The Path of Forgiveness

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and gang are not mine.


A/N: Thanks to everyone who has read this so far and a big hug and thank you to those who have been my first reviewers. This chapter may be a bit rough around the edges. I'll try and tinker with it later in the week. I wanted to get this down before it leaked out and was forever gone. So anyone mind sharing the trick to useing italics on here? I give up.


The young woman leaned against the railing, watching the waves slap the side of the small caravel that she traveled on. She was done with sailing. After spending the better part of a year bouncing around India, China and Indonesia, she had managed to find a trade vessel willing, for a small king’s ransom, to take her to the western side of Japan.

Even though they were less than a day out from the destination, Takara was apprehensive. The weather seemed to be aware of her mood. The sky was thickly blanketed with dark clouds. Even the crew was on edge.

It was monsoon season. From what she could understand, this was a bad year. Most of the coastal villages she had visited in her attempts to secure a voyage had been recovering from flooding. Most of the trade had come to a grinding halt for the time being. Ships had to be repaired and the goods replaced.

The Spanish crew was a long way from home and in unfamiliar waters. They were in desperate need of money to buy food with and had eagerly agreed to take her anywhere. From the looks she was getting now, the crew was rethinking their agreement.

A gust of wind kicked up, blowing Takara’s long, blue- black hair across her face. The Captain was walking up to her, his brows drawn together in concern.

“You may want to go below deck. We are headed into a storm,” he suggested gruffly in heavily accented English.

Takara regarded him for a few moments. The Captain was a strongly built man. His face was weathered by many years on the open seas. He was experienced and his suggestion was probably a good one, had she been a normal English noblewoman she pretended to be. She wasn’t English, and certainly wasn’t normal.

She smiled slightly at the Captain. “If it is not too much trouble, I would prefer to stay here. I enjoy watching storms.”

The Captain nodded. “I’m not responsible for your safety if you do.”

“I understand.” Truth was being below deck with the ship rocking like it was made her queasy. The waves were easier to deal with if she could see them.

Suddenly, a large wave hit the side of the ship, washing over the deck and soaking her. The baggy linen tunic and leggings she was wearing clung to her curvy form like a second skin. Even with the Captain and first mate yelling orders at them, a few of the crew paused to take in an eyeful.

Takara closed her eyes and regained her composure. She really hoped her parents appreciated all the trouble she was going through for them.


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Rin added a few more fist sized rocks to the ring she was going to start her fire in. This wasn’t the first time this year they had used this cave for shelter. The ring was pretty much still intact from the last time, and the stack of fire wood was well stocked. This was the first time Lord Sesshomaru had insisted they bring food with them, however.

Jaken was still trying to unload Ah-Un. The large bag of rice was as big as the small demon and weighed much more. Several large, well preserved fish and lots of fresh drinking water already sat neatly deeper in the cave where it was cool.

It didn’t take her long to start the fire. Many years of traveling had honed that skill to near perfection. Rin sat back on her heals and observed her work. She only needed the fire for light right now. The cave was still warm and humid. She couldn’t ever remember the humidity making her as uncomfortable as it did today. Even Ah-Un seemed to be wilting under the excessive heat.

The smoke from the fire drifted out the natural chimney in the stone, drawing Rin’s brown eyes up. She couldn’t see where the smoke was going past the dim circle of light the fire created, but she was sure it was to the outside someplace.

“Kneel down you stubborn beast!” Jaken ordered Ah-Un who just looked at him and continued to stand.

Rin grinned at Ah-Un before heading over to help out. “Master Jaken, you have to be nice to Ah-Un, or he won’t listen to you.” She reached up and gently rubbed both noses. Ah-Un kneeled down slowly, all four eyes closing slightly.

“You’re a traitor you know that,” Jaken hissed quietly in Ah-Un’s ear. “Listening to a human girl instead of your demon master.” He grabbed the two far corners of the rice bag, intent on sliding it to the ground.

Ah-Un snorted and shifted his weight causing the heavy bag of rice to flop off and land on Jaken, pinning the imp to the cave floor.

Sesshomaru landed noiselessly on the lip of the cave entrance. It was several meters above the valley below. He walked in to find Rin giggling helplessly on the floor and Jaken pinned under a bag of rice. Ah-Un seemed to be asleep. He reached down and effortlessly picked up the bag of rice and put it with the rest of the food.

“Jaken, is there a reason you can not finish unpacking Ah-Un with out managing to have some sort of accident?” Sesshomaru asked.

“My Lord! It wasn’t my fault! That impudent beast tried to kill me with that bag of rice.”

Sesshomaru didn’t have to say anything; the look on his face was enough to let Jaken know he didn’t believe him.

His half- brother’s group landed not long after the Taiyoukai had walked into the cave. He could smell their uncertainty still. Not bothering to acknowledge their arrival, he sat down in his usual spot a few feet inside the cave entrance against the wall.

Rin’s eyes lit up when she spotted Kagome and Shippo. “You came!”

Shippo was the first to hop off Kirara’s back. His tail was twitching apprehensively. He wanted into the safety of the cave, despite the demon lord in the entrance. The storm was closing in and he could feel it.

The others followed in silently, not sure what to say. Inuyasha stood opposite Sesshomaru, leaning against the wall, his stance tense.

Kagome paused in front of the elder brother. “Thank you, Lord Sesshomaru, for warning us and letting us stay here.”

“It is Rin you should thank, not I, Miko.”

Kagome smiled at the young girl and headed over to the children to unpack a couple of coloring books and crayons. She had picked up a book of paper dolls for Rin on an impulse when she had bought Shippo’s coloring books. She had enjoyed playing with them as a young girl and figured Rin would too.

Miroku and Sango had already started to set out the extra blankets in Kagome’s pack. About two years ago she had switched from her yellow school back pack to an extra large yellow hiking pack. Even with all the extra room, she was hard pressed to get everything in there.

Sesshomaru’s eyes narrowed as he looked at his sibling. “Go sit with your pack, I tire of looking at you.”

“Then quit looking at me,” Inuyasha shot back.

“Do not tell this Sesshomaru what to do,” the anger in his voice was not overt, but it was still dangerously there.

“I’ll do what ever I damn well please!” Inuyasha growled back.

Kagome resisted the urge to ‘sit’ the hanyuo. The argument reminded her of the ones her and Souta use to have on long road trips, only this one could turn into a bloody sword fight. ‘Redirect him.’ She thought to herself.

“Inuyasha, the ramen will be done soon.”

His head swiveled toward the sound of her voice. “Ramen?” He asked the argument with Sesshomaru forgotten.

Kagome poured the water that had started to boil into the cup of noodles. “Yep, ramen. But you have to come here for it.”

Inuyasha gladly went deeper into the cave where the others sat waiting on the rice to cook.

Sesshomaru almost snorted out loud at how easily the human woman manipulated the half-breed. Admittedly it defused the situation effectively. He had offered shelter to Inuyasha and his pack. That did not mean he had to share the front of the cave with them.

A few drops of rain started to fall, soon turning into a down pour. The wind kicked up, blowing the heavy rain in the cave at a slight angle just short of where Sesshomaru was sitting. He looked down at it as if he could will it not to get any closer. Unfortunately Mother Nature had other plans. This was going to be one very long storm.


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Takara held tightly to something. She wasn’t sure what it was. The wind was driving the rain so hard that she couldn’t really see. All she was sure of was that the object was solid and attached to the ship. The orders being given were lost in the howling wind.

They had entered the edge of the storm not too long ago. It hadn’t been too bad until they had turned. It seemed like the entire wrath of the storm was now focused on them. It reminded her of a cat playing with a mouse right before killing it. Unfortunately they were the mouse.

The caravel listed dangerously to the side as another powerful wave hit it.

“Great, I survive the inquisition just to be drowned at sea.” She muttered to herself. The ship tossed to the other side almost causing her to loose her grip.

Lightning flashed in the sky, the thunder following almost immediately. In the brief moment of light she could see the captain trying to pull someone back on board. Using the rigging lines to help steady herself she managed to work her way to the captain and crew member. Between the two of them they managed pull the man back aboard. The shaken man barely had time thank them before the sound of splintering wood reached their ears. It sounded like it had come from the forward mast.

A blinding flash of lightning hit the already weakened mast. The explosion deafened them. Shards of splintered wood and bits of burning sail showered down on the panicked crew.

Takara didn’t know enough Spanish to understand the frightened torrent of words spilling from the first mate’s mouth. She did catch something about strange eyes and witch, or maybe it was demon.
The first mate pointed at her and drew his finger across his neck in a slicing motion; the meaning left no doubt in her mind. They believed she was the reason for this and needed to die.

The crew never had the chance to act on the suggestion. In all the confusion from loosing the forward mast, they had failed to see the rock jutting through the water. Had another powerful wave not hit the caravel, sending it crashing into the rock, they would have missed it by mere inches.

The last thing Takara heard before she was knocked out from the collision was the hull being ripped open.


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Sesshomaru gave up on trying to stay in the front part of the cave. The rain forced him to join the others in the dryer middle part. This did not make for a pleased Sesshomaru.

A growl escaped Sesshomaru’s lips, causing Inuyasha’s ears to swivel in his direction. The hanyuo’s eyes remained closed and his breathing and heart rate steady. The whelp was still asleep. As were the Monk and Slayer.

Sesshomaru growled louder, only to receive the same response. Perhaps if he threatened the Miko, Inuyasha would wake up. He wasn’t even sure why the half-breed sleeping seemed to annoy him. His cold amber eyes drifted to Rin and her new friend quietly playing with bits of paper from a book the Miko had brought with her. He found his own thoughts drifting to the past and a violent storm…


A very young Sesshomaru watched as his two slightly older female cousins played with dolls in the sitting room of his Aunt’s manor in the north. They knew he was watching, yet they didn’t invite him to join them, not that he would have played with dolls. The two girls had made a point of ignoring him from the moment he sat foot in the house.

Envy coursed through him and he wanted nothing more than to take one of the dolls and watch his poison eat away at the delicate clothing and the soft stuffing that squished every time one of the girls hugged one.

“Go away, Sesshomaru,” the older sister spat at him. “We don’t want you here.”
“Go play with your brother. Oh that’s right. You don’t have one, ‘cuz you killed your mother,” the younger one added harshly.


A sudden loud clap of thunder brought Sesshomaru back to the present. He blinked a couple of times to clear the images and bitter emotions from his mind.

The Miko was trying her best to calm the frightened kit down. Rin sat with her back against the wall, her arms wrapped around her knees. Big brown eyes full of fear darted around the cave looking for a place to hide.

“Rin, you can come here and we will count the time between the lightning and thunder to see how far away it is, like my brother, Souta, and I use to do when we were kids,” Kagome held the blanket open, trying to coax Rin to sit with her. Shippo had the other side wrapped around him trying to peak out a little around Kagome’s other arm.

Rin shook her head no vigorously.

Another flash of lightning and a few seconds later a long rumbling thunderclap. Rin clamped her hands down over her ears and squeezed her eyes tightly shut. A tiny whimper escaped her lips.

“Rin, come here.” Sesshomaru ordered firmly.

Rin looked at him and quickly scurried over to him. “I’m trying to be brave, Lord Sesshomaru,” she managed to stammer out, frightened.

Mindful of his razor sharp claws, Sesshomaru gently pulled Rin into his lap and wrapped her securely in his tail, muffling the noise from the storm. “Go to sleep, Rin.”

“Yes, Lord Sesshomaru.”

In a few minutes her breathing became slow and even signaling that she had indeed fallen asleep.

The Miko was smiling at him. For some reason he felt like he had been caught doing something… cute.

“You really do care about her, don’t you?” the young woman asked.

“Hn.”

His response made the Miko smile even bigger. “You said you have a brother? Do you get along with him?” Sesshomaru asked in an attempt to get her to stop smiling at him. It was making him uncomfortable.

“Oh, you know. It was your typical love/hate relationship. One minute we were fine the next we were fighting over some stupid little thing. Not that we tried to kill each other. He took it really hard when our dad died.” Kagome looked around at the group in the cave. Death had left its mark on each one of them, claiming one or more family members.

“Wow,” Kagome murmured thoughtfully.

“What is it, Miko?” Sesshomaru questioned.

“I just realized that all of us with the possible exceptions of Jaken and Ah-Un all have something in common besides Naraku.”

“Elaborate.”

“All of us have lost members of our families.”

Sesshomaru didn’t reply, only turned his head to look out the cave entrance. In the distance more thunder rumbled and a fresh torrent of rain and wind pounded down on them.