Chapter 2

"Master do you think this wise? It has been years. For all we know young Rin is married and with children by now." Jacken, Sesshomaru's loyal companien and aide said to Sesshomaru as they traveled to the village they had left Rin in years before.

Sesshomaru strode confidently through the dense forest without breaking stride. Jacken paused before trying again. "I have missed the young girl. But by my calculations we are five years overdue of her eighteenth birthday. She would be twenty three by now." Still, Sesshomaru said nothing. Jacken scratched his head in confusion as he wondered at his masters sudden decision. Not that he should be surprised. Sesshomaru was always a law unto himself and with a very inquisitive mind. They would often stray far from their path just to satisfy his curiosity. A powerful full blooded demon, there was very little challenge in the world around him or other demons, which Jacken credited was the cause of his short attention span. His master could literally be in the middle of a battle and suddenly lose interest in killing whoever dared defy him and simply walk away. He rarely showed any emotion and his features were always dead pan. They had literally been traveling south, in search of some ancient text that had piqued his masters interest when suddenly he had paused and glanced at Jacken when he asked. "Is it Rin's birthday today?"

Jacken at the time had slammed into the back of his masters knee due to the sudden stop. Being an imp and his dimmunitive size he hardly lent a scratch to Sesshomaru's person. His master had patiently waited for him to regain his senses and straighten his hat when he asked again. "Is Rin's birthday today?"

Jacken tenderly rubbed his nose before replying in a nasaly tone. "Her birthday was three weeks ago master." Sesshomaru had simply stepped over Jacken and called his two headed dragon A-Un to his side. Jacken scrambled to reach his masters side. "My lord! What about the ancient text? We've spent months tracking it down. According to that old demon who fought alongside your father this is the same ancient text he himself used to master many of his powers. Powers that you share and many you could even learn! Your father was a legend and the entire demon world was in awe of him. If there ever was a ruler of the demon world it could have easily been him. All answered to him and obeyed his unwritten rules. This is a golden opportunity. We've already delayed this long in seeing young Rin, I don't think another few months while we acquire this priceless text would be-"

Jacken squeaked to a stop and swallowed his next words when Sesshomaru knelt before him and he came to eye level with his master. Sesshomaru stared deep into his eyes for what seemed like eternity, but he knew was only the space of a few breaths. "What do you mean we've delayed?"

Jacken stared at his master in surprise and tried to regain his composure. He glanced nervously around before responding quietly. "What I meant My lord, is that as we've already missed a number of her birthdays, one more shouldn't be too-"

Sesshomaru cut him off immediately. "How many?

Jacken stared at him in confusion. "How many what master?"

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes at Jacken, a clear sign his infinite patience was wearing thin, which was usually followed by Jacken eating dirt after his master would knock him into the ground. "Years? You must mean years." Jacken stammered quickly.

Sesshormaru frowned slightly in confusion. "Years?"

Jacken swallowed again, not used to be the focus of Sesshomaru's attention for this lengthy amount of time. He was suddenly saved when the great beast A-Un landed beside them. Sesshomaru stood and jumped on to his back while Jacken barely had enough time to snag his hand onto one of Sesshomaru's long robes before they took off into the sky. Since then, Jacken had been a bundle of questions, some for himself while others were very vocal as he questioned his master to no avail.

Years before, the last time they had gone to see young Rin for her sixteenth birthday Jacken had been very pleased to see the young girl had grown in stature and had become a very beautiful young woman. Not that he thought human women were very pretty to begin with, but she highly resembled Kagome and her daughter with Inuyasha. Of course, proud father that he was, Inuyasha would constantly go on for hours about their beauty much to Jacken's chagrin. Why his master seemed to enjoy his younger brother's antics and company the last few years was beyond him. His master had changed much over these last twenty three years. Jacken blamed the majority of that change on young Rin. Where before his master had been ruthless and had little to no respect for his enemies lives, now he more often than not avoided battle unless absolutely necessary. Of course, he always made it seem because he was bored, or there was little challenge or it simply was not worth his time. But to Jacken it seemed much more likely that his master's consumption for blood had dissipated greatly.

Jacken did enjoy his master much more this way though. He didn't often feel as if he was a burden any longer, or that his master would sacrifice him easily to achieve his goals as he did before. Now, Jacken actually felt cherished, and he could swear his master actually felt affection toward him now. He would never say this of course, Sesshomaru was extremely prideful...but he could tell he liked him.

That year long ago, after Jacken had told Rin a few stories of their recent adventures, his master had presented her with a saphire pendant, a precious stone it had taken them quite some time to acquire from a demon goat. Sesshomaru had been obligated to run a few errands for the goat in order to acquire that item and lend him his protection while he traveled to his homeland. That was something Jacken would have never believed his master was capable of unless he had seen it for himself. Young Rin had been so elated by the gift she had exhuberantly jumped into his master's arms and wrapped hers around his neck as she cried happily into his shoulder.

Jacken would never forget the look on his masters face.

Again, if he had not seen it, he would have never have believed it. Sesshomaru had at first been surprised, and very slowly that surprise had turned into such a flare of lust in his eyes, Jacken to this day was still sure he had to have been mistaken. For a brief moment his master had wrapped his arms tightly around young Rin and pulled her close into his body, closing his eyes and appearing for all accounts to enjoy the sensation of her body pressed into his.

Jacken's jaw had dropped.

Sesshomaru closed his eyes and allowed his hands to gently rub up her back before he had tenderly touched the crown of her head when his eyes had suddenly snapped open and his gaze locked with that of Jacken's shocked one. Very slowly, Sesshomaru had removed himself from Rin's grip and claimed he and Jacken had a long distance to travel and had to leave immediately. Rin had been very dissapointed but understood. Jacken however was very surprised. To his knowledge his master had planned on staying at least a week in the neighboring area, for a visit with Rin.

Soon after both he and Sesshomaru had quickly left. Jacken had given Rin a hug of goodbye, but when she reached for Sesshomaru he quickly hopped onto the back of A-Un and bid her farewell. Rin had appeared hurt for a second before she had smiled brightly and said she would be waiting for their next visit.

They had never returned after that. Jacken even had to make it a point to not mention young Rin as his master would often glare at him until he shut up. Which in itself that look had been odd. Where before Sesshomaru would hit or abuse him if the mood struck, he had never changed expression or even warned him off. Yes, his master was acting very strangely lately.

"Master, are we going for just a visit or are we bringing Rin along with us?" Jacken asked timdily.

Sesshomaru remained silent for so long Jacken believed he would not answer when suddenly he said "It is her choice."

Jacken gathered his thoughts carefully before replying. "Master...her choice was to have been made five years ago. You agreed with Kaede that on her eighteenth birthday we would return and allow her to make the decision if she would join us or remain with the humans. I thought you had gone ahead and made that decision for her."

As they flew through the sky on the back of the massive A-Un, Jacken stared at the back of his master as the wind whipped around them. Jacken was used to his questions not being answered, he was even used to being constantly ignored. So it was with surprise he heard his master say "I had not realized so much time had passed."

Jacken found that easy to believe. His master was well over five hundred years old, maybe even older now. Those little details such as age often seemed to be left behind when you reached an age over two hundred. Yet Jacken still wondered. His master had had no trouble at all remembering Rin's birthday, or making sure whatever quest they had currently been on was headed in the direction of the village after they left her to stay there. Why did he suddenly forget time had passed so quickly? Could he perhaps have simply forgotten Rin was human and aged? Jacken doubted he would ever really know the answer unless his master decided to share his thoughts with him, which in Jackens experience wasn't very likely.

Flying with A-Un's powerful wings, they got to Kaede's village in two and a half weeks. And Jacken was still as lost as he had been before. As usual, in that time his master had not been very forthcoming with answers. Sesshomaru had A-Un land in a field of not too great a distance from the village and they walked the rest of the way. As usual, the lowly humans scrambled to get out of his masters strong strides. They went directly to Kaede's hut. Sesshomaru swept into the hut without hesitation where they found Kaede praying. Sesshomaru waited patiently as was his way for her to finish. When she was done she spoke behind her to Sesshomaru from her knelt position in front of her altar. "If you came looking for your ward, I'm sorry to say your search is in vain."

Jacken felt Sesshomaru stiffen at his side yet stayed silent. When Kaede was not forthcoming with information Jacken replied furiously. "What do you mean by that old woman? Where is young Rin? What have you done with her?"

Kaede laughed bitterly from her knelt position. "What have I done with her he asks. I have done nothing but love a young girl who turned into a woman before my very eyes. A girl who would wait by the window every night and pray Sesshomaru was well and healthy. Worried if you were caring for him the way you should. Concerned if A-Un had been fed well that day. For thirteen years I watched that young girl blossom into a beautiful woman any man would have gladly taken for a wife, but her heart was never here. You may have left that girls body here, but her thoughts and spirit were forever with you."

Kaede slowly rose to her feet, Jacken could hear every creak and groan of her bones as she rose. When she finally turned towards them Jacken could see her red rimmed eyes and trembling lips. It was obvious she had been in tears for some time. "I sent the men out to find her when she ran from here eight days ago. They found where she had camped. They also found the tracks of at least five raiders. According to our tracker she must have been thrown onto a horse because there were only five sets of tracks in the ground, if she had been walking there would have been six."

Jacken felt a rush of air burst beside him. He fumbled for his hat and staff as the sudden blast of wind nearly tore both from him. Jacken looked up to find Sesshomaru must have rushed forward and had grabbed Kaede by the throat before slamming her into side of the hut in mere seconds. Her feet were dangling from where he held her as here eyes bulged from their sockets and she struggled for breath.

Seshomaru's eyes flamed red and his claws bit into the skin of Kaede's throat as she struggled for air. Sesshomaru's fangs snapped together into a fierce snarl when he growled at her. "Where is Rin now?"

Kaede held on to his wrists for dear life and felt the black edges of oblivion around her eyes. Sesshomaru easily moved her and slammed her just a little higher into the wall jarring her senses. "Answer my question or die here priestess. Did your trackers find her body?"

Jacken had never seen his master like this. Sesshomaru was always in complete control. Never once reacting violently, he was always cold and methodical. But this Sesshomaru was on the very edge of sanity. This Sesshomaru he greatly feared.

Kaede clawed at the fierce grip he held on her throat. She even tried to summon a power to thward him, but when she raised her hand toward him he easily absorbed the weak thrust of power she tried to impale upon him. "Your power requires you to breathe does it not?" Sesshomaru squeezed just a little more tightly. Kaede did not fear death, but the hell she glimpsed within Sesshomaru's eyes, the promise of retribution and pain that lay within them, had her experiencing a chasm of fear she had never known before. "They...they took her east." Kaede chocked "I sent my men as far as we could but they lost...they lost the trail days ago." Kaede gasped.

Sesshomaru dropped her to the floor and headed toward the entrance of the hut. He paused before leaving and turned to Kaede with death burning in his eyes. "If Tenseiga is too late to revive her...expect your people to be buried alongside her."

Jacken took one last pitying glance to the woman cowering on the floor in when he ran to catch up to his master. Tenseiga had belonged to Sesshomaru's father. He had left it to Sesshomaru and that act had baffled Jacken. The sword ironically could hurt no living being, but allowed the wielder to see beings from the underworld who were called upon to bring back souls of the recently dead. If Tenseiga slayed those beings, it could return life and heal the wounded. Jacken could only hope they would find young Rin alive. For he feared if death should befall her, then the wrath Sesshomaru would inflict on the world would be merciless.