PURE FLOWER
Chapter 14
The Exchange
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Sesshoumaru stared at his daughters as they slept peacefully in the woven basket he ordered to be made a few months ago, unaware of the turmoil around them. The twins, Aya and Maya reminded him of his half brother InuYasha who was a half breed himself. When InuYasha was just a pup, sometimes Sesshoumaru would just watch from afar as both the demons and humans chase after the young half breed. If not for the promise he made with his father before he died, Sesshoumaru would have let the pup fend for himself. So without InuYasha even noticing it, Sesshoumaru protected him, until he reached maturity.
"Are you my father?"
Sesshoumaru frowned when he remembered the first conversation he had with InuYasha when the pup was young. Sesshoumaru was forced to reveal himself before InuYasha to kill off the giant ogre chasing after the half breed. When the ogre died, the young pup had quickly clung to his sleeve with his tiny hands and cried. He was annoyed, but he did not shake the pup away.
"Are you my father?"
"...I am your brother."
Unwillingly, he was forced to train InuYasha, although several times the breed almost ended up dying. Then when InuYasha was sixteen, his human mother died. Sesshoumaru had watched as InuYasha buried his mother under a giant tree, far away from the castle they had been living in. It was also the day the siblings parted.
"I heard some priestess is guarding some kind of jewel that can make any wish came true, so I am going to find this jewel."
"Wish?"
"Yeah. I want to turn myself into a full demon like you or father, Sesshoumaru. Say, you wanna come with me?"
"...Pathetic."
"What?"
"You are born a half breed and you should stay one. It is pathetic to deny one's identity."
"I just want to be strong like you!!"
"Then what?"
"...huh?"
"Why do you want to become stronger?"
"So I can show those demons and humans what I made of."
"You are pathetic, InuYasha. You are a disgrace."
Being young with least experience, InuYasha was quickly defeated soundly by Sesshoumaru. After the fight, Sesshoumaru left InuYasha and went back to the West to govern the land, and then many years later, he received news that InuYasha was sealed away by the priestess. Although the seal was broken now after fifty years, the half breed was still searching for the Four Soul Jewel. Even Kouga was searching for it. Let them kill each other for all I care.
Still looking at his daughters, he reached out a finger and caressed Aya's cheek. No matter what they are, the girls were his daughters. He would guide them and protect them, and would not let them feel ashamed or weakened by their blood.
"My lord, the elders are asking for you." Jaken came into the chamber and spoke softly to Sesshoumaru, so his voice would not awaken the twins. Both Shura and Ryuya entered the chamber and immediately went to their father's side and looked at their sisters.
"Look after them." Sesshoumaru said, taking one last look at his daughters before leaving the chamber with Jaken. Outside the chamber, Sesshoumaru set up a barrier using his aura to protect the children from outsiders.
"Look after them, Jaken."
"Yes, my lord."
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"Did you hear?? Did you hear?? That bitch gave birth to half breeds!!"
Ren laughed and twirled around and around inside her chamber. It would seem that her Sesshoumaru would be casting the woman away. Although Ren had no idea why her father's pup would be a human, she really did not care.
"She is cursed anyway. Sesshoumaru should have listened to me in the first place." Ren said and pouted when she recalled Sesshoumaru protecting Rin even when she was suspected to be a Wing Clan survival.
"Lady Ren, Lord Sesshoumaru was called upon by the elders to the meeting." The male servant stated and smiled when his mistress bestowed him a seductive smile. When his Lady Ren stopped twirling around in the chamber and started walking towards the door, his heart pounded with excitement.
"Where are you going, my Lady?" the servant asked and began follow his mistress.
"Why, to pay my dear little sister a visit of course. She must be devastated to have been abandoned." Ren said and walked out of the chamber, going towards the master living quarters.
"Are you going to comfort her?" the servant asked, confused that suddenly his mistress was being kind.
"Why not? As her sister, I should not let her feel this kind of sadness. Therefore, I must end it." Ren said and turned around to face her servant with a smile on her face. Caressing the servant's face, Ren let her finger nails sink into the servant's skin.
"You too, are sad because I am his mate, don't you?"
"Lady...Lady Ren?" the male servant whispered fearfully as he felt something slowly dripping down his face. He struggled, but suddenly he was paralyzed. He was poisoned. He stared into his mistress's beautiful face and whispered.
"Why...kill...me...?"
"To end your sorrow, of course." Ren replied as her nails starting to glow in red lights.
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Rin sat up from her futon and winced when the pain from the birth remained in the body. She looked around the chamber and found no one was with her. The others must have been gone when she was taking a nap. Suddenly, she heard a crash and some yelling outside her chamber and sat up straighter when her chamber door was forced open. She came.
"Lady Ren, what are doing here?" Rin asked and her amber eyes widened in shock when she saw all the bloodstains on her hands. The guards are killed...
"What is wrong when I just want to visit my own sister?" Ren said and slowly advanced towards Rin with bloods trailing after her. This time, Sesshoumaru will not stop her because Rin had been abandoned.
"You are here to kill me?" Rin asked and looked down at her own hand. Her long raven hair falling around her shoulder and when she moved, she winced in pain and her silk robe slowly slid off her shoulders.
"I am merely doing Sesshoumaru a favor since the councils have decided to terminate you and your children." Ren said and stood before Rin. It had been a long time since she killed someone, and she was excited. Raising her blood covered claws high above Rin's head, Ren decided to torture her with poison before killing her.
"So they have abandoned me..." Rin whispered and her shoulders dropped further down. Covering her face with her hands, Rin sobbed.
"They betray me...again."
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Sesshoumaru sat at the high seat at the council chamber and listened to the elder's bickering. He knew that the elders were only trying to protect the clan and its honor.
"We must kill them and make their bodies disappear before the outsiders know about this disgrace!!"
"We must not let the mistake happened again, Lord Sesshoumaru."
Sesshoumaru closed his golden eyes temporarily while the elders were still voicing out their opinions. When he reopened his eyes, his aura flared around him and the elders immediately quiet down.
"They are not to be harmed." Sesshoumaru stated.
"But my lord...the other lords will surely use them to shame you. That human tricked you and the lie was discovered when the half breeds are born." One of the elders said and gulped when Sesshoumaru glared at him.
"The half breeds all of you keep mentioning...are my daughters. They are the princess of the West and will not be insulted by anyone. Do I make myself clear?" Sesshoumaru growled and glared at everyone in the council chamber.
When everyone was calm and whispered among one another, Sesshoumaru said something that changed everything.
"Is she really a human, or something else?"
"My lord...you mean...that rumor spread by Lady Ren..." One of the elder said and looked shocked when he recalled the rumors spread by the lord's first mate regarding the new comer.
"You mean....a Wing Clan? But...but..." One of the elders said and glanced worriedly at the others.
"FATHER!! FATHER!!"
Shura burst into the chamber, shocking everyone except Sesshoumaru who immediately sensed that something was wrong. All the elders looked displeased at the intrusion but Shura ignored them and went straight to his father.
"I went to check on Rin...but...but I smelled mother...and blood...and..." Shura said and clenched his fists, drawing blood as he told his father what he saw. He wanted to help Rin but he knew he could not stop his mother. So he transported himself as fast as possible to his father.
He liked Rin. She had treated him as if he was her brother, or a son. There was one time when he let Rin embraced him, so he could listen to the heartbeats of his unborn sisters. When he said his siblings would become his weakness, Rin had simply smiled and shook her head.
"You will only become stronger when you have someone to protect. There is no shame in admitting that you have someone other than yourself who are important."
"Will be protect your brothers and sisters from all harm, Shura?"
"I will. I will protect them, and you."
Holding the edge of his father's sleeve, Shura stared up at his father. Unlike his father who was the most powerful demon in the four lands, Shura did not have that kind of strength to defend Rin even though he promised that he would protect her along with his siblings. He suddenly realized he was so weak that he despised himself.
"Please save Rin, father. Please." Shura begged and cried, for the first time.
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Sesshoumaru was in the master living quarter in just a flash. He had immediately transported himself after his son Shura settled down. Although he did not like to see his son fell into tears like some weakling, but it also meant that his son had grow to have pride like him, and he was proud of that.
Even without looking at his surrounding, he knew everyone in the quarter was killed. To have Ren behaved thus to his degree meant he had no choice but to kill her now. Placing barrier around the quiet quarter so that Ren would not escape easily, Sesshoumaru advanced towards the chamber where Rin rested.
As he moved closer to the chamber, he smelled her scent, and was relieved to know that her blood had not been spilled. Moving into the chamber, Sesshoumaru glanced at the feathers and torn futon lying on the floor. There was sign of struggles but no blood.
"Rin?"
A movement in the shadowed corner alerted Sesshoumaru. Instinctively, he withdrew his sword and was about to slash until he saw it was Rin. He scanned the scents around the environment and could not detect Ren's scent. She must have escaped when she smells Shura...
"...Lord...Sesshoumaru...?"
Sesshoumaru stared at Rin sat at the corner of the chamber, with bruises covered the area of her throat and tears tracks on her cheeks. Dropping the sword on the floor, Sesshoumaru quickly pulled Rin into his embrace. He knew he must question her and he knew he must not trust her after she lied to him. However, the thought of losing her made him realized that he did not at all care whether she was a human, demon, or Wing Clan at all. The status of her being was not important as long as she was the Rin he wanted to protect; the Rin he cherished.
"I almost lose you." Sesshoumaru whispered and tightened his embrace when he felt Rin's arms going around him.
"Why do you come here? I though you and the council are going to kill me and the babies." Rin whispered back and laid her head on his shoulder, hiding her face from his view.
Sesshoumaru slid his hand along her back and frowned when he found some feathers attached to her robe. Judging by the condition of the chamber, his Rin must have been putting up a fight against Ren.
"I will not let anyone harm you, or our children. That I promised." Sesshoumaru said and laid his head at the top of her head. He did not know what happened, he was just glad that his Rin was safe.
"I know you will keep your promise, Lord Sesshoumaru. You are a noble, after all." Rin said and pulled slightly way from Sesshoumaru. She smiled at Sesshoumaru before laying her head back at his shoulder.
"...because...you are...a noble."
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CASTLE DUNGEON
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A lone woman sat on the cold ground with her back lying against the hard stone wall of the cell. Although her amber eyes were staring ahead, there were no sights in them. The lone woman, Rin, was dead.
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PS: A cliff here. I will update ASAP. Sorry and thank you for waiting.