To the Readers: Some of you expressed concern that this would be the last
chapter. Don't worry. Even when the story ends, I have an epilogue AND a
post-story (featuring Kagome and Inuyasha) planned. Woohoo.
And thank you again for all your wonderful reviews. As you can see, ff.net changed my ID from "bumblebee" to "bumblebee4" for no apparent reason. So, if I suddenly drop off any of your lists, you will know why!
~*~*~*~*~ Chapter 5 ~*~*~*~*~
Sesshoumaru's hand flexed around the hilt of his sword, delicate veins within his pale hands apparent even in the moonlight. He stared at the creature before him for some time, trying to ascertain not only the level of danger, but also the creature's true nature. The acrid scent of burning metal hit his senses with the force of a thrusted sword. 'What is that -thing-? It smells only so very faintly of youkai, but it could not possibly be human.'
"What are you? And how do you know of this Sesshoumaru's father?" the taiyoukai asked curtly, moving slightly to the side to position his own body in front of Rin's.
"Excellent questions, Sesshoumaru. And all shall be known in time. That is, all shall be known should you prove to be as sensible and noble as your father expected you would become. But first, perhaps we should provide for Rin-san's comfort whilst we talk, mmm? You've come all this way and wouldn't wish her to be needlessly harmed, I suspect."
Claw grinned broadly as she made a sweeping gesture of a bow. The mirthful creature stood again and addressed Rin, who now peeked out from behind her master's white silk clad arm.
"Ah Rin-san. I've tea waiting for you in the main room of the shrine. If you would be so very kind to wait there, I would be ever so grateful."
Rin looked at the strange creature, and nodded, but did not move. Would this also be Lord Sesshoumaru's wish? Rin really did not wish to leave his side, but doubted she would be of much assistance, since he had no idea why they were even there.
"You may go, Rin," Sesshoumaru said, his piercing gaze never leaving Claw.
With Rin gone, the two inhuman creatures stood in the courtyard of the shrine, looking very much like opposites of one another. The tall Sesshoumaru stood, white garments flowing around him, silvery white hair cascading down his back, amber eyes glowing slightly in the dusk. As for Claw, she wore little clothing, and seemed a mass of stony black musculature. Her white hair brought new meaning to the word "wild" as it slithered and snaked through the air of its own accord, and her white upon white eyes seemed dead to the world.
"I am glad to see you did not get mixed up in that Shikon jewel mess, Sesshoumaru. Your brother, on the other hand, well, he needs that whole affair, I think. Its going to build some character in the boy, and he certainly does need it. He's far too careless with Tetsusaiga, though. I don't approve."
"I did not come here to speak of half-wits or -to- half-wits. My brother is none of my concern."
"Ah yes," Claw replied, flipping backwards and landing crouched on a gatepost with unnatural ease, "You came to speak of Rin, did you not? You know, your father came here once too, a human woman at his side. In the end, Iemitsu was convinced to give him that which he requested. And, in the end, he did not take it from the miko, and do you know why, Sesshoumaru?"
"Because my step-mother was unworthy," Sesshoumaru stated coldly.
Claw leaned forward, her mouth forming words like knives to Sesshoumaru's ears, "No. Because he loved her."
"Enough foolishness. You are tedious and your games are tiresome. If you wish to live..."
Claw took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly in a sigh, "I'm not exactly sure I -can-, die Sesshoumaru. Living. Dead. These terms do not exactly apply in my situation. You can feel free to try at any time, but I assure you the exercise shall be pointless."
"What, then, is your price for the required artifact?" Sesshoumaru asked, wondering when this annoyance would end.
"To you," Claw replied, upturning her palms and spreading her arms outwards to indicate their surroundings, "It is free. But, my dear boy, Iemitsu's Charm is locked away. I fear, indeed, that if you do not unlock it within two days time, upon the rising of the sun the third day, the tea which I have given Rin will erase all memories of her previous life. And at that point, she will bonded until her death to this shrine as its miko. No matter where she goes, she will think only of returning to and protecting this shrine. Which is, wouldn't you say, as it should be, Sesshoumaru? Living with youkai is no sort of life for a human like Rin."
Toukijin had been drawn even before Sesshoumaru himself realized it. His skin felt molten, hot, as if his entire body pulsated with the white heat of a desert sun. The scent in the air shifted as his eyes began to turn crimson red. Rin's blood. He could swear he smelled Rin's blood.
"No one deprives this Sesshoumaru of his possessions."
Sesshoumaru lunged at Claw, flying gracefully and elegantly through the air, Toukijin aloft, already beginning to glow with waves of bluish fire. He aimed for her shoulder, really only intending to take off a limb, maybe two. Something this creature could probably, in his estimation, survive.
Toukijin hit its mark effortlessly, and a sound of metal on stone pierced the air. Sesshoumaru watched as the wooden gatepost beneath Claw shattered, and drove the creature off her perch and onto the ground. However, though Toukijin hit, Claw remained unmarred. The sword in Sesshoumaru's hand merely stopped, as if the flesh on Claw's shoulder were made of stone. No. Something harder even than stone, because Toukijin could rend rocks and boulders alike.
As the taiyoukai attempted to get his mind around what exactly had just happened, Claw's hand darted out and pulled Tenseiga from its sheath. With a flick of her wrist, Sesshoumaru's other sword now lay against his jawline, pressing slightly upwards as a smirk graced Claw's face.
"Did I not tell you that would be pointless?" Claw's attention seemed to focus away from Sesshoumaru and onto Tenseiga as the creature bent forward and pressed her lips to the sword which glowed brilliantly in her hands. Her voice practically purred as she whispered to the blade, "Yes. Mmm. Tenseiga. We mustn't keep your master waiting, mmm?"
Claw's form suddenly became broken, covered with fine lines that grew to fissures and then canyons. With a hiss, the woman seemed to dissolve into dust, leaving Tenseiga to drop to the ground at Sesshoumaru's feet. As the cloud of dust stirred and dissolved in the wind, Claw's mirthful voice called out:
"Be careful, Sesshoumaru. Your madness is showing."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
'Rin.'
Only this solitary thought existed in Sesshoumaru's mind as he tore through the courtyard towards the main room of the shrine. He moved so fast he became a ball of white light, lifting from the ground slightly as the world's motion froze around him.
Rin lay on her side in the candlelit room, her ebony hair spilling around her angular frame in waves. One hand lay at her slightly-open mouth, the other outstretched towards an overturned teacup and a spilled pool of murky green tea.
Sesshoumaru found himself kneeling at her side, pulling Rin gently upwards into a sitting position in his lap. He could have sworn...sworn that he smelled her blood...but, he did not smell it now, and she did not appear to be injured.
"Rin."
The young woman stirred only slightly, making a silky "Mmm" sound and rubbing her face into the warmth of Sesshoumaru's sleeve. Sesshoumaru watched as his own hand freed itself from its perch on his tail and stroked Rin's cheek, tracing a path from the corner of her eye, down along her jawline, and stopping at her chin. Why? Why did he do that? Was he no longer in control of his own actions? But her skin had such amazing qualities of softness. It reminded him of a feather. No, even softer, even more ephemeral. A warm breeze manipulated by his fingertips.
He ached to press his face to hers, his cheek to her cheek. He needed to know the differences between them, to absorb the texture of that skin into his own. He needed to taste, no...to devour. Yes. Devour Rin. Consume her and understand every nuance of her flesh, both internal and external.
'There are those youkai, Sesshoumaru, who go insane for the taste of human flesh,' his mind taunted. 'Perhaps just one intricate ear? Or perhaps you could devour that warm hand which lays now against your chest. Can't you feel it in your teeth, Sesshoumaru? Can't you feel the resistance of her skin as you bite into it, the delicate meatiness of it against your tongue?'
"Rin!"
'This Sesshoumaru has to wake Rin up -now-. Her eyes, if only I can see her eyes, then my mind will stop. This madness will melt away. No. Mustn't look at her. I, Sesshoumaru, am not weak. Weakness exists only in lesser youkai. One taste. Just one. I, Sesshoumaru, can stop myself after tasting her skin just once. No more is needed. Just the once.'
'Very, very greedy, Sesshoumaru. Look what your desire has wrought. The Great Lord of the Western Lands ready to trade his pride, his nobility, for this? No. Kill her now. Put your claw against her pulsing jugular and pierce it. So simple. And then feast. Consume her and be done with it. She can't leave you then, can she?'
"Rin! Wake up!"
Rin stirred again, moving her face back and forth as if fascinated even in her semi-unconscious state by the texture of Sesshoumaru's sleeve. As her eyes opened slightly, Sesshoumaru felt his breath leave him as if he were punched, as if winded by a powerful blow. Her coffee-colored eyes searched out her surroundings and eventually focused on the profile of her master's face. His eyes, which had been staring into space, flickered downwards to look at her face, though the rest of his countenance remained motionless.
"Sesshouma...ru...sama?" Where was she, Rin wondered, this fabulous warmth cradling her, pressing against her? But she still felt so tired, wonderfully sleepy. Where were they last? Oh yes, the shrine. Such a nice place, even with that strange Claw person. Maybe Sesshoumaru-sama would them stay here for a while.
"Rin. Did you drink the tea?"
"Yes," Rin replied, her nose crinkling slightly as she stifled a yawn, "Made Rin...sleepy. Shall Rin...pour you...some?" Already Rin's eyelids grew heavy, lulling her back towards sleep. Fighting the effects of the magickal tea, Rin forced her eyes back open.
"No." How could he have been so stupid? How could he not have seen through Claw's plan? 'Somehow that creature must be trapped here, and wants Rin to take its place. If this Sesshoumaru hadn't been so focused on finding Iemitsu's Charm...
"Rin likes it here," the teenager's soft voice cooed, "Lets...stay..." And with those words falling from her lips, Rin fell back asleep.
No. Sesshoumaru knew too well how such binding spells worked. Even with just a taste of the tea she'd begin to bond to this place. Once the magick had fully had time to work through her system, she'd be unwilling to leave. Even if he forcibly took her back to the estate, she would do everything in her power to return to the shrine. Even at the risk of her own well-being, at the risk of her life.
And she'd forget herself. She'd forget him.
He had to find Iemitsu's Charm. Figure out how to unlock it. Isn't that what Claw had said? He could prevent this from happening but only if he could unlock it. But, what sort of lock? And where? That damnable creature had the answers, and she had disappeared.
But creatures with riddles didn't stay away long, he knew. It seemed in their nature to return again and again to taunt their prey. He'd had enough foolish opponents who couldn't get enough of seeking him out and attempting to force him to do this task or that. Claw would return. He would get answers then.
Sesshoumaru lifted the young woman laying against him and placed her on the mat, far from the spilled tea. He quirked his eyebrow slightly as he realized that her hand had become entangled in the folds of fabric at his chest. No. Not entangled. Her hand clung to the fabric there as if for dear life, her grasp so intent that even in sleep her knuckles had become almost white with tension. The youkai lord carefully slid one clawed finger underneath her palm and stroked the interior of her hand. In response, Rin's hand flexed and released the fabric.
Sesshoumaru sat for some time watching Rin sleep. He had done so often, he knew now, when she was younger. Although, back then, whenever he caught himself doing so, he would immediately turn away his gaze. Had that been long ago? Or was it merely yesterday? It didn't matter now. His mind felt calm. Calm and certain.
The elegant taiyoukai then lay down next to his pet, his amber eyes close enough to her face to feel the air stirring with each of her gentle breaths. His arm snaked out and curled around Rin possessively, his hand resting at the back of her neck.
'Rin belongs to Sesshoumaru. She is -mine-.'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Rin continued to sweep the deck of the shrine with a smile upon her face as Sesshoumaru walked back into the gates. He had gone into the forest scouting the area near the shrine to see if he could find any trace of Claw. He could definitely smell the creature nearby, but couldn't seem to pin down her specific location.
For her part, Rin had been cleaning the shrine and its grounds all morning, barely even stopping to ravenously eat some of the food she had brought along. She felt herself silly now, the shrine really did seem quite lovely. It just needed a few repairs and it would be quite a wonderful place. She'd discovered all sorts of interesting things this morning. A shed containing all the implements used in the shrine's ceremonies, a small housing unit where its tenants lived. She felt as if she had discovered an amazing toybox, with no end to the interesting baubles she might find.
But somewhere in her thoughts, a voice pulled at her, asking again and again if there were something she had forgotten to do today.
"Sesshoumaru-sama," Rin asked, stopping her sweeping and leaning upon the broom, "Do you know someone named 'Meiko' or 'Reiko'?"
Sesshoumaru stopped walking, his thoughts almost visibly shifting from one subject to another. Liquidly, his eyes turned from the ground in front of him to Rin's tall form.
"Yes. As do you, Rin."
"Rin does?" The young woman bit her bottom lip slightly in thought, "Rin seems to recall -something- but, perhaps Rin only knew them so long ago that she can not remember now."
He could tell that Rin struggled to cling to the memories of her friends. Nonetheless, no matter how hard she held to those memories, they would soon slip through her fingers, he knew.
Rin looked so different today, he noted. Why did she look so strange? She had pulled her hair back, for one, into a ponytail behind her head. Rin hated restraining her hair with anything besides her butterfly combs. And secondly, her sky-blue yukata remained completely devoid of flowers. Sesshoumaru couldn't remember the last time she'd gone about without flowers in her sash or chains of them hanging from where she would pin them at her shoulder. But, above and beyond the physical, she still looked different. The joy for life which constantly played on Rin's face seemed to be...slipping away.
"Shall Rin prepare you some dinner, Sesshoumaru-sama?"
"No. You know this Sesshoumaru does not care for human food, Rin."
"Oh. Yes," Rin said, smiling bravely through the doubt which obviously clung to her words, "Yes. Rin apologizes. Her thoughts must have been elsewhere."
Sesshoumaru had seen nothing, sensed nothing that he could discern had to do with Iemitsu's Charm. He'd hoped to at least find texts relating to the infernal object, but it seemed Iemitsu hadn't seen fit to record anything at the shrine. The entire place was utterly devoid of texts. Or, perhaps Claw destroyed them. The whole thing made Sesshoumaru understand why Inuyasha had taken up swearing at every little thing.
'How your brother would laugh at you now, Sesshoumaru.'
"Well, Sesshoumaru, have you figured out how to unlock the Charm?"
Claw's voice behind him made Sesshoumaru turn gracefully on his heel, but then almost stumble as her caustic metallic scent hit his nostrils.
"Rin. Go inside and eat," Sesshoumaru commanded, not looking away from the obsidian form in front of him. Rin obeyed. 'Well, at least she still does what this Sesshoumaru dictates. That may not last long.'
"That was a lovely little scene you had there last night with Rin. Were I the type of being to have emotions, I might have even wept," Claw purred, already taunting Sesshoumaru.
"This Sesshoumaru demands to know what you are," Sesshoumaru replied, attempting to hold back anger he knew would be useless to unleash at the creature.
"Ah. I am an Inanima, a magickal tool crafted 200 years ago by your father before he left this shrine. You see, because he made the right choice in not using the Charm on your stepmother, because he loved her so, Iemitsu took pity on your father. She gave him a vision of the future, a vision of the paths of his two sons. Because of this, he knew you would come here to seek the Charm, and so I was left to assist you."
"Assist me? You've done nothing of the sort."
"Ah well, perhaps a being can go a bit mad in a few centuries. It didn't take you -nearly- as long to get there yourself."
Sesshoumaru snarled in reply, but realized it would be useless to draw his sword. His father's magicks would protect Claw even from his own son. "Tell this Sesshoumaru where the Charm is, and how to unlock it."
"Even if I told you, you wouldn't believe me. Not yet."
"Then what? It seems doubtful that my father left you here to leave me to my insanity and to uselessly destroy the life of a human girl."
"Your father does not deserve a weakling. And, frankly, Sesshoumaru, no matter how good you are with those swords, or how nobly you rule your people, your madness makes that weakness quite apparent." As she said this Claw's eyes began to crackle with flashes of purple electricity.
"Until tomorrow, Sesshoumaru. I recommend you spend your time with Rin wisely. After tomorrow evening, at sunrise, Rin will belong to this shrine, and will have forgotten you."
"No," Sesshoumaru hissed, rushing forward to grab Claw by the shoulder as her skin began to crack and fissure just like the previous evening. "Don't you dare. This Sesshoumaru requires answers." But, as his grip on the inanima's shoulder tightened, he felt it crumble in his grasp, becoming little more than grains of sand.
Claw's mocking voice echoed in the courtyard as she once again disappeared into the breeze, "If you seek answers, why don't you ask Tenseiga?"
Tenseiga? What did the sword have to do with this? Sesshoumaru drew the sword with which he had saved Rin's life so long ago. The polished metal reflected the fiery sunset. Tenseiga. Tenseiga must be the key to unlocking the Charm. He'd thought many a time about ridding himself of the useless sword, but never could seem to bring himself to do it. Had his father given him the answer to his dilemma in the form of Tenseiga? If so, how? He though he had completely mastered the sword, once...and then Rin had...
She had used it to turn Daishirou into a human. Perhaps there -were- things about the sword he still didn't understand, but how could he find them out. Unless Rin knew.
He found her in the main room of the shrine, but unlike the previous night, she seemed awake and alert. She cleaned wall scrolls with a rag, carefully wiping away the dust that two centuries of neglect had wrought. The sight annoyed him. Rin did not belong inside a shrine, cleaning things, fussing over wall scrolls and polishing wooden tables and floors. Rin belonged in fields of flowers and in the woods and next to the fire in his quarters at the estate. How dare Claw presume to give his pet ideas to undertake duties he had not commanded of her?
"Rin."
The young woman looked up from her task as if taken from a favorite hobby. But, upon seeing who addressed her, her expression softened, "Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama?"
"What do you know of Tenseiga?"
"Tenseiga is one of the swords you carry at your side, Sesshoumaru-sama," Rin replied sweetly, her expression full of hope that she had answered correctly.
"And what else?" Sesshoumaru prompted.
Rin shifted her weight as she considered the question, looking at the ground and then to the ceiling as if she might find the answer mysteriously written there. "Rin is afraid she knows nothing else, Sesshoumaru-sama, unless...unless...Rin has..." the pain in Rin's voice became evident as she whispered the last word, "...forgotten." Rin lifted one of her hands to wipe away a tear forming at the corner of her eye, "Rin apologizes, Sesshoumaru-sama, but something is terribly, terribly wrong with Rin. All day Rin tried to figure it out, but...just...can't..."
Rin turned away, more than slightly ashamed of her outburst. The rag in her hand dropped to the floor as she tried desperately to compose herself. It just was not right to trouble Lord Sesshoumaru like this. She had the faint feeling that someone she knew would likely yell at her for this, someone short, maybe with somewhat greenish skin, but her mind just couldn't fathom who.
Warm arms curled around Rin's lanky frame from behind. A startled Rin hiccupped mid-sob, as she felt Sesshoumaru's fingers press against her collarbone, the other tighten firmly around her waist. "No, Rin. This Sesshoumaru..." He stopped himself, unable to bring himself to apologize to a human, even now.
"Sesshoumaru-sama?" Rin asked. She felt him nod against the back of her head in response. Rin's hand grabbed the back of Sesshoumaru's fingers and pulled them towards her the flesh encasing her heart. She pressed them there as she whispered, "It hurts. It hurts here."
What could he possibly say in response? He'd done this. She'd been the one creature who had ever trusted him completely, and he'd hurt her. And now he'd slowly taken away everything of meaning in her life through one stupid mistake. They should have never come here.
And if he didn't let go of her very, very soon, he knew, his mind was going to command him to do something ridiculously unwise. No. He didn't want to think about all the times he could have killed her and spared himself the hurt of watching Rin slowly leave him. And no, he did -not- want to think about how delicious she smelled.
But, what could he say? What could he say in response? Nothing. Nothing would fix what he had done.
"Let us go look at the stars, Rin. The night is very clear."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
If she -had- known about Tenseiga, she certainly didn't now. For once, Sesshoumaru felt annoyed he hadn't brought along Jakken. If nothing else, the toad youkai was a wealth of arcane and esoteric knowledge.
Rin had fallen asleep on the porch while watching the stars. She lay there now, curled up onto herself for warmth. It reminded Sesshoumaru of all the times he had found her sleeping outside his door in her youth. Except, in her youth she could curl into a ball. Now, no matter how hard she tried, she was still a tangle of long svelte arms and legs.
After she had fallen asleep, Sesshoumaru had drawn Tenseiga to study it more closely. He tried a few subtle incantations to see if he could get the sword to react in some way different than it had previously, but found his attempts to be of no avail. Tenseiga remained as useless as ever.
Sheathing the sword, he sat next to Rin, dreading the coming of the dawn. The sun's light would mean they only had 24 hours left until Rin would be gone, and he would be permanently insane.
Rin mumbled something in her sleep and smiled. Sesshoumaru bent down, lowering his ear to her lips in an attempt to catch what she said.
Warm breath caressed his ear as he heard, "Mustn't forget...the butterflies..."
Sesshoumaru sat back up and searched the sky for one noble cloud to give him inspiration, but found none.
They were running out of time.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
In our next chapter: Okay. I lied. There is ONE more chapter. I bet you can figure out what happens next? Can you? Will Sesshoumaru figure out how to unlock Iemitsu's Charm before it is too late? What exactly does the damn Charm do, anyway? Will Rin completely forget herself and everyone she knows and become the shrine's miko? Will Sesshoumaru finally snap and eat Rin for dinner? Will Claw stop being so creepy? This and MORE in the next exciting chapter of Paper Dragons.
And thank you again for all your wonderful reviews. As you can see, ff.net changed my ID from "bumblebee" to "bumblebee4" for no apparent reason. So, if I suddenly drop off any of your lists, you will know why!
~*~*~*~*~ Chapter 5 ~*~*~*~*~
Sesshoumaru's hand flexed around the hilt of his sword, delicate veins within his pale hands apparent even in the moonlight. He stared at the creature before him for some time, trying to ascertain not only the level of danger, but also the creature's true nature. The acrid scent of burning metal hit his senses with the force of a thrusted sword. 'What is that -thing-? It smells only so very faintly of youkai, but it could not possibly be human.'
"What are you? And how do you know of this Sesshoumaru's father?" the taiyoukai asked curtly, moving slightly to the side to position his own body in front of Rin's.
"Excellent questions, Sesshoumaru. And all shall be known in time. That is, all shall be known should you prove to be as sensible and noble as your father expected you would become. But first, perhaps we should provide for Rin-san's comfort whilst we talk, mmm? You've come all this way and wouldn't wish her to be needlessly harmed, I suspect."
Claw grinned broadly as she made a sweeping gesture of a bow. The mirthful creature stood again and addressed Rin, who now peeked out from behind her master's white silk clad arm.
"Ah Rin-san. I've tea waiting for you in the main room of the shrine. If you would be so very kind to wait there, I would be ever so grateful."
Rin looked at the strange creature, and nodded, but did not move. Would this also be Lord Sesshoumaru's wish? Rin really did not wish to leave his side, but doubted she would be of much assistance, since he had no idea why they were even there.
"You may go, Rin," Sesshoumaru said, his piercing gaze never leaving Claw.
With Rin gone, the two inhuman creatures stood in the courtyard of the shrine, looking very much like opposites of one another. The tall Sesshoumaru stood, white garments flowing around him, silvery white hair cascading down his back, amber eyes glowing slightly in the dusk. As for Claw, she wore little clothing, and seemed a mass of stony black musculature. Her white hair brought new meaning to the word "wild" as it slithered and snaked through the air of its own accord, and her white upon white eyes seemed dead to the world.
"I am glad to see you did not get mixed up in that Shikon jewel mess, Sesshoumaru. Your brother, on the other hand, well, he needs that whole affair, I think. Its going to build some character in the boy, and he certainly does need it. He's far too careless with Tetsusaiga, though. I don't approve."
"I did not come here to speak of half-wits or -to- half-wits. My brother is none of my concern."
"Ah yes," Claw replied, flipping backwards and landing crouched on a gatepost with unnatural ease, "You came to speak of Rin, did you not? You know, your father came here once too, a human woman at his side. In the end, Iemitsu was convinced to give him that which he requested. And, in the end, he did not take it from the miko, and do you know why, Sesshoumaru?"
"Because my step-mother was unworthy," Sesshoumaru stated coldly.
Claw leaned forward, her mouth forming words like knives to Sesshoumaru's ears, "No. Because he loved her."
"Enough foolishness. You are tedious and your games are tiresome. If you wish to live..."
Claw took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly in a sigh, "I'm not exactly sure I -can-, die Sesshoumaru. Living. Dead. These terms do not exactly apply in my situation. You can feel free to try at any time, but I assure you the exercise shall be pointless."
"What, then, is your price for the required artifact?" Sesshoumaru asked, wondering when this annoyance would end.
"To you," Claw replied, upturning her palms and spreading her arms outwards to indicate their surroundings, "It is free. But, my dear boy, Iemitsu's Charm is locked away. I fear, indeed, that if you do not unlock it within two days time, upon the rising of the sun the third day, the tea which I have given Rin will erase all memories of her previous life. And at that point, she will bonded until her death to this shrine as its miko. No matter where she goes, she will think only of returning to and protecting this shrine. Which is, wouldn't you say, as it should be, Sesshoumaru? Living with youkai is no sort of life for a human like Rin."
Toukijin had been drawn even before Sesshoumaru himself realized it. His skin felt molten, hot, as if his entire body pulsated with the white heat of a desert sun. The scent in the air shifted as his eyes began to turn crimson red. Rin's blood. He could swear he smelled Rin's blood.
"No one deprives this Sesshoumaru of his possessions."
Sesshoumaru lunged at Claw, flying gracefully and elegantly through the air, Toukijin aloft, already beginning to glow with waves of bluish fire. He aimed for her shoulder, really only intending to take off a limb, maybe two. Something this creature could probably, in his estimation, survive.
Toukijin hit its mark effortlessly, and a sound of metal on stone pierced the air. Sesshoumaru watched as the wooden gatepost beneath Claw shattered, and drove the creature off her perch and onto the ground. However, though Toukijin hit, Claw remained unmarred. The sword in Sesshoumaru's hand merely stopped, as if the flesh on Claw's shoulder were made of stone. No. Something harder even than stone, because Toukijin could rend rocks and boulders alike.
As the taiyoukai attempted to get his mind around what exactly had just happened, Claw's hand darted out and pulled Tenseiga from its sheath. With a flick of her wrist, Sesshoumaru's other sword now lay against his jawline, pressing slightly upwards as a smirk graced Claw's face.
"Did I not tell you that would be pointless?" Claw's attention seemed to focus away from Sesshoumaru and onto Tenseiga as the creature bent forward and pressed her lips to the sword which glowed brilliantly in her hands. Her voice practically purred as she whispered to the blade, "Yes. Mmm. Tenseiga. We mustn't keep your master waiting, mmm?"
Claw's form suddenly became broken, covered with fine lines that grew to fissures and then canyons. With a hiss, the woman seemed to dissolve into dust, leaving Tenseiga to drop to the ground at Sesshoumaru's feet. As the cloud of dust stirred and dissolved in the wind, Claw's mirthful voice called out:
"Be careful, Sesshoumaru. Your madness is showing."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
'Rin.'
Only this solitary thought existed in Sesshoumaru's mind as he tore through the courtyard towards the main room of the shrine. He moved so fast he became a ball of white light, lifting from the ground slightly as the world's motion froze around him.
Rin lay on her side in the candlelit room, her ebony hair spilling around her angular frame in waves. One hand lay at her slightly-open mouth, the other outstretched towards an overturned teacup and a spilled pool of murky green tea.
Sesshoumaru found himself kneeling at her side, pulling Rin gently upwards into a sitting position in his lap. He could have sworn...sworn that he smelled her blood...but, he did not smell it now, and she did not appear to be injured.
"Rin."
The young woman stirred only slightly, making a silky "Mmm" sound and rubbing her face into the warmth of Sesshoumaru's sleeve. Sesshoumaru watched as his own hand freed itself from its perch on his tail and stroked Rin's cheek, tracing a path from the corner of her eye, down along her jawline, and stopping at her chin. Why? Why did he do that? Was he no longer in control of his own actions? But her skin had such amazing qualities of softness. It reminded him of a feather. No, even softer, even more ephemeral. A warm breeze manipulated by his fingertips.
He ached to press his face to hers, his cheek to her cheek. He needed to know the differences between them, to absorb the texture of that skin into his own. He needed to taste, no...to devour. Yes. Devour Rin. Consume her and understand every nuance of her flesh, both internal and external.
'There are those youkai, Sesshoumaru, who go insane for the taste of human flesh,' his mind taunted. 'Perhaps just one intricate ear? Or perhaps you could devour that warm hand which lays now against your chest. Can't you feel it in your teeth, Sesshoumaru? Can't you feel the resistance of her skin as you bite into it, the delicate meatiness of it against your tongue?'
"Rin!"
'This Sesshoumaru has to wake Rin up -now-. Her eyes, if only I can see her eyes, then my mind will stop. This madness will melt away. No. Mustn't look at her. I, Sesshoumaru, am not weak. Weakness exists only in lesser youkai. One taste. Just one. I, Sesshoumaru, can stop myself after tasting her skin just once. No more is needed. Just the once.'
'Very, very greedy, Sesshoumaru. Look what your desire has wrought. The Great Lord of the Western Lands ready to trade his pride, his nobility, for this? No. Kill her now. Put your claw against her pulsing jugular and pierce it. So simple. And then feast. Consume her and be done with it. She can't leave you then, can she?'
"Rin! Wake up!"
Rin stirred again, moving her face back and forth as if fascinated even in her semi-unconscious state by the texture of Sesshoumaru's sleeve. As her eyes opened slightly, Sesshoumaru felt his breath leave him as if he were punched, as if winded by a powerful blow. Her coffee-colored eyes searched out her surroundings and eventually focused on the profile of her master's face. His eyes, which had been staring into space, flickered downwards to look at her face, though the rest of his countenance remained motionless.
"Sesshouma...ru...sama?" Where was she, Rin wondered, this fabulous warmth cradling her, pressing against her? But she still felt so tired, wonderfully sleepy. Where were they last? Oh yes, the shrine. Such a nice place, even with that strange Claw person. Maybe Sesshoumaru-sama would them stay here for a while.
"Rin. Did you drink the tea?"
"Yes," Rin replied, her nose crinkling slightly as she stifled a yawn, "Made Rin...sleepy. Shall Rin...pour you...some?" Already Rin's eyelids grew heavy, lulling her back towards sleep. Fighting the effects of the magickal tea, Rin forced her eyes back open.
"No." How could he have been so stupid? How could he not have seen through Claw's plan? 'Somehow that creature must be trapped here, and wants Rin to take its place. If this Sesshoumaru hadn't been so focused on finding Iemitsu's Charm...
"Rin likes it here," the teenager's soft voice cooed, "Lets...stay..." And with those words falling from her lips, Rin fell back asleep.
No. Sesshoumaru knew too well how such binding spells worked. Even with just a taste of the tea she'd begin to bond to this place. Once the magick had fully had time to work through her system, she'd be unwilling to leave. Even if he forcibly took her back to the estate, she would do everything in her power to return to the shrine. Even at the risk of her own well-being, at the risk of her life.
And she'd forget herself. She'd forget him.
He had to find Iemitsu's Charm. Figure out how to unlock it. Isn't that what Claw had said? He could prevent this from happening but only if he could unlock it. But, what sort of lock? And where? That damnable creature had the answers, and she had disappeared.
But creatures with riddles didn't stay away long, he knew. It seemed in their nature to return again and again to taunt their prey. He'd had enough foolish opponents who couldn't get enough of seeking him out and attempting to force him to do this task or that. Claw would return. He would get answers then.
Sesshoumaru lifted the young woman laying against him and placed her on the mat, far from the spilled tea. He quirked his eyebrow slightly as he realized that her hand had become entangled in the folds of fabric at his chest. No. Not entangled. Her hand clung to the fabric there as if for dear life, her grasp so intent that even in sleep her knuckles had become almost white with tension. The youkai lord carefully slid one clawed finger underneath her palm and stroked the interior of her hand. In response, Rin's hand flexed and released the fabric.
Sesshoumaru sat for some time watching Rin sleep. He had done so often, he knew now, when she was younger. Although, back then, whenever he caught himself doing so, he would immediately turn away his gaze. Had that been long ago? Or was it merely yesterday? It didn't matter now. His mind felt calm. Calm and certain.
The elegant taiyoukai then lay down next to his pet, his amber eyes close enough to her face to feel the air stirring with each of her gentle breaths. His arm snaked out and curled around Rin possessively, his hand resting at the back of her neck.
'Rin belongs to Sesshoumaru. She is -mine-.'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Rin continued to sweep the deck of the shrine with a smile upon her face as Sesshoumaru walked back into the gates. He had gone into the forest scouting the area near the shrine to see if he could find any trace of Claw. He could definitely smell the creature nearby, but couldn't seem to pin down her specific location.
For her part, Rin had been cleaning the shrine and its grounds all morning, barely even stopping to ravenously eat some of the food she had brought along. She felt herself silly now, the shrine really did seem quite lovely. It just needed a few repairs and it would be quite a wonderful place. She'd discovered all sorts of interesting things this morning. A shed containing all the implements used in the shrine's ceremonies, a small housing unit where its tenants lived. She felt as if she had discovered an amazing toybox, with no end to the interesting baubles she might find.
But somewhere in her thoughts, a voice pulled at her, asking again and again if there were something she had forgotten to do today.
"Sesshoumaru-sama," Rin asked, stopping her sweeping and leaning upon the broom, "Do you know someone named 'Meiko' or 'Reiko'?"
Sesshoumaru stopped walking, his thoughts almost visibly shifting from one subject to another. Liquidly, his eyes turned from the ground in front of him to Rin's tall form.
"Yes. As do you, Rin."
"Rin does?" The young woman bit her bottom lip slightly in thought, "Rin seems to recall -something- but, perhaps Rin only knew them so long ago that she can not remember now."
He could tell that Rin struggled to cling to the memories of her friends. Nonetheless, no matter how hard she held to those memories, they would soon slip through her fingers, he knew.
Rin looked so different today, he noted. Why did she look so strange? She had pulled her hair back, for one, into a ponytail behind her head. Rin hated restraining her hair with anything besides her butterfly combs. And secondly, her sky-blue yukata remained completely devoid of flowers. Sesshoumaru couldn't remember the last time she'd gone about without flowers in her sash or chains of them hanging from where she would pin them at her shoulder. But, above and beyond the physical, she still looked different. The joy for life which constantly played on Rin's face seemed to be...slipping away.
"Shall Rin prepare you some dinner, Sesshoumaru-sama?"
"No. You know this Sesshoumaru does not care for human food, Rin."
"Oh. Yes," Rin said, smiling bravely through the doubt which obviously clung to her words, "Yes. Rin apologizes. Her thoughts must have been elsewhere."
Sesshoumaru had seen nothing, sensed nothing that he could discern had to do with Iemitsu's Charm. He'd hoped to at least find texts relating to the infernal object, but it seemed Iemitsu hadn't seen fit to record anything at the shrine. The entire place was utterly devoid of texts. Or, perhaps Claw destroyed them. The whole thing made Sesshoumaru understand why Inuyasha had taken up swearing at every little thing.
'How your brother would laugh at you now, Sesshoumaru.'
"Well, Sesshoumaru, have you figured out how to unlock the Charm?"
Claw's voice behind him made Sesshoumaru turn gracefully on his heel, but then almost stumble as her caustic metallic scent hit his nostrils.
"Rin. Go inside and eat," Sesshoumaru commanded, not looking away from the obsidian form in front of him. Rin obeyed. 'Well, at least she still does what this Sesshoumaru dictates. That may not last long.'
"That was a lovely little scene you had there last night with Rin. Were I the type of being to have emotions, I might have even wept," Claw purred, already taunting Sesshoumaru.
"This Sesshoumaru demands to know what you are," Sesshoumaru replied, attempting to hold back anger he knew would be useless to unleash at the creature.
"Ah. I am an Inanima, a magickal tool crafted 200 years ago by your father before he left this shrine. You see, because he made the right choice in not using the Charm on your stepmother, because he loved her so, Iemitsu took pity on your father. She gave him a vision of the future, a vision of the paths of his two sons. Because of this, he knew you would come here to seek the Charm, and so I was left to assist you."
"Assist me? You've done nothing of the sort."
"Ah well, perhaps a being can go a bit mad in a few centuries. It didn't take you -nearly- as long to get there yourself."
Sesshoumaru snarled in reply, but realized it would be useless to draw his sword. His father's magicks would protect Claw even from his own son. "Tell this Sesshoumaru where the Charm is, and how to unlock it."
"Even if I told you, you wouldn't believe me. Not yet."
"Then what? It seems doubtful that my father left you here to leave me to my insanity and to uselessly destroy the life of a human girl."
"Your father does not deserve a weakling. And, frankly, Sesshoumaru, no matter how good you are with those swords, or how nobly you rule your people, your madness makes that weakness quite apparent." As she said this Claw's eyes began to crackle with flashes of purple electricity.
"Until tomorrow, Sesshoumaru. I recommend you spend your time with Rin wisely. After tomorrow evening, at sunrise, Rin will belong to this shrine, and will have forgotten you."
"No," Sesshoumaru hissed, rushing forward to grab Claw by the shoulder as her skin began to crack and fissure just like the previous evening. "Don't you dare. This Sesshoumaru requires answers." But, as his grip on the inanima's shoulder tightened, he felt it crumble in his grasp, becoming little more than grains of sand.
Claw's mocking voice echoed in the courtyard as she once again disappeared into the breeze, "If you seek answers, why don't you ask Tenseiga?"
Tenseiga? What did the sword have to do with this? Sesshoumaru drew the sword with which he had saved Rin's life so long ago. The polished metal reflected the fiery sunset. Tenseiga. Tenseiga must be the key to unlocking the Charm. He'd thought many a time about ridding himself of the useless sword, but never could seem to bring himself to do it. Had his father given him the answer to his dilemma in the form of Tenseiga? If so, how? He though he had completely mastered the sword, once...and then Rin had...
She had used it to turn Daishirou into a human. Perhaps there -were- things about the sword he still didn't understand, but how could he find them out. Unless Rin knew.
He found her in the main room of the shrine, but unlike the previous night, she seemed awake and alert. She cleaned wall scrolls with a rag, carefully wiping away the dust that two centuries of neglect had wrought. The sight annoyed him. Rin did not belong inside a shrine, cleaning things, fussing over wall scrolls and polishing wooden tables and floors. Rin belonged in fields of flowers and in the woods and next to the fire in his quarters at the estate. How dare Claw presume to give his pet ideas to undertake duties he had not commanded of her?
"Rin."
The young woman looked up from her task as if taken from a favorite hobby. But, upon seeing who addressed her, her expression softened, "Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama?"
"What do you know of Tenseiga?"
"Tenseiga is one of the swords you carry at your side, Sesshoumaru-sama," Rin replied sweetly, her expression full of hope that she had answered correctly.
"And what else?" Sesshoumaru prompted.
Rin shifted her weight as she considered the question, looking at the ground and then to the ceiling as if she might find the answer mysteriously written there. "Rin is afraid she knows nothing else, Sesshoumaru-sama, unless...unless...Rin has..." the pain in Rin's voice became evident as she whispered the last word, "...forgotten." Rin lifted one of her hands to wipe away a tear forming at the corner of her eye, "Rin apologizes, Sesshoumaru-sama, but something is terribly, terribly wrong with Rin. All day Rin tried to figure it out, but...just...can't..."
Rin turned away, more than slightly ashamed of her outburst. The rag in her hand dropped to the floor as she tried desperately to compose herself. It just was not right to trouble Lord Sesshoumaru like this. She had the faint feeling that someone she knew would likely yell at her for this, someone short, maybe with somewhat greenish skin, but her mind just couldn't fathom who.
Warm arms curled around Rin's lanky frame from behind. A startled Rin hiccupped mid-sob, as she felt Sesshoumaru's fingers press against her collarbone, the other tighten firmly around her waist. "No, Rin. This Sesshoumaru..." He stopped himself, unable to bring himself to apologize to a human, even now.
"Sesshoumaru-sama?" Rin asked. She felt him nod against the back of her head in response. Rin's hand grabbed the back of Sesshoumaru's fingers and pulled them towards her the flesh encasing her heart. She pressed them there as she whispered, "It hurts. It hurts here."
What could he possibly say in response? He'd done this. She'd been the one creature who had ever trusted him completely, and he'd hurt her. And now he'd slowly taken away everything of meaning in her life through one stupid mistake. They should have never come here.
And if he didn't let go of her very, very soon, he knew, his mind was going to command him to do something ridiculously unwise. No. He didn't want to think about all the times he could have killed her and spared himself the hurt of watching Rin slowly leave him. And no, he did -not- want to think about how delicious she smelled.
But, what could he say? What could he say in response? Nothing. Nothing would fix what he had done.
"Let us go look at the stars, Rin. The night is very clear."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
If she -had- known about Tenseiga, she certainly didn't now. For once, Sesshoumaru felt annoyed he hadn't brought along Jakken. If nothing else, the toad youkai was a wealth of arcane and esoteric knowledge.
Rin had fallen asleep on the porch while watching the stars. She lay there now, curled up onto herself for warmth. It reminded Sesshoumaru of all the times he had found her sleeping outside his door in her youth. Except, in her youth she could curl into a ball. Now, no matter how hard she tried, she was still a tangle of long svelte arms and legs.
After she had fallen asleep, Sesshoumaru had drawn Tenseiga to study it more closely. He tried a few subtle incantations to see if he could get the sword to react in some way different than it had previously, but found his attempts to be of no avail. Tenseiga remained as useless as ever.
Sheathing the sword, he sat next to Rin, dreading the coming of the dawn. The sun's light would mean they only had 24 hours left until Rin would be gone, and he would be permanently insane.
Rin mumbled something in her sleep and smiled. Sesshoumaru bent down, lowering his ear to her lips in an attempt to catch what she said.
Warm breath caressed his ear as he heard, "Mustn't forget...the butterflies..."
Sesshoumaru sat back up and searched the sky for one noble cloud to give him inspiration, but found none.
They were running out of time.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
In our next chapter: Okay. I lied. There is ONE more chapter. I bet you can figure out what happens next? Can you? Will Sesshoumaru figure out how to unlock Iemitsu's Charm before it is too late? What exactly does the damn Charm do, anyway? Will Rin completely forget herself and everyone she knows and become the shrine's miko? Will Sesshoumaru finally snap and eat Rin for dinner? Will Claw stop being so creepy? This and MORE in the next exciting chapter of Paper Dragons.
