A/N: All Inuyasha characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi!
The Long Awaited Adventure
by Ivaliny
Chapter 2
"A Proposition and A Dragon"
Rin woke up staring at the tops of trees. She moved her arm slowly to her pounding head. Her body still felt tingly, as if she were stuck in the middle of a dream. Slowly, she sat up, pushing away the headache that sent jabs of pain to her temples. Looking around, she realized she definitely wasn't in Barnesby. The trees were different, tall and powerful, sprouting limbs of history, yet somehow, knowing she had no idea where she was, she felt at peace. She felt as if the trees were protecting her. Her short period of unease, worry, and fear somehow left her being.
Trying to remember how she got there, she recalled a painting. Did she go through the painting magically, or was she in the painting itself? She got up and stretched her arms towards the sky, and with a sigh began to wander about the forest's floor. Birds sang love songs to each other as woodland creatures scurried about through brush and leaves. The smell of wildflowers and fresh vegetation wafted through the air towards her nose.
Rin knew she should be worried or scared, but somehow she couldn't conjure up those emotions. It was as if she was meant to be in the place, to be surrounded by the beautiful forest, to gaze upon nature in awe of its miraculous wonder.
Wandering further she could hear the rush of bubbling water against riverbed rocks. The sound was soothing. She licked her lips with thirst. The water sounded so good and refreshing, and as she neared the river, she heard voices. Silently, she tip toed towards the edge of the forest. Crouching down behind a tree, she saw a man pacing back and forth, running his hands with impatience through his hair, mumbling with a deep-chested growl.
"Where is he?" the man growled, looking up at the sky. "That jerk is late!"
A rustling of leaves from about drew the man's attention to a large shadow above him in the sky. The shadow grew larger as Rin strained to see what was causing the wind to pick up and the sky to be covered by a shadow. To further her amazement, the shadow became a large beast with two heads making a landing by the river. The closer the beast came, the more details she could see. It has two reptilian like heads attatched to a muscular dinosaur shaped body with a scaley, rat-shaped, pointed tail. The whole body was covered in greenish, bronze scales. Her jaw flew open as it landed in front of the man with flawless ease. The beast snorted once it landed, informing his arrival. The man looked at the beast with disgust.
"You're stupid dragon smells, you jerk!" he snapped. "Oh and by the way, you're late!"
Rin watched as a man jumped off the dragon and stood with controlled power in front of the other. He was at least a foot taller than the other, standing tall and proud. He looked as if her were of royal blood.
"I didn't have to come at all, little brother," he spat out 'little brother' with distaste.
The shorter one glared at the taller. " I don't know why I even considered asking for your help. You're such a jerk!"
The taller one rested a hand on one of the dragon's heads. " I didn't have to come at all, but I was surprised by your plea for my help, that I was curious enough as to see what you needed me for."
Rin could see the hate in each other's eyes. The shorter one crossed his arms in defiance.
"Just go away, I don't want your help anymore, Sesshoumaru."
Sesshoumaru punched the other with a growl. "I didn't travel all this way to hear my annoying little brother tell me what to do. I am Sesshoumaru, and you're just a pathetic half breed loser. To think," he hissed," you think you're better than me. Tell me what you want, because frankly, I need something to be amused at." He gave a mocking smile at his grumbling younger brother.
"I need your help. Kagome was kidnaped and I can't find her."
"Why would I help the Efeu Kingdom? I want to destroy it."
"Whoever took her will destroy Efeu and the kingdoms surrounding it, including yours."
Sesshoumaru laughed incredulously,"No one has even tried to invade my kingdom in over 300 years."
Inuyasha glared at his brother's arrogance,"I don't care! I just want Kagome back. Efeu, my home, is in trouble and I'm asking you for your help."
"Are you desperately asking me, dog boy?" Sesshoumaru again asked in his mocking tone.
At the mention of 'dog boy', Inuyasha's ears on the top of his head twitched. Rin's jaw flew wide open. She hadn't realized the younger brother had fuzzy white ears sticking straight up. In all of her wildest dreams, she had never imagined a boy with dog ears. Now she watched the two with new found interest, and for the first time she wondered where she was.
Inuyasha glared at Sesshoumaru and began to whisper," I hear the sacred sword is in Efeu, if Efeu is destroyed, so will the sword. I would help us if you truly wanted the sword."
There was silence between the two while Sesshoumaru contemplated the situation. Rin shifted her weight, breaking a few thingsthat crackledunderneath her. Sesshoumaru shot a glance in her direction. Terrified, she held her breath, hoping it would hide her from the older man's glare.
"I'll tell you next month my answer," Sesshoumaru said, glancing only once towards her direction.
Protesting, Inuyasha whined at his brother's reply," We don't have that much time! A month is too long. I need to know now!"
Sesshoumaru looked at his brother without emotion, making it impossible to know what he was thinking, if at all. Inuyasha shifted his weight from one leg to another, shooting Sesshoumaru a nervous, impatient glance.
"You say the sword is in Efeu?"
Inuyasha nodded.
" I will help you find your princess, but as long as I get the sword. No sword, no Efeu, got it?"
He nodded again.
"What do you want me to do exactly?"
Inuyasha looked away, embaressed, mumbling a reply. Sesshoumaru's mouth twitched in a second long grin as Inuyasha went on mumbling.
"You want me to track them down?" he laughed," Why? Is it because I'm better than you? I have no human emotions. My senses are far keener than yours because I'm better. Tell me I'm better, dear brother. Tell me I'm the greatest, Inuyasha. Tell me!"
Rin shrank back at his coldness and mocking tone. She could tell how much his words pained and infuriated Inuyasha. He kept his mouth tightly shut, forehead popping, and fist balled at ever word his brother mockingly stated.
"Tell me!" Sesshoumaru hissed.
Inuyasha growled,"Your such and egotistical jerk!"
"Rather that than what you are!" Sesshoumaru yelled with distate, but before Inuyasha could reply, he sternly stated,"We'll get in touch. I have more important matters to take care of."
Inuyasha started to protest.
"You say one word to anyone, this little arrangement is off!" snapped Sesshoumaru.
Minutes later Inuyasha ran steaming away from his older brother. Sesshoumaru loved getting under Inuyasha's skin, and knew he would be fuming about their encounter for days. He watched the dust trail billow away and hopped onto his dragon. Rin let out a sigh of relief to see the dragon lift, and relieved she wasn't discovered. She remembered the cold, heartless words Sesshoumaru told his brother, making her cringe. All she knew was that she never wanted to meet him again. Something about him made her skin crawl with disgust, anger, and a slight bit of fear.
Kicking sticks and rocks, she wandered about the edge of the river. The water smelled sweet and refreshing. She bent down, cupping her hands in the water, and drank. Something across the river caught her attention. Loud gulping, slurping, and splashing echoed towards her. She looked up and saw another dragon, but this one only had one head. The dragon looked up from it's drinking with bored eyes until their glances locked. Rin's jaw dropped while the dragon watched her intensely, neither one of them wanting to look away.
The silence and space between them finally broke when the dragon spoke.
"Hello."
Rin yelped in surprise, and the dragon began to chuckle, flying clumsily towards Rin. She looked up at the dragon in awe and fear as it landed beside her with a thud. The dragon towered over her with an amused look. Ring began to shake, not knowing what to expect next. Was this dragon going to hurt her? She stared wide-eyed as the dragon let out a sigh and plopped down onto the dirt, folding an arm over the other, and rested his chin on top, looking straight at her with his neon yellow eyes.
She began to stutter," Y-y-ou're a d-d-ragon?"
The dragon quirked and eyebrow,"You know, I do have a name."
"Dragons can talk?" she gulped.
He chuckled again,"Some of us can." He chuckled some more,"You act as if you're never met a dragon."
"I haven't," she said honestly.
The dragon shook his head with disbelief," You've got to be joking."
"I've never seen one! I swear! I have seen them on cartoons and movies, but never in real..."she paused, realizing what she was saying," life." I must be dreaming, she thought.
"You know," the dragon said thoughtfully,"you're the first human who will talk to me."
Rin quirked an eyebrow,"Are you serious? Why? You seem friendly enough to me."
The dragon looked down in shame,"My tail was cut off. I'm a deformity. The tail is what makes us beautiful, and I don't have one. I'm not the perfection humans see us dragons as."
"That's ridiculous! You're nice."
He grinned showing sharp, pointy teeth," Thank you, that means a lot." He held out a clawed paw towards her. "I'm Frednicio."
She took a claw in her tiny hand and smiled,"I'm Rin."
They sat in silence until he asked a question,"Where are you from?"
"Barnesby," she said quickly,"but you wouldn't know where that is. Actually, I don't even know where I'm at or how I got here." Rin paused," The last thing I remember was a mysterious painting that my boss either painted or kept as a family heirloom."
"Who's that?"
Rin waved the question away,"Old Mr. Tihomirov, you wouldn't know him."
Frednicio took a sudden gasp," As in Tenoh Tihomirov?"
Rin looked around suspiciously," Yeah, that's his name."
The dragon shook his stubby tail in excitement,"You are his apprentice?"
Confused, she looked up at the dragon,"I guess you can call it that."
"This is unbelievable! An apprentice of the Tenoh Tihomirov is talking to me! What is he like? Do you know when he will return?"
Rin stood up and raised her hands, trying to calm down the overly excited dragon. "Whoa! What are you talking about? Return? Mr. Tihomirov does not travel, he's like a bazillion years old!"
"He left us over 300 years ago when I was just a baby. He just got up and disappeared. I may have been a baby then, but as I grew I heard so many wonderful and amazing stories about Tenoh. Some people say he was the Chosen One and believe that some day he will return to us, and we need him now more than ever."
"What do you mean? What's happening?"
He shook his head in disappointment,"It's terrible. There's a war here in Efeu over a silly sword that once belonged to Tenoh. No one knows where the sword is, but some believe it disappeared when Tenoh disappeared. Warrik, an evil sorcerer from Augapfel, the dark city in the northern mountains, believes the sword is here in Efeu, so he's been trying to tear it apart to find it."
She looked at the dragon with surprise,"Efeu? That's what the painting was called! I must be inside the painting!" A grumble from inside her belly made it's way outside and she placed a hand to her stomach as if to suppress the growing rumble. She blushed and looked at Frednicio who returned her with an amused smile.
"I guess I'm kind of hungry. Can you show me where I can find something to eat? I haven't eaten all day!"
"I can tell you how to get to Efeu," Frednicio said with a hint of sadness in his bright neon eyes.
Rin shook her head,"If you just tell me, I will definitely get lost. You will have to take me."
The large dragon sighed apprehensively,"But everyone hates me."
Rin wanted to scream out an "aww" at how cute and pathetic this dragon was. "I don't care what everyone says, and you shouldn't either. No worries, we'll stick together."
The dragon nodded his approval,"Alright, but I must warn you, my flight isn't as smooth and my landing is horrendous."
Rin shrugged,"It's not like I'd know the difference, I've never ridden on a dragon before." She scrambled upon his back, and felt his smooth scales that screamed out a vibrant emerald green that seemed to be harder than diamonds. The scales shimmered in the light. She was mesmerized by how beautiful they were, like thousands of actual jewels incasing his body. She wrapped her legs as far as she could around the large animal and dug her fingers between some scales, which didn't seem to bother Frednicio as his wings began to flap.
"Hold on tightly!" he yelled over the roar of his wings.
She could feel the muscles tighten underneath as he jumped off the ground, and soon they were in the air. He tilted left and quickly tilted to the right as their bodies became further and further from the ground. Higher and higher they went until they were well about the trees, and his jerky movements became less. The rush of his wings brought a smile to her lips. She looked down below and saw the river and the beautiful trees. This is fun, she thought, This is so much fun! She let out a whoop of glee as they passed tree after tree, heading towards a valley at the base of large mountains.
"Are you alright?" he asked with concern,"I heard you yell."
Rin laughed,"I'm perfect!" She let out another holler of excitement.
Farms and tiny cottages could be seen when they arrived at the valley. The closer they got to the mountains, the more cottages seemed to sprout out of the earth. Finally, a town could be seen with roads leading towards the middle of a town square. Tiny dots were bustling about. Closer to the mountain's base a road led up to a castle on the mountains. Rin noticed it was the same castle as the one in the painting.
Frednicio began his decent towards and empty field. They flew closer and closer to the lush green vegetation as he began to tilt and jerk again, trying to make the landing as smooth as possible. They landed with a sudden thud and Rin jumped off with a very large smile from ear to ear.
"That was totally awesome! I've never experienced anything like that ever before!"
He gave a small chuckle,"I will be outside the city. I you need me, just call for me and I will come."
Rin smiled, nodded, and made her way towards the village. The closer and closer she got the sweat smell of fresh roasting meat permeated towards her nostrils making her stomach growl even louder. She prayed that not many people would notice her. As she walked by each house and store, people would look up from their daily duties and stare.
Find Sango, the seamstress, and buy some clothes first thing when you enter Efeu. You don't want to attract too much attention to yourself, Frednicio has told her, but the only problem was, she didn't know where Sango's seamstress hut was located. She wandered about feeling helpless and worried as more people began to stare, some even pointing. Up ahead in a tiny hut a loud curse was heard and a man came running out pleading for a woman's anger to subside.
"You pervert!" she yelled.
The man waved his arms at her in a plea,"Sango, I-" a broom hit him upside the head,"ouch!"
That's Sango! Rin walked towards the pair, and the man quickly noticed her presence, immediately changing his horrified pleading, to a calm lecherous smile.
"Hello, miss." He gave Rin an innocent smile. Sango glared at the man with her arms resting on her hips.
"I'm looking for someone named Sango. I need a new outfit as soon as possible."
Sango took her by the arm and led her inside the hut with the man following closely behind.
"You're not from around here, are you?" the man asked, a little skeptically.
Sango slapped his arm," It's none of your business, Miroku!" She began to look Rin up and down muttering to herself. "How long are you willing to wait for an outfit?"
"I need one as soon as possible."
Sango shook her head and mumbled,"I hate my job." The man, Miroku, sat down in a corner and began snacking on some nuts. Sango saw him and threw her scissors at him. "Stop eating my food, you mooch!"
He looked at the fallen scissors beside him with wide eyes," You could have killed me!"
She rolled her eyes and returned her attention back at Rin, still shaking her head. "I don't know, I could let you borrow some of my clothes, but that's about it if you want something as soon as possible."
"I'll take it!"
Sango shrugged," It's old, dirty, and ragged, but if you really want it I'll give it to you for free."
"I don't care!" Rin answered desperately,"I'll take it!" Sango tossed the ragged clothes at Rin and led her behind a curtain so she could change away from prying eyes. When she was fully dressed, she thanked Sango for her kindness.
"Are you hungry?" Sango asked.
"I'm starved!"
"Good, since you're new, I'll take you to the inn, my treat."
The man got up and stood between them,"Nuh uh, my treat! It would be my pleasure to take two lovely ladies to lunch." He began to lead them outside as Sango rolled her eyes.
The inn was surprisingly quiet. Rin expected to see more people, but their were only a few, and most of them were passed out drunk. Three people ate some food at a table along the edge of the wall, and a man sat in a dark corner, staring at his full glass of ale. She recognized him immediately as one of the men from the woods earlier, but she couldn't remember his name. Miroku led them to a table and sat them down, and after ordering their food and ale, they sat in silence.
This is boring, Rin thought.
Miroku looked at Rin nervously and smiled," So where'd you come from?"
Don't tell anyone where you came from. This is a time of war. You don't know what will happen, Frednicio's voice echoed in her mind.
"From somewhere far away, I suppose," she said, hoping he would buy the answer and change the subject.
"Where's that?"
Rin began to panic," I don't really remember, but I know it's far enough away, so you wouldn't know it."
Sango looked at the man in the corner and then back at Rin,"I'm sorry if we seem curious, but you a stranger, dressed in weird clothes, in a time of war and rumors of war. We are just a bit paranoid."
Miroku leaned in,"Speaking of wars," his voice became hushed," I heard Princess Kagome was kidnaped by on of Warrik's minions, and our incompetent friend over there, General Inuyasha, did nothing about it."
Inuyasha! That's the man in the corner's name!
Sango kicked Miroku and whispered with a hiss," Shut up, fool! She's a foreigner!"
"Who's Warrik?" Rin asked, taking a bite off a greasy turkey leg.
"Some big shot obsessed with too many things, but he'll get his butt kicked when the Chosen One comes back."
Rin nodded,"You mean Tenoh, right?"
He looked at her in shock,"You've heard of him?"
She shrugged,"I know of him."
"Yeah, he's the greatest and most handsome man alive!" Miroku said, which made Rin quirk and eyebrow in surprise.
Sango laughed cynically,"You overrate him, Miroku, he's not coming back. I don't care what you say, he's dead and not coming back."
"He will, but think what you must, my dear."
Their conversation was interrupted when a young man ran, panting inside the inn, covered in blood and mud.
"General Inuyasha, we were attacked by a monster about 5 miles from the city! It's headed straight for us! Luckily a dragon saved me so I could relay this message."
Everyone in the inn went silent, starring at Inuyasha, waiting for his reply.
"Sir, three-fourths of our arm was destroyed!"the young man yelled in desperate hopelessness. "What the hell are we going to do, sir? The monster's too powerful for us! Efeu will surely be destroyed!"
"Shut up," growled Inuyasha,"gather what men we have left and meet me outside the city. We must destroy it."
After Inuyasha and the man left, everyone in the inn sat in shock. Rin wondered what kind of mess she was in. She had never been anywhere near a war, and for the first time since she had found herself in this new place, she was truly scared.
"The monsters are growing stronger. This has to be Warrik's doing, but whatever the case may be, Inuyasha reacted differentely than what I expected he would. He seemed distracted, and not his usual hot headedness."
Sango nodded," I know what you mean. Normally he would barge into the fight as soon as he could without the help of the men of the city or the army."
"Yeah, this could only mean one thing. Princess Kagome was really kidnaped. Why else would he be so distracted? This isn't good. There's something else going on here, though, and I intend on find out what that is exactly."
Remembering the conversation between Inuyasha and his brother earlier in the forest, she felt a since of hopelessness. This Warrik guy means business, and it was starting to scare her. If only I knew of some way to help these people.
Word about the monster spread around town quickly as people began to panic. Rin followed Sango back to her seamstress hug. The monster, a big ugly lobster thing came crashing towards the town, and somehow the monster was defeated by the measly army Inuyasha led. Though the monster was defeated, Rin believed that the monster was going to be the least of their worries, still remembering that secret conversation she has over heard in the forest. This Warrik guy wasn't going to give up until he found that famous sword that was once owned by the even more famous, Tenoh, the sorcerer.
A/N: Well I hope it's getting a little more exciting! BWA!Sorry, character development can be soboring, can't it? I can't wait to start typing up chapter 3! Chapter 3 will be up soon! No worries, my friends! Please review! I love reviews! (I've never had any, but who wouldn't like reviews!) I wanna know what you all think.