Field of Innocence

By Lady of the Ink
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, but you knew that . . .I hope. But I do own this plot and all the twists that it takes.

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Chapter Four

Sesshomaru watched with an impassive face as the dark-haired human girl moved from his side and started down another path. She gave a jaunty wave as she vanished through the trees. He continued on his way without so much as a pause, but his mind remained on his recently departed companion. She was an oddity, he had decided. He had had enough experience with humans to learn the general habits of their kind. They were greedy, unthinking beats, unenlightened to the futility of their own existences. Dealing with them was a trial to him, a burden to be borne only because it was unavoidable.

The girl was different. She had offered help - unneeded to be sure- and seemed to want nothing in return. She hadn't bothered him overly with questions or even attention aside from her first, thorough inspection. It was as though she had fit him into her life mere moments after meeting him and found the ease that usually came with long periods of exposure. She didn't seem to fear him, as all smart creatures did, or look down on him, as others were wont to do when faced with beings far superior to them. It was almost as though she saw them as . . .equals.

Speeding up slightly, Sesshomaru scoffed at the idea. He was far more than she could ever aspire to be. She was an unknown human whose life barely registered to others, let alone impacted them in any way. He, on the other hand, was in charge of the lives of more people than she was ever likely to meet. His word was law, his presence imposing, his strength matched by few. He was in a position of power that was rivaled only by his father. It was unlikely that he would have even noticed the girl was alive had they met under different circumstances.

His mouth turned down into what could have been the faintest hint of a frown. The fact of the matter was that they had met under an unusual circumstance and that she had caught his attention. All that was left was for him to figure out why and how to undo the effect.

Sesshomaru had covered a dozen miles on land and a hundred more mentally before his progress with both was stopped. It wasn't because of a revelation that he halted in his tracks, but rather the appearance of a familiar stunted green figure. The visual was accompanied by a high-toned voice that seemed pitched to deliberately grate over nerves as it found its way to his ears.

"Lord Sesshomaru! I've finally found you!"

Jaken stumbled to a stop in front of him, his hands locked tightly on his staff as he looked upward adoringly. Sesshomaru spared his longtime retainer only the briefest of glances before turning his eyes to the surrounding trees. "What do you want?" he asked, his voice conveying his annoyance at being bothered.

The smaller demon seemed momentarily taken aback. "B-but everyone has been looking for you, my lord! You were expected back at the castle two days ago. We had assumed that you had remained longer than expected with your half brother - although why anyone would want to spend more time among those disgusting humans is beyond me. But yesterday a runner came from there, looking for you. We wouldn't have thought of bothering you just for that, but just this morning, your father sent a request to meet with you as soon as possible."

Sesshomaru remained still, sorting through all the reasons that both his father and half-breed brother might want to see him. Aside from the occasional meetings about large matters, all three of them preferred to go their own ways. For both of them to be looking for him, something big must have happened.

Having gotten no response, Jaken had continued his rambling monologue. He squawked to a stop as his own staff made contact with the top of his head with considerable force. Tears filled his large yellow eyes as he stared woefully up at his master. Sesshomaru, as he always did, ignored him, choosing instead to relay his just arrived upon plans.

"I shall meet with my father as soon as we return. What exactly was his message?"

"Y-your most honorable father has urgent business to discuss with you and asks for your presence as soon as possible."

Nodding coolly, Sesshomaru took a single step forward before Jaken's voice came once more. "Excuse me, my lord, but there's something that you should know. Lord Inutaisho has left for a visit to Inuyasha with his human wench. Unless you want to wait for his return, you'll have to see him there." He cringed after delivering the news, obviously expecting retribution for bringing ill tidings.

Under normal conditions, that was just what he would have gotten. However, Sesshomaru had just come to the conclusion that the circumstances were anything but normal at the moment. While returning to the human settlement would once have annoyed him to no end, now he accepted it with something close to calmness. His mind went immediately to the problem that it had been considering earlier and pointed out that the unexpected trip would offer another opportunity to resolve it.

The fact that that was the first thought to occur to him made his tone even colder than usual as he started issuing commands. "Return to the Western Lands and see to it that everything is in order for my return. I want to be able to take care of all the business at once." With that, he turned on his heel and headed back the way that he had come, easily ignoring the pitiful wails coming from behind him.

Later that night . . .

Night had begun to fall by the time Sesshomaru left Inutaisho behind. The older demon had only made it part of the way to his destination, having had to travel more slowly because of his human mate. He explained that she had wanted to look over the area that her son would be ruling over and so they were using the much slower and more troublesome human methods of travel. The trip that would have taken less than a day would now be stretched out to just under a week.

For once refraining from commenting on that, Sesshomaru had gotten straight to the point, asking why Inutaisho had wished to see him. His father had then relayed that the visit to Inuyasha was likely to be quite lengthy and there were several important tasks that would need to be accomplished in his absence. He charged his oldest son with seeing to them before problems arose.

That would have been the end of the conversation had Inutaisho not run into the demon that Inuyasha had sent looking for Sesshomaru. The runner had said something about an injured boy and a wounded demon exterminator and his involvement with one or other of them. Although the descriptions were on the vague side, there were enough details for Sesshomaru to deduce that the woman was the one who had ambushed him in the meadow.

It was an affront to his pride that a human had managed to lay him low, no matter how distracted he had been or how skilled that human might have been. It was just the sort of thing Inuyasha would have delighted in pointing out. In order to avoid that occurrence, Sesshomaru employed the use of one of the many guards required to safeguard his father's human mate. He relayed the general outline of what had occurred, leaving out the end results. It was an unavoidable formality; if he said nothing about it, Inuyasha was sure to blow it out of proportion. Although he knew he was far above his half-blooded brother, the hanyou had to be kept from allowing his arrogance to convince him otherwise. Using the scout would also preclude the need for him to revisit the human laden village.

Sesshomaru sidestepped a tree, his vision making the dark of night seem as clear as daylight to him. The hours between leaving Jaken and finding Inutaisho had given him time to think and he'd managed to come to a conclusion about the girl from the meadow. She was stuck in his mind because she didn't fit any of the ideas about her kind that he had held for most of his life. He needed to know if there was a facet to humans that he had overlooked, or if she were an anomaly. With Inuyasha's acquirement of the adjoining lands, dealings with humans would naturally increase. Any good leader would make sure to know as much as possible in light of such a change.

At least that was what he decided was his reason for returning. Never mind the fact that he had never cared enough for humans to bother studying them before. He'd merely done whatever was needed to accomplish his goal and any complaints didn't survive long in the face of his method of "handling" them. Never mind the other fact that any of the higher ranking men that he would be forced to deal with would not have achieved their positions by being anything other than the usual, ruthless fare he was accustomed to. It was a trip for a tactical advancement in knowledge, not because he felt he owed the strange and silent girl anything for her efforts on his behalf.

Further internal reasoning was halted when Sesshomaru found himself back at the last spot that he had seen the girl that morning. He paused for a moment as he sniffed the air, trying to pick up her scent. Her trail from earlier was the first thing that he was able to make out, making him wonder if she had yet to return from wherever it was that she had gone. Then the wind shifted and he caught the scent of her return along with other, more troublesome smells. There was the odor of a human drink, the unrefined alcoholic mix that made them act even more foolish than usual. It barely masked the rank scent of unwashed bodies . . .a number of them.

He was moving as soon as the last discovery registered in his mind. His steps quickened when the offending evidence of the group of men never veered off the same path he was following. It continued on, soon to be joined by the heavy, dank smell of smoke.

Sesshomaru was finally brought to a halt by the sight of leaping flames illuminating the surrounding forest. The source of the fire was directly in front of him; what had been the cottage was soon to be a pile of ash. As he watched, a pack of figures came walking around the corner, dividing their attention between the burning building and a loud conversation amongst themselves.

"It's too bad the wench got away, but she'll get the message when she comes back to this."

"Yeah, we don't want her kind around here, making them think that they're welcome."

"We don't need those demons coming, taking over our land and thinking they can order us around."

"Well, at least we won't have to worry about her bringin' more of 'em around here. That one from this morning will be the last demon she'll cavort with here."

Sesshomaru was nothing if not astute. It only took a few seconds for him to piece together what the men were discussing. Someone had seen him with the girl that morning and taken offense at their supposed "association". Now, their indignation sated, they were leaving.

It was nothing that concerned him. He had come only to gather further observations on the girl. By what he had overheard, she had already run away and going after her would display a level of interest higher than he was willing to admit. It was time to walk away and forget that the encounter with the girl had ever happened.

It was a complete coincidence that his steps mirrored those of the men. He was simply taking the simplest route to get on his way. Since he was a far superior being to them, it was only natural that he gained on them quickly. And if he should decide to clear them from his path with a swipe of his hand, it would have nothing at all to do with the burning building behind him.

His fingers tightened just as the faintest of sounds reached his ears. It was quiet and well hidden among the crackling flames, but Sesshomaru was able to make out the wheezing cough. He slowed, listening as the sound came again. His golden eyes widened slightly as he realized the import of what he was hearing. The noise came from inside the cottage, meaning that the girl was still inside.

Rin could feel her throat and lungs burning with every painful inhalation of air. She knew she was dying and even come to a sort of acceptance about it. At least she would be able to see her family again. Her mother . . .her father . . .her brothers . . .

A dizzying sensation swamped her, making her feel as though she were being twirled through a current of water. A small smile crept over her mouth as she realized that it would all be over soon. She would soon reach a place where she would never have to be lonely or afraid again. Soon she would be safe and protected, surrounded by the people she had loved, trusted, and lost so long ago. She could almost feel their arms closing around her, drawing her away from the blistering heat into somewhere cool and refreshing. With a content sigh, Rin relaxed and gave herself to whatever was to come.