Snow dusts the hard, infertile earth, and the sun remains tucked behind the clouds. Winter gusts through Sesshomaru's hair. The ground retains barely a print as he lands; he is weightless as a ghost as he walks. He carries no gifts. In fact, his right arm hangs limply at his side; but it doesn't matter. The bone will reset in a day.
Amongst the quiet smells of empty and cold, Rin's scent persists. Sesshomaru follows it with ease.
It was so cold. Pulling the woven straw mantle around herself, the young girl hid her reddened hands closer to her own body. Her warm breath billowed out in white, dense clouds as she stomped along the muddy path. It was so cold, that even though Rin preferred to walk bare feet, the temperatures did not leave her any other choices than to swaddle her feet in straw filled leather boots.
The path winds before her, the dim light barely offering any sights. Not that the dead of winter had anything to offer.
Someone was coming down towards her. She could not tell right away, only that the figure was tall. White kimono billowing out behind them.
Her heart knew who it was before even her eyes. Slender fingers came up to cover her open mouth, black lashes blinking away some stray tears. Be it from the harsh wind-- or because she had not seen him for such a long time. Autumn had come and gone and there had been no sign of him. No visits.
Her feet moved quicker now, eating up the distance between them. "Sesshoumaru-sama..."
Amidst the white of the world, Jaken hops from one foot to the other, gleeful at the sight of the girl rushing towards them. As he runs with open arms, his tears blow into the wind and become ice in the cold. Sesshomaru, on the other hand, watches with half-shut eyes, and remains slightly behind, silent.
He waits for her to approach.
She sidesteps the small kappa, a smile turning the corners of her mouth upward. She does not mean to ignore the retainer, it is simply that she always sees him first. Her lanky form bends forward, the straw mantle opens and her thin arms wrap lightly around Jaken. "Hello Jaken-sama."
She let him go shortly so she may turn towards his master. Dark hair falls forward as she bows. "A little, Sesshoumaru-sama. The wind and snow has not let up in the past few days and I could not stay inside longer. We needed water, firewood and whatever food could be had at this time from the forest."
Straightening up, her chocolate gaze rests upon his features. He looks just the same as before. As if the winter and the cutting wind does not bother him at all. It is a testament to what he is. A youkai, and being a step removed from human suffering. But not all suffering. His right arm hangs unmoving along his side, almost dead. Or hurt?
"Are you well, Sesshoumaru-sama?" Her gaze does not move away from his right side.
He glances to the side and into the forest. The trees tremble underneath the heavy snow, lifeless, and barely an animal stirs, most having migrated toward warmer weather. What wood there is to find is surely wet, and any fruit is dead or frozen. He contemplates this, lips pressed into a straight line.
"You needn't concern yourself with it," he replies, disregarding the attention of her gaze. He always healed. "Focus on your duties."
Then he extends his left arm, a silent offer. He will carry her.
His words should be the last of this. But if Rin was something she was stubborn. Her lord should know this best. Did she not follow him all those years ago? Barely revived, her legs screaming in pain, the wounds on her back barely healing. Still she had followed him. Unable to give up on the one being that had cared. Cared enough to return her life to her. So she simply puts away the words that well up, ready to spill out. For now she'll simply watch him. Maybe there is something she can help him with later.
His gesture surprised her. He does not touch her often or offer to carry her. But she would never deny such a generous offer. Rin steps closer, her own hand comes out to rest lightly on the silk sleeve covering his forearm. Another step and she stands so close she can feel the soft hairs of his mokomoko on her cheek.
"There is a small spring inside the forest. It is where Kaede-bachan bid me to get water from as it will not have frozen over, like the well in the village."
He lifts her up wordlessly, feeling somehow lighter, not heavier, because of it. Jaken is mumbling something under his breath as always, and if Sesshomaru's hand was still free, he might smash his skull in right there. But for now, it is ignored. He wanders in the direction she indicated and follows the scent of moving water.
"Have you been treated well while I was away?"
She held on to him, fingers curling into the sleeve right under the cuirass. Her lord holds her secure, he doesn't juggle her in any way. His steps are smooth as if he would float more than actually walk.
Rin looks down onto the kappa, who was now even further removed from her. He was so small-- She gazed out onto the forest. With him carrying her, Rin is now almost the same height as Sesshoumaru. Something that does not escape her and she almost laughs. How is the view from his standpoint? Now she knows.
His question gives her pause. The villagers are still quick to blame her for any bad luck that they encounter. She is in her 13th year now, almost 14. She has been living in the village for a long time now and still they treat her as if they could not trust her. The memories of many big and small slights take away the smile.
"The villagers treat me... decently." It is not quite a lie but it isn't the truth either. She doesn't want him to worry or regret placing her here. Rin leans closer involuntarily. "The winter has been hard on everyone."
His eyes narrow at the drop of that last word, though her proximity seems enough to quiet him for the moment. Such fragile humans. They suffer because of nature. He wonders, briefly, what it would be like to feel as she did. Perhaps winter would not be so peaceful if he were forced to scavenge, to face the threat of the cold, to endure.
They fade into the trees, taking soft bends and turns, and once they approach the spring, he places her down on her little feet. Meanwhile Jaken nearly tumbles into the chilly water. If only he had done so, for it would have certainly been a source of amusement.
She let him go reluctantly, but she has to do her duty. Kaede-bachan was waiting in the hut, unable to go about in this freezing weather as it hurt her bones quite a bit.
Her steps took her away from his side and close to the edge of the spring. There in the dense wood she had hidden a bucket to use. Rin knelt down, the thin straw cracking as it bends around her form. The water is ice cold and her fingers are numb in a matter of seconds. But this doesn't deter her, lifting the bucket she turns around. "I have to gather some wood, Sesshoumaru-sama. If you could wait... I shall not be gone for long. Or too far."
The bucket with water left behind she hurried just out of sight of the clearing. There was not a lot of dry wood around, she could barely pick an arm full before she had to return. The sun was marching closer to the edge of the horizon, taking whatever warmth it had given during the day with it.
The bucket in hand and the arm full of thin branches, she stepped closer to the daiyoukai. "I'm ready to go back, Sesshoumaru-sama."
He studies her as she works, leaning over and filling, filling. And then she scurries along; yet still his nose is filled with the scent of her, overwhelming the empty forest. He submerses himself in his thoughts, patient as he waits for her return.
The sky is darkening when she returns, and her cheeks are rosy red, fingers white as the snow. But she does not complain. Sesshomaru turns, facing the direction of the village, and walks, certain that Rin will follow.
They return to the village, streets empty. He discerns, then, that the villagers remained in the comfort of their homes, none as brave as the girl who follows him. None as special. Was this pride he, Sesshomaru, felt for her? That again, she could surprise him in new ways, for she always stood out. Always so strong.
He stops in front of the hut, allowing for Rin to enter. No doubt he was unwelcome. Inuyasha was nearby, and his human companion too. A shelter was unnecessary, and not worth the trouble.
Rin stops before she goes in. He will not come inside. He never does. So the curtain of straw is the last barrier between them, the one thing that divides their time apart and their time together. She placed the bucket on the hard floor, the wood neatly piled up by the wall.
Her gaze slid back down to his arm, still hanging unmoving by his side. Did he hurt himself? Who would dare to approach her lord. They must have lost - of course they have. Nothing can best him forever. She is assured of that knowledge.
"Your arm..." She looks up. "Please don't go just yet, Sesshoumaru-sama." With those words she hurries inside, already knowing what she would give him. There is no need for medicine, his body will heal faster than any medicine she could make. But there is something she will give him.
It takes only a few minutes before the girl emerges from the hut, a small package in her arms. She unfolds it, the package turning into a finely spun shawl. It is white, the careful stitching on it dyed red. It is reminiscent of the pattern on his own kimono. Only smaller. As she unwraps it a small bundle lays open. Dried flowers, the scent of summer wafting up from it.
"Please take it with you, Sesshoumaru-sama. May the flowers offer you the remembrance of summer." It reminds her of the summers they spend together, a time most precious to her. "You could use the shawl to keep your arm close if you want as well." The shawl carries her scent mixed with the undying memory of summer.
Unnecessary. That is his first thought. Such a...silly, girlish thing, these flowers; such a waste, giving it to him. What was her motive? What did she want? These were always the silent questions that followed. Humans never gave unless they intended to take; Sesshomaru learned this many years ago. But she was different. Why was she different? Why why why.
He stares at the bundle in her arms, quiet.
She is no human. She is simply Rin.
"It's unnecessary," he says, expression blank. His chest feels warm. Uncomfortable. He casts his gaze upon her face. "Why do you give this to me? Why not your friends?"
Any other girl would have been hurt. And maybe in the deep, hidden recess of her heart. She was. Insecure as to why he would say such a thing. Was it not good enough? Was he displeased? No. If he would be, he'd turned and left her already. Or worse, he'd destroy her gift without regards.
Pushing down the piercing pain of his question she shook her head. "It is not for them." Not that she had many friends to begin with. Maybe Kagome. She almost laughed about the thought of giving the miko such a gift. Especially when she thought about Inuyasha's reaction to it.
No this was for him and him alone. She had labored many hours, sitting in front of the hut during the day and inside the hut during the evening, only Kaede-bachan and the fire as her companions. She was not very prolific at the loom, or at stitching. She couldn't count the times she had pricked her fingers, hurriedly making sure she'd not bleed on his gift. Three months. So long had it taken her to finish this. The flowers were picked at the end of summer, when they were in full bloom and dried and kept sheltered all through this time.
"A gift is not always necessary, Sesshoumaru-sama. It is simply a way of showing you..." The words trailed off. '..How much I care for you.' ...No, she couldn't bring herself to be so forward. Humans do not care for youkais. She had heard it often enough from the villagers. Nor the latter for humans. But then he was Sesshoumaru-sama. He was different from anyone else.
"I made this myself, Sesshoumaru-sama. And even so I am no master seamstress, I wished to show you what I learned. That I have not forgotten. Not about you or Jaken-sama, Ah-Uhn or our travels. Please take it with you...? It is only a small token-- so you won't forget me?"
The sole indication that her words had affected him is in the softening of his gaze. Is that it? Is that why he, too, feels compelled to bring her little treasures from his adventures? But it would be absurd to think he could have ever forgotten her. Thus, his actions were also unnecessary? No. There was a need to give her pretty kimonos and hairpieces and sandals. Was their need the same? He cared for her. She must also, then, care too.
He takes the gift from her pale hands, feeling the cloth between his fingers. He can sense the very labor put into the patterns of stitching. She's improved.
"Don't speak such nonsense, Rin. I accept your gift."
He begins to walk in the opposite direction. He will find a tree suitable enough to sit in for the night; close enough to her that he may visit again tomorrow, that he may linger around her scent, that he may listen to her sleeping breaths. It is a soothing part of the silence. He does not wear the gift he has been given, but he keeps it in a pack on Ah-un's back--save for a single dried flower, which despite himself he keeps tucked close to his chest.
Tonight, Sesshomaru basks under the moonlight.
Her gaze follows him, her hands moving low until she can curl them into each other. He has not denied her gift! The implications of his acceptance leave a warmth within the cavern of her chest, her heart quickens and Rin smiles.
A whispered 'Goodnight', she can't tell if he heard or not, but that is of no consequence right now... He has accepted her gift and she could not be happier.
She only is awake long enough to stoke the fire again, filling a pot with some of the spring water and placing it close to the fire, so she may brew a tea first thing in the morning. Only then does she lay down to rest, her thoughts drifting away like clouds in the midday sky.
Rin wakes up before the sun rises above the rice fields and the forest. Her small form efficiently preparing the tea. The small ritual awakens her senses, giving her time to begin the day properly. She leaves a cup filled with the steaming liquid next to her sleeping teacher before she brings two cups outside. She doesn't have to walk far, her lord having found rest in a tree close by.
"Good morning Sesshoumaru-sama." Her words are accompanied by the rise of the sun, illuminating her chocolate eyes and bringing a golden shine to them. She offers him one cup, placing it onto the cut part of the branched tree. The fragrant scent of plum blossoms underlying the sharper tones of sencha trail upwards towards the sky.
Rin steps closer to the tree trunk, nudging the still sleeping form of the retainer aside before she settles on one of the big, exposed roots.
"The sunrise is especially pretty from here," she remarks, cooling her own tea with a few blows.
He does not sleep that night; it is out of choice, though his inability would make it difficult. But submersed in this darkness, this quiet, he is rested regardless. And the stars shine bright.
He stares into the sky when she approaches, when she speaks. He does not have to look at her to see her innocent joy, or the cup she places near him, little white curls of steam spilling from the rim; or to feel the softest warmth against his face, as if she herself was a dancing flame; or to capture the scent of flowers, entwined with earth and rain.
He gives an experimental twitch to his right fingers, then his forearm, his elbow, lifting his hand to his face and brushing through his hair. It proves to be more of an effort than he likes. The bone is pieced together properly, joints ready to bend, but they ache with his day-old injury, and the muscles up and down his side resemble worn rubber.
He studies the sunrise, not quite there and neither absent.
The movement out of the corner of her eyes drew her gaze back towards the silent man. He has never been one to fill the silence with useless words. So many people do. When they're nervous, when they're scared. Words just spill out of them like water from a leaky bucket.
She knows she tends to babble when she is nervous. Something she tried to change, now that she is getting older. She doesn't want to leave a clear sign of her feelings. Not when, most of the time, the ones who pick up on them are people that do not like her.
Rin's gaze moved over his calm features, noting when he lowered his arm, not as smooth as usual. He must be in pain... Her brows creased into a small frown. He must have hurt, but if he did, it was almost indiscernible. His face never changing or showing anything but his customary calm.
"Sesshoumaru-sama..?" It was no good. Burying her worry inside herself... she just could not do this. "May I take a look please..?" Letting go of the cup she vaguely motioned towards his arm.
He remains as he is, staring and silent. He does not answer. Sesshomaru does, however, extend his arm outward, displaying it for her view. This comes after a long pause.
Her breath escaped her with a sigh. Rin had thought he would deny her request as he had done before. She was happy he let her have her way for now. Leaning forward, she reached out, fingers lightly sliding over the exposed flesh. It almost looked normal, if you did not know him.
But the young apprentice healer could tell that it must have been hard on him the day, no, even the night before. The swelling of his strained muscles seemed to subside slowly, the discolored skin already on the way to return to its customary light complexion.
Rin pressed her fingertips softly into his arm, feeling the knots and ripples, the jagged bumps of recently broken bones. The flesh, still bright red and puckered on the underside, barely knitted itself back together. His blood had left streaks on his skin too. But there were no open wounds, the bones already setting. Another day or two and no one would be able to tell that he had been injured. It was not as grave of an injury as he had before, when she first met him.
Rin's fingers lingered a moment longer on his arm before she straightened up. "Please do not overexert yourself for at least two days, my lord."
He turns his head and stares off into the forest.
Perhaps he should not have come so soon after this injury, for the attention is startling; and even more so the way her warmth simmers underneath his flesh. Even after she withdraws, her presence lingers beneath his skin, working to calm his mind and heart.
Her name on his lips startled her out of her thoughts. Her mind has taken her back in time, her memories of the times he had been hurt, unfolding before her.
Her fingers, having hovered above his sleeve, dip lower, fingertips lightly tracing the white plum blossoms on red grounds.
"Does my injury upset you?"
She couldn't lie to him. Not about something so obvious. She never outright lied to him to begin with, she always thought he'd be able to tell. Or she'd feel too guilty about it.
"The thought of you... being hurt or in pain-- It scares me. Maybe because I wish I could protect you. Just as you have done for me for so long." The corner of her mouth lifted into an ironic smile. "I'm neither powerful nor a youkai. I'm not a fighter. I've never held a sword." Russet eyes focused and looked up. "But still I would want to help."
He peers at her, speaks with a soft timbre. "You are you. Do not be anything else. Your trust, and your heart, are enough."
His words ease her anxiety. She studies his face, the amber eyes framed by his long silvery white mane. The smile becomes true, fingers resting for a bit longer on his sleeve. "Then I shall always be myself." A puckish laugh escapes her. "And one day I'll be a healer, able to cure not just humans but youkai and hanyous alike."
His gaze shifts ahead once more, and there it rests, unease settling into something steady and calm. It was of no particular concern to him what she chose in life, as long as it made her happy. This seemed to make her happy.
An unintelligible mumble from her side reminded her of the green kappa and she glanced at Jaken. He is still muttering something about humans and their impossible dreams, but the young girl doesn't mind him. Rin has made up her mind and when she has done so, she doesn't get deterred from her goals easily.
"Maybe I can use Jaken-sama as my test object," she breezily said. "Should I ever need one~." The dark haired teenager spoke only in jest, not expecting an answer from neither her lord nor the now loudly screeching retainer. A chuckle pushed past her lips and she lifted her cup up to drink. No more words are spoken as she watched the sun fully rise above the horizon.
Ha. He would like to see this, perhaps. Though Sesshomaru, of course, has full faith she would do no harm to Jaken. An accident, however...
After the sun has risen, the sounds of the village life begin to swell in his ears, and his sense of smell is consumed by smoke, ash, and rekindled coals. Still, the icy chill pierces all who dare to stir from their huts, and few brave the weather. Beyond the hill, unmarred snow still clings to the earth.
And she, Rin, smells of the earth and the air, but also of honey and lemon and brewed tea, and long after he leaves, this scent above all others is remembered.
