I do not own Inuyasha!

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 3: Encounter

Kagome's POV

I walk down the soft, muddy path, while droplets of morning dew, sprinkle above my brown worn shoes. Catching sight of the river, I kneel down near the bank, gathering water for the usual breakfast of ramen. I relax for a while to take in the peaceful, green field with dots of yellow, pink, and white, dancing along the morning breeze. I hear the chirping of birds, soothing the stress in both my mind and body. I really enjoy the feudal era as long as Naraku and the numerous bloodthirsty demons are not after the Shikon No Tama along with my life. A sigh escapes my lips as I turn around ready to leave behind my moment of peace; however, when I hear sobbing in the distance to my left, I stop in my track. I turn to my left and tilt my head slightly to the right. Curious, I walk further into the forest, momentarily forgetting the bucket of water. As I slowly walk closer to the sobbing form, I notice a small figure with dark brown hair, part of it gathered in a pony tail to the side of the head. I assume it is a girl. She wore an orange, checkered kimono, which is worn out, causing the colors to fade. She sat on her rear, knees bent, her feet, pointing out to either side of her body. Her miniature hands were balled up in fists, rubbing her eyes, while tears stained her face and sobs echoed though the forest. I am now in front of her, but she fails to notice. I reach my right hand out to give her left shoulder a gentle squeeze in order to get her attention. "Are you alright?"

"Rin…Rin…hurt…herself," she manages to answer in her trembling voice. 'Rin? Where have I heard that name before.' Her sobs disrupt my thoughts, so I push it aside and my eyes fell on her small, fragile frame. My heart slightly sinks, I dislike seeing others hurt, especially someone as innocent as a child. "Where are you hurt, Rin?" She lifts her thin left arm and points shakily at her left ankle with her index finger. I reach out my hand, but when my fingertips came in contact with her ankle she flinches, and grabs my arm. "Does it hurt a lot, Rin?" She had stopped sobbing, but her sniffles continue. Her tear flooded eyes gaze into mine, and she slowly nods. I take out a cream-colored handkerchief with Sakura petals, decorating the outer edges from my skirt pocket. A smile crawls on my lips. Since last night's incident regarding Spirit, I started carrying a handkerchief just in case. I was going to wrap up Rin's ankle, but she rapidly shook her head and said, "No, lady shouldn't touch it. Rin's ankle hurt."

"Could I see it, I promise I will be gentle." I had given her a reassuring smile, and she hesitantly nods her head. Rin removes her grasp on my arm, and allows me to inspect her ankle. As I brush my hand against her ankle she instantly grabs my arm again. "Relax Rin, I won't hurt you." I start to massage her ankle, and her grip slowly loosens. I am glad that she didn't have any broken bones, just a sprain ankle. I take my handkerchief and gently wrap it around her ankle. "Your ankle is just sprain, a little bruise just don't stand on it too much and you will be okay, Rin."

"Really?" She asks in weak voice.

I smile widely at her and nod. "Yes, Rin."

"Thank you, Lady." She spread a toothy smile across her face. Her face then scrunches up for a moment, and she taps an index finger underneath her chin as if in thought. "Um…what is Lady's name?"

"Oh, My name is Kagome."

"Kagome nee-chan helped Rin. Kagome nee-chan is nice and pretty."

"Thank you Rin, but how did you get hurt?"

"Rin was picking flowers when Rin saw green grasshopper and she chased it. It hopped really high so Rin hopped behind it, but Rin tripped on mushy mud and so Rin got hurt." She replied in a more cheerful tone, momentarily forgetting her injury.

"Oh, did Rin catch the grasshopper though?"

Her facial expression turns a bit sad, her eyes downcast, she shakes her head and answers, "No, Rin got hurt before Rin could catch grasshopper. Rin think grasshopper doesn't want to be Rin's friend." She is near tears by now. My eyes look sadly at her, not knowing how to help, then my eyes catches sight of the slender, green grass. 'Of course!' I pluck one strand of grass and start to fold it. 'Done!'

"Rin-chan!" Rin looks up, when she heard her name. She tilts her head to one side as if asking why I had called her name. "I have something to give you." I unfold my left hand, and in the center of my palm laid a green 3-D star made of grass.

Rin's eyes widen with amazement. She points a finger at herself and asks, "For Rin?"

"Of course!"

Her brown chocolate eyes sparkles with delight as she takes the star in between her thumb and index finger, inspecting it. "Wow! Kagome nee-chan gave Rin a star." She giggles with glee, and keeps her gaze focused on the star. "Rin has a pretty star. Thank you, Kagome nee-chan."

"Your welcome, Rin. Um…Rin should you go back home? Your parents are probably worried about you."

"Rin parents died when wolves attacked the village."

"I'm sorry Rin, I didn't know."

"Kagome nee-chan don't need to worry about Rin, Sesshoumaru-sama cares for Rin now, and Rin has Jaken-sama and Ah-un to play with."

My eyes widen in realization. 'So I have met her before, and she travels with Sesshoumaru.' "Well, then wouldn't Sesshoumaru worry about you, Rin?"

"Rin woke up in the morning and didn't see Sesshoumaru-sama and only Rin is awake so Rin went out and play by herself. Rin don't know where Sesshoumaru-sama is."

"I'm sure Sesshoumaru is worried about you, so you should go back, Rin."

"But, Rin can't walk and Rin is lost. Will Kagome nee-chan help Rin?"

"Of course!" I give her a reassuring smile. I know that Sesshoumaru could easily trace Rin's scent to find her, but I could not just leave her here. I know very well how dangerous these forests can be and I cannot refuse her cute, innocent pleas. I stand up and cradle her in my arms as if she was a newly born child. "Rin, which way did you come from?" She points her right index finger toward the sunrise. I start walking toward the east. A mile later, Rin starts getting restless, and I know I am a bit bored as well, so I begin to sing.

Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned?
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?

Come run the hidden pine trails of the forest
Come taste the sun sweet berries of the Earth
Come roll in all the riches all around you
And for once, never wonder what they're worth

The rainstorm and the river are my brothers
The heron and the otter are my friends
And we are all connected to each other
In a circle, in a hoop that never ends

"Kagome nee-chan sings very good! Can Kagome nee-chan sing some more for Rin?"

I smile and nod at how adorable she is. As I was about to begin singing, a flash of white appears before my eyes, causing me to step back and stop in my track. I am face with intense amber eyes.

Sesshoumaru's POV

As the sunrise mark my transformation back to my humanoid form, I travel back toward the campsite where I had left Rin in the care of my bothersome servant, Jaken. I return only to find Rin missing, while the useless toad sleeps unaware of the missing presence. I kick the worthless servant on the head, and he rapidly scrambles awake, while kneeling and rambling his apologies. 'I had specifically commanded him to watch over Rin, yet he fails again. Do I always have to do everything?' I grew tired of his incompetent excuses, so I decide to search the lands on my own. I catch whiffs of Rin's scent toward the north, so I dash ahead in search of her. About five miles down, I could hear a voice singing a very unusual tone that I did not recognize. I could faintly smell jasmine with a bit of melon. 'Her again.' My eyes were emotionless, when I confront the weak human. The human girl appears shocked from my presence, when my gaze clashed with her navy blue eyes. I stare intently at her, displaying my confidence and power. Her heart rate accelerates, but she maintained eye contact.

"Sesshoumaru?" The human girl breathed out, but I was able to hear her with my keen demonic senses. My facial expression remains unchanged, and the human girl's effort to remain calm was in vain. Her voice was suppressed, and sweat trickled down the side of her face. Her eyes held nervousness, uncertainty, surprise and fear. 'Pathetic.'

"Um…I found Rin hurt…a-and…I'm just helping her get back." 'Weakling.' My eyes hold a bored expression, while the human girl was stuttering in my presence.

"Sesshoumaru-sama! Rin was hurt and lost and Kagome nee-chan helped Rin." The child explains to me, yet the human girl did not show any sign of releasing Rin. I slightly narrow my eyes toward the human girl, and she seems to acknowledge my act for she immediately explains, "Rin's ankle is sprained, she cannot walk, so I carried her here." The human girl seems to have relaxed. 'Strange.' The human girl was afraid of me just a moment ago, yet now all unpleasant emotions were erased from her eyes. She hesitantly inches toward me, and extends her arm out, offering Rin. I took Rin in my arms, and turn around to leave.

"Bye-bye Kagome nee-chan! Come see Rin sometime." The child Rin shouts and waves at the human girl.

"I will Rin-chan, and take care!"

I saw the need to clarify my silent leave to the human girl, so I stop but didn't turn around. "Next time we meet, I will not guarantee that you would be able to walk away with your life." With that warning, I summon the cloud beneath my feet and took my leave.

I know this chapter is boring, but I had to make them meet somehow. Plus, not all chapters are exciting, but I promise that the next one will be more thrilling. After all, the hunt for Naraku is still on! Actually, I might not update for about a month b/c exams are coming up and I have a few essays to write, so sorry, but when I do update I'll either make it longer or post two exciting chapters at once. More reviews will definitely mean faster updates!

MiaHime