Oh how her legs itched to move. Rin grumbled as she tossed this way and that on her torn sleeping roll, unable to find a comfortable position in order to sleep. A frustrated sigh blew past her lips as she shot up and stared toward the billowing door flap. No matter how hard she tried she just couldn't get herself to sleep, her mind kept wavering toward the demon man she had met in the forest some hours ago. Her mind kept telling her that maybe it didn't happen and it wasn't real but she knew it was; still having the faint taste of apple upon her lips proved that it was real.

She also thought of the woman that supposedly tossed her the fruit. She had spent most of the darkening hours trying to put a face to her, imagining her with eyes of every color trying to pin point the right one, or if her nose was small like her own and if she had a kind smile. Rin couldn't help but try to conjure up an image of the fire haired lady. The woman showed kindness toward her that no one else had before and it filled her with joy that she couldn't explain.

Deciding that she would never find sleep, Rin threw the ripped blanket from her body and changed from her stained sleeping dress into her equally stained pink peasant kimono. After smoothing it down into place she ran from her hut and into the quiet darkness of the village. No fire was lit, nothing stirred as the people of the village were asleep in their warm huts, oblivious of their beggar wandering around like a mouse.

Rin always sneaked out late at night, it was always the best time to do so for her to find food that was dropped or forgotten. She was even desperate enough to steal from other's gardens, and she was mostly always desperate; although, at the moment she wasn't thinking about her own hunger.

Silver hair and amber eyes ghosted through her mind, the man that as hurt in the forest, surely he must have been hungry. No one had ever helped her in her many times of need, always bypassing her without a glance and turned up their noses or fake pity in their eyes. She knows what it's like to be looked over and now that she knows where someone who is hurt lays, she refused to bypass him like she always was. She wasn't going to be like the other villagers.

Looking over her shoulder and gazing at the stillness of the night air and seeing no other persons, Rin tied up the ends of her dirty kimono and secured them up above her knees and then stepped into the gated preserve that held many kinds of fish. She couldn't count how many fish swam around her feet, possibly because she never really learned how to count but she knew when she saw a lot of something; and there were a lot of fish. With a quick and practiced snap, her hands shot into the water and immediately caught a large and writhing bass that battled against her hold but the fish would lose as she pressed her finger into its gills and killed it quickly like her Pa had taught her.

Her Pa. . . . Sadly a very vivid image of her father flowed into her mind just like it was happening right before her. She could clearly see her and her Pa standing in a ravine near their home and he showing her how to properly catch a fish. Sighing sadly and shaking her head to clear the memory, her feet carried her back toward her hut.

Skidding to a halt before her door flap, a thought struck her that wavered everything she was about to do. The man was a demon, she knew that. Do demons eat fish? If so, are they cooked or uncooked? Her lip found its way into her teeth as she tried to her best to think of an answer but she knew that would take until the sun came up for she knew nothing of demons and their dietary needs. So throwing all worry from her mind she prepared a fire, stuck her fish onto a thin branch she found outside and watched as it crisped before the fire.

Once she knew the fish was cooked to perfection, she snatched the stick from the fire and proceeded to pour the bucket of water onto the flames and soon her hut was dark like all the others. Once she saw everything was put away and her hut safe from the flames, Rin wrapped the cooling fish in a large leaf and ran through the flap and high tailed it to the lip of the woods. For a reason she could not explain, excitement flowed through her as she quickly came upon the woods edge.

Running through the trees and leaping over the fallen logs like she had done before, she ran through the path that was stuck in her memory from when she followed the woman. Red hair bounced behind her eyes as a smile pulled at her lips. She knew that the woman as well as the man had something to do with each other; she did lead Rin to him after all. Maybe finally she could see her face and see if her imagination was correct and she really was extremely beautiful and also kind.

Oh how she hoped.

After following the familiar path she soon found herself before the tree limb that obscured her vision of the silver man. Rin reached out and pulled the limb back and saw that the man had not moved a single inch since she last saw him many hours ago, eyes still shut and his chin touching his chest as he slumbered. The silence was deafening as Rin tried to not make a sound but with every step she took, it sounded like thunder to her as she tip toed toward the slumbering demon.

Yet, he never stirred.

Rin stared down at the fish she held tightly in her shaking palms, she was close enough to see the steady rise and fall of the demons chest and her throat went dry. She had been standing there for some time now but he had yet to stir or acknowledged her presence. Looking up into the tree for a sign from the red haired woman, she saw that she was not there either and that brought sadness to her belly. Shuffling from one dirty foot to the other, she stepped forward with a small grunt in hopes of stirring the sleeping demon. She knew he was powerful, she could practically feel the abundance of striking aura coming from him in waves but she still felt no fear. He was alone like her and injured like she is often, they were kind of the same and then not.

Gulping down a lump she sent a soft 'Umm' toward him and her heart stopped upon seeing annoyed eyes pop open and his head turned to stare at her. Rin froze upon seeing the golden eyes that bore into her but still remained brave as she stepped forward and placed the fish within arm's reach of the demon. Her soft brown eyes locked with his for a moment before she stood up and went to walk away but his voice sent a jolt through her knees.

"Mind your own business girl." He called out annoyed as he closed his eyes and leaned against the trunk. "Your generosity is wasted. I don't eat human food."

Rin turned to throw a sad look over her shoulder and saw that he went back to his slumbering and no longer had his eyes locked on her. A sigh escaped her lips and decided that since it was extremely late in the evening, she better head home to hopefully find food for herself. With that, the little girl disappeared with her head bowed forlornly as she trekked back toward the village where the adults cared little for her.

Rin slowly made her way out of the woods and turned to stare at the dark tree trunks sadly. What was she thinking? She was just a little girl; a little human girl who couldn't help a demon who was injured. Frustrated with herself at the lack of thanks from the demon man, her shoulders slumped and she made her way back toward the preserve and folded up her kimono ends before stepping into the water.

Why did she even bother? She thought as she moved her hands in the water in an attempt to catch a fish but with her mind so clouded, she kept missing. Since her parents death she had been ignored, beaten, bypassed and starved from the villagers that took her in when her and other survivors showed up for sanctuary. They all found work, they all found homes and all had food and their lives were put back together like the bandits never destroyed their old village. Yet here she was, snaking around at night and scavenging for only a mouthful of food which to her was rare.

She bothered because she refused to be like the adults around her. She cared because she knew what it was like to be lonely and if she could help someone more than herself, she would rather see them happy over her own needs. That's just how the little girl thought and with a little smile to her lips she finally grasped a fish larger than the last and breathed in triumph.

"I knew it!" A loud bellow threw fear over her like a bucket of ice making her hands loose the grip on the fish. Standing at the edge of the preserve were a few men from the village, holding torches and sending glares down toward her which made Rin want to sink into the water and disappear.

"I knew you were the dirty culprit, Rin!" The man who she recognized as the apple vendor stomped into the water and before she could turn to run, a large hand gripped the back of her kimono and ripped her off her feet.

The apple vendor held the flailing girl high above the water as he stomped up the small hill and tossed her none too softly toward the dirt, earning a cry to tear from her lips but that was the only sound she made as each men took a turn in kicking the small child.

Rin kept her hands upon her face, trying to cover it the best her small arm could as repeated kicks hit her back, stomach and chest from the larger men. She took the beating as silently as she could because she knew they wanted her to cry, they wanted to feel the power of dominating a weak child but she refused as the men continued to kick her with more force. After the last blow was felt toward her chest, a hand reached down and grasped the front of her kimono and brought her up from the ground to stare into the angry eyes of the apple vendor.

"You're a lucky orphan to be brought into this village but you mustn't steal from our preserve, you understand?!" He was so close to her face she could feel the spit hit her cheeks like tiny pin pricks until his large hand cracked against her face and sending it snapping to one side.

Tears sprang from her eyes and a whimper escaped as another man got in her face and yelled, "Never do it again!" and another slap snapped her face in the opposite direction. The hand holding her kimono released and the little girl was sent sprawling to the ground with a tiny grunt but she wasted no time in getting up and limping toward her hut with her hands upon her stinging cheeks and tears welling thickly in her eyes.

It took her longer than usual but she finally limped all the way back to her hut that was waiting for her under the darkened bridge looking just as pathetic as she did. Once she was past the door flap and inside her own home, Rin finally let the tears flow with a loud and throaty sob that made her stomach hurt. Her sobs coming out with shoulder quaking coughs, Rin flopped onto the torn bed roll and tried her best to get comfortable but there was no such thing. With her wails becoming louder and her heart breaking more than it already was, she pulled into herself and hugged her bruised knees and hid her sad eyes in-between them. She wanted to cry and let her sadness out in peace.

Then she felt it. Stopping her shaking and quieting her cries just a little, she lay and waited and then she felt it again. Looking up from her knees and into her dark and lonely hut, she saw that no one else was there, she was all alone with her crying but she swore she could feel slender fingers comb through her unruly hair and caress her scalp soothingly.

Like her mother once did.

She looked around the hut once more and saw that it was all in her imagination and placed her head back in-between her knees and tried to grasp the idea of sleep but her heart still hurt, it hurt more than the wounds she received and her crying continued with a vigor.

Softly like before, a pale and slender hand found its way into Rin's hair again and threaded the thick strands through their fingers like a whisper while a low and steady hum filled the hut with its soothing sound. The calming gesture continued and Rin finally accepted it, finally feeling the firm hand of sleep and let the sensation lull her into the abyss and quieting her cries.

It was the best sleep Rin ever fell into.