"What is this place?" she gasped and stared awestruck at the imposing staircase before them. It appeared endless and seemed to ascend directly into the clouds.

"My home."

It was the first question he'd deigned to answer in hours. "You live in the sky?"

"In a mansion," he responded dryly.

"A mansion built in the sky."

He did not correct her, so she figured she had to be close to the truth. She'd know far more once they ascended above the clouds, but the destination may as well have been a hundred miles away. Rin groaned inwardly as Sesshomaru ascended the first step. She'd been looking forward to a break after the hours they'd spent climbing to the mountaintop to reach this spot, but it seemed he had no intentions of letting her rest.

"This is much more enjoyable now that we're talking," she said, and begrudgingly climbed the stairs behind him.

"You haven't stopped," he replied, and she thought she might have detected a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

"My brother says the same thing. He says I could talk the ears off a monkey, whatever that means. Don't you ever grow tired of listening to your own thoughts?"

"I prefer it," was his blunt reply.

No wonder he's such a talented conversationalist, she thought.

"Oh. Well. Very sorry then, to have troubled you."

She'd hoped her snide remark would have held more punch, but of course her exhausted legs seized upon that exact moment to stumble on the next step. She tripped and fell forward, bashing her knee on the edge of the stair. She looked up, half-expecting to find Sesshomaru rolling his eyes at her clumsiness. Instead, he stopped short and calmly took a seat atop the stairs.

"We will rest here a while," he said, as though he had planned to take a break in that exact spot all along. Thankful for the reprieve, she took a seat on the step a few down from his and drank deeply from the water flask at her hip. Her eyes scanned the vast horizon in front of them, a verdant landscape of treetops and mountain peaks. It was impossible to know where her family shrine was in all of that land. She briefly wondered what her brother was doing. Would he have realized she was gone? Would he have already searched for her? Or would he still be sitting inside the shrine, silently fuming over her tardiness at preparing his dinner?

"Are you looking forward to being home?" she wondered.

When he didn't answer, she looked over at him and noticed his eyes staring far off into the distance as well.

"I guess you must be worried about seeing your father again."

It hadn't been more than a handful of months since the man had hacked off his arm to prove a point. She could imagine seeing him again would be difficult, even for someone as reserved as Sesshomaru.

"He does not reside here," he said, and she hid her surprise that he'd answered behind a long drink from her flask.

It was a relief to know that, at least for now, he was willing to have something that resembled an actual conversation with her. She'd felt like a child tagging along after him, asking innocent question after innocent question only to be met with silence. Eventually, the terrain had become so rough that she'd lacked the breath or concentration to ask any more questions and had gone quiet. That was until he'd stopped at the base of a very large staircase that rose into the clouds and advised her they would be heading up it.

"Do you live here by yourself?"

Sesshomaru rose to his feet, so she did the same.

"If you are recovered, we should continue."

Rin quelled a sigh at his evasiveness and returned her flask to her hip. "Alright. Lead the way, Sesshomaru."

"Lord Sesshomaru," he corrected her. "Do humans not address nobility as such?"

"Are you demon nobility?" she asked, her genuine curiosity too real to suppress.

Rather than answer, he led her through the cloud cover to the other side, revealing what she could only describe as an immaculate palace. She doubted even the Emperor lived in a home half as grand as the one before her.

"You neglected to mention you live in a palace," she remarked, and ran up the next few steps to catch up. "Do all demons live in sky palaces like this?"

Sesshomaru turned his head towards her. "They do not."

"Are you demon royalty? Like an emperor or a prince? You certainly dress like a prince."

She eyed his attire, which could not have been further from the homely indigo-dyed yukata of her father's she'd lent him. He was draped in fine white silk from neck to toe. His jacket boasted a bold flower pattern and elaborate, long sleeves that were hardly practical on anyone, let alone a warrior. But clearly he was the sort of demon who could afford to march around the countryside in fine white silk, and replace an expensive kimono without a second thought.

Sesshomaru frowned down at her. "Demons do not use such limiting human labels. The strongest rule over others. When they are no longer strongest, others rise to take their place. It is the way of things."

"Not so different from humans then," Rin commented under her breath. Wasn't that what the perpetual war her region was embroiled in was all about? Determining who was strongest? It seemed such a futile, foolish waste of time.

"Why does it matter who the strongest is?" she prodded.

"The strong cannot abide being ruled by the weak."

"Is that all?"

Sesshomaru's pace slowed as they neared the top of the seemingly endless flight of stairs. "We have arrived. You are not to speak once we are inside," he warned. "It will not be tolerated."

Rin sent him an affronted look but promptly closed her mouth and hurried to keep up. She studied him closely as they climbed the last few stairs to the top and noted how rigid his shoulders had become. He seemed stiff and uncertain, not at all like the demon she'd seen until now.

When they reached the top of the stairs, there were guards lining the path ahead, each with a weapon as menacing as the ghoulish armored mask covering its face. Rin kept close to Sesshomaru, not daring to fall more than a pace or two behind for fear that a guard would snatch her and eat her.

At the end of the long and elaborate path, there was an elegant chair with an even more elegant looking woman seated upon it. Rin studied her from behind Sesshomaru's back and concluded that she must be some family relation. They shared the same marking on their forehead and there was no mistaking the haughty way she carried herself.

"Look who has finally deigned to visit his mother," she remarked. Her eyes surveyed him from head to toe, her gaze sharp.

"Sesshomaru, I see you've lost an arm and gained a human." Her mouth twisted into a cold smile as if this revelation amused her. "I thought you hated their kind."

"This is how you greet your son?" he scoffed.

Her eyes flashed dangerously. "You return home after years of being gone, with a human in tow no less, and expect courtesy? You are more like your father every day."

Rin noticed the way Sesshomaru's hand clenched tight, hidden behind the long drape of his sleeve. It surprised her just how quickly Sesshomaru's mother had gotten under his skin. She'd scarcely seen him express a single emotion aside from bored indifference and yet in a handful of sentences his mother had him speaking with barely restrained anger.

"In that case, I'll leave."

He turned abruptly and nearly walked into her, but she quickly side-stepped out of his way. He hadn't travelled more than a few paces before his mother called after him.

"Honestly, Sesshomaru, will you always be so impudent? Surely you would not wish to be rude by abandoning us so soon after showing your face?"

Rin's eyes darted to Sesshomaru, wondering what he would do, but he stubbornly continued his retreat. She fell in step after him and quelled an inward sigh at the thought of climbing back down all of those stairs. In truth, she was tired and more than a little hungry. She could use a rest and a meal to restore her energy. But it seemed Sesshomaru was intent on leaving in a huff.

"Your father returns tomorrow."

His feet drew to a halt, and Rin held her breath. Based on the coy turn of his mother's mouth, she knew his pride wouldn't permit him to leave now. Instead of continuing down the stairs, he turned down a different path and Rin followed.

He remained silent as they walked, a glower firmly affixed to his features. There were many things she wished to say, but his warning that humans were not permitted to speak in this place kept her lips pressed shut.

"We will stay until tomorrow," he informed her. "I will have the servants prepare a room for you."

She nodded and swallowed down the hundreds of questions that were urgently pressing to get out. He looked at her as though she'd asked them, anyway.

"My father and I have unfinished business. That is all."

She nodded her head in understanding.

"You are free to speak."

The breath escaped her lungs in a relieved 'whoosh'. She managed to rein her questions in, knowing there would be ample time to ask them later (now that they would stay the night), and encouraged him instead.

"I hope you win this time," she said with a smile. "As payback for taking your arm."

Sesshomaru remained quiet, but the muscles in his jaw that had remained clenched tight since their arrival relaxed. He pulled open the door to a nondescript room and gestured for her to enter.

"We have several hours before dinner. I suggest you use the time to bathe and change into proper attire. My servants will arrive shortly to assist you."

Rin flinched at his harsh assessment and discretely pulled at her pants. She didn't smell that poorly, did she? Then again, she had died in these clothes. And it was more than a little odd (or possibly even rude?) to dress as a shrine maiden in the home of a demon.

"Alright. I guess I'll see you at dinner then?"

He turned and walked away without acknowledging her. She discretely watched his retreat until he entered a room of his own, a short way down the engawa from hers, and closed the door. She followed suit, silently sliding hers shut. She rested her head against the frame and released the breath she'd been holding. Between dying and sharing a meal with demons, she was starting to wonder if this was all nothing more than a bad dream.

It felt like so long ago now that she was picking berries in the forest. Had it only been that morning? When she'd opened her eyes with the dawn, she hadn't known that any of this existed. A whole other world, right above their heads. How could she ever go back to her old life while knowing this? It was impossible. Her life would never be the same. It had taken him less than a day to upend her entire world.

A servant entered the room from the opposite side, bearing a polite apology and an armload of silk. Rin expelled a weighted sigh and stepped away from the door to greet them. Maybe it wasn't a dream, but only time would tell.