won't lose them or damage them, but if this is the only way to keep you with me than so be it. You shouldn't have told me how precious they are to you. That was your error."

"You… You… You big jerk," she yelled at him, kicking her legs frantically. "Give them back to me right now!

"Stop wriggling around or I really will drop you," he snapped, trying to hold on to her. "I said stop it! I'm loosing my grip on you! JUST STOP IT!"

She suddenly stopped moved as she looked into his angry green eyes. She started to feel tears build in her ash colored eyes. She just wanted to get away from him, find Kuchiki, Kurosaki, and Hitsugaya and go back home. But instead she was stuck here with a young demon prince and soon destined become his bride. Orihime always dreamed of her wedding day but she never wanted to be married like this.

"I think we've been out here long enough," he said as the first few rays of tangerine light started to rain down one them. "Let's go home, shall we?"

"I don't have a choice, do I?" she said tearfully under her breath.

"No, you don't," he said, turning to the left and headed straight for the palace.

It was well into the next evening and Rin had managed to find small cave to hide out in it during the day. She had no idea how long she had been in there but she was happy to be out of castle. Her main worries now where what was she going to do now, when was she going to find Sesshoumaru-sama, and if Inoue-san was alright? The woman did practically sacrifice herself just so she could get away. Rin crawled out from under the tiny rock crave and looked around weary for those demon guards from last night.

She let out a small sigh of relief not seeing anyone around her. Right now, however, she needed to find food and water. She hadn't had anything all day. She also had no idea where she was or where to go. She quickly started to look for fruits and nuts that she could eat. She couldn't find anything and the sky was clouded over. She didn't even have the moon to help light her way. It really was pitch black outside. She could smell a rain in the air and the wind was picking up.

"I guess I should head back to the cave," she muttered as she saw the slightest flashes of light illuminated the clouds.

She slowly turned around to return when she heard something snap behind her. She quickly turned around and couldn't see anything. Being out the dark like this was never good. It could be a wild boar, a wolf, or those demons again. It could be anything really.

"Finally showed yourself, huh?" a man's voice said, from out of the darkness around her. "We knew you were here somewhere and all we had to do was just wait."

Rin started to run again. She really didn't have the energy or the strength do this again. Also her lack of visibility wasn't helping. No doubt her pursuers had no problem in the low light. For all she knew she could be heading right in the arms of one them. She didn't know what she was going to do or how she was going to get away from them this time. All she could really do was run and keep running.

"Get her, you idiots," Ryota snapped as about 4 men started to circle in around the girl. She's already out of the barrier if she tells anyone about it…

"HELP MEEEE! ANYBODY! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP MEEE!" Rin called out into the dark woods.

Suddenly she stumbled forward and tumbled down a steep embankment. She hit rock, sticks, and roots the whole way down. The wind had really started to pick up and the lightning flashes were growing brighter. She laid flat her back looking up at the black sky. She needed to get up and could barely find the strength to do so. She was tired and now injured again. She could hear the demons gaining on her. She needed to get up. She just managed to roll over as a bolt of lightning illuminated the dark woods.

She paused for a second. For in that brief flash of light she saw something a bit out of place for this time of the year. She shook her head and got on her knees. Then another brighter bolt lit up the sky again. This time she was sure of it. Pink cherry petals? Dozens of them but that couldn't be at the height of summer. They also seemed to shine brilliantly in those brief flashes of light.

She then heard the demons slide down the embankment. She needed to get on her feet and start moving again. She struggled to get to her feet but she made it just a little too late, however. She quickly found herself staring up at Ryota. Just her luck.

"You gave us quite a bit of trouble, you brat," he said, glaring down at her as lightning flashed around them. "Now if you will be a good girl we'll take you back to palace and have those wounds looked at. And if you try anything will really give you some injuries to the worried about."

"Ow," one of the men said, hold his hand and it was bleeding.

"What happened to you?" another man asked.

"Something was up in my face I tried to swat it and then I was left with this," his said, hold the long jagged cut in the palm of his dark blue hand. "It's really deep."

"It looks like you were sliced with—a blade," his companion said, looking at it. "Are you sure you didn't just catch on your own sword?"

"Hell no," the man snapped.

"Whatever, let's just grab this bitch and go," Ryota grumbled, reaching for the girl only to have whiz my hand faster than he could really make out. "What the…? GAAAAAHH! MY HAND! MY HAND!"

He pulled his hand towards his body realizing he was missing his fingers. Blood poured out his hand and all over the ground. Rin took a few steps back. The remaining four men started to look around the area to see what was attacking them. Another bolt of lightning let up the sky and than when they saw it.

Hundreds no thousands of bright shining flower petals were gathered in the air. But the strange thing was they were unmoving as if the wind had no effect against them. The five demons looked up in shock at the stationary plant matter in shock. That was impossible.

"What the fuck is going on?" another man said in shock.

"Let's get out of here!" Ryota shouted.

But the order came too late. The small but deadly petals rained down them faster than they could blink. They cries of plain where short lived and they hit the ground bloodied and dead. Rin had found herself sitting back down at on ground staring at the sight before in shock. She was visibly shaking as the rain finally started to pour down from the angry sky. The blood ran along the ground and stumble to get to her feet to not get any of it on her. She then back up and ran into something. She could tell by the impact that was a person that was she resting up against.

Another flash of lightning and she saw the tiny petals were collecting to her right and forming into something that looked the blade of a sword. She swallowed a knot in her throat and looked up. She struggled to see past the on slot of the wind blown rain. She could only make out a tall form. A man, obviously. She needed those precious flashes of lightning to really see who this person was.

Finally the sky flashed with enough light for her to get a look at the person. It was man somewhere in late 20's to early 30. He had sharp brown eyes, long black hair, and was dressed as a noble. He had a similar expression like Sesshoumaru-sama usually wore when he was rather irritated. But what really worried Rin was; did this man have good intentions or did he just saver her for his own reasons?

"Girl, come," he said, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Let's get you out of the rain."

He ushered her in the opposite direction from where she had came. He wasn't going to do anything to her? She wasn't going to trust even if he did save her. However, he was willing to look after for the time being she might as well take advantage of it. He kept a standy hand on her guiding her to where he was camped at. It was much larger cave and there was fire in there. She could see two horses tided to a tree trying to keep dry as well. He walked her inside and she looked around briefly.

"Have a seat," he said coolly as he started going through a pack. "I need to have a look at your wounds."

She found a spot by the fire as he closed his pack and moved over to her with ointments and bandages in hand. Now that there was more light to see by, Rin could finally get a look at the man that had saved her. He most definitely looked like a noble and held himself as one as well. He didn't seem to talk much as he worked on getting her cuts and scraps cleaned up. Oddly enough the man vaguely reminded her of Sesshoumaru-sama.

"What's your name?" he asked in same dead tone.

"R-Rin," she stuttered out. "And who are y-you?"

"Akiyama Byakuya-sama," he said dully, picking up the left over bandages.

"Akiyama-sama?" she mused on the name. She had heard it before. Ah, wait. "You're the lord Inoue-san was talking about!"

He stopped dead and turned to look at the child in surprise. She had seen Orihime? Did she know where she was? Well, now he was finally getting somewhere.

"Where did you see her? Tell me," Byakuya said, getting back down to Rin's level.

"I can't really remember what direction I came from but we were at a demon lord's castle," Rin said, thinking hard on the matter. "We were told to put on these fancy kimonos and then we were taken to meet the demon lord. He's a young prince actually. The reason he wanted us was to find a bride."

"A bride?" Byakuya said in low voice, eyeing the child oddly. Surely not that woman…

"Akihiro-sama decided that he wanted Inoue-san as his wife," Rin confessed with a long sigh. "She didn't want to marry him so we broke out of the palace together but we got separated. Inoue-san made it so that I could get away but I don't know what happened to her since last night. I don't think they killed her. They seemed too desperate for the young prince to marry her."

Well this was something he never expected to hear. Inoue was to marry a demon prince? That almost sounded like a bad joke but this was no laughing matter. He needed to glean as much information from this little girl as he could. Not only that what was he going to do with her? He couldn't just leave her behind be he didn't have the means to take care of the child for any length of time. There was also no telling where she came from but first thing first.

"Can you give me a rough idea of which direction you came from?" Byakuya asked as Rin crossed her little arms and tried to think hard.

"I might have a better chance of telling you after daybreak," she said with a long sigh. "I'm pretty good at remembering landmarks."

Well, that got him nowhere fast. But if she really could remember landmarks maybe she get him somewhere closer to finding the woman. He would just have to wait until sunrise and hoped the rain let up.

Byakuya got up and pulled out Orihime's bedding for the girl. There was no reason for the girl to sleep on the hard ground. He made her a spot by the fire before going over and making his bed for the night. Rin crawled into bed and looked back out into the stormy woods. Well, for now she was safe but what was going to happen next when Akiyama-sama found the demon prince's castle? It was clear that Akiyama-sama was no ordinary man to wield such an interesting blade.

"Um, Akiyama-sama, what are we going to do if we find the castle?" Rin asked, looking at the noble.

"YOU will be waiting with the horses out of sight," he said bluntly. "There is no reason for to get involved in any fighting. I will retrieve Inoue on my own. From there we'll see what happens next."

"All by yourself?" Rin asked a little awestruck.

"I'm not without my secrets," he said, getting into his bed. "I suggest we get some sleep for the journey ahead."

"Uh, Akiyama-sama, could I have some water first?" She asked as he got back and grabbed a bamboo container and handed it off to her. "Arigato."

Byakuya crawled back into his bed as Rin set the now half empty container down on the cave floor. In all honesty he really had no idea how to take of a child and he sometimes wondered how Kenpachi always managed to pull off taking care of Yachiru. At least this little girl wasn't a ball of rabid energy, ready to cause destruction on a whim. She seemed fairly well behave and respectful at least. He had no problem with that.

Rin rolled over to look at the new temporary caretaker. She hoped that she could get him to the castle to save Orihime. That woman was kind enough to take care of her and even protect her so she could get away. She wanted to be more useful than just hiding out with the horses but she also knew she wasn't much help when it came to fighting. Akiyama also didn't need to worry about her and Orihime both. However, it didn't take Rin long to find herself drift in and out of sleep. She eventually gave up and let herself get the sleep she needed.

Sesshoumaru stood still and look up at angry sky that rained down on him. Whoever took Rin knew how to cover their racks and scent. It just stopped dead literally at this spot. He searched high and low for a barrier that he could pass through or destroy but this one was tricky to say the least. He knew he knew was standing in front of one be he couldn't figure it out. He would pass through but would literally return to spot the start off in. The barrier was twisting the space around him and keeping him out.

Earlier that day he tried to break through it using Tokijin. What happened was rather disastrous. He released an energy attack at the barrier the attack when into the barrier and then returned full force on him. He just managed to dodge his own attack. This was rather tricky and down right irritating. He was this close to getting in but the barrier would reject everything. He even saw that birds were doing the same thing he was. They would fly and suddenly fly back out.

"SESSHOUMARU-SAMAAA!"

The demon lord looked up to see a familiar form descending out of the treetops. It was Ah-Un with Toshiro and Jaken. They landed firmly on the soggy ground as Sesshoumaru approached them. Ah-Un seemed be doing remarkably well considering the massive damage he had sustained. Jaken and Toshiro dismounted the dragon and greeted the demon lord.

"Have you found her yet?" Toshiro asked as Sesshoumaru briefly shook his head and turned to look at the barrier.

"It seems a very powerful and special barrier is hiding where Rin was taken to," he said, looking at in the direction of barrier. "Whatever goes in is rejected and quickly sent back out by twisting the space around the person or object."

"Okay, that doesn't sound good," Toshiro said, pushing some of his soaked locks out of his face.

"Do you have any idea on how to get beyond the barrier at all, milord?" Jaken asked.

"No," Sesshoumaru stated bluntly.

"I guess that was a bit of a stupid question," Jaken said, rubbing the back of green bold head.

"Maybe there's a password," Toshiro shrugged and got a look from Sesshoumaru. "Just a thought. I mean maybe you've just been look at this all wrong."

"How so?" Sesshoumaru asked as Toshiro took a step forward towards the barrier.

"I don't know. The people that live behind it get through it somehow so maybe it's some sort of a riddle we have to figure out," Toshiro said, dashing in and then returned a second later.

"Is that the best idea you can come up with?" Jaken snorted at the boy.

"Oi, I don't see you coming up any suggestions," Toshiro grumbled back at the imp. "I guess we can sort of think of this as a mirror of sorts. When I rushed in just now Sesshoumaru-sama was behind me but when I came back out he was facing me; much like a reflection. So if you think about it the barrier reflects whatever enters it."

"Well, that explains how it works but not how we get through it," Jaken said, looking at the boy. "Have any idea on that?"

"Not a clue," Toshiro groaned, looking at the imp. "But that really did screw up my eyes."

"Run through again," Sesshoumaru said as Toshiro rubbed his teal colored eyes.

"Okay," Toshiro said, running into the barrier and back out again. "I don't think we can go no more than 7 feet before we are rejected."

"There has to be something," Sesshoumaru said quietly under this breath. Toshiro figured out half of it but what are we overlooking? It acts like a reflection…

"Well, reflections can be distorted," Toshiro blurted out.

"But it's still a reflection," Sesshoumaru pointed out. "If we manage to distort it somehow all that might happen is us coming out on our heads instead of our feet."

"Okay, good point," Toshiro sighed, trying to come with a new idea. "Maybe we're just thinking too hard on this. We keep coming up with complicated solutions and it could be something so simple we wouldn't think of it. Like an oxymoron. It's so simple that it's actually complicated. "

"Now that's not a bad idea," Jaken mused, nodding slightly.

"Something so simple," Sesshoumaru said, looking at his companions and then back at the barrier.

They really were stumped now. Something so simple that it was complicated: that was turning out to be a very true statement. Toshiro knew he was on to something. How did a refection work? Well, reflections can be distorted but that idea was already thrown out the window. He needed to get down to nitty-gritty of it. Reflections how do they work?

Toshiro looked down at large puddle beside him. It was really dark out night with the rain. A flash of lightning little up woods again and Toshiro was able to make out his reflection better in puddle. Light? Of course! Light reflects off everything thing in its path. So if there was no light there would be no reflection but how was going to.

"Light is what makes a reflection happen," Toshiro stated, looking at Sesshoumaru. "Without it there would be nothing."

"I don't understand," Sesshoumaru said as Toshiro smiled widely.

"How should I put this…? Without light the world would be dark, void of all colors. Light it what creates the colors and shadows that we see. White light, like the sun, is composed of 6 basic colors that we see in rainbows," Toshiro raddled on. "Those colors are what gives us green leaves, brown dirt, yellow flowers, and so on. If we were to cut off the light the colors that reflected back into our eyes would be gone. It would be black. Basically our eyes are tiny mirrors themselves. The light that reflects off an object is reflected onto the backs of our eyes. That is basically what gives us our vision."

"You've completely lost us," Jaken said, looking at little more than confused.

"Simplify it," Sesshoumaru stated.

"Close your eyes and walk through," Toshiro said, closing his eyes and ran into the barrier but this time he didn't come back out. "Hey, I can't see you anymore, can you hear me?"

"Yes, we can," Sesshoumaru said, looking a little more than surprised. "Just close our eyes, huh?"

"Well, what are we waiting for," Jaken said only to have Sesshoumaru cut him. "What's the matter?"

"You stay here, the same goes for you too, Toshiro," Sesshoumaru said hearing the snort. "Come back through."

Toshiro complied and stood beside Jaken. So all he had to do was close his eyes? That was all too simple. Well, if it worked for the boy it should work for him. He closed his amble colored and walked straight forward into the barrier. When he opened his eyes sure enough the woods had changed and he couldn't see Jaken, Toshiro, or Ah-Un. The rain still poured in though. The barrier but have created in such away to still allow weather to come through.

"You two stay were you are," Sesshoumaru ordered and quickly dash off into his new surrounding.

Sesshoumaru didn't understand a word about what Toshiro was talking but he was glad that the boy had figured it out. Now he could finally get back on the trail to finding Rin. He had to give the boy a good bit of credit on this one.

y.

Jaken went to stand under Ah-Un to get out from under the rain. He puzzled on what the boy had been rambling on about. It made no sense to him whatsoever but the boy did discover the secret. There's no reflection if you can't see it, was all Jaken got of it.

"I guess I got a little philosophical, didn't I?" Toshiro said, rubbing the back of his head. "I have no idea where that came from or how I knew that. I guess some of my memories are finally coming back."

"I must admit whatever you said went completely over my head," Jaken sighed, looking at the boy.

"Yeah, but it make perfect sense to me," Toshiro grinned. "I guess that's all that matters."

"Next time, however, you feel the need to rambling on like that again just shorten it up for us," Jaken grumbled.

"So you don't want to know about the water cycle?" Toshiro snorted.

"Now you're just being pompous," Jaken snorted and Toshiro laughed.

(A/N Okay, well, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. I recently watched an anime called, Ergo Proxy. What a great story and characters! If you haven't heard of it or just didn't think it would be good you should try it.)

Millie M. Banshee