Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of "InuYasha" by Rumiko Takahashi nor the wonderful world she has created.

A/N: This is part of my iynokakera claim of Jaken and Rin (platonic) for Set #2.

Theme: Voice

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Rin's Voice

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Giving a quick stretch of his muscles, the small imp relaxed further into the tree, hoping once again to regain sleep. His master relaxed some distance away while he had been keeping a close watch on the human ward. The human had only just ceased her talk and Jaken's ears were thankful for that bit of relief.

Regretfully opening one eye and then the other, he faced his beak up to the night sky and scoffed. Sleep was becoming hard to come by. Beside him he heard the light, yet obnoxious smacking of the girl's lips. Curling herself further into a ball, the child was nuzzling herself against the tree. Jaken imagined that had the child been conscious she would not have been happy with the cuts and scratches she was currently giving herself.

Even now, years since she had been taken up by his inu-youkai master, the girl was more fit and less dirty during most of their travels and yet the girl always managed to injure herself one way or another. Light injuries mind you— the lord would have his greenish hide were the misdemeanors anything over a stumped toe or small scratch. Still, the thought of such maladies upon the human brought up memories that even Jaken had believed himself to have forgotten.

As a demon, years and centuries had gone past before he had met the human child, even so before he knew of his lord's existence. There were so many events of his past that Jaken had forgotten, both with qualm and indifference. He knew of his mother and a faint reflection of her face, yet he hardly remembered his childhood. Bits and pieces and then sometimes centuries past before another memory would float by him. It was the same with the girl. Upon their first meeting she likewise had held little remembrance of who she was. She was quiet then, Jaken mused, and yet the silence was not welcome then, as that same type of silence would not be wished for now. No— during those times the child's silence had been out of pain.

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The next morning had risen and memories of his lord's resurrection of the human girl were still foggy in the imp's mind. She had seemed very aloof since the previous day and was still yet to utter a sound. Unhurriedly, Jaken wondered what her name was— if she ever had one being a stray human— and where she was from. Still, they were just questions. Jaken could care less either way, but his resolve and decorum was weakening out of aggravation. All the girl did was hum softly to herself and follow his lord like a lovesick puppy when she actually did show some recognition of them; it was downright unnatural.

So, as Jaken prompted himself out of sleep he could already hear the slight rustling of the girl around him. 'Odd thing,' Jaken mused. From what he had heard of humans he believed them to be selfish, slothful, dim-witted creatures. As much as any demon, Jaken knew from generational common knowledge that humans were nothing but fools, still this one girl seemed to be different, after all they had to be something redeeming about her if his lord had decided to keep her.

Turning to gaze around the large trunk of the tree the two underlings had rested upon for the night, Jaken let out a pent up sigh. The small girl was up to her waist in the tall grass, filling up both her pockets and her time with the pollen-filled wildflowers and chasing happily after the chirping insects that seemed to be content in a game of tag along her feet.

"Human," Jaken directed towards the child, "stop your nonsense. Our lord should be returning shortly so be a grateful servant and pay your respects when he returns."

The girl raised her head at the sound of his words and Jaken thought for a moment that she might comprehend them. He knew for a fact that humans were slow to understand anything too complex— it mystified the small demon with the number of human maladies how they had survived the last few centuries. With her head raised the young girl turned her head just barely in his direction without gaining eye contact and then uttered a small giggle and returned to her folly.

"Stupid girl," Jaken muttered cryptically under his breath.

The next few hours followed the same routine and Jaken was becoming quite perturbed with the young human. It was when their master returned, however, that the imp spoke up against the child's silence.

"The lord has returned girl." To the imp's temper the girl did nothing and remained hidden in the brush. "Come greet your lord," Jaken added more forcibly a second time. Still no motion of movement came from the girl. Jaken's master acknowledged him and with a distant look gazed on at the young child.

"She will not come out milord. Wh—What shall I do?" Jaken was met with silence and instantly fearing that his intentions had been met foully took himself to the dirt in apology. "Oh forgive this lowly servant. I should not have asked such of you when you have entrusted the girl to me. I shall never question you again master."

The lord remained unmoved and again gave a casual glance at the child. "I see." He then turned from the two and walked off in the direction he came a distance before finding an unaccompanied area to rest.

"Now look what you have done girl! How dare you be so rude to your master!"

Still the girl gave no recognition to the imp, but she did glance slowly over to the lord in a solemn mannerism.

"Leave her be Jaken," the lord called over to the imp, leaving no room for questioning.

"Yes milord." Jaken bowed quickly and soon returned to his previous post, but not without a cryptic look back. "Stupid girl."

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The tattered form of a small girl huddled despondently against the side of a small shack in the village. Quietly and to herself she drew tiny circles in the dirt below her. Her humming was soft and if listened too closely, strangely ethereal.

Two men looked upon her with wary expressions as they past the orphan. Exchanging the same bizarre look between one another they hurried past. "Was that her— the strange orphan girl?" muttered one.

"Yes, that was she. The poor child has secluded herself away ever since she arrived here one day."

"Where did she come from?"

"No one is completely sure, but the girl's family were killed by thieves I imagine. I heard there had been a few raids in our brother villages a few moons ago, I assume she came from one of those."

"Poor child— still she's quite spooky at times. She never speaks."

"I fear her voice may never return— the pain might simply be too great. This being said, hold her no grudge. Just keep walking and don't look back. Do not dishonor her with your prying."

The young child could of course understand every word the men and the rest of the village for that matter said to each other as they past. They were all the same— thinking she did not hear them.

Out of all the names they would call her, she despised 'stupid' most of all.

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It of course would be quite some time before Jaken finally did realize the true reason for Rin's silence back then. She was currently such a chatter that the past seemed so far away and of little consequence, but having gained a certain familiarity with the human over the years Jaken no longer belittled her human status for the misdemeanors of others. She was still as silly a human now as she was then, Jaken admitted with a small chuckle, but she had shown how she would grow even more interesting by the day. Slowly she would seem more a Youkai than even he.

So as Jaken listened to the soft mumbles of the sleeping Rin slowly silence down, his eyes did not narrow. They did not twinkle like the innocent girl before him, no— but neither did they lower.

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