As they took rest for the day, Rin carousing with A-Un and Jaken lounging lazily beside them, Sesshomaru became stock still as the unmistakable stench of smoke, blood, and decay assaulted his senses.
He turned his head towards the right, looking back at the path they'd taken to reach this small field, away from the village Rin had so eagerly sought to visit. His eyes narrowed.
What happened?
A-Un pulled one of its heads back and purred roughly in contentment as Rin graciously scratched behind the other's ear. The same head came in and nuzzled her on the side, its rough scales gently caressing her covered arm and side.
She chuckled, "At least I know you enjoy my company." She conversed with them. As the same head that nuzzled her side poked around hear the side of her kimono, her head came back into a gentle peel of laughter. "But perhaps you only missed me because I spoil you with treats." She said as she reached into her sleeve and pulled out a small fruit for the dragon.
Before she could finish offering up the small fruit the two heads rammed into one another in an attempt to eat the fruit. Rin's endemic laughter was cut short as the two headed beasts turned towards the same direction that its' master faced. She noted the look of intrigue on the often stiff and expressionless face of her Lord.
Her eyes squinted into the far off distance, she could make out a cloud…..or maybe smoke….or maybe or horde of demons in the sky.
"My Lord?" she called, regaining his attention.
He turned his attention towards her and cocked a brow in her direction, a questionable invitation to continue.
"Is something wrong, My Lord?" she asked, knowing all too well his senses were much better than hers. "What is that?"
Sesshomaru pondered her question idly before answering. "It is nothing that concerns us." He replied dryly.
Rin's eyes narrowed in response at his answers garnering his full attention as his eyes almost dared her to continue her investigation.
A-Un pulled at the harness, disgruntled by the onslaught of smells coming from the distance and Rin pulled on the reigns to redirect their attention.
Rin turned away from his unrelenting gaze and instead patted the soft nose of one of the dragons to calm it.
"Nightfall is approaching." She said aloud to no one in particular.
Sesshomaru didn't reply and Rin shrugged.
"I'm going by the river before it gets too cold." She said simply.
Sesshomaru felt his eyes narrow infinitesimally, he could see the mischief shining in her eyes.
"A-Un will accompany you." Sesshomaru said turning away from her, effectively ending the conversation.
A small smile graced her features, "Of course." She replied, coaxing the creature into following her with ease.
Sesshomaru allowed his eyes to follow her supple figure as she disappeared over the bend into the woods and towards the river. His blood boiled in his veins knowing she would try and defy him, there was no doubt in his mind that she had no intention to simply bathe by the river, she would go see for herself what the matter was. Even in knowing this, his anger was most fueled by the lack of care she seemed to have though she knew that he suspected her.
He sent A-Un to deter her and by her laxed demeanor, she all but promised him that she would defy him anyway. His teeth ground together as his nostrils flared.
Did she truly believe he was so naïve as to believe her lackluster performance?
She was insulting his intelligence, by far.
He stood up and quietly slinked into the greenery behind her.
She had little time and she knew it, he would be hot on her heels no matter how much lead time she had and again she had little.
She yanked the kimono over her packed bag, the bag she used as a headrest every night when they would rest. It would be teeming with her scent and it was stocky enough to distract him if only for a while and really that's all she needed.
Her usually nimble fingers fumbled in frustration, why couldn't he just tell her what was going on? Why did he feel the need to belittle her with his obvious omission of information? Did that justify what she was about to do? No, but it left her very little choice and thus prompted very sudden action. He brought this on himself.
"A-Un," she purred enticingly, "come here."
She opened the palm of her hand and revealed a small powder in the center of her palm, the two headed beasts getting a whiff of it and inching closer curiously. Before they could inhale the substance, she gently palmed the center of their noses to lace their scent with the stuff, which would keep them at bay for at least an hour.
It was crushed herbs and something Kagome called liquid pheromones, though Rin was not wholly sure of what these pheromones were Kagome had explained that these were sourced chemicals specific to certain creatures that would at the very least capture their attention into pursuit and deviate them for some time.
An intriguing place the future must be, Rin had thought when Kagome explained that zookeepers, a new breed of animal tamers, used them to domesticate all kinds of creatures.
Rin watched as A-Un searched for more of the scented powder not realizing it was on the tip of it nose and started pursuing it in the direction Rin steered it towards, the direction opposite her actual path.
Once the beast was out of sight with her scent, she tore into the woods at top speed running towards the path they had followed earlier on in the day. She immediately recognized it as the path towards the village they'd passed. Concern clutched her heart as she thought of the children and men she'd seen earlier on in the day, she hoped they were alright.
As suspected, she was not by the water. Sesshomaru growled before slamming his fist into a boulder which produced a satisfying rumble and cracking sound.
He had enough, she toyed with him too often, not understanding her purpose. She was to serve him and only him, abiding by his will for her and instead she resisted, imposing her own will and judgement freely as if it were her Kami given right. He figured he had no one but himself to blame, he'd given her too many liberties as a child, this was why she defied him.
No more.
Her scent was scattered about pulling in different directions, but one breath of air told him that the most potent of her scent had gone away from where the blood had been shed near the town and instead deeper along the path towards their destination.
The fool.
She must've thought that there was something ahead and strung A-Un along. He took off after them, fuming silently.
She would be made to understand one way or another.
Rin hunched over and supported herself on her knees, ripping air into her lungs as she came to a stop. Her legs shook with exhaustion and yet she could only take a fleeting break, by now he had to be onto her for sure. After all he was no fool.
She spurred her body on, all the while staying by the water, moving silently through the night.
Suddenly the ground started to meet her as she tripped and fell. She stood up and coughed, brushing herself off and cursing her clumsiness.
She glanced back to see what she tripped over and gasped. It was kabutowari, it was broken though, smashed as if some formidable creature had crushed it beneath its foot. Trepidation trickled into her blood stream, the weapon clearly belonged to a demon slayer, a strong one if he carried such a weapon. Where was the wielder, what had happened to his weapon? She wondered.
A sudden grunt startled her into taking refuge in the surrounding greenery.
She climbed the tree she hid behind in hopes of finding an answer. She crawled on all fours as she found a sturdy enough branched peered around the vicinity before her eyes landed on a bloodied and battered corpse, shielded only by the darkness of the night.
"Please." He choked out.
Rin leapt from the branch and neared closer, hanging by the tips of her finger onto another branch.
"Help." He chocked. "Please."
In spite of her senses telling her to be wary, she dropped from the tree and made her way over to him. Had she not been used to seeing men in a wounded state, she surely would have collapsed.
The burly man was bloodied, his body badly broken, and his will clearly crushed. Is uniform was in tatters but it looked so similar to her own she had no doubt he was indeed a slayer. She could see the bone sticking out at an awkward angle from his leg and could tell by the way he drew his breath that one if not several ribs were broken, and bruises littered his body.
She approached from his right and could see that the swelling and blood had closed his eye.
"I…" he wheezed, "I can hear you. You walk faintly on the earth. You are a young woman, are you not?" he pleaded. "Leave this place, they are coming. Save yourself please." He cried.
Her voice was lodged in her throat, it saddened her to see a fellow slayer in such a state. She cleared her throat.
"What do you speak of? What has happened? Are you from the village in the distance?" she asked.
He tried to move his head, to see her she assumed but he whimpered as pain racked his body.
"No." he cried. "I am a stranger to this part of the land, I was called to the village to help but those damned ogres struck while we had our guard down. While our men played with the children and helped to gather the supplies of the villagers. We had to split up to save who we could. All we could do was stall them."
"We?" Rin asked.
The slayer pulled in a painful lungful of air. "There were four of us, I am not sure how many of us remain."
Before Rin could asked him any more questions he began to sob.
"Forgive me," he begged, "I shouldn't-"
"Hush." Rin told him softly, walking into his line of sight. "It is agonizing to see you, I cannot begin to fathom what you are feeling."
He gasped as he took her into his sights.
"You are a slayer?" he asked.
Rin simply nodded, kneeling beside him.
"Let me help you." She said.
He closed his eyes, "Please I have an elixir in my sleeve, it will relieve me of these pains."
Rin gently moved her hand into his sleeve, but not without an obvious wince from him and pulled out the small vile.
"Just pour it into my mouth." He instructed her.
Rin uncapped the vile and took a whiff of the mix. She shrank back instantly.
"This is poison." She exclaimed.
"Yes." He breathed. "It will kill me instantly. Relieving me of all these pains. Please fair maiden give me this last gift."
Rin's eyes nearly fell out of her head, a slayer only did this as a last resort, when all hope was lost. This man had clearly been through an ordeal but death? He was so young, he could still do so much, she was so sure.
She bit her lip in contemplation before a steely gleam shone in her eyes.
"No. Forgive me but I cannot bring myself to do it." she told him.
The man chocked back another sob, "Please." He begged. "There is no way left for me and the demons are soon approaching. I could not bare to face the Kami knowing I've endangered you, please just relieve me of this agony."
"No." Rin said firmly. "Your work is not done here slayer. I will not kill you, not when I can save you. Forgive me for this." She said as she reached over and pressed on one of his broken ribs.
He cried out and she threw her hand over his mouth until he stopped struggling, having blacked out from the pain.
She leaned over and pressed the side of her face to his chest and heard his steady heartbeat; relief causing her body to sag.
She moved to his shoulders and checked for any damage, relieved and surprised to find that there was none, before grabbing him from below and around his shoulders and dragging him into the woods.
