Part II
Rin inspected her handiwork critically, sitting on the engawa outside of Kaede's home. Miroku had picked up some parchment and water colours so that she could try her hand at painting in her free time. When the days were hot and her morning chores were done, it was more relaxing to sit and paint rather than practice the bow or join her friends running through around the countryside. She had kept very few of the paintings she had done, but looking at this one, she rather thought she had gotten quite good at it. The water colour was of a mountain, with tiny stems and leaves creeping up the edge of the parchment and tall above the mountain was a crescent moon with clouds hanging below it. It had taken her practice to not have such a heavy hand in her painting, applying pressure only where the painting needed to be darker.
It's not bad, she decided, smiling down at it. She set it aside to let it dry, pulling her legs out from underneath her and gently beating her fist against her numb muscles.
Behind her, she could hear Kaede talking with one of the villagers, although their conversation was indistinct. Inuyasha had left that morning with Kouga, taking the wolf demon's handful of clan members with him. Since they had left, the village had settled into a quiet lull without the guest activity. Rin had been thankful for Kouga's departure since she could not avoid going to the fields in the morning simply because he was in the village. It had eased a great deal of anxiety in her chest when she knew he was gone.
I hope they're able to take care of the demons, though, she thought, collecting her paints and closing up her brushes neatly inside the bamboo container.
Rin gathered everything, along with her painting, and stepped into the dim interior of Kaede's house. She made her way to her room and, after depositing the painting on the simple chabudai in the room, she went to the one of the few pieces of other furniture in the room and opened up the chest. Inside were all her possessions, the majority being the ones Sesshomaru had brought to her over the years. She set the water colours back inside the chest and pulled out another item, sitting back on her knees. Outside of kimonos and what Kaede had termed 'female accessories,' Sesshomaru had usually brought her food or treats that she would not otherwise be able to obtain. She had never asked him for anything outside of when she first came to the village. She ran her thumb over the red tassel, noticing that it did not seem to be getting worn even though she habitually pulled it out of the chest and stroked it. To anyone else, she was sure it looked like nothing more than a bundle of threads. For Rin, it was the only thing that she had ever asked from Sesshomaru and he had willingly given it to her without question.
Sesshomaru had not taken her to Kaede's village himself. It had been Jaken who had traveled with her on A-Un and deposited her with Kaede. Instead, Sesshomaru had taken her aside the night he returned to tell her that she would be staying with Kaede temporarily. At nine, she had hung onto the word 'temporarily' as if it were a lifeline. Her childlike brain had interpreted it as abandonment at first, thinking that perhaps she had become a hindrance to Sesshomaru or had otherwise become a burden to him.
He did not tell her why she would be staying in the village, nor did he ever explain himself in the following times she had seen him. She did not ask, either. Rin had learned over her time with Sesshomaru that if he meant for someone to know something, he would offer the information freely. Something told her that he would not answer that question.
Instead, the two of them had sat together that night on a cliff overlooking a valley while Rin absorbed the news of her departure from his and Jaken's company. She had not wanted to cry, thinking that it would upset him, so she had instead taken to staring at him, drinking in his appearance so that it would be impressed upon her memory.
"What is that?" she had asked, pointing towards the red tassel that hung from his armor. Sesshomaru, sitting with one leg pulled up, his wrist hanging on it negligently, had glanced down at the tassel that was tied around the metal.
"A useless bauble," he had replied.
Rin had hesitated before smiling at him. "If it's not something you need, could I have it, Lord Sesshomaru? I'd like to have something to remember you by."
He had released a slight laugh, as if the request had been ridiculous. Nonetheless, he had untied the tassel and handed it to her obligingly. "This is a temporary arrangement, Rin," he had told her as he dropped the red tassel into her open hands. "If you choose."
"I will always choose Lord Sesshomaru," Rin had said confidently, her hands closing over the tassel.
"That remains to be seen."
Rin's hands presently closed over the tassel, releasing a small sigh. She had held onto the promise of one day being able to travel with Sesshomaru again, something that she had been impatient to do again. When she had been twelve, she had asked Sesshomaru on one of his visits whether she could go with him again soon and his answer had been, "No, not yet." She had asked the following two years and received the same response. After that, she had stopped asking, hating the feeling of disappointment every time she heard his answer. Even though he had told her it was her choice, Rin had the impression that he was waiting for something before she could return to traveling with him. Jaken had told her he had been undergoing a campaign to regain some of his father's lands from other demon lords, so she had assumed that he intended to resolve that first.
And so, as she grew older, she practiced patience and waited. Being patient, she was learning, was not one of her strong suits.
Replacing the tassel, Rin forcefully shoved the memory and any thought of Sesshomaru from her mind, something that she had been doing often lately. Noticing the silence outside her room, she closed the chest and left her room to find Kaede standing at the front entrance, a troubled expression on her face.
"Is something wrong?" Rin asked her.
"There might be, child," Kaede answered, glancing at her uneasily. "I need to get a message to Inuyasha quickly."
"Kagome or Sango should be able to get to him."
Kaede shook her head. "Kagome and Miroku went to a neighboring village this morning to bless their new temple. Sango is here, but...she should not be far from her twins in case something happens."
"Is something going to happen?" Rin asked, her brow creasing.
Kaede eyed her, as if debating on how much to tell her. At last, she released a long stream of air, her shoulders drooping. "When Inuyasha and Kouga left, he had us post men outside the village to watch for any signs of an attack. One of the men came back and said that there was demon activity outside the village and he couldn't find the other men. There aren't enough warriors here to hold off a full on attack – not with Kagome and Miroku gone." She flexed her hand, a grim look in her eyes. "I'm not as quick with the bow as I used to be..."
"But you're just as accurate of an archer." Rin put her hand on Kaede's smiling. "Let me go find Inuyasha. If Kohaku goes with me, we can take Kirara and should be able to find them fast enough!"
What little colour remaining in Kaede's face seemed to drain from her face. "Oh, no. I don't think that'd be wise, child. If you got hurt out there – "
"I'll be with Kohaku," Rin interrupted, already knowing that Kaede was thinking of what Sesshomaru would do to her if he found out she was harmed. "I'm at risk here or there, so I might as well go with Kohaku." Rin was already pulling on her sandals, grabbing her bow and quiver of arrows from outside even as Kaede protested feebly. "We don't have time to argue! Don't worry about me, just stay safe!"
When she was certain that Kaede had no intention of following her, Rin waved to her and then went bolting down the path to find Kohaku. It was humid and the direct sunlight made the back of her neck sweat as she ran through the village asking after her friend. One of the other boys pointed her down to a small meadow just outside the village where she found Kohaku training alone, stripped down to his breeches. She shielded her eyes, breathing heavy as she squinted down to him. At first she thought he had been naked, which had caused her to halt some feet away from him, perturbed. She was not about to walk in on her childhood friend without any clothing on. Once she saw that he was still wearing breeches, she wiped the sweat from her forehead and continued towards him, calling out. The sight of him with his shirt off was one that she had seen often enough in her childhood to where the sight of a man's sweat-laden chest did not give her pause.
Kohaku paused and then smiled upon seeing her approach. "You look like you've been training, too," he observed approvingly.
"I was running to find you," Rin said, pushing her hair away from her neck and fanning herself. "Is Kirara with you?"
"She's napping," he said, gesturing towards the bundle near what appeared to be his leftover lunch. "What's going on?"
As she explained, Kohaku's smile slipped from his face into a more serious expression while he listened. When she was finished, he gave a sober nod and reached down, nudging Kirara. She yawned widely and stepped off his tunic that he pulled on and tied messily.
"We should go now, then."
"But what about Sango? Shouldn't we warn her?"
"Kaede will probably have thought of that," Kohaku said as Kirara turned into her full size and he swung himself onto her back. He reached out, offering his hand. "Are you coming?"
Rin nodded, grasping his hand and climbing on behind him. As Kirara quickly ascended above the village, she grabbed hold of Kohaku's waist in alarm, causing him to laugh in spite of the situation.
"Is that a ploy of yours to get a feel of me?" he asked mockingly.
"Oh, shut up! I wasn't expecting her to go that fast."
Once they were up in the air, Rin had released Kohaku, keeping only a hand on his shoulder. It had been a long time since she had last been on Kirara. The last time she had been on the cat demon, she had still been but a child. She and Kohaku used to go on regular rides on Kirara together, especially during the summer when they wanted to see the sunset. She was not sure when, but at some point Kohaku had stopped offering and she had thought perhaps it was because he did not want the other villagers to get the wrong impression.
Now that she was closely pressed behind him, she could well understand why someone might consider such a thing. She could not remember the ride being this awkward. Then again, she had still been flat-chested and boyishly built. Now that she was older, it felt strange to be pressing her chest up against Kohaku's back and to have her thighs clasping his hips. It seemed far too intimate, even for friends.
Shaking away these thoughts, she directed her attention to the trees as Kohaku guided Kirara down further to the treetops so that they could search for Inuyasha and Kouga better. Inuyasha's hakama would be able to be seen easily, even through the thick foliage and if nothing else, Kirara should be able to pick up his scent.
As they came towards the river's point where it cascaded into a waterfall, there was a sudden explosion from the trees below them. Kirara dodged the claw that had snatched at them, causing Rin to begin slipping sideways off her. Kohaku deftly caught a hold of her with waist with one arm, pressing her against him as he yelled, "Hold on!"
Kirara dived away from the massive demon that had materialized near the river, giving the two time to right themselves on top of her. Rin had pulled an arrow out of her quiver as she straightened up on Kirara's back. The demon was massive, his scaled body rising up above the trees, his long jaw opening in a roar. Fire spewed forth, lighting the tops of the trees on fire. From behind him, she caught sight of a long tail whipping out, smashing against the rocks and sending the earth flying up into the sky. He had emerald green eyes that followed them, catching their trajectory easily in spite of Kirara's quick moves.
Kohaku put his arm up as Rin made to aim for him. "No! There's no way we can stand a chance. It's better we trying getting away."
"But he'll chase us!" Rin protested.
"We don't have a choice!" Kohaku snapped as Kirara dived below another stream of fire that the demon directed at them. "That's not an ordinary demon! They don't get that big. It's got to be a demon lord or something."
"What in the world is a demon lord doing around here?"
"I don't know, but I'm not going to die trying to figure that out!"
Kirara made her way to the waterfall and then soared down alongside it, obscuring them briefly in the mist. As she made to rise up, there was another roar and Rin could feel the heat of flames shoot past her. She released a shriek, clutching onto Kohaku as more trees were set on fire. He pressed down against Kirara, flattening himself and the three of them followed the river before he steered Kirara into the thickest part of the forest. While they could hear the dragon demon's roar above them, it did not appear he was able to follow them.
After several minutes of flying through the trees, dodging low-hanging branches, the sound of the demon faded and soon it was only the sound of streams and scared animals in the forest around them. Kohaku guided Kirara to a halt, where he and Rin slid off her back to give the cat demon some relief. Kirara shook herself briskly before loping off to a small stream where she drank thirstily. Rin collapsed to her knees, rubbing her arms and looking around her uneasily. She could smell smoke from the fire that the demon had caused and while it seemed some ways off, there was the sound of trees breaking and crackling of fire.
"We can't stay here," she told Kohaku, who was standing nearby, petting Kirara soothingly. "The fire will spread here soon."
"I know..."
"Kohaku? What is it?"
"We might not be able to get back to the village, Rin. At least not that way. Not with that thing there. But now...I don't know how we're supposed to find Inuyasha." He dragged his hands over his face and swore softly underneath his breath. "They must have heard something. There's no way that anyone in the village or Kagome or Inuyasha or someone didn't hear any of that."
"Do you think it was hiding in the trees?" Rin asked him, stumbling back to her feet.
"I'm not sure...I mean, demon lords have human-like forms, so he must have transformed. But why would he just randomly transform like that? It makes no sense. And to attack us out of nowhere? I don't know, it's all just weird and doesn't make any sense."
Rin looked away from Kohaku and gazed into the trees. In all her time traveling with Sesshomaru, she had never encountered another demon lord. She had seen strong demons, certainly, and even the leader of certain demon clans such as Koga. The only time she had witnessed a demon of that size had been when Sesshomaru had transformed into his demon dog form to meet his mother. It had been a beautiful sight to behold, far unlike the terror that seeing the dragon demon had elicited in her.
What would make a demon lord attack like that? Rin wondered to herself. Master Jaken told me that most demon lords don't transform unless provoked or if they're among their own kind. He must have some reason for being here, otherwise why else would they attack the humans around here?
She did not voice this opinion to Kohaku, who seemed to be making an active effort to collect himself. She could well understand his unease. He had not grabbed his armor, wielding only his kusarigama, and while he was a strong fighter, they were vulnerable. Rin was not properly trained and they had nowhere to take shelter from a demon and no adults to depend on to back them up. She would have been more scared if she did not have confidence in Kohaku's abilities to get them out of a sticky situation. She had travelled and lived with him long enough to know he was resourceful.
"Alright," Kohaku said at last, "let's get going. We might be able to go around the mountains to find our way back into the village. Hopefully we'll find Inuyasha by that time."
"Did you smell anything, Kirara?" Rin asked her as she followed Kohaku to mount the cat demon. Kirara mewled pitifully, shaking her head. Rin rubbed her beneath the chin, smiling gently. "That's okay. We'll figure something out."
"C'mon."
Rin returned to her place behind Kohaku, this time a little less shy in grasping him around the waist.
Kirara made her way above the trees cautiously and, looking out, Rin could not see any sign of the demon nearby. Smoke billowed into the air, leaving an unpleasant odor in the air that stung her throat and nose. She pressed her face into Kohaku's back, coughing as she attempted to prevent herself from inhaling the fumes. In front of her, she spotted Kohaku covering his nose and mouth with his forearm as he looked around, searching for the demon.
They made their way further away from the fire and into cleaner air. The further they went, the less familiar the landscape began to appear. This was the furthest Rin had been from Kaede's village in years. It was not at all the circumstances that she had hoped it would be when she did eventually travel away from the village; nonetheless, she took the time to appreciate the clean air and the expanse of rice fields, tiny farms, and sloping hills. Distracted as she was by the view, she did not realize they were descending towards one of the fields until she heard a shout. Looking around, she spotted Inuyasha's bright red hakama and stiffened upon seeing Kouga standing some feet away from him, his arms folded over his chest.
"What's going on?" Inuyasha demanded. Spotting Rin, he blanched. "Why the hell are you out here?"
"The village is being targeted by the demons," Kohaku told him. "Kaede sent us. But we've got a bigger problem."
"What could possibly be bigger than that?" Kouga asked, approaching the trio with an irritated frown.
"There's a demon lord – a dragon demon, it looks like. He tried to claw us out of the air."
"I didn't smell anything. Did you?" Kouga looked to Inuyasha.
"No," Inuyasha muttered, "but some of them managed to find ways to hide their scent. That's how they can blend in with humans." He glanced at Rin, the unmistakable look of worry in his golden eyes. "I can't deal with the dragon demon while the village is surrounded. We have to get back to the village as fast as we can...something tells me they wanted to lure us away from there."
"But why? There's nothing there! It's not like the Shikon Jewel is in the village anymore."
"How the hell am I supposed to know?"
"There are fires all over the forest leading back to the village," Kohaku cut in before the argument could go further. "I was planning to try and go around to enter the village on the other side by the Tree of Ages."
"We'll meet you there," Inuyasha said. "We shouldn't be too far behind you. Where's Kagome?"
"She was at another village with Miroku," Kohaku said as Kirara began to make her way back up into the sky. "She should be safe with him!"
"Alright. Keep Rin safe out there!" Inuyasha sprinted off and with a salute, Kouga followed him shortly afterward.
"Inuyasha seemed worried," Rin said quietly to Kohaku after they were back in the air, soaring towards the looming mountains. They looked dark in the distance as the sun began to descend into the horizon. Dusk was coming soon. Being out with a demon lord was dangerous enough without the added risk of nightfall when other, minor demons managed to creep their way out into human settlements. Most were harmless creatures that stole food or livestock, but it would not do well to be out when evening fell.
"He's probably thinking that Kagome might have been attacked on her way back to the village," Kohaku said to her over his shoulder. "I wish I had listened to you – I should have said something to Sango before I left. I'm really hoping that Kaede told her where we went otherwise she's going to be stressed thinking that we're out in the forest or something."
"I'm sure Kaede would've told her," Rin reassured him. "I'm more worried about Kaede, to be honest. She's too stubborn to let anyone fight for her."
"Not as stubborn as my sister. Sango would have kept everyone safe until Kagome and Miroku got there. They had to have heard the dragon demon. It was close enough to the neighboring villages. Inuyasha and Kouga were far enough that they might not have heard it."
"They'll be okay, Kohaku. They've seen much worse than this."
Even though it was true, Rin was not sure she entirely believed her own words. The attack on the village seemed too premeditated and calculated, something she knew that Inuyasha had noticed, as well. Like Kouga had said, though, there was nothing of value in the village to spur such an attack. She knew that they tended to get more attacks from minor demons because of the Bone-Eater's Well, but the manner in which the demons were targeting their group specifically made her uneasy.
The two had lapsed into silence, both exhausted, worried, and not particularly interested in conversation. They had managed to get around the mountain just as dusk had fallen. Just ahead, they could hear the sounds of what sounded like distant yelling and looking ahead, Rin could see they were almost near the village. She desperately wanted to urge Kirara to hurry, but knew the cat demon was as weary as they were and did not have the heart to try and make her go any faster.
As Kirara soared from the mountain, descending down its steep slopes just above the treetops, a flock of birds burst from the trees in fright in front of them and a moment later, a stream of fire shot up towards them. Kohaku shouted in alarm and Kirara reared to avoid the fire. Rin's grip on Kohaku was broken and she went sliding down Kirara's back. Her hands grasped at loose air and Kohaku, aware of her absence, made to snatch her and was too late. Rin caught a glimpse of his horrified expression before she fell into the trees, hitting a branch hard as she disappeared from Kohaku's sight.
She was extremely lucky in her fall. She had lost her bow and had landed hard on her stomach against the first branch, knocking the wind out of her. On the next thick branch she fell upon, she managed to get her trembling arms around it to slow her torturous descent. Her arms slipped and on the next branch, she came to a full stop, both arms and legs clutching around it like a lifeline. She managed to get herself to a sitting position upon the branch, breathing hard, severely bruised and scratched up, yet quite alive.
After the fall, everything was quiet around her. She could no longer hear the shouts from the village, nor anything else. Whatever had shot the flames out from the forest had either gone or hidden itself again. The forest muffled all the sound from the valley below and for a moment, Rin sat on the branch hearing nothing but the rapid thud of her heartbeat in her chest. It took her several seconds to stir from her place, carefully climbing from branch to branch until she managed to get to the forest floor. Once there, she stood blinking in the gloom, feeling more frightened than she had in years.
I've got no weapon, she thought to herself, leaning against the tree trunk for support, and no one around to protect me. I'm all alone.
The thought kept her frozen in place for a long time. No amount of encouragement would make her feet move and it was only after the sound of an owl startled her did she jerk away from the tree. Rubbing her arms briskly even though it was still quite warm out, she took a few steps in what she knew was the direction of the village. Rin would have been less frightened if she had some sort of weapon with which to defend herself. She had not been in the forest at night alone in years. She would go with some of the village children or Sesshomaru, but it was always near the edge of the forest and had never been as deep as she was now. If it had been any other night, perhaps she would have been braver. Instead, she knew that something had attacked them and she feared encountering it.
Demon lord or not, she had no desire to be facing an enemy on her own.
This fear spurred her feet into action and she broke into a run, nimbly running over fallen logs, rocks, and ignoring the slap of tiny branches hitting her face. She had rolled her ankle a few times, even nearly tripped down a particularly steep grade, and yet did not slow for anything. Her lungs and calves were burning by the time she got back to a somewhat flat surface, panting breathlessly as she jogged weakly through the trees that were more spread out, the forest less dense.
As she made her way through the forest, gasping for breath as she slowed to a walk, she could hear the distant sounds of battle. The village had been attacked and it sounded as if she was still quite far from them. Unable to continue forward, she paused at a tree, bracing herself against it with a palm as she caught her breath. Once her heartbeat had abated to some degree and she was able to breathe more easily, she straightened up and blinked away the stars that had popped up in front of her eyes.
Standing there, Rin became aware that it was utterly silent around her. Neither animal nor insect made a sound, the subtle sign that she was not the only one in that part of the forest just then.
Casually, she made to round the wide tree trunk and reached behind her, fumbling. Relief spread through her as her fingertips caught the feathery end of an arrow. She had completely forgotten about her quiver until just then. Pulling out an arrow, she grasped it in her fist, pressing her back against the trunk. She did not really think stabbing a demon with an arrow would do her much good, yet she thought it would be better to die while fighting than simply accepting death as she had done in the past. This time, if she died, she knew she could not come back.
The air shifted around her and, catching her breath in her throat, Rin clenched her eyes shut for a short second before opening them and launching herself around the tree. Almost instantly, a hand caught her own that was clutching onto the arrow, the grip painful on her wrist. Wincing, her eyes searched the tall figure until she met an all-too-familiar gaze.
"L-Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin gasped, her fingers growing slack and dropping the arrow. Her weapon disposed of, Sesshomaru released his grip on her wrist and, without thinking, she flung her arms around his neck, avoiding the sharp edges of his armo. She would have burst into tears in relief if her fearful relief was not warring with the jubilation at finally seeing Sesshomaru after such a long time.
Sesshomaru's hand passed over her mussed hair, holding her to him briefly before detaching her arms from his neck. "Are you injured?" he asked.
"No," she shook her head, "they're just scratches."
"There was a miscalculation," Sesshomaru said enigmatically, glancing around the forest. "Come, Rin. It's not safe here."
Rin stepped closer to him again, also taking a look around their surroundings. She did not know what he had seen or sensed, but trusted Sesshomaru's instincts far more than her own. When his arm went around her again, pressing her to his side, she closed her eyes and felt the stress and fear evaporate as his mokomoko lifted them through the treetops and into the sky. His kimono sleeve had draped over her, almost hiding her in the folds of it, and although it was her first time ever traveling this way with Sesshomaru, she felt safer than she had in hours.
At last, Lord Sesshomaru was back.