Chapter Three: The Veil That Devours Human Hearts

The city was just as dark and dreary as the apocalyptic worms' nest it sat nestled in. Even then, Rin was aware that she should have been grateful to her benefactor, Kaede, step grandmother to her childhood friend Kohaku…but she wasn't. Instead she felt resentment, for she had no intentions of leaving the confines of her hometown to live in isolated security. No, but now she sat in the back of a metal carriage being drawn by a horse to who knows where. Kaede, upon the notion of hearing Rin's plight had confiscated her from the clutches of a notoriously feared mobster. The man's name was Kagesumo and he led one of the most feared yukuza's in all of Mibo

district, his accomplices included a woman named Mizu who, although very thin and haggard looking the woman held an utmost impressive reputation as a silencer, around these parts "silencers" went about as hit men and killed people involved in government affairs that wouldn't keep quiet. Gen, another subordinate was rumored an escaped convict who made up for his missing half of a brain for unprecedented brawn, it was said once he had ripped a man's head right off of his shoulders with his own bare hands and all because the man asked him "Do you need some help?" Apparently he didn't like people presuming he was dumb in any intentional way. And Kagesumo…he was more dangerous than the rest of them, he killed countless woman and young girls. Not only did he rape them but had intercourse with the bodies as well and saved their bleached bones as souvenirs. He was a sick…sick, sick, man. Rin had no doubts that she might be his next target when he had gotten tired of her, lust filled him, or when the other two weren't looking. It made her stomach crawl now thinking on the past.

The reason for traveling with them? Because as stated before, she had once been an orphan. Her father was a straight up gambler who went over his ears literally speaking in debt. He didn't even know who he was dealing with when he tried to slide money under the table to a close pal and over step Kagesumo and his gang of bandits. Kagesumo was outraged, at this he put up a compromise. If her father couldn't clear the debt in seventy two hours then he was to hand over his wife and only child as compensation. Well, he did willingly out of saving his own ass. But Kagesumo, being Kagesumo was never satisfied, he sent his group of bandits on the day Rin and her mother were supposed to leave. They not only killed her mother and father, but the entire village that they were staying in as well.

Rin had thankfully been with her elder brother when this had occurred, but some rat in the village had sold them out, Kagesumo then had them attack her brother's residence. The fates must have had a dark sense of humor since she yet again managed to escape, but as always something bad always came with the good. Another deal came to pass and Rin had made herself a vital place amongst Kagesumo and his group of bandit thieves. Rumors got around that Kagesumo was trying to quit his "habit" of killing by starting anew, amending his sins…and settling down.

Rin was the main topic of talk. Young, virgin, single, orphaned and trapped under Kagesumo's thumb. Perfect candidate! No doubt she would become his woman if he ever got the chance…or not loathing about with the nearest prostitute in his grimy hands. But yet again the fates intervened and Kaede had gotten a hold of a few inner circles in Kagesumo's turf, amending paper work and accusations brought the crime lord to court and Rin was freed from her plight…only to be shoved into a new one. So here she sat…in the back of a metal carriage, Kaede at her side watching her like a buzzard watched its prey die.

The city of Sakusa was a breeding ground for criminal activity, the nobles who ruled it demanded that all sickly, elderly, deformed, or people who were simply imperfect be placed here. No one argued, no one complained. Sakusa city boarding schools and economy were renowned all over, it was also the richest city along the coast boasting of many historical landmarks. All over the city great statue monuments of dogs towered in marble over each noble house hoisting in their fangs the flags of the prestigious houses. The caste was simple, it went by districts the grey district was the poorest, then came orange, maroon, gold, and then lastly white. Everyone in the city wore a kimono corresponding to their caste, any who violated the caste codes such as eating where a higher caste resided or sitting in a seat reserved for that caste meant horrific punishment. All nobles of the city wore ebon black and a sash for men and a cloak for women with either gold or white according to their caste. Kaede was supposedly head priestess and advisor to a few nobles, she had promised to return with a worthy apprentice of learning her skills and this is where Rin came in. As a priestess you could enter which ever caste you so chose to work for. The boarding school located in the center of Sakusa near Goshinboku was famous for its priestesses.

But upon Rin's arrival it felt more like a prison to her during the first term, with its harsh discipline and strict rules, and it hadn't helped its inmates initially had not taken to this odd and shy new girl, who apparently had no father and mother- not one that she knew, that is-and who, had it not been for some semi-rich patron, would have been a pauper. Rin had been a little too honest when answering the questions put to her by inquisitive peers, all of whom seemed to come from wealthy backgrounds; even those whose parents where divorced at least still had their parents. She also had no awareness of society's, particularly that of the young and callow variety, rule that anyone deemed different from itself is treated as an outsider and, in some special cases, as an outcast.

Rin had been given residence in one of the old rooms far away upstairs, when she had first moved in she had been disappointed, no more than disappointed. She had been unsettled by it and it had nothing to do with the layers of dust that muted everything within sight by a blanket of dusky muted colors, no nor the dank smell of emptiness. It was the absence she found hard to bear, the lack of presence that was not just having to do with her family's death; it was as if the very room, the school…its vibrancy, its warmth had all but vanished. Rin had felt strange within its walls and this confused her, and it also frightened her too. It was like being locked into a void. But Rin had soon made a close friend by the name of Sango, a priestess who was positioned in one of the higher castes but none the less was much forgoing than most of the snobbishly wealthy children. Breaking upon the priestess code of using the arrow and bow which was the norm, Sango upheld the school's title as being one of the first taijiya or demon slayers. She even wielded a very curious bone boomerang in which one of the high sister priestesses claimed "troublesome."

By then, Rin had also found some refuge in the most peculiar of all things. A statue, the oldest in the entire city. It was, like all the rest carved to depict a great dog, its tail intertwined about the figure of a tall man cladded in magnificent armor. His hair was put into a very medieval style atop his crown and he had two swords on his left hip, the third was in a sheath bond over his back. The details carved into the structures of his strong jaw line and high cheek bones were incredibly strong and well defined. He must have been very important. Rin soon came to find out that the statue was none other than the great lord Inu no Taisho.

Many old legends and stories claimed that the foundation of the city, its laws, and everything upheld in it was built in honor of the great Inu no Taisho who's great spirit was said to have once and still now ruled the entire coast, he guarded over both man and demon alike, and wielded the fangs of the honorable ruler. Rin had read about him in history class, the blades of the fang were thought to be myth, but three symbols of the fangs' given names were scripted into the very bottom pillar of the statue.

Many times, as of now Rin would sit before the statue and stare at it for hours. It had been closed off during nights of the full, new, and crescent moons for fear that demons would plague it. Theses phases were said to trigger some sort of compass, for it was said that the gates to the three worlds would open to each phase of the moon. A nigh when the veil's barrier was weakened and the boundaries to this world and all others were most accessible.

Now that Rin thought about it, she wondered if what she had read from the book was real. The book also claimed that the statue acted as some sort of dial pointing into the direction of the corresponding door that lead to the other side. The dog statue and its male counter part both faced straight north, which also symbolized the netherworld. If what she read was true then each symbol of the fang should point to the given world. Rin slowly crouched and shuffled around the statue, looking north she then looked down, and sure enough at its base lay the ancient kanji for Sou'unga. Tenseiga's kanji pointed due south, which mean heaven.

And lastly the kanji for Tetsusaiga pointed west which was right in front of her pointing to the school, perhaps either a mistake? No, it probably meant, for whoever had carved it meant to mean that the west was the Inu no Taisho's domain and that it had once protected those living here. After all, each fang's name corresponded to its namesake; Ten, Chi, and Gen. Heaven, Hell, and Man. It was rumored that they were the three fangs of world conquest, and having the power to dominate the three worlds. Tenkou Hadou no Sanken, Swords of an Honorable Ruler was imprinted at the very top of the three kanji letters. Well…at least it all looked like Kanji to Rin, after all the statue was said to be at least four thousand years old so no one really knew. Some of the lettering looked squiggly and out of place, whoever wrote it must have had small hands and probably was very old.

The whole story about the Inu no Taisho had her fascinated since the age of eight, Kaede often told her stories of "The phantom beast" and lots of other great and amazing tales. Rin had wanted to see it all, the veil, the demon burial grounds, everything! But now she sought comfort in the statue, her sad eyes looking up into those towering faint amber orbs that were carved into its sockets, sometimes she would come to speak to it to find some comfort. Although it never much responded back, but she found it reassuring nonetheless. It was then without thinking Rin began to climb. She climbed up the curling wispy tails of limestone and ascended to the great howling head. She was panting by the time she clasped her small hands about its jaw and looked down. The statue itself was twenty-four feet tall, and looking down Rin suddenly remembered what she had climbed up here exactly for, that and her fear of heights. Straddling her legs about the statue's mane of marble. Sighing Rin leaned her head upon the mane and stared at the sun's setting, she was then interrupted by Sango's high pitched call. "Oi! Rin chan!"

Rin blinked and lowered her head. "Hai!" Rin stared at Sango who was eating a sweet tart, but she greedily ate the rest of it in front of her and grinned. "You'd better come down, deserts are here!" Sango then grinned pulling her boomerang upon her back and running off. Rin laughed lightly and began her decent down the statue, her footing slipped as she roughly scrapped against the loose limestone. Gripping her fingers onto the mane she blinked and looked down, there was some hidden lettering. She slowly let her left foot go and clambered down a few all the while dusting away bits and pieces of debris and pulling away moss and dank vines that had corroded the statues lacquer setting. There was more lettering, so Rin began dusting more off until a great spiral of lettering swirled about the statue's back.

Rin blew the collecting dust aside and looked it over, the kanji was so very ancient. She licked her lips in concentration and planned to decipher it.

'Father once told me that the hand of youkai are to protect,

Mother once told me that humans are the hand that nurtures…'

Rin furrowed her dark brows. "The hand that protects…" Rin's mind began to pace back on her study of demonology. "The hand that protects…the hand of youkia…" She held up her left hand. She then looked to her right palm and held that one up as well. "Human, the hand that nurtures is your right."

'When both hands are joined the door will open.

From inside the crimson flames, thou is returned.

We the children are the light that defends.

The forbidden shall leave their vessel

The heirs shall be thrown out to hardship.

Should open and benevolent a heart thy possess,

Thine hand shall be received here.'

Rin blinked, her palms felt sweaty just a tad bit. In the very center of the spiral was a small puncture, looking up she faintly noticed the moon now was directly in her vision, its crescent shape glowing in the evening mists. Rin pressed her palm into the stone and gave a sharp cry as her fist sunk into the limestone which had now become almost translucent. Her hand went through it and a small fissure in the earth appeared, through it looked as if the sky had been reflected on the ground. Rin leaned over the statue's edge, it was now or never to get away from this horrible place, to seek adventure. Taking a deep breath she leapt off the statue's great head and plunged into the earth below which swallowed her up.

Falling through the sky onto the other side it seemed, Rin almost screamed as a great head of what looked like an oni zoomed by, the ogre demon head merely as all blinked at her and was gone in a trial of wispy white flames. Many more heads of other weird looking beings floated on by her before Rin was caught by the passing of a large bone structured bird. Rin would have thanked it but it was common sense to realize that a bird made entirely of bones was no longer living. Besides, birds were incapable of speech. That was when the bird decided to, very unceremoniously dump her, she cried out again perhaps for the tenth time in a row as she plummeted to her certain doom.

Was she falling…or was she dreaming?

'Rin sighed again. They had been walking now for five full hours without stop. She trudged through the snow, avoiding cracks in

the ice and the jagged forms of rocks.'

"Am I dead?"

'Then without notice, she tripped and fell against a deformed glacier. Kagesumo and his entourage didn't seem to notice as they continued on walking not noticing. She cried out in fierce pain, as the rock had not only pierced through her skin, but the flesh as well. This, in the icy conditions of the weather, caused the deep gash to turn purple and become inflamed, she winced and looked up; the three bandits were gone!'

"I must be dreaming…ah! My leg."

'All she could see was the drifting clouds of snow and white. "Hello…"she called out, but with no reply. She tried to move only to stumble backwards. Suddenly Rin's footing slipped and she fell, the only thing saving her was her fingertips, which were clutching on to the icy cliff. She knew she could hold on no longer, her fingers burned and had frostbite, and she was slipping.'

'No, I cannot die…I have not even started my life yet!'

She thought sullenly, and then the words of what her brother might have said came to mind 'it is not as if you were doing anything with it anyways!'

'She tried to clear her mind of the thoughts, when a buzzard came and landed at her left hand side. It cocked its head dumbly to the right and began pecking at her cold bitten fingers. The sharp poking from the bird's beak caused her fingers to bleed. She managed to nudge her knees into the icy cliff, pulling her form up she gulped slowly. She finally managed to get over the cliff edge, the bird was still gawking at her so Rin whapped it fiercely in the beak causing it to squawk and flap off in search of easier prey to peck at. Sighing, Rin dusted her knees. Wincing she ripped some clothe and tied it about her wounded leg.'

Rin winced and sat up, her head throbbing, she slowly tried to sit up but she realized that part of that odd dream was real and had happened…well except for the Kagesumo part. She looked up and noticed a smoggy looking black liquid floating above her. If she had been crazy to say that the world had flipped and that the sky had become the lake and the lake the sky, she would have been called insane, but what she was staring at now was all too true. Holding her forehead she immediately realized everything, her ascent to the top of the dog statue. She fondly remembered last being chucked down a great pit. That and the fall.

Looking up Rin realized just how far this rabbit hole plunged, estimating in her head she was probably at least three miles below the surface, she only saw a very small dot which must be the very opening of the hole. Whoever dug this must have had plenty of time on their hands. She tried to peer through the darkness but that didn't help much. As her eyes began to adjust more to the darkness, she was shocked to notice a tunnel going due north. Rin began to understand now, the great hole she had fallen down must have once held a gondola or stairway downwards below the earth, and within must have been built numerous roads going in all directions and leading to who knows where. Rin made out a small crumbling brick of stairs jutting out from the side wall, clambering up she made her long ascend to the very pinnacle of the hole she had fallen through, but upon reaching the surface she was no longer in front of her school. No, now she was in the middle of woodland. Climbing out Rin began to walk through thick foliage, she wasn't in Goshinboku anymore…

Sunlight dappled forests floors and blades of grass clung with dew, the wind sprawled easing through crisp emerald leaves and emphasized the early waning sunlight. Not a bird uplifted from its perch and all eaves creaked from the on coming winter, a blustery wind assumed its place and wavered the boughs with its autumn presence. Gracing the very atmosphere in a light stream of winter's chill. But the sky had come to reside upon the moon's opaque façade, its whole face peered through the clouds in slight intent to bestow light unto the darkness. Everything seemed tranquil a calm like the still translucent form of a mirror's surface. Rin had been walking for hours, but it seemed more like days to her.

The night came upon her like a midnight travelers thrown cloak, unsheathing is great canopy of ebon black and silencing all within its midst. A soothing call from a nightingale inflicted the still night with its dismal song. Nearing the coastal shores Rin stared at the waves that thrashed with a fearsome threat and roared in anguish to the night's horrendous setting. The waves, they sprawled upon the sands and washed away urchins who were thrown unceremoniously to inland. Oh, the night was foreboding yet…and none dare to implore any kindness upon the dark atmosphere.

The sands quaked by great paws, still to echo in the still afterthought. A print left by a monstrous beast etched in its wake. Rin looked down, and a paw had her bare toes ensnared within its clawed grasps.

How dreadfully, utterly, boring… The dust cleared slowly above the horizon. Decaying filth of a desolate wasteland waited as the cliff tops parted, allowing the hallowed ground to be caressed by the feathery glimpses of the sun. But, alas it lasted for naught. Soon the thick smog defiled the rich warmth of the sun's rays, pushing back its kind and open prisms; engulfing them into a thick miasma so potent that not even a single bird could land upon a branch. A weed to grow. A lung to breath. The wind picked up greatly, giving the scene above a somewhat unnatural look. Like some evil had befallen the small desolate landscape below into a dark cloud of malice and evil. But something stood out. A regal ever baring figure, standing with an air that made him all the more aristocratic. Sesshomaru stood towering on his mid-day perch, always to look out over the barren city in which he was forced…like many other demons and half demons into isolation. Closing his eyes his thoughts were suspended from harsh cries.

"Run! Everyone run!" Demon men and woman screamed in high pitched yowls and frightened yelps. Sesshomaru was suddenly pulled upon forcefully by a gnarled old hand. He could not help but give a cold hearted disinterested sneer. But deep down he could not see his kind hurt this way. "Sesshomaru, quickly! We must abandon the crevice. The troops from Abi-Hime's forces have found us out! They will not spare the women and children!" Sesshomaru gazed unemotionally at the old ragged demon, whose brittle bones and paling flesh made him seem so ancient and wearisome than all the years he had known him.

"Totosai, do not be mistaken. This Sesshomaru will not run and hide like some filthy pathetic cockroach under a cement stone. Run if you wish, I care not." Sesshomaru tore his arm away and slowly moved upon his heel in one poised fluid motion and walked away. He didn't want to let Totosai see the hurt in his eyes even though his outward appearance portrayed nothing. "You stupid spoiled mutt! Just because your more powerful than the rest of us doesn't mean you can act all warped with your over huge ego and over spent sense of dignity! You owe us, fight! You made a promise! Your father made that promise!" Totosai stopped his foot in frustration and anger.

"Stop right there!"

Sesshomaru paused; a slow smirked played across his lips. They dare had the audacity to command him? Were they that full of themselves? Truly Abi-hime had granted her men too much indulgence, they certainly looked as if they could handle him, well they had reached an all time low. "Oh dear!" Totosai immediately ran for cover, his true nature of being defenseless and obviously useless in a time of need resurfaced. "Pathetic." Sesshomaru rolled his eyes in utter annoyance. "Your all talk old man."

"You there! White dog, where are you hiding the others! Surrender or we will eradicate you under the law's of Abi-hime's territories. You are not welcomed below borders!"

"Hmph…" Sesshomaru was standing with his back still turned and grimaced lightly when the troops could not think of a suitable rebuttal. What witticism. He truly found it amusing. The pathetic fools may have had genetic implants but they were nothing compared to a true fully fledged abomination of chaos like himself. Turning he raised his clawed hands and smirked rather coldly. He leapt into the air and dexterously flexed his sharp talons which gave a sick cracking noise as the joints and ligaments detached and regrouped. "Quick release the weapon now!" Quickly as if the wind had had a hand in their commission the soldiers pulled a heavy metallic latch upon the vehicle behind them. Within on a four wheeled carrier rolled out a huge black tankard looking cannon. It had wires attached to it and within the metallic casing was a strange white liquid. Sesshomaru halted at that moment in mid air, if one were to see it was extraordinary. Sesshomaru had leapt fully into the air but only to land heavily where he had picked up off the ground spraying sediments and rock everywhere.

Looking within he saw hundreds…no thousands, dear gods maybe more! Hundreds of clinging soul like parasites. Creatures whose souls had been ripped fully from their bodies and manipulated into some chi powered energy sucking force tankard. Obviously not only did this weapon appear to sap the very essence of its victims but fed on the souls for a source of power as well. "Disgusting, Abi hime has weapons feeding off both demon and human souls. How filthy." With that Sesshomaru pulled his claws back and lashed out a venomous green whip. One soldier hadn't even seen it coming, his stomach was torn apart in an instant, and the glowering green whip lashed out and then came from behind. Hitting him so forcefully in his head that his brain was melted in an instant. It all seeped out in an oozing fluid from his noise and ears, before his fleshy body…or what was left collapsed to the ground.

"You bastard!" A soldier from his rear charged with a renewed ferocity and anger, his gun held high to seemingly thrash him with. Sesshomaru graceful leapt, positioning his left footing on his own whip. It served as a balancing beam to hold him over his attacker, moving his hand upwards and fro he was swerved about on the whip. His hand and arm arched for a direct blow. "Poison flower claw." His claws tore through the man's upper abdominal and tore the upper half completely off which by the way melted to nothing from the deadly toxins. His spleen was left to spray his gore in washing rain droplets of crimson. Sesshomaru landed easily onto his feet and played a smirk across his lips again. What he didn't realize was that his poison had melted through the cannon.

The souls seeped out, exuding from their metallic prison to escape its confines. Set free and able to find their peace, at least from this life. He took a step back only to be stung viciously. He winced and watched as his flesh began to regenerate. Taking a good look over his shoulder, the powerful demon turned about on his heel with a very mysterious grace. The mists parted allowing a small figure to step forth. Sesshomaru would have laughed if it were not for an inflicting needle imbedded into his flesh, melting his surrounding skin which tried to regenerate around it only for the process to be repeated once more.

Standing before him a child clothed half nude in shrouded white silks scrutinized him with cold amethyst orbs. The mere albino child stared back, returning the stoical demon's ruthless glare. Sesshomaru huffed and smirked, a raised clawed glowered with a heavy smog of poison green vapor. "Who are you…one of Abi-hime's dogs?" His words were a calm interrogation but none too probing. The child entity smirked and casually faulted before returning a wicked smile of his own. Slowly, a gleaming pike was exposed from the deteriorating mists. "Ku! Abi-hime. I do no such thing, I am Hakudoushi. Naraku's incarnation." The boy looked him over, his purple orbs finding him somewhat lacking it seemed. Sesshomaru lowered his clawed hands in a quizzical scowl. "Naraku?" Sesshomaru echoed the demon-child's leveled tone. Hakudoushi's lips slowly eased into a sly smile, it wasn't a very kind sight. "Have you not heard of him?"

Hakudoushi took a small step forwards, his pike trembled in slowly skittish circles, his beady purple orbs watched the demon before him with a bloodlust that practically exuded from his flesh and pores. Hakudoushi's cruel smile slipped a tad bit wider and curled at the seams in a grinch like way. "They say you are the most powerful demon in these parts…is that not true? Or do Abi-hime's lies deceive me?" A glint from the pike's edge flickered in the sudden stream of the sun's rays.

"What is your intent."

Those golden orbs narrowed into dark slits of lucid crimson.

"I want your head…" Hakudoushi drawled, the sadistic nature in his impure voice lashed out like grating chalk on board.

"I'll skin you alive."

Author's note: Whoa, another cliff hanger, I can't keep doing this. Any who, the story's moving along…slowly but surely. Man so many character backgrounds to incorporate, Abi and Yuuki. Whoa, this is getting good. I'm getting a bit too excited about this story. Well let's make this next chapter all the more delicious, Kagura's gonna butt in for a few. And the notoriously deviant Abi hime takes center stage. And the most exciting jaw dropping drool maker Sesshomaru vs. Hakudoushi, it doesn't get any better than this. I always wanted to see them fight in the series since Hakudoushi and Sesshomaru are considered the most powerful demons in the entire show. I couldn't help it. Well stay tuned for the next chapter! Reviews and comments are welcomed thank you!