Chapter 52 - Impulse
The daylight grew brighter within the shadowy interior of the small human hut. As noon approached, the sun on the roof, warmed the interior of the room making it pleasantly comfortable. Outside, birds chirped and called to each other loudly in the trees. Bugs and assorted other creatures created a low monotonous buzzing beneath the sound of the birdcalls. Nature's chorus was lovely, but Sesshomaru's mind was far from the caocaphony.
Inside the hut, his eyes hardly left the sleeping form of Rin for a moment. She was so small and fragile there, it hardly seemed possible that Naraku and that boy hadn't somehow injured her - even by accident. Yet, she seemed completely unharmed, just exhausted from a long and presumably traumatizing night. He intended to get the full story from her, of what had happened and been said. Eventually. For the moment, he was just satisfied that she was safe.
Sesshomaru couldn't even begin to explain the fierce protectiveness he felt for the girl. The feelings and sensations that her presence drew forth from deep within him. The one thing that he did know, was that the entire encounter - Rin's abduction, Naraku's taunting, and then later her rescue, had fundamentally changed him somehow. The yokai did not yet have words to describe what had changed, but he felt it. As if the very foundations of his soul had shifted. Like earthquakes changed the landscape mountains.
For the first time in many months, Sesshomaru thought of the Tenseiga, and his father's memories contained within it. Not that he was truly considering delving into those memories. More of, he was wondering what they possibly could be. Sesshomaru had seen his father so rarely after the emotionally wrought event of his youth with Inkimi, which resulted in Toga's withdraw from Unoshiro castle. He had not seen his father again until he was much older.
What had occurred in those years? Had he met Izayoi after the separation from Inkimi? Sesshomaru presumed it must have been afterward. Izayoi could not have been more than twenty, at the very most, when she birthed InuYasha. By human standards, she would have been an adult. But based on the flashes of memories that Sesshomaru had witnessed within the Tenseiga, Izayoi and Toga had met when she was still a child, about Rin's age now. Toga's commitment and passion for Izayoi had been clear, at the time that Sesshomaru learned of her existence, many years later.
Rin shifted in her sleep, lips parted with heavy breath as she turned toward Sesshomaru and reached out her hands. They roved across the mat, as if searching for something. For a moment, he watched in silence, uncertain what she was searching for in her dreams. Her hands grasped, as if trying to hold onto something. Grasping the long tail of his mokomoko, Sesshomaru dangled it before her fingertips. With a happy sleepy sound of delight she grasped the fluffy fur and drew it tightly against her, burying her face in its softness. In the shadowy darkness of the hut, with no living being to see, Sesshomaru smiled. Somehow it seemed fitting that the little human girl, protected by the fearsome dog yokai, would find fur comforting.
A sound outside made Sesshomaru's attention snap to the opening. He held his breath, listening and scenting the air. Jaken's squeaky voice came from somewhere far away, followed by the heavy footfalls of A-un. The tension in Sessshomaru's hands - he had not even realized he'd bared his claws - relaxed, realizing that it was his vassal. It was several moments before Jaken actually made an appearance at the door, stumbling under the weight of a huge basket which held an incredible variety of foods within. Sesshomaru smelled some foods that he did not even recognize.
"Wuah!" Jaken cried, collapsing as the basket crushed him. "Oh- Lord Sesshomaru! Look at all the food I've brought!" The imp's bulging eyes wandered the room, taking in Sesshomaru sitting back against the wall, and Rin clutching the fluffy fur as if it was her lifeline. Wisely, the imp fell into silence.
"You need to go fetch blankets."
Jaken's face fell, he looked absolutely devastated. "M-me?" He wriggled out from beneath the blanket, and stood to his feet, eyes watery. "B-but I've only just arrived my Lord!" Sesshomaru looked away, not interested in entertaining a discussion about what Jaken felt he needed. For a moment, the hut was silent. Then, with an exaggerated sigh, Jaken walked back out the door. His complaints to A-un, obviously for Sesshomaru's benefit, could be heard clearly, as the imp headed back through the woods.
Sesshomaru's gold eyes found Rin again, watching the heavy breath escaping her lips tease the fluffy fur that she clutched. When she had rolled, several strands of her dark hair had fallen across her face. There was a strange impulse, to reach out and brush them away from her cheek. One that he denied, resolutely. Allowing himself to hold Rin's hand had been for her comfort. Irritated with himself for such a ridiculous notion, he shifted his gaze to the wall opposite of him instead. It didn't quell the impulse, which he was now recognizing as longing. Fortunately, he was very used to denying himself every sort of pleasure. A solace he usually took pride in. At the moment though, Sesshomaru did not find it particularly comforting.