Author's Corner

Hi everyone! I just wanted to share this fantastic piece of insight from victoriarogue regarding Koga and Rin's interaction in the previous chapter. Feel free to skip this AN if you're not interested, but if you are, the review reads as follows:

"Hm, interesting. I'm not sure how to interpret Rin's thought process around other men. It seemed like she was going through the usual motion of trauma, wanting to give back the pain that was given to her, but that piece where she wants to dominate Koga sexually feels strange where it is. Given her supposed age of 14, I can see her starting to have sexual desires as a result of puberty and her developing psychology into adulthood. Even when Octavia mentioned Kohaku's attractiveness, Rin started to see him differently and developed a feeling of inadequacy when he was around other girls. Both cases are good in that they sort of highlight how easily a human can be attracted to a demon, especially in Takahashi's work, whether it's the heat of the moment or a result of being in danger.

For Kohaku, which was something I wanted to bring up before but just didn't have the right wording, I can see him falling prey to a true female youkai as a result of validation. Because he felt he was a coward in his youth and had to work for the creatures responsible for killing him and his clan when he was resurrected, I can see him appreciating the attention of his martial skill and heroism since he's not used to it. Really, just him being able to engage in any intimacy with a woman who, in the views of masculinity, prefer the strong, fearless type would be like a HUGE step up for him. It's easy for him to ignore a human woman in that case, especially when the trauma of losing everything he knew is more likely to hang over his head should he be as intimate with a human girl as he is with a demon girl. Though demons caused him pain, they also helped him, and it's less likely that a demon woman would allow an attacker to harm his family.

For Rin, I can see a similar thing happening. She felt more protected and safer around demons than she did humans in her youth, so she'd be more open to a life with demons than humans. The interesting thing is how she's responding to Koga. It's almost like she's silently forgiving him in a way because Tsunayoshi potentially caused more harm to her in a very different way than Koga did. I don't know."

Although I already responded to you via PM, I wanted to share what I wrote in my reply here, as well.

For me, Rin's feelings towards Koga in that scene were directly influenced by her trauma as well as her developing sexuality. The abuse she suffered from Tsunayoshi has given her a warped sense of attraction and unwittingly made her associate violence and hatred with sexual desire, hence her conflicting thoughts about Koga in that particular moment. There's also an element of shame there because of her history with him and his pack, which is why she lashes out instead of being honest with him. I wouldn't say she's forgiven him per se, but their relationship has definitely changed quite drastically and will continue to do so going forwards.

I could keep going but this subject is very important to Rin's character development and I don't want to spoil any future events, so I'll leave it at that for now. (Also, tiny nitpick here but Rin turned fifteen during the time jump between arcs three and four so she's now roughly the same age that Kagome was during the original series. I mentioned in a previous chapter before the time skip that she was nearing her fifteenth birthday, but I don't think I ever verified her age after that.)

Rambling aside, I hope you all enjoy the new chapter!

EIGHTH BLOOD

Chapter 105: Harbinger of death

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The first thing Inuyasha heard when he woke up was a chorus of singing wagtails.

He yawned and cracked his stiff joints, relieving them of tension. He hadn't meant to fall asleep, but the branch below was simply too comfortable to resist dozing on, and the surrounding canopy provided ample shelter from the elements. With winter on the horizon, most of the stronghold was dead and barren, but the trees on this side of the garden were still thick and green. They had been the first to grow back after the usurper's reign had come to an end, and they continued to prosper even with the morning frost gnawing at their trunks like a horde of starving rats.

The leaves above his head rustled loudly, prompting him to look up and peer through the shaking branches with cynical eyes. A few seconds later, a familiar face poked out of the foliage, alongside a head of bright orange hair.

"Nice of you to drop in and pay us a visit, you little freeloader," Inuyasha greeted dryly. "How many weeks was it this time? Where do you keep fucking off to, anyway?"

Grinning, Shippo landed a few inches away from his feet and replied, "I have other friends besides you guys, you know."

Inuyasha snorted. "Oh, yeah? Like who?"

The kitsune made a point of rubbing his chin. "Let's see. There are my classmates from the Academy, Souten, Suki and Ryuuya—"

"All right, all right, I get it," Inuyasha interrupted sourly. "You're too good for the likes of us now. No need to keep going on about it, you miniature-sized prick."

Shippo's lone eye glittered with amusement. "Did I miss anything interesting?"

"Not really. It's weirdly peaceful here. Considering how much of an ass Sesshoumaru can be, things ain't at all how I expected 'em to be. Despite its flaws, this place is kind of . . . nice." Before Shippo could come up with some clever jibe about him being more like a housecat than a dog, he sat a little straighter and asked, "What about you? What were you and your new pals doing that justified sneaking out in the middle of the night without telling anyone?"

"We were hunting slavers," Shippo answered without a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

Inuyasha blinked. "Slavers? What the hell are you even talking about?"

"To cut a long story short, Suki sent me an illusion explaining how she'd located one of the five main slave camps and was planning on storming it. Since things seem to have settled down here, I decided to go and give her a hand."

"What the . . . How do you even know this girl? And how come we've never met her?"

"I told you – she was an upperclassman when I first joined the Academy. I ran into her again a few months ago, after I got myself captured by these old women with flesh as hard as stone. It started out just like any other job, but it turned out to be a trap. Kohaku and Ryuuya almost died."

"How come this is the first I'm hearing of it?"

"I didn't realise I had to give you a rundown of what I do when you're not around."

"That's not what I meant and you know it." Inuyasha couldn't stop his gaze from shifting to the cloth patch that covered Shippo's mutilated eye socket. "Listen. I know you've gotten stronger, but you're still just a kid. If anything happened to you . . ."

The kitsune took a moment to process his meaning, then smiled pompously. "Were you worried about me? That's lame."

Inuyasha disguised his laugh as a cough. "Shut up, you fucking ingrate."

Sniggering, Shippo snapped his fingers and transformed into a puppy with crisp white fur and a wagging tail. Meanwhile, Inuyasha narrowed his eyes, unimpressed by the facade. "Hi, my name's Inuyasha and I love warm hugs," Shippo teased, rolling onto his back and presenting his stomach for petting. "Rub my belly, pretty please. And while you're at it, throw me a stick, why don't you?"

"All right, you asked for it," Inuyasha said, balling his hand into a fist.

Before Shippo could even try to escape, an unidentified object smashed through the canopy and nearly sent them both flying. Reacting purely on instinct, Inuyasha slashed at it with his claws, but they missed their target and left gashes in the tree trunk he'd been leaning against instead.

"You ain't getting away that easily!" he growled, getting ready to pounce.

"Wait!" cried Shippo. "Don't hurt it!"

"Why the hell not!"

"Because! Look!"

He followed Shippo's pointing finger to a dark shape weaving in and out of the branches like a needle and thread. The shape in question was actually a huge crow with feathers so black they looked as if they had been dipped in ink. Even its eyes and beak were like shards of obsidian.

"What's that?" Inuyasha asked, squinting his eyes in an effort to better see the strange metal cylinder that was strapped to the crow's leg. "Looks like some kind of container."

"I've heard about these," said Shippo. "My dad once told me that high-ranking demons used to train birds to deliver their mail. Not just any old bird, mind you. These ones were specially bred and supposedly descended from shinigami, although that last part was never proven to be true." His expression turned grave all of a sudden. "But that's not all. According to my dad, the messages that the birds carried talked exclusively of one thing and one thing alone . . ."

"Which was?"

Shippo's throat bobbed before he whispered, "Death."

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It was well after midday when Octavia finally left Sesshoumaru's private quarters and sprinted through the castle as if she were competing in a relay race. Her hair felt damp and cold against her neck, and the lingering moisture seeped into her kosode, making it cling to her like a second skin. Servants and nobles alike eyed her strangely as she trailblazed past them without stopping, but fortunately, they kept their thoughts about her unkempt appearance to themselves. The only ones brave enough to speak to her these days were two jaw-droppingly gorgeous serving girls called Hinata and Yui, who greeted her with shy smiles and blushed whenever she returned the sentiment, inflating her ego by an unhealthy amount.

"Octavia-chan!" a voice called out from behind her. "Hey! Wait up!"

Her feet slowed to a walk as she turned and saw Kagome waving her arms around frantically to get her attention, before breaking into a run. In order to appease Sesshoumaru's vanity, Kagome had forfeited her old roughspun robes for ones of a finer quality. The new kosode was a muted pink with a flock of sparrows encompassing the majority of its wide-cut sleeves, whereas the hakama trousers were a cherry red and cinched at the waist with an olive-green sash.

"Is something wrong?" Octavia asked when she finally caught up.

"N-No!" Kagome stammered, sounding vaguely embarrassed. "Everything's fine. I just . . . Do you have a minute? I could really use your opinion on something."

Octavia nodded and said, "Sure. But we'll have to walk and talk. I'm in a bit of a rush."

Kagome smiled and fell into step beside her. "Running late again, are we? What else is new? If I were Cyril, I'd make you do a push-up for each minute you kept me waiting."

Octavia scowled. "Don't give him any ideas."

When Kagome failed to respond, Octavia peeked sideways and stared at her. The miko's smile had vanished and her brow was pinched with worry as she stared down at her feet, seemingly lost in thought.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Octavia asked, breaking her out of the trance.

Kagome lifted her gaze and sighed. "Does Inuyasha seem different to you?"

Octavia blinked. "Different how?"

"I don't know, just . . . different. I'm not sure how to explain it, but he's been acting weird the whole time we've been here." Her mouth twisted into a frown. "You really haven't noticed?"

"No, but in my defence, I hardly know him."

"True. I guess a part of me just thought . . ."

"What?"

Kagome looked at her sheepishly. "I just figured, since you're so close with Sesshoumaru . . ."

Oh.

"You thought I'd be able to read Inuyasha, too?" she finished for her.

Kagome nodded. "Yeah. It sounds silly when you say it out loud, though. They may be brothers, but they're nothing alike. Inuyasha is good and kind, whereas Sesshoumaru is—"

Octavia waited for her to continue, but the sentence remained unfinished.

"He likes it here, doesn't he?"

The miko averted her eyes, confirming Octavia's suspicions in the process. "I want to go home," she murmured softly. "It's all I can think about, but Inuyasha has given no indication that he feels the same way. I'm worried that we'll never see our house or any of our friends again."

"Have you tried talking to him about this?"

She shook her head.

"Why not?"

"Because it would trouble him." Kagome stopped walking and balled her hands into fists. "You're right, Octavia-chan. Inuyasha does like it here. When we arrived, I was afraid that the other demons would be cruel to him, but they're more tolerant than I expected. I guess we have you and Rin to thank for that, huh?"

Octavia's chest tightened when her cousin met her gaze and held it.

"I know Sesshoumaru has been good to you–" Kagome began reluctantly, "–but I just don't trust him. I can't. I understand how that must be hard for you. You didn't know him before. But I did. I saw the way he treated Inuyasha. He was a monster. Yeah, he showed up to lend us a hand every now and then, but that doesn't erase any of the horrible things he did before and in between."

"Of course it doesn't," Octavia said, swallowing the lump in her throat. "No matter how hard we try, we can't take back our past mistakes. All we can do is try to atone for them."

"I don't think Inuyasha sees it that way."

And there it was. Kagome wasn't upset that her husband was acting differently, or that he'd found some semblance of belonging in a place that should have caused him pain. She simply couldn't fathom how he could stomach being around someone who had hurt him so badly for so many years.

"That's not exactly surprising," Octavia muttered. "When you've spent your whole life deprived of love and validation, the tiniest amount of either seems mountainous. And when you have it, you hold onto it with everything you've got. Because if you let go, you'll have nothing again." Kagome's eyes widened slightly as Octavia took her hands and squeezed them. "I might not know him as well as you do, but I would wager that this is all he's ever wanted."

"What about me?" the miko whispered. "I accepted him right from the start. I defended him when no one else would. Loved him when no one else would . . . Was I not enough?"

Octavia was lost for words.

"Don't answer that," Kagome added hastily, sounding ashamed. "Oh, shoot. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to drag you into my drama. You have more important things to be worrying about—"

"Don't say that. This is important. You're important. And don't you dare try to argue otherwise."

The corners of Kagome's mouth inched upwards ever so slightly, but the sorrow in her eyes failed to dissipate. "Sorry," she repeated. "Everything you've said makes total sense. I shouldn't be feeling this way. It's not fair—to him or to me . . . But I'm just so scared of losing him."

"You won't," Octavia assured her.

"You're sure?"

"Positive."

Kagome's brown eyes glittered with tears. "Thanks, Octavia-chan. I know it hasn't exactly been smooth sailing for you, but I'm really glad you're here."

Smiling, Octavia pulled her into a hug. "Don't mention it. And for what it's worth, I'm really glad you're here, too."

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Cyril was bent over his desk reading when she arrived. When he failed to acknowledge her presence, Octavia kicked an imaginary pebble with her foot awkwardly. She hadn't meant to keep him waiting for so long. She supposed she deserved the silent treatment this time.

"I'm so sorry," she mumbled. "I know I'm late, but I'm here now—"

A loud caw made her pause mid-flow and cast her gaze in the direction of the sound. An enormous black crow was perched atop a column of shelves, staring at her from across the room intently. A chill ran down her spine as she regarded the creature from afar. It was like a nightmare made flesh—the horror amplified by its hook-shaped talons and empty, chasm-like eyes. Octavia swallowed thickly. The crow was almost as tall as she was, and it was of a similar girth, too. She dreaded to think how much larger it would be when it opened its wings to take flight.

"There will be no lessons today," Cyril said without glancing up from the parchment in his hands. "We need to find Sesshoumaru-sama. Urgently. It is of the utmost importance."

She furrowed her brow. "Why?"

Her uncle finally lifted his head and met her gaze. A lump formed in her throat when she saw the dread in his eyes.

Peering lower, she studied the piece of parchment he was holding carefully, then bit the inside of her cheek hard when she noticed red smudges in the shape of fingerprints all over the page.

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Author's Corner

Thanks for reading! Sorry about the cliffhanger lol. Stay tuned to find out what happens next! In the meantime, don't forget to favourite/follow and review if you can. I understand that you all lead busy lives, but it really does motivate me to write faster. Take care and I'll see you next time!

(P.S. In case you're wondering, the Suki and Ryuuya that Shippo mentioned are the same ones that appeared in chapters 17-19. Small world, huh?)