Chapter 32

Pain, pain was all she felt and it was all that she could think about as it filled her mind, body and soul. Her limbs burned as if she was on fire yet her hands felt as if they had been frozen. Her heart kept racing only to come to a complete still. All of she could do was scream and voice her pain and her anger, her hate, her worry, her sadness as they were the only emotions she could truly pick out from all of the pain that consumed her. Yet she could still feel the aura of the shinigami, no, the aura of the man that had given her life once more. He still stood by her side and it was in his aura that she had been able to tell that he was in pure misery because of her pain and what she had chosen to do. What he had told her she could do.

When she tried to move her hand so that she could take his in hers Rin had found that she had not felt pain, no whatever she had been feeling up until this point had not been true pain. As soon as she had chosen to try to move her hand, her arm was consumed by a fire that she had no way of describing, began to erupt from within her and began to consume her once more. After realizing what it was that she had been trying to do, Shu placed his hand in hers as he whispered, "Rin, Rin, my child forgive me, forgive me for ever putting such a foolish idea in your head my child. I only wished to help you. I only wished for your happiness."

"Worth it….it's…worth…the…pain…thank…you…" Rin whispered in a low voice that only seemed to make the fire within her burn that much brighter.

"You were meant to be the dragon of storms, the first dragon of storms since the first queen of the east. You were meant for more but your mother did not have the strength to deliver you safely since her foolish mate had her appear in the courts and allowed herself to be over worked by the needs of the people." Shu began to explain as he tried to get her mind off of the pain. "But the spell he cast on you after I had brought you back and allowed for you to live changed you, changed what my own power was meant to do to you."

As her screams began to die down since the world around her began to fade away, Shu let out a long sigh and continued on with his tale, "To make things right you either had to give up completely the life that you so clung to or you would have to give up what had changed and grown too strong for you to handle alone. You will lose your dragon because it will be reborn, just as you my child are being reborn for the final time. While the dragoness you had been born to be will die, you my child will become a new dragoness, one that will be able to take in and use all of your enemies' abilities and powers. You will be the first of your kind and the only of your kind for when you have children of your own, they will be born Inu demons and nothing more but true Tai's in their own rights."

Before she could try to ask him anymore questions, before she ask him what her new power would be and what he meant by taking in the abilities of others, Rin once again passed out so that she would be relived of the pain, even if it would only be for a small moment in time, never once realizing that the darkness that protected her from the pain, the burning, and the freezing of the change and death of her inner dragon was the power of the shinigami that sat at her side to see her through her change completely. What seemed like hours and almost days, Shu snapped his eyes open and looked down at the child that he had come to see as his daughter and watched in amazement as her power exploded from her. The force, the ability and the promise of death exploded from her with so much force that it had blasted him away and through the hut causing it to collapse all around the young dragoness that he had been trying to save.

Just as he was about to charge forward to try to make sure that the young dragoness was alright and that he had not altered the new gift that she had gained from the spell she had been put under for centuries, the shinigami demon let out a loud, sorrow filled cry as he watched the collapsed hut burst into flames before his very eyes. 'This cannot be happening, no…my child…you were not meant to die…is this my punishment for interfering when I have no reason or right to have saved you?'

"Rin!" Shu roared as he tried to get the flames to die down so that he could get to her as soon as possible.

I am as free as the wind,

The pain that had plagued her had disappeared as quickly as it had been consuming her and she had never felt as alive as she currently felt now that everything seemed to be as it should.

As flexible as the water of life

While she felt whole, complete and at peace, something within her still ached for something. It was confusing really, she was powerful, strong, and knew that she would be loved no matter what form she would be given so why? Why did she feel an empty space in her heart still?

As passionate as the flame that burns through all
Harm me or mine and you will see the true power of this mirrored dragon of stroms.

But before she could try to figure out what it was that was missing, and figuring that it would be best if she allowed the memories to fill her once more but at a much slower pace this time, the young dragoness looked up and stared at the demon that had cried her name in confusion. And so without having to concentrate or even trying to pull her power in order to travel, the young demoness found herself next to the shinigami before she spoke, "I have no idea why you are crying my name but I would suggest you stop, the flames alone are bound to have awaken the villagers and I would rather not be present when they arrive."

"But, you…how…child?"

"Are you really that confused? I suppose I'm not surprised, you could not have foreseen the will, the courage and the passion I held in my heart when I agreed to do this. While I still have yet to remember some things, I know my name and I know what I am, what I was forced to become." Her high wind chime voice whispered say as she turned her back to the humans that were already on their way toward the hut.

"Child just…"

"I am not a child; while I may be young I am no child." She growled out in anger as she began to surround herself and Shu in the shadows of the rising sun, "I would suggest that you no longer call me a child again."

"Of course Rin however I am confused, just what has happened?" he asked in a confused filled voice when the light of the sun began to weaken and cause the shadows that she had surrounded the two of them in to fade away.

"Demons! Demons in the village!"

"Form that cursed house, the house of the demon child!"

The cries of the villagers were heard as the two demons were quickly surrounded by the villagers that had once looked after Rin. With a grin on her face, Rin turned to face the villagers and could not help but softly laugh at their surprised faces when they realized just who she was. She had not only gone through a change in her power but she had always been given the chance to change her appearance so that she was a perfect balance of the human child that she would not forget and the dragoness she had been born and would have grown up to become. When no one said a word she let out a long sigh and stated, "Since it was my own hunt that I came from I see no problem here. I am after all a member of this village."

"You were always a child that we had not wanted to take in." the old voice of the village head was heard say as he came to stand before the group of men that had parted to make way for him.

"I knew even than that I had not been wanted here. It was why I was glad that I had been declared as the Lord of the West ward. You need worry not, this is the last time any of you will ever see me." She growled out in an annoyed filled voice.

"It would seem that now would be the best time to leave child." Shu was heard growl out as he drew his scythe weapon.

"You will leave the village demon child, you have no claim here."

After laughing to her heart's content and after locking eyes with the village head, Rin glared at all of them around her as she said, "You think I wish to lay claim here? Fools, I have no interest for your poor lands; especially when it was in your lands that I felt the most alone out of my many lives. Leave, go to your homes, start your fable day for I have some where I must get to."

Before Shu could even ask her what it was that she was speaking of or why it was that she thought that she would be able to make it to the west on her own when she had no form that would aid her, Shu and the rest of the villagers were left speechless when the young child had jumped up and into the sky and transferred into a great light blue/silver colored dragon. Her eyes were the same blood red color of the flames that had been used against her while her claws were black as night. After showing the demon and the villagers that she meant them no harm the great dragoness flew into the distance; never once looking back to see what would become of the shinigami that had been surrounded by the village people of her human past.

'Just you wait till I get my hands on you…if it weren't for the fact that I had to rush over to prevent your foolishness from condemning us both I would have gotten the chance to properly thank the…my father for his gift to me…on the other hand you best pray that my mother can convince me from ripping your throat out for rushing when you did not rush for me when I was human.' Rin's angry thought consumed her as she pushed herself in her new from to reach the edge of the western lands as fast as she could. She was sure that by now all were awake and that the fights began between the last females that were still wishing to catch her mates eyes would have already begun.

After watching the dragoness that he had thought was sure to be lost to the spell, the shinigami demon let out a long sigh and realized what it was that he had to do. While it would not be pleasant he had known that would have eventually had to go and speak with the King and Queen of the East. Of course he had no idea if these would be an idea time since last his daughter had mentioned; they were currently having problems within the ruling family. 'This is surprising, I wonder what they'll have to say that she will be the first and only dragon to have the power to not only taken over the lands but to be able to disband them and turn them back to nothing more than ragging animals. Of course that still won't accrue until she has mastered her powers…so long as they leave her be they'll have nothing to fear.'

And so just as fast as his daughter had left so had he, off to the east to see what he could do to prevent the war that the east would surly wish to start with the child that they had forsaken.