Chapter Two

-Miroku's POV-

Ever Since I left the temple I was raised in and started my long journey of enlightenment, I haven't ever met a woman quite like this before. I absently placed my hand back onto my still stinging cheek where she had not too long ago struck me and watched as she stormed off with her excitable, yet somewhat timid friend… Sango, she said her name was? I shall question this village about her; surely she comes here quite often if she lives nearby.

I closed my eyes for a moment to get a good clear vision of her in my mind. Long silken brown hair that was pulled up into a high pony tail, light brown eyes that revealed her feral cat likeness. Her black battle suit that clung tightly to her body, expressing how well built and shapely she was along with pink armor pads on her shoulders, knees, and abdomen. I could tell she was quite strong by her choice of weapon that she carried on her back. A giant smooth textured boomerang that was just about as tall as she was… If that was indeed a weapon, it had to have been quite heavy.

She seemed to be a warrior of some sort now that I thought about it. Though women are still quiet exotic and strange to me, I knew warrior women were a rarity to come across. I grew up far north in the mountains and was raised in a temple by the monks who inhabited the temple. I was told I was found not too far away from the temple, crying up a storm in the woods. The monk who became like a father to me and my trainer, Takao-sama, found me next to the corpse of my dead mother who seemed to have died of blood loss from a large wound in her chest. All of the monks of the temple were sure that a demon must have gotten ahold of her and she had traveled as far as she was able to get me to safety.

Two years ago, on the day of my twentieth birthday and when the news had reached us that the uprising of the demons was banned by the demon lords that ruled that ruled over the East, West and the North, I left the temple to start a journey of enlightenment. Being curious of the world outside the temple, I was like a new born babe. The lifestyle of people outside the temple was both fascinating and addicting… Most addicting to me were the women. The opposite sex was… Just something new to me entirely and the things they made me feel were something I simply could not put into words.

Though over these two years, they all began to blend together… They all seemed to be the same wherever I went. It became too predictable and it was beginning to bore me just a bit… Until I met her today. She was unlike any woman I have met since I left the temple. She was beautiful, strong and unpredictable. I wanted to get to know her better, I wanted to see if I could get to understand her ways and why she did it.

-Inuyasha's POV-

"Getting Late..." I yawned as I placed my hands behind my head, continuing my walk randomly through the woods.

I was way too far from the castle to even think about walking back before night fall... And I knew by how weak I felt during the day that tonight was the night of my weakness, the night of the new moon.

"I hope I come to a village soon. Sure don't want to be out in the wilds at night when I turn into a weak human." I murmured to myself as I watched the sky glow orange and pink as the sun began to hide behind the nearby mountains.

My ears perked when I heard the sounds of a young girl giggling. Just what was a little girl doing out in the woods alone when it's damn near dark out? I quickly followed the sounds of the giggling girl, maybe there was a human village nearby and this child could possibly show me the way as I returned her to her most likely worried parents.

As I drew closer, I noticed a shabby shack with a small fire built out in front of it, a pot sitting on the fire and giving off the wonderful aroma of the soup inside. I hoped that whoever took up shelter here was generous towards travelers.

My hair began to stand up on end when I caught the slight wiff of that familiar scent. It almost smelled like Sesshomaru... Had he come to bring me back to the castle?... But I also caught another scent. It was familiar as well, thought I just couldn't put my finger on who it belonged to. I took in another intake of breath, trying to force myself to remember, but I could no longer smell anything except for the soup. I reached up and placed my hands on top of my head, trying to feel for my Inu ears... But they were gone. I moved my hands to the sides of my face and tugged at the lobes of my now human ears.

"I hate the night of the new moon..." I sighed helplessly as I hung my head.

"Hey Mister."

"Gah!" I nearly jumped right out of my skin at the sudden soft voice that addressed me.

I looked down towards where the little voice had come from and my eyes widened in disbelief. Standing before me was what looked to be a miniature version of Sesshomaru, minus the scarlet markings and elfin ears, but a perfect replica of the blue crescent moon in the middle of her forehead... Sesshomaru had once told me that the moon was a sign of the first born child of royal blood in Inu demons... Could this little girl be...?

"Tsukiko!" I heard a woman call out to the child, clearly upset.

I glanced up to see two women The one on the right wore a tight black outfit with pink shoulder, knee and abdomen armor, a red strap tied around her waist to hold her sword and carried a large boomerang on her back. Was that thing suppose to be a weapon? Her dark brown hair was pulled up into a high ponytail and she held a untrusting scowl on her face as she glared at me that caused me to cringe a bit. The woman on the left... She look oddly familiar... Her dark black midnight hair... Her fair lightly tanned skin, those warm caring brown eyes...

"Rin..." I softly murmured to myself only loud enough for me to hear.

"Mama!" The small girl that resembled Sesshomaru, Tsukiko I heard that frightening woman call her, said as she ran over towards Rin and attached herself to her mother's leg.

"Tsukiko." The scary woman said to the child, "What have your mother and I told you about talking to strangers?"

"But Auntie Sango~" Tsukiko whined, "He doesn't look dangerous at all, he just looks a little lost."

I couldn't help but feel a little irritated. In my human form, I was nothing but a "lost" weakling that even children pitied and wanted to help.

-Rin's POV-

Why did this man seem so familiar to me? I took in his features for a moment to see if his identity would somehow leap into the front of my mind eventually. He had long wild onyx hair, dark carefree brown eyes and wore a loud red kimono... That kimono... Why did it seem more familiar to me than the actual person that wore it?

"Are you lost sir?" I asked the strange man, stepping up towards him.

The man rubbed the back of his head nervously and looked off to the side, "Ye-yeah... Sort of."

I gave a small smile and a welcoming gesture of my right hand. "You're welcomed to stay the night here and continue you journey in the morning sir."

"Rin!" Sango began to scowl at me. "You have a daughter, you can't just let strange men stay in you're home like that!"

I turned to Sango with a eased warm smile, "Sango, it's fine. If something was wrong with him Tsukiko would be the first to know. Besides, maybe if you start trusting men a little more you'd find that perfect husband you've been longing for." I teased.

Sango turned a deep shade of red, huffed, then turned away as she folded her arms across her chest. I giggled a little, she always did that when she was embarrassed.

XXX

-Inuyasha's POV-

It wasn't long after supper that everyone started to go to bed for the night. Rin surprisingly really knew how to cook and I didn't hesitate to ask for thirds... I sat on the right side of the small hut with my back against the wall, holding Tessaiga tightly in my hands while Sango, the frightening demon slayer woman, sat with her back against the corner opposite to me... She was oddly alert for some reason. In my human form, was I really that much of a threat to her? Rin and her daughter Tsukiko lay in the middle of the hut, all curled up under a old looking, but clean kimono.

'I can't believe it's been five long years...' I thought to myself absently. it seemed like only yesterday when I witnessed Sesshomaru strike Rin and send her away from the castle on her own in the middle of a bloody war over the lands of the West and the East... And to make it worse it appears that Rin was with child when he had sent her away so coldly. Did Sesshomaru know about the child? Did he know that Rin was out here on her own rising a half demon daughter in a old run down shack in the middle of the woods? I will never forgive him if he does know... Even if he doesn't I still can't find it in my heart to forgive him for what he had done to Rin that day years ago.

During the meal, Rin didn't really ask me a thing, though she seemed to be busy paying all of her attention to her child and all she had to say about her day while her mother was away shopping. From time to time, I'd see her trying to sneak glimpses at me... I could tell she thought she knew me from somewhere, but couldn't find it in her mind where she had possibly seen me before. She didn't remember who I was... But then again how could she? Rin has never seen me in this state before, I doubt she even knew that I could even turn human during the night of the new moon. If she were to ask me directly, what should I say? Should I tell her who I am? Something inside me told me I shouldn't... What if she hated me for what my brother had done to her...? The Gods forbid... But what if Sesshomaru found out where she was?

"If I am to ever catch sight of you again, I will kill you..." Sesshomaru's last word to Rin began to echo in my mind, causing me to grasp onto Tessaiga tighter... I couldn't allow that to happen...

Before day break, I will leave this place at once and never come back... For Rin's sake...

"Why are you staring that them so hard." Sango's voice echoed across the room accusingly.

She was still awake? I hadn't even realized I was staring at Rin and her daughter so intensely... I turned my head to the side, "Mind your own damn business..." I murmured.

"Stop being a pervert." Sango shot right back at me.

I scoffed and began to close my eyes, murmuring once again but to myself, "You have no idea what you're talkin' about."

She either didn't hear me or choose to ignore me, because I didn't hear anything else from her the rest of the night.

XXX

I opened my eyes to see the sun rising from behind the shabby looking straw door of the hut.

"Damn it..." I groaned to myself as I quickly began to stand up, placing Tessaiga back in my obi. "I must have fallen asleep."

I took one final glace at Rin before ripping my gaze away and exiting the hut before anyone else could wake up. Now that I was back in my half demon form, I'm sure that Rin would easily recognize me. I sighed and began to leave the hut, pushing the straw door aside with my left arm, letting the morning sun flood over my skin. I was almost to the edge of the clearing, about to head back into the forest when my ears lightly twitched on top of my head. I could hear something hurling towards me and fast. I turned to see that giant boomerang the demon slayer woman carried as a weapon spinning and slicing through the air towards me. I jumped just enough into the air to avoid the weapon, glancing behind me to see it slice through the trees like paper before it began to return to it's owner. She caught the weapon amazingly with one hand, giving me a frustrated scowl.

"Hey!" I shouted out at her in clear annoyance, "Watch where you're swinging that damn thing! You could have killed me!"

"I knew there was something up with you." Sango snapped at me, ignoring what I had said to her completely.

"Sango..." Rin yawned as she pushed the straw door aside, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, "What's with all of the commotion...?"

"Go back inside Rin." Sango ordered the girl. "That traveler you decided to trust out of the kindest of your heart decided to show his true form."

My eyebrow twitched in irritation, This woman was seriously starting to piss me the hell off.

"True form?" Rin asked groggily as she turned her attention over towards me.

I swallowed hard and my heart began to race as her eyes began to widen in recognition. She stood there looking me over for a moment before words finally began to form across her lip.

"Inu... Inuyasha...?"