Chapter Twenty-one: Rin and Shippo's Story

Bracing herself for the worse, Kagome walked into her room to see the two kids were now tossing the teddy bear back and forth like a ball, both of them laughing as he flew through the air.

"Ok," Kagome said sternly, as if she was their mother, as she went over and climbed onto the bed with them. "Now that things had settled down a bit, maybe you can both tell me a little more to what's going on here?"

"What do you want to know?" Rin asked brightly as she hugged the teddy bear.

Kagome stared at her before she rolled her eyes and said in as calmly as she could, "Just what is going on? I mean, what does any of this have to do with me? Please, I really want some answers to why you need me."

"We told you," Shippo said slowly as if she thought that Kagome wasn't listening. "We think that you can help us with this curse!"

"Yeah," Rin said smiling and reaching over for a quick hug. "All we have to do is find the jewel, defeat Naraku, and wish on the night eclipse so that we can all be human again and live out the rest of our lives in peace! Easy right?"

This wasn't working. So instead, Kagome took several deep breaths and said as coolly as she could, "Ok, why don't you both just tell me about yourselves? I mean, how long have you both been vampires? And how do you think I can help you become human again? I mean, I want to help, but I need to know how to do it first don't I?"

"Fair enough," Rin said thinking it over. "Well, my name is Rin, and I was born into a family this bbbbbbbbbiiiiiiiiggggggggg!" she held open her arms as wide as she could as if to prove her point. "Mom and Dad didn't have a lot of money, but they loved me and all my brothers! I was the youngest so I often got away with a lot."

She smiled at the memories at least until the smile slowly faded and she became sad. Kagome almost didn't recognize her with that heartrending look on her face. She looked so heart-breakingly depressed that Kagome wanted to hug her. "At least until the day the bandits came," she whispered.

"Bandits?" Kagome asked quietly pulling Rin up close to her. "What bandits? What are you talking about?"

Rin sniffled and Shippo also reached over to take her hand. "That was the day that I became a vampire," Rin whispered so quietly that Kagome almost missed it. "I was outside picking flowers for mother when they came."

Her sweet expression turned cold, "Bandits attacked my village. They burned everything to the ground. Smoke filled the air, and there was so much blood splattered on the ground as the houses all burned…"

She couldn't finish and started to cry. Kagome barely noticed that vampires shouldn't be able to cry as she leapt up and pulled a few tissues from her desk and handed them to her.

"Oh, Rin," she said sadly, "I'm so sorry."

Rin nodded, "My papa and brothers went out to fight them off… but there was too many of them and they were unarmed. Mom told me to run for the forest and not to come out until they went to get me. I did what she said. I ran as fast as I could… but the bandits all had horses. They didn't want any survivors… they came after me and…"

She drew a shuddering gasp and began to let the tears flow. Not knowing what else to do, she pulled the little girl into her arms and held her tightly as Shippo whispered words of comfort. Kagome was disgusted that anyone could be so heartless. How could anyone be so cruel as to actually go after a little girl and kill her in cold blood?

After a few minutes, Rin had calmed down enough to go on. "I was lying there on the ground just bleeding to death when suddenly Lord Sesshomaru appeared and saved me."

"Saved you?" Kagome asked confused. "What do you—oh," she said answering her own question.

"Yeah," Rin nodded as she put her hand up to her neck to the spot where she was sure to have been bitten. "It hurt a lot at first, but suddenly… I came back. I've been with Lord Sesshomaru ever since."

"And…" Kagome began, needing to know the answer, "Are you happy?"

Rin thought that over for a minute before saying, "I'm… happy I guess. I mean, I'm tired of being a little kid. I want to grow up someday."

"Yeah," Kagome chuckled lightly. "I can see how being stuck as a little kid for 500 years could drive you crazy."

"Tell me about," Shippo pouted as he folded his arms grumpily. "I'm tired of living like this. We can't even go outside on a sunny day without being in pain. I want to go out every day and have friends, and eat normal food like candy, and then drive a car someday! I want to just hurry up and move on with my life already!"

"I hope you do too, Shippo," Kagome said, though she privately thought that it was for the best that the little boy couldn't drive just yet. "But what's your story?" Kagome asked, pointing to the cute fox ears, feet, and tail. "Last I checked, vampires didn't have fox tails."

"I know," Shippo said with a nod. "And they don't have dog ears either. Some of us were demons before we became vampires."

Kagome stared at them and choked on her own words, "You mean… you were a demon? Like the kind from fairy tales that eat everyone?"

"Was a demon," Shippo replied. "There were demons who lived 500 years ago… but almost all of them died out by now. Me, Inuyasha, Sesshomaru, Koga, Kirara, and Ayame were all demons… well, Inuyasha was only half, so that doesn't really count."

"Ok," Kagome said quickly, "You've lost me. So it's not bad enough that you guys are vampires, but demons as well?"

Shippo looked at her sternly and said firmly, "Not all demons are bad! A lot of us just wanted to be left alone and live in peace."

"Ok…" Kagome said thinking it over. "That's good to know… but what happened to you?"

Shippo sighed miserably as he sat back on the bed. "My mom died when I was still little…"

"Oh," Kagome said sadly and pulled him into a hug.

"Hey! Hey! Hey!" he called out as he wiggled in her arms. "I don't need a hug! I'm a full-fledge vampire! I don't need someone to hold me like that!"

"Sure," Rin said as she poked him softly and he stuck his tongue out at her.

"Anyway," Shippo answered huffily as he straightened his tiny vest and said in a grown-up voice. "I lived with my mom and dad in the middle of the forest until mom died. After that I lived with dad and we were very happy. We used to play games all the time, and he taught me how to do fox magic."

"Fox magic?" Kagome repeated. "What's that?"

"The art of illusion," he said proudly. He then reached into his pocket to pull out some leaves. Sticking his tongue out in concentration, he through the leaves like they were a deck of cards and with small 'popping' noises a little army of clone Shippos were all running around with big grins on their faces.

Kagome's jaw dropped as she watched all the little fake Shippo's all line up and waved up at her before they vanished in more puffs of pink smoke. Kagome's jaw was still open as she looked over at the real Shippo and said, "You mean to tell me that was an illusion? That looked so real that I…"

Shippo grinned proudly as Rin clapped her hands together. "Nice one, Shippo!"

"Yep!" he jumped off the bed and began to pace the room as if he was the king in his throne room. "I know all kinds of tricks! Dad taught me everything I know about Fox Magic." He smiled for a long time, until a very ugly look came over his face. "At least until they came into the picture and ruined everything."

"Who?" Kagome had to ask as Rin looked sad.

"I went out to get some acorns…" he explained, and Kagome could see that he was struggling to continue. She wanted to pick him up and hug him tightly… but instead, she just put a comforting hand on his trembling shoulder and Shippo went on in a brave tone. "When I got back, two vampires that were called the Thunder Brothers were there…"

He sniffled. "And dad was…"

Kagome couldn't help it anymore. She quickly pulled him and Rin into tight hugs again and held them both as they both looked miserable. She was surprised, but glad that neither of them seemed to want to pull away this time.

What was wrong with the world? Was earth really such a terrible place 500 years ago? Did no one care about how many innocent lives were ruined? Why couldn't they just take what they wanted and just leave everyone alone? They all sat like that for some time until Shippo got hold of himself and jumped down from her arms.

"Anyway, when I saw what they did to father, I turned and ran away. But then they came after me and bit me by accident," Shippo continued, not looking at her.

"If you don't mind me asking," Kagome asked timidly, "What do you mean by accident?"

"Well," Shippo went on rubbing his eyes. "When they caught me, I tried to bite one of them to let me go, but it got him angry and he bit me back to show me how a real bite's supposed to be. But as he and his brother started arguing, I was able to escape. By next morning, I was a vampire. After a few days on my own, I met up with Koga and Ayame. I stayed with them until I met up with Inuyasha, and the rest of the group."

"And those are our stories," Rin finished, "We've all met up with each other and once we all learned about the jewel we knew that it was the only hope we had left… and ever since, we've been looking for the jewel. Trying to find it before the next eclipse."

"Inuyasha was the one who told us about the jewel and now our time's almost up," Shippo finished on a depressing note.

"And you think that I can help you find it?" Kagome asked with a whisper.

"Yep," Rin said smiling brightly and hugging her close again. "And I know that you will!"

"But how?" Kagome gasped anxiously. "I don't know how to help you! I know that you have to find the jewel before the day of eclipse. But you have to destroy Naraku before then and… what can I do to help you? What makes you think that I can…"

"Because you're special," Rin interrupted with a smile before she yawned tiredly like she was getting ready for bed. "You aren't like any other human."

"What do you mean I'm not…?"

"You have powers that can help us find the jewel," Shippo interrupted. "We're not exactly what they are, but we think that you can help us. We have to wait until everyone else comes back tomorrow so that they can explain. I think that they can do a better job than we can."

Not liking this answer, but also feeling tired of everything that's been going on tonight, she decided that it would just be for the best if she just went to sleep and hope that she would get some answers in the morning. How she was going to explain to her family why they're two vampires in her bed with her, she didn't know what to say.

But too tired to think anymore about she nodded before she got under the covers, a kid on either side of her. They both yawned and curled up next to her and almost instantly fell asleep. She smiled at their peaceful expressions as soon as they nodded off. She then looked up at her window, just able to see the moon through the crack in curtains.

'The moon is so beautiful,' she sighed to herself. Ever since she met Inuyasha, an indescribable feeling has taken over her body. In fact, the last few days with her new friends were probably the best since she could remember.

"Inuyasha," she sighed gazing at the stars before she dozed off.

She had another dream… about him…

For some reason she was back in her Halloween costume and was looking around her into the misty night; but she didn't see anything but pure darkness surrounding her. She was standing in the pagoda staring around into the white mist… it must've been at least past midnight judging from the darkness alone. She didn't know or care, all she knew was that she was waiting for someone…

She looked around some more spinning… searching… and then she saw something red and glowing coming towards her. She squinted and it becomes a bit clearer to her. The person with the piercing crimson eyes came closer with each step.

Inuyasha had emerged from the darkness, his eyes a crimson red… like wet blood on a red, velvet carpet. She smiled as she ran towards him and he held up his arms… waiting for her.

"Don't be scared. I won't ever let anything harm you," he whispered in her ear in a soothing voice. The voice brought her comfort… peace.

"I trust you," she whispered back, closing her eyes, enjoying the feel of his warm embrace shielding her from the cold. She felt so peaceful, so serene and wondered wildly how she had ever lived without this feeling. She gasped as he put his hand to her cheek, caressing the side of her face. She looked into his piercing gaze, drowning in him…

"Inuyasha…" she whispered, clutching him close to her. "I'm lost without you…"

He smiled, showing her his pointed fangs before kissing her lips softly. Her hands flew to his face and felt every inch of skin she could as he growled into her mouth, and she opened up to him. That was when the battle for dominance began—their tongues battling back and forth, exploring the cavern's of the others mouth and wrestling against the other—as their owners held each other in that embrace.

Kagome smiled in her sleep… glad that no one else could see what she was seeing…

(Sorry, sorry, sorry. I know that I've been neglecting this story, but I haven't abandoned it. I promised myself that I would finish this story and I will. Also, I wish to point out that in the dream… they were just kissing… there was no further lemon than that. Hope you enjoyed it… next chapter… we find out more about Kagome's role in this vampire war.)