InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Shikon no Tama ❯ Chapter Twenty ( Chapter 20 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: I do not now, nor have I ever, owned any part of Inuyasha or his world. This is a work of fanfiction made entirely for the fans of Inuyasha to enjoy. This story is based off of Inuyasha characters that I do not own.

This is also a work of fiction. Any simularities to any real person, dead or alive, is completely coincidental.


Chapter Twenty:

Kagome held the child in her lap as she listened to the discussion. She had brought Rin back with her to Tomo's hut and hadn't been surprised by Inuyasha's outrage. "Are you stupid?!" he had demanded.

Now, they sat around the cooking fire inside Tomo's hut, trying to decide what to do with Rin. She was a lot calmer now, though the child's face was streaked with dirt and dried tears. Rin had cried for hours after Sesshomaru had left.

Kagome hugged the child tightly. Never had the priestess seen Rin express such emotion towards the demon lord. Usually, the child just obeyed and let things be the way they were. She trusted the taiyoukai and never had given him any problems. The priestess could not comprehend the child's sudden change in behaviour.

"She looks like a younger version of yourself, my lady," Tomo commented as he watched the small child interact with Shippo.

The kitsune had taken out his red ball and was playing catch with Rin. This helped calm the child even more. Rin flashed a smile at the youkai. "That's a compliment, my lord," she said in her sweet voice. "Kagome is really beautiful."

The youkai gave a hearty laugh. "You can call me Tomo," he chuckled.

The girl nodded once and turned her attention back to Shippo.

"Rin?" Sango asked," Did Sesshomaru tell you any of his plans?"

The little girl thought about it a moment before shaking her head. "Lord Sesshomaru doesn't like to tell anyone his plans. Usually he'll just tell me to stay. Sometimes, he has Master Jaken stay with me. He tells me not to get into any trouble and I try my best not to."

Miroku sipped his tea and nodded. "It makes sense," he stated. "If Rin were to get captured by accident, her knowing Sesshomaru's plans could jeopardize him and even her."

Kagome agreed as she ran her fingers through the girl's silky black hair. "I don't know what to do with her," she admitted. "I can't leave her here. Sesshomaru trusted me to keep her safe."

"I'll protect her," Shippo offered. "I've been learning a lot of things and I could keep her safe."

"You're still too much of a chicken," Inuyasha growled.

"Now, now," Miroku stopped them before they started arguing, "Shippo has proven his worth time and again. I'm sure he would do a fine job keeping her safe."

Kagome shook her head, but offered the kitsune a smile. "I appreciate the offer," she told him, "but if Sesshomaru can't protect her on his mission, what makes us think we can protect her on ours? No, it's much safer if she were someplace else."

"But, what other place do we have?" Sango asked. "When we leave for battle, most of this village will go with us."

"I know," Kagome sighed, frustrated.

"Why don't we just give her back?" Inuyasha argued. "She's Sesshomaru's responsibility, not ours. Let him figure out what to do with her."

"He handed the child to Lady Kagome for a reason," Tomo countered. "He believes the priestess can keep his child safe. If you send her back, it could end in disaster."

Inuyasha huffed, "The only 'disaster' I can see happening is Sesshomaru getting killed. And that's not too disasterous in my book..."

Rin gasped and her eyes snapped to the hanyou. "That's... he..." she stammered. Her bottom lip quivered as tears filled her eyes.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome reprimanded, bringing the child to her chest as Rin began to cry again. "Can't you see Rin's worried enough as it is? What do you want to do? Tramatize the poor child? You should be ashamed!"

The hanyou started to argue, but stopped. He hadn't meant to upset the little girl. He knew he was in a losing battle, but he didn't know what else to do. What else to say. Sesshomaru had never trusted him with anything before. He sighed, "Look, all I'm saying is, if we can't figure out what to do with her, then shouldn't he be able to?"

The companions continued to debate over what to do with her. It was quite late. Inuyasha knew they were running out of options. Every option seemed as disasterous as the next. Keeping Rin with them put her at risk, but leaving her here did as well.

Then, like a lightbulb in his mind, a thought occurred to Inuyasha. "Why don't we bring her to your mother?" he asked Kagome.

The chatter stopped as they all stared at the hanyou. Though Tomo and Rin didn't know exactly what was going on, everyone else wondered at the hanyou's sanity. Kagome stared at him as if he had gone mad. "Inuyasha..." she started slowly.

"Just think about it for a moment," he told her. "Your mom's is the safest place. Rin will be out of harm's way and when we are finished, we can bring her back here."

"But... only you and Kagome can pass through the barrier..." Sango reasoned, keeping her words slow and clear.

"Yeah, but, we've never tried holding anyone as we pass through. If Kagome is carrying Rin, I don't see why Rin wouldn't pass," he argued. "Besides, she's the Demon Priestess. This should be easy enough for her."

In the length of the companion's stay, Tomo had never heard mention of Kagome's home. Apparently, she had it guarded quite well. If that were the case, then it was possible that Naraku had bitten off more than he could chew.

Kagome looked skeptical. "We could try," she said, "but don't count on it working. It hasn't let anyone else but the two of us through."

Tomo blinked. Now, that surprised him. "You mean, you can't control the barrier?" he questioned.

"Kagome didn't create the barrier," Miroku explained.

"Tomorrow, Inuyasha." Kagome instructed, "you'll bring me and Rin to my home. We'll see if the barrier will let her pass. If it doesn't, we'll have to think of another way to keep her safe."

"And if it does work?" Sango asked.

Kagome smiled as she looked down at the now sleeping child. "I'm sure my mom won't mind taking her for a little while."

Now that it was settled, the companions headed to bed. Tomo watched the dying fire. He knew the companions still didn't quite trust him. He was Naraku's brother. He looked up and his eyes narrowed.

"Kanna," he whispered.

The white child stepped forward into the light. "Lord Sesshomaru has left his human child," she said in her monotone voice.

Tomo nodded slowly before softly growling, "What is your business here, Kanna?"

The girl said nothing, just stared forward. So, Tomo continued softly, "Tell my brother that we will be coming for him. If he thinks he'll win in the end, he is sadly mistaken."

"Humans. Such fragile creatures," the void demon said. "Only one will survive in the end. However, no matter the outcome, there will always be one of pure evil and one of pure good. One cannot survive without the other. They depend on one another to keep the balance which exists in this world."

Though Tomo agreed with her statement, he growled, "Evil won last time, Kanna."

The void demon looked at him. Her mirror showed the image of a taiyoukai. This taiyoukai had been the most powerful creature ever to have existed. "Good won last time," she corrected.

As she left, Tomo shook his head. Inu no Taisho had won the battle against Ryukossei. But, the human Takemaru had killed the taiyoukai, thrusting the country back into civil war. Tomo was lost in his thoughts as he wondered how much truth was in the void demon's words.

~~~

It had taken a week to get to the well. Rin looked at it curiously. "Your home is in a well?" she asked Kagome.

The priestess looked anxiously at Inuyasha. "Not really," she answered. "It's kinda hard to explain. We have to go through the well to get to my home, but it's not inside the well."

"Kagome is from a different time," Inuyasha told the child. "Now, can we get a move on? The longer we wait, the more powerful Naraku and his army is going to get."

Kagome threw the hanyou an annoyed look. "You stay on this side as Rin and I jump. That way, if it doesn't work, Rin doesn't go unprotected," she ordered. She picked the child up and climbed onto the lip of the well. "Ready?"

"Are you going to jump?" Rin questioned, her eyes widening at the thought.

The priestess nodded. "One, two..." she counted. The moment she said "Three," she jumped into the dark void of the well. Blue light circled around them and then... Rin disappeared. "Damn," Kagome swore under her breath.

The moment she touched down, she climbed to the top of the well and jumped back in.

Rin was sitting on the ground on the other side of the well. "What happened?" she asked as Kagome materialized in front of her.

"Inuyasha," Kagome called. She saw the silver head popped over the lip of the well. "It didn't work. I'm going to try again."

"Well, if it didn't work the first time, what makes you think it'll work this time?" he inquired loudly.

Kagome took Rin's hand and knelt beside the girl. "I want you to close your eyes and picture a world full of interesting things. Homes and buildings reaching out into the sky. Instead of horses, picture large wheeled machines that move on their own. People of all different sizes, colours, and races," the priestess told the child.

Rin closed her eyes and giggled, "What a funny world!"

Kagome smiled as she placed a hand on the child's forehead. "Keep that image in your mind," she whispered. Kagome closed her own eyes and prayed for the well to let them pass.

She could feel the warmth of her magic as it began to flow around her. As it began to die down, the priestess opened her eyes and looked up. She saw blue sky.

Frustrated, she stood up and stomped her foot. "Let her through!" she screamed at the well.

Inuyasha poked his head over the well again. "What are you yelling about now?" he growled.

She pointed at the soil beneath her. "It won't work!" she shouted.

He shrugged. "So, we'll take her to Kaede. See what she says. Perhaps Kaede could take her."

As Inuyasha helped the two girls out of the well, Kagome thought on what he said. Bringing her to Kaede seemed like the last option available, but Kagome wasn't too pleased about it. Though she knew the elderly priestess was powerful, and trustworthy, this war may bring the elder priestess into it. If that happened, then Rin would be unprotected.

They made their way into the village and was greeted by a happy old lady. "Inuyasha, Kagome. I'm so pleased to see ye," Kaede said to them. "It has been months since your last visit. I almost feared the worst."

Kagome hugged the older woman. "We're ok. We've been in this village that is home to a whole army of samurai. Shippo has been learning samurai techniques and I've been learning more about my powers."

"That's good, my child," Kaede stated. She looked at the child that stood by Kagome's side. "Is this Sesshomaru's little girl, Rin?"

At Kagome's nod, the old priestess asked, "What is she doing with ye?"

"Sesshomaru has some very dangerous things to do and he can't take her with him," Kagome explained. "So, he asked me to take care of her for a little while. At least, until this is all over with."

"Actually, we were wondering if you could take her," Inuyasha added. "We can't keep her with us, because we're going into war soon. And she won't pass through the well. She'll be safe here."

"With war knocking at my door and threating the borders?" Kaede inquired. "I won't be able to keep an eye on her like need be. Though I know she's a good child, taking her in right now just isn't possible."

"So, what do we do?" Kagome asked, looking down at Rin anxiously.

Kaede studied the child for a moment before replying, "Sesshomaru gave the child to ye for a reason. Perhaps he thinks she's safer with ye, perhaps he believes ye can find a safe place for ye. But, if he gave ye the child, he did it because he trusts ye enough to make the right decision regarding her."

"So, I should keep Rin with me? When I'm going into war against someone who wants nothing more than to kill me?" the younger priestess demanded.

"Ye said Shippo is learning the ways of the samurai," Kaede recalled. "Why don't ye leave her with him? That way, she'll be in no more danger than he is."

"Yes, but, Shippo is different," Kagome argued. "Rin is at great risk."

Kaede held a hand up to the younger priestess. "No more then when Inuyasha and Sesshomaru fought against So'ounga," Kaede easily countered.

Kagome sighed and looked at Inuyasha. He just shrugged. "She can't take her," Inuyasha commented. "We'll let Shippo protect her."

Confused, Kagome put her hands on her hips and pointed at him. "You said Shippo was too much of a wimp to protect anyone," she fussed at him.

He shrugged. "I also suggested we take her to your mom, something that didn't work out too well. Besides, I always say that about him. You should know better by now."

Kagome sighed and dropped her hands. "I suppose you're right. It's the only thing left for us to do. We'll go back to the village and tell Shippo of his charge."

Rin looked up and tugged on Kagome's skirt. "I'm sorry to be such a burden," she apologized.

The priestess shook her head. "You're not a burden, Rin. I'm just worried about being able to protect you. If anything happens to you, I fear Sesshomaru would lose his mind."

Rin nodded and quietly agreed.