InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Returning to the Path of Sesshoumaru's Eyes ❯ The Three Year Crossroads ( Chapter 11 )

Rin woke up to find herself in a strange, new place. The blankets were soft and warm, and the wooden floor was bright and freshly scrubbed. The air was breezy on her cheek and lingered with the smell of recently cooked rice and vegetables. Hunger panged through her belly, and she sat up.

 

“Why hello! How are you? Are you feeling any better?”, asked a middle-aged woman in simple priestess attire. Her face was round, and kind with matronly wrinkles. Her graying hair was tied back in a simple bun. Rin took a liking to her immediately. “We have been feeding you simple broth for a week, are you ready for some real food?” Seeing her nod enthusiastically, the woman chuckled and turned around towards a small fire in a section of the room that had no wood, but just tapped earth. There, a small pot was roasting on the fire with two bowls and two sets of chopsticks resting aside of a large ladle. Taking the ladle, the women poured Rin a healthy portion, and handed her the bowl.

 

Rin eagerly took the bowl and ate quickly. “Slower, child, or you'll get sick again. Eat carefully- that's it.” Rin slowed her eating and savored every bite of the simple meal. “Arigato, it was very good”, said Rin. “But I have to know, where is Sesshoumaru?”

 

Rin could've sworn she saw surprise flash in the woman's eyes before she responded. “Sesshoumaru? Who is this person you speak of?”

 

Rin started to get suspicious. “He's left me here, hasn't he? I knew it. He wanted to get rid of me. But why? -was it because I was too close to him? -or that he felt guilty for what happened to me? You must know something!”

 

The woman shook her head. “You were dropped off by a human that discovered you lying almost dead on the road to our humble nunnery. You were with child but the child has since disappeared from your womb. You had since had your monthly bleeding and have been recovering here. Your arm is much improved, as is your appetite. You also had a great wound on your head. It wouldn't surprise me if you were confused or have forgotten about your life before here. In time I suppose your real memories will surface.” She smiled kindly at Rin. “I have lived here for a long time, and it is very peaceful here. I hope you enjoy this place of refuge and choose to stay.”

 

 

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Every morning, Rin got up early and scrubbed the floors before everyone else woke up. There were sixteen other women living in the nunnery, and each of them were assigned specific tasks. Rin's was washing the floors and gathering herbs. She liked to do both of the tasks in the morning, before the hustle and bustle of the day came. “Clearing the floors and clearing the head”, she called it. She ringed the rag off the dirty water, and scrubbed the last bit of the floor while humming her little tune.

 

 

“Yama no naka, Mori no naka,

Kaze no naka, Yume no naka,

Sesshoumaru-sama doko ni iru,

Jaken-sama o shita naiete?

Watashi wa hitori de matchimashou~!

Sesshoumaru-sama, omodoriou!”

 

(In the mountain, in the forest,

In the wind, in a dream.

Where are you Sesshoumaru-sama?

-With an ally like Jaken?

 

I will wait alone until you come!

Sesshoumaru-sama, please return!)

 

 

Rin finished her task of scrubbing the floors, and with a heavy grunt lifted the bucket of dirty water. She had been asked about her songs, and no one ever believed her. In this world, there was no Sesshoumaru-sama. There was no scawking from Jaken, and there was no war. With great distaste, Rin heaved the heavy bucket, aiming its filthy contents towards the outside peat pile. Leaving the bucket in its place outside, she strolled to the small well on the nunnery's grounds. Drawing up a bucket of clean water, she washed her face and her hands. Suddenly, Rin was taken back at the reflection she saw.

 

“I'm almost 18 now…it has been almost a year since I last saw him…since I have been here in this quiet place…” she mused out loud.

 

She was beginning to understand Sesshoumaru's reasons. She had been hurt badly, or almost killed several times in his care, the last occurrence being the most violent. He wanted to protect her from more war, and more grief. She knew exactly why. Her eyes flooded with tears as she remembered her sixteenth birthday…

 

 

She took small, shy steps to him, and sat under the tree nearest him. There, she watched him while the sun traveled through the sky. When he was done, she got up and bowed in respect whilst holding out her gift. He stepped forward and eyed her slender, bowed form. After a long moment, he took the crown, and through it up in the air and struck it with his poison claw. Rin looked up with alarm as the petals floated down on them. “My Lord?”

 

He was looking down at her with his stoic expression, yet there was something in his eyes trying to say more. “Rin, you don't need to create these for me anymore. You never had to. I always feel you.”

 

“Is there anything I can do to please my Lord?”

 

Sesshoumaru leaned forward when the flowers gave them momentary cover from the rest of the world. Rin leaned forward to hear him whisper his confession, and smiled.

 

His words touched her heart beyond compare. The words she heard him say to her that day were never repeated. They were the driving force in her life, and gave her heart hope even in the darkest of times. Even now, when she was told there was never any of her life with him, and she almost believed it- but hope prevailed. She knew he was out there, somewhere.

 

 

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“Sister! Please, wait up!”, Rin cried, and picked up into a light jog to catch up. The kindly, older woman Rin had met on her first day in the nunnery turned around and waited for her. “Yes, my child?” Rin came up and bowed. “Thanks- I had a question. What do you have in your treasury over there?” She pointed to a small building that she had never seen anyone enter. The windows were covered in a thick film of dust. “I was wondering if I could help you…uh, clean it! It's never been opened so it's probably very dusty, right?”

 

The older sister smiled. “That would indeed be helpful, Rin. I've been putting off this large task. Meet me in…say, an hour's time?” Rin enthusiastically nodded. She couldn't believe the nun had accepted. Maybe nothing of her past was in there. She tried not to look disappointed, so she bowed again and ran off into the woods to find a few ingredients.

 

The sister watched her leave, a great forboding feeling within her. “I hope that not seeing what she would like to find will resolve into putting her mind at ease. But to deny her seeing the building…she is a smart girl, she would become suspicious.”

 

 

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“Wow…some of these statues are beautiful. Why are they in here and not on display?”, inquired Rin. “Oh, that is because they are damaged or newer statues were commissioned…so we put them away to preserve them.” replied the sister. The room sparkled in the light now that the windows had been cleaned off- many gilded bronze and golden statues shone with their most recent polishing. Now all that was left was a trunk in the middle of the floor.

 

Rin was disappointed not to find any of Sesshoumaru's artifacts in this room, but the trunk did ring a bell to her. It was in Mainland style, even if it was rather plain. The lock however, looked difficult to pick. Rin silently prayed for a moment that she could utilize her plan. Lunch would be any minute now, hopefully her plan would be discovered in the kitchen…

 

“Oh sister, the pot in the kitchen is broken!” cried one of the younger sisters from the main building. The older sister sighed. “What? How did that happen, pray tell?” she walked to the doorframe, her back to Rin.

 

“Now!”, thought Rin. “It's my only chance!” She quickly took out two small vials from her sleeves, uncorked them, and mixed the solution together in her hands to make a putty. Taking out a third, she dosed the lock in plenty of oil. Next, she slid in the putty mixture, careful not to push it in too far. Finally, she took a firm, thin reed and shoved it through the middle. Blowing quietly on the mixture, it hardened in a couple of seconds. Rin gently pulled the reed out, sliding out the mold of the lock with it. Wiping the lock clean with her sleeve lining, there was no evidence left of her deed.

 

“Well, it can't be helped. One of us has to go into town and buy a new pot from the blacksmith. Rin?” Rin's head perked up as she turned around. “Yes sister?” The older sister pointed to the trunk. “Please move that against the corner wall there and then bring me the key for this room.” Rid nodded, “Hai, right away sister!”. The trunk, although heavy slid across the floor with ease to the wall. Grabbing the key, she pressed it into leftovers of the mixture to create another mold. Hiding both casts in her sleeve quickly she rushed to the older sister. “Ready!”

 

The older sister bowed. “Good work, Rin. How would you like to make a special trip for me?” Rin nodded. The sister pointed off in the distance towards a small plume of smoke. “Down the hill is a small village. Inquire about there for a blacksmith that can sell us a pot. Here is an allowance for the trip- and a little extra for your trouble. It's your birthday soon, so buy yourself a small treat with it.”

 

Rin felt guilty for her actions and fought to look her in the eye and thank her. Yet it didn't stop her from racing to the town and using the extra money to buy two new keys. She had to know the truth.

 

 

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In all the labor she regularly participated in, the fans felt lighter. They still took a great deal of effort to carry, but with excersize and practice Rin felt as if she could learn to use them in due time. She made a habit of waking up long before the sun rose to practice using them. Day after day she walked in a sleepless haze, the fog only lifting temporarily when she clasped the proof of her previous life in her hands. It was now approaching her twentieth birthday, and the old priestess was pressuring her to taken an oath of priestesshood. Rin couldn't ignore her mother turning back on her priestesshood, and all of the trouble the kindly priestess had gone through to feed, clothe, and look after her. Yet soon Rin would pass marriageable age and she would run out of excuses. The nighttime was her escape from the thoughts- it was a conscious flight to her simpler time with Sesshoumaru.

 

However, one night Rin made a mistake. Her lack of sleep caught up with her, and she fainted in the forest. There, she slept until well-after daybreak. Screams echoed through the dormitories and compound as they realized she was missing, and they immediately started a search for her.

 

The older sister thought of the treasurary Rin expressed an interest in long ago, and opened the building. She walked in, and realized with horror that the trunk was open. “She has found what that demon left for her- I was hoping she wouldn't suspect that trunk if I let her near it! Now what shall I do? I cannot let her stay if she has been tainted by weapons of a demon.” The sister drew in a deep breath, and sensed a small demonic aura in the forest to the west. She locked the building back up, and walked out of the clearing of the compound and into the forest. There, after a few minutes walk, she saw the young sleeping woman.

 

She still looked so young- the dark circles were the only evidence of the girl's humanity. Otherwise, she looked like she belonged in a scene from a painting. Her long white haori and hakama spread out against the fresh grass of springtime, and her long black gossamer locks of hair spread out on a rock that her back leaned against. At her feet a small stream made its course past her, tickling her bare toes. The only thing out of place in this scene was two silver gleaming fans. “So she must be bid to leave this place. I hoped it would not be the case. She is such a sweet girl- but her heart is not to become a sister here. Very well.”

 

 

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The hot, gritty sand crunched under the feet of the four demon vassals carrying the body of Sesshoumaru's fallen wife. They had almost reached the southernmost border of the midlands, when disaster struck. Each demon fell dead, and the blood-soaked figure approached. A violet sparking shard was inserted into the corpse's heart. The teenaged, pale-haired incarnate chuckled, and greeted the body. “Why hello…I don't think we've met. I'm Hakodoushi. I'm here to take you to your new master.”

 

 

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Rin bit back her trembling lips as her tears flooded her eyes. She had been caught, and was being made to leave. She had no idea where she would go, or how to get there. The only thing she knew was that Sesshoumaru was out there, somewhere. The nightmare she endured years ago had indeed taken place, and he had cast her out of her life, just like her fellow humans. However, there was one difference between the human nunnery, and Sesshoumaru. The humans cast her out of them from fear. Sesshoumaru placed her out of his life to protect her. Perhaps it was a signal that it was time to find her own way through life, and trust in fate that their paths would cross again. If it was meant to be, it would happen.

 

With a tug on her sack and a determined nod, Rin walked the path out of the nunnery. Shortly after stopping in the small village nearby, she came unto a crossroads. After a hasty decision, and turned her heel and chose the way east.

 

 

 

 

AN: Sorry about the very long delay. I am back in school full-time and still working two jobs to make ends meet. This is an outlet for my insomnia. Know this was a bit of an action-less chapter, but there are some hefty clues as to this fiction's future conflicts. I'm excited for the next chapter however, the Inuyasha gang will be making an appearance!