So it continues . . .
Winter Wonderland
Chapter Thirty-Two
Timiko stepped out of his hut and kissed his wife on the cheek, and hugged his daughter, "I'll come get you tonight and we'll be able to move into the castle okay?"
The woman nodded and watched as her husband waved good-bye to her, before turning around and heading back inside.
Timiko breathed in the fresh winter air and briskly strolled down the familiar path to the castle, which was by the forest. Smiling, the young man gripped his scrolls tighter and the sword by his side. Today was the day he would become the new lord. After all his hard work, his goal was finally becoming true. Sighing, his picked up the pace, wanted to reach the castle as fast as he could. Birds suddenly came flying out the trees, scaring him almost to death. Looking at the forest where they had come from, he squinted his eyes, seeing if there was anything in there that could of scared them. Shrugging his shoulders he continued on his way, humming softly to himself. What happened next was something he did not expect to happen this afternoon. Hearing the snap of a twig he turned to see what caused the sound, and came face to face with two pairs of red eyes with blue pupils. He opened his mouth to scream but his voice was caught in his throat as the demon rammed it's hand right through his chest. The demon grinned widely; it's silver hair gently blowing in the wind. Dropping his scrolls Timiko tried to cry out in pain, but didn't have the chance as the demon removed it's hand and in less than two seconds swiped Timiko with it's claws, leaving nothing but bits of flesh and a pool of blood.
Villagers screamed and ran as far as they could away from the creature. The demon smiled, "Pathetic mortals . . . need to kill more . . ."
Smiling, the demon leaped into the air, heading to the nearest village, cracking his knuckles as he prepared for the kill . . .
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Rin ran over the plains and through the forests, spreading her legs as she moved gracefully along the ground. The air smelled so much cleaner with her new scent of smell and hearing. That had been almost two weeks ago when she was turned into a demon. Although she wasn't a 100% why Sesshoumaru had done that for her, for now she would just put the thought aside and worry about it later. Jaken and Sesshoumaru had been training her the past few weeks, which had been pretty interesting, although Jaken did lose his temper with her a couple of times, he would quickly apologize when the lord would reach for his sword or crack his knuckles. She was now taking a break from her training, and had decided to go for a nice run through the western lands. Promising Sesshoumaru she would be home by dark, she didn't travel that far. Finally stopping on top of a hill, Rin stretched her hands above her head, taking a deep breath. She froze as the scent of blood hit her sensitive and stared down below the hill. A few huts were on fire as she ran towards the village, her ears twitching for any sign of the killer, but it was long gone. Stopping in the middle of the village, she tried to hold her tears back. Women . . . men . . . children . . .and animals had been slaughtered into little pieces, blood splattered everywhere on the huts and the ground. She sniffed the air, seeing if she could recognize the killer and get Sesshoumaru to take care of it. Rin froze when she slightly recognized the scent. It almost smelled like Sesshoumaru, but was slightly different.
"Inu-Yasha . . ." whispered Rin. She was confused by the scent though, wasn't he a half demon? So why did he smell like a full demon. Quickly deciding Rin ran back towards Sesshoumaru's castle, to warn the lord about his brother.
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Sesshoumaru stared down at the scroll and sighed heavily. Jaken stood by his side holding more scrolls and yawned heavily trying to keep his eyes open.
"Tired from training Rin?" asked Sesshoumaru, keeping his eyes on the scroll.
"She sure has a lot of energy . . ."
Sesshoumaru allowed his lips to curl into a smile as he continued to read the scroll. His nose twitched slightly as he smelled Rin run into the courtyard and could hear her coming towards his throne room. His eyes narrowed as her scent became more clearly, she was scared and panicked. Throwing the scroll aside he ran out of the throne room to see her running towards him.
"SESSHOUMARU!" she cried running into his arms.
"Rin, what's wrong?"
"It's . . .it's . . . it's your brother . . ." gasped Rin, trying to regain her breath.
"My brother? You mean Inu-Yasha?"
"Yeah . . . something's wrong,"
"What's wrong?"
"I was running . . . and I came upon a village . . . it was destroyed . . . corpses everywhere . . ."
"Inu-Yasha's dead?"
"No . . . he had been there though . . . but his scent was of a full blooded demon,"
Sesshoumaru's eyes widened, but narrowed them so Jaken could not see his panicked face, "Jaken!"
"Yes my lord?"
"Prepare Ah and Un, were going on a trip,"
The imp nodded and headed outside to get the two headed dragon.
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Miroku sighed as he stared out Kaede's hut window, watching the snowstorm blowing outside. Sango was by the fire preparing some cooked rabbit. Shippo sat by Kagome who had been placed in her sleeping bag, and was still unconscious from the encounter this afternoon. She was breathing normally now, and her heartbeat was as strong has ever, but she still had not awakened. Kaede had tended to her wound, and now all they could do was wait.
"Perhaps we should look for Inu-Yasha tomorrow," sighed Sango, stirring the fire up.
"Maybe, but it will be hard to find him," whispered Miroku, still staring at the raging storm. He could just make out the snow blowing in the night sky.
"So, ye are saying Inu-Yasha just took off without his sword?" asked Kaede.
Shippo nodded, and turned his head back to Kagome.
Miroku sighed and took a seat beside Sango, wrapping an arm around her, glancing at Kagome, "As soon as she wakes up, she's going to want to go searching for Inu-Yasha,"
Sango nodded, "I know, but she has to rest first,"
Miroku shook his head, "Knowing Kagome as soon as she can stand she'll be off searching high and low for him,"
The exterminator nodded her head and stared back into the fire. *It just doesn't make sense though, why would he just take off? There's got to be something more behind this, something must have scared him or something. I mean he wouldn't even look us in the eye* thought Sango, leaning against Miroku's shoulder.
Kaede sighed and wrapped the blanket tighter around her body, "It sure is cold out there tonight,"
Everyone nodded and continued to stare at the fire. Kohaku and Kirara were asleep in the corner of the hut. The monk sighed and winced when Sango touched the cut on his arm.
"Sorry," whispered Sango, shifting her position.
The wind started to blow harder causing the flap on the door to move slightly, blowing a little cold air into the hut, causing everyone to shiver. Sango looked back at the door and saw two feet standing outside the hut. Before the exterminator could say a word, someone stepped into the hut, staring back and forth at the faces that were looking at him.
"What has happened here?" asked Sesshoumaru, "What has happened to my brother,"
No one spoke for several moments; all they could do was stare at the lord of the western lands.
"Speak to me!"
Sango shook her head, snapping back into reality, "We think . . . we think Inu-Yasha has reverted into his demon form,"
Sesshoumaru glanced at the sleeping Kagome who had the Tetsusaiga rested over her body, "Tell me what has occurred,"
Taking a deep breath Sango explained about their journey, facing off against the two demons, and how Inu-Yasha thought Kagome was dead, "I just don't understand why he took off,"
Shippo looked from Sango to the demon lord, "He was crying pretty hard, but after he smelled Kagome's neck, he sort of freaked out,"
"Freaked out?" asked Miroku.
"Well, shocked is more like it,"
Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes and approached the sleeping girl, and knelt down beside Kagome, sniffing at her still form.
"What's he doing?" asked Miroku.
Sango shrugged her shoulders and watched as Sesshoumaru stood up and headed for the door.
"No wonder my brother almost went mad when he thought she was dead," whispered Sesshoumaru.
"What are you talking about?" asked Miroku.
"Kagome is with child, and Inu-Yasha thinking that he had lost his made, and unborn child went to see if he could forget the situation, losing himself in his demon blood,"
Sango gasped and put a hand over her mouth, "He could already be dead . . ."
"He's not dead yet, however he is roaming wildly throughout the lands. Rin discovered this morning a village he massacred,"
Miroku swore silently, "And what are you planning to do?"
"I need one of you pathetic humans to come with me,"
"Why?" asked Sango.
"Neither Rin, Jaken, or myself can touch the Tetsusaiga, and we need someone who can if we want to get Inu-Yasha back,"
Stunned Miroku and Sango looked at each other, "I'll go," sighed Sango, grabbing the Tetsusaiga.
"You might want to grab something warm," whispered Sesshoumaru.
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The sun rose into the morning sky, but it was barely visible with the snowstorm still raging. Sango sat in the front with Rin who was trying to keep her warm. Sesshoumaru held onto the reins trying to guide the two-headed dragon where he was currently picking up Inu-Yasha's scent. Jaken was in the back, screaming out how cold he was.
Sango shivered under Rin's arms, trying to keep warm.
"Hang on there exterminator, we are almost there," came Sesshoumaru's emotionless voice.
Sango nodded and huddled closer to Rin who seemed unaffected by the cold weather. Deciding to ask questions later, Sango closed her eyes, focusing on staying warm.
Sesshoumaru scanned the area, his silver hair blowing in his face. His nose twitched slightly as he smelled Inu-Yasha directly below them. Pulling on the rains Ah and Un came to an immediate stop.
"Did you find him my lord?" asked Jaken.
Sesshoumaru said nothing as he landed on the ground. Jumping off the dragon, Sesshoumaru turned so Sango could climb onto his back, still holding the Tetsusaiga.
"Jaken, stay here for now, but if you sense any demons coming, immediately head to the castle,"
The imp nodded and snuggled closer to Rin for body heat.
Sesshoumaru made sure Sango was securely on his back before running into the forest, Inu-Yasha's full demon scent starting to grow stronger.
*Hang on little brother . . . I swore an oath to father that I wouldn't let you die by your demon blood . . . don't give up hope, your mate is alive and well and you are about to become a father . . . so don't die on me . . .*
TBC . . .
Okay, I know short chapter, but hey I couldn't resist . . .
Lynns