Hey guys! So sorry for the update taking so long, but both Claire and I have been busy busy busy, but today we managed to find time to post up this new chapter, hope you enjoy it!
Lynns
Everlasting Love
Chapter Eleven
Inu-Yasha pulled his fist back as he broke down the castle door, Sesshoumaru right behind him as they charge in.
"Who do you think Rin is fighting?" asked Inu-Yasha.
"I have no clue,"
Both brothers ran up the first set of stairs, their ears twitching as they followed the sound of the two demons fighting.
"Rin scent is more human now," hissed Inu-Yasha.
Sesshoumaru growled softly and ran faster than his brother, rounding a corner in the hallway before heading towards the entrance of what seemed to be the throne room.
"Don't you ever shut up?" came Rin's voice.
"That night our fathers met . . . he took me . . ."
Sesshoumaru halted in his steps, just few feet from the throne door.
"Why the hell did you stop?" asked Inu-Yasha.
"No . . . that's . . ." came Rin's heart broken voice.
"Impossible? A lie? No it isn't . . . I still remember that night so clearly . . . he loves it rough and aggressive . . . or is he nice and slow for you? You must understand by now why I want him back . . . and why I hate him at the same time since he just left me after that night . . . and which is why you . . ."
Sesshoumaru ran through the door, his feet frozen as Sakurako's arm pierced through Rin's chest. The smell of blood overwhelming his senses, almost causing him to drop to his knees. Inu-Yasha gasped softly, his hand coming up to cover his nose.
". . . you must die . . . the demon blood has left your body . . . you are now mortal . . ." Sakurako turned her eyes towards them, a smirk on her face as she pushed Rin off her. Rin's body hit the floor with a soft thud, blood flowing from her mouth and out of her open wound, creating a pool around her.
"Rin!" cried Sesshoumaru, running towards his fallen mate, gathering her into his arms.
Inu-Yasha bolted forward, tackling Sakurako to the ground, "How about you fight with me now?"
Sakurako chuckled as the two of them continued to roll on the floor, "I don't think dealing with a half demon like you is worth my time,"
"We'll just see about that!" snarled Inu-Yasha leaping to his feet, flexing his claws.
"Oh not going to use that powerful sword of yours?" asked Sakurako, flexing her claws as well.
"I don't need it to take you down," hissed Inu-Yasha, attacking his opponent.
Sakurako's eyes widened at how fast the half demon moved, barely avoiding his attack as his claws just skimmed her stomach.
"Surprised? I'm used to fighting Sesshoumaru a lot, so I'm able to keep up with you," snarled Inu-Yasha, attempting another attack.
Sakurako growled as she tried to dodge another attack, taking the defensive side.
Sesshoumaru's ears twitched softly as he heard Rin's heart slowing down with each passing second.
"Rin . . . Rin can you hear me?" whispered Sesshoumaru into her ear.
Rin didn't respond, but her hand squeezing his arm was an answer good enough.
"I know that you have doubts in your head . . . but right now I need you to forget all about them . . . if I use Tenseiga to save you the demon blood will be completely gone from your body . . . if you accept the blood you'll be healed on your own . . . please . . . I'll explain everything later, but right now is not the time . . . please Rin . . . just let your doubts go," whispered Sesshoumaru.
Inu-Yasha smirked softly as his claws ripped down Sakurako's arm, causing the demon to scream out in pain, "Gotcha,"
Sakurako jumped backwards, giving her some distance between them, clutching her damaged arm, "You bastard,"
"Oh quit your whining, because I'm about to do more to you then just scrape your arm," said Inu-Yasha, charging at his enemy once again.
Sesshoumaru could not help the small smile on his lip's as her heart beat became stronger, her demon aura starting to grow as well, "That's it Rin,"
Inu-Yasha grasped Sakurako by the arm, tossing her across the room. With a sickening thud her body hit the wall, almost causing the whole room to shake.
"Sesshoumaru! How's Rin doing?" asked Inu-Yasha.
"The wound is starting to close,"
Inu-Yasha watched as Sakurako's body hit the floor, she remained motionless as he headed over towards his brother, "You didn't use Tenseiga?"
"If I did the demon blood would have disappeared,"
Inu-Yasha sighed softly, "Well you'd better explain everything to her later, other wise I'm kicking your ass,"
"You actually think you three will get out of here alive?" hissed Sakurako, stumbling to her feet.
Sesshoumaru sighed softly and pulled out the wooden box once again.
"What? You mean I can't kill her?" asked Inu-Yasha.
"I told you no one is going to die tonight," said Sesshoumaru, opening the box.
Sakurako started to walk towards them, "What's the matter Sesshoumaru? Didn't expect your mate to find out about the two of us?"
"You know as well as I do that that night is one I deeply regret," replied Sesshoumaru, watching as the sleeping fairy rose from the box, flying towards Sakurako.
"What the hell is that?"
Inu-Yasha smirked as the fairy flew a few times around Sakurako's head before the she fell to the floor again, but this time in a deep sleep.
"Sweet dreams," hissed Inu-Yasha, watching the fairy return to Sesshoumaru.
Closing the box, Sesshoumaru placed it back into his robes before turning his eyes back to his mate. Inu-Yasha crouched beside his brother, watching as Rin's appearance slowly changed back, her ears becoming pointed again. The wound in Rin's chest slowly started to close while her claws and fangs slowly returned as well.
"You got lucky you know that?"
"Yes . . . I know . . ."
"I still say you should have used Tenseiga . . . instead you made Rin try to forget her doubts while she was in a lot of pain,"
"I don't want her to lose the demon blood in her body . . . it would be more dangerous to try that spell again now that she's older,"
"Well maybe she doesn't want to be demon anymore,"
"She can be free to decide that once we've talked . . . after that the decision is up to her,"
Inu-Yasha sighed and rubbed his shoulder, "So can we get out of here now?"
"In a moment, her wound is almost healed,"
"Are you sure you don't want to kill Bunrakuken while were here? Could save you the trouble of a war?"
"As I've told you before . . ."
"No one is to die tonight . . . yeah, yeah I heard you the first time,"
"Besides, it's best that we head back to the west as soon as possible,"
"True enough . . . I want to be in bed right now with my mate . . ."
Sesshoumaru nodded softly as he slowly gathered Rin up into his arms, her eyes slowly fluttering open.
"Sesshoumaru?" she whispered softly, "You came for me?"
A soft frown tugged on his lips, "Of course I did . . . as soon as I heard from Kouga and Kagome that you had been kidnapped . . . Inu-Yasha and I made a plan and came here immediately to get you,"
Rin blushed softly, "I see,"
"How do you feel Rin?" asked Inu-Yasha.
"A little dizzy . . ."
"Probably because you lost so much blood . . . but I'm sure with some rest you'll feel better," said Inu-Yasha.
"Is Kagome okay? When we were traveling she had a pretty bad fever,"
"Can we save the chit-chat for later? Bunrakuken and the others could wake up any time now," said Sesshoumaru.
"He's right, I'll tell you everything once we reach the castle . . . and I'm sure Sesshoumaru will explain things to you as well,"
Rin nodded softly and was preparing herself for Sesshoumaru to put her down, but he didn't. His grip tightening his hold on her, he walked out of the throne room showing no sign of letting her go.
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Inu-Yasha walked slowly through the halls of the western castle, scratching the back of his head and yawning softly. His eyes almost drifting close as he made his way towards his room. The trip back from the south had been really quiet, unlike the trip there. The thought caused Inu-Yasha to smile as he remembered his and Sesshoumaru's bickering the whole way there. He stopped outside his and Kagome's room, making sure he had gotten all the blood off his robes before sneaking inside. A soft smile tugged on his lips as he saw both his pups fast asleep in their shared futon, snuggled against each other. Kagome was fast asleep in their futon as he padded softly over towards her, removing his fire rat robe and undershirt before crawling in beside her, wrapping his arms tightly around her. 'Sesshoumaru is probably talking to Rin right now . . .' thought Inu-Yasha, tightening his hold on Kagome. 'She must have had so many doubts in her head for her to turn almost human in one night . . . that idiot Sesshoumaru . . . I really need to kick his ass more often . . .'
Kagome softly mumbled in her sleep as she turned towards him, burying her face into his chest. Inu-Yasha frowned softly 'I wonder how many doubts I put in Kagome's head when Kikyo was still around . . . like the time she was kidnapped . . . doubting if I would even come for her . . . thinking I would keep searching for Kikyo . . . I guess I'm not really one to talk . . . I was a two timing bastard after all . . .'
A soft growl escaped Inu-Yasha's throat as he tried to control the anger building towards himself and his own stupidity in the past. Kagome's eyes slowly opened, staring up at her mate.
"Inu-Yasha? You're back so soon?" whispered Kagome, not wanting to wake the pups.
"Of course I'm back . . ."
Kagome smiled, "I knew you would come back . . . is Rin okay?"
"I can't really answer that . . . but she's physically okay for now,"
"What happened?"
"I'll tell you more in the morning,"
Kagome nodded softly.
"I'm so sorry Kagome . . ."
"For what?"
"Back then . . . when Kikyo was still around . . . for putting so many doubts in your head about me . . . for you ever wondering if I chose Kikyo over you . . ."
Kagome smiled softly, shifting so she could kiss her mate lightly on the lips, "What brought this on all of a sudden?"
Inu-Yasha shook his head, kissing Kagome back just as softly, "I'll tell you later . . . right now . . . all I want to do is hold you . . ."
"You don't hear me complaining, do you?"
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Rin stood silently on the balcony, her eyes staring at nothing but the snowy grounds of the castle. Her ears twitching softly as she listened for Sesshoumaru, who was currently talking to one of the servants. Her hand slowly lifted from the cold railing of the balcony to rest on her chest where Sakurako had struck her. Also the words that Sakurako had said were also fresh in her mind . . .
"That night our fathers met . . . he took me . . ."
Rin whimpered softly, trying not to cry. The fact that Sesshoumaru had been with someone before her did not surprise her at all . . . he was of course almost two hundred and fifty years old. 'Not to mention it was centuries before I was even born that it happened . . . but . . . why didn't he tell me?' thought Rin, immediately wiping the single tear that slipped down her cheek. 'Is that why Sesshoumaru didn't want me to be human? So I wouldn't be jealous over him and his previous lover? Do demons not get jealous over this kind of thing?'
The soft sliding of the shoji door brought Rin out of her thoughts, but she didn't even turn around because she knew who was behind her. She kept her eyes straight ahead, not sure if she could even look at her mate without bursting into tears, even if he was approaching her at a slow pace. Rin half expected for him to wrap his arms around her, tell her he loved her, and then go to bed. However . . . Sesshoumaru stopped in the doorway of the balcony, lightly leaning against. 'He doesn't even want to hold me now?'
No words were spoken for several minutes . . . and this worried Rin, almost afraid of what Sesshoumaru was about to say. More than anything she wanted to turn around, wrap her arms around him and hope that all the doubts in her head would disappear, but decided against it as she stood on the balcony.
"You hate me . . . don't you?" whispered Sesshoumaru, so softly that Rin almost didn't hear it.
This caused her to turn around, her eyes widening slightly as she saw the look on his face. Perhaps his face was emotionless as ever but his eyes spoke volumes to her, they were filled with hurt and doubt like hers.
"Why do you say that?" asked Rin, clasping her hands in front of her.
Sesshoumaru's eyes shifted to the ground for a moment before coming back up to stare into hers, "The things I've done . . . said to you . . . I can't blame you for having doubts in your head . . ."
Rin frowned softly, "Sesshoumaru . . . why did you change me? Is it because you were ashamed that I was human?"
"Is that what you really believe?"
"Not really . . . I just don't understand why you didn't do the same thing like your brother did . . ."
Sesshoumaru was silent for a moment, "Do you remember . . . what I told you took place between my father and Inu-Yasha's mother? How after he died she was left unprotected and the villagers came after her? I did not want you to suffer the same fate,"
Rin turned around, facing her back towards her mate, "And the reason you did it when I was younger? How did you know we would be together?"
"I wasn't completely sure . . . but the spell needs to be performed at a young age . . . the older you are the more risk you take . . ."
Rin nodded softly, keeping her back to Sesshoumaru. Silence once again filled the air, neither of them speaking.
"Rin . . . I . . . I apologize for not telling you about Sakurako and I . . . it happened so long ago . . . and it's not something I want to remember,"
"I understand . . ."
Sesshoumaru sighed softly, taking the few steps he needed so he could wrap his arms around his mate, pulling her close to his chest and resting his chin on top of her head, "I'm not good with words . . . I show my feelings with actions . . . but . . . I do know . . . that you need to hear the words . . ."
"You don't need to do that . . ." whispered Rin, stepping out of Sesshoumaru's embrace and heading inside towards the bed.
Sesshoumaru's eyes watched her movements as she left the balcony, following after her.
"Rin . . . please don't be like this . . ."
"It's not your fault Sesshoumaru . . . I'm the one having doubts in my mind . . . I can deal with it,"
Sesshoumaru reached his hand forward, snatching Rin's wrist before she crawled into bed, "Don't shut me out Rin,"
Rin spun around, "How can you say that to me when you're the one always shutting me out?"
Sesshoumaru sighed softly, his other hand coming up to cup her cheek, "I know I did . . . but things are going to be different from now on,"
"How so? We've been mated for almost a month and you . . ."
Sesshoumaru silenced her by placing a finger on her lips, "Will you listen to what I have to say first? After I'm done you can say what ever you want,"
Rin nodded softly, her eyes staring straight into her mates.
"You know . . . I'm not the kind of person . . . who can express my feelings with words . . . and I know . . . that I have been shutting you out . . . and with the war coming out . . . that's no excuse for the way I've been behaving towards you . . . and there's something I wanted to tell you . . ." whispered Sesshoumaru, bringing his mouth to Rin's ear as soft whispers of love escaped his lips.
(A/N: No, I will not be writing what he saying. You are going to have to use your imagination since I have sat here for an hour trying to use mine. As I have said before, Sesshoumaru is a tough character for me to write about, especially when I'm attempting to get him "lovey dovey")
Rin's eyes widened, tears gathering on her lashes before spilling down onto her cheeks as Sesshoumaru's words wrapped around her heart. Sesshoumaru pulled his head back to stare into Rin's eyes.
"That is what I have always felt for you . . . and I'm sorry that it took me this long to tell you . . ."
Rin nodded softly, tears flowing down her cheeks like a river as she buried her face into her mate's chest. Sesshoumaru wrapped his arms tightly around her, lightly kissing the top of her head. A soft smile spread on the demon lord's lips as Rin's demonic aura started to increase.
"You okay?" asked Sesshoumaru.
Rin nodded again, pulling back a bit to wipe the tears from her eyes but was stopped as Sesshoumaru's hands grasped her wrists. A small smile on his lips as he leaned down, lightly kissing her tears away. Rin closed her eyes as she felt Sesshoumaru's lips lightly caressing her cheeks as he pushed her down lightly to the bed, covering her with his body with soft kisses and light caresses. With a soft moan Rin surrendered to her mate . . .
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Panther Demons
Koran, fire
Shunran, illusions
Toran, ice
Shoran, lightning
January 15th, 1553
Shippo's eye brow twitched as he stared around the room full of children, "Are we really supposed to watch them all?"
Jaken nodded softly, "Unfortunately yes . . . Lord Sesshoumaru does not want them present during the meeting,"
Jarlarg sighed, "Well, I suppose it could be worse,"
"You mind telling me how?" asked Shippo.
"Uh well . . . say who's up for a game of hide and go seek?" called Jarlarg to the kids.
Sesshoumaru's eyes slowly scanned the banquet table, making sure that everyone was present for the meeting. Toran sat with her siblings to his left along with Kouga and the other wolf demon tribe leaders. To his right sat Rin, Inu-Yasha and Friends, Hikozaemon, and Kuranosuke with his general. At the end of the table was his own general, Akikazu who had just returned from the east this morning. Coughing softly the room noise died down to silence, all eyes on the dog demon lord.
"I would first off like to thank everyone for coming . . . I appreciate it. To start thing off I shall introduce everyone at the table and would like to remind you all that we are on the same side, so please keep the bickering to a minimum. To my left are the Panther Demon tribe, Toran, Shunran, Koran and Shuran. Next is Kouga, leader of the East and Northern wolf demon tribe, Bakura of southern tribe, and Kappei of the Western tribe. To my right is my mate Rin, my half brother Inu-Yasha, his mate Kagome, their friends Miroku and Sango, Hikozaemon the eldest child of Bunrakuken, the lord Kuranosuke along with the general of his army, and at the end is my general Akikazu,"
An echo of soft hellos said to each other filled the room before Sesshoumaru put up his hands, calling for silence once again.
"Most of you have already heard of the situation but I shall repeat it so that there are no confusions. Years ago there was a traitor in my army and quite a few followers, who I might add have been killed or are currently rotting in the dungeons. Due to this my army was weakened since most of the traitors were skilled fighters. The number in my army has indeed grown back up, but the warriors are only at the beginning level, which is what has caused me to search for help. Bunrakuken is looking to expand his territory and take over all the lands of Japan, starting off with mine since I am the weakest at this point. For those of you who don't know, during a dog demon war the rules are quite simple . . . there must be an equal number of soldiers and their fighting abilities must be equal as well, which of course Bunrakuken is disobeying. However, since my father did fall in love with a human the other dog demon kingdoms probably don't have even a care to put a stop to this. To start things off . . . Akikazu . . . what have the Eastern and Northern Kingdoms said about all this?"
Akikazu stood and bowed to Sesshoumaru before speaking, "As you said, they have lost respect for the West since your father fell in love with a human, however since they do owe us a great debt . . . they will help out . . . but said they can not give up more then five hundred soldiers each,"
"Well I suppose that's better then nothing, I will send word to them immediately. As far as how many soldiers I have prepared for battle it is only one thousand five hundred . . . the other remaining five thousand are in beginner training . . . and to send them out to a battle field . . . I feel that would be plain suicide,"
A soft murmur of agreement filled the room before quieting down again to hear the rest of Sesshoumaru's speech.
"Starting from my left, can each of you tell me how many soldiers you will be able to send into battle?" asked Sesshoumaru.
Toran stood up, "Aside from my self and my siblings . . . we have only a thousand capable to fight at your level,"
Sesshoumaru nodded softly, "That brings the number up twenty five hundred . . . not too bad,"
As Toran sat down Kouga stood up, "At this moment the wolf demon tribes have combined into one . . . and I know Bakura wants more than anything to see Bunrakuken dead for what that bastard did to his tribe. We have brought along three thousand wolf demons ready to fight,"
Sesshoumaru's eyes widened slightly, but no one seemed to notice, "Very good . . . that brings the number up to fifty five hundred. Akikazu said that the Northern and Eastern demons would send five hundred each . . . which brings us to sixty five hundred. Hikozaemon . . . how many soldiers does your father have prepared for battle?"
"Last time I checked it was close to seventy five hundred," said Hikozaemon.
Sesshoumaru nodded, "So that means we are only one thousand short for battle,"
Kuranosuke stood this time, "Sango told me that my army . . . which I might add is one thousand men . . . is to be a decoy for a scheme that you have planned,"
"Yes . . . Bunrakuken is playing dirty by attacking me when my army is weak . . . I do plan to return the favor. My plan is this . . . using Shunran from the Panther demon tribe, she is able to create illusions and cover up scents with any smell she desires," informed Sesshoumaru.
Shunran nodded, "I think I know where you're going with this,"
"Bunrakuken is not going to expect the Panther Demons fighting on our side . . . but he will be expecting me to use a human army,"
All heads around the room started to nod.
"So let me get this straight. Using Shunran's powers, you're going to hide the panther demon army, putting the human army on the front line up . . . Bunrakuken is going to get cocky and just send a handful of his soldiers down to kill the humans. However they will be running right into a trap as the Panther demons slaughter them all from their hiding spots," said Kuranosuke.
"Correct . . . during that time as the Panther demons are killing the enemy soldiers, the human army will escape and head back to the castle," said Sesshoumaru.
"How can you be sure that this is going to work?" asked Bakura.
"Because I know what my father has planned, which is to strike hard and fast. He doesn't bother making a plan when it comes to war. If he sees a human army, he won't hesitate to attack it," said Hikozaemon.
"So after the human army escapes, what do you plan after that?" asked Inu-Yasha.
"When Bunrakuken sends the next line of his army down, the Panther Demons will attack again and reveal themselves to Bunrakuken's army,"
"And that's when the battle really begins," commented Miroku.
"True . . . however . . . Sango, Kagome, Ayame, and Rin, will be remaining here at the castle,"
"What?" cried all the females, standing up from their seats.
Sesshoumaru put his hands up, "I will not repeat myself, the decision is final, and I think all the males here will agree with me,"
"Does this mean that were just going to be stuck here worrying sick over our husbands and mates then?" asked Sango.
"Unfortunately that is not the case," Hikozaemon interjected, "My father is planning on a sneak attack to the castle while the battle is going on. However he only thinks that there will only be a few demons remaining here, and will be sending the weakest in his army," said Hikozaemon.
"Which is why I want you four here. I'm sure you are capable along with a few of my weakest soldiers to take them out and protect the pups,"
"So . . . any idea when this blood bath is going to begin?" asked Rin.
Sesshoumaru shook his head, "A date will be decided . . . I'm thinking in the beginning of nigatsu (February), which is the middle of the next moon cycle."
"You're going to meet with my father?" asked Hikozaemon.
"No . . . if I come face to face with him again I'll have to kill him for what he did to my mate . . . so . . . we will send a representative to meet with each other,"
"Who will you send?" asked Kouga.
"More than likely Inu-Yasha . . . as for Bunrakuken . . . I'm sure he's going to send his daughter . . . and Inu-Yasha . . ."
"Yeah, yeah I know! Don't kill her, you told me this already,"
Sesshoumaru nodded.
"So what's going to be our reward for fighting this battle?" asked Bakura.
Rin snickered softly, "The Panther Demons will be taking payment as adding the Western shores to their own dominated land,"
Sesshoumaru sighed, "So what would you like as payment Kouga?"
Kouga smirked softly, his eyes turning towards Inu-Yasha, "I have nothing that I would like, however I believe that Kappei would,"
Kappei stood up beside Kouga, "My tribe doesn't usually attack humans during the spring, summer, and autumn however during the winter food is scarce. Kouga has told me of a village that you and Inu-Yasha despise . . . our payment would be able to eat a few humans when it is necessary from there,"
Inu-Yasha smirked at the idea, "Well I like it!"
Sesshoumaru sighed, "I'm sure you would . . . very well . . . I will grant you that as payment. Kouga you said you want nothing, but what about Bakura?"
"Seeing Bunrakuken dead will be good enough for me,"
"Kuranosuke?" asked Sesshoumaru.
The lord sighed softly, "There is nothing within your power that you can give me,"
Sesshoumaru's eye brow quirked up, "Oh really? And just what is it that you want?"
Kuranosuke's eyes drifted over to Sango.
Miroku stood, "I would like for you to keep your eyes away from my wife,"
"I'm afraid for Sango to be your concubine is clearly out of the question," sighed Sesshoumaru.
"Yes . . . I am aware of that . . . but to my understanding Sango and Miroku have two daughters,"
This time Sango stood up and Miroku had to hold her back, "I have our eldest daughter Misa already promised to someone else, I will not allow Sakura to go through the same thing!"
"So you're saying your want Sango and Miroku's youngest daughter, to be married to your son when they are at appropriate age is that it?" asked Sesshoumaru.
"Yes,"
"Well I certainly will not agree to this! I am already against the first arranged marriage and I will do everything in my power to stop it!" screamed Sango, who was now being held back by Miroku and Inu-Yasha.
"It's either that or I will not agree for my soldiers to take part in your plan," said Kuranosuke.
Sango was now screaming being held back by Rin while Inu-Yasha was trying to take Miroku's staff away from him before he killed the lord.
"Very well . . ." sighed Sesshoumaru
"What?" cried Sango and Miroku in unison, Miroku now trying to attack the dog demon lord.
"If that is what you want, I will agree to your terms. Everyone is now excused to leave except the ones involved in this little war here,"
Slowly the room became empty except for the ones involved in the little escapade beside him.
"How could you? How could you do that to our daughter?" screeched Sango.
"Who says it's going to be your daughter?" asked Sesshoumaru.
"What?"
"You have failed to notice that Kuranosuke doesn't have any sons,"
Sango finally stopped thrashing, remembering her visit to his castle almost a week ago,
"Oh yeah . . . he has two daughters,"
"So that means that either your two sons Keitaro or Kioshi will have to wed one of them, or perhaps any children you plan to have in the future. He didn't say when or who," said Rin.
"I suppose I'll play along for now," sighed Sango in defeat.
TBC . . .