UnSpoken Love By: OtakuSailorV

Chapter 16:: Human Wench

Sesshoumaru held her protectively to him, their warmth mingling at the closeness of their bodies. Rin was content, but felt slightly awkward. A small blush extended across her face, but she checked herself when she remembered that he probably sensed her uneasiness. And the last thing she wanted was to be embarrassed in front of the stately youkai.

The hat on the top of his head had long since flown off, lost to the rushing winds that swept his flowing hair backward and made it whip sharply. In his arms, the human girl shifted slightly and he could tell that she was embarrassed, but it soon disappeared. He inwardly rolled his eyes as he noted her uneasiness. 'Tch. Humans. . .'

Briefly, he wondered what his father and younger brother saw in the weak species. His thoughts came back to his mother and a suppressed growl rose in his throat at the memories. The girl stirred again and he tightened his grip on her to show that he was not growling at her. She stiffened at first, but gradually relaxed as they sailed through the air.

Moving his troubled thoughts elsewhere, the youkai Lord sharpened his senses, reaching out in all directions to pick up the movements of the strange energies from before. 'Nowhere to go from here.' He thought with a tinge of anger. 'I might have to stand ground against them from some area.'

Fierce golden eyes turned to the fragile human girl in his arms briefly. 'But what of the light I saw in this girl? Why do I feel so drawn to this ningen wench?' The golden eyes narrowed, a frown tugging at his lips. But there was no time to think of that. The forces were converging, coming to meet him and the small rag-tag army that lay behind him. He would have very little time to think, and battle was almost inevitable.

Another growl threatened to emit from him, but he pushed it back down, bubbling under the surface as he inwardly seethed. Damn the Council for breaking in on his affairs. Damn them all. They would soon find that they had no right to oppose the will of this Sesshoumaru.

Damn ningens. All of them. All of their putrid race and those that associated with them. A brief flicker of Kouga's smiling face flashed before his mind's eye as he cursed the weak two-legged race. His face was lit up in a smirk-like smile as he laughed at something that Sesshoumaru had just commented on. Damn. . .

Sango pressed Kirara onward. They had fallen behind the pair that they had been following, but seemed to be steadily gaining ground. Whether they were becoming faster, or the youkai was growing slower, she did not know, her mind was focused on her beloved younger cousin. 'Oh Rin-chan. . .'

Holding tightly to her flaming youkai friend, she grit her teeth as a small bead of sweat trailed down the side of her head. Her handed gripped tighter to the boomerang-bone and her thighs squeezed Kirara's sides in her anxiety. 'What's that youkai doing with you, my cousin?'

"Sango!" A brash voice cut through her thoughts and Sango and Kirara turned as one to face who had hailed them. Beneath her, Sango felt Kirara give a roar of welcome to the strange pair that were gliding forward.

She smiled as she noticed who was coming to greet them. But still Rin was on her mind and she edgily turned her head to glance back at the disappearing dot that was the youkai male she had seen with her young friend.

Kagome waved from Inuyasha's back, smiling brightly at her sister. "Sango!" She called, trying to get her attention again.

Inuyasha gave a soft chuckle when he saw what Sango was watching so intently and nervously. "What are you going after Sesshoumaru for?" He grunted in amusement as they passed.

Kirara swung back around, whipping Sango around after her. The taijiya was startled from her thoughts and for a second she only stared blankly at them, her eyes wide with confusion and shock. After a moment, their words registered and her features softened, though her eyes were still gleaming with troubled worry. "You know that youkai that had Rin, Inuyasha?"

Sango had met the silver haired hanyou only a few times before, but they had been long visits and they were comfortable striking up a conversation without saying 'hi' first, or even adding any sense of formality to their tones as they bespoke each other. Though she was slightly surprised to see him here, and so suddenly, she had no trouble getting adjusted to it and left all questions behind in her concern for Rin.

Inuyasha snorted his disdain, signaling to the youkai hunter that he did not wish to know who the man was, though he did. "Yeah. I know the bastard." He growled in a tone that was only slightly casual. There was some hint of an old relation that Sango could sense hidden in his tone.

"Sesshoumaru is Inuyasha's half-brother." Kagome explained. Her eyes did not meet her sister's, and her voice was hard, lacking of the usual spunky emotion that was melded with her voice. Sango could see that Kagome was concerned for the girl too.

"You pursue him because he has taken Rin?" She asked, lowering her head slightly as Kirara pulled up beside the hanyou and her miko sister.

"Partially." Kagome's answer was short and icy; her eyes still refused to meet her sister's. "Something big is happening, and somehow, I think Rin is connected o it all. The Council knows too, they've been hanging around the house lately."

Sango nodded, understanding what her sister meant. "Yes, I have sensed many strong youkai spirits disappearing as of late." Her voice was ominous, and her body shook slightly as she recalled other disturbing things that she had sensed happening in her city and town.

"Something dark lurks, it seems to be everywhere, reaching, grabbing." She faltered slightly, the tense feelings making her muscles jerk and her eyes focus in a strange sort of way on the nape of Kirara's neck. "My apprentice disappeared one day, and has not since returned. Something comes. Kagome, why has no one done anything?"

Kagome was startled to hear the news of Sango's apprentice, Kohaku, disappearing. Her sister had not come to her when the event had occurred, and something inside of Kagome felt abashed at this knowledge. As sister's, they had shared everything with one another. To learn that Sango had been keeping secrets was a hard pill to swallow. But then again, she had been keeping secrets too. . .

Kagome wet her lips before gnawing on her lower one as she tried to find the right words to answer Sango with. "Sango. . .I'm not sure. Certainly the Council has noticed. . .but they seem to have done nothing. . ." Kagome stumbled with her words as well, but not from inner memories of pain, but from mere confusion as to the cause of her distress.

Inuyasha snorted again, his superior 'I-know-everything' snort. The one he had used several times before, many years ago, before he had made some remark that had hurt Kagome. Sango inwardly smiled as she remembered those peaceful days. When she had just gotten into being a taijiya and Kagome was still training to be a miko with Kaede-Obaa-chan. When Kikyou had first become jealous of the sisters' bond, and even greater of their bond with the hanyou, particularly Kagome's. When the Shikon no Tama had been safe. But those days were gone, and now were mere sunshiny memories in her mind.

"Feh. Those Council dogs don't pay attention to anything. The world could be ending and they would be oblivious to it completely." Inuyasha grumped.

Kagome and Sango made a face at him. "Inuyasha, you know very well they could catch you if they got their mind to it." Kagome leaned over his shoulder, almost throwing him off balance as she glared at him. Inuyasha gave off a startled yell of indignation as he started to lean too far to one side and almost toppled out of the air.

"Hey, watch it Kagome!" He barked angrily as they came back up in the air by Sango. "You could have gotten us both injured!"

Kagome glared furiously at him, leaning right up by his ears, knowing that her loud yells would hurt his sensitive ears. "Yeah well you should pay more attention then!!"

Sango giggled at their squabbling, their worries dismissed by the light mood they had suddenly created as they continued to pursue their targets. Smiling softly and lovingly, she held the took in her gaze for some time before finally closing her eyes and turning her head into the wind. 'It almost felt like it did back then there for a minute. . .'

Kikyou stopped as she swept the porch of Kaede's home that was hidden far beyond the reach of Council and youkai. Her head turned skyward, her mouth slightly open and her eyes giving away no emotion as she puzzled over something in her mind.

A slight wind stirred her long hair, which was tied back, and her miko garbs fluttered, fanning out and gathering the wind in itself. The broom handle was gripped lightly in her hands and she seemed carefree as she sensed the sudden wave of miasmic energy.

"Kaede-Obaa-chan." Her voice was distant and cold as she acknowledged the old woman that stood staring up at the sky through one old eye behind her.

"It starts." The old woman said in a withered tone. She sounded weary, as if something was finally coming to pass that she had anticipated for many years. "Come, Kikyou. We have something to attend to."

Kikyou continued to stare at the bleak sky as the old woman shuffled past her, her hands clasped behind her decrepit old back. Turning her eyes away, she followed behind the woman after leaning the broom against the wall. "Yes, Obaa-chan."

Rin felt something cold pierce straight through her, and she shivered despite the warm arms that were wrapped around her. The youkai felt her sudden jerk and looked down at her to see the ningen's eyes had frozen wide with fear and pain. "Ah. . ." She gasped and doubled up in his arms, trembling violently.

She had been fine, though slightly chilled by the cooling air it got closer to dusk and the heat of the day began to wane. Suddenly she had felt something cold inside of her, as if something were trying to freeze her ribs and turn her lungs to ice. She had shivered slightly then, but had paid little mind to it until shock rippled through her. Something, no, someone's hand was on her heart, squeezing it, draining the life from her. A scream threatened to erupt from her throat, but when she opened her mouth, only a small gasp of pain was heard.

He had noticed her sudden convulsions and looked down to see her face paling as she trembled visibly. Gods! What was the matter with the girl now?! Despite his impatience, he felt a wave of concern hit him and he came to a halt in the middle of a large field. They were close to a city, he could see the tall towers from where he stood, so if she was sick, he could take her to get healed by her people.

The girl trembled again and he turned his golden eyes on her. Kneeling carefully, he pulled her body down and placed her on the grass. "Where do you hurt?" He asked as he saw that she had broken out in a cold sweat. Was this some effect of the strange light he had seen in her?

She winced, one eye shutting almost in pain. "It hurts. . ." She whispered so lightly that he wasn't sure he had heard it. She clutched at her heart and he briefly went over the few things he knew about things that made one's heart hurt.

A heart attack, but she was much too young and fit. Maybe she had heart problems? He inquired about it, but she shook her head, panting for air. No, she did not have heart failure either. "Something. . .piercing. . ."

Piercing? His eyes widened slightly. The girl was miko, maybe she was being attacked by some dark force from inside. Something that wanted her dead.

No! He would not allow it! Something in the back of his mind roared at the thought of someone taking the life of the girl that he had shown so much interest in. How dare they take her when he, Lord of the West, deemed her useful at the time?!

A snarl of anger erupted in him, but the girl neither sensed nor heard it when a small whisper of his rage was released in a low growl. She trembled again and clutched tighter at the skin and cloth that held her hand away from her pained heart. "Help. . ." She wheezed, turning pained eyes up toward them. They were almost misted over in agony, but he could see a slight hint of life still in them. So, the girl refused to give into it. Good, strong girl.

"I know of no way to help." He said, searching her eyes with his. "I am sorry." What was he apologizing for? She was only human after all. . .But she was in so much pain. . .

His golden eyes softened and instinctively he cradled her shaking form in his arms. She stopped for a moment, melting in slightly and cuddling in to his warmth in hopes of quelling her pain.

Suddenly, his senses came back to him, and Sesshoumaru pulled away slightly, but the human had successfully attached herself to him. He could sense that she was still in pain, but his presence seemed to have calmed her slightly. 'Ah, mother would have a fit if she saw this.'

Guten Tag! Hier ist V-chan! Good day! Here is V-chan!

I hope you all are glad for a little Sesshoumaru/Rin fluff there. I was kinda looking forward to writing that. (To some of you, that's probably long overdue, eh?) sweatdrop

Well, I don't feel like there's much for me to explain at the moment. But I would like to thank you for your comments on the new fic that I have in the works. So far, all I can give you is the title, which is 'Lost World'. As of right now, I don't even ahve the first chapter done, due to obvious reasons. But I am hoping to release it as soon as I get some of my other fics out of the way.

Also, thanks for your reviews and support as always. I'm having a bit of a hard time getting new chapters ready every two weeks, but I'm still chuggin' along. And I owe it to you guys. Thanks. Smile

Alright, well, until next time then! Ja'ne!!

Review please!!!