Disclaimer: Me no own Inuyasha. You no sue me. Me broke. Fire bad, flower
pretty . . . Ooooooooo . . .
Author's Note: Hey all! Chapter 4! Ring the bells, sing of the joyous occasion, think happy thoughts, eat much food, drink merrily, dance the dance of eternal happiness, read the story, review! (Heh, see, there's always a catch! ^_~)
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Chapter: 4
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"Rin is tired."
Sesshoumaru let a small, hint of a smile grace his features and nodded. They would find a place to bed down for the night.
"Tell ya what Rin, if you promise to teach me how to make some of those nifty little flower crowns, like the one you made for Sesshoumaru-sama, I'll carry you." Cye said. She smiled gently at the little girl. "Is it a deal?" She asked, sticking out her slender hand.
Rin nodded happily and shook the youkai's hand in a very cute, and professional way. Then, she stood up on her tiptoes and reached her arms up in the air. Cye bent down and swooped the child up into her arms.
Rin giggled. She laid her head against Cye's shoulder and relaxed into her body. Her little fingers laced in and out of the other female's sleek black locks. "Rin likes your hair. She thinks it's pretty."
Cye smiled. "Thank you."
"It reminds Rin of someone. Someone she knew a long," she yawned, ", time ago."
Cye felt Rin's steady breathing against her chest and the lax form in her arms. The child had fallen asleep. She let out a sigh. The kid was just precious and that's all there was to it. She wondered though, how such a sweet child had ended up in the care of someone like Sesshoumaru. It was fairly obvious that Rin was a pure bred human and it was painfully obvious that Sesshoumaru was full demon. He acted arrogant and for whatever reason, full youkais usually did.
She frowned. She could've been doing other things. She didn't necessarily have to follow him around like some trained puppy . . . she shook her head. She didn't necessarily have to follow him around like some trained kitten. Yes, that sounded better. Ah, but she'd always been taught that debts were to be repaid no matter the person you owe.
She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard the irritatingly high pitched voice of Jaken inquiring if the cave that was just ahead of them was where they'd be spending the night. It was.
Cye followed silently behind Sesshoumaru as he led the small party into the depths of the rock structure. Once inside, Jaken set a small fire and settled down. He was tired and very relieved that Rin was asleep before the regularly scheduled story time. He watched disinterestedly as the feline half demon gently laid the child down.
She sighed, wishing that she had her cloak with her. She'd have felt more comfortable covering the little girl up with something. Oh well, she supposed the flickering tongues of fire would offer enough heat.
Cye looked up then as she saw Sesshoumaru turn and walk out of the cave. The night's shadows greedily swallowed up his silvery form. Obviously seeing her risen eyebrow Jaken sighed to grab her attention. "M'Lord does not prefer to sleep inside. He never has." The imp said.
"Oh. I can understand that I guess." She said. Her eyebrows rose. "Hey, what are you doing?"
Jaken gave her an odd, questioning look. He blinked. "Well . . . I appear to be lying down."
"Are you going to sleep?"
Jaken still regarded her with that look, but she didn't seem to notice. Finally, he nodded slowly. "Yes, I am." He said.
"Okay, but then who will guard Rin and . . . I guess you now?"
Jaken yawned. "We rarely have to worry about attacks and if there are any, Lord Sesshoumaru will take care of everything." The little creature placed his staff against the rocky wall of the cave and lay down on the slightly damp floor. He tossed Cye one last look of oddity before closing his large eyes. Sleep claimed him immediately.
Cye sighed and her green eyes stumbled over to the fire. She watched it for a while and it held her gaze captive. She didn't like the fire nor did she like the memories that it brought back. With great effort, she tore her eyes away from those small, flickering flames and tried to concentrate on the exaggerated, dancing shadows cast on the cold walls. Those shadows, unfamiliar because they belonged to ones she had only known for a day, seemed to transform slowly. They began to take on familiar shapes. Her eyes widened as the fire's soft popping noises became louder in her mind. The popping began to transform and mold into screams.
Scenes rushed through her mind. The screaming, the feel of a single, warm splatter of blood against her cheek, the voice that was imprinted in her mind, and the shadowed face of a woman she dared not try to make out.
Cye could feel her heart rate go up and her blood rush madly through her veins. She hugged herself. "No. . ." She whispered.
The female shakily got to her feet. She couldn't stay in that place . . . not alone . . . not with her memories. Her hands felt along side of gruff cave walls. She felt her shuddering body relax a bit as she stepped out into the open night. A groan escaped her lips as she allowed herself to collapse to her knees, hands pressed firmly to the ground. Her clawed fingers dug deep lines into the soft dirt. She needed to be calm. She needed to clear her head, to think. She needed to . . . needed to . . . emerald eyes flashed amber as she lifted her head. She needed to kill.
Meanwhile, Sesshoumaru's golden eyes had long since taken notice of her.
He sat not far away from the cave underneath yet another tree. He could not sleep inside. Call it claustrophobia, or whatever else you please, but the plain and simple fact was that he couldn't do it. The tiny crickets kept time with the evening breeze and the leaves rustled, whispering of Mother Nature's secrets. It was peaceful, but the atmosphere had a bite to it, a sense of impending danger and that was exactly how Sesshoumaru liked it. He needed to feel on guard, cautious, or else, he wouldn't know what to feel at all.
He felt an increasingly familiar ki and his eyes slid over to its owner. He had to admit, he was a little surprised upon seeing her state. The half youkai was on her hands and knees, scraping at the ground. Her breaths were short and her body shuddering. Long, sleek black hair surrounded her like a dark, velvet curtain and her muscles looked terribly tense.
Although, her form, as distressed as it seemed, looked strangely . . . attractive to him. She was defined, elegant, and so slender. He saw her deep green eyes in his mind and then he replayed the picture of her right after she had jumped from that tree earlier that morning. Those eyes had stood out against the rest of her, but not just physically. Something else in them captivated him. There was a glint to them that screamed emotions and instincts, which could completely dissolve her cheerful exterior if ever unleashed.
A deep, troubled frown marred his lovely features then. Such thoughts were completely irrational. What was he thinking, or perhaps the more appropriate question was why? He shook his head. Suddenly, something grabbed his attention. He watched her silently as she stood up, muscles still tense, but her body was still. Her breathing was slow and concentrated, and he swore he saw an amber glint in her eyes just before she disappeared into the surrounding forest.
Sesshoumaru shrugged it off. What she did hardly concerned him. He really did wish that the girl would just leave. Surely she had paid her supposed debt by saving Rin, but then, that was just it. She had saved Rin, she hadn't really done anything for him. Sesshoumaru averted his eyes to the ground. Actually, she had. Rin's life meant something to him, but he was years from voicing that, and therefore, was stuck with the half youkai until further notice. Tapping his nails gently against the ground, Sesshoumaru decided that life shouldn't be filled with as much obligatory trouble as his was.
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Bleary golden eyes slowly revealed themselves as delicate eyelids slid open. A gaunt little bird whistled an off key tune above. It was morning. Threads of night hung in the crude morning air and that one tiny diamond shaped star twinkled dimly in the early day twilight. Such peace, such promise belonged to the dawn. Sesshoumaru stood up and frowned as he brushed himself off. The latter was far too poetic for his tastes. Morning was infantile and disgustingly fragile. And day . . . day merely meant more unwanted obligations.
The youkai Lord ran his fingers through his downy, argentine hair before letting out a brief, stifled yawn. He took one step forward, stopped, backed up that one step, and looked above him. A cultured eyebrow lifted and he cleared his throat. One at a time, two emerald eyes opened and peered at him from behind a covering of branches and tree leaves. Followed by those two eyes was a dexterous fanged grin. Such a grin was becoming quite signature to its owner.
Sesshoumaru did not move as he heard a very loud, yet soft purring. A black tail dangled downward and was followed soon by a very feminine, very lithe body.
Cye stretched her arms behind her back and then let them fall heavily, loosely to her sides. "Morning lover." She said, voice thick and cheery.
Sesshoumaru blinked at her greeting. Lover? Where would she have gotten the absurd notion that she could address him in that way? He frowned, and Cye saw this immediately.
She wriggled her perfectly arched, dark eyebrows up and down a few times and then she winked. "What? I think it's a cute little nickname."
Sesshoumaru snorted and turned his back to her. He began walking away, as expected. Cye sighed, but then ran to catch up to him. "Um . . . okay, so let's see. You don't like that name. We can try other things. How about . . . cutie?" She said grinning madly.
Sesshoumaru kept walking and did not even spare a glance in her general direction. Cye shrugged. What did she care? She had all the time in the world.
"'Kay, that's a no go. Tell ya what. I'll go down the list. Hm . . . Sweet heart, sugar, sweetie, sugar pie, sugar cakes, honey dew, baby, cutie pie, precious thang, honey, sweet stuff, wittle sweetie weetie, big boy, tough guy, shnookems, shmoopy, um . . . Lassie?"
Sesshoumaru glanced at her for that last one. Cye shrugged. "What?"
The half youkai continued going down her long list of fanciful nicknames all the way to the river that Sesshoumaru had made sure the cave was close to. Once there she climbed up into a tree all the while jabbering off names. She wasn't really even paying attention to Sesshoumaru anymore.
"Punkin', sugar lips, angel pie, fido, fluffy, tiger, rover . . . rover isn't bad . . . hm, pretty boy, also not bad. Hot stuff, pookey, Mr. Tinkles . . . no, really, I think I like lover or lover boy the best." She said. She furrowed her brow and sat up. "Hey Sesshoumaru are you even listening to me?" Her eyes scanned the area but saw nothing of the one she searched for. She shook her head. That made no sense considering that she could feel his ki around in the immediate vicinity.
She hopped down out of the tree. "Sesshoumaru? Yoo-hoo. Come on out now, I know you're still around here. If you weren't, then your clothes wouldn't be lying there on the ground!" She paused. "Wait a minute . . . clothes?"
She realized to late and soon found herself completely drenched when Sesshoumaru sprung from under the water and shook his head. Water sprayed like a geyser from his silver hair. He heard the unmistakable sound of a cat hissing and turned toward the shore.
Cye stood there glaring daggers at him, her hair and clothes limp. Her black ears had sprung up and were now hunched down to the side, dripping wet. But perhaps the most humorous thing about her was that her tail was slightly damp and the fur was completely puffed out.
Sesshoumaru smirked. "Oh, are you still here?" He asked smugly.
"Have you no shame?" Cye inquired in stiff monotone.
Frankly, Sesshoumaru couldn't give two damns if someone really saw him nude. He could just kill them if he really felt like it, anyway, he didn't know what her problem was. The water was at least three inches above his waist.
As he was about to go under again, something caught his keen eyes. A single, red drop of water fell from one of Cye's claws and splashed to the ground. Upon further inspection, he noticed that all of her claws were dark underneath the nail and the faint, yet sure scent was that of blood.
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A/N: Now, I know that no one in that time except maybe Kagome would know anything about Lassie, but so what? I couldn't help myself! It's a sickness! Heh . . . ^_^, In any case, to be continued!
~*~*~*~*~*~
Author's Note: Hey all! Chapter 4! Ring the bells, sing of the joyous occasion, think happy thoughts, eat much food, drink merrily, dance the dance of eternal happiness, read the story, review! (Heh, see, there's always a catch! ^_~)
~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter: 4
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Rin is tired."
Sesshoumaru let a small, hint of a smile grace his features and nodded. They would find a place to bed down for the night.
"Tell ya what Rin, if you promise to teach me how to make some of those nifty little flower crowns, like the one you made for Sesshoumaru-sama, I'll carry you." Cye said. She smiled gently at the little girl. "Is it a deal?" She asked, sticking out her slender hand.
Rin nodded happily and shook the youkai's hand in a very cute, and professional way. Then, she stood up on her tiptoes and reached her arms up in the air. Cye bent down and swooped the child up into her arms.
Rin giggled. She laid her head against Cye's shoulder and relaxed into her body. Her little fingers laced in and out of the other female's sleek black locks. "Rin likes your hair. She thinks it's pretty."
Cye smiled. "Thank you."
"It reminds Rin of someone. Someone she knew a long," she yawned, ", time ago."
Cye felt Rin's steady breathing against her chest and the lax form in her arms. The child had fallen asleep. She let out a sigh. The kid was just precious and that's all there was to it. She wondered though, how such a sweet child had ended up in the care of someone like Sesshoumaru. It was fairly obvious that Rin was a pure bred human and it was painfully obvious that Sesshoumaru was full demon. He acted arrogant and for whatever reason, full youkais usually did.
She frowned. She could've been doing other things. She didn't necessarily have to follow him around like some trained puppy . . . she shook her head. She didn't necessarily have to follow him around like some trained kitten. Yes, that sounded better. Ah, but she'd always been taught that debts were to be repaid no matter the person you owe.
She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard the irritatingly high pitched voice of Jaken inquiring if the cave that was just ahead of them was where they'd be spending the night. It was.
Cye followed silently behind Sesshoumaru as he led the small party into the depths of the rock structure. Once inside, Jaken set a small fire and settled down. He was tired and very relieved that Rin was asleep before the regularly scheduled story time. He watched disinterestedly as the feline half demon gently laid the child down.
She sighed, wishing that she had her cloak with her. She'd have felt more comfortable covering the little girl up with something. Oh well, she supposed the flickering tongues of fire would offer enough heat.
Cye looked up then as she saw Sesshoumaru turn and walk out of the cave. The night's shadows greedily swallowed up his silvery form. Obviously seeing her risen eyebrow Jaken sighed to grab her attention. "M'Lord does not prefer to sleep inside. He never has." The imp said.
"Oh. I can understand that I guess." She said. Her eyebrows rose. "Hey, what are you doing?"
Jaken gave her an odd, questioning look. He blinked. "Well . . . I appear to be lying down."
"Are you going to sleep?"
Jaken still regarded her with that look, but she didn't seem to notice. Finally, he nodded slowly. "Yes, I am." He said.
"Okay, but then who will guard Rin and . . . I guess you now?"
Jaken yawned. "We rarely have to worry about attacks and if there are any, Lord Sesshoumaru will take care of everything." The little creature placed his staff against the rocky wall of the cave and lay down on the slightly damp floor. He tossed Cye one last look of oddity before closing his large eyes. Sleep claimed him immediately.
Cye sighed and her green eyes stumbled over to the fire. She watched it for a while and it held her gaze captive. She didn't like the fire nor did she like the memories that it brought back. With great effort, she tore her eyes away from those small, flickering flames and tried to concentrate on the exaggerated, dancing shadows cast on the cold walls. Those shadows, unfamiliar because they belonged to ones she had only known for a day, seemed to transform slowly. They began to take on familiar shapes. Her eyes widened as the fire's soft popping noises became louder in her mind. The popping began to transform and mold into screams.
Scenes rushed through her mind. The screaming, the feel of a single, warm splatter of blood against her cheek, the voice that was imprinted in her mind, and the shadowed face of a woman she dared not try to make out.
Cye could feel her heart rate go up and her blood rush madly through her veins. She hugged herself. "No. . ." She whispered.
The female shakily got to her feet. She couldn't stay in that place . . . not alone . . . not with her memories. Her hands felt along side of gruff cave walls. She felt her shuddering body relax a bit as she stepped out into the open night. A groan escaped her lips as she allowed herself to collapse to her knees, hands pressed firmly to the ground. Her clawed fingers dug deep lines into the soft dirt. She needed to be calm. She needed to clear her head, to think. She needed to . . . needed to . . . emerald eyes flashed amber as she lifted her head. She needed to kill.
Meanwhile, Sesshoumaru's golden eyes had long since taken notice of her.
He sat not far away from the cave underneath yet another tree. He could not sleep inside. Call it claustrophobia, or whatever else you please, but the plain and simple fact was that he couldn't do it. The tiny crickets kept time with the evening breeze and the leaves rustled, whispering of Mother Nature's secrets. It was peaceful, but the atmosphere had a bite to it, a sense of impending danger and that was exactly how Sesshoumaru liked it. He needed to feel on guard, cautious, or else, he wouldn't know what to feel at all.
He felt an increasingly familiar ki and his eyes slid over to its owner. He had to admit, he was a little surprised upon seeing her state. The half youkai was on her hands and knees, scraping at the ground. Her breaths were short and her body shuddering. Long, sleek black hair surrounded her like a dark, velvet curtain and her muscles looked terribly tense.
Although, her form, as distressed as it seemed, looked strangely . . . attractive to him. She was defined, elegant, and so slender. He saw her deep green eyes in his mind and then he replayed the picture of her right after she had jumped from that tree earlier that morning. Those eyes had stood out against the rest of her, but not just physically. Something else in them captivated him. There was a glint to them that screamed emotions and instincts, which could completely dissolve her cheerful exterior if ever unleashed.
A deep, troubled frown marred his lovely features then. Such thoughts were completely irrational. What was he thinking, or perhaps the more appropriate question was why? He shook his head. Suddenly, something grabbed his attention. He watched her silently as she stood up, muscles still tense, but her body was still. Her breathing was slow and concentrated, and he swore he saw an amber glint in her eyes just before she disappeared into the surrounding forest.
Sesshoumaru shrugged it off. What she did hardly concerned him. He really did wish that the girl would just leave. Surely she had paid her supposed debt by saving Rin, but then, that was just it. She had saved Rin, she hadn't really done anything for him. Sesshoumaru averted his eyes to the ground. Actually, she had. Rin's life meant something to him, but he was years from voicing that, and therefore, was stuck with the half youkai until further notice. Tapping his nails gently against the ground, Sesshoumaru decided that life shouldn't be filled with as much obligatory trouble as his was.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Bleary golden eyes slowly revealed themselves as delicate eyelids slid open. A gaunt little bird whistled an off key tune above. It was morning. Threads of night hung in the crude morning air and that one tiny diamond shaped star twinkled dimly in the early day twilight. Such peace, such promise belonged to the dawn. Sesshoumaru stood up and frowned as he brushed himself off. The latter was far too poetic for his tastes. Morning was infantile and disgustingly fragile. And day . . . day merely meant more unwanted obligations.
The youkai Lord ran his fingers through his downy, argentine hair before letting out a brief, stifled yawn. He took one step forward, stopped, backed up that one step, and looked above him. A cultured eyebrow lifted and he cleared his throat. One at a time, two emerald eyes opened and peered at him from behind a covering of branches and tree leaves. Followed by those two eyes was a dexterous fanged grin. Such a grin was becoming quite signature to its owner.
Sesshoumaru did not move as he heard a very loud, yet soft purring. A black tail dangled downward and was followed soon by a very feminine, very lithe body.
Cye stretched her arms behind her back and then let them fall heavily, loosely to her sides. "Morning lover." She said, voice thick and cheery.
Sesshoumaru blinked at her greeting. Lover? Where would she have gotten the absurd notion that she could address him in that way? He frowned, and Cye saw this immediately.
She wriggled her perfectly arched, dark eyebrows up and down a few times and then she winked. "What? I think it's a cute little nickname."
Sesshoumaru snorted and turned his back to her. He began walking away, as expected. Cye sighed, but then ran to catch up to him. "Um . . . okay, so let's see. You don't like that name. We can try other things. How about . . . cutie?" She said grinning madly.
Sesshoumaru kept walking and did not even spare a glance in her general direction. Cye shrugged. What did she care? She had all the time in the world.
"'Kay, that's a no go. Tell ya what. I'll go down the list. Hm . . . Sweet heart, sugar, sweetie, sugar pie, sugar cakes, honey dew, baby, cutie pie, precious thang, honey, sweet stuff, wittle sweetie weetie, big boy, tough guy, shnookems, shmoopy, um . . . Lassie?"
Sesshoumaru glanced at her for that last one. Cye shrugged. "What?"
The half youkai continued going down her long list of fanciful nicknames all the way to the river that Sesshoumaru had made sure the cave was close to. Once there she climbed up into a tree all the while jabbering off names. She wasn't really even paying attention to Sesshoumaru anymore.
"Punkin', sugar lips, angel pie, fido, fluffy, tiger, rover . . . rover isn't bad . . . hm, pretty boy, also not bad. Hot stuff, pookey, Mr. Tinkles . . . no, really, I think I like lover or lover boy the best." She said. She furrowed her brow and sat up. "Hey Sesshoumaru are you even listening to me?" Her eyes scanned the area but saw nothing of the one she searched for. She shook her head. That made no sense considering that she could feel his ki around in the immediate vicinity.
She hopped down out of the tree. "Sesshoumaru? Yoo-hoo. Come on out now, I know you're still around here. If you weren't, then your clothes wouldn't be lying there on the ground!" She paused. "Wait a minute . . . clothes?"
She realized to late and soon found herself completely drenched when Sesshoumaru sprung from under the water and shook his head. Water sprayed like a geyser from his silver hair. He heard the unmistakable sound of a cat hissing and turned toward the shore.
Cye stood there glaring daggers at him, her hair and clothes limp. Her black ears had sprung up and were now hunched down to the side, dripping wet. But perhaps the most humorous thing about her was that her tail was slightly damp and the fur was completely puffed out.
Sesshoumaru smirked. "Oh, are you still here?" He asked smugly.
"Have you no shame?" Cye inquired in stiff monotone.
Frankly, Sesshoumaru couldn't give two damns if someone really saw him nude. He could just kill them if he really felt like it, anyway, he didn't know what her problem was. The water was at least three inches above his waist.
As he was about to go under again, something caught his keen eyes. A single, red drop of water fell from one of Cye's claws and splashed to the ground. Upon further inspection, he noticed that all of her claws were dark underneath the nail and the faint, yet sure scent was that of blood.
~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Now, I know that no one in that time except maybe Kagome would know anything about Lassie, but so what? I couldn't help myself! It's a sickness! Heh . . . ^_^, In any case, to be continued!
~*~*~*~*~*~