A/N:
Hullo! Next chapter! I hope you enjoy it. Typical chap. More about Rin and Fluffy finds some stuff out. ::sigh:: I'm hopeless. . .

Incase you need it! ~*~*~* is for things like remembering

* are used for thoughts like *I wonder if we have any doughnuts left. ..*

& - are used for italics such as -stupid-, -annoying- brother. . .

On with the fic!!!! ^_~'

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Story Teller (Tale IV)

Rin, still in the silent village, still slept as the first rays of light filtered through the thin paper door. The light warmed her face and she rolled over trying to hide herself from it. Then, with a start, she remembered where she was and what happened.

*The strange village where people don't see me. . .* Rubbing the sleep from her eyes she stood up, folded the futon, and placed it in its original place. "Time to go. . ." she whispered to herself as she slid open the door quietly. No one was awake yet so she tip-toed around the small Inn. She stopped when she realized she was doing something stupid. "Wait a minute. . . why am I being so quiet? They can't hear me." Giving a huff of annoyance she continued wandering around until she happened upon the kitchen. *Alright, I need food and water. . .and maybe a blanket.*

She fumbled around the small kitchen for a few minutes before she found all the food she would need to last for a little while. She had two loaves of bread, some fruit, and a jug of water. Leaving that on a table she searched around until she found a cabinet with spare blankets. Taking the thickest one she placed all her 'supplies' in the middle and tied the blanket into a big sack. Nodding her approval of the job she hefted the bag over her shoulder and headed towards the front of the inn.

She heard a sound like the padding of feet and when she turned the corner towards the door, there was the owner of the building. Rin gave an 'eep!' and hopped to the side before the person walked right into her. She watched as said person just kept walking not even wondering why Rin had a giant sack on her shoulder or how she had gotten in in the first place. Sighing, she left to continue towards the door and passed another person on her way out. Rin didn't even care whether or not they noticed and just left.

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It didn't take her long to get to the outskirts of the creepy village. She looked towards the hills she had climbed to get here to what she thought was her savior and took a deep intake of air. The morning chill woke her up completely and she looked up to the sky. "Sesshoumaru-sama. . ." She didn't want to think about it but she had to find a way to get back to. . .to her home.

Putting on a stern and determined face she headed in the opposite direction than that of where she had come.

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Jaken came scurrying into the house so fast that many workers turned their heads to see what all the commotion was about. All they saw was a green toad speeding towards the library mumbling something about Rin and a book.

"Sesshoumaru-sama!!" yelled Jaken as he forced open the sliding door so fast it bounced of the wall with a resounding snap and smacked him in the head. Rubbing his head and angrily shoving the door aside he stepped into the room. Dusting himself off he began again. "Ano, Sesshoumaru-sama. . ." He got a cold reply of "What is it, Jaken. . ."

"News m'lord! About a healer named Hoken in the Seido forest! I've been informed that he can help Rin m'lord!" Sesshoumaru, who was facing a window turned to glance at Jaken as he spoke. "The source is reliable?" came a monotonous question from Sesshoumaru. "Ha-Hai! It came from the lord of the East!"

Sesshoumaru's hand stroked his boa as he contemplated what to do. "Lets go. Now" He said and breezed past Jaken and into the hall. Jaken blinked twice before it registered that he better get to Sesshoumaru before the Lord of the West left him behind.

When Jaken found Sesshoumaru he found him in Rin's room and stood stock still in the doorway. "Go away Jaken. Wait outside." Sesshoumaru didn't even bother to look up. Jaken hurried out and made for the room where he kept his staff.

Sesshoumaru gazed down at Rin's form that lay in a bed with the covers pulled up to her chin. He placed his hand on her forehead, making sure not to scratch her with his nails, and brushed her bangs away from her eyes. Turning to the table by her bed he picked up the Book and placed it in his boa (some where. . .^_~'). Looking back to Rin one last time he left the room and saw a surprised Naoki standing by the door. Narrowing his eyes at her, he knew she was -trying- to see what he was up to, he told her to go tend to Rin as he walked past her towards the front door.

Upon approaching the door Sesshoumaru saw Jaken with his staff and told him they were leaving to go to Seido forest and that if his information was faulty, like always, he would pay the consequences.

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The sun was directly above Rin now and she didn't have to look up to tell. The heat was almost unbearable as she trudged on through this empty field. She hadn't seen anything, -ANYTHING- in the past two hours. Just endless grass and this straight path she had been walking. It wasn't short grass either, this stuff was only a few inches shorter than herself. It grew tall and thick and if anyone shorter than she went into it they would certainly get lost in such a place. That being one of the reasons she stayed on the path. She could either go forward or backward and seeing how she had been headed in this direction for what seemed like forever. It didn't even stump her as to why there was this path here or why it was there.

Exhausted and thirsty she dropped the sack on the ground in front of her and untied the little knot. Pulling up the jug she took a hug swig of water and took a pleased gasp for air when she ran out of breath. "ahh. . .much better." After wiping her forehead she tied up the bag and continued walking.

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She walked and walked and walked and then, she walked some more. The sun -now- was close to setting and she knew she had to find some kind of shelter before she could rest her weary body and sleep. "Sleeeeep. . ." it almost made her drool just thinking about it. Taking a huge yawn she kept walking and when she looked forward again she saw something that made her so incredibly happy. She saw. . .a small forest.

From where she was standing she could see from one end of it to the other and she could even see how thick it was. It was so small she could walk around it in less than an hour. "Better than nothing." she mumbled.

Speeding up her pace slightly she made for the trees to hide from the sun and what ever beasts prowled around at night here.

She was now at the first tree of the forest. It wasn't very dense so it was easy to get from one place to another and some big trees she saw from here looked like a great place to sleep in. The grass didn't grow as high here either but once she was in the forest she had no path because the path seemed to just stop at the edge. Furrowing her brows as to why it just stopped she began to get even more tired which reminded her she couldn't just conk out right here so she headed towards one of the large trees and decided she would think about the path later.

Once she was at the trunk of the tree she saw how truly large it really was. There would have to be 7 of her linked to together to go around the whole of it. "Thank kami-sama some branches are low enough to reach!" She threw up her bag onto a low hanging branch, which was also pretty big, and then she clawed her way up to it. The branch was just right; it was large enough that she could fall asleep with out hanging of the sides and still have room to roll over on her side. "Perfect!" She said happily and with a smile. "Finally things are looking up!" Putting her bag behind her head, like a makeshift pillow, she got as comfortable as one can in a tree and nodded off as soon as she shut her eyes.

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"Sesshoumaru-sama! Waaaaiiit!" Jaken was trailing behind. Sesshoumaru had already entered Seido forest and was making haste in the direction in which he smelled a youkai. He didn't even bother to slow down for Jaken.

The Seido forest isn't just called that because it sounds nice, its called that because that's what the color of the forest is year round. The forest, whether it has lots of rain and sunshine or not, is always an autumnish color of golden-brown and red. The trees look like their in constant death yet never die. The ground is dirt and never grows bushes or grass. And leaves covered the ground, littered it making for a dreary scene at night -or- during the day.

This gave Jaken a chill but seemed not to faze Sesshoumaru one bit. Jaken was following behind looking around the surroundings wearily when he bumped into a tree. Or what he thought was a tree but turned out to be Sesshoumaru's leg. Jaken gasped at his mess up and went to apologize when Sesshoumaru told him to be quiet.

"Hoken" said Sesshoumaru matter of factly. "Hmm. . .yeesss. Been expecting some one to come and visit me soon. After that damn insufferable youkai made off with one of my books I knew some one would come here. But, never did I think that it would be the Lord of the West. A pleasure to meet you Sesshoumaru-sama." Said the smooth voice that answered.

"How would one retrieve someone from the book. . .? tell me." Said Sesshoumaru. "Straight forward I see. Hmm, yes. Well, because I want my book back you have to give it to me before I tell you that. You do have it? Don't you. . .?" Sesshoumaru's hand disappeared into his boa before it returned with the book in hand.

"Excellent excellent." Said Hoken. "Hoken! Come out where we can see you, you stupid old youkai!" spat Jaken. "Alright alright. Very well."

The leaves moved in a wind that neither Sesshoumaru or Jaken felt. They rustled and gathered and built up. They seemed to build into a column as tall as a human looking Youkai and before their very eyes took the shape of one. The leaves seemed to melt together forming skin of a tan hue and soon the arms and legs and torso where completely formed. The leaves of the head pulled to the sides like curtains and spilled down to the mid-back of the figure and somehow turned to hair-like pieces. The face formed, from the leaves that stretched and melted over that area, creating a lean nose and eyes much like Sesshoumaru's along with pencil line eyebrows and a full and firm mouth.

This young looking youkai surprised Jaken who was expecting some old codger. He was shocked a second time when the youkai opened his eyes to reveal shockingly deep red orbs. Hoken was wearing a long rust colored hunting robe that flowed over his shoulders and onto the ground. A large hood hung loose on the back and it was closed in the front by golden leaf shaped buttons, hiding anything underneath(Like the robes from LotR). His hair was a very pale blond, almost white, and was hanging loosely on top of his shoulders and continued down his back.

"Konbanwa. . ." Hoken greeted. Sesshoumaru's expression didn't falter but if one looked closely enough you could see the tiniest bit of respect in his golden eyes.

"That Youkai said you were old. Stupid idiot must have been blind!" murmured Jaken. "Ah, but I am old. Yes. Just as old as Sesshoumaru's father, if he were still alive, and these trees." Jaken blinked stupidly when Hoken answered his question that he didn't mean for any one to hear. *Wait a minute. . .If he's as old as Sesshoumaru-sama's father that means he's. . . almost a millennia old!!* While Jaken seemed stunned into a temporary coma by this revelation Sesshoumaru asked Hoken a question.

"You knew my father. . .?" asked Sesshoumaru. "Hmm? Oh yes, delightful company, he was. Very strong and smart. Though, he did have some interesting views on humans. Some of which the council didn't approve of. . . but I suppose every one is allowed their own beliefs." replied Hoken. Sesshoumaru gave a small nod and held up the book for Hoken to take. Hoken walked over and took the book gently from Sesshoumaru's hands. He ran his fingers over the cover and checked its weight and he flipped through some of the pages. "Good. This is it, arigato. And this 'Rin' is the one you seek to retrieve?"

Another nod from Sesshoumaru. "Alright. Now that I know your not lying to me like that other Youkai, here" he handed the book back to Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru, for once, looked befuddled. "You see, its actually quiet simple. Her soul is in the book, correct? Well, all you have to do is put the soul back in the body. Burn the book and-" He paused, put his hand into his robe a pulled out a leather pouch. "-And mix the ashes with this grain. Cook it so its not liquid and give it to her. Then-" he stopped again and pulled out a small blue-ish green bottle and handed this to Sesshoumaru also "-Then give her this to drink and her soul will return within a day or so. You see, its simple as long as you have the right ingredients and knowledge. And I was going to use that book too, hmm o well."

He paused for a moment and looked like he was pondering something. "You must care for this girl right? She's human too. . . must run in the blood." He gave the most beautiful smile that appeared to stretch over his whole face before his body returned to leaves and scattered in the unfelt breeze.

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A/N:
Konichiwa! How was that, hmmm? Found out what's gunna happen now. . .er, kinda. Man. . .I need to improve on my writing skills! Lol- I hope you enjoyed it at least! And I hope it wasn't a hassle to read (Like those fics where you don't really -like them- like them but you want to find out what happens ^_~'). Truly am sorry for taking so long w/ the fic. I'm such a bad author! Procrastinator me- heh heh. Ne who, R & R puhlease~! My Bishie-muse would luv ya if ya did! I think about 2-3 more chaps more until. . .dun dun dun! Its all gooone! ::tear:: heh, well, I know I'm gunna do another fic. Don't know when, don't know what but I'm pretty sure I'm gunna try my hand at ROMANCE. ::gasp!:: I know I know! Lol. Hopefully I wont suck to bad at it! And its not gunna be all citrusy either (Not yet at least. . .::cough:: )

PS How'd I do on Hoken? XP

-Animyth-