InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Pride (In the Name of Love) ❯ Chapter 1

Pride (In the Name of Love) 1 / ??
Written by Jezz-Ra
Warnings - Not all warnings apply to all chapters. Yaoi, Het, Rape, Lemon, Violence, Language, Torture, Angst, Incest, Dark (at times). It's a massive story, folks, it's got a little bit of everything.
Disclaimer - I don't own Inuyasha, don't make money off it. Wish I did.

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// blah // indicates thoughts.

A/N - Nothing much to report.
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Inuyasha burst into a small clearing in the forest and sniffed again, then stopped dead. Yes, his brother's scent was still lingering heavily in the area, though it was a few hours old. However, it wasn't Sesshoumaru's scent that stopped the hanyou.

Laying in the clearing, curled up tightly in Sesshoumaru's mokomoko, was Rin. Sesshoumaru himself, however, was nowhere to be seen.

Inuyasha didn't move for a long time, just staring at the sight with disbelief. All his life he had never, ever seen Sesshoumaru parted from his strange furry pseudo-appendage. Inuyasha knew, further, that it was a valuable part of his elder brother, a manifestation of part of his true form that carried over into his humanoid one. With a sickening sense of dread, Inuyasha knew Myouga had to have been right. Sesshoumaru would never have left behind something so vital and willingly subject himself to the pain and weakness such a separation would bring.

Rin stirred, and it broke Inuyasha from his concentration. The mokomoko slithered more tightly around her waist, surprising the hanyou. // Is it attached to her now somehow? Or is my brother still controlling it? Its no wonder I smell him so strongly. But...wait. If he left Rin here, of all places...he wanted me to find her. He knew I would. And...if he left the mokomoko with her, he really must be dead...and further, he KNEW he was going to die. He left Rin in my care. Presumptuous bastard, just assumed I'd take on his human...keh. And he's right. //

Inuyasha slowly headed over and kneeled down next to the sleeping girl. "Hey...hey kid, wake up."

Rin blinked fuzzily and slowly opened her eyes. "Lord Se--...Inuyasha?" she asked, sitting up. She gave the mokomoko a happy hug before looking around with a start, her eyes flying wide as she realized it was not attached to a certain taiyoukai. She gasped, shaking her head in denial. Inuyasha could almost hear the wheels turning inside the girl's mind and barely had a chance to brace himself before she had thrown herself at him. Her normally sunny demeanor had shattered into heartbroken tears.

Inuyasha winced - it always made him feel terrible when girls cried. It was even more distressing than usual with Rin - he had never seen the girl with an expression more serious than innocent curiosity. However, the strength of her reaction told him that the girl knew something he himself did not. Hesitantly, he held her and stroked her hair. "Rin...what...what happened? "

It was a while before the hysterical girl was able to gather her wits about herself and haltingly relay her story. Miroku entered just before she began.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Life had been proceeding as normal in the castle. Sesshoumaru was out on a brief patrol of his lands. Rin was trying, truly trying, to make sense of the convoluted history lesson that Jaken-sama was relaying, but she had so many questions! She knew that her Lord Sesshoumaru would want her to know this - after all, he had insisted on making sure she had a good education - but it was so hard to understand. And every time she asked the kappa anything, it distracted him from the topic and left both of them flustered.

Rin was about to interrupt him again when a horrifically loud noise echoed down the hallway. Sharp screams of pain and yells of rage and terror followed a moment later. Rin's eyes were wide in horror as she shrank back further into the room. Jaken forgot all of his ire at the girl's failing lesson and snatched up his staff, hurrying towards the door and locking it tightly. "Rin, whatever happens, stay behind me," he said abruptly. Rin managed a small nod.

The door was torn off its hinges a moment later and...something....big and shapeless and black rolled and oozed into the room. Jaken slammed the heel of his staff into the floor and unleashed a gout of flame at the monstrosity.

A massive limb shot out of the shapeless mass, slapping down on top of the staff. The staff was reduced to splinters, the might of its explosion muffled under the blob's fleshy substance. Rin didn't even have time to scream before another appendage shot out, catching Jaken across the waist. The kappa was flung to smack against the wall with near-splattering force. He was dead before he ever hit, however - claws on the beast's limb had nearly torn him in half.

Rin did scream then, a scream of the sheerest terror. She hadn't even managed to finish it before another set of limbs darted out. One grabbed her around the neck with crushing, breaking force as the other grew claws and gouged open her belly with a wild spray of blood. Rin was then discarded against the wall. She saw the terrible fiend vanish as the light dimmed from her eyes and she died.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The next thing Rin knew, she was lying on the floor against the wall. Her body ached, but the pain was receding. The midsection of her kimono hung in ragged bloody tatters, but she herself was fine. Sesshoumaru was kneeling next to her, his expression tight and drawn. It took her a couple of attempts to speak as she sat up, her gaze attempting to peer past Sesshoumaru. "Lord Sesshoumaru...?""Do not look, Rin. Close your eyes and do not open them until I say." The girl obeyed immediately. She felt Sesshoumaru's arms hook under her and lift her.

It took all of Rin's restraint to not let her eyes snap open as she gasped in sheer shock. "Lord Sesshoumaru!!" Sesshoumaru paused in his rapid departure of the room.

"What, Rin?"

"Your arm!! You...you only had one last time I saw you and... and this one doesn't look like the other ones you borrowed, its all stripey and matches your real one! Is it real too?!""Yes, Rin." Sesshoumaru's voice was clipped and tight, and Rin knew him well enough to understand that that tone meant he was very unhappy.

// He must be unhappy about the monster...I'm so glad he has his real arm back, though. I'm sure he looks even more wonderful now!...Hmm...I wonder where we're going? // Her thoughts became her words a moment later, as they always seemed to do of their own accord. "Where are we going, Lord Sesshoumaru?""It is not safe for you here, so I will bring you somewhere it is. Sleep, Rin. I will wake you when we arrive."

Rin nodded, her eyes still tightly closed. "Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama." With a contented half-smile, she snuggled up against his chest. She found she was more exhausted than she had even realized, and it did not take long for her to slip into a deep slumber.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Rin."

The girl blinked open her eyes and stretched a bit, before emitting a little gasp and hurriedly clamping her hands over her face. "Oh no! I'm sorry, Lord Sesshoumaru, you didn't say I could look...""..." There was a long pause from Sesshoumaru. "You may open your eyes, Rin."

The girl did, smiling as she looked around the pretty clearing in the forest. She had been sleeping, curled up next to Sesshoumaru. Apparently he must have rested a while as well, for he was half-laying, half-sitting against a tree, his mokomoko coiled around her to provide her some comfort and warmth while she rested. Rin smiled and contentedly and reverently pet mokomoko-sama, not noticing that the act caused Sesshoumaru's breath to catch minutely in his throat.

"Rin.""Yes, Lord Sesshoumaru?"Sesshoumaru looked at her for a long moment, his face unreadable but his golden eyes intense. The girl was entirely thrown off guard by what he said next. "The last time we were in this clearing was five years ago. You were only eight summers old and had just become my ward. We made camp here and you informed Jaken that you would wed me one day."

Rin blinked and then blushed brightly, immediately becoming extremely interested in fiddling with some of the loose bits of her kimono. She noticed belatedly that she was wearing Sesshoumaru's haori - she really hadn't gotten a good look at him due to most of her vision being obscured by the fluff of his mokomoko and the dark. He was naked from the waist up. She could clearly see his face, though...and the brilliant golden gleam of his eyes and the shimmering moonlit stretch of his hair. The night truly suited her Lord.

Sesshoumaru was silent for a while, and then asked a quiet question. "Did you even understand the implication of what you had said?"Rin's blush darkened but she was forced to shake her head. "N-no...Lord Sesshoumaru. I do now, though." Hesitantly she met his gaze and offered him a small smile. Her smile fell abruptly at his next words.

"You cannot be mated to this Sesshoumaru."

Rin's gaze dropped, a strange little lump forming in her chest. Before she could sink too deeply into sorrow, however, Sesshoumaru had sat up, his fingers hooking under her chin and lifting her gaze to meet his own.

"You are too young. You have not even had your first heat yet, although it is likely to be soon. You are still a child by the laws of your species."

Rin gave him a tiny nod, although the motion was difficult because he hadn't released her chin just yet.

Sesshoumaru stared intently at her, and she found herself growing a bit unnerved under the power of his gaze.

"If you were older, this Sesshoumaru would take you for his own."

The quiet admission absolutely floored the girl and she gaped at her Lord and Master. Her heart fluttered in her chest like a wounded bird, and her disbelief was almost tangible. A sudden flood of warm, fuzzy warmth flooded through her and she felt like she was flying as the full impact of Sesshoumaru's words sank in. Feeling she had to say something or burst, she said the first thing that came to mind. "I have always belonged to you, Lord Sesshoumaru."

Sesshoumaru's arms snapped around her waist and pulled her close before she could react. His lips brushed tenderly against her forehead. Rin's fingers unconsciously tightened into Sesshoumaru's silken hair, and the taiyoukai made no effort to stop her. His clawed fingers gently tipped her head to the side and he pressed his lips against her neck. A delightful shiver screamed through Rin's body. A moment later, however, she let out a startled yelp of pain as Sesshoumaru bit her, hard. His long canines sank deeply into her flesh.

Hearing her yelp, Sesshoumaru released her from his teeth, licking apologetically at the wound for a moment. His arms slowly slackened and he sat up straighter. Rin's hand immediately abandoned his hair and clamped over the bleeding wound, her eyes huge. "You....Lord Sesshoumaru, why did you bite Rin?...Did Rin do something wrong?"

"No, Rin. You are marked as mine. The bite will scar, and all that see it will know that you are claimed by an inuyoukai. It may not signify much to humans, but many other demons will steer clear of you if I cannot be there anymore to protect you. Besides the protection offers...it...pleases me."

Suddenly, the bite-mark took on a whole new light in Rin's mind. It transformed from a sharp stabbing pain intended to punish her to one of the most glorious gifts she had ever received. Now the whole world would know she belonged to Sesshoumaru! And further, it PLEASED him...she pleased him just by being his. She had never felt so warm and giddy in all her life. But wait....

"Why wouldn't you be there anymore to protect me?" Rin asked, her eyes flying to his in a panic. Sesshoumaru did not immediately answer.

"Go to sleep, Rin."

Rin frowned inwardly, but it wouldn't do to disobey her Lord. Especially since he had given her such a wonderful gift. She lay back down, a smile stealing across her face as she felt the warm, furry coils of his mokomoko wrap around her. // He's never done that before...he lets me touch it, but never wraps it around me...//

Rin was soon asleep, and would remain that way until Inuyasha stumbled upon her in the morning.