Run

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha

Rin woke before the sun rose due to a sudden burst of pain. She screamed out instantly rousing Keiko who was immediately by her side assessing the situation. One quick glance told her that Rin’s water had broke and she was in labor. For hours she sat by the new mother’s side helping her regulate her breathing and dabbing sweat from her brow.


As late morning sunlight spilled through the window Rin became an official mother. In her arms she cradled a stunning baby boy. A little patch of raven hair sat upon his head as he stared at his mother with golden eyes so intense they seemed to pierce the very soul. Rin smiled as she peered at his pointed ears and traced the purple stripe that graced his left cheek. He was beautiful. Rin whimpered as Keiko took him away.


“You’re not done yet child.”

“WHAT?!” Rin exclaimed as she felt another stab of pain.

“Twins.” Keiko said a gleam in her eye.


Half an hour later Rin was once again holding a child. A little girl this time. Two tiny dog ears were adorned upon her head framed by wisps of silver hair. Her large eyes were a deep auburn flecked with gold. She waved a petite arm revealing five minute claws.


“You didn’t tell me their father was a demon.” Keiko said looking up from sleeping boy cradled in her arms.

“I was afraid you wouldn’t let me stay if you knew the truth.” Rin answered feeling more ashamed than ever.

“Never mind that.” Keiko exclaimed with a grin “what are their names? Have you decided yet?”

“Yes…this little girl here is Kaori, and you are holding Yasuo.”

“Yasuo…” Keiko repeated gazing at the boy who was currently content in peaceful slumber. “What an odd marking.” She commented as she traced the stripe with her finger.

“His father had markings just like it.” Rin whispered her eyes glazing at the thought of him.


She missed him terribly. She would have liked nothing more than for him to have been there as his offspring came into the world. He didn’t even know they existed. He had no idea that as of right now his two children were sleeping soundly. Would he ever find out? Would he even want to find out? She sighed as she leaned against the wall closing her eyes for some well deserved sleep.


As Keiko sat transfixed on the twins something profound within her told her that the two were destine for greatness. She had learned from years of experience that one should always listen to their first instinct. Though their lives would be full of destitution she felt confident they would be able to overcome it and shine with a greatness unmatched by any.


***


Sesshoumaru came in from another day of searching looking tired and defeated. Since Rin’s disappearance he had let his unemotional mask slip away leaving behind a sad shell of a demon. He no longer made any attempt to disguise his pain. With a wave of his hand he dismissed the plate of food Jaken offered to him. It had been a month now and the mighty lord would only eat a skimpy meal every other day.


He went to his bedchambers. The room flooded him with painful memories yet he refused to move to another room. The chair she sat in every night still held her faint scent. That heavenly scent that lulled him to bed each night. Yet that same scent tortured him in his dreams. Dream Rin would look over her shoulder at him as she faded into the woods. Her eyes were the last thing to fade, those sad longing eyes that pleaded silently for him to follow, to find her, to save her.


He would follow the faint scent trying desperately to keep up. Just when he thought he would reach her the silhouette of two powerful demons would appear blocking him long enough for Rin to escape before fading into darkness themselves. Just who were they? The two were quite frightening, and would cause his spine to crawl before desperation forced him to swallow his fear and charge forward. Yet every time that second of hesitation kept him from her.


The powerful lord awoke drenched in sweat howling a mournful tune that caused the heart to break into so many pieces one feared they would never fit together again. It seemed that each day Sesshoumaru would reach for the pieces of his heart knowing that they would never truly fit together again.


***


Once again Jaken was awoken to an eerie howl. He hated that…that…bitch for doing this to his love. If she could cause him this much pain when she wasn’t even here he could only imagine what she would do to his master if she was here. The thought of her and Sesshoumaru made the imp shudder with rage. He had to do something! He had to help his lord and love to end this crazed obsession with a human. A filthy human woman who was such a whore as to sleep with a demon who had a mate! Granted he would have done the same if he had been in her position but that was completely different!


His love was pure whereas this harlot felt no love whatsoever she merely lusted after her lord. He was certain that this was the truth. Perhaps, just perhaps, his lord would forget about the girl after time if he found not a trace or clue as to her location. It was worth a try. Then his lord would be his, he would belong to Sesshoumaru as faithful servant and mate. The toad chuckled evilly. This was perfect just perfect!


Without another word he slipped out of the castle and towards where Rin had disappeared. After a few hours the birds began to wake from their restful slumbers and heralded the new day. The sun rose and by late morning the exhausted toad had reached a village. Disguised as an old man he entered the village and called their attention. “Brothers! Please heed my word! A powerful demon is headed towards your village I can help you avoid him, but first I must know if a young girl stayed her a month ago or so.”


A panicked silence was the only reply until an old man stood up from the back of the crowed claiming to have housed a young girl for the night. Jaken accompanied the man back to his hut on the outskirts of town. After a while Jaken led the man into the woods…he was never heard from again, and mysteriously that same day his hut burned to the ground. The peculiar old man who had accompanied him to his hut was never heard from either. Yet Jaken was sure that as time passed so would the memory of the old man and the girl who he had housed. It was as if neither ever existed.


***


Sesshoumaru watched the retreating form of Jaken from high in the trees his golden eyes flashing dangerously. He watched the imp scurry back to the castle glancing over his little shoulder every once and a while, never once looking above his insignificant head. The overpowering stench of smoke and human blood wafted off him covering his usual scent of dirt and urine. The scent was identical to that of an average toad which never failed to bring a slight smirk to the Lord of the Western Land’s lips every time he was alone.


In the dog demon’s eyes Jaken was no better than the cowardly toads that hopped about after rain storms and urinated every time they were picked up as self defense. The little toad really ought to be friendlier to humans, after all, most of the time they can’t even smell it when he wets himself. The minute creature really did have a weak bladder, a mere child could cause this embarrassing display. Though it was usually only a few drops it still happened nonetheless and every demon he came across knew it.

Curious as to Jaken’s doings he headed to the village where the imp had emerged pausing in the trees and inhaling deeply. Ash, smoldering wood, blood, livestock and humans polluted most of the air, and yet there was the extremely faint scent of lilacs, the scent of his love. He was on the right track! Yet one question still stuck out in his mind. What was Jaken’s part in all this? His scent was quite prominent; did he know that Rin had been here?


***


A smart rap on the door roused the two sleeping women. Keiko groggily made her way towards the door, shielding her eyes as the blinding light of the sun filled the room as the door was flung open. The headman’s wife, a bustling woman temperamental in nature, pushed her way past Keiko into the warmth of the small hut. “The grapevine says that someone had twins!” She chided in a sing-song voice.


Rin sat up rubbing sleep from her eyes turning towards her crying children. The woman’s shrill voice had hurt their sensitive little ears. Keiko relieved Rin of Kaori and began to whisper comfortingly to the babe. Yasuo, being the less fussy of the two, settled as soon as Rin cuddled him, making content noises as Rin rubbed his tiny hand with her fingers.


“OOH let me see the dears!” She cried instantly upsetting the children once more.

“They’re very cranky!” Rin exclaimed keeping Yasuo’s face hidden.

“Don’t be silly!” The woman exclaimed as she closed in on Keiko and Kaori. “Children love me!”


When she yanked the blanket covering Kaori’s face off the babe instantly began to cry from the cold draft and then harder from the sight of the strange human woman above her. The headman’s wife screamed at the sight of Kaori and fell back onto the floor.

“MONSTERS!” She screamed louder than either Rin or Keiko thought humanly possible “THEY’RE FILTHY DISGUSTING MONSTERS! WHY HAVE YOU BROUGHT THESE…THESE BEASTS INTO OUR VILLAGE? AS SOON AS THEY CAN WALK THEY’LL BE TERRORIZING ALL OF US!”

“NO THEY WON’T” Rin screamed back, her face flushed with anger. “THEY’RE CHILDREN! HOW CAN YOU SAY SUCH A THING? YOU ARE THE MONSTER HERE, NOT MY CHILDREN! OUT, GET OUT OF THIS HOUSE! YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE!”


The headman’s wife’s eyes grew dangerously large, so large in fact the occupants of the room feared they would fall out of her head. She sniffed angrily and stormed out of the hut towards her own. Her husband would know about this, he would get rid of the atrocities that tainted their perfect community.


Meanwhile the twins were sobbing uncontrollably as their sensitive ears rang with the high pitched voice of the damned. No sooner had the women soothed the frightened babes when the door once more burst open, this time it was the headman and an angry mob of villagers.

“You there!” his voice rang out. “I am Okahito, and I am the headman of this village.” Okahito’s voice was almost robotic. Being a man of few words his vocabulary was limited, unlike that of his wife.

“What is the meaning of this? Why have you brought these…” he paused looking for the right word. “…things to our village.”


Rin was shaking with rage as angry tears rolled freely down her cheeks. She had thought she had found a home, a place where her children would be accepted, she was wrong. These people were monsters, save Keiko that is. As a chorus of enraged cries rose from the mob, the old woman, Keiko decided to step in.


“Enough” she said calmly “Rin and her children, Kaori and Yasuo are not hurting anyone. They are just babes! If it will make you feel better they shall stay in my hut, you won’t ever see them, but you can’t very well expect them to leave now! Look, there is snow on the ground! All three would freeze to death! Do you really want the blood of a new mother and her two bastard children on your hands?”

“Bastard?” repeated Okahito as if he just now noticed that the little family had no father “Where is your husband woman?”

Rin ground her teeth, she hated it when she was called ‘woman’. “He died in battle.” She spat at him.


An ashamed silence fell upon the mob as they shuffled their feet and looked about the ground, suddenly finding the snow very interesting. As the crowed dissipated Okahito stepped forward his wife listening from the shadow of a group of trees. “Fine, the woman may stay until spring. Then she and her…”he paused once more searching for the right word “…half-breeds must leave.”


As he walked away it took all of Keiko’s strength to hold the enraged mother back. “Calm yourself, Rin!” She whispered urgently “They are just barely letting you stay here, you can’t mess this up or you’ll freeze to death. Do you really wish that upon your children? He is an ignorant fool, just leave him, it’s not worth it!”


When Rin’s struggles ceased Keiko tentatively let her go, hands still raised ready to grab her at a moments notice if she decided to bolt. However, Keiko’s words hit home and Rin settled on nursing her babes. They had gotten fussy, as babies often do, at the lack of food provided. When both Kaori and Yasuo had eaten their fill they fell into a deep slumber blissfully unaware of the argument that had broken out because of what they were.


Rin wondered how long that blessing would last. When they figured out what the adults were angry about they would surly feel an immense amount of guilt, any child would. They were only children, how could anyone treat them like that? Would Sesshoumaru have treated them like that? She jumped slightly when Keiko pressed a warm bowl of stew into her hands. The two ate in silence for a while before Rin finally spoke her feelings aloud.


“Why?” she sobbed “Why do they hate them so much? They’re only infants!”

“It’s human nature child, we fear what we do not understand. It doesn’t matter how wonderful your babes are, and believe me, they are, they are still different.”


The twins began to stir in their sleep at the scent of their mother’s tears whimpering helplessly. Rin quickly wiped her tears away and smiled gently down at them as she stroked their baby-soft hair. Slowly the two ceased their whimpering and once more fell into a deep content slumber. “Give them time. Perhaps their views of half-demons will change by spring, perhaps not. If not we can move into a more remote location away from the critical human eye.”

“No.” Rin said firmly “If you think humans are bad you should hear some of the stories I’ve been told about how demons treat half-demons.” At this she began to think of the stories Sesshoumaru told her about his brother Inuyasha, and the look of disgust that tainted his own beautiful features.

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying we would be under constant attack with no way to defend ourselves. If we are kicked out of this village we’ll just have to move to another.” She turned to her surrogate mother “I don’t expect you to come. You’ve lived here so long; I can’t imagine how hard it would be to move away with a girl you’ve only known for a month.”

“Now you just stop that!” Keiko commanded “You are not leaving here without me, and that’s final. I have nothing in this village save this little hut and a handful of enemies. I’m rumored to be a witch you know, a title that attracted all kinds of hoodlums with less than innocent intentions. Wherever my family goes, I go. I have to see my grandkids grow up after all.” With that she reached over and stroked her adopted grandchildren’s heads affectionately.


Rin smiled and wrapped her arms around Keiko’s neck pulling her into a hug. Finally she had found someone who understood, someone who loved her unconditionally no matter what she did. She had found a home in Keiko’s heart.

Wow…sorry it took me so long to update, I know you’re used to getting a chapter a night! I had Drivers E.D. in the mornings…8 FREAKING HOURS! It doesn’t make sense, I shouldn’t have to take the class, I’m already old enough to get my license! I spent a good three hours writing lyrics up my arms and legs and then the words GOOD and EVIL across my knuckles. Then I decided ‘hey, maybe I should start brainstorming a bit because I have no idea what this next chapter is going to be about and I have nothing better to do!’ So…I DID! I just want to thank Ren and Animegirl007 who gave me these two AMAZING names! *gives each an extra big hug* So…two days and enough caffeine to kill a bull elephant later I present to you chapter 6! I really didn’t plan on twins, I didn’t want them at all actually…but then I started writing…and BAM, twins. It just kind of worked out that way because I really wanted a girl and you all seemed to want a boy…YAY FOR TWINS! *sorry new fan, I know I strayed a bit from your challenge, forgive me!* EVERYONE! I'M SORRY! FOR SOME REASON IT ISN'T SHOWING THE ANSWERS TO YOUR REVIEWS...I'M TRYING TO FIX IT, IF I CAN'T I'LL PUT THEM UP AS A NEW CHAPTER! Thank you!


Ok, here’s the part you all read for…you Inuyasha whores! that is meant lovingly!

My Simply Gorgeous Readers


Vanessa- Another review, I always look forward to getting them from you! And don’t worry, we all love Sesshoumaru here…we’re kind of a support group of sorts huh? To be perfectly honest…what the hell are you talking about? His feet? I’m so lost! Help me out here; I’m just a simple Kansan with way too much time!

Animegirl007- THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE NAME! I read your comment and I was like ‘Oh crap, that’s it! That is the name I’m gonna use, HELL YES!’ hahah and yes I am working on coffee fumes, Starbucks is my friend!

Ren- Awwwwww! Thank you! I LOVE THE NAMES YOU SUGGESTED BY THE BY! I saw Kaori and that was it, I knew that was the name I wanted! I didn’t take any offense by the whole kids comment…I agree they can be annoying, I love ‘em to death, but sometimes when I’m babysitting I just want to strangle them! Heheh I mean I would never strangle a child….<.< >.> ….right Glad you’re still rooting for me! Yes I did get the e-mail…ROCK ON! Wait…wait…what was that last sentence? I’m your favorite author? Sniff sniff *starts sobbing* I LOVE YOU!

Raeysama- Just the fact that you actually reviewed is good enough for me! I’m so glad you like the story…you make my heart burst with happiness, and cookies. Because really, who doesn’t like cookies? Probably you, knowing my luck…but come to think of it, if a cookie exploded out of my chest and was covered in my gross innards I probably wouldn’t like cookies anymore either…scratch the whole cookie thing then…streamers…everyone likes streamers!

New Fan- I was wondering when I would hear from you! I’m really glad you like it…I was really nervous about getting your review to be honest. I’m not the greatest author, so I don’t know why I decided to do your challenge, it just really appealed to me I guess. Anywho, my imagination is not a good thing. I started freaking out because you hadn’t reviewed yet and I thought you hated it and that I was failing my task! *pulls out paper bag* but you liked it so I can stop freaking out now…right, we’re ok. I REFER TO MYSELF AS WE SOMETIMES, YOU DO TOO! *hugs* thanks for a great challenge, I mean it, this is really fun to write!

Oceanna- I know I need to add chapters! Haha ‘tis a curse my inability to write long satisfying chapters…or even short chapters faster…oh well! I’m so happy you like it so far! Keep reading!

Hiro- I know my chapters are short…it sucks. And the whole edit thing…my grammar is complete crap! I love English class and writing, but grammar makes me cry…I don’t know what it is I just suck at it! Wow…you’re probably thinking…’I know, I read it!’ hehehe! But that’s ok…Thank you so much for reviewing! And since I feel like my responds for you is really bad…*begins very long tap dance*

REadER- Interesting the way you only made the e and r big. I hope this chapter answered some of your questions. I’m thinking about having them meet up with Inuyasha but I’m not sure yet, I guess it all depends on how many chapters I want it to be, if I want it to be longer…sure, why not. I’ve got ideas about possible scenarios and they aren’t bad…so who knows?

*CONTINUE TAP DANCE FOR HIRO*

Cassie- HI! I’m glad you like the story and I did seriously consider making them full demons but I realized that it was kind of impossible, after all even if on the odd turn of events Rin was actually a demon, there was no way Sesshoumaru would miss it, ya know? I’m so sorry, I really am! And just so you know…I tend to favor happy endings, so don’t worry too much! I really am sorry! *hugs and offers a bowl of really good rice*

HALF AN HOUR LATER…

*FINISHES TAP DANCE FOR HIRO*

TADAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!