Chapter 39

After they had walked away from the group that had helped to kill the evil demon that was Naraku, Miku looked over at her mistress as she tried to read her expression. She had no idea that she would have jumped into a mate ship so soon and just after she had been given back her demonic form. She still had a lot to learn when it came to control her demonic instincts and a mate ship only amplified such things. Just as she was about to ask and hope that she would not be over stepping her bounds, Rin let out a long sigh and said, "I know, I know that it was too soon for me to have mated with him. I should have listened to him when he offered that we should wait but I did not wish to wait any longer. I waited all of my human life time and I would not wait any longer. But it seems he still sees me as the weak human that I once was."

"I do not think it to be true mistress." Miku stated as she strode up so that she would be walking along side her mistress instead of behind her.

"What do you think it is then?"

"While we are proud and powerful demons that look for a male that would never think to try to control us since we could easily overpower them, the Inu clans are demons known to kill for the smallest of challenges when it comes to their mates. They are possessive and aggressive but they mate for life, he only means to defend what he treasures the most." Miku explained as best as he could.

"I suppose you are right, it's just all so confusing, having so many memories, so many emotions within me, I think it would be best if I took my weapon back to Totosai and see if he could alter the weapon so that it would also seal the memories that over whelm me."

"Would you risk forgetting your mate?" Miku asked in a surprisingly angered voice.

"Never," Rin quickly answered before Miku could finish her question.

"Then you will have no choice but to train my mistress. Train until you have full control over what causes you to become unfocused and confused so that it will never drive you from your mate." Miku told her.

When Rin had stopped walking and had turned to face Miku, Miku had quickly bowed and showed all the signs needed to prove that she was not only loyal to her but was submissive and would not challenge her. What confused her was when Rin laughed and said, "You need not worry, you over stepped no bounds Miku. I simply wished to thank you for your advice and tell you that I hope that I will have a friend in you always."

"Always will you have a friend in me my Mistress." Miku swore.

"Thank you Miku, now we are going to train, I can't train with my mate because I don't have the control I need yet to do so within harming him and you are a dragon and would know best when and what would push me too far."

"We have only one day Mistress, will you be able to master as much as you can before we leave in the morning."

"I have no other choice Miku. I will not appear before them without control. I will have full control come tomorrow and will require your help. Please tell me that you will help me."

"I will, however you have no weapon to channel your energy while we begin." Miku pointed out in a worried filled voice. "It cannot be an ordinary weapon either."

"I have a weapon, wait for me." Rin ordered as she walked in the direction of the group of Inu demons that were being trained.

Once she was sure that Miku would not follow after her, Rin walked over to the group of Inu demons and cleared her throat. When they would not pay attention to her, Rin let out a low growl and allowed her power to explode from her much in the same manner that her mate had tried to use on her while they had been with her mother and father. As soon she had done so, the Inu demons that were being trained all dropped down while the Lord General turned to her and asked, "How can we assist Lady Rin."

"I wish for my weapon to be brought to be to the back field of the castle. Anyone that was to use that area for training will have to wait or be moved to a different location." Rin ordered in a stern and cold voice that was similar to that of her mate.

"My Lady that field is to be used to test the guards and to make sure that those that are ready to be sent out on assignment are truly ready. We cannot hold back their testing in such a short amount of time." The Lord General gently told her.

After a short pause and before he could turn back to his man and dismiss her, Rin let out a low growl and asked, "How are they to be tested?"

"They are to fight against me and should they last a minimal of five minutes while I hold nothing back they pass." He answered her.

"Very well, I'll test them; it will allow me to train as well as to test those that think themselves ready to be seen as true guards of the West." Rin told him as she silently challenged him to state anything otherwise.

"Of course, I'll send for your weapon at once, should I inform the Lord that you will be taking over such matters." He gently offered her.

"No, I am his equal and his mate, I'm sure if he would have wished to limit what I could or could not do he would have made it known by now." Rin growled out as she turned her back to him so that she began to make her way back to Miku. "Do not keep me waiting Lord General; I do not like to be kept waiting."

"That was well done Mistress." Miku told her once Rin had reached her.

"I taught so as well, now I suppose we should go and warm up before we start our own training."

"What of the guards?"

"What of them, they were told to last five minutes, if they cannot they go back to training, it just so happens that instead of an Inu demon they must fight a dragon." Rin replied with a grin on her face as she looked over at her friend.

"You will have to hold back a bit mistress."

"I will not, if they do not see me as my mates equal they will never truly respect me. I care not if they have to fear me to do so but they will respect me and they will never question if I am truly the best fit for the Lord of the West or not." Rin stated in a fierce voice.

"I feel sorry for those dogs." Miku stated in a light teasing voice.

"As you should, now follow me, I have something to show you and I'm not sure if this is normal or not but seeing as how nothing about me has ever been I wished to have a second opinion."

"Of course mistress," Miku answered before quickly and quietly following after the dragoness that had not only saved her but had given her the chance to be the first female in the army of the East. Though she would love to remain by her mistress side she would, could not do so if her possible mate wished to stay in the East.

After her had left his men go and after he had made sure that they would spread the news that the new Lady of the West would be testing the guards to be, the Lord General made his way toward the castle so that he could try to find the weapon that he had been asked to bring. While he was certain that he could have gotten someone else to do it, if she was now staying in the Lord's Privet quarters, he would be the only one allowed in because of the seals and protections that had been put into place.

Just as he was about to summon one of the keepers of the castle, the Lord General turned to his right as he heard the second Lord of the West growl out, "And just what the hell are you doing here? You are only to come in unless you have been ordered to do so in this part of the castle."

"I was asked by Lady Rin to retrieve her weapon, she will be holding the testing for the men and wishes to have her sword with her. I was told not to keep her waiting."

"Bastard corrupted my daughter." Inuyasha growled out in a low voice.

"No, your daughter is a Lady and knows how to act it. We brought it back and left it in her bedroom last night while she was claimed by my brother. You will find her weapon just down the hall the door to your right." Kagome's gentle voice was heard say as she appeared from behind her mate.

"Has my brother been told of the change in plan?" Inuyasha asked in a confused filled voice.

"He has not; the Lady assured me that her mate sees her as his equal and that she should not be questioned." The Lord General answered as he hoped that he had not been wrong and that he was following orders that he would be punished for following.

"Very well than take my daughter her weapon and do get the list of those that she approves to us as soon as the testing has finished." Kagome stated as she turned around to make her way to the court yard to see if she would be able to find her brothers mother before she left.

"Wait…what…Oi, wench." Inuyasha growled out in a low voice as he ran after his mate.

After watching the mated pair take their leave, the lord general of the west made his way to the room where he was told he could find the weapon in question. While others just avoided and knew that he was there for a reason, the rest of the pack seemed to keep an eye on him. Just as he had walked into the dragoness room, he had heard the angry breath of the young male Taijiya had clearly loved his Lord's mate. Just as he had spotted the weapon that he had been asked to retrieve, the Lord General watched as it was surrounded by shadows before it completely disappeared as he heard the angry male Taijiya child ask, "What are you doing here? This is not a room that you have been given permission to enter."

"I was asked by Rin-sama to come and retrieve her weapon since she will be needed it shortly."

"Does Lord Sesshomaru know that you have entered her room without her knowledge," Kohaku growled out as he ignored the demons statement.

"The Lady herself ordered me to do so, now if you excuse me I have somewhere I need to be."

"If she sent you why didn't you get what you came here to get for her?"

"Are you trying to accuse me of something pup?" The Lord General growled out in an annoyed filled voice.

Before Kohaku could yell at the demon before him and before the lord general could growl out and put the pup in his place, he froze in place and quickly showed his submission to the beta female of the west when he heard the elder female Taijiya's cold voice ask, "What is going on here?"

"He walked into Rin's room claiming to have been sent by her to pick something up only to change his mind and try to leave. He is hiding something; I think he is working for his sister who is angry that she will never be a part of our pack." Kohaku was quick to say as he kept his eyes on the Inu demon in front of him while moving his hand to his weapon.

"You will not attack him Kohaku, he was doing as he was told to do by Rin, my guess he kept her waiting for too long and when Rin got tired of waiting for his return she called on her weapon." Sango explained to her brother as if he were still the same child that she had helped to train long ago. "And you will do well to remember that you shouldn't be throwing around such accusations without any proof."

"But Nee-chen," Kohaku growled.

"No buts, Kagome just told me that Rin will be testing the guards to see which are ready to be inducted into the army of the west. If you would have just come and asked you would have avoided all of this." Sango hissed out at her brother.

"I'm going to go and see for myself." Kohaku growled out before storming off toward the back of the castle where he knew the tests were conducted.

"He is blinded by his love, it could get him killed." The Lord General stated as he turned to lock eyes with the Taijiya only to be surprised by the tip of her Katana at his throat.

"Is that a threat?" Sango asked in a cold and emotionless voice.

While there had never been a need for her to use such a tone of voice other then when they faced Naraku, since she had accepted her place within the pack, and since Sesshomaru had accepted his sisters choice she had known that she would have to be just as cold hearted if not more so than the great Lord of the West so that other demons would not believe that the west was growing weak. The last thing that they needed was to be challenged by some fools that thought her family to be weak and incapable of protecting themselves.

"Of course not Lady Sango, I only wished to convey my worry, those that are loyal to the Lord of the West will quickly grow tired of the child's attempts in gaining the attention of Lady Rin. She is now the lord's mate and if he is seen as a challenger the Lord may not have to do anything for his people will feel that they will have to do so for him since he is protected by Lord Inuyasha and his mate."

After a tense moment of Sango keeping her weapon at the throat of the Inu demon before her, she let out a long sigh as she dropped her weapon and said, "I know, and I thank you for looking after my brother but I just don't know how to get him to see that his refusal to let things go might get him killed. He doesn't know it but Kagome and Inuyasha already have people watching him when Kirara is unable to follow him at all times."

"Has, has Lady Rin told him of her choice."

"She has, he's even seen her mark and their bond but he still…it worries me. After everything that Naraku put him through it was she that always made the burden seem like nothing more than a bad dream…now…now I have no idea how this will affect him later on in his life."

"It would be good if the boy found a mate of his own. I have no recommendations but I'm sure that Lady Kagome and Lord Inuyasha will think of something soon. If you will excuse me…"

"Of course, and once again, thank you for worrying about my brother," Sango replied as she let out a long sigh and turned to take her own leave to see if she and Miroku could come up with something. The last thing they needed was for the east to pick up on the fact that Kohaku was in love with Rin when Rin was already the mate of the Lord of the West.

After saying good bye to the Taijiya, the lord general of the west began to make his way to the back of the castle where he not only found the male taijiya watching the Lady with interest but where he had found that the Lady had not waited for his arrival. Just as he had moved to ask who had already gone and who had been able to keep up with the Lady of the West for five minutes, he was approached by a different dragoness as he heard her say, "Here is the list of those that had passed and those that have failed. My mistress wished for me to keep a list until you returned, she also wished for me to tell you that you were slow and would like to test you once all of your men had been tested."

"Is see, how long has this fight been going on…almost four minutes, it looks…looked promising." Miku stated as she pointed out that her mistress had already knocked out the young pup that had tried to attack her when she had given him her back.

"Lord General, how nice of you to join us," Rin's cold voice was heard say as she began to make her way over to her friend and the general of the west. "I was beginning to think that you might have gotten lost."

"I ran into a bit of trouble, however I am here." He growled out.

"Oh, have I said something to upset you?" Rin asked in a sweet voice as she showed that she had heard his growl.

"Of course not my Lady, how may I be of service to you?"

"Well you can start by finishing up here. I've finished with what I had set out to do. Miku has written what you missed and I trust that you will be able to handle things from here." Rin stated in a cold voice as she extended her arm so that all in the training area could see just how much control over her weapon she had as it dug into her skin and sheathed its self within her arm.

'She really did it, she really mastered what she needed to go in order to appear strong and in control before the ruling family of the east.' Miku thought as she watched her friend and her mistress let out a long sigh before walking past the general of the west and toward her.

Once she had bowed before the general, Miku had followed after her friend and had stayed behind her in close step. While she knew that she would be greeted and allowed at her side, she did not wish for those in the west to take offence or to think that she felt entitled because of the place that she held as the new Lady of the West side. Once they had reached a more privet area of the castle, Miku stopped walking and had used her blade to block the chain that had been tossed at her as she growled out, "Who dares to try to harm my mistress."

"She a member of my pack and you would do well to step away from her now dragon." Kohaku's angry voice was heard say.

"Kohaku, this is Miku, she is a dear friend of mine that helped me get away from the King and Queen of the East. Miku this is Kohaku, the Taijiya that I told you about." Rin stated as she turned around to lock eyes with Kohaku. "Kohaku please don't attack my friend."

"How can you see her as a friend when it's her kind…" he began only to be silenced by her own low and angry growl.

"Are you really that quick to forget that I am what she is? I too am a dragoness; do you hate me now as well?"

"No, but you're different…"

"There is no difference Kohaku, I am a dragoness just as she is. Just because you knew me does not make me any different. She is a friend, not an enemy. Even if I had not been killed that day, the moment that I would have become Lord Sesshomaru's mate I would have obtained my true form." Rin replied in a cold and angry filled voice.

"How do you know that he would not have turned you away when you were human…he is known to have hated hanyou's. Do you think he would have been happy to father a hanyou son?" Kohaku boldly stated as he challenged her on what he knew to be true but refused to see.

Before Miku could protect the foolish Taijiya from the words that he had uttered and before she could stop her mistress from harming the boy, Miku was thrown across the hall way and through one of the walls as Rin suddenly held the young Taijiya by the throat, as Rin's demon screamed at her to put the foolish human in his place, Rin dug her claws into his neck as she whispered, "If you believe that my mate would turn be away even as a human it only shows just how young you are. I was always meant for him just as he has always been meant for me. Race, power, breed, nothing will or could ever get in the way between our mate ship. Do you understand me?"

"Rin! Kohaku!" Sango's panic filled scream filled the hall as she was torn between helping her brother and calming her niece.

'And she had been doing so well too…still to have not killed the boy even in her rage now shows her true control over her power…' Miku thought in amusement as she struggled to get her feet while saying, "He challenged her mate ship with the Lord of the West, since they had not been mated long her demon answered to the challenge the boy gave."

"Rin, Rin please he is foolish and hurt, he didn't mean it." Sango stated as she slowly approached the two now that she knew what was going on.

Ignoring the soothing voice that was trying to calm her, Rin kept her eyes locked with those of Kohaku as she growled out, "Do you still challenge my mate ship with Sesshomaru?"

"Kohaku don't you dare!" Sango roared when she saw that he was ready to answer her question.

"What the fuck is going on here?" Inuyasha's enraged growl was heard as the Koga, Ayame, Kagome and himself appeared behind Sango and watched the wild dragoness that held a member of the pack in such a manner.