Sessh Rin fic Chap 61

A/N: finals week starts in the morning, and as soon as it is over I'm on a plane to Japan for a week! So I won't get anything more out until Christmas.

*edit* so obviously I intended to get this out before going to japan, but that didn't quite happen, so here I am in narita airport hoping I can finish it sometime during this 42 hour long hell day as we pass back over the date line on our flight…

*edit 2* So…yeah…that didn't happen either. Merry Christmas, I hope?

To sorrelkaren, the clans aren't part of any mythology I know of, except maybe the "5 elements" of Chinese beliefs? Which I believe are also used in japan. The ka(fire), mori(wood), Dō(earth), Nami(water) and Kin-yama(gold), as well as Umi(representing metal) correspond to elements, as well as the Yume and shiro-yama being yin and yang/heaven and hell, and I'm not sure about the Tsuki. I think of them most as probably air and heaven/hell, more so the second because of the poison ability.

Sesshomaru snatched the missive from Rin's hands desperately, seeing the spots of blood on the paper before he was able to read the words written there in shaky calligraphy.

My Son

I fear there is no one left worthy of our trust. Last night, I was attacked as I lay sleeping with the pup. I do not know if it was I or he who was the target, but I know the Umi have always been loyal to us—until now. Trust no one, and do not worry for me. I will heal.

The white-haired man huffed in relief to know his mother was still alive and mostly well, and clearly the pup was fine also, as she hadn't mentioned him being harmed at all. He set the note down on the desk and pinned it with a paperweight, noticing the faint trembling in his fingers. He could have lost her. The only family he had left, he could have lost it so quickly. His eyes turned from the note to the declaration of war, still spread on the stack of other, unopened, scrolls on his desk, and he suddenly saw red.

Rin gasped in terror as her mate's eyes suddenly glowed crimson and he jumped to his feet with a roar of fury, throwing open the window and leaping outside, needing a wide-open space to prevent damaging something valuable in his rage. Paws struck the garden earth rather than feet and in another two bounds he was beyond the garden wall and in search of prey that would soon regret the day of its birthing.

Rin jumped up moments after he was gone, swallowing thickly with worry, and got herself some thicker clothing before hurrying down the stairs and outside to pursue her beloved. He couldn't just go off on his own! It was surely far too dangerous now, not that it was ever really safe. She shifted to her true form after exiting the gate, running after him without much thinking of her own safety, for only his mattered at this moment. She trotted quickly after his rampaging footsteps, dismayed at the gory sight that soon greeted her.

Rin had seen Sesshomaru's power before, but she had never realized how much nor how often he had held back. Every living thing in a massive ring around him was dead, destroyed by his poison, claws, and fangs. She stopped at the edge of the ring, whining softly in concern and gazing quite worriedly at her mate's massive white canine form standing in the center, claws ripping deep gouges in the earth itself. My love…

As Sesshomaru's hate-filled crimson eyes snapped up to meet Rin's, the poor young female took a step back, cowering in front of him. Please…come home… He heard his mate's gentle voice caress his mind. His eyes seemed to clear somewhat as he realized his rampage had frightened her, and she was now cowering from him. He straightened up from his stoop-shouldered aggressive posture before dropping his head and tail in apology and remorse, attempting—though of course it didn't really work—to make himself smaller than Rin was, to put her at ease. She didn't move back again as he took a cautious step toward her, licking his chops to get rid of the dangerous poison that he had been drooling just seconds before. Rin whined in anxiety as he took another step, shaking slightly, her fur fluffed and making her already sizable stomach bulge even bigger to his eyes. He was deeply saddened to feel her slight flinch as he gently nuzzled the soft fur between and behind her ears, and quickly began to gingerly groom the soft fur in hopes of calming and soothing her.

I am very sorry, Rin. I should not have lost my temper. You know I would never, ever hurt you. He continued his gentle grooming, tongue laving over her neck and shoulders in a calming effort. He felt her worried trembling quickly ease as she tucked her head under his chest, relaxing. Come, and let us go home. There are many preparations to be made, and you are far safer there.

Once they were safely back at the manor and back in their usual forms, Sesshomaru set to reading the remainder of the scrolls, ordering Rin to pack but not telling her what for. The remainder of the stack contained another declaration of war from the Shiro-Yama clan, and two refusals of aid, from the Mori and, surprisingly, Umi clans. So, his mother had been right…The Umi clans had chosen to stop being loyal at the most crucial moment.

"I'm done," Rin said as he set down the last scroll, frowning deeply at it, and looking back at the missive from his mother.

"Good." Sesshomaru stood and turned to his beloved, who looked understandably worried. "We are going to the palace."

"What?" Rin balked, eyes widening in shock. "We're going to go towards the people who tried to kill your mother?" She clearly thought he had lost all his good sense, and perhaps he had, but he knew they had little choice. This was shaping up into another civil war and something drastic had to be done, and fast. Sesshomaru's small mate took one of his large hands in both of her dainty ones and pressed his palm to her stomach, letting him feel the movement of the quickly growing new life within. "Please, think of the baby! There are so few of us…If…if you die, we have to survive, or they win." Her deep brown eyes watered, threatening tears, and when her small hands let him go he placed his palms on her cheeks with care, encouraging her to look up at him as a drop escaped the waterfall that was sure to start.

"What do you suggest, Rin?" He wiped the tear from her cheek with the pad of his thumb, frowning as her lip trembled.

"I don't know!" She wailed softly, trying to wipe her own eyes with her fists as several more tears fell all at once. She let out a worried sob and he shifted to gently embrace her. She nuzzled into his moko as her breath hitched with a couple more sobs. "I almost…lost you…once already. I-I-I can't…I can't lose you now. I-I just sob just want you, to, to think before you go charging in!" Sesshomaru swallowed a bit thickly. He had been too reckless of late, and perhaps this was exactly what they wanted. What if this really was just a ruse, to get them all in one place so they would be easier to destroy? Rin was right, it could be an ambush, and were it not for her he would have already been on his way into it.

"Perhaps…you are right. Let us wait and remain here. I will send a letter back to Mother—" But as Sesshomaru spoke, Rin stiffened in his arms, letting out a soft gasp. He shifted quickly to hold his beloved at arms' length, fearing another of those intense false pains she seemed to get more frequently with stress. Instead he was greeted with glowing red sclera, but not a wisp of smoke nor a longer fang. "Rin?"

"We must go." Her voice was flat, emotionless; frightening, even. "Today. They are coming. The papers are real. They march, and we must travel before they reach the battlefield. The Taishō's time is at hand." It wasn't elegant, and it didn't rhyme, but Sesshomaru knew he had just witnessed a vision, and clearly a very important one. Rin closed her eyes and shivered, her knees weakening. He gently caught her by the upper arms and shifted one arm behind her to draw her back into him and keep her from falling.

"Rin, are you all right?" The woman's eyes remained closed for a moment or two more, then opened again, as clear as if that terrifying moment had never been. She seemed a little confused and asked why they were still in the manor when a moment before she had seen them in the palace.

Within moments, and with a bit less explanation than Rin would have liked, they were on their way to the palace, reaching it about an hour before sundown. As they made their way up the grand steps, Rin perked up at the sound of a baby crying. Her motherly ears recognized the cry of the little boy they were going to adopt, and she did her best to hurry, wanting to reach him as quickly as possible. Gobodō-sama soon came into view holding the wailing baby, looking tired but otherwise fine, and dressed in simpler traveling clothes rather than her usual fancy fare.

Rin took the baby and quieted him, sitting heavily on the final step and letting her breathing ease from her hasty stair-climbing. Much to the white-haired woman's surprise, her son dropped the bag he was carrying just inside the doorway and then embraced her for a moment, clearly relieved to find her well. "Your imprint cloth got blood on it during the attack last night, Daughter, and he's refused to eat since," She informed the girl, who nodded. Between the clearly hungry cries and the rooting the tiny pup was doing now, she knew what he needed. Though she knew it wasn't the best idea, Rin let him nurse, smoothing the silver fuzz on his head as Sesshomaru and his mother conferred nearby.

After a few moments of quiet conference, Sesshomaru stepped over, stooped to kiss Rin's head, and left somewhere. Rin tried to turn and follow his path with her eyes, but the pup in her arms distracted her once more and her spacey mother's brain stopped worrying about her mate in another two heartbeats. She rose and went inside, admiring the shell-like ears of the infant as he slept now, contented and full. He was able to hear now, and his eyes were just starting to peek open, baby blue for a few months yet before the gold would develop fully. She kept him cradled close to her, heading to their bedroom to wait for her beloved to return from wherever he had gone.

As Sesshomaru returned several hours later, having washed the blood from his claws after executing the two Dō men who had been captured weeks ago, he paused at the entrance to his room. He could hear contented noises from the pup and was a bit surprised he was still with Rin. He slowly opened the door and met his mate's guilty gaze. She was sitting on her hands, the pup beside her, wrapped lovingly in her moko-moko. And surrounding her were piles of blankets, pillows and cushions—anything soft the young woman could get her hands on. "Rin…"

"I'm sorry," She murmured softly, looking away from him and biting her lip. "I needed something I could control…" Sesshomaru stepped in and knelt down beside her, gathering her back into his arms, pulling her head to his shoulder and smoothing her hair.

"Please, don't do this," He murmured, resting his cheek against her hair. "I can get you a scroll, or a puzzle box. But please don't start nesting again. It's too early still. We can change rooms if it would help." He petted her raven hair gently as she clung to him, still quite guilty and ashamed. Really, she had done a bit of gathering, but come back to her senses before she could start nesting proper, and stopped herself. He sighed in relief as Rin relaxed, then perked up and turned toward the door, hearing footsteps just outside.

Sesshomaru's mother swept in as she often did, settling herself on one of the cushions and wasting no time in addressing her son. "You know that an army of the Dō and Shiro-Yama clans are marching on us even now. What is your plan to counter their attack?"

Sesshomaru frowned. He had been thinking on this very thing on the entire way to the palace that day. What could he really do? What hope did they have against them? "I had thought to lay a trap under the guise of truce. Invite them into the palace proper, and then destroy the leaders—"

"You think to fool them?" His mother questioned incredulously, raising a delicate silver brow in slight disbelief. "The Dō are strategists by very nature, my son. They have already proven that many times over the past months. We have only barely managed to thwart them at every turn, and only I think because there were so few. Now we face them all." She sat up a little straighter, shifting so her toes were under her ankles rather than behind her, and her back was as straight as a rod. "Your father may have glossed over some of the fine points of your education, but fighting and leading men is not something he would skip."

It was Rin who swallowed nervously and quavered "But Milady, the clans refused to help…"

Gobodō-sama scoffed, having read through the documents that Sesshomaru had brought along with them. "Only some have refused, and they can be punished later for disobedience. The Nami, the Kin-Yama, the Ka, can all be called to fight. You have an army, Sesshomaru, if you want it." She nodded smartly, but her son looked doubtful and a bit tired.

"Perhaps if they want to. No one wants another civil war. If I ask, they will not come; it isn't their fight—"

"SESSHOMARU! LISTEN TO ME!" Barked the Lady Mother in a nearly thunderous voice, causing Rin to flinch back and her son to retreat a step in shock at the power displayed. Rin quickly grabbed the now-frightened newborn and tried to quiet his panicked fussing. The white-haired woman took a deep breath to quiet and calm her voice before continuing in a low snarl. "I am only the TenDaimyō of the lands. A political ruler. I cannot fight. But you can. You MUST take your father's place as Taishō. These clans, every one, every daimyō and minor lord, swore to follow you at your birth, and they are bound to come at your command to serve, whether it is 'their problem' or not." Her son mutely looked away. She knew he didn't want to hear this, but it needed to be said. "The Nami are all bigger than you, and trained as samurai. The Ka you say are warriors. And the Yama will stop their sister clan if we act quickly." The woman rose gracefully to her feet, then stood on tiptoe, reaching up to pull her son's head down so she could kiss his moon for luck. "I trust you, my son. Do not fail us."

After Sesshomaru left the room once more, the white-haired woman settled next to her daughter-in-law, helping calm the pup and remaining to prevent Rin from nesting again. "You know, this little one is as big now as Sesshomaru was at birth!" She hummed. Rin looked from the slightly chubby 3-week-old pup to her still growing stomach, and gulped.

The commands to muster and fight were sent directly by magical means, as there was absolutely no time to waste on couriers, not even those who could fly. As Sesshomaru went about taking his father's place, the palace blacksmiths worked on his armor and sharpened his blades. He had just watched the last treatise, to the Kin-Yama daimyo, disappear as the magic took effect, when a messenger arrived. "Your armor is ready for inspection, Taishō-sama, as ordered." Sesshomaru stretched, stepping away from the desk to follow the young man to the head blacksmith, who led him to a dummy displaying his altered armor.

The workmanship was impressive, to say the least. Not only had it been repaired of any scuffs and scratches as if it were perfectly new, but it had been polished until it gleamed in the lantern light. The metal bands on the breastplate were the most obvious difference. Where once there had been one broad band to protect his shoulder (and how effective it had been against his fool brother's wild attack years ago!) there were instead three smaller bands, with too narrow a gap between them to offer a broad sword strike a chance. It greatly reminded Sesshomaru of his father's old armor with its pauldrons. His fur, as always, would serve to protect his other side. The armor had additionally been reinforced with magic, altering the colored undertone under the black from a faint yellow sheen to more of a deep blue where the lacquer caught the light. The lotus petals of the bottom of his armor had been slightly altered to be made a bit lighter and more flexible, allowing for good protection and maximum maneuverability. "Are you satisfied, Milord? And you wanted bracers as well, yes?"

"Yes, of course," Sesshomaru nodded, seeing the smith turn and pick up a small bundle, offering it to him. Forearm guards, very similar also to those his father had worn, though without the white detailing. "You'll want a different shirt," The smith commented, eyeing the sleeves of the Furisode that Sesshomaru always favoured for his outer layer. "Not only will those not fit on such large sleeves, but they will only slow you down, surely." Sesshomaru nodded absently and returned to the women, unhappy that it was well after dark now.

Unsurprisingly, his mother was still awake, though Rin had long since dozed off, her head in her mother-in-law's lap and the pup protected by her ring of fur and her arm gently draped over him. The white-haired woman gently shifted, replacing her small lap with a soft pillow for the pregnant woman so she could stand to greet her son. "How go the preparations?"

"Well, I think. The armor is complete already." She noticed the bundle he was slightly wringing in his hands and smiled.

"A moment."

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow but waited until his mother returned, clutching a bundle of cloth and a fresh scroll bearing the Ka seal. "This just came," She said, offering the scroll first. He quickly pulled it open, eyes widening in slight disbelief and relief.

"Two hundred and fifty soldiers." Now, by human standards, this was impressive, though not by much, but by the standards of the InuYōkai, it was staggering. That had to be nearly every able-bodied man of the Ka!

"I told you. You have an army. You just have to lead it." Gobodō-sama then offered the bundle of cloth. "I have dreamed of the day you would have the opportunity to wear this." When he took the cloth and unfolded it, it turned out to be a shirt with narrow sleeves, only the collar and left shoulder bearing the pattern of plum blossoms on hexagons. It was exactly what he needed to suit his armor perfectly.

"Thank you…Mother." She looked up at his sudden firmness of tone, faintly arching a brow. What was it now? "I want you to take Rin and go to the village. If I should fail, she must be protected, and so must you." He looked down at her, meeting her gaze as serious as death. "I have seen the palace burn once, in the vision you showed me months ago. I refuse to see it become a reality." She looked away from him, remembering it for herself, as she had seen it all along with him. That was only supposed to happen if Rin remained human, yet here it happened still. The very villains the vision had predicted were marching on them now, hell-bent on their destruction by whatever means necessary.

"You will not fail."

"Even so…Please, take her to safety, that I may fight with a clear head." At this, she nodded softly and stooped to gently wake the groggy pregnant woman, who tried to fend her off with one limp hand and a groan. Within the hour, they were gone, with Rin making him swear on that which he held most dear that he would return personally to inform them of his victory.

After they had stolen off into the night, with Rin riding upon his mother's shoulders and the pup cradled in her arms, Sesshomaru changed and put on his armor. The other two responses came in: the Kin-Yama mobilized a hundred men to block the Shiro-Yama pass, thwarting half the approaching force from making it to the battlefield altogether, and the Nami promised the handful of men they had left, all seasoned warriors and respected leaders.

Fastening the second bracer onto his forearm, Sesshomaru stepped out into the cool after-midnight air once more. As he stood on the third balcony, looking out over the darkened lands of his domain, a terrible smile curved his lips. Let them come. I am ready.

A/N: ohhh boy...are you excited? I'm excited! and late...very late...^.^" happy new year everyone!