Rin was petrified. She sat for what seemed like forever staring at
the bloodied bodies of her family. Only one thing brought her to move from
under the cover of darkness she resided in.
Her mothers voice.
"Rin," said Satori, so weakly it was amazing Rin heard it in the
first place. "Rin, please."
"Mommy?" Rin jumped to her mothers' side and held her hand. "Mommy?
Please don't leave me alone!"
"Rin, shh. Please be strong, my daughter," Satori's voice was feeble,
"Listen.I must tell you something.You have an elder sister.Sango.if you
ever meet her.tell her.everything." Satori paused, cringing with pain. She
opened her eyes, filled with tears, and spoke again, "Take care of
yourself, and know I will love you forever."
"Mommy, don't leave!"
"Rin, I'm sorry.I.love.you"
Five Years Later
Rin peaked out of her hut, just to see if it was light out yet. Being light, she couldn't try to get food. Too many people would see her, and she didn't want to get beaten. Again. Rin used to get some food from her friends, Sakura and Kisa, 2 of the girls she used to play with when she was little, but when their mother found out, they could bring her much, if anything, anymore. She now survived on fish she stole from the river and bread and fruit she stole from stands and houses.
Her hut was tiny; it only had enough room for her sleeping place and a small fire, if she could even get one going. She didn't even have something to sleep on-her bed was the ground beneath her and her pillow was a small pile of soil. She had one rag of a blanket Kisa had found and given to her. She also had a small box containing a few things, mainly a small broken necklace given to her by her mother when she was only 2.
Rin stepped out of her hut and into the bright light of morning. Wondering how she would eat that day, she walked over to the river, longing to grab one of those poor fishies. She felt bad for them, but she hungered, and she felt feeding herself was a little more important.
She decided to take a walk into her favorite place in the area, the
forest on the edge of town. When she used to go there when she was younger,
she would leave a trail of pebbles or twigs so she wouldn't get lost, but
now she didn't care.
Today she wanted to explore a new area of the forest, one just a
little bit further than usual. She got to a thick part in the forest, and
she tried to get the branches away, but failed. She found another way, and
went though the unknown territory. Coming out from behind a tree, she saw
something she never expected to see.
A man clad in strange armor and long silver hair lay there, injured,
against a tree. He smelt her, and his head shot up, bright red eyes and
unfriendly fangs bared at Rin.
She hopped back, scared, but appeared once again from behind the tree
to look at him. His eyes were golden now, and his fangs not as ferocious.
This man was a demon as far as Rin could tell. She had never seen a human
do that before.
Not really knowing why, Rin came to the decision to help him. She
stayed with him for a few minutes, then ran off to the village to get him
food.
She returned to find a stranger rummaging through her few belongings
in her hut.
"Heh, This yours?" he asked. She only nodded. "Sorry" he said,
rolling his eyes before he stood, pushing her out of his way as he ran away
from the tiny hut.
She looked in her box, finding nothing missing, and was grateful.
She went to the river to try and get a fish for the man in the
forest, hoping no one would see her. She pushed up her sleeves and stepped
into the frigid water searching for the right fish. She was about to grab
one when she was spotted by a few villagers. Three men promptly came over
and kicked her, in the water, till she dropped the fish.
That night she limped back to the man, holding a fish she had gotten
anyway, and a small container with river water. She placed it by him,
motioning for him to take it.
"I don't eat human food." He said.
Rin looked at him, and tried to let him have the food again. For some
reason this man made her feel safe, even though she knew demons were
supposed to be scary things. He seemed nice, regardless of that scary face
he made the first time he saw her that day. She couldn't explain it, but
for some reason, she wanted to stay by his side, knowing he would care more
about her than anyone else in the village ever did.
"I told you, I don't eat human food."
Rin wondered just what the difference between human and demon food
was. She hoped demon food didn't include humans.
"What happened to you?" the man asked, without even looking at her to
see she had been beaten. When he didn't hear a reply, he turned his head
towards her, to see the largest grin Rin had shown in years plastered to
her face. "What are you smiling about? All I asked was what happened to
you, you don't even have to answer. I was just curious."
That smile stayed in Rin's heart for the longest time.