Chapter 6
I was surprised to say the least. I was expecting something more… grand. Large. Not a… tree house.
Sesshomaru continued toward it with the girls trailing behind him while I stood confused. We were in a fairly secluded area about a mile away from the village Rin was staying in. In front of me stood a large tree with a house-like structure built onto its limbs. Planks spiraled from the ground, up the tree, to the house.
By this time Sesshomaru didn't seem his usual self at all. He walked slowly up the ramp to the building, raising his hand and pinching the bridge of his nose as he walked inside. I knew something was wrong with him but I wasn't sure what it was and I knew it wasn't my place to ask. Not at that time.
Rin led Chiyoko and I to a fire ring near the tree where we sat and she started up a fire. Rin was very friendly, and a good hostess. She asked Chiyoko a lot of questions about her birth and few days of life. If it were anyone else asking those questions it would have seemed rude, but because of Rin's innocent way of speaking and her child-like curiosity, she didn't seem intrusive at all. Chiyoko was happy to chatter about the short time she had spent with Sesshomaru and I but said she didn't remember anything much about her birth or anything before it.
I was happy to listen to the girls talk, while only joining in a few times myself. Rin told Chiyoko about Sesshomaru, but nothing that I didn't already know. Rin told her about herself; her favorite foods, and favorite places to go, and favorite flowers. And Rin told Chiyoko about things that she would see, and people she may meet.
I had still not been inside Sesshomaru's home. We stayed by the fire until sunset, when Sesshomaru stepped outside. We all became quiet, and he gestured for Chiyoko to follow him away from the house and fire. When they were out of sight Rin announced " We should eat too." She smiled at me and led me away in the opposite direction of the two demons to a nearby stream where she already had spears waiting for fishing. We picked them up and began to wait. I took the opportunity to ask her about Sesshomaru.
"Hey, Rin? Do you know why Sesshomaru would want me to stick around?" I picked at the bark on my spear as I spoke.
"Rin doesn't know." she looked downward and seemed to become concerned. "Lord Sesshomaru has been acting strange for a long time now. He said I had to learn to live with people more like me. So now Rin stays with Hana in the village. Sesshomaru says one day he won't be able to be with me, so I should learn to be without him… but Rin doesn't know why Sesshomaru wants her to do this now. Or why he is acting the way he is."
"Oh… well… I guess it makes sense that he wants you to live with half demons. You get along with them ok right?" I scratched at the back of my neck "And it seems like you have a good set-up there." When it came to me cheering people up, this was as good as it got.
"Yes. It's good. But Ri- I. . . miss Lord Sesshomaru."
I nodded and looked for movement in the water. Sesshomaru was definitely not himself. Rin was without a doubt his favorite person, and to tell her that she couldn't be with him had to mean that something was very wrong. "So, where are the toad and the dragon?"
"Master Jaken said that he would be leaving for a while. And that he might be gone for a long time. He took Ah-Un with him." I could tell I was just making her mood worse. The last thing I wanted was a depressed 14 year old girl for company.
I saw movement in the water and struck at it, spearing a fish large enough to make a meal for Rin. I offered it to her and she smiled back at me.
It's starting to come together. You may not see it yet, but it is.