a/n: Thanks for the (hilarious) feedback on the last chapter! I'm glad you all enjoyed Tōga slapping his son, lmao. I am surprised that no one commented on a certain detail I dropped last chapter, but we'll get there when we get there. *wink*
As promised, this is a chillchapter. It was actually felt sort of odd to write scenes without any plotting and politicking in it – I definitely need more practice when it comes to character-driven chapters, since I'll be writing many more in the future. Hope you enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: Do I have to say it?
SONG OF THE WEST
an Inuyasha fanfic
xiii.
"You have to lead him, Rin, or else he'll just walk off with you and try to find something to fill his belly."
"How do I lead?"
"Shift slightly into the direction you want to go and loosen your grip on the outside rein."
Rin obeyed but pulled slightly on the reins as well. Instead of changing his course, Sai Hu abandoned his slow trot altogether and stood dutifully in the little still in the little grass clearing, awaiting his next task. His rider furrowed her dark brows in frustration.
Tōga released a hearty laugh that seemed to waft throughout the forest like a gust of wind. "I didn't say pull. But, while you're stopped, fix your bearing and place your heel down. If a horse gets spooked while you're leaning forward like that, you'll roll right over his head and fall off."
"Maybe she should start off on a smaller mount," Seiten suggested.
"She's doing fine, for a novice," Tōga responded affirmatively, waving his hand. "Sai Hu is the best horse to learn on. If she can control him, she can ride any horse."
It had been about a week since the quartet departed from Asano castle to wend their way towards the Northern capital of Hyōkusui. That time had been spent riding through homogenous seas of green summer grasses and tall forests, as well as the occasional rock-strewn mountain trail, with a few quick moments of rest in between. Despite their rapid pace, Lord Tōga still found enough time during their rest periods to teach her what he considered fundamentals for life: basic cooking, wayfinding, and, perhaps of most import, horsemanship.
Little by little the afternoon sun lowered behind the mountainous horizon in the other half of the skies (the Western half – the sun always rose in the east and set in the west, as Lord Tōga reminded her the first day of their travel), preparing to transition into the brilliant fiery orange that declared the arrival of eventide. In the small clearing neatly tucked away within the woodland, they had set up camp for the night. Seiten poured water for the horses and started preparing a small firepit in the midst of the area for meals and light. Tōga smallest dog Yua busied herself by swatting at the insects and small animals darting about in the low grass at the edges of the glade.
"Try riding towards me," Tōga called out from a few meters away from her. Save his armguards, he wasn't sporting his armor for once, leaving his white and blue nagagi exposed for all to see. From Rin's high position, she had to look down slightly to meet his eye. It was strange but exhilarating – Rin never realized how dignified it felt to bestride a horse.
Sai Hu began his slow trot again, but she couldn't tell if it was due to her prodding, or if the horse was eager to return to his true master. Either way, the final task for that day was complete, and the older man grabbed the reins of the horse.
"Can you dismount on your own?" Tōga asked.
"I can try," Rin said. Carefully, she adjusted her seating position so that she was sitting side-saddle, fixed her yukata from where it had hitched up around her thighs while riding and slid from Sai Hu's back, landing safely on the ground below.
Tōga huffed in amusement at her bad form. "We'll work on that later."
As the Imperial Lord went to secure Sai Hu, Rin kicked off her shoes and wriggled her toes in the soft sward acting as a cushion between the pads of her feet and the packed dirt. After going without for so long, the protection was much appreciated, but sometimes she found herself missing the warmth of the summer earth. As soon as Rin crossed the clearing and went to sit beside Seiten, Yua abandoned her play and jumped into the young woman's lap.
Tōga glanced over at her with a look of satisfaction. Thankfully, the incident with Lady Sara did not stunt the physical and emotional progress of his new ward. With proper guidance from a doctor, endless stretches of fresh air and sunlight, and the lack of certain bodily stresses from her previous employ, her condition improved drastically in the matter of a few days. She was still scrawny, but on her face a healthy bloom had replaced the weary pallor she once bore. Gradually, she grew more energetic, and to his utter delight, began to make herself out to be quite the endearing chatterbox. Her warm, youthful energy balanced well with the cold, mature ambiance of her son's and helped add variety to their day-to-day travel.
"There's rice left from Enharo, and there are plenty of edible fruits within these woods," Tōga told Rin. "Whatever Sesshōmaru finds most likely won't be physician-approved."
For the past few days, the young Lord had been hunting as a way to find a few moments of reprieve from the rest of the group – or, more specifically, her. His behavior towards her had changed ever so slightly: instead of the quick insults and reproachful glances to which she was habituated, Sesshōmaru now regarded her with sheer disinterest whenever he wasn't completely ignoring her. All the same, each time he went out, he'd return with a catch to test her usefulness; she thus far had plucked feathers from wild pheasant and ducks, suffered the horror of skinning rabbits and squirrels, and even learned how to prepare snake, thanks to Lord Sesshōmaru's petty insistence and Lord Tōga's guidance. The meals were delicious according to Tōga and Seiten. Rin hadn't been allowed to eat any due to her "delicate" digestive system and the strict regimen of lightly flavored okayu the doctor had prescribed her.
It wasn't as if she hadn't tried to reach out to Sesshōmaru. The attempts were small: offering him food and water during rest periods, greeting him – all to no avail. She'd even, at last, managed to scrub her blood from the fine-looking kerchief he had given her for her wound, only for him to refuse it.
"Lord Tōga?" Rin spoke.
"Hm?"
"Why is Lord Sesshōmaru—"
"The way he is?" Tōga finished her sentence.
Rin nodded as she stroked Yua's soft fur.
"I've come to understand that there is a certain mix of emotions that come with realizing you excel at everything at such a young age," Tōga explained, half jesting, half grave. "First, there's an immense amount of pride, then boredom with the world around you. And Sesshōmaru has always been rather reserved, so combined with ego and ennui, this has led to his tendency to alienate himself."
Seiten's brow rose at this eloquent answer. He's thought about this a lot.
"How can someone be good at everything?" Rin asked. She didn't think herself good at many things – fishing, perhaps, and knowing which wild berries were edible, but that was about it.
"He's had all the best teachers. When I was young, I excelled at physical activities – swordsmanship, hunting, horseback riding, and the like – all of which I taught him, along with basic political duties. His mother instructed him in art and decorum, though he picks and chooses when he wishes to apply the latter, as you well know. And he was trained by Lord Bokusenō, my old mentor, for a few years in philosophy and other intellectual pursuits, which he took well to. He was a prodigy in all but basic human decency, it seemed."
Rin noticed a hint of wistfulness in Tōga's voice as he completed his final sentence. His words were steeped in immense paternal pride, but there were also deeper concerns that lurked beneath the surface of his calm exterior.
"Well, what about you?" Tōga asked.
Rin glanced up at him, surprised. "Me?"
"We've been traveling together for two weeks, yet I hardly know any basic facts about you. Your favorite color, your natal day – not even your true age, now that I think about it."
She didn't believe her background was interesting in comparison to her new traveling companions, but it couldn't hurt to share.
"I'm seventeen. I was born on the twentieth day of the first month, in early spring," Rin announced, absentmindedly twiddling a strand of her hair. "I'm originally from a fishing village. It was next to a city called…" She forced herself to bring to mind the ill-fated region. "Yama…Yamashi—"
"Yamashina?" Tōga offered.
Rin nodded. "That sounds right."
Tōga knew Yamashina and a few other cities and small villages nearby had been ravaged by a pestilence around eleven or twelve years prior. The extremity of the disease, combined with brutal mismanagement by some of the Eastern officials responsible for the areas, had led to the demise of hundreds. Rin was old enough to have witnessed this and, judging by her sorrowful state during their first meeting, had been affected in the worst way.
First that, and then her only surviving family member had possibly been lost to trafficking. It seemed her short life consisted of one trial after another before she'd joined them.
Before leaving Asahiri, Lord Tōga had dispatched two letters to Inugawa – one for his dear Princess Saeko, and another for Lord Iekore Myōga, one of his most trusted courtiers, explaining the details of Rin's misfortune. Though he was growing older, the man was acclimated to travel and rather good at tracking people down. Myōga would at least be able to pick up Tarō's trail until Tōga was available to take up the search.
"And my favorite color is yellow," Rin finished happily.
"Like the daffodils, or my eyes?" Tōga quipped.
"The daffodils," Rin chirped, "but your eyes are lovely, too."
Tōga laughed loudly. "Once it starts to get cold and you need new clothing, I'll have Sesshōmaru find the brightest yellow furisode possible for you."
Speaking of, Sesshōmaru emerged from the trees with a large animal slung over his shoulder and a quiver at his back. His long white sleeves were tucked into the red tasuki that crisscrossed behind him and rested on his shoulder, leaving his lean, toned arms bare and glistening with perspiration under the setting sun. He spoke to neither Rin nor his father, opting instead to toss his catch in the middle of their campsite near the firepit. Two dark-colored dogs, Tai and Shui, followed closely behind him.
"Look who it is," Tōga muttered to Rin. Then, to Sesshōmaru, the Imperial Lord called out, "You plan on preparing that boar yourself, I suppose?"
Sesshōmaru glanced at Rin, who shot him an exhausted look in response. She had never eaten wild boar before, much less prepared it. Unlike the rabbits and squirrels, the boar was huge, with a thick hide and menacing horns that would be difficult to remove on her own.
"My son was born in the eleventh month, directly at winter's peak. We waited for seventeen hours through a snowstorm for him to arrive, and when he took his first breath in this world, he sucked in the hibernal air and it chilled his heart," Tōga proclaimed dramatically.
Sesshōmaru huffed. "Is this what you've been doing? Telling stories?"
"See how he doesn't deny it?"
Rin hid her laugh with her still bandaged hand. Upon hearing the gentle sound, Sesshōmaru's brilliant eyes alighted upon her once more.
Tōga sighed. "I'll skin the damn thing." As he passed by Sesshōmaru, he muttered: "Why does it seem like you're finding increasingly difficult tasks for her to accomplish?"
"You said you wanted her to learn," Sesshōmaru deadpanned.
Tōga threw him a suspicious look as he took out his knife and started on the boar.
"When were you born, Lord Tōga?" Rin inquired suddenly upon noticing the slight tension between the Imperial Lord and his son.
"Oh! Sixth month, twenty-second day," Tōga said, "But I was born on the mainland, not here."
The wet sound of his blade slopping through flesh echoed in the background. Rin turned away in disgust but latched onto this new piece of information. "Really?"
With deft hands, Tōga continued to cut through the boar as easily as snipping through a thread. He nodded. "In a big city called Chengguan."
"What was it like there?"
"Loud and crowded, much like any other city," Tōga's nostrils flared in displeasure. "But I had some fun times there. I haven't been since my mother and I left years ago."
She tried to imagine a young Tōga braving a foreign city, and his mother, who must've been the daughter of a prominent dignitary to have married the Imperial Lord of another country. Knowing there were thousands of different lands beyond their own across the sea made her feel small but eager.
"And you, Master Seiten?" Rin turned to the third man, who had so far been silent and was tending now to a small pot over the well-managed fire he had started.
"First day of the eighth month," Seiten said. "Nagano, my home, isn't too far from here."
Swiftly, he removed the pot and poured its contents into a small bowl. It was her kayu. She hadn't even noticed he was making it.
"Oh! Thank you," Rin said politely. The words were sincere, but not happy.
Tōga smiled. "Don't fret. Only a few more days of this and you can start eating good food again."
A few more days… Rin looked with slight displeasure upon the bland yet ample dish and couldn't help but think of the boar that Tōga had now finished skinning, emboweling, and rinsing. As it roasted over the fire, its sickly-sweet scent changed into that of something more edible. Lord Tōga's strong lower arms were slick with blood still, the sight of which turned her stomach slightly.
"I'm going to wash this off," Tōga announced, holding his arms up awkwardly so the mess of them didn't get on anything else. "We'll offer the hide to some village merchant when we set out tomorrow.
The sky was a deep blue now; the light in the clearing was diminishing. Without Tōga's convivial voice, all was quiet, save for the crackling of the fire and the growing chorus of crickets. Yua, Tai, and Shui converged on the boar scraps Tōga had dropped for them, leaving Rin to pick at her porridge in peace. When the young woman looked up to observe the surrounding area, she was met with Sesshōmaru's impassive stare. It was most likely her imagination, but in the dim light, she sword his gold eyes glowed like fireflies in the most wondrous way.
Now was as good a time as any to try to talk, she supposed. Her lips parted, but before she could get a single word out, Sesshōmaru turned his head to watch the dogs finish off the viscera of the boar.
The next day was more of the same: riding through the Northern countryside, watching fields and mountains and trees manifest in the expanse before them and then evanesce on the horizon behind them. Rin was sitting on Sesshōmaru's horse, her spare arms firmly around his torso, much to his displeasure, as if she were afraid he would spur his horse at any moment and send her flying to the earth. Days prior, when Sesshōmaru had believed the girl to have slept with his father, he might have considered it. But she needn't worry now; despite his lingering annoyance at the current setup, he would keep his true feeling hidden behind an impenetrable mask, as was his wont. The last thing he needed was another lecture about the proper behavior of an Imperial Lord from his father on her behalf.
Lord Tokudaiji was once again regaling Rin with the history of the surrounding areas — widespread knowledge to everyone else in the group, but apparently a point of great fascination to the little common woman. This included details about the noble families and cities they were passing by in their haste: the wealthy Mastura clan in Tsukuba, situated in the vast Aomori valley slightly West of them; the martial Nijo clan in Kamikita, just up ahead; the scholarly Higurashi clan in Itō, along the coast of the bay further East; and so on and so forth.
"We fought a battle somewhere around here as well, during the Unification Conflict," Tōga said, removing one hand from his rein to gesticulate towards the horizon. "I think about a little way from here, just on the other side of the forest."
Next to him, Sesshōmaru heard Seiten scoff at this sudden stroke of humility. "A battle?"
"Did you win?" Rin's soft voice drifted from behind him. Sesshōmaru held back a scoff at the vacuous question.
Tōga laughed. "We did, as might be expected."
"It was the decisive moment of the war," Seiten explained to Rin. "Lord Tokudaiji's leadership helped cement the late Emperor's partiality towards him."
"I wouldn't necessarily say that. The late Emperor and my grandfather were already quite close, despite being half-siblings," Tōga said.
"Did you get a reward?" Rin asked, thoroughly entertained.
Tōga released a nostalgic sigh. "Yes — he let me marry his dearest daughter. And then came Sesshōmaru!"
"Oh, spare me," Sesshōmaru said.
"What?" Tōga bantered jovially. "I consider your presence quite the gift, in spite of your perpetual aloofness."
Rin loosened her grip around him. "What's Her Imperial Excellency like?"
"Like Sesshōmaru, but more quick-witted and high-spirited," Tōga said. "And as beautiful as a moonlit sky."
Sesshōmaru nearly scoffed at that, too. In truth, he didn't think he and his Princess Mother were that alike; however, he was certain that she wouldn't take too kindly to Rin's unannounced presence, either.
Surprisingly, his father had decided not to include the details of Rin's existence to Princess Saeko in his response letter.
"If I do that, she'll just be difficult," Tōga had reasoned. "It's better to simply bring Rin along and explain things in person rather than discuss it through ink."
The young Lord didn't believe his mother would appreciate either method, but that was not his problem to manage.
After a few more hours of travel, the group settled down for the evening, and Sesshōmaru left their makeshift camp to hunt. It wasn't an activity he particularly enjoyed, and this area—mountainous and over-farmed—wouldn't yield the best catches, but any form of reprieve from the rehashing of past particulars was welcome. Tai followed him, somehow restless from the long day's travel. He and the dog went on deeper and deeper into the woods, scouting for nothing in particular, until an hour or so had passed and the most peculiar thing occurred.
The sound of someone or something splashing wildly in a body of water came from beyond the trees. Sesshōmaru narrowed his eyes. If it were a wild animal, fine. If it were someone more troublesome—say, a few bandits—he'd have to dispose of them now so they would not be trouble later.
Discreetly, Sesshōmaru walked towards the source of the noise. Out of the trees and at the base of the small hill on which he apparently stood was a sizeable river, glistering beneath the orange light of the evening sun. In the glassy water, his father's ward was splashing around, more like an unruly peasant child than the refined lady's maid the Imperial Lord thought she could become. Her long dark hair, made wild from nights of riotous sleep in the grass, was pinned into a messy bun secured by a dingy wooden comb, revealing a slender neck and dainty ears flushed from the bright summer sun. The sleeves of her pale persimmon yukata—the same unsightly yukata he had bought for her back in Yobetsu due to its relatively low-price, repaired in Asahiri of its slight wear from whatever salacious situation she had found herself in before she had found them later on—were tucked into the light blue tasuki loaned to her by his father. She'd rolled up the hem of her yukata and hadajuban as well to avoid the dampness of the water, exposing a rather wicked amount of flesh.
What was most striking to Sesshōmaru was not her silly actions or the coarse way she wore her clothes, but the condition of the skin now exposed to the world around her. One might expect a woman her age to be unblemished, as was de rigueur for brides of all ranks, but her lightly tanned arms and legs were marked with scars and bruises, most old, but some more recent, of all shapes and sizes.
There was a rustle in the woods, and Tai leaped out from behind him and onto the riverbank to join Yua, who had been patiently waiting for Rin to finish whatever it was she was doing. The sudden noise startled the young woman, who, after looking around for any other surprises, finally picked him out amongst the woodland foliage. Her deep brown eyes, impossibly large for her face and framed by thick sooty lashes, were wide, like a doe on the wrong side of an arrow. She was lucky it was him, and not some common lout: with her puny stature, she'd never be able to defend herself against any real menace.
To Rin, his expression was unreadable, as always. Aware of her perceived indecency, she rushed to lower the hem of her yukata. Even still, she looked up to find him staring at her quite intensely—not in the way of the lustful men of her old village, but perhaps exasperation at her disturbing his designated nature time.
"Why aren't you closer to the camp?" Sesshōmaru asked coolly.
"I…" she started quietly, her voice faltering under his gaze. He was the type of person to view everything and everyone with judgment and had done so to her from the very moment she'd met him. But no matter how intimidating his demeanor, Rin knew she couldn't be uneasy around him forever. With a brief exhale, she mustered some courage, planted her feet firmly in the boggy river floor, shifted her gaze to his.
"I caught some fish." Her bandaged hand gesticulated towards a small basket of fish lying on the riverbank nearby. "It's enough for us to eat tonight, so you don't really have to hunt today, if you don't want to."
This displeased him. Quickly bored with her and rather disinterested in her catch, he turned to walk away.
One dark brow slanted in frustration, Rin stepped out of the water, retrieved her reasonable bounty of fish, and hastened over the small hill to follow him into the woods.
"Young Lord!" She called out.
He ignored her, his long hair blowing gently in the summer breeze with each step.
"Can you teach me how to shoot?" Rin lilted. She didn't really mean it, but it was hopefully enough to catch his attention.
"No," he shot back, too quick for comfort.
"Why not?"
"My bow isn't suited for your height."
That was probably true. The bow looked rather long and was most likely unwieldy for someone of her stature, much less a beginner.
"What's more," he continued, "I don't want to."
Rin gave the back of his head a wry look. That was more in line with his typical behavior.
She tried again. "Can I watch you then? I can at least learn from that."
"You turned green watching my father skin a boar. Hunting won't be better."
"That's different!"
"You'll scare the animals."
"I won't scare them any more than the dogs do," she thought aloud.
Sesshōmaru spun on his heel to face her. There was a slight furrow to her dark brows and an elfin pout to her lips, as if she were purposefully challenging him, that made her even more irritating. His backward glance was enough to stop her in her tracks, but she could tell she was still insistent on nettling him.
"You're my father's burden, not mine," he stated plainly. "Go and vex him instead."
This pronouncement had no effect on her, for she simply tilted her chin to look up at him and said, "I don't know how long we'll be traveling each other – perhaps a while. Shouldn't we try to get along?
Sesshōmaru's lips pursed at the gentleness of her voice. She closely echoed what his father had told him in the inn the day they left Asahiri. But it seemed like the Imperial Lord had truly chosen not to tell her about the probable fate of her long-lost sibling, or his intentions for her to become a maidservant at Inugawa.
"I know Lord Tōga spoke to you about me," she drawled on, missing the young Lord's bristle at her continued casual use of his father's personal name, "but I really don't care about any of that. The past is the past now."
Sesshōmaru's own brow quirked slightly. It was the first time she'd seen any sort of emotion other than negativity on his face. Still, his voice was haughty and trenchant: "You presume I've done something for which I have to beg your forgiveness."
Rin's jaw dropped slightly at this brazen response. Since they'd met, the young Lord had openly shown his disgust for her, called her a whore to her face, and generally made her feel uncomfortable with his critical gaze and remarks. She had even extended a cessation of hostilities, only to be rebuffed once again.
Perhaps there truly was nothing she could do to get any semblance of warmth out of him.
Satisfied by her dumbstruck silence, Sesshōmaru turned to disappear further into the woods, away from Rin.
Her whole life had been spent allowing others to have the last word. A new, sprouting flicker of something strange within her refused to let it happen this time.
"Don't you ever get tired of being so––" she paused to find the words "––mean and grumpy all the time?"
Sesshōmaru rolled his eyes. It was an artless attempt at affront, childish even, imbued with a cheekiness that would have made his father laugh if the older man were there to give ear to it. He glanced back at her again, only to see her walking, huffy and barefoot, back in the direction of the camp.
a/n: I found a really good resource on the ancient Japanese calendar and decided to integrate the info there into this fic. If I did my math right, everyone's birthdays should be as such: February 24th for Rin, December 21st for Sesshōmaru (Capricorn King!), July 26th for Tōga, and September 5th for Seiten.
Also we've FINALLY got some decent interaction between Sesshōmaru and Rin, with more to come. It only took around four years. BIG thanks to everyone who's stuck around since 2017; you all are so brave!
Until next time!