A/N: ha. Ha. Ha…you guys are going to be so disappointed in me…
Also, shoutout to pamelamoores…I don't know how anyone could read 46 chapters in a day! I mean, I know they're not long, but…holy smokes. O.O
To answer a couple recent questions from spiritedranger: finals are actually in two weeks and I go right into summer school ^^' I write to take time out and relax, and since I need it more than ever I'm actually getting through my usual writer's block and getting things out. And as for the mind-link, it is a special bond formed only between mated pairs. Sesshomaru actually mentions that he had "been waiting to speak to Rin in such an intimate fashion". And as for why Rin can't understand Inu-speak…well, I don't know about you, my readers, but my dog and I don't talk much. We only understand the bare minimum of noises and body language. She has about as much knowledge of her new native language, if you will, as a baby would. It will take at least a couple of years before she understands. I just felt that made more sense, organically. -\(シ)/-
Sesshomaru turned sharply at the clattering sound, looking up to see Rin blank-eyed and shaking, seeming to shiver. He jumped to his feet and gently grabbed her upper arms, holding her firmly in front of him. "Rin, what's wrong? What is it?" He demanded of her unfocused gaze.
"I'm hot…too hot…" She mumbled softly. Then she abruptly collapsed in his arms, her eyes rolling back in her head so the whites showed momentarily before they fell shut. He quickly laid her back in bed and yelled for the healer as he tried to wake her again, his heart trying to pound its way out of him through his throat, or so it seemed to him.
The healer arrived just as Rin moaned and started to stir once more, moving weakly. She was starting to sweat profusely and did indeed feel feverish, so the healer helped strip her down to a single underlayer. Rin started to hiss and whimper every time she was touched, flinching away as if she was being burned. The young kitchen maid, Azumi, came running up the stairs and, seeing Rin-sama lying as she was, grabbed one of the discarded mochi cakes and spat on it, watching it instantly turn a deep cobalt blue color and start to sizzle. "She's been drugged!" Azumi immediately told the healer. "Needle's Prick. She needs antidote. I can make it."
Both the healer and Sesshomaru went pale at the young maid's words. "Needle's Prick…how horrible…" The healer murmured. "I've never even seen it used, it's so cruel. I don't know how to help her, Milord, but it seems the girl does. Listen to her." Azumi looked very frightened as Rin began to struggle, then thrash a bit, her pained whimpering growing louder. "You have to hold her down, or bind her," She told the worried lord. "Needle's Prick is a torture drug. It causes pain so intense that the victim would rather kill themselves than continue to suffer…She will try anything to escape the pain…" She ran from the room to make the antidote as quickly as she could, just as Rin began to scream in pain.
Sesshomaru regretfully held his mate down, impressed and dismayed in equal parts by how strong she was. This was the last thing she needed! The only thing running through his mind beyond worry about her and his future heir was a line from his schooling, long ago. "he feels the stab of a thousand blades with a single needle's prick." The poetic description from a survivor of the drug did little to help now, except to help Sesshomaru understand just how much pain his beloved Rin was really in. every slightest touch made her scream out in agony, and he was forced to hold her wrists down as she struggled to reach her throat, presumably to claw it out.
Sesshomaru tried to reassure her verbally, though he was sure she couldn't hear him past her own awful shrieks of agony. She drew blood on herself, digging her sharp claws into the soft flesh of her palms. "I'm so sorry, Rin. I promise this won't last long. Where is that damned servant-girl?!"
Azumi soon rushed back up the stairs with cotton stuffed in her ears and a pot, ladle and cloths. "She has to drink two ladles. Then, everywhere you can see her veins exposed, you have to cut her and put more antidote in. Otherwise, it could take almost an hour for the antidote to take full effect." The young Dō girl trembled, unable to block out the tortured shrieks. "I'm sorry…it will be excruciating for her…"
The Yōkai man swallowed determinedly and set his face in a mask, simply setting himself to work as efficiently as possible. He had thought he would never hear a sound so awful as Rin screaming before he began to give her the antidote. He quickly found he was very wrong as the cries she made the first time he had to cut her surpassed even his worst nightmares. He would never forget these agonized sounds as long as he lived, and the moment he found out who had done this to his precious mate, they would wish the Kami never saw fit to grant them life.
Azumi worked alongside him, bandaging each wound as he made it with rags soaked in the antidote solution. He was relieved to see it working, her cries slowly calming and fading and the tension falling out of her body as the agony slowly ebbed. She swiftly went from burning to freezing, shivering once again. He covered her over with the quilt and prayed she would be all right.
That awful, too-real dream…the burning…the pain…it had happened again, but this time Rin couldn't seem to wake up. The heavy, burning log had been removed, and the burning splinters in her hands too, though it seemed coals had landed at every pulse point in her small body. Singularly unaffected by all the burning was a small core within her, perhaps the size of a temari, or both her small fists put together. Though in the absence of the fire it was suddenly freezing cold, that small part of her was pleasantly warm, and she tried to reach for it, wondering what it was…
"S…Se…Sessho-maru?" the man's head snapped to the face of his mate as she managed to speak his name.
"I'm right here, Rin. I'm here."
"I…I had…that dream…" She managed to continue in a strained, hoarse tone, her voice completely raw with her screaming. "the fire…"
"Hush now, it's all over. I promise there's no fire." Rin was reassured by his words and relaxed slightly, managing to finally rest her hands on the little ball of warmth and happiness in her belly. That was what brought her finally, jarringly, back to reality.
"It wasn't a dream!" She blurted in a hoarse whisper, her eyes snapping open in alarm. "It wasn't a dream, I saw it happen, and then it did happen—" She started to cry, her bandaged hands covering her just faintly swollen belly protectively. "Tell me they're okay!" She whimpered.
Sesshomaru couldn't answer her…he didn't know himself. At this point, all he could do was pray for his pup's survival. He looked up to the maid to see Azumi nod. "They should be fine. Once it touches any liquid, blood especially, it cannot be passed on, not even blood to blood. It can't possibly have affected them." But she was still frowning deeply as if this somehow wasn't wonderful news.
"What aren't you telling us?" Sesshomaru demanded in a low tone. The maid bowed her head, looking reluctant and regretful.
"A woman's body will only bear so much stress or pain," She said. "Only so much, before it will reject a growing pup to save itself. And milady was pushed far beyond that point." Sesshomaru frowned more deeply as she concluded, "Though the drug itself would not affect the pup, the pain it causes will likely cause you to lose them. I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do to stop it. The midwife will be here in a couple of hours, to help."
Sesshomaru gave a growl of impotent rage as the maid beat a hasty retreat from the room and Rin started to cry in horrified denial. He gently scooped her weakened form up, holding her in his arms and rocking her gently. The moment he learned who had sent that drug to them, he would see to it they were dosed with it for days on end with no relief. It was less than such an evil person deserved for what they had done, especially to have also taken his child away, most likely. His poor, darling Rin sobbed into his shoulder, both her arms wrapped over the subtle bulge of her belly, trying desperately to protect it. He gently laid a hand upon the slight swelling as well, rubbing gently. Please…Do not do this to us…
After a while, Rin was persuaded to eat and lay back down, where she promptly fell asleep once more, entirely worn out. Aki arrived at just before noon and rushed in, startling the poor woman awake. She checked the pregnant woman thoroughly, then sat back, looking a bit bewildered.
"Aki? What is it?"
"Well, Milord, Milady, I expected to give bad news," She began, fidgeting with a corner of Rin's blanket nervously.
"Aki, Speak. We already know she will lose them." Rin teared up again at Sesshomaru's seemingly callous attitude.
"Actually, you're wrong," She said, sitting up straighter. "She isn't showing the slightest sign of miscarriage, and that's what baffles me. Rin-sama and the pup are perfectly healthy, as far as I can tell. I don't even understand how that could be, but it is so." Rin and Sesshomaru locked eyes at this new information and Rin started crying again, but this time in tremendous relief. "That said, we do not want to tempt fate, I think. Rin-sama, you are on bed rest for at least the next 3 days. No walking whatsoever. Sesshomaru-sama, I ask you to act as her legs. If she must go anywhere, carry her. You need as much good food and rest as can be managed. I will check you every day to make sure all remains well."
Rin sighed in relief and wiped her watery eyes as he helped her sit up when lunch arrived. She ate eagerly and blinked tiredly, then giggled at a faint tickling sensation, like a cricket walking across the bottom of her stomach. She rubbed it as it came again, trying to get the funny feeling to go away so she could sleep.
"What is it?" Sesshomaru noticed the rubbing and was, of course, concerned it could be a worrisome sign of something going wrong. She gently took his hand and placed it where hers had been, just as the 'cricket' walked across again. "Did you feel that? It tickles," She giggled. His eyes widened slightly as he realized what the sensation was before she did.
Noting his silence, she looked up and saw his awed face. "What is it?" She asked him in return.
She received a warm, genuine smile, and three sweet words: "They are kicking."
A/N: shoutout to all my followers! I haven't done this for a while, so I'll list all the new people first! 4444642, AnimeFreakLover54, Bankroll1001, Bre-Bre26, Cinful1126, Fireheart of Darkness, Gaamatsu96, Gruvfail, InsaneXPrincess, KaikariShumizu, Kanekiix, Kyuubi's-Angel, Ladyrouge214, lilday97, MarinitaChan, MikasaHawkeye, Miraia, Momoko44, Moshings, pamelamoores, PandaWolf95, RaindropsAndCherryblossomes, RaphaelsGirl45, RinandSesshomarufan22, Sailorstar1723, SephyraCrescent99, SharrakorShroudDragon, Shiranai Atsune, Stephy20, Tara Dawn Powers, TeamCullenPotterJackson, Thanhvantran, TheGreenEyedRogue, XuntitledX, YoursAnonymous, Yukivengeance, animeholic94, cassjo, castielluvslilith, cocolocosamba, .7771586, fairytail0630, fantacychik, gabrielariveroherrera, isiswild, jamesdeathblade, jordycat2000, lyran1, missBbadass, .73, phantome101, selly98, thea. , titaniumt, and yajairajauregui!
Phew! That's a lot of people! My once quite humble following has blossomed considerably to almost a hundred followers! That's absolutely amazing to me. I also want to thank the fantastic folks who came first and are still here, forty-seven chapters later! AnimeWoman76, Avalonhighgirl, Cercel, Eclipse1, Fiona222, Fleur Lilas, Gray Suede, Ildik0, LadyCumberBunny, Madam3Mayh3m, PAMILA DE CASTRO, Rae016, RinSesslover, Serria Spell23, Shivax23, SkullFire2004, angeldancer93, belle'sdarkangel, beve, blackacess, ebeth20, eveelima, inuyasha-fan17, jessie150, kaelag, kagomeLove2, mystlight, ora1168, pinkwhaletail, polkea, rizarda15 , shawnam93, , sllmidnight, thegirlwholostherway, and yumeyumi1986!
Wow! When I first credited my followers in chapter 31, I only had 37 and I thought that was an incomprehensible number of people liking my stuff…now, there's 94 of you! Almost a hundred! That's insane! And yet, so few of you talk…I want to take another moment to personally thank sllmidnight, mystlight, kagomelove2, XuntitledX, Sailorstar1723, and guest reviewer Happy Tello 98 for being regular reviewers, and also SpiritedRanger, Pamelamoores, 8391, and squishyrabbit for being recent reviewers! You might think a line or two to a busy college writer is worthless, but I read and cherish every single comment that comes my way! In fact, if you have more to say than you think would be suited for a review, or are too embarrassed to write it in public but still want to say something to one of your favorite writers, feel free to PM me! I always respond within twelve hours! (usually within one hour, but if you live opposite me in time zones it's going to take longer, sorry!)