Rakuen, Scyllan and Hikana woke up early to continue on their journey. Although the previos day's events had worn Hikana and Rakuen out, they were thinking only of Scyllan. It was hard for Hikana to look at Rakuen the same way. She attempted to distance herself from him. He'd scared her so much, in more ways than one. She had never been so worried about someone in her whole life, especially someone as mean as Rakuen. She sighed and rubbed her cheek fiercely. She'd picked up this habit a long time ago, and she only did it when she was nervous. During their trek, she felt as if someone was watching them, her senses were never failing from her father's blood. She kept an observant watch, regardless of how weary she was. The castle was now in sight, and they onlt had a copuple more hours to go before they reached it. She turned around sharpely as a furious wind blew up behind her. The others turned to see what had made her gasp.
"What's wrong, Hikana? Did you hear something? Smell something?" Rakuen was anxious now, a fight was the last thing he needed. The girl merely shook her head, a strange look emcompassing her features. Rakuen looked at her suspiciously. "Are you okay?" He asked. She smiled sweetly and sauntered up to him, placing a hand on his chest.
"No, Rakuen, nothing is wrong. Nothing at all." She walked ahead of them, while the two boys looked at eachother confused. They kept asking her questions the whole way to the castle, but she only smiled and said they were being silly. She had even kissed Scyllan on the cheek.
"You'll grow up to be a handsome boy, won't you?" She winked. Scyllan looked disgusted and ran ahead.
"Hikana, don't you know that that's your cousin?" Rakuen was now very exasperated with the hanyou's hijinks. Hikana looked surprised, but composed herself quickly. "Of course I know he's my cousin. I was just trying to give him a compliment." She sauntered ahead and that's when Rakuen noticed that even her walk had changed. This wasn't Hikana, it couldn't be. They were almost to the castle now, and Rakuen had to find out who this was, and why this person had chosen Hikana. Before he had time to strategize, however, Hikana had sprinted ahead, apparently anxious to reach the castle. Scyllan looked confused as Rakuen grabbed him.
"C'MON!" He was off chasing the girl. He knew she would reach the castle first, though. He was only human, so her speed was much more advanced than his own. He just wanted to get to her as soon as possible, so he could get the real Hikana back.
In the castle, Sesshomarou and Rin were having a very difficult conversation. Sesshomarou couldn't take the temptation anymore, and had decided to ask Rin how she felt about being marked.
"This means forever, Rin. It means that you will be mine forever, and even if I die, you can never run to another."
"And if I die?" Rin asked, and saw the pain of thinking of that etch his face.
"Then I cannot run to another." He answered, hard as it may be to think of. Rin clasped his hands in her own small ones and looked at him squarely in the eyes.
"Sesshomarou, I am yours forever no matter what." He nodded. Rin grabbed her hair and pulled it to the side to reveal her neck. "But I want everyone to know, and I want to remember you forever." Sesshomarou felt a weight lift off of him at that moment. He grabbed her shoulders gently and pulled her graceful neck to his fangs.
"RIIIIIN!" A crash and a boom and then there was Hikana. Weilding the Tesusaiga, she brought it in-between the couple. Sesshomarou jumped to make sure Rin was okay. The sword had grazed her, but she would be okay. He ushered her out of the room so she could reach safety. He grabbed his own sword resting on the wall and went into a fighting stance.
"Hikana! Why are you doing this!" He was enraged at the girl. She just smiled and jumped forward to attack the large demon lord. He jumped back to avoid really hurting the girl. She was Inuyasha's daughter, and since things had been repaired between the two brothers long ago, he cherished this girl as the last fragment of his brother's life left. It was becoming increasingly difficult to not hurt her. Hikana slahed at his arm and saw the blood rise from the wound. While Seshomarou was distracted by the sudden surge of pain, Hikana rushed out of the room to find Rin. Sesshomarou cursed that he let her get away and ran after her. He could hear screaming and shiffling in the back of the castle. He was amzed at how fast she was. He ran to the sounds and encountered a seen he never wanted to see again.
The bodie of the servants that had apparently attempted to protect their mistress were strewn unceremoniously across the wooden floor. The stench of death lingered in the air. Sesshomarou looked to see his Rin knocked out, and Hikana standing over her, the Tetsusaiga held menacingly over her head. Hikana was smiling a rather demonic smile that Sesshomarou recalled from someone, but didn't have time to remember who, as he saw the sword coming down on his lover.
It was a split second decision and Sesshomarou felt he had no choice. Rakuen sped into the room with Scyllan and dropped the boy when he saw what was happening. He ran to try to stop the whole mess, to tell Sesshomarou to find another way. The sword ran through Hikana easily, and a shocked look came to her face and a drop of blood escaped her mouth. A gust of wind flew about the room as a beautiful woman appeared next to Hikana. Rakuen knew this was the woman that had possesed her. He grabbed his staff and swung it at her, catching her off guard. She was only visible to anyone for just a moment, and then she was gone. Rakuen had seen her in that split second, and sent her away with holy energy. Lust, greed and envy could never resist a blessed staff. Sesshomarou looked confused as the boy ran up to Hikana, who was coming back to her old self.
"HIKANA!" He screamed, panicked. Sesshomarou had grabbed Rin and Scyllan and left the room, deciding this was something he should not see. Hikana looked at Rakuen and smiled. She grabbed his face and pulled him close to her. She placed her lips lightly on his before closing her eyes. Rakuen felt the tears streaming down his face as he picked her up and rushed over to Sesshomarou and Rin.
"You can't let her die!" Rin, who had since woken up, nodded and grabbed the young girl. She didn't know what was going on, but if Rakuen trusted Hikana still, it must mean that there was more to the story. She bandaged the wound and listened for breathing. Hopefully her mate had missed some vital organs. She placed Hikana in her bed and told Rakuen to sleep in the room next to hers. She didn't know if Hikana would survive through the night, but if she did, then she would be alright. The three adults went to work on cleaning up the castle of the blood. Scyllan simply sat in his room, afraid of what he had seen. It was his first time seeing death. Although he talked about it alot, he never knew how it looked. He put his head btween his legs and like the child he was, he cried.
Rakuen didn't get much sleep after he was done cleaning. He lay the rest of the night in bed staring at the ceiling. He could still feel the kiss burning on his lips. The tears were still overflowing as he reminisced. He felt like poison; every girl he had loved had gotten hurt. It was alot for him to bear, as he switched to a fetal position and stared at the wall. He craddled himself in his arms and just hoped for the best.
Sesshomarou and Rin sat in their room, shaken. Rin was sure now, more than ever, that she wanted to be marked. She knew she needed more protection, she was certainly not safe. She made a note to talk to Rakuen about what had really happened as Sesshomarou lay down on top of her. She smelled his musky scent as he pushed back her hair. He licked the skin there and he felt Rin tense. He stroked her arm gently and kissed her neck to get her to calm down a bit. She did, and that's when Sesshomarou opened his mouth wide, and bit down fiercely. Rin shut her eyes tight and felt a burning pain in her neck. Sesshomarou licked the blood that had escaped and kissed Rin deeply. She welcomed the kiss, as it distracted her from the pain in her neck. Sesshomarou removed her clothing and his. That night they celebrated Rin's marking.
To Be Continued
a/n: the next chapter will hopefully be the last chapter. Hikana rubbing her face when she gets anxious I got from 'The Queen's Fool', it's the book I'm readin at the moment. Okay, so I know it took me almost a year to get this out but so much has happened, y'all don't even know! lol. The most exciting would be that I finally got engaged to Steven :) So yay for that. Anyways, thank y'all for reading! I made a new account too, so you can check out my other writings at the penname SvensNell! I also have a account as Knell, if you want to read any of my poetry or anything like that :p