Disclaimer: Don't own InuYasha or the characters therein.
Say I was wondering if all my great reviewers would do me a huge favor? Next chapter you review for this story? Could you tell me which of your stories you wrote is your favorite? I'd love to read them! Thanks!
Rin stood the traditional two paces behind her lord, wishing to draw no more attention to herself than necessary. It was unsettling to know that somewhere in this crowd was the face of the person who had attacked her. A face that could change and morph into a familiar face like Lord Sesshomaru's. Jaken was at their lord's side, his large eyes narrowed now, scanning the gathering for even a single twitch that gave away the identity of the inuyoukai lord's enemy. Time and again, Rin would tuck herself behind Lord Sesshomaru and each time he would glance over his shoulder at her until she re-emerged.
All the demon lords wore the same expression. Shock. None had expected that the girl would survive the attack they all had heard so much about much less stand so close to the one who had supposedly attacked her. No one there knew of Juri's death. Jaken and Lord Sesshomaru had made sure to keep that a wellguarded secret. To everyone's surprise, but mostly her own, Rin was drawn forward by her lord's fingers curling around her wrist. With a hand between her shoulderblades, Lord Sesshomaru refused to allow her to retreat yet again. Over her head, his amber eyes bit into all those before them.
"Whoever here amongst you is the one that attacked the girl? You failed. I am giving you this one chance to step forward and reveal yourselves. Do so and I may grant you mercy. Continue to cower in the shadows and I shall show you none."
Sesshomaru was barely able to keep the anger from his voice. He could feel Rin's shaking through his hand on her back. The girl was pale and terrified. The demon's were looking amongst each other, waiting to see which of them was the fool with a deathwish. That scent was nowhere in the room. Sesshomaru would never forget it as long as he lived. This was an exercise in futility. His hand slowly moved from Rin's back and she, in turn, quickly hurried back behind her lord, burying her face against the soft length of fur that hung from his shoulder. Even there, he could feel her trembling.
"Be gone from here. I hear of you tresspassing onto my lands unwelcomed and you will not live to regret it." he instructed as he turned on his heel and left the room.
Jaken kept pace behind him, keeping Rin between them both. If the shapeshifter wasn't amongst those gathered then that eliminated a large portion of the suspects. The scent was not of one who lived within the great hall either. Suddenly, Sesshomaru found himself with only a scrap of cloth carrying his enemy's scent and nothing more. He made his way to the only place within the great hall that was silent, the gardens. Rin immediately came from behind her lord and took her favorite seat, a stone bench deep within the flowered bushes.
"H-how long do we wait, me lord? Before another attack comes and possibly with fatal results?" Jaken dared to ask, watching his lord's impassive face.
"We will not have to wait long, Jaken," Sesshomaru replied, his eyes scanning the gardens slowly.
It was here. That scent from the kimono. And it wasn't far off either. As much as it went against his instincts to protect, Sesshomaru remained stalk still. Rin was oblivious to the danger and even Jaken didn't seem to sense the change in his lord. In the sky above a thick cloud passed over the sun, cutting off the warm rays and bringing Rin's face upwards. From his left, Sesshomaru saw the movement. With her head tipped backwards, Rin's throat was exposed and vulnerable to attack. Moving too fast for the human eye to see, Sesshomaru rushed to block it with Tenseiga. Jaken's squawk of surprise and Rin's scream mixed with the sharp clang of something striking against Sesshomaru's sword.
"Oh I say, you are a quick one, aren't you? Had I moved just a split second sooner, I'd have ended this wretched game and her life. Sharp eye you've got, Lord Sesshomaru."
"Come forward and reveal yourself. Unless you prefer to hide like a child." the inuyoukai lord sneered, his eyes piercing into the shadows in the garden.
As the sun emerged from behind the cloud, so to did Sesshomaru's foe. Rin slowly rose to her feet, groping for the back of her lord's clothing. His eyes. The man's eyes were red! She would never forget them for as long as she lived. The hatred she saw in them, the pure loathing he seemed to have within him.
"Th-that's him, my lord. The one who took on your form and attacked me." Rin's quaking voice spoke up.
"You must be a strong one, little girl, to have survived. I figured a slight mauling wouldn't kill you directly but rather leave you to linger and suffer but, alas, you are up from your sickbed sooner than I had intended. Juri was all about killing you. She had no idea the sport behind toying with your enemy."
Slowly Rin peered around Lord Sesshomaru's shoulder and came face to face with her attacker. Well almost. He had no face! Pale smooth skin! No mouth, no nose, only those cold fire eyes. The man seemed immense! Like a collidascope his form was constantly changing. One moment he looked human, then demon, then something from a nightmare. The wounds, now starting to heal on Rin's back and shoulder, seemed to start burning anew.
"I would have the name of the man who was foolish enough to attack what is mine." Sesshomaru said softly, the demon within him roaring to attack, to kill. Rin's words, the fear in her voice, only making that urge harder to ignore.
"You may call me Akimitsu. The time has come to rid the Western Lands of this human pestilance and all those who sympathize with them! We, demons, ruled these land without the need for this fodder to be destroying it! You dog demons have made a mockery of us all with your tender feelings towards humans! We were once feared and now they inhabit our lands, bear our children and weaken our bloodlines! You, Sesshomaru, were a last great hope. With your hatred of the humans it seemed possible for us demons to rise up and take back what was rightfully ours!"
"Akimitsu, what is rightfully yours is a place in the netherworld. I still have no use for humans."
Moving as fast as he could, Jaken grabbed Rin's hand and ran a safe distance away from the two demons. This would all come to blows soon enough. Rin's lingering behind their lord inhibited Sesshomaru from attacking and thereby putting her in harm's way. Instinctively the two ducked behind a massive stone in the garden and peered around it. Akimitsu was slowly making his way towards the inuyoukai lord and transforming.
"We have to do something, Master Jaken! He can take on any form he wants! Lord Sesshomaru will never know which form of attack is coming!" Rin cried, moving to run back to her lord's side.
"Rin no!" Jaken shrieked, grabbing her arm and yanking her back behind the stone, "Lord Sesshomaru isn't so stupid! He will defeat this upstart without fail! We must stay here out of the way!"
"If you have no use for humans, Sesshomaru, then let me kill the girl and be done with this foolish battle! She is just the beginning! Your father built this dynasty and now you, his eldest son and successor, are making a mockery of it. He died for a human! Will you do the same? Are you willing to die for the sake of a single human girl!" Akimitsu sneered, his face and body becoming that of a towering ogre.
"Since I have no intentions of meeting my death? I shall not answer."
Sesshomaru moved swiftly, leaping upwards and drawing Toukijin. In a blinding flash of light Akimitsu drew a sword the size of Sesshomaru himself and brought it down hard and swift towards the dog demon. The power of the swords clashing sent a wave of energy through the gardens. Still peering around the huge stone, Jaken was thrown backwards and sent tumbling into a flowering bush while Rin scrambled on hands and knees for greater cover. Over and over the sound of swords striking echoed from the stone walls of the garden. With each strike was another wave of power that tore through the ground, sending chunks of grass and earth flying through the air. How did one defeat an enemy who could take on the form, power and attack of anyone?