Rin watched from her perch on the oak tree branch while Sting and Rogue frantically searched around for her.

"I can smell her, but I don't see her," Rogue stated.

'How could they smell me? What are they? Half human half dog? The madness of this world,' Rin thought to herself as she observed the human males.

She closed her eyes momentarily as a deep seeded regret swept over her, 'I feel like I'm forgetting something vital, but for the life of me I can't begin to imagine what it could be.'

She repositioned herself so she could stretch her legs out against the tree branch and rest with her back against the trunk of the tree, closing her eyes she felt her body begin to relax into slumber, the fanning of the trees leaves providing her a sense of relief from the heat of the summer sun.

A slightly younger Rin laughed as she raced with the young boys, the youngest of their group was a little girl with short cut blue hair. The girl presently resided on Rin's shoulders. The boys had various hair colours, pink, blonde, and black. The pink haired boy had black eyes while the black haired boy had red eyes, the blonde boy had dark blue eyes. Chasing them was another black haired boy with red eyes.

Suddenly a sense of danger swept over her, she glanced behind herself and just managed to evade what appeared to be a giant Scorpion stinger by jumping to the left side, the girl still on her shoulders.

"Rin-sama?"

She glanced over, seeing the older black haired boy was watching her. She quickly took the girl off her shoulders and handed her to the boy.

"Get them all out of here. Get back to your parents, now," Rin ordered as she kept her focus on what she now knew to be a hollow. It was shaped like a scorpion, although it was certainly large enough to rival trees in size.

Once she was sure the boys and the girl were out of sight, she popped a small green circular object into her mouth, and instantly her soul separated from the body she always wore when she interacted with the children.

She wore a modified kosode which was sleeveless, and modified hakama which gave her the appearance of wearing a mini skirt. On her right arm was a badge with the 8th division emblem, she steeled her eyes as she regarded the hollow. "You made a big mistake threatening these children," she growled out at the monster before her. She leapt into the air and drew a white hilted Zanpakuto with a giant cat claw as the tsuba from a white sheath at her left hip.

Rin blinked herself awake and glanced around. She could still hear Sting and Rogue searching for her. She gave an exasperated sigh and jumped down from the tree branch. Both men spun on their heels and gave stunned expressions at the sight of her before them. She met their gaze, unfaltering as she repeated, "I said it before: I'm fine on my own."

"Call me old fashioned but I don't like just leaving a girl whose been that badly beat up on her own," Sting countered.

Rin rolled her eyes, "and I thought chivalry was dead."

"Where are you trying to get to? We'll help you find your way back," Rogue offered.

"I'm not going anywhere you'd be familiar with," Rin objected.

Rogue and Sting both gave her skeptical looks while Sting shrugged, "then we'll get someone who is familiar with the place to go with you."

Rin casted an icy glare at him that he was certain would turn him into ice shards if she willed it to be so. Very calmly she repeated, "I'm not going anywhere that anyone would be familiar with."

"You say you're alright on your own, then land a few hits on one of us," Sting challenged.

"What?!"

Rin's surprise was only surpassed by Rogue's as his eyes widened at his best friend's comment. 'How many ways can this possibly go wrong? Far too many for me to count,' Rogue thought to himself.

"You say you're okay on your own. You certainly didn't look like it when we found you," Sting pressed.

"What I encountered before you found me would've torn through you and your friends like a hot knife through warm butter," Rin defended herself.

Sting smirked at her as he continued to pressure her, "so getting a hit in on one of us should be easy for you."

Rin pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance before blurting out, "you haven't changed at all Sting Eucliffe."

At this remark both Sting and Rogue paled while their eyes widened, but Rogue was the first one to speak, "I thought so. You're the girl who used to play with us when our parents were discussing things—but you haven't aged at all."

"Yes I have. I just age slower than you and everyone else here," Rin corrected. She gave an exasperated sigh as she glared the two men down before revealing, "do you get it now? None of you can follow me where I'm going because where I have to go isn't another city, or another Kingdom—it's another world."

Sting rubbed the back of his neck a little before asking, "it wouldn't be—Edolas?"

"No," Rin stated in response.

"No, where I'm from your sort of magic has never existed—Etherion doesn't exist—but there is something similar to Etherion that does exist, reiatsu. Reiatsu is the source of my power and since Etherion is similar I'm able to use Etherion to restore my power and my health rapidly. That's how Porlyusica was able to get me healed so quickly," Rin answered.

'I'm going to have to replace their memories before I leave here now. Damn it. I was trying to avoid that,' she inwardly cursed herself.

"So one thing still doesn't add up. Why couldn't we find you? I had it timed so I'd be there just as you were in range for me to catch you. Yet when I got there you were nowhere to be found, not without the blood trail," Rogue asked.

"I did that intentionally. I'd hoped that you wouldn't be able to see me in that form," Rin admitted.

"'That form'? What does that mean? You're just talking in riddles now," Sting objected.

"What I am is a being that's nearly two centuries old. A being capable of defeating evil spirits so powerful that they can destroy entire buildings with minimal effort. You've seen them or heard about them without even knowing about it. Every time a human who seemed to be in perfect health dies unexpectedly, that's the work of an evil spirit I fight against. Telling you more would mean that I have to alter your memory before I leave this world," Rin cautioned.

"That's hardly an explanation," Sting growled, "you're just creating more questions."

The steel grey eyes met with the dark blue, then glanced over to the vibrant red eyes of Rogue. After a moment her eyes shifted back to Sting and stayed on him as she inquired, "you really want to know?"

Both men nodded while Frosch clung to Rogue's leg, hiding behind him. Lector stood watching Rin as if mesmerized by her.

"Then I'll tell you; I'm a Death God," Rin confessed.