DISCLAIMER: Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan, Sunrise, Sho-Pro, VIZ and/or any other affiliated company's. I am in no way profiting from or intending any infringement upon respective copyrights.
It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining down upon the earth, giving everything a soft warm glow. A gentle breeze swept through the forest making the trees rustle and creak in protest. Rin was closely examining a fallen log that had been under the shade of its surviving brethren for quite some time. 'Perfect!' she thought. She crouched down on her hands and knees in the decaying leaf litter surrounding the log, feeling her hands sink into its mushy slippery consistency. Her dark hair hung down in her face, she let out a puff of air to try to blow it out of her eyes. Squinting her eyes, she tried to see in the darkness of the rotting gnarled bark of the tree for any sign of growing mushrooms. Nothing. Letting out a sigh of disappointment she sat up on her knees, blowing her hair out of her eyes once again. She looked down at her lap and noticed the muddy muck covering her kimono. 'Great,' she thought. 'If I wash this thing one more time, its going to fall apart' Sighing, she looked up into the canopy of the trees. Looking up and watching the slow movement of the leaves in the wind, Rin closed her eyes feeling the breeze sweep across her face. She thought about why it was always a struggle for food, why everything seemed to be a laborious chore. She wondered if other human girls had to go through everything she had to endure.
The endless traveling for days on end followed by days or weeks of doing nothing was growing old and making her restless. 'Why does Sesshomaru-sama insist on finding this guy? Why can't we just go and live peacefully somewhere where I won't have to steal or desperately forage like a homeless dog; where I can have proper clothes and a bed?' she wondered. So many years had passed and yet it seemed to be the same routine the same situations time and time again. As if she was stuck in some time warp where she was aging, but everything else was standing still. Nothing ever changed. Sesshomaru would lead her and Jaken across miles of land, looking for Naraku. Occasionally he would leave by himself and be gone for days or weeks at a time, leaving her and Jaken alone to wait for him to return. And then he would return and they would continue their journey into the unknown. Looking for an elusive enemy that she wasn't even sure existed; nor had she any idea why Sesshomaru was so obsessed with finding him. When she asked, she got an in-direct answer like, "Because he's my enemy," or "You're just a child, you wouldn't understand," or the usual, "Don't ask such stupid questions."
Standing up Rin brushed at her soiled clothes, trying to get off as much dirt as possible. 'I'd better get back,' she thought. "Now I'm going to have to listen to Jaken-sama complain that I'm dirty now; the miserable toad," she said to herself, and started to laugh thinking about how Jaken was so predictable in his constant nit-picking at her. When she was younger she always thought it was because he didn't like her and resented having to care for her. Which, in the beginning was true. But she came to realize that was just his way, his own annoying yet lovable way. She reached up her arms and stretched out her sore back. Bending over to look in damp tree logs for hours took its toll on her, all she wanted to do was lay down for a bit. But she was still so hungry, and no food was to be found.
From the distance she heard voices. Rin figured it was Jaken and Sesshomaru looking for her, she had been gone for quite a long time. "Sesshomaru-sama, Jaken-sama is that you?" she called out. "I'm over here! I'm coming!" She hoped it was just Sesshomaru; she really didn't want to hear it from Jaken at the moment. Already being cranky from not finding any food and getting her clothes filthy, she didn't need to deal with his complaining. Plus she wanted to see Sesshomaru, he had been gone for awhile and she had missed him. Lately she had found herself wanting to be around him as much as possible and getting really emotional when he left. It was some irrational fear that he was leaving her, even though she knew in her heart he never would. She wasn't sure why, him leaving all these years before she never got so upset about. Jaken said she was turning into a "blubbering woman" and that all women seemed to be that way. Since she wasn't a child anymore, she figured it must be this "blubbering woman" syndrome he told her about. She hoped it wouldn't last, her irrational crying and being overly emotional about everything was unnerving to her, and she knew it was irritating to Sesshomaru and especially Jaken. She didn't mean to get that way, but she couldn't help it.
She headed off towards the direction she heard the voices from, and suddenly came to realize that it was not either of her guardians that was speaking. Standing against a large tree were three men staring at her. Her heart dropped and she stood frozen in fear. Encountering other humans was a rare occurrence for her, and when it did happen it usually turned into a bad situation.
"Hey girl, are you alright?" one of the men asked her. He was a young man with a narrow face and a thin beard. He started to walk towards her, Rin backed up her steps trying to distance herself from him.
"Don't be scared. What's your name? Are you alone?" he asked her. The other two men with him started to move towards her, making her extremely uneasy. They looked strange to her, and she didn't trust them. They wore swords and armor, yet they were not samurai.
"No, I'm…..I'm fine," Rin stuttered out. "I, uh, I should be going now." Rin turned away from them and started to walk as fast as she could. "What's your rush girl? We just want to talk to you!" one of them yelled out, she could hear them starting to walk behind her. Her quick pace turned into a run as she tried to put as much distance as she could between her and the strange group. Rin ran as fast as she could across the dense slippery leaf litter on the forest floor, but she could hear the rustle of their footsteps catching up with her. Getting closer, louder more frenzied; her heart was pounding in her chest as adrenaline pumped through her veins. And then she felt something grab her sleeve and yank her backwards, she fell back crashing to the ground, landing on her side. She looked up to see the three figures standing over her, their faces a blank canvas as the sun was directly behind them filtering through the dense trees.
"We just wanted to talk to you, you bitch," one panted, trying to catch his breath from the sprint of the chase. Rin started to crawl backwards, frantically trying to get away from them while at the same time trying to get to her feet. Rough hands grabbed her by the ankle dragging her back, pulling her knees out from under making her slam to the ground on her stomach. Another pair grabbed her arms and pinned them to the ground as a heavy weight sat upon her back.
"Let go of me!" Rin screamed, she flailed her body in a panic trying to get away. The harder she fought, the tighter the grips on her limbs got. "Sesshomaru-sama! Help me!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "Who is this 'Sesshomaru'? You really think anyone is going to help you?" one of the voices taunted her. She screamed and screamed, making her throat dry and sore. "Shut-up!" a hand covered her mouth trying to silence her screams. Rin bit down as hard she could, a gush of blood filled her mouth as an ear-piercing scream was let out behind her.
"You fucking bitch!" the voice yelled in a fury. "The bitch bit me! The fucking bitch bit me!" he kept saying in disbelief. Suddenly Rin felt a hard sharp blow to the back of her head. Her vision went black and she could feel herself starting to drift in and out of consciousness. A deafening ringing went off in her ears, and she felt a warm trickle of blood run out of her ear canal. The ability to fight them was gone; she couldn't move her body anymore. The excruciating pain in her head and the acrid metallic taste of blood in her mouth was bringing waves of nausea over her. She couldn't believe what was happening to her, it was like a dream she had no way to wake up from. 'Please help me Sesshomaru-sama, please,' she begged in her mind, right before she completely blacked out.