InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Doragon Miko ❯ Over the Mountains and Through the Snow ( Chapter 2 )

Rin yawned as she watched the countryside gloat by in the summer haze. She was so bored...bored!! They hadn't stopped the whole day for anything. That meant...Ah an' Un had been walking for three days straight! She felt sorry for Ah an' Un...they had to be tired!

"Sesshoumaru-sama, can Ah 'an Un rest tonight?"

"No."

"Onegaaai?"

"No, Rin."

"Stop vexing Sesshoumaru-sama, whelp!"

Rin stuck her tongue out at Jaken and resumed her gazing off into space.

She assumed they were off in the wilderness somewhere, 'cause she had only seen one tiny village the whole day. The land around them could justify this...at the start of the day, the ground had been grassy, rolling plains as far as the eye could see. But now...it was rocky, uneven, and she had this feeling they were goin' up.

She shifted her position to lean against Sesshoumaru's back.

"Sesshoumaru-sama?"

". . . ."

"Where is Sesshoumaru-sama goin'?"

"Over the mountains."

Rin stood up and turned around to look over Sesshoumaru's bare shoulder. She was right 'bout the "goin' up" thing...there were mountains in the distance.

Then she noticed something that dumbfounded her.

"Sesshoumaru-sama?"

He turned his head slightly, wondering where this sudden stream of questions was coming from when she had been so blissfully quiet for the last two hours.

"What's that white stuff?"

He followed her gaze up to the snowcaps of the mountains.

"Snow..."

"What's," she enunciated carefully, "soo-no?"

He looked back at her, genuine curiosity shining in her eyes.

"You've never seen snow?

'Wow...for Sesshoumaru-sama to ask questions, this snow stuff must be important.'

"No, Rin doesn't think so...what's it feel like? Can Rin eat it?" This question was well placed when her stomach growled instantly afterwards.

Sesshoumaru smiled slightly at the child's inquisitive nature.

"Snow is...soft...light...cold…I suppose it could be edible--"

"Cold?? But Sesshoumaru-sama, it's so hot!!" She made a demonstration of this by wiping a build up of sweat off her forehead.

'Damn...' Sesshoumaru cursed mentally. He had commanded Jaken not to give the child her usual lessons today in hopes of less arguments occurring, but it now seemed he would be teaching her now. He wasn't a teacher, damn it! He sighed and resigned to his fate.

"The higher in elevation you are, the farther from sea level you are, thus the colder it is. Down at ground level, where we are, is warm because it's closer to sea level. You see--" He blinked. Rin was asleep. Standing up…with only his shoulder for balance.

He reached around and grabbed the collar of her kimono, pulling her around to sit in his lap before she tumbled off of Ah-Un.

"Perhaps the sea level and elevation subjects are above her head..." He muttered to himself as Ah-Un mounted onto a steeper slope up.

~*~*~*~

"Sesshoumaru-samaaaaaa! Jaken-samaaaaaaa!" Rin shouted as she walked through the haze. She hated this place...she had been here before, in this hazy purple dreamscape. She had been here yesterday, and the night before that, and...she had lost count.

She huffed and plopped down.

"Why can't Rin have normal dreams anymore?"

"Because you're not a normal child."

Rin didn't so much as flinch from this sudden response. It came every night. "Rin is too normal! Just a little human girl! Jaken-sama says so."

"Well this 'Jaken' you speak of is wrong."

Rin stuck her tongue out in the voice's direction. "Go away, Kamui!"

"Rin.."

"NO! Rin says no!" she stood up and stomped impatiently, the perfect image of a child her age.

"You do not have a choice in this matter anymore, Rin!"

"It's Rin's body, and Rin's mind, and Rin's LIFE!" She stomped again on each of these for emphasis, as if shouting them didn't do enough. She covered her ears at the last to block out response. She had learned before, though, that this wasn't a successful gesture.

"Do you want to die, Rin??"

". . ."

"Rin..."

". . ."

"Damn it Rin! Stop being a brat!"

"Kamui! Leave her be! Insulting and threatening her shall not change the child's resolve!"

Rin opened one eye to see her mother standing next to her. Tall and staid, she was as beautiful as a goddess to Rin.

Kamui spat, glaring at the newcomer. "You cannot continue to be an impediment in his plans, Hinoto."

"And damn if I do not try my hardest to be."

Rin smiled softly. Her akaasan always took up for her against otousan. She never had liked otousan...he wasn't her real otousan, after all. He was well built for a priest, wiry ebony hair pulled back into a lengthy ponytail. Rin didn't find him the least bit handsome.

He shook his head and pointed at Rin. "Do you want her to die, Hinoto?"

"If she stays away, she will not."

"His lordship says her heart will give out soon. Do you think she can live without blood running through her veins?"

"Kamui..."

"If she is to live, she has no choice, Hinoto."

Rin couldn't take this anymore. "Stop talking about Rin like she's not here!! Rin is not goin' anywhere; she's staying with Sesshoumaru-sama 'an Jaken-sama 'an Ah-chan 'an Un-chan! Why are you here anyway?! You're DEAD! Get out OF RIN'S HEAD!"

~*~*~*~

Rin jerked violently against Sesshoumaru, sucking in air as if she just broke the water's surface.

"OUT! Get OUT! Go 'WAY!"

Sesshoumaru watched her jerk and cry before shaking her shoulder roughly. She shrank away at his touch, jerking turning into frightened trembling

"Rin?"

The trembling stopped as she opened her eyes in realization. "Sess...Sesshoumaru-sama?" He nodded slightly as she continued to stare up at him in wonder.

Then the dam broke. She lunged herself at the bewildered youkai, clinging to his kimono and bawling her heart out.

"He wouldn't go away, Sesshoumaru-sama, Rin told him to but he said Rin was gunna die if she didn't go too! 'Rin doesn't wanna go' I told otousan, 'Rin wants to stay with Sesshoumaru-sama 'an Jaken-sama!' but he wouldn't listen! Then akaasan came, and told otousan that Rin didn't hafta go! And otousan still wouldn't listen! He started babbling about how akaasan was an im...im-peg-dent in his lord's plans, and akaasan said damn if she doesn't try her hardest to be! And then otousan said I was gunna die, Sesshoumaru-sama! He said Rin had a bad heart! Does Rin have a bad heart, Sesshoumaru-sama?"

Sesshoumaru blinked. And he blinked again. 'What in the seven hells is she going on about?! Parents? Bad heart? Wait...Did Rin just say damn?!'

"Rin--"

"Does Rin have a bad heart?! Is Rin dying???"

Sesshoumaru sighed and listened for a moment. "Your heart is fine--"

"Rin is okay??"

She seemed the perfect image of sorrow. Her knuckles were white and knotted in his kimono; her whole form trembling, and tears rolling down her face. But the most noticeable thing of all to the youkai lord was that even after waking, the scent of fear still lay heavy on her. The little whelp was terrified.

Sesshoumaru was having an internal struggle with how to deal with the child's current state. She needed to be comforted, obviously, but...that was going against his nature...and curiosity was eating at his brain more than he liked. And that came far above affection.

"Rin, one thing at a time, and slowly. And don't swear again."

Rin nodded and wiped her sleeve across her face.

"Now...who said you would die?"

"Kamui," she sniffled, still trying to stop crying, "my otousan."

"But he's dead..."

"Hai...Kamui's mean like that. He's dead, but he still pesters Rin…in her dreams."

In her dreams? Sesshoumaru was not aware the dead could speak through dreams. "You need to show more respect for the dead."

Rin shrugged. "Kamui doesn't deserve respect. He's not Rin's real otousan." She flashed an evil grin, "which Rin is very happy about."

"So who is your father?"

"Dunno...Akaasan never told Rin."

Sesshoumaru raised a brow. Why wouldn't she tell Rin? Unless...she didn't know herself..."Rin?"

"Hai?"

"Was your mother a harlot?"

Sesshoumaru didn't think he'd ever seen Rin look so pissed off. Any signs of sadness from a moment before were gone. A few moments passed before she finally answered.

"Never EVER call akaasan that! She was a miko, a very good miko! Akaasan was not bad! Rin bets she was the bestest miko Long Huang-di EVER had!"

"Long Huang-di?"

"Oh...Long Huang-di is the dragon akaasan and otousan served. Akaasan was his miko, otousan was his bouzu..." Rin looked down, hiding her eyes from view. "That's why otousan's been coming into my dreams. Every five years a human sacrifice is needed to keep the dragon at peace. Only the priesthood may offer this, AND the sacrifice must only be of the priesthood blood. There used to be two families that made up the priesthood...but...because of the sacrifices 'an war...Rin is the only one left. Otousan wants Rin to go 'an be the miko, but akaasan wants Rin to stay away because Rin is also the only eg...egg-leh-ble sacrifice."

Sesshoumaru remained silent, trying to digest this newfound knowledge. A dragon? In Japan? That didn't sound right. And if he was here, why hadn't he ever heard of this dragon? Oh well. It didn't seem to pose much of a threat. In his true form, he was much larger and much more powerful than a dragon.

Going through his thoughts, he came to the conclusion that this whole dragon ordeal was why Rin was being plagued with nightmares. Fine. He'd kill this pompous dragon and bring everything back to normal.

"Sesshoumaru-sama?""

Sesshoumaru was jarred from his thoughts by the seven year old's quiet inquisition. He turned his attention back to her.

"Rin is cold."

"And?"

Rin looked away, seemingly reluctant to ask what he knew was coming. It always did when she was cold.

"Can...can Rin...use Sesshoumaru-sama's tail?"

There it was. Sesshoumaru sighed and pulled enough over his shoulder to serve as a somewhat blanket for the child. It had gotten considerably colder since she had slept.

She fell silent after that, apparently ending the conversation and the whole dragon ordeal.

'Just as well...it'll be over soon...once I find this Long Huang-di.'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Aw….Fluffy's tail doubles as a blanky! How sweet. -Ahem- anyway. On a side note, `Long' in Long Wong is pronounced with a long `o', like `alone'. Long Wong. According to JennJenn(My Chinese expert) it means `god dragon', or something similar to that. And since it seems all authors are plagued with these, here it is!

Rin: -Recites- Sesshoumaru-sama, Jaken-sama, and Rin-chan all belong to Takahashi-sama. Otousan, Akaasan, and Long Huang-di(Dun dun dun!) all belong to Okibi-chan.

Okibi: ^^ Good girl! -Gives Rin a dolly-

Rin: YAY! -Runs off to play with it-