InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Calamity's Breach ❯ Village ( Chapter 2 )

 

 

It was mid-morning when AhUn set down in the woodland with the two riders perched on his scaly back, using the trees to conceal them from the small village laying about a hundred yards away. Sniffing delicately, the dragon tasted the air, picking up the scent of burning wood, sweat, meat, and human the most prominent of them all. It was an action he was used to performing, making sure nothing was close that would threaten the girl or any humans that may have wandered close by and seen them land.

He felt one of the riders slide off his back and both his heads twisted about to see the young woman now on the ground.

Hefting a small pack over her shoulder, Rin looked about her, spotting the village easily through the leaves and branches. Smiling in anticipation, she patted the dragon's side and clasped the hand of her guard as a way of good-bye.

“Be good, Rin-sama. And remember to be back here by sunset,” Keikai said while gently squeezing her small hand.

Rin nodded vigorously. “You will wait here for me, Keikai-sempai?”

“Hai. We shall be here upon your return.”

Rin gave each of them a heart warming smile then turned and walked with a slight bounce in her step towards the village, humming a mindless tune to herself.

She liked going to the village, a lot. She was always able to see her friends and be among her own kind. Not that she minded living with youkai, for Rin was not one to be prejudiced due to species, but it was still nice to be among humans that accepted her. In her early years she had not been accepted by humans, having been an orphan. But these people did not care if she was an orphan or not. Like her, they determined a person's standing by attitude and actions, not birth and occurrences that were beyond their control.

The village consisted of several wooden houses spread out before a quilt of water with grass pathways, the pathways constructing squares that held the liquid. It always reminded Rin of a chess board and her eyes wandered from there up the forested hill where the shrine was located. A long line of stairs led up to the temple and she could faintly see the roof of the building but nothing else. Setting her feet on the dusty road that ran through the heart of the village, she continued her bouncy gait, not once faltering in her song.

She came to the village at least once every two weeks, a deal that had been made by both the Lady and Lord and those that had completed the Shikon no Tama. The ward of the Western Lands went there to be taught by the two mikos, the monk, and the taijiya; learning about rituals, faith, youkai, healing, and even things about the future.

She had known them since before she had gone to live with Sesshomaru in his fortress, having had several run-ins with them when her and the youkai had traveled across the lands searching for Naraku.

Together they had been able to slay the hanyou, though how exactly Rin did not know, and reconstruct the Shikon no Tama. The Shikon no Tama was gone now, having been purified by the younger of the two mikos and used for some wish. Rin wasn't sure what the wish had been, for Sesshomaru had left right after Naraku was slain, not interested in the jewel or what the others did with it.

The band of Shikon hunters now lived in this village and Rin had grown close to them over the years.

She had first begun her studies with them a year after Naraku had been slain, when the Lady of the Western Lands had somehow managed to persuade Sesshomaru to let Rin go there. While Sesshomaru had reached a compromise with his half brother and basically wasn't going to try and kill him anymore, he had been against the idea of sending his ward to a human village to learn from them. But the Lady had changed his mind, convincing him that Rin could learn lots from the Shikon hunters that she could not learn in his estate. So Sesshomaru had agreed finally and Rin was very thankful to the Lady for doing that for her.

She came within sight of the villagers and the people walking about spotted her and gave her a friendly bow, smiling in genuine affection. Children racing about with sticks paused in their course to wave and shout at her before taking off again. Wives and daughters from inside houses stuck their heads out the windows and doors and greeted her shyly.

Rin returned each greeting with an appreciative wave and beaming smile, a warm glow infusing her system.

They did stop long enough to welcome her back but she did not disturb them so much that they broke off from their tasks to stand and gawk at her. The usual flow of the village did not come crashing to a halt due to her appearance and to her that was the ultimate test of how accepted she had become. They viewed her as another citizen, a citizen that came and went and wandered but always came back.

Their acceptance was partly on account of the Shikon hunters. They had brought the girl in and treated her like one of their own, settling the other villagers minds that this was a long time friend of theirs and therefore trustworthy.

Drawing up to one of the larger houses that was close to the hill of the shrine, she lay her pack on the wooden raised porch and went up the steps, looking intently for the occupants. Sticking her head in the open door, she called out, “Houshi-sama?”

There was no answer and she made a “Hmm” sound of contemplation. Retracting her head from the doorway, she knew no one was home, which was odd. With the taijiya's condition she was supposed to be taking it easy. Rin had assumed she'd be home.

Shrugging it away, she bent and scooped up her pack then skipped to the stairs, deciding the shrine was the next best place to check. Reaching the end of the steps at the top of the hill, her eyes raked over the dark building with its red trimmed roof. Throughout the years the mikos had slowly been building the temple larger, accommodating for the growth of the village as well as providing a free education for the children that would normally not receive any knowledge at all except for farming expertise.

Most of the children in Japan weren't as lucky as Rin. They were born poor or in the midst of war and were unable to dig themselves out of the ditch they had been delivered into with the lack of schooling and tutoring that plagued the country. If a man was a farmer, the son would become a farmer. If a woman was a midwife, her daughter would become a midwife.

Rin, on the other hand, was blessed with the edification to be anything she wished to be, so long as Sesshomaru was okay with it. She had been rescued from her distress by none other then one of the coldest demons known to man and she wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

She moved to go inside the temple, passing by a rectangular altar set up at the front of the shrine, purple flowers having been placed at its base.

The inside was rather dark and musty and she scrunched her nose at the dust and dirt in the air. Fighting back a sneeze, she slipped further inside, heading to where the mikos held their classes.

She had attended their classes once, when she first came here to learn from them, but after blowing the other students out of the water with her furthered education, the mikos determined that it was better to do one-on-one with the girl rather then have her take courses she already knew. Rin preferred it that way anyway. It allowed her to become closer to her teachers rather then fight for attention with twenty other children.

Rounding a corner in the dark hallway, she sneezed loudly and sniffled, then fell into a fit of sneezing. Waving her hand swiftly in front of her face, she pinched her nose to stop the onslaught of dust in her nostrils, squinting her eyes to see what had caused so much of the particles to assault her suddenly.

“Rin-chan?” a voice said in surprise and Rin leaned forward.

Emerging out into the hallway from a room was a squat old lady with long gray hair tied back in a loose ponytail, the strands falling down her back to end at her waist. An eyepatch covered her right eye and her face was lined with heavy wrinkles from both sun and age. Despite the wrinkles and loss of an eye, her face was considerate and compassionate, a soft glowing light of charity gleaming in her one remaining orb. She was dressed in the traditional miko clothes, a white wide sleeved shirt and red pants that fanned out widely.

In her hands she held several dusty ancient scrolls and Rin knew instantly the cause of her attack.

“Good morning, Kaede-bachan!” Rin responded charmingly and the old woman smiled at her.

“What are you doing in the temple, child?” Kaede inquired.

She turned and began walking further down the hallway, intent on completing whatever task she had set out to do.

Rin followed her, as Kaede had suspected she would, and the young woman answered, “I was looking for Houshi-sama and Sango-chan but neither of them were home. I was hoping they might be here?”

Kaede nodded sagely without turning her head. “Miroku-sama is helping with the construction of their new home and Sango-chan came here to spend time with the children. She is practicing for later as well as keeping Kagome company.”

“Ahhh...Was it a bad time for me to come then?”

“Oh no dear child,” Kaede reassured her with a shake of her head. “I'll go and inform Miroku-sama that you are here. In the meantime I have a favor to ask of you.”

“What is it, Kaede-bachan?”

Turning into another room, Kaede laid the scrolls down on a large wooden table stacked high with them. The rest of the room was lined with similar tables, all of them also stacked high with scrolls. The room was dimly lit with several square windows cut out near the roof, sunlight filtering in but not enough to totally light up the area. It was a plain room, a storage room most likely or maybe a place where they kept all their references.

That made Rin think back to the library she had been in last night, though this room was not nearly so refined as the Western Lord's was.

“I need to get these scrolls dusted and back in order before the humidity destroys them,” Kaede was saying. “If you would be so kind as to dust them while I get Miroku-sama, Rin-chan?”

“Oh, hai!” Rin agreed radiantly, glad to be of help.

“Thank you, Rin-chan,” the elderly miko said in sincere gratitude. She pulled a cloth out of the pocket of her wide pants and handed it to the young woman. “Be very careful with them. They are fragile and the merest jostling could damage them.”

“Do they all need cleaning, Kaede-bachan?” Rin asked, a sweep of her eyes taking in the magnitude of the stacks.

Kaede nodded and Rin felt some of her eagerness leave her. Kami, there was probably four hundred scrolls here! Just imagining the amount of dust was frightening...

“There will be more brought in as you work,” Kaede added as she turned to leave and felt a flutter of amusement at the girl's widened horrified eyes. “I'll go look for Miroku-sama for you.”

The old miko left and Rin held back the urge to say “Hurry please!” to her retreating figure. She sighed instead and looked dismally at the scrolls in front of her, thinking herself a baka for taking on the job.

Grinding her teeth together, she forced down her gloominess and brightened, shrugging away the bother and instead getting on with the work. The stack wasn't going to get any smaller if she just stood there wallowing in self-pity.

Humming to herself, she sat on the corner of the table that was devoid of items and pulled a scroll into her lap.

She allowed her mind to wander on to minuscule things to pass the time, thinking on such things as poetry and the tea ceremony and clothing, flowers, fish, gardens. Her mind jumped from one thing to the next as they related to each other, thinking fondly of Keikai and AhUn waiting for her in the forest, to Sesshomaru-sama and the Lady, and even Jaken. She was getting to the point where she would be able to squish him with no trouble and that thought caused her to erupt into giggles. She would just have to figure out a way to get that bothersome staff out of his claws...

She had just finished cleaning her fifteenth scroll when the sound of rustling paper and uncoordinated shifting feet on the floorboards reached her ears. A question forming in her head as to what was causing the racket, she looked to the doorway as a figure appeared in it, a large stack of scrolls cradled in his arms. They towered all the way over his face, blocking his view of anything in front of him and her identification of him. He teetered in the doorway and almost ran smack into a wall, softly cursing under his breath as regained his balance.

The sound of his voice and a flicker of something orange caught Rin's attention and she smiled at the discovery of who this stranger was.

Hopping off the table, she exclaimed, “Shippo-kun!”

The young man jumped at the sudden noise and struggled with the scrolls, several of them slipping out of his grasp and onto the floor. With the cascading fall of the items, the stack shrunk considerably, and his head appeared. He stared at the exuberant girl before him, startled at her abrupt appearance in the room.

“R-Rin?” he stuttered in confusion.

She nodded enthusiastically. “Uh-huh!”

“Whatever are you doing in here?”

“Kaede-bachan asked me to help with dusting the scrolls,” Rin explained and bent over to retrieve the fallen scrolls.

“She's imprisoned you too huh?” asked the boy with a slight grin, displaying one of his fangs with the action.

“Oh, Shippo-kun, don't be so negative,” Rin admonished, hitting him lightly on the arm with a scroll before throwing it and the other retrieved scrolls onto the stack. “Kaede-bachan can't do everything herself.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever,” he drawled.

He dumped the scrolls unceremoniously onto the table and turned to face her.

He was a good few inches taller than the human girl, her chin barely reaching the top of his shoulder, and his sparkling emerald eyes danced with merriment and mischief. Orange bangs pushed far back to the sides of his forehead were long enough to cover his eyes, and the rest of his long hair descended down his back almost to his waist. It was held in a loose ponytail by a blue bow and small earrings that matched the color of his intense gaze gleamed and twinkled in the scant amount of sunlight entering the room.

His ears were pointed, revealing him to be a youkai along with the fangs that adorned his small mouth. His hands that lay placidly on either side of him were clawed and his feet were indeed fox paws rather then human feet. A fluffy long tail was the orange flicker Rin had spotted when he walked in and it reached to the lower portion of his calf, flicking idly back and forth as he gazed down at her.

Dressed in long pants that tied off above his fox feet, a yellow sash crisscrossing over his waist and hips and a light tan shirt possessing a low neck line revealed a well muscled chest and torso. His arms, even when relaxed, bulged moderately with hard firm muscle. Rin smiled pleasantly while staring into his eyes, eyes that had captivated her more and more over the years, but never so much as they did now. She couldn't tear her gaze away no matter how much her brain yelled at her to and she felt as if she could get lost in those shimmering depths. They were sharp and clear, twinkling with a convivial force that made her heart skip a beat and a blush to stain her cheeks.

Her reactions to his emerald gaze confused and frightened her. Shippo was her friend and she had known him for a long while. Why did his eyes on her now suddenly seem so intense, so...magical? Why did his intense watchfulness suddenly make her have an urge to trace the outline of his lips and lean into that chest that was so very open to her?

His voice cut into her thoughts, making her blush further and she was glad the room was dimly lit so he could not see.

“You are here to see Miroku?” he asked her.

He pulled a washcloth out of his pants pocket and sat down on the table to clean the scrolls, his tail flicking upwards to curl around his hip and lay like a waterfall over the edge. He didn't even have a clue of what he had just caused to happen to her!

“Hai,” she answered, her throat feeling a tad tight as she tried to get her blushing to stop. “Kaede-bachan went to get him.”

“He's helping the villagers with the building of their new house. He doesn't know the first thing about it, and his help is probably more troublesome then helpful, but he insists on helping anyway. They're letting me take their smaller home after they are completely moved by the way,” he said with another grin.

“You are moving out?” Rin asked, surprised.

He nodded, his eyes pinned on the scroll in his hands. “I figure its about time I get a place of my own. And to be honest Inuyasha is getting impatient with me always disturbing him.” He displayed to her a naughty smirk, unwittingly plunging her back into her blush. “I figure its because he doesn't get enough time with his mate. Alone time that is, if you know what I mean.”

“H-hai,” she said weakly. Her heart was beating so fast at his words and that look she didn't know what to think except to be mortified.

His hands stopped their work suddenly and he peered at her intently, raising an orange eyebrow. He leaned forward, closer to her, his nose sniffing the air gingerly. She almost took a step back, her blush turning crimson as he came close to touching her, still snuffling away.

“You smell weird,” he stated a moment later. “Your scent has changed.”

Those words bewildered her enough that she lost her blush, blinking at him.

“What?”

He frowned at her, leaning away from her and back against the wall. “Maybe its just me I guess...Smells a bit more uhh thick you could say.”

He scratched at his neck with a clawed hand, watching her as she became totally baffled.

“New soap perhaps?” she supplied lamely and he laughed, a deep merry sound.

“Hai, sure,” he said with a grin and went back to his cleaning.

His laughter had relaxed her considerably, reminding her that this was still the little fox kit she had been friends with for years, and she sat down beside him, returning to her task as well.

They made small talk as Rin waited for Kaede-sama, Shippo telling her about his new home and how he would be close enough to the others in case he needed anything. He wasn't really nervous about the prospect of being on his own, since he'd still be living in the same village, but excited and anxious. He related to her the decision of Miroku and Sango to build a bigger home closer to the shrine, since they would be needing the extra space.

“How is Sango-chan feeling?” Rin asked at one point.

“She's kind of nervous but mostly happy and eager.”

“What of her health?”

“She's holding up. Don't know how much longer she'll be able to hold out though.”

They talked for a few more minutes when finally Kaede made her entrance, glad to see both young ones still working and sitting companionably with each other.

The old miko had been a little fearful for the kitsune when he had first come to live in the village with Kagome and Inuyasha, not sure how the villagers would react to a youkai living there. Shippo had been ten at the time and he was luckily already used to human company, having spent so many years with the Shikon hunters.

The old miko's fears had died though as the village people accepted the kitsune as readily as they did the ward of the Lord of the Western Lands, even if they believed she was just royalty from a providence nearby rather then a youkai lord.

Kaede had been even happier when she witnessed how readily and easily Rin and Shippo became friends. The village children Shippo did get along with but none compared to the close relationship he shared with the young woman sitting beside him, though neither of them knew it. It was possibly due to the fact Rin spent so much time in youkai company whereas the village children did not. Rin probably leaned more towards youkai companionship then she did human.

Smiling at the closeness of the two, she called out, “Rin, Miroku-sama is waiting.”

The two turned to face her and Rin bounced to her feet, hugging the kitsune teen before departing. “Ja ne, Shippo-kun!” she said and headed to the door.

“Will I see you again before you leave, Rin?” he asked curiously before she could depart totally from the room.

She stopped in the door frame to look at him, her lips pursing in thought. “Hai, Shippo-kun. I will be staying here till sunset.”

He smiled warmly at her, as if glad at her answer, and she felt another tingling blush inch up her cheeks.

“Alright, Rin! Ja ne!” he replied ebulliently.

Rin gave a short nod before diving out the door, her heart beating so fast she was amazed the kitsune didn't hear it with his sharp hearing. Frowning over these bizarre sensations, she walked down the hall after the old miko, wondering what in Kami's name was wrong with her.

She had to be sick or ill. Or possessed. Maybe a spider youkai had bit her while she slept and poisoned her. Either way she would have to remember to take something for it when she got back home. Maybe she would ask Keikai or Sesshomaru about this strange illness and see about a way of curing it.

Shaking her head and taking a deep breath to steady herself, she followed Kaede out of the temple and back down to the village, glad for the first time ever to be out of the presence of the handsome fox youkai that had become one of her dearest friends.

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He rode without stopping until he saw the monk's temple high up on a ridge several miles off and he turned his mount to head there.

The sun had been beating unmercifully down on him all day and the last thing he needed was to kill his mount and himself just because he ran out of water. He could use some rest too, lay comfortabley back on a cushiony pillow before he began the weeks long trek back to her and his promise.

Leaving his horse to graze at the bottom of the ridge, he walked up the broad gray steps to the temple ground's entrance.

He knew of this place due to a wound that he had suffered while in combat with a weasel youkai that had been slaying the villagers's cattle. The caring monks of the temple had taken him in and nursed him back to full strength, providing him with free room and board as his wound healed. He had wanted to pay them for their hospitality but they had refused like he expected.

His dark eyes searched the area for one person he knew quite well, hoping to find that one monk out of the multitude of priests residing here. He spotted several monks praying near a small fountain, but a quick examination showed that none of them were the man he sought. He let himself in, deciding it better not to interrupt the praying monks to ask for permission to enter.

Striding down the brilliant lawn, he entered the main temple, where he stopped a young boy passing though the hall and asked, “Is Saishi here?”

The young boy stared up at him, fear clouding his vision at the black clothed man that had a hold of his shoulder. The grip was clearly powerful, strong enough that the boy couldn't break free if he wanted to. The man wasn't applying any force at all and the boy trembled at the thought. If this black rider wanted, he could probably break all the bones in his shoulder without even straining.

Swallowing audibly, the boy said, “H-hai, sir. W-would you like m-me to g-get him?”

The black rider released his shoulder with a nod, ignoring the stuttering that plagued the child. “Hai, thank you.”

The kid ran off hurriedly, throwing a scared look over his shoulder as he disappeared around the corner. Smirking without humor, the man roamed over to the window, gazing out at the lawn and the monks still praying silently by the fountain.

He had to admit he rather liked it here. Tranquility thrived on these grounds, comfortably laced with a pleasant appeal of life that didn't need to be hurried or rushed, that everything would come in time. The monks wove a harmonious web, creating an aura of security as they moved about the compound in their slow leisurely pace, reciting prayers and blessing every piece of weed, grass, and walking creature they could set eyes on. This was a place untouched by evil, a place pure and innocent, peaceful, unlike so much of the rest of the world.

Almost everywhere he had traveled he had found famine and war, orphans and widows, slain men and boys. Blood coated fields had been his scenery, weeping had been his serenade, dying gasps and whimpers his conversations. It was unusual to find a community or household that had not felt the clawing touch of death, had not felt the horrible riddling of sorrow that stalked at every corner and shadow.

Evil, death, and sorrow were things he was well courted with, having seen and performed much of it in his somewhat short life span. It had left an acidic taste in his mouth, made him turn his face away in disgust at what he had become, left him to this broken shell of a life and the bitter hope of redemption that had turned out to be nothing but a spoof.

His hands tightened into fists as the anger coursed through him, the anger of being denied even the peace of revenge, the anger of having nothing but an unending sense of betrayal to his kinsman, the anger of having no type of salvation whatsoever.

His plight was forever, would probably continue on even after death. The Gods wouldn't forgive him for the hideous acts he had committed, even if he had gotten his revenge. He was tainted, scorned, marked. He wasn't even fit to wear this human skin, be called a man. He was nothing but a killer; the blood of his family had stained his weapon, others had perished due to his actions, whole villages, whole towns.

Remorse, a feeling one would have thought to be enough for him to accept the inevitable, but not in this case. He couldn't leave it alone, couldn't just sit and regret and forget. He did regret, he regretted everything, but it just wasn't enough. He couldn't just forget and pretend none of it ever happened, pretend it had all been some bad dream.

How could someone such as he even be allowed to begin anew, receive a clean slate and start over? He didn't deserve it, not one bit.

Payment was in need. He needed to find an outlet to pass the anguish onto but after six years he was still searching.

Maybe he should just accept the condemnation of his soul to hell.

There was no healing, no atonement, no purifying in the universe that could touch him enough to lift this agony. No matter how many purifying arrows hit his heart, no matter how many monks prayed for him, no matter how much cleansing water was dumped on him, he would never find an emancipation out of this desolation that dogged at his heels like a persistent hound.

Even Kami himself had abandoned him.

`If there is one innocent being left in this world, I'd like to see it. Even the monks have tasted from the jaundiced cup of calamity,' he thought bitingly to himself.

A stir of cloth pulled him out of his thoughts and he turned darkly to see an elderly monk approaching him, his anger fading to be replaced by a detachment from his thoughts and soul as he recognized the man.

The man was half hunched with age, bald with bushy white eyebrows and missing several teeth. His skin was as dry as papyrus paper, the nails cracked, yellowed, and crooked. Lips that were chapped spread in a brilliant calm smile, a comforting happy light in the glazed grey eyes meeting the black rider's own.

He was dressed in ceremonial monk's robes, the robe being black with a gray sash crossing over his right shoulder and tying about his thin waist. He carried no staff with him, too old and fragile to be lugging such a device around.

The monk walked up to the black rider, who had not moved in the least, and his hands reached out in a benevolent and cordial gesture.

If the lone horseman had not known better, he would have thought the monk was trying to comfort him and free his tortured spirit but past experience with the man had proved that this monk cared this way about everyone. He was the most unselfish human being he had ever met, a man who would sacrifice himself in a heart beat to save anyone from even the smallest discomfort.

But he also knew his limits, this monk. He understood the horseman's wishes and abided by them, not bothering to probe at the young man's spirit, allowing him to open up on his own instead.

This is why the lone horseman had sought him.

He reached out his gloved hand and allowed the old monk to clasp it, the elder smiling so brightly he was surprised sunshine didn't split through the gaps of his missing teeth.

“Tandokuno Kishu,” he said and his voice was quiet and pleasant to listen to, like a soft breeze over tranquil grasses. “You have returned to us?”

He released the rider's hand and it fell limply to the lone rider's side, who was nodding.

“For a time, Houshi-sama.”

He would have continued but halted his sentence as the old man waved his hand in the air in a dismissive fashion.

“No terms of respect are needed here, Tandokuno Kishu. Please, use the title I was born with,” the monk said, smiling gently at the young man.

“Your wish is but my command.”

The old man chuckled at the reply. “How is the wound, Tandokuno Kishu?” he inquired.

The lone rider silently pulled down the tight fabric encasing his torso, revealing to the monk the scar that marred the skin across his ribs on his left side. It was the wound the monk had treated, the wound he had received from the weasel youkai.

The old man leaned forward and delicately prodded the scar with his dry fingers, his eyes narrowing as he peered at it. Making a humming sound in his throat, he said, “I have something that can lessen the scar. Come to my room and we will take care of this.”

The lone rider didn't care either way if there was a scar or not but he'd humor the old man. He owed him a great deal anyway and if the man wanted to fawn over him, might as well not fight it. It wasn't worth the energy.

Replacing his outfit, he followed the old monk without a word.

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