Disclaimer: As always – neither the hanyou – nor either of his girlfriends – nor anyone else in the story for that matter – belongs to me…I'm just using them for my own wicked purposes…thinks…oops…did I write that last part?...
From Chapter 4:
Kagome slowly sat up and looked around, waiting for her vision to come into focus. 'How did it get to be morning so fast? It can't be morning already!" She thought. Then the thought of going back to her own time and having good food, a hot bath, and her own bed popped into her mind. Sango didn't think she could remember the last time Kagome had gotten her stuff packed so quickly. In less than 10 minutes, Kagome stood near the door of the hut, quietly urging Sango and Kohaku to hurry up. The others, except for Inuyasha, who was missing from the hut entirely, were still fast asleep in various places on the hut floor.
The group of four, Sango, Kagome, Kohaku, and Kirara, quietly climbed down the hut steps and out into the village. It was then that Kagome saw where Inuyasha had gone. Sound asleep in a large tree near Kaede's hut sat the hanyou, one leg draped lazily over a branch on which he sat. Kagome smiled up at him, she loved the way he looked when he slept. It was the only time when he looked truly peaceful, and she so rarely saw it. Sango quickly pulled her out of her reverie, as she finished loading their bags on to Kirara, now grown to her giant size. From there, the three passengers climbed onto her back and away they flew to the well.
Kagome jumped down from Kirara's back with ease, and Sango and Kohaku descended as well to help Kagome unload her bags. Then Kagome pulled her backpack and walked over to the well. Sango and Kohaku remounted the fire cat as Kagome swung her legs over the side of the well, and as they flew off, they saw a burst of light come from the bone-eaters well indicating that Kagome had returned to her own time.
Chapter 4: Overheard Words
Time seemed to have been passing in an infinitely slow manner as Rin attempted to entertain herself in the small forest clearing. She had already gathered up every small and medium-sized stick she could find in the immediate vicinity and, using the longer blades of grass, had tied them into small dolls and made a tiny village where her stick people now resided. Little stick mothers and little stick fathers had fed and played with little stick babies. In the distance, away from the little stick village, she had even created a little stick palace where her stick Sessyoumaru lived. She had made a special effort to find long blades of dead, whitened grass to tie to the head of the stick Sessyoumaru, just to give it a bit of added likeness to the imitation.
But after being stuck in the same clearing for days now, the stick people no longer interested her. Neither did the trees in the area. She had, with the helping boosts of Ah-Un, attempted by now to climb every tree in the clearing. In hopes to see any sign of Sessyoumaru, or by this point, she would have even been satisfied to see Jaken, returning to the clearing. It had been at least two days since Sessyoumaru had left her in the clearing.
Sessyoumaru had smelled Naraku as soon as the evil youkai had entered into the forest near his palace. 'No one attempts to use this Sessyoumaru and lives.' He thought to himself as he rose and gathered his battling attire.
He had not intended for Rin to come along, however, by the time he had gathered everything together to leave she was waiting on the back of Ah-Uh, swinging her legs up and down, in and out the fur of the extremely patient creature. 'Fine,' he thought, 'but if she ignores my orders and gets herself killed in the forest, it is no worry of mine.' His expressionless face showing nothing of these thoughts. Then, he had stalked off into the forest without a word, besides "Come, Jaken."
The small group began traveling deep into the forest. Sessyoumaru had soon sensed the smells of his hanyou brother and the human smell that always accompanies that of his brother mixing with that of Naraku. It made the scent all the more sickening to the youkai. He couldn't wait to reach their location so that he could destroy the evil youkai, and maybe his hanyou half-brother in the process…
Soon, the had come close enough to the battle that Sessyoumaru decided that it was time that Rin no longer follow. They stopped at a small grassy clearing where he halted abruptly. He did not even bother to turn around and face the girl when he gave his command.
"Rin, do not move from this clearing."
Sessyoumaru had not bothered to give any explanation – not that he ever did. He only halted his walk momentarily to leave his instructions with Rin and Ah-Un and then continued his lengthy strides out of the clearing. After a few steps out of the clearance, he called again, "Jaken, Come!" And Jaken ran off after his master, crying "Shitsurei Shimasita! Sumimasen, Sessyoumaru-sama! Please wait for me!"
In actuality, that scene had only taken place a few days ago. But to the small child it seemed like eons in the past. The longer Sessyoumaru was gone the more the time seemed to draw out. Occasionally, a bird or a butterfly would move through the clearing and she would chase it. But even those seemed to be less and less entertaining. Sessyoumaru had told her not to move from the clearing. But, she was bored. Rin began to wonder if maybe she could go into the forest just a little bit without actually leaving the clearing…
As she moved towards the line of trees, she saw Ah-Un lift its head to watch her closely, but it made no move to actually follow the girl. She climbed up into the lower branches of a tree near to the edge of the clearing looking as though she only meant to play in the trees branches, as she climbed around she slowly made her way to the forest side of the trees branches and climbed back down toward the lowest branch. Jumping down softly on the forest floor, she slowly climbed around through the lower branches of the trees. She listened carefully for noises but heard nothing at first.
Soon, she heard the screaming. The sounds of the voices of several women and a few men sounded eerily in the forest above her head. There were curses being thrown about and the sounds of a man's evil laughter. She could hear metal hitting metal, and the words of enchantments echoed through the forests above her. She felt the wind pick up and dust blew into her eyes. She crouched down and crawled near to the forest floor climbing her way through the lower spiny branches and the taller grasses that had grown. As she climbed, she raised her arm to cover her face so that she could see. But she soon found that it was no use. There was too much dust. Poisonous gases joined the dust in the air to give it an even more abrasive quality. The poisons stung her eyes and they began to water until she could no longer see when she opened them. She felt for low-lying branches and soon found one on a tress near where she was crouched. Carefully, with both eyes tightly shut against the dust, she grabbed the branch and climbed up into a division in the trees branches.
There she sat. She thought about climbing down from the tree and trying to go back to the clearing. But she was no longer sure which direction she had traveled in. She had been crawling through the underbrush with her eyes tightly shut for several minutes to try and get closer to the sounds she had heard and in the process she had lost track of the direction from which she had come.
Carefully, and quickly, the small girl curled up into a small ball in her treetop seat. She hid her face into the folds of her kimono to help block out the poisons in the air that burned her eyes and her nose and caused tears to pour out of her eyes rolling down her cheeks in little streams. She could no longer see anything. But she could still here shouts and the clambering of the battle that was going on just meters from where the girl sat. Once again she began to wait for what seemed like an eternity. She began to wish that she had never left the clearing. At least, when she was in the clearing, she could see. She had her toys that she had made and she had Ah-Un to entertain her…Rin curled herself tighter into her ball.
After some time, the noise seemed to pick up. It seemed to get louder and louder. But it seemed that almost instantaneously the noise came to a halt. The forest became eerily quiet. The girl slowly lifted her eyes from the Kimono, but the dust and poisonous gases remained and she quickly buried her face into the garment again. She listened carefully for sound, but could hear nothing but silence. Not even birds fluttered in the branches around the child. She moved her head slightly to free her ears of the fabric as much as possible and listened as hard as she could. Soon, she heard voices.
A female voice spoke, "Is it over?"
The silence seemed painfully long for the small girl, still curled up tightly in the branches of the tree, unable to see. She continued to listen for any sign of life. She heard the shuffling of feet, people seemed to be wandering around, but she couldn't tell from where.
An angry voice pierced the silence, "Where the hell is that bitch, Kagura? I don't care if she did help defeat Naraku; I'm not done with her yet. She killed my clan."
The voice seemed painfully loud to the small girl, compared to the silence that it broke. She jumped slightly as the rough tone and language startled her. Even her movement in the trees seemed loud; although she was sure no one could hear her.
She heard the abrupt sounds of jumping; rustling in the trees near her hiding spot stunned her momentarily. She curled herself tighter into a ball. All of these voices sounded so familiar, but she could not place any of them. For a moment, the small girl wanted to cry; why did she leave the clearing – where she was safe, where she could see, where Ah-Un was…
A voice from above her in the trees shouted down, "Kuso! Kagura's gone. Kanna isn't here either!"
Rin recognized that voice more than the others that she had heard. She squinted her eyes shut even tighter as tears escaped from the corners – part from the dust and part emotion – and thought as hard as she could, trying to place the voice. It suddenly dawned on her – that was Inuyasha, Sessyoumaru-sama's hanyou brother. She listened even closer, if Inuyasha is here, then Sessyoumaru could not be far.
Farther away she heard shuffling, then she heard women's voices speaking but she couldn't understand everything they said. Only words here, and there, "Kanna…mirror…Kagura…Naraku…destroyed…"
She tried to be as quiet as possible. She wanted to be able to hear them better and understand what they were saying. She forced herself to breathe slow and even, trying to quiet everything in her surroundings.
This time, she heard the voice of Sessyoumaru. The youkai's voice cut through the air with the chill of ice, but to the girl it sounded normal. "If they are defeated, I see no reason to remain," was stated in his familiar monotone.
Rin emotions contradicted each other. The sound of Sessyoumaru's voice filled her with hope that she was safe, but at the same time her stomach filled with butterflies and she felt anxiousness fill her body. What would the youkai do when he found out that she had not followed his explicit instructions and had gone into the forest?
Rin suddenly felt that she had to get back to the clearing. If she could somehow climb back through the trees where she came from – but what way has she come? She tried to think – maybe if she got away from the poisonous gas then she could see her way back…but, suddenly – a new voice spoke and caught the young girl's attention. "Wait! Sessyoumaru-sama, we still need your skills."
Rin listened carefully, that was the voice of that boy's sister, what could she possibly want with Sessyoumaru-sama?
She heard the soft rustle of silk as Sessyoumaru turned to face the girl. "What do you need of me, woman?..." Sessyoumaru's chilled response would have startled most people, but to Rin it was just another phrase. She sat quietly, listening, thoughts of escaping back to the clearing having vanished from the small child's mind.
"You see, Sessyoumaru-sama, one shard of the Shikon no Tama is still missing –" The female voice stated softly, Rin heard a bit of shaking in the woman's tone as she spoke. As she listened, Rin wondered, 'Is that woman cold? Her voice is shaking,' the small child's mind to young to understand that it was fear that Sango's voice reflected.
"I care naught for the Shikon no Tama, so I still don't see why that is any concern of mine." Sessyoumaru's tone became harsher as he broke Sango's thought to speak. Rin's back stiffened. She had heard that tone often when Sessyoumaru was becoming annoyed and knew too well that annoying Sessyoumaru was a dangerous act.
"Well, that's not the problem, your lordship, you see, the shard is in my brother, Kohaku. It allows him to live despite fatal injuries given to him by Naraku..." The woman's voice seemed to become stronger and clearer this time, a hint of determination overriding the fear that was felt in her tone before. But Rin didn't care about Sango's determination, she only cared for what Sango had said. According to his sister, that boy will die.
"And you wish this Sessyoumaru to use Tenseiga to restore his life." Sessyoumaru's cold tone returned again, this time however, Rin could almost hear some amusement in his voice. Sessyoumaru is going to save that boy's life; Rin was contented. She didn't know why, but she liked that boy. But before Rin could even fully fell her content, Sessyoumaru's monotonous tone continued, "Whether your brother lives or dies is no concern of mine." Rin was stunned.
Softness brushed across the back of her neck, and Rin startled and sat up stiffly, suddenly frightened. What had touched her?
Rin quickly clasped her hand over her mouth to stifle a scream as something hit her in the shoulder. She felt something groping there, and tried to open her eyes to see. Tears burst forward as poisonous gas attacked her eyes once again. The groping thing finally got a firm grasp and the small girl was picked up from the tree and carried. Rin wanted to scream, but she couldn't. Suddenly she felt beneath her the softness of fur. Rin leaned forward and placed her nose to the soft warmth in front of her. This was a familiar smell and a familiar warmth. Rin felt herself being moved quickly forward and she clung to the fur for balance. Soon, the smell of dust and poison left the air. Rin took a deep breath and allowed the air to taste sweet in her lungs. She slowly opened her eyes. The last of her tears drained as she blinked and she looked down to find herself atop Ah-Un, cutting their way back toward the clearing. Rin was thankful to the creature and reached down and clasped her arms tightly around one neck then the other. They soon reached the clearing again.
Rin slid off from the animal's back and walked slowed over to her stick people village. She reached down and took hold of a stick boy. Turning the doll over, Rin used her fingernails to scratch a dent into the back of the stick boy. A small white crescent now marred the back of the small doll. She laid the doll back into the stick village and grabbed her stick Sessyoumaru. Moving it over to the stick boy, the stick Sessyoumaru waved its wooden arms over the boy, and just as the Rin's stick boy began to move again from the ground in Rin's hand, the trees rustled behind her and the real Sessyoumaru emerged, pacing quickly through the clearing.
The youkai quickly strode through the clearing. As he did, he turned his head slightly to the right side and called shortly over his shoulder, "Ah-Un, Rin, come." Then he strode out of the clearing – Jaken, with his running waddle, followed. Rin walked over to Ah-Un and began to climb on to the beast's back, but then suddenly let go and dropped back to the ground. The girl ran over to her stick people one last time, and, grabbing the stick boy with the marred back and shoving it under her kimono's wide obi, she ran and hopped on to Ah-Un's furry back and followed Sessyoumaru back into the forest.
A/N: So I kind of disappeared from writing on a hiatus – well, more than a hiatus. But now I'm back at least for now and a bit rejuvenated in my writing, so I hope this chapter holds up to the others. Enjoy and please let me know what you think!
All of you who reviewed Chapter 4: Thank you for reviewing! Every time I got a review it gave me a little motivation to start writing again!
