Chapter Four: Healing and Night Terrors
He had been so inexperienced with dealing with human emotions and illnesses that when Rin began whimpering in her sleep, he at first thought she was being attacked. Sesshoumaru had jerked awake at her first sounds of terror, his eyes flashing red and his back rigid. Frowning, he glanced around the hut and saw several eyes on him and he wrinkled his nose and growled softly.
Inuyasha smirked and tilted his head to the side. "Rather jumpy aren't you?"
Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes and he released a snarl that was cut off abruptly by the small girl in his arms. Rin was shivering uncontrollably and tossing her head back and forth whimpering.
Sucking his breath in sharply, Sesshoumaru curled her closer to his body and rumbled low in his chest, trying to ease whatever was ailing the small girl. The eyes turned away from the youkai, but he caught Inuyasha's ears twitching at his growling. Sesshoumaru bared his teeth at his little brother.
Kagome shook her head and jabbed the hanyou and frowned. Turning to Sesshoumaru she smiled slowly and carefully. "She is only having a nightmare, Sesshoumaru."
Inuyasha's head swerved over to her. "A night what?"
"A nightmare, uhh…a night terror." Kagome tried to explain.
"I know what they are, miko." Sesshoumaru growled.
Inuyasha's head swerved over to Sesshoumaru. "Well I didn't!" He snapped. "Keh!" Without another word, Inuyasha stood and flung aside the bamboo shade and Sesshoumaru's hearing picked up the string of curses and punches to a misfortunate tree outside.
Kagome sighed and shook her head sadly. "Do you know what she dreams about?" She asked, not raising her eyes from the floor.
"I assume her experiences." Sesshoumaru wrinkled his nose. Turning his attention away from Kagome, he watched Rin twist and turn in his arm, and whimper low.
Kagome's eyes followed Sesshoumaru's and she saw the flicker of concern fill the youkai's eyes, before it was quickly masked. The girl pursed her lips trying to think of someway to draw the group away. It was obvious to her now that the youkai cared for the tiny human, but he refused to show anything while in the company of others.
Kagome leaned over and whispered into Sango's ear, and she nodded in understanding, lifting her eyes briefly to glance at the cold-hearted youkai. The exterminator couldn't believe Kagome's words, but Kagome had never lied to her before. There had been enough evidence of the truth of her words when Sesshoumaru had arrived with the girl. Sango lifted Kirara up and muttered low for only the cat to hear, and soon the fire cat mewed and jumped out of Sango's lap growling heavily, allowing her fur to ruffle, drawing Miroku's attention and then Sesshoumaru's.
Kagome grinned, and quickly hid it by saying. "Oh! I think I sense a jewel shard nearby."
Immediately the bamboo shade opened revealing an overly anxious hanyou. "What? Where?" He gasped out.
Kagome stood up and grabbed her bow and arrows, a little slower then normal, allowing Sango and Miroku to slip out before her. Shippo had already been outside with Kaede, so Kagome didn't have to worry about the kit.
Before Kagome left the hut, she turned back and locked gazes with the golden-eyed Sesshoumaru, whose brows had furrowed slightly, and then rose in understanding. Kagome winked and slipped out of the hut, leaving Sesshoumaru alone with Rin, who still moaned in her fevered sleep.
Sesshoumaru's hearing followed the group until they were well out of the village, and he had even heard Kagome's hushed and whispered words to Kaede about giving them some privacy. The old woman had agreed, and had called Shippo to help her with gathering herbs and spices for the evening meal.
Once all was quiet again, Sesshoumaru concentrated on the little girl writhing in his lap, both from her night terrors and two from her fever. Not knowing what to do, he curled her against him even tighter and allowed a soft rumble of a growl to enter his chest. He remembered the sound from when he had been no more then hours old. The sound and feel of his father's growl was the first and only thing he had been aware of at that tender age.
It had been later perhaps a month or so, when his eyes had focused on his father's face for the first time, that he remembered much more. It had always been that sound, and the soft vibrating of those growls that had given him peace and a sense of comfort. Perhaps the same sounds would aid his Rin into a sense of peace and tranquility.
Sesshoumaru lifted his head, shocked at his own confession. Why did he care for this small child? Glancing down at her pale face, he noticed how thin the skin was. He ran his finger over her flushed cheek and traced the curve of her cheekbone with his claw, amazed at how soft and delicate it was. Frowning, he ran his fingers over her lashes and a smile graced his lips. The soft black lashes were such a contrast to her white face that he felt almost helpless at her scrunched face of pain and agony.
Rin moaned again and slowly her eyes fluttered open. Her mouth formed words, but her throat refused to allow them to pass, and Sesshoumaru placed a clawed finger over them to stop her from attempting speech.
"Hush, Rin. Sleep." He growled, the sounds still filling his chest in a comforting manner that she instantly curled up into.
He was surprised when her ear pressed against his chest, and she sighed softly, placing her tiny hand over his heart. Sucking his breath in sharply, it had been the same position Sesshoumaru had found himself to be in several times when waking from slumber in his father's arms.
Rin was responding to his sounds of comfort, as any Inuyoukai pup would do. Sesshoumaru felt his eyes widen in a sudden panic. There was no mistaking it. Here he was, holding Rin as he had been held as a pup, as a father would hold his pup, tending to a pup during a time of sadness, fear or pain. And here was Rin responding to it as if she were his pup, and he her father.
Swallowing nervously, he watched as Rin succumbed to sleep once more, content on hearing his growls and feeling his heart. Frowning, he leaned against the wall of the hut and shifted his fur around her more snugly and then froze in his movements. Here he was again, treating her as his own pup. For a moment, he stared at the fur that sat loosely around her, and then back up to her peaceful face. His mouth dropped open as a sudden and startling realization fell on him like an iron club.
The first time he had stumbled across her, he remembered as if it had been only yesterday. He remembered her following him through the forest, and through the field towards the two-headed dragon. The small child had followed him tirelessly as they walked, and in all reality he hadn't minded in the least.
Sesshoumaru had wrinkled his nose once they had made camp, and he had flown out of the clearing while his companions had slept. That night he had stumbled across a burning village that had been pillaged by bandits, and he had caught sight of a single kimono, roughly Rin's size floating in the breeze on a line outside a partially burnt hut. Similar to the one they sat in now.
He hadn't even thought twice when he had taken the item, which appeared to be the same size as the small girl, perhaps just a tiny bit too large, but it had sufficed. That following morning, he had reentered the camp and had called to the girl to follow him, and he handed her the small nagajugan wordlessly. Rin had stepped behind a few bushes, not the least bit frightened of him, and had changed her clothing.
Rin had walked up to him, and grinned, but her grin had faded when he pointed to the small pond behind her. Wordlessly, and almost afraid of the water, Rin had stepped into the shallow pond and her face had lit up instantly. Soon she was dancing around in the water, splashing at nothing, when he had called to her.
Blinking, Sesshoumaru realized something. He had not used words. Instead he had growled at her, and she seemed to have understood him as if he had spoken what he meant. Rin had skipped over to him wordlessly, and had stayed still while he washed her hair, with youkai soaps, and then handed her the small roughly cut item, growling at her, commanding her to wash the rest of herself with it.
Rin had obeyed him. As if she had understood him all along.
Sesshoumaru's mouth dropped open. How could a human child understand the language of Inuyoukai? Shaking his head, perhaps she just knew what he wanted her to do. Following that thought more comfortably then the other one; Sesshoumaru stared at the small child in his arms again.
Somehow Rin had wound her little finger around his heart. No matter where he was, he could sense if she was in danger. It had been the same as when she had fallen off that cliff. He remembered he had fought Inuyasha, over Naraku's bees, having been furious at the hanyou for killing them. He knew his brother had told the truth on them dying without his touching them, but Sesshoumaru had been so irritated over Naraku's disappearance, that he had fought with him, releasing his pent up rage.
No sooner had he walked away from his little brother had he felt this impending doom to one of his companions, and he had known instantly that it had been Rin. In truth, he had no idea how he had traveled the distance in so short a time, but he had arrived just as she plummeted to her death. Sesshoumaru had wasted no time at all to fly down into the crevice, grab the girl and rise back up to safety.
Rin had lost consciousness, and back then he had growled for her. Trying to ease her pounding heart that hammered like a drum in her chest. Several times he had growled for her, to comfort her. Most had been while she had curled up next to him, sleeping.
Gasping softly, he leaned over and sniffed at her scent. Indeed she smelt like him now. But her scent held her own as well. It was that of dragon lilies and rose wood. She even smelt like his pup. Closing his eyes, he almost released a whimper. He had succumbed to his father's fate. He had taken in a human, cared for a human and even protected her. Sesshoumaru had adopted himself a pup without even realizing it.
----------------------------------------
Sesshoumaru jolted awake at the soft feathery touches on his face, and he felt his eyes widen and glance down at the smiling face of Rin. Looking around, the hut was still empty, but how and when had he fallen asleep? Looking back down at the girl in his lap, he felt his brow furrow at her little gentle touches to his markings. Her fingers currently were tracing his crescent mood on his forehead, and then fell to his nose.
Rin's eyes lifted and met his, glittering happily and fever free. Her mouth turned upward in a happy grin, and she greeted him in her usual cheerful manner. "Ah, Good day Lord Sesshoumaru."
Stunned speechless, he was only able to grace her with a single incline of his head.
"You slept." She told him.
Once again, Sesshoumaru nodded, unsure of what to say. He wasn't exactly sure what to do after his slight mental breakdown. He opened his mouth to say something but instead he released a soft growl.
Immediately Rin hopped off his lap and piled her arms full of his fur and placed it into his lap. Blinking, he watched her take a long drink of water, and then sat herself beside him happily, seemingly not caring that he was slipping into another state of mental failure.
"Your fever is gone?" He asked finally, shaking his head clear of its momentary freeze.
Rin nodded. "I had the strangest dreams." She whispered.
Sesshoumaru nodded in agreement. "Yes."
Rin looked up at him and then around her. "Where are we? It looks like a human hut."
"Yes. We are in my brother's village, so to speak." Sesshoumaru muttered absently. He was still trying to think of a way to ask Rin what her dreams were. He wasn't even aware that a soft snarl rose to his lips, but Rin didn't seem to mind.
"It was strange, because I remember that you brought me here. In my dream, you left. You never returned for me." Rin said with a little less cheerfulness than he wanted. "I knew you wouldn't have done that though."
Sesshomaru raised a brow.
"I also dreamt of a puppy curling up next to me and purring." Rin smiled broadly.
"Puppies do not purr." He said slightly irritated at the undignified remembrance of his growls.
"Oh, well it was nice. It was soft and the puppy growled me to sleep." Rin shook her head. "But Lord Sesshoumaru, it wasn't a growl. It was softer. It really sounded like a purr to me."
Sesshoumaru nodded in understanding. Snorting, he forced the small upturning of his mouth downward.
"My dreams changed again. The puppy was licking my face, and then it left me alone. Just like mama, and papa and older brother did. I tried calling for it. I think I cried then." Rin said sadly.
Rin continued on endlessly, as she did most times when they were alone in the morning together. Most times he never listened, having been too preoccupied with his own thoughts. This time he did in fact listen.
"The puppy came back and purred…I mean growled for me again. We were walking in a field of flowers. I woke up and you were sleeping."
Sesshoumaru inclined his head, signaling that he was listening.
"I think you were dreaming too Lord Sesshoumaru." Rin grinned.
He glanced at her sharply with a single raised eyebrow. Then it hit him, she had called him a puppy, whether she realized it or not. His brow rose higher. 'Puppy?'
"You were growling softly and mumbling something, but I didn't know what it was that you were saying. You sounded really happy though."
'Happy?' Sesshoumaru frowned and wrinkled his nose. Just what had he been dreaming about?
A familiar rumbling filled the air and Rin glanced down quickly. Sesshoumaru smirked, and waited.
"Rin is hungry, Lord Sesshoumaru. May I go search for something to eat?"
Sesshoumaru shook his head slowly and glanced around the hut. There was nothing of particular interest there, so he stood slowly and announced without looking at the small girl. "I will return."
Rin nodded, even though she knew that Sesshoumaru could not see it. "I will wait right here, come back for me."
As the shade fell against the door as he walked out, Sesshoumaru took a deep breath. He would return, he always did, and yet in some strange manner, he still didn't know why. In a small way he knew why he returned to the child, but he didn't want to admit that just yet. Not even to himself.
Lowering his brows, Sesshoumaru sniffed the air and caught wind of a loan chicken. Turning around to stare downward at the clucking bird at his feet, it stared up at him as though not realizing that it was standing on dangerous ground. The bird clucked again, fluffed its feathers, and resumed its pecking on the ground, around his feet.
Lifting a brow in amusement, Sesshoumaru watched the chicken peck near the toes of his boots, and then clucked and inched forward. Clucked again and its head bobbed. Cluck, cluck, cluck. Sesshoumaru growled, and then swooped down and caught the bird. Now the bird looked at him without making a single peep, and blinked, not once, but twice.
Tilting his head, Sesshoumaru smirked and flipped his fingers around the neck and snapped the tiny frail neck effortlessly. Turning back towards the hut, he frowned at the dead bird in his hand. Wrinkling his nose, he knew that Rin would feel badly for the creature, as she always did when she stumbled across something injured. Heaving a deep breath, Sesshoumaru once again about faced and found a stray rope hanging from a tree branch.
Tying the birds neck around the rope, quite effortlessly with one hand, he plucked the feathers out quickly, most of them still falling gracefully to the ground, as he plucked the last one out. Grunting, he ripped the bird from the string, severing the neck as he did so, also pulling the string and the branch down with it at the forceful yank.
Crouching on his heels, Sesshoumaru placed the bird on the ground and proceeded to gut the poor creature, and then smirked again and took the meat back into the hut.
Rin glanced up from her humming and grinned at him happily. "That was so fast, Lord Sesshoumaru."
Sesshoumaru nodded, and turned his head towards the fire and found a metal stick leaning against the wall. Furrowing his brows, he had seen Rin carve a branch and then sticking her meal onto it. Almost shrugging his shoulders, he knelt beside the fire and quickly placed the chicken onto the bar, and stuck it into the fire wordlessly.
Rin crawled over and watched as it began to sizzle and she took a deep breath with a large grin on her face. The girl glanced up at him, and Sesshoumaru froze when she giggled. Her small hands reached upward towards his bangs, and he felt his eyes follow her movements until he was almost cross-eyed at the effort to see what she was going for.
Rin took something from his hair and held it out for his inspection, while she giggled happily. "You had a feather in your hair, my lord." She announced.
Sesshoumaru groaned and rolled his eyes. Blowing quickly, he blew the feather off her palm and watched amused as it floated into the air towards her face, and brush against her nose. Rin gaped and then giggled girlishly. Sesshoumaru snorted and turned his attention back to the roasting chicken and frowned. How long was he supposed to cook the meat for? He knew that raw meat was not edible to the human kind, and thus knew that cooked meat was what he would feed Rin, however he had never cooked a single scrap of it himself.
He ate his raw…blinking, he paused and unknowingly, a fang slipped out of his mouth and began nibbling on his lower lip. When was he supposed to take it off the fire? Why would he care anyway? Frowning even deeper, he decided to have Rin finish her own meal.
"Rin."
"Yes, Lord Sesshoumaru?" Rin asked, forgetting instantly about the feather she had been playing with.
His golden eyes followed the floating feather to the ground, until it settled at Rin's feet, before continuing. "I believe you should cook the meat to your satisfaction. Once it has cooked, call me and I will remove it from the fire."
Rin's eyes widened. Sesshoumaru always had her find her own meals, cook them if needed and tend to her own needs. Instead of protesting, she nodded happily.
Sesshoumaru sighed. He was growing too soft around this girl. His pup.
