Chapter 23
The full moon could be seen filling the night sky; there was no light from the fires in the village that would offer her light since most of the village was at her ball; not that she would need the light from village since the moon gave her light enough. She was far from home, far from the ball that had been held in her honor and far from the people that had gladly welcomed her home after she had proven that she was 'manageable' and that her parents spell and choice to send her away had worked. After looking over her shoulder to make sure that she had not been followed, the young dragon demon looked up into the star filled sky and wondered just what her lord thought, if he was angry with her for leaving the way she had; for leaving on her own just after she had been named a master Taijiya. If he was mourning her death, was he angry at his brother and his pack for losing her; for not taking better care of her. 'I have to set things right…I'll go to him and explain to him what I truly was and if he so wishes for me to leave his side I'll do so and should he welcome me…I'll return to tell the rulers of the East that I have finally returned to my pack; my proper family.' she thought sadly as she felt the need to change to her true form, to her natural form, consume her.
Just as she was about to take to her true from for the first time since her birth, the form of her ancestors, the young dragoness stopped and froze in place as she heard her elder sisters voice say, "If you leave in your changed form you will be followed by many and brought back to father before you even make it to the western lands. I would thus advise against it, that and it would seem that our grandfather has come to visit and mother would like our help in convincing him to stay for a short while."
"I don't think I can do this, I don't think I can stay and keep myself as the person I had been raised to be by my Oka-san." She replied in a sad voice as she turned to face her elder sister. "And I don't remember having a grandfather…I figured our grandparents were both dead."
"Your strong, powerful, and a forced to be reckoned with, of course you can do this. They may all be here to meet you and to talk about you but they are mostly here since it will be their first meeting with mother and father since they began their alliance." Maya explained to her younger sister as she approached her. "As for grandfather, he lost it when grandmother died; he never showed or came when mother asked him to. This is his first time returning to the castle since her death."
"I don't blame him…it would have been hard to live in a place that held so many memories with the one person that I was bonded with, that was my other half in every way." Rin whispered in a sad filled voice.
"I hadn't thought about it that way." Maya mumbled in a thoughtful voice as she considered the true reason her grandfather might had kept away for so long. 'I mean it's not like mother and father had the time to take us to see him.'
"If I were to turn back to the mortal child that I was, that I had been forced to become would you stop me than dearest sister? Would you keep me from turning our fathers spell around so that it would work in my favor rather than to his own?" was her calm and cold question after a small moment of silence.
After offering her young, lost, and forsaken sister a small warm small the elder dragoness shook her head and said, "Mai ritoru ryumasen, I only wish to see you happy, if your happiness is outside of our lands, away from the people that chose to cast you out than I will not fault you. I will dearly miss you and if you need it I will help you leave as I've told you before."
(A/N: Mai ritoru ryumasen means – No my little dragon)
After a moment of silence, the young dragoness locked eyes with those of her elder sister and whispered, "You never wanted me to leave. You were against mothers and fathers decision, you fought like hell to try to make sure that I would stay at your side."
"That I was my Aya…well I suppose I should honor your wishes and address you as Rin now…shouldn't I?" was the elder dragons playful reply.
"Oh sister," Rin cried in joy as she wrapped her arms around her elder sister, "Maya it would make me truly happy if you did so. Oh how I've missed you so."
"There, there little one, all is well," she soothed as she held her younger sister close. "We have much to plan before you can leave, before you'll get the head start you'll need. If you truly wish to do so than come with me, travel with Haku and I with mothers permission we could take you to him."
Realizing that she would risk too much to wait any longer and that her elder sister had a point, that she could go with them to the west so that she could reach her Lord, Rin took in a deep breath and said, "I can't wait to long Maya, I know my lord, and should I take too long he will not believe a word that I say, he will not see me as the mortal child but a demon that wishes to make a fool of him. If I am allowed and given the chance to leave with you and your mate it would have to be soon."
"I will speak with Ayume and with Haku, I'm sure we can have our trip planned by the end of tomorrow so that we can leave in two days time." Maya answered her with a small, sad smile on her face. "Of course that is if grandfather and father chose to stay out of our actions."
"Thank you Maya, I'm glad that you have your mate and now it is time that I find my other half; that I return to him so that he may have me at his side as whatever it is that he wishes to have me as in his life so long as I am in it." Rin explained with a smile on her face as she kept her powers under control and realized that when she saw the wolf demon and his mate next she would not react like the human child had had been but as the dragoness that she was now.
"Oh how I wish the heart of my dear little sister was not given to the cold, powerful, demon of the west."
"Maya…"
"Oh I know Rin, no need to worry, as I've always told you, I am always on your side. Never forget it but I will tell you this…if he breaks the heart of my younger sister I will harm him."
"I won't, he won't…uh…I suppose that we ought to get back now, so that I can make my rounds and do what would be expected of me." Rin stated in a defeated voice.
Realizing that her sister had some point and knowing that they would only be sought after if they did not reappear soon, Maya nodded her head and said, "Yes, we should, well come on than, of and I hope that you will be able to keep yourself together this time. Mother and father will wish you to speak with the wolves and grandfather apparently has an old friend that is an Inu demoness from the West."
Ever since she had awakened, ever since she had her memories returned of whom and what she was she had felt so lost, so alone that no words could never truly be used to describe what she had felt. The coldness she had to fight, the sadness of her lost family and the anger of the family that demanded her respect, her love, her loyalty of all things when they had been the ones to cast her out. But before such thoughts could fill her, and after noting that they had come close to the entrance of the court yard once more, Rin turned to her sister and said, "You shouldn't worry, I have all the training that I would have needed to get me through this night…no matter how much I wish that they had not done such a thing for me since I plan to take my leave soon enough."
"Alright, I won't worry, after I have led you to the guests that mother and father wish for you to meet, I'll be joining my mate and we will be catching up with some old friends." Maya pointed out with a grin on her face.
"Oh please do, you should know that I care not what you do with that mate of yours so long as you don't go trying to kill me one again." Rin teased her sister with a grin on her face.
With a smile on her face, Maya came to a stop just before they reached the clearing by the court yard and turned to face her sister with a grin on her face. As she did so, she took in a deep breath and said, "I do hope you give them hell, of course I so do wish that you would leave my mate out of whatever wrath you so chose to bestow on them."
"Duly noted, I suppose I should at least make an appearance for a short while tonight and greet those that are worth greeting. But I will not be staying long nor will I be allowing any foolish male to think that I will consider them regardless of what your father may have told them."
"And how I will laugh at all the fools he will throw at you my dear little sister," Maya whispered just as they reached the entrance of the village where all were gathered for the welcoming of the second born princes s of the eastern lands.
Before Rin could say anymore to her sister's words, she turned her full attention when she found her very stress and almost panicked Lady in waiting. Before Rin could ask her what it was that had worried her so much, Rin let out a low growl when she heard Hiei's cold and emotionless voice say, "The King and Queen grow tired of waiting. They have asked for me to escort you both to them so that they can introduce the old King Leon and the Lord and Lady of the Wolf tribe."
"I suppose I will have to face them at some point. Miku whatever it is that you have found, before you bring it to my attention, I suggest that you and Amon walk about and try to get as much information as you can about the situation so that I have all of the facts that I will no doubt asked you for." Rin ordered as she turned around to glare at her childhood friend and added, "Lord Hiei I suggest that the next time you wait alongside my Lady in waiting rather than approaching us from behind. If I were ever not in the right mind it would be your own fault for your own death."
"I will keep that in mind Princess Aya however it would be best if we did not keep your good Lord Father and Lady Mother waiting for long." Hiei answered her with a pointed look before turning to face the first heir of the east to add, "Lord Haku is already with them, most of the guests have chosen to take a seat to eat in small groups."
"Very well than, lead the way General Hiei." Maya ordered before her sister could say a word.
Having been told what she had to get done, Miku gave a single nod of the head to her mistress before she and her escort began to gather as much information as they could. As she walked behind her sister and as she was followed by Hiei, Rin offered smiles and nods of acknowledgement to those that would greet her or seek her attention as they made their way to her parents and her grandfather. Just as they had reached her parents and the guests that had surrounded them in a small circle, Rin' couldn't help but smile as she heard her father's calm but clearly upset voice say, "I am glad that you had the time and am surprised to hear that you chose to take your leave so quickly but I must ask you to at least wait until you have met my second daughter."
"Of course we will not be rude, we had plans to stay and we have not changed those plans," the female voice demoness was heard say as she kept her hand on her mate, "We just wished to inform you as soon as possible."
"I thank you Lady Ayame for your understanding, I'm sure that my daughters will be here shortly and I do so hope that you and your mate enjoy your evening and get a chance to meet those that have already agreed to our treaty of the East." The Queen of the East was heard speak.
Before anything else could be heard, Rin placed a fake warm smile on her face and was heard say, "I am so sorry that I have kept you waiting, and am very glad that I can apologize for my pervious behavior. I am Princess Aya, second heir to the East."
"Aya, Maya, there you two girls are, General Hiei thank you for bringing my girls back to us." The Queen spoke as she locked eyes with her eldest daughter.
"Good evening, we took no offensive to your reaction, we figured you caught the scent of your mate, this is my mate Lady Ayame of the wolf Tribe. I am Lord Koga, the leader of the wolfs."
"Good evening, it is a pleasure to meet you Lord Koga, Lady Ayame, I do hope that you are having a wonderful evening." Aya replied as she stood next to her sister rather than choosing to stand next to her father since it was clear to her that he was still not sure what he thought of her return.
"We are, as we were informing your parents Lady Aya we will only be staying for a few more hours before we take our leave. We will leave you to greet your guests while we get to know your current allies so that we can make an informed decision." Ayame pointed out as she locked eyes with the princess that stood before her. There was just something in the child's eyes that seems so familiar, as if she had seen them before yet she did not know where she had. It was confusing and frustrating and she was sure that her mate was feeling the same way.
"Mother, shall I go for grandfather and his date?" Maya asked as she allowed her mate to hold her as he pleased.
"I'm sure he will find us when he is ready to face us all together. I'm sure that there are some, however few that he would like to catch up with and when he finds that there is no one left but use he and his date will find us. After all, it is a well known fact that Inu demons have the strongest sense of small than any other demon." The Queen answered her eldest daughter with a grin on her face while hoping that her youngest would not charge forward to find the Inu demoness that had come with her father.
"Well we should have a walk of our own than, since I am sure I have a few guests to properly greet since I did have to stay away for a moment." Aya pointed out as she turned to face Lord Koga and locked her cold, emotionless eyes and said, "I am thankful that you have given a chance to my parents offer and hope that you find all the answers in tonight's ball. Should you have any questions, please feel free to ask me anything, I would be more than happy to help."
"Mother, father, I see Lord Byakuya and Lady Akari." Maya stated as she took hold of her mate and began to lead the way.
"If you will excuse me, I must tend to some matters, I will be back shortly." The general of the East was heard growl out before he disappeared in a cloud of shadows and darkness.
"Interesting, I was told by my grandfather that the last dragon of darkness had been killed a few months ago by one of our allies." Ayame mumbled to herself as she stayed at her mate's side.
Realizing that this would probably be the only time for him to ask his question, Koga locked eyes with the child that stood before him and asked, "If you could Princess Aya, there is something about you, something familiar, thus I do hope that you can answer my pervious question, have we met before?"
Before her father or mother could jump in to say a word or to try to distract their guest from his question, Rin offered him a cold yet playful grin as she answered, "Perhaps in another life Lord Koga, perhaps in another life."
As the two wolf demons watched the ruling family make their way to their guests, Ayame looked up to her mate as she said, "Well it would seem that she had a sense of humor, surprising considering how her father was acting."
"We're leaving, while we might have stated we would stay I don't like the feel or scent I get off of the King, he is hiding something and I certainly don't like to be lied to. Once we arrive at the West we'll ask to speak with our sister and her mate about what they know of these matters and to see why they were not invited to such a gathering." Koga growled out as he pulled his mate with him as they made their way over to say goodbye to the leader of the fox clan before they too took their own leave to start making their way to meet with the females in their pack that were going to be going to the west for what Sesshomaru had planned.