A/N: Hey everyone, I would like to thank everyone for reading and all the lovely reviews. I worked all day on this chapter, so please forgive me for any mistakes I may have made. Also, I'll be out all week, so I'm updating this early. Hope you guys like it, and happy reading. Enjoy.
Chapter Three
Rin was shivering in fright on the ground. Her face and body were covered in bruises. Her clothes were tattered and ripped. Her body was curled into a ball as Naraku started beating her relentlessly as he spat venomous words with a smirk on his face. He would continue to do such a beating even after she fainted. Her whole body felt so heavy that she had to crawl to move, but her weakened state could not get her far. By the third day, his usual punishments changed when she started seeing men forming around her curled form. And this is when Rin screams.
Sesshomaru and Inuyasha rushed themselves without stopping, knowing time was of the essence. But even if they wanted to go through three days straight, the horses could not handle such long lengths of time without rest. Without a choice, they would stop by every village to get a new and strong horse to travel by. They would at least rest for thirty minutes to eat and drink when necessary. Their bodies sweating from rushing against time. They finally arrived to Naraku's mansion by the third day, but the servants told Naraku was not in the mansion. Sesshomaru and Inuyasha barged in anyways and ran around searching. No room was left unopened. The basement had looked like a dungeon with many servants in the cells. All of them looked like they were starved until their bones peeked out. All of them had lifeless eyes as they sat or laid there as if they were the living dead. Sesshomaru imagined Rin to be this way, and his stomach churned and another unknown feeling creeped up to make his heart throb hard against his chest.
"Please. Please don't send me away, Sesshomaru. I'll be good. I'll be good!," He could hear Rin's pleas. The day he had told her she was being sent away. Her eyes looked at him as if he betrayed her. He saw the tears that fell mercilessly from her eyes and his heart stung at the expression.
Inuyasha elbowed his side as he pointed out that all the servants in the cells were men, not even one cell had a female servant in it. Inuyasha and Sesshomaru looked at each other, their silence had become dangerous. They started asked the prisoned servants where the female servants were, but their only reply was met by silence. None of them stirred or even had the energy to answer. Sesshomaru and Inuyasha knew they would not get a response, so they left to search for a servant that worked for Naraku. Luckily, there was one close by. They questioned the servant, and he told his answer in fear he would be killed when Inuyasha put his sword against the servant's neck. But the thing is, the place Naraku and the female servants situated in would take a four day journey to the forest. And even then, they had to search through the vast forest. With quick thinking, Sesshomaru took the servant as hostage to show them the way.
Rin laid naked and crying, her body covered in a sticky substance all over her body. Her lips were bruised and the bruise on her right cheek had turned purple. She muttered under her breath for forgiveness even though nobody was present. She cried to be saved, to be protected. She called for Sesshomaru. The light in her eyes started to blur. Slowly, she was slipping. Slowly, she forgot who she is and started to accept the spouting lies Naraku had given her. She is dirt. She is scum. She is a lowly servant only taught to serve and nothing more. She wasn't one of worth. She was disposable.
Sesshomaru and Inuyasha did not like to make stops for the servant, but they had no choice in the matter. They needed him to talk and guide them to their destination. Sesshomaru made his way out of the inn, not being able to stay in one place when Rin needed to be rescued. It was a five minute walk that he noticed a garden full of flowers. Sesshomaru remembered Rin's smiling face whenever she saw flowers. Sometimes, he wonders why Rin wasn't named Hana instead. She looked like a flower herself. A beautiful flower, Sesshomaru admitted. He picked a few of them and started to weave them into a crown. He remembered how angelic she looked and how happy she had gotten when she received a simple wreath made of flowers by him as he put on her head. The thought pained his heart until he thought back to the lifeless servants. If Rin had been like them, he did not know what to do. He accidently crushed the wreath in his hands when he thought of Rin's silence and her lifeless look. Silence used to be his friend, yet he did not want the silence coming from Rin. The thought of throwing away Rin had once come across his mind, but he waved it away immediately. Disposing Rin was not part of any of his decisions.
He let the wreath fall from his hands and made his way back to the inn. He had to save Rin. There was no more waiting. He was going to save Rin. With a newfound determination, he paid for the stay and grabbed the servant by the back of his collar with Inuyasha following behind him. He was going to get to Rin.
They finally found their destination on the fourth day, but the forest looked vast with no mansion in sight. Sesshomaru pulled out his sword to scare the servant as well as giving him his infamous glare, and it worked. The servant gulped and nodded in understanding, and he guided Sesshomaru and Inuyasha in the forest.
It took an hour and a half on foot for them to see the mansion, but it took another hour for them to be in front of the mansion. Sesshomaru glared at the servant as if to tell him to leave. The servant didn't need to be told to understand. He ran as if his life depended on it and disappeared.
Sesshomaru and Inuyasha rushed through, not caring if there was an ambush that may come upon them. The mansion was dark and empty, void of all life. The silence was deafening to Sesshomaru and Inuyasha as thoughts of Rin entered their mind. Rin had no place in such a dingy place. It wasn't until they heard screams that Sesshomaru and Inuyasha ran towards where they thought the screams were held. They ran and ran into a hallway, one after another. The screams started getting closer until they were near stairs going down to what may be another underground basement. They did not wait and continued onwards. The stairs seemed to spiral until they saw the dungeon. Sesshomaru and Inuyasha could hear the sounds of whips, cruel laughter, screams of mercy, grunts and groans, and jeering cries asking for more and name calling.
Sesshomaru and Inuyasha came forth at the sight of female servants being raped and some tortured by whips. Inuyasha growled in distaste before concern came onto his expression. Thoughts of Rin going through the same thing made Inuyasha feel sick and unpleasant. He then turned to glare at his half brother.
"This is what you made Rin go through, you bastard," Inuyasha stated, disgusted with his brother. "You better hope we save Rin on time."
Inuyasha continued his way, looking away from the disgusting scenes before him. He had to get to Rin. He needed her to be okay. The thought of Rin being treated with such cruelty made him regret ever letting her to stay as Sesshomaru's servant. He thought Sesshomaru would never hurt Rin in any way, but he had been wrong about his brother. Ever since Rin came into their lives, Sesshomaru seemed more tolerable and slowly their relationship had been on good terms. Now, Inuyasha realized Sesshomaru was just a cold-hearted bastard. No, the correct term would be a cold-hearted demon. Or maybe worse, a monster. Inuyasha realized he was stupid enough to think better of him and found him despicable. He was no longer considered a brother to Inuyasha or even anything to him.
Sesshomaru normally did not care what Inuyasha said, but the words he spouted and the scenes he had seen before him made Sesshomaru churn and felt like a thousand needles had pricked the insides of his stomach. The scenes before him made his mistake more real to him now, and that Rin may have gone through the same abuse. Sesshomaru's eyes flashed red, and he hurriedly passed Inuyasha. He needed to search for Rin. The thought of losing her smile and her carefree nature made Sesshomaru uncomfortable. For some reason, he could not fathom his life without her smile or her carefree attitude. He could not fathom his life without Rin beside him. Suddenly, the thought of Naraku entered his mind. He growled at the disgusting trash. He was not going to let Naraku off if anything happened to Rin even if Naraku was of noble birth.
"Sesshomaru!" Inuyasha called out. Sesshomaru turned around to look at Inuyasha. Inuyasha was staring at one cell. His eyes widened and his mouth opened agape in horror. His sword fell from his hands as he shook the cell bars.
Tears flowed down from Inuyasha as Sesshomaru felt the pit of stomach sink. Even though Sesshomaru thought Inuyasha crying was dishonorable, he waved it away instantly. He strided towards him and looked at the same cell. There, to Sesshomaru's disbelief, laid a naked Rin covered with a sticky substance that Inuyasha and Sesshomaru knew what it is. Her body seemed limp yet her eyes were open looking at the ceiling with lifeless eyes.
"Rin!" Inuyasha called out, but she did not move or even respond. Inuyasha shook the cell bars once again, even though he knew it was of no use. Sesshomaru continued to silently stare at Rin. He felt all sorts of emotions erupting inside him. Some of them he could not identify, but he did know one. Anger. He was going to kill Naraku. Or better yet, torture the man that made Rin this way.
"Rin!" Sesshomaru called. This time Rin reacted. She turned her head almost robotically and stared at Sesshomaru and Inuyasha. Her eyes widened and fear suddenly entered her lifeless eyes. She sat up and backed away from them even farther. Her body cowering against the walls.
"P-please. Please. P-please. Stop. S-stop. I-I'll be good. I'll be good. Please," Rin repeated those words over and over again as if she was chanting it. Her lips quivered as she muttered those words. It made Inuyasha and Sesshomaru sick to their stomachs to watch Rin like this.
A cackle erupted near them as Inuyasha and Sesshomaru turned their heads to be greeted by Naraku, who wasn't that far from where they stood. Inuyasha growled and Sesshomaru glared intensely at the person who made Rin this way. Naraku bowed at the two princes and looked at them with a smirk.
"Aren't you a little early, Prince Sesshomaru? You did say you will return in three weeks," Naraku said. Inuyasha turned his head towards Sesshomaru and looked at him in disgust. He was willing to make Rin suffer for three weeks? It made Inuyasha's anger boil.
"I have come for Rin," Sesshomaru stated coldly. Even though he was about ready to stab Naraku countless of times, he could not. As a prince of the Lands of the West, he could not harm him since he is not only nobility but he is also related to his soon-to-be wife. Not only that, his social status was against killing another nobility, and it is considered dishonorable to kill someone of their status without cause. Sadly, society did not accept abuse of a servant as a cause. For now, he could do nothing.
Inuyasha, on the other hand, was rash. He picked up his sword and was about to stab the man, but they heard Rin scream suddenly. Her eyes turned wide as she stared at Inuyasha's sword. The fear was too much for Rin that she had wet herself. She ran to the corner of her cell and cowered there in fear while muttering for forgiveness. Inuyasha looked at his sword and then at Rin. What had possessed her to scream in horror at his sword? Inuyasha clicked his tongue in frustration but put his sword back into it's sheath. He did not want Rin to be scared anymore than she already is.
Naraku watched in interest, knowing full well he was at an advantage and that no harm would come to him today. But of course, he had to be careful from now on. He knew the Taisho brothers were not a force to be reckon with, and it also meant that he needed to move a much safer place so he wouldn't be under the princes' wraths.
"Let her go, you bastard," Inuyasha seethed. Naraku smirked and shrugged.
"Rin belongs to Prince Sesshomaru, Prince Inuyasha. I can only set Rin free by only Sesshomaru's orders," Naraku stated innocently. Inuyasha growled under his breath and was ready to lash out at him, but Sesshomaru interfered.
"Then I order you to set Rin free," Sesshomaru ordered.
Naraku bowed to his order and took out his sets of keys and opened the cell door for them. Naraku bowed to them once again.
"I shall take my leave. If you ever need me again, you can always come to my mansion," Naraku said before he walked away, cackling as he went. Inuyasha and Sesshomaru watched him in disgust but their attention went back to Rin. She was eying them carefully. Her eyes moving wildly at every move they made.
As Sesshomaru and Inuyasha got closer to her, the more scared she became and the more she scooted against the wall. Sesshomaru moved towards her slowly and carefully. His hand outstretched towards her while he walked towards her. He lowered himself until he was at her height.
"Rin, this is Sesshomaru. Come, you are safe," Sesshomaru said softly, yet Rin continued to cower while her attention was on his outstretched hand.
Suddenly, Rin's body convulsed at the thought of being touched by a man. She remembered the dirty deeds she had been forced to do and the touches against her skin. She remembered those calloused fingers as she could hear the whistles and hoots, jeering the actions.
Sesshomaru was surprised to see her convulse. He wondered why Rin was so afraid. It was then his eyes looked at the sticky substance on her entire naked body. For the first time, fear struck his insides. Rin would never be the same again. Her innocence. He begged in his mind that her innocence had not been taken away.
"Rin," Inuyasha yelled when he saw her body shake uncontrollably. He pushed Sesshomaru aside. It was right then that Rin became unconscious as her body fell limply on the cold hard ground. Inuyasha covered her with his cape and carried her while Sesshomaru glared at Inuyasha's audacity for pushing him aside along with him carrying Rin. It was Sesshomaru's duty not his.
They immediately walked out of the dark mansion, not allowing another second to be wasted while ignoring the scenes they had passed before. Just as they walked outside, Sesshomaru and Inuyasha stared in horror at Rin's bruised body and how pale she looked. She had even gotten skinnier where her bones stuck out noticeably.
They could not believe this was Rin. They could not believe they failed to save her. The brothers walked in silence. There were no more words to be said. Not one word can change what happened. Now, Sesshomaru realized how big his mistake came to be. Rin's relationship with him had forever changed, and he was the cause of it. Losing her was not worth it. Now, he and everyone else must suffer the consequences of his mistake.