A/N: Sorry it took ages. We will be having a bunch of points of view in this chapter, sorry for that too.

Thanks to everyone who voted for Forest Spirit in the 1st Quarter 2021 Feudal Connection. Thanks to you it won the 2nd place in the Best
Character Portrayal for Kagome.
Cover art by akikazetohoru-12 - thank you so very much, sweetheart!
TW for this chapter: Violence. Character death.

Healing, healing

His world was the world of pain. And, for the first time in centuries, it was the world of his own pain. He was lost and unable to move, to rise above the sea of burning agony that surged through his veins like his poison and blood. All he could do was to lay wherever he was and wish it away, will his body to recover. He could hear Jaken's screeching voice nearby and he could scent the smells of the forest almost too weak to pick out from the smell of his own blood. His mind drifted between foggy awareness and complete darkness.

Hours passed and, even if his wounds closed and burns took a more healthy hue, his insides were still burned and torn almost beyond repair, His limbs lay limp and his breath was shallow, his youki focused inwards.

And the worst part was that the reason for him - the most powerful daiyoukai - was a hanyou wielding a sword, that didn't even hit him full force.

The fact that Inuyasha had held back some of Tessaiga's magnificent power at the moment of his attack...

The realization that it'd still would have been enough and the only reason he was still living - living in agony - was the useless blade at his hip protecting him.

That he needed protection from a dull blade, from an attack of a blinded, flailing half-blood pup...

It all burned much more severely than the wounds left on his body by the Kaze no Kizu.

When he finally came to, Sesshomaru lifted his head and looked around. He was very weak, but he knew that he could defend himself if anything tried to attack him. He was laying against the foot of a tree in deep forest, Jaken curled in a ball nearby, hugging his staff so he could use it at any time. The forest was filled with the light of early day, but it was already warm and rather humid, promising a lot of rain later

He sighed, adjusting himself just a bit to find a more comfortable position. He disliked being wet, but he wasn't in shape to move to a better shelter than the tree limbs could provide.

Unable to leave, with no one to glare at except the slumbering kappa, with no immediate threat, Lord Sesshomaru found himself quite... bored.

His aching body didn't place him in the right mood to focus on planning any foul things against his half-breed half-brother. He didn't resent the brat for harming him - again! - because in the heat of battle one should be prepared to take damage. But he resented the brat for actually being able to do the damaging to him. He resented the boy for grasping the power within the Tessaiga - and from what it looked like, by instinct, not training! He resented that human girl interfering with the battle, surprising him with her sudden power, just like the hanyou had done with his mastery over the blade.

The daiyoukai resented that he had been incorrect in his assumptions towards the both of them

They should be weak, sniveling in fear at his feet. Not fighting back - and actually with decent power. How could it be that the hanyou was so well attuned to Tessaiga? It was a daiyoukai blade, and yet this foolish half-breed had wielded it - clumsily, but that was beside the point. The young miko had never shown any decent amount of reiki - that is until she'd conjured a battier he couldn't break - the first in his life battier he couldn't shatter.

How could it be that this insignificant, weak pair could do damage and stop him, the most powerful daiyoukai?

His thoughts drifted, questions unanswered. He thought about his mother - a great Lady of the West, ruler of all inu clans. She was inferior in raw power to him, her poison less potent. And yet, no one tried to push her into abdicating to make way for him, her more powerful heir.

He winced when he remembered the wolf leader shouting at him that everyone saw him not fit to be a ruler, despite his power. He thought about his mother's lectures about him lacking something she valued and threatened to find in that pathetic hanyou. He though about his last conversation with his father.

As he dozed off the last question in his mind was the same that resurfaced throughout his musings: how someone so weak could exercise so great strength?

When the daiyoukai dozed off, his faithful servant sleeping near, there was a small shadow carefully creeping between the trees, silent like a whisper. The shadow stopped a sizable distance away and then backed away after a moment of watching the silver-haired man in bloodied, burned kimono. One golden eye opened to glare after the disappearing shadow.

Two hours later, to his surprise, the little shadow was back, carrying a water skin and approaching cautiously. Despite himself he allowed the small figure to clumsily make her way towards him, somewhat curious what she was planning to do. The creature, thin and fragile looking, dropped the full container of water near him and scurried away like a frightened animal. For the rest of the day the figure appeared and disappeared in the undergrowth, big brown eyes watching his every move when he inspected the gift and let it where she'd dropped it..

When around the evening the small girl approached his resting place again, saying no word, but watching him intently, he snarled at her, knowing that most human would never bother him again after such a display. Certainly, no little girl in rags could brave coming near him ever again.

The following morning the human brought him some pathetic food. He watched her face when she offered it to him mutely, hope glimmering in her eyes, concern mixed with it. What her eyes were lacking was the terror she should be feeling. Or deception. Or desire to finish him off. He told her to take her foul food and go away, observing how the hope drained from her face. No hatred replaced it, no terror.

Oh, she was afraid of him, but not in the way her kind and many of his own were. She was afraid he could harm her when he sneered at her, but otherwise exerted... no fear. How could this frail, underfed, dirty human child have no fear and no hatred in her? He asked her about that, but all he got in response was a bright smile and a wave when she left him.

A few hours later she came back, with a fresh fish. And fresh bruises. Still, she offered the fish to him on a wooden plate, bright eyes shining up at him from pale face with purple marks of violence. He asked her about them, but she merely shrugged and then left the plate to limp back to her village.

She didn't come the third morning.

Kagome woke slowly. She found herself laying on something sort, wrapped in warmth. There was a very warm and solid thing she was pressed against and it took Kagome a moment to realize that it was a man's chest. A steady heartbeat was the only noise she heard.

When she blinked she saw Inuyasha laying on his side next to her, watching over her. She smiled, realizing that it was one of her favorite dreams, the ones featuring her forest spirit.

"Kiss me?" she asked boldly. Yes, they were getting more and more affectionate and close in the waking world, but in her dream she could jut do and say what she wanted, without the risk of spooking the skittish hanyou or sounding untoward.

"K-kiss you?" he blinked his yellow eyes at her, just like he'd do if she'd asked him in real world. He even blushed hot red. "Now?"

She nodded and sighed when he bent down and pulled her closer to his chest with his free hand. At first the kiss was sweet and chase, but it didn't stay that way for long. His lips pressed firmly against hers and she gasped when she felt a zap of his youki against her. His tongue slid between her parted lips, gently coaxing hers to play.

.

Kagome shivered at that touch and moved closer to him, pressing her body against his warmth. Her hands moved, one to grip the front of his kimono, other to fist in his hair. She felt his arm wrap around her waist, holding her close. His lips pressed harder against hers and she sighed when his tongue touched her bottom lip. Her heartbeat sped up and she felt much warmer now, not entirely because of shared body heat. She tugged at the hair she held, pulling him closer to her, needing him to...

"When you two are ready, come to dinner. I made a stew" Kaede's voice cut into the dream.

Kagome's eyes opened to look at Inuyasha's face, pure shock reflected on her own face when she realized that no, this wasn't a dream. That realization was only reinforced when she heard the flap covering the door to her and her mother's bedroom fall over the doorway, her mother shuffling away. Was it her imagination, or did she hear her mother chuckle?

"This isn't a dream. Mother saw us kissing!" Kagome gasped and pulled her hands close to herself, backing away a bit, her cheeks hot. She covered them with her hands. A part of her just wanted to pull her blanket over her head and never come out from under it again.

"Keh, you told me to kiss you! It's not my f-fault you distracted me from... Wait, you dream about me kissing you too?" at firs he sat up, glaring at her, obviously flustered, but then he got intrigued and leaned in to peer at her. His ears were perked and pointed towards her, like a dog who heard a bunch of snacks falling into his bowl. Something told Kagome that Inuyasha wouldn't appreciate that comparison very much. His golden eyes looked straight into hers and she gripped the edge of her blanket tighter.

"Your eyes! They are back to normal, I'm so glad!" she tried to redirect his focus, but he merely scoffed, leaning in even closer. "So, you have dreams about us kissing as well?"

That made him turn around, presenting to her his back and the expanse of his mane. She could sense his youki as it swirled around them, a clear sign he was emotional. It always spun more violently, even when he tried to pretend he was indifferent. And since she was now more attuned to how it acted, it was easier to read the mighty forest spirit.

"So what, if I do? We're intended now!" he grumbled, his back tense. Kagome sat up, a smile on her face. She noticed that they were in her old home, alone in the sleeping room. "So... do you like when I kiss you in the dreams?"

His voice was hushed and lacked the barking quality. Kagome's smile grew tender when she replied, shifting so she could lean against his shoulder.

"Not as much as I like when you kiss me when we're awake."

His arm hesitantly sneaked around her and she was pulled against his side a bit closer. When she glanced up she saw his yellow eyes peering down at her =m a boyish smile on his still blushing face.

"Me too," he whispered, as if afraid he could be overheard. Kagome's heart skipped a beat as he leaned in. She gasped when she saw a sudden spark in his eye, just a second before she felt a tongue trace a path down her jaw and then a set of teeth nip at her ear. It wasn't the hot kind of nips dream Inuyasha sometimes did, this one was sharper, even if not really painful.

"Inuyasha!" she pulled away raising her hand to cover her ear. She knew what he'd done that for, it was a scolding nip and she didn't have to wait long to hear the regular gruff lecture

"You ain't allowed to go against Sesshomaru ever again," he ordered firmly, all the mirth and boyish embarrassment leaving his face. "You were told not to get in trouble!"

"And what was I supposed to do?" she asked hotly, glaring. "Let him kill you?"

"Yes!" he barked, obviously without thinking. She wasn't going to sit idly by when someone hurt or tried to kill him. She knew she was weak, but whatever she could do, she was willing to. "I mean I'd have been fine! I had it!"

"You were blinded and he was about to put his hand through you!" she pointed out. "I had to do something!"

"Better me than you, I would've lived and you... If not for your reiki shining like it had, I wouldn't even know where you were, with all the stench of Sesshomaru's venom on my face..." he still sounded angry, but the way he stumbled over his words, it made her pause in her angry seething.

Kagome found herself out of breath when she suddenly found herself pulled into a tight embrace. Inuyasha's chin rested on her shoulder.

"I almost... I will not..." he paused when she wrapped her arms around him and pressed her cheek against his. "I was scared. You're not allowed to make me scared." His voice was barely audible.

"i was scared too, you know," Kagome gripped the fabric of his robe. "I had to do something. I didn't know if it would work..."

"Keh, it worked bloody well. How did you do that?" he asked, leaning a bit away so he could look at her.

"I... I'm not sure. I just... Didn't want him to hurt you and hoped that if I made a barrier like these I do when we train, that maybe it will buy you some time to dodge before he broke through," she frowned, trying to piece together the fuzzy memories of what had happened before she'd lost consciousness. If she had to be honest, the memory of the power surging through her, it was a bit scary. That level of reiki was foreign, even if the reiki had felt like her own power. She guessed she wasn't used to so much energy within her and wondered from where it had come. Was it her desire to protect Inuyasha that granted her so much power?

Inuyasha snorted and pulled her back close to himself. She didn't mind, feeling his warmth was pleasant and reassuring. Her own body felt so tire and heavy, but that didn't matter, because Inuyasha was there, safe and not yelling at her anymore.

"Keh, I bet the old bat has an explanation already," he grumbled and nuzzled her ear, the same he'd bitten before. "And the bastard didn't show up for the last two days, so I guess he got it bad and learned his lesson not to bother us."

"I saw the attack you unleashed on him, it was just like what you'd done when you fought the boar. Are you certain your brother isn't dead?" she asked, resting her cheek against his chest.

"Nah, he somehow dodged it. Totosai said it was some weird shit with Tenseiga pulling him away to safety, but I bet he isn't feeling peachy," he said, not even trying to hide his pride

"And mother is alright?" she inquired further, relieved that Sesshomaru wasn't going to come after them any time soon, but also because she didn't want Inuyasha to kill his own brother.

"Yeah, she woke up after I carried you here and the villagers dumped her on the other bed," he explained. "She's fine."

That was when it hit her. Kagome sat up with a gasp, staring at Inuyasha.

"Wait, I was out for two days?"

He smirked and nodded.

"Oh, my goodness," she sagged against his shoulder again. "I had to be really drained, huh?"

"From what Kuma said the reiki you used was visible to everyone," he grumbled, but she caught a hint of pride in his voice. "Shippou said you felt like you were burning with it. The old hag better have an explanation for this."

"Don't call mother a hag, Inuyasha," Kagome said softly and added after a minute and a low grumble from around her midsection. "And, do you think we could go see what's for the dinner?"

Inuyasha sniffed and shrugged. "Fish stew," he grumbled. Kagome rose to her feet carefully, glad that she was still dressed under the blanket. She wasn't ready to learn if in Inuyasha;s dreams she wasn't wearing clothes. Judging by some of her own dreams about him... It was very likely she wasn't. She turned towards the door to hide her blush.

"Let's go eat and see what mother can tell us," she said to the forest spirit standing up behind her.

.

Sango sighed and laid a hand over Miroku's forehead. It was slightly damp with sweat, so she reached for a wet rag to wipe it. Her worried eyes drifted to where the old monk Mushin worked on stitching the wind tunnel on his right palm. The soft light of a lamp created a circle of light around them, the rest of the room hidden in shadows.

"You reckless idiot," she said to the sedated with herbs man lying in front of her. He didn't even stir.

"You will have to make sure he doesn't use it for a day or two," the old monk warned her as he worked carefully. "What possessed him to suck that huge oni in?"

"He sensed the jewel two days ago," Sango sighed. She wouldn't tell anyone else, but she felt she could trust the man who'd raised her husband.

"Ah, so it's barriers are weakening?" the aged man sounded displeased. "That's not good. If I remember correctly, Lady Hitomiko had bespelled the jewel to never return after it was burned with Lady Kikyou's remains."

"Lady Tsubaki foresaw that this will happen," Sango shrugged. "And this time it lasted just a moment, now the jewel is concealed again."

"Good," Mushin straightened his back with a wince and wrapped Miroku's hand in bandages. "Here, all done. Now he just has to give it a bit of time to knit itself and he can resume using this. If any youkai noticed the jewel existence you two will need all tools you can lay your hands on to keep it safe until it is back in your village."

"Thank you," Sango bowed her head. "We will leave the first thing in the morning and I will make sure Miroku is holding back."

"Very well then. I will make sure your food supplies are refilled," the monk stood up and left the room, Sango watching over her partner. Kirara joined her and sat beside her, licking her front paw lazily. The slayer reached and pulled the blanket more securely over the sleeping man.

.

She became aware of the world around her. She was in a room, laying on the floor. She could hear two people near her, but only one heartbeat. Two swirls of youki licked against her own. She paused in her inspection of her surroundings.

Youki? She had it, she could sense it filling her body.

She was sure that she shouldn't have youki.

"Kanna," said a silky, seductive voice of a man. "We're aware you're awake."

She frowned. She was certain Kanna wasn't her name, but... At the same time it was. She sat up and opened her eyes, expecting not to see anything.

A few months ago she'd blinded herself with the sap of one of the plants her cousin's brother-in-law planted in his herb garden. She'd done that on purpose, knowing that otherwise her eyes blessed and cursed with foresight would fall in wrong hands. She'd been aware that she couldn't flee or fight the dark one, so she'd destroyed the thing he'd wanted from her. His slave had taken her to see him anyway.

She saw the room clearly, a shadowy space, devoid of furniture. A woman in white kimono adorned with swirling pattern, her hair done up and adorned with a feather, knelt near her. In the other side of the room, resting lazily against a wall, sat the man who'd spoken.

"Kanna, tell me, where is the Shikon no Tama," he ordered. His hair fell over his shoulders in luxurious waves of black, his kimono was rich. Red eyes tinted with malice observed her

"I cannot, Lord Naraku," she replied. She remembered being called Hikari, but it felt as if it had been another life. Now she was no longer the noble girl cursed with blessing of sight. Still, the man in front of her hadn't taken it well that she hadn't been able to see anymore, so he... She focused on a thing that slipped past her fingers like water in a river. He'd found a mirror youkai and had given her to him to devour and possess her. Now she was Kanna, the mirror of the void, able to see, but not into the future

To Hikari that had been what mattered, not allowing Naraku to use her as a tool in his schemes. Kanna didn't really care, perfectly serene and emotionless.

She wasn't sure if it was a youkai trait that she couldn't feel fear and pain anymore. Or maybe it was specific to the kind of youkai she was.

"No," she replied, her fingers shifting as they held the mirror that rested against her chest. "It's hidden from me."

"Damn, I felt it days ago," he glared at her, but his anger was directed elsewhere. She couldn't defy him and he knew that, there was also no use trying to scare her. "Pity you wasn't ready then."

"You shouldn't have bothered with the kid," the woman - Kagura - said. Hikari remembered her as a cynical lady, the one who'd taken her from her house, but who'd agreed not to slay the household if Hikari behaved. Kanna knew Kagura was different than her, she was a true youkai, enslaved and forced to serve the Lord of the North. Kagura would do what she could to defy Naraku, not because she saw his doings as wrong, but because she wanted him to fail and her to be free again.

Hikari would've pitied her. Kanna did not.

.

She saw them when she approached her house. She held a basket full of berries she wanted to share with the white youkai in the forest. He looked better now and she suspected soon he was going to leave.

She stopped when she saw them, uncertain what to do, what they wanted. Today she didn't steal fish from the pond and she'd already gotten her beating for that yesterday. Her bones still ached and the swelling of her cheek just got lessened enough that she could see with both eyes.

There were the headman and his wife. The village elders accompanied them, along with a few of the village men and women. She winced when she saw the man who always tried to break into her house when he got drunk. She never figured out what he wanted because each time she fled through the special hole in the floor at the back of the old house that looked like ht wasn't going to survive the winter. It was her home, the home where her family had been murdered by bandits this early spring. She didn't have anywhere else to go. And the village folk waited for her at the door.

"Ah, Rin!" the headman noticed her. She lowered her head, but the tone of his voice wasn't angry. He sounded scared, but he tried to cover that by mirth. "Come here, child, we came here to tell you the good news!"

There were no good news, her family was still dead. But she approached slowly, disobedience was not taken well. Besides, humans didn't harm her in such big, diverse groups. If she was in for a punishment, it'd be the headman or one of the elders, holding a stick to teach her a lesson.

"You are chosen, little Rin," the headman informed her when she stopped near him, dirty feet shuffling against the grass. She blinked up at him, so he elaborated. "You will no longer be the orphan living off on mercy of the village."

"A great new life waits for you," added his wife and took her shoulder in her deft hand. Rin was too stunned to even consider struggling. What were they talking about? "Now, hurry, let's make you presentable."

The women surrounded her and led her away from her house ant the men, who smiled after her. There was no joy in their eyes, only burning terror. The chatter of the women around her as she was being led to the headman's house was a bit too loud, too forced to be real excitement, Rin decided. They were smiling and kind to her, even if their hold on her was a bit too tight and their faces too pale.

Confused the girl didn't object when they led her to a bath house and stripped her. They bathed her, spreading nice smelling oil on her hair and brushing it in until her hair shone. Her skin was scrubbed until there was no spot of dirt on her. The women cringed at the bruises on her skin and the apparent scrawniness of her body. Rin was led to a stool she sat on. The women covered her face and neck with a thick layer of rice powder, concealing her bruises. Her hair was pulled in an easy, adorable side ponytail. She was dressed in clean clothing of far better quality than anything she'd ever worn, even when her mother had been alive. There were three layers of clothing, each paler than the next. It wasn't silk, but it was more than many of the villagers could afford. Rin looked quizzically to the headman's wife, who looked away while putting a white sock on her foot. Rin frowned at the brief look of pity in her eyes.

"You will be serving a great man," the headman's wife said quietly. "Be obedient and if you're lucky, maybe you'll be happier than you were in the village. And if you're good, the great lord will show us mercy," she whispered, stroking Rin's hair in almost affectionate way. "Be good.'

'You're ready," said one of the elder women, clasping her hands together. "Come, there is no time to waste."

Rin was led outside and saw that the whole village gathered to watch her be helped into the palanquin the village used for weddings or rare visits of noblemen who didn't wish to have their feed soiled. She sat in the shadowy space within the palanquin, which was lifted by four men. She was not of marrying age yet and besides, she had no chance of being wed anyway. She tried to listen on what noises were going on outside, but no one yelled or chanted. The whole crowd was quiet when she was carried out of the village and into the forest. She bit her lip at the way everyone had been looking at her, their gaze intense, somewhat pitying, but mostly frightened. Whatever was happening, Rin had an uneasy feeling about it. The atmosphere in the village was tense and she didn't like being in the center of the attention. At least the curtains provided her some shelter from the gazes of the villagers.

She remained quiet and didn't ask what was happening. Since her family's death she didn't talk. There was no one who cared for her, no one who would've listened. There was no one she wanted to be heard by. Besides, she was just a scrawny orphan she was sure that no one would tell her what was happening. They could be angry with her for even wondering that and her body still ached from her last beating.

Besides, she was sure she could run if things got real bad. She was pretty fast

It took a while before the palanquin was put on the ground and the headman moved the side curtain away, waving his hand.

"Come out, come out fast, girl," he whispered and Rin obediently exited the stuffy space. She looked around and saw that they were in the deep woods, the air full of fresh scents, the trees swaying on gentle breeze, light filtered to the ground through fluttering leaves..All four carriers standing behind her and the palanquin, the headman bowing towards the front of it. Curiously she peered from behind him.

"What is the meaning of this, human?" screeched a green youkai, not taller than her. He stood and shook a two headed staff, round eyes with cat-like pupils glaring at the bowing headman. Rm didn't pay him much attention, because behind him, leaning against a thick tree... "Lord Sesshomaru doesn't have time to waste on talking to filth like you!"

The white-haired youkai with golden eyes raised a perfect brow. Rin noticed that his robe was no longer torn and bloodied. A smite spread across her lip when she realized that he was doing better.

"Oh, great youkai, please, accept our offering and spare our village," the headman said in a shaky voice. He blindly reached behind and grabbed Rin. She stumbled when he pulled her to stand in front of him.

"Foolish mortal, Lord Sesshomaru would never devour one of your kin!" the kappa shook his head in outrage.

"Jaken, silence," the white-haired youkai said in a cold voice. The humans behind her shrank away, but Rin just stood there, blinking in confusion. The kappa bowed and said nothing more, just glared at the men huddled behind her.

"Uh... She can be of use to you, great lord," the headman stumbled over his words. "She can serve you..."

"Leave, humans," golden eyes closed and the youkai inclined his head so it rested against the tree. It was a clear indication their presence wasn't wanted anymore. The headman patted Rin's shoulder and she looked back to see his frown and unspoken order. Then the headman turned on his heel and practically ran after the four men carrying the empty palanquin with unusual speed. With a soft sigh she sank to her knees, waiting for what was going to happen next.

Her village gave her to a youkai as an offering. She'd heard about this practice - when a youkai would appear in a village, often it'd be appeased by a human sacrifice and left without leveling the buildings and slaughtering people and livestock.

She was the sacrifice.

She wasn't wanted in her village, she had no one who would stand up to the crowd for her, defend her from the fate of being killed or eaten by a youkai. Villages like hers had no miko to defend them, so all they could do was to hope that the sacrifice would save the rest of them. That explained why they'd been so tense and scared, she mused, watching a bug go around her knee across the forest floor. She couldn't blame them, the while youkai was clearly a powerful entity. Still, she didn't fear him, not when he was sitting there motionless and silent.

He was definitely less scary than the drunk man creeping into her house at night and cooing for her to come and play with him. Or the bandits who had killed her father and brothers. Youkai didn't usually try to deceive you. If they wanted to kill, they did so without pretending it was for some greater goal. They cared not for meager wealth of a poor farmer and they had no use lying to these so obviously weaker than them. No youkai would've told Rin she was going to be happy and then lead her to an entity that could kill her.

They ran off before the youkai could decline the sacrifice the second time. Rin wondered if they were aware that such an entity didn't need a servant like her. And the notion that he'd devour her was funny, he was too noble to eat scrawny orphan with face caked with rice powder and hair greasy from the oil. In their opinion the fact that they weren't there to hear the youkai refuse the sacrifice meant that it was valid. That had probably been why they'd ran off so fast.

"My lord' the kappa gasped. It was a long while after the men ran off. Rin lifted her head and saw the white youkai standing up. He was so tall

"'Go fetch Ah-Un, Jaken," the golden eyes looked at Rin, not interested in looking if the kappa obeyed. The one called Jaken ran off. 'Why haven't you gone with the other humans when this one ordered you to leave/'

Rin shrugged and smiled shyly.

"Go back home, girl. This one has no need of you," he turned and left.

The girl sighed and rose to her feet. Since her family's death no one wanted her, no one cared if she was well or not. It made sense that even youkai didn't have any need of her, when her own village people had so eagerly offered her as a meal to him. She started back towards the village, wondering what they'd do when they saw her returning. Would they beat her up for not being killed or made into a youkai slave?

She walked towards her house, the small hut on the outskirts of the village was all she had. Rin was happy that she was alive, even if no one else was happy because of that. She knew she could make it. She could work hard on the fields when the rice was ready for harvest and she didn't need much to survive by. She would stay alert and keep away from shifty people.

Rin paused when she heard a yell.

"Go roam and hunt, there's a long road before us!" called a feminine voice from the other side of the village. Rin blinked and looked that way just in time to see a man running between the buildings. A swift white shape followed him on four paws and a blood curling scream of agony filled the air when the wolf pounced at the man's back and bit into his neck. More screams followed soon, villagers running for shelter from the multitude of brown, gray and white wolves, who ran after them barking and growling.

Rin didn't wait, she turned on her heel and ran for the forest. There was no hope she could find shelter in the village.

The dappled shadow of the forest swallowed her as she ran, not looking back. Trees and undergrowth hid her from the view of the village, but she didn't slow, stumbling occasionally on a root. She wasn't thinking where she was running to, as long as she was putting more and more distance between her and the pack of wolves slaughtering her village. Blood rushed in her ears, her heart pounding, breath coming in short pants. She didn't cry, there was no one who would care to listen to her call for help.

She found a dirt road going across the forest and quickly ran down it. There were far less obstacles there. That was when she heard excited barking from behind her. She whimpered, trying to sped up. Her whit socks were ruined, her kimono torn in a few places from catching on branches, but she didn't care. She cast a glance back and saw three big gray wolves running after her. Swallowing her fear she doubled her efforts, trying to find a way to save herself.

That was when she tripped over a twisted root hidden in a puddle of mud. With a soft gasp she fell on the mushy ground and had enough time to lift herself on her knees and elbows before the wolves caught up.

A searing pain in her thigh. She cried out and tried to hit the head of the wolf who yanked at her leg with a vicious growl. She sobbed as warmth poured down her leg, along with pain like nothing she'd felt before. Another set of jaws caught her flailing arm and she heard a sickening snap over the scream that was torn from her. The third wolf latched its jaws to her throat and her cries and sobs changed to choked noises that didn't last long.

The three wolves prances around her, whining excitedly, tails wagging high in the air, noses poking the lithe body to see if she'd struggle. Then the biggest of the wolves approached her side, lowering its head to tear her belly open and start the feast.

.

Rin opened her eyes. There was no pain. The wolf attack felt like it had been a bad dream, the bruises and aches from her last beating not bothering her anymore. She realized that she no longer felt hunger, that had been a part of her life for so long that she'd learned to ignore it. She was propped against something solid and cool like metal.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" screeched a voice when she opened her eyes. "You revved that human girl with Tenseiga!"

Rin looked up and realized that she was held by the white youkai, who was kneeling on one knee, her body resting against his armor. His golden eyes peered into her face, his features devoid of emotion, but something was twinkling in these bright irises. From up close she noticed that his cheek markings and the moon on his forehead made him look more sharp and stern than he would've looked without them.

His hold on her loosened and Rin shifted to stand on her feet, not ever for a moment looking around to see the dismembered carcasses of wolves scattered around on the road.

"You said you were testing the blade!" the kappa shrieked a few paces away, but she ignored him too. The white youkai - Lord Sesshomaru - observed her for a long moment, then turned around and walked off.

That was when she realized she hadn't tried to climb a tree to hide from the wolves. Shed ran into the forest, because a part of her wanted to be near him again. He was way stronger than any wolf, youkai or not. He was cold and merciless, but he'd somehow brought her back to life. She'd offered him food and water, but he gave her much more. He showed her mercy while it was clearly not in his nature. He used his awesome power designed to kill to bring her back to life.

She took a hesitant step, then another one. Before she knew it, she ran after him, the kappa shrieking behind her for the lord to watt for him.

And, for some reason, for the first time in months, she wanted to call out and laugh too.