Chapter 14

Rin

We couldn't just leave. Not yet. Not until we found out what happened to Lord Sesshomaru. It was late, and Shippou and Kohaku were setting up camp. Shippou was working on a fire with his fox magic and Kohaku was trying to catch fish for us to eat. While they were doing that, I was looking for any traces of Sesshomaru by the lake. There were no footprints or traces of him being by the lake at all, but Shippou was sure his scent was the strongest here. 'Odd' I thought.

"That's strange…" Kohaku mused wading out of the water.

I walked with him back to the fire. "What is it?"

"There's no fish in that lake. In fact, there's pretty much nothing in that lake, period. Just some sand at the bottom of the water. Nothing else; no fish, no plants, nothing."

"That is weird…" I mused.

"Whatever, I'm sure I can find us something else…it'll just have to be some berries or something."

"Ya know, I'm not that hungry…" I said, holding him back from going into the woods.

"Well I'm not either…but what about Shippou?"

I looked over at Shippou who was trying to juggle branches aflame.

"Shippou!" I called out to him.

His concentration broken, the flamed sticks fell from the air and hit him multiple times in the head, one landing on his fluffy tail and burning it. He screamed, running past us and into the lake, a slight steam arising from the surface of the water.

I shook my head at him. "Shouldn't play with fire."

"Are you KIDDING ME? That's my main technique! I play with Fox Fire all the time!"

We both laughed at him as he dragged himself out the lake completely drenched. He dog-shook the water off his body and got us wet. At that point, everyone was laughing at each other's ridiculousness.

We dried off by the fire, talking about games we'd play as young children. We had our own version of tag, we called it "ninja-tag" because the boys were so agile, they would chase each other through trees in the forest. Since I couldn't jump that high or run too fast, the boys would take turns helping me out by carrying me on their back. Of course, I couldn't tag whoever was helping me, they were "immune". Another game we'd play was "Lava" where we'd pretend the ground was lava and we couldn't touch it or we'd burn to death. I'd always stay on a boulder or rock…Since I couldn't climb a tree very well…

"Remember that one time we aimed for the same branch and butt heads!" Kohaku laughed.

Shippou scoffed, "Which time? That's happened so many times!"

"Yeah, and it hurt every single time!"

The two roared with laughter over their misadventures over the years. We all grew up together like siblings, and it had been a long time since we'd hung out like this. It was a nice change. We all continued to laugh at our stories. Then a sudden silence came over us, and the talks went from humorous to serious.

"I missed you guys while I was away," Kohaku said quietly. "It was all strict training, there was no one my age to take my mind off of stuff."

"Didn't killing stuff take your mind off of things?" Shippou replied.

"No, training actually reminds me of…well, the past." He turned his head away and sighed. I moved over closer to him and leaned against his shoulder.

"Everything's okay, Kohaku. You need to let go of the past. Otherwise, you won't look forward to the future, or appreciate the present." I tried reassuring him. These thoughts were always on his mind, even after all these years of Naraku being dead.

"I can't ever let go of it. I killed and injured so many people."

"Under Naraku's control!" Shippou argued.

Kohaku sighed and kept his eyes averted from us.

Shippou yawned. "Alright, I'm knockin' out. See ya in the morning." He got up and walked towards the forest, where he'd probably rest in some tree.

Kohaku and I didn't look at each other. I could tell by where the moon was that it was late in the night, and yet I still wasn't tired.

"You know, he really cares about you." Kohaku started.

"I know, and I really care about him too. And you too! You guys are like the brothers I never had…or lost…I really can't remember anything before my attack…"

Kohaku looked over at me carefully. "You used to get panic attacks when thinking about that stuff…What changed?"

I shrugged. "Koga and I hung out a little bit when he'd visit Lady Kagome. I got to play with the wolves, so I'm not afraid of them…not as much, at least."

"Oh, well that's good."

"Yeah, plus I figured Lord Sesshomaru would always be there to fight off any wolves attacking me."

"Well, he hasn't really been around for a while…"

"But if I was in danger, he'd be there for me. I know it."

"Rin," He started cautiously. "Shippou's the one who saved you from that demon, Shippou's the one who's gotten you out of trouble for the past four years…Not Sesshomaru."

I paused for a moment…Kohaku was right. All these years, Shippou had been there for me when Lord Sesshomaru hadn't…but, if Lord Sesshomaru could be here, then he would be the one to protect me.

"Listen, Rin…Shippou really, really cares about you. He'd send me letters all the time talking about you. How you were, what you guys were up to…"

"Really?"

"Yeah, but you can't tell him I told you. He'd beat my head in if he found out I told you, haha!"

I chuckled softly. "I promise, I won't tell him."

"Pinky promise me!" He stuck his little finger out to me.

I smiled. "I pinky promise." I grabbed his little figure with mine and swore.

After that, Kohaku put out the fire and went to sleep. He brought a mat with him to lay on. Meanwhile, I was used to sleeping in the tall grass while traveling. So I laid back watching the stars for a little while.

I looked back at the lake. The water was completely still, no rippling or movement at all. I figured that a late night soak might help me get to sleep. Plus, I felt pretty grimy, and this lake seemed to be extremely clean. The water was so clear, I could see my feet touching the sand in the bottom. I took off my kimono and lay it on the shore.

I sank down, my body being washed in the fresh, cool pool of water. I moved closer to the middle, reaching the center of the moon being reflected off the surface and dipped my hair back in the water, combing it through with my fingers. The water ran down my face and off my shoulders. Washing off always felt so soothing and relaxing, and it was completely silent too, aside from the slow chirping of the crickets. I looked back up to the stars filling the back sky. "Lord Sesshomaru," I said aloud. "Have any stars died yet?"

Finished, I began to wade back to the shore when suddenly the lake began to dimly glow.

'What the…' I looked around me and the glowing was getting brighter and brighter. Panicked, I rushed back to the shore, but before I could take one step onto the sand, the bright light had blinded me, and then everything was dark. I was under the water, and struggling for air. I gasped and water filled my mouth and esophagus and finally entered my lungs. I could see nothing and reach for nothing.

'Lord Sesshomaru…Shippou…Kohaku…please, somebody! Help me!'

Finally, I fell asleep.

Shippou

The sun shined through the leaves and hit my eyes, waking me slowly. It was a bright morning, and the birds building a nest next to me sang nonstop…It was too early for me to be up. I grabbed my tail and put it over my eyes to block away the sun. It covered my ears so the chirping was dulled. 'Much better…'

"SHIPPOU!"

Growling, I removed my tail from my eyes and looked over at Kohaku, who was perched on the branch next to me.

"What the Hell, Kohaku! You trying to scare me out of the tree! It's too early for this crap!"

"Wow, you sound a ton like Inuyasha."

I scoffed. "Hmph. I sound nothing like that guy."

Kohaku rolled his eyes. "Sorry for interrupting your sleep, but Rin's missing. We have to look for her."

I sat up quickly. "Rin's missing? What the hell happened last night? Did she say anything? Did you say anything to her?"

"We talked, but nothing came up that would suggest she'd leave us."

I sniffed the air. Immediately, I caught her scent and followed it. It led from the fire pit, to some spot in the grass, then straight to…the lake. Then it stopped, just like it had with Sesshomaru's scent.

"I have a feeling she went after Sesshomaru…Whatever happened to him, it happened to her as well…" I said to Kohaku behind me.

"What do we do?" Kohaku asked.

"Well…" I turned back towards the lake, glaring at the beautiful clear water. "We try finding what's up with this lake…"