InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Hope ❯ chapter five ( Chapter 6 )

AH HA! I am alive! Mentally I feel as if I'm barely hanging in. I have four more finals next week and I took one today that left me feeling (blah) so I decided to take a break from my studies and write! Ha Ha! Anyway, thanks again to KiraxKira, you're so great and thanks for writing a review just to check on me, I hope I don't disappoint with this story, I only see a few more chapters left to this one.

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters; I simply borrow them to quiet the voices in my head…..

 

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“That's enough for today Rin, place your bow and arrows back in the weapon room and bathe promptly; I'll meet you in the dining hall for supper.” The young girl smiled racing to the targets 150 meters from where they were standing to collect the arrows. Of course Kagura had told her to not bother with them, the servants would collect them, or that there would always be more next time, but she felt it was being to wasteful and didn't want to risk upsetting her Lord by losing one.

 

She picked up all 20 and placed them back in her sling, she was definitely ready to move on to another weapon, but last time she checked there weren't too many left, the rest were more offensive type weapons and Kagura showed no interest in those. Her bow and the small daggers were her favorite. The arrows because they allowed her to not have to face up close combat and because they enabled her to hunt for her own food and the daggers because she was just good at them, maybe it had something to do with her small hands, it also helped that she had scared Jaken recently with her accuracy when he interrupted one of her lessons and missed his head by inches. Mistress Kagura of course had been pleased laughing and poking fun at Master Jaken, claiming that the color had drained from his face.

 

Rin had definitely come a long way in the last year and a half that she had been under Kagura's training. Her first day had been both humiliating and excruciating. When she first thought of weapon training a sword or katana had instantly popped into her head, so when Kagura gave her an Ebo, which was basically a very small stick, she was embarrassed. Her sensei of course had told her that she must start small but it was still a stab at her pride.

 

She was surprised at what she could do with an Ebo, although it was mostly for self defense, Kagura had taught her key areas to hit using a tree as an example. The first night she went to bed deliriously happy that she would no longer be weak and her Lord would find her fit to be part of his court. In the morning however, her arms were terribly sore and her legs felt like jelly, she hurt in more places than she knew she had.

 

Being the optimist she was (now) she only reminded herself that this was the good kind of pain and it only proved she was working hard. When she was no longer sore after the third week and could manage the ebo, Kagura upgraded her to a Jo, which was more of a small staff also for self defense. Again her body had to be accustomed to the new weight and length but after five weeks Kagura changed her again this time to a Yari.

 

At the time the Yari was her favorite weapon because it had a spear at the end of the staff that made her feel more confident. Of course this too was mostly for self defense but this time Kagura sparred with her. That had been like a bucket of cold water. Kagura's relentless attacks seemed to be overwhelming at first, but she found out months later that she could be even worse. She often wondered who had taught Kagura how to fight with all the different weapons. Perhaps she picked it up herself while in the castle; after all it could get pretty lonely after a while.

 

After two months of bruises on her legs, arms and back she began getting better at dodging her attacks and learning how to counter. She wasn't able to actually land a hit on her, or even throw one yet, but she felt more alive knowing she wouldn't be a helpless victim anymore.

 

It was another four months before Kagura introduced her new weapon, one of her favorites, the Shuriken daggers. When she saw the many daggers and pouches that lined a certain part of the wall she immediately wanted to grab the star ones, but once again, Kagura told her to start small so she ended up with the basic dagger ones first. The pouches were to long on her so Lord Sesshomaru had some tailored to a smaller size. Although he never watched her train, to her knowledge, Kagura had told her that the pouches she now wore were from her Lord. Her targets were mostly trees or occasionally birds and rabbits, but Rin liked to miss those, she felt bad for the animals. When her sensei caught on she didn't punish her, only moved her back to challenging spots on trees.

 

Her least favorite came after the daggers; it was a scythe on a chain. Maybe she was still too young for it but the scythe constantly cut her, bruised her and once almost came back on her, so thankfully it was removed from her training.

 

The bow was last and another of her favorites, maybe in a past life she had been an archer, because it just came natural and she felt it was just another part of her body. There was nothing to teach on it after the second week, so Kagura had changed the weapons up every day since then forcing her body to use new muscles every day.

 

Rin washed away the soap before wrapping the cloth around her body and making her way to her room. She chose a yellow kimono for supper, it was a bit inappropriate, but she found that it was just her favorite color and no one had mentioned otherwise. When she arrived in the main dining hall Kagura and Sesshomaru were already seated and talking, too quietly for her to hear, but enough to know that Kagura was not pleased. She bowed deeply to both of them before sitting down and starting to eat.

 

Her scarlet eyed sensei broke the silence, “Rin, I was just telling Lord Sesshomaru that you have completed your training.”

 

She almost dropped her bread but instead gripped it tighter, looking back and forth between the two. What did it mean for her? She knew she wasn't done; there were still the Wakizakshi and Katana to master.

 

“Tomorrow morning we'll send out a message to Bankotsu to come and take you to his camp where he will complete the next level of training.” Kagura seemed to have problems speaking and appeared to be forcing out her words. This only scared Rin unsure of what she could do.

 

“Mistress Kagura, will it be far away from here?” She asked unsure of what was to come.

 

Kagura only looked to Sesshomaru refusing to answer as if she was unable to. Had her fate really come to be this horrible? “You will no longer be living in this castle until you have completed your training.” Her Lord's voice chilled her to the bone, why did it feel as if they were throwing her out. Why couldn't they come here?

 

“Mistress Kagura will you go along with us?” She felt the tears forming but she refused to let them fall she had become stronger than that, she would show no weakness. How was it that after two years here, in her new home, she was being uprooted again and sent off, had she done something wrong?

 

“Rin, I'm sorry I will not be able to accompany you, I have matters to attend here and this is your journey to make alone.” Kagura, the woman who Jaken swore had no heart, looked as bad off as Rin. Her mask long gone, worn away by the energetic always optimistic child.

 

“I see.” She managed to say before taking a drink of her water. What do I do? She asked herself over and over, her fate had been decided by her Lord and she could not go against his wishes. Turning to her Lord she forced a smile, “I thank you my Lord for giving me this wonderful opportunity to continue my studies. May I please be excused to go begin my packing?”

 

When he nodded it took all of her will power not to run up to her room and lock the door to never come out. Instead she bowed deeply to both and walked slowly out of the hall and up to her room. She wasn't sure how long she lay on her bed thoughts drifting every which way and the anticipation slowly eating at her. Would the demon Bankotsu approve of her? What of his companions? Would they beat her if she did wrong? Did her Lord trust them enough to let them take her or did she not mean anything to him? Was she leaving for good?

 

Exhausted she slept through Jaken's tutorial lesson and awoke in the morning to see that a white horse with a purple cloth draped on it was outside the main door of the castle. Apparently Bankotsu was here, and her hopes of remaining in the castle flew out the window.

 

 

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