InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Naraku's Expiriment ❯ The Silent Stalker...Sesshoumaru? ( Chapter 14 )

Chapter 14 ~ The Silent Stalker…Sesshoumaru?!

 

Autumn carried the pack Kaede had given her over her shoulder. It contained some gauze and ointments for her cuts, food, and a spare set of clothes. Her swords was strapped to her side. Against Kaede's wishes, Autumn had left at nightfall because she could see and would be less likely to be seen. Besides, it was almost romantic to travel by the stars at night. The `almost' because she had no one to share it with.

 

Sighing, she set the bag down by the river. She had gone far enough for tonight. She rolled out a blanket and started to wash her cuts. They were beginning to heal, but she still had some scratches from fighting the weasel demon in the forest. Thank god that man…Sesshoumaru was it?...had killed him.

 

He would have killed me too, she reminded herself. He said so, himself. I'm next.

 

Still, she couldn't get his eyes out of her head. He had such a gentle face. It was hard to believe he was a cold-blooded killer on the inside. One of her cuts started to sting, making her wince.

 

Dammit, why am I making such a big deal out of this?

 

She didn't have an answer to that one. Instead, she curled up on the blanket and began to fall asleep. She didn't hear the rustle in the bushes nearby.

 

“Rin. You will stay here.”

 

“But I want to go with you, Sesshoumaru-sama.”

 

A little toad youkai shouted, “Ignorant whelp! You will do what lord Sesshoumaru tells you exactly when he tells you. Humans! Lord Sesshoumaru should not have to deal with such…” He trailed off and noticed Sesshoumaru glaring at him. “Uh-oh…” Suddenly, a boot met with his head and he collapsed on the ground.

 

“I mean it, Rin,” he said, carrying on as though nothing had happened.

 

“All right,” she said cheerfully picking up a stick and starting to poke the unconscious Jaken.

 

He bit back a laugh, he was far above laughing, and went out to investigate something that interested him by the river.

 

The girl.

 

The hanyou girl.

 

He walked over and stared down at her. She was asleep which was all well and good. He would've had to kill her if she woke up. Sesshoumaru took another step, and then another, and then another, until finally, he was standing right over her. She had a sword…but it was not powerful, and therefore proved no interest to him. She wasn't horrible looking, although he had no clue why he was thinking that. Naturally, when he thought of hanyous, he thought of his brother. And when he thought of his brother... People tended to get hurt.

 

It was a touchy subject to him, not that he would ever admit it.

 

Looking back down at the sleeping girl he began to feel a dull rage creeping over him. In so many aspects she reminded him of his brother. Though they were closed now, those large gold eyes, those little ears, the silver in the hair. The tail…did his brother have a tail? He didn't know and didn't care.

 

Oh? Now what's this?

 

He leaned forward and saw that around her neck, the little hanyou had the jewel shard all demons in this world coveted. Minus one. Sesshoumaru felt that he was strong enough as is and that to use the jewel shard to gain more power would be below him. And of course the fact that was something Naraku and Inuyasha would do had absolutely no influence whatsoever.

 

Suddenly her eyes opened and she saw him. Autumn was a little disoriented at first and said, “What the…YOU!”

 

Sesshoumaru hadn't leapt back, but he had come pretty close to it. The little bitch had surprised him, and that was a dangerous thing to do. He looked at her. She might've looked peaceful while sleeping, but now she had her sword drawn...at him! What a very foolish little half demon. He would have to teach her to stay in her place.

 

There was another rustle in the bushes and Jaken came out squawking, “You little vermin! How dare you brandish a drawn sword at the mighty lord Sesshoumaru? The tai-youkai of the western lands!”

 

A quiet growl rumbled in the back of his throat. Had he not ordered Jaken to stay in the bushes and watch Rin? Gods, where was Rin? He didn't see her so she was probably messing around with something. He glanced back at the girl and saw that she was distracted, staring at Jaken with a sort of horrified fascination. So the little fool had done something right…finally.

 

In the next instant, Autumn found herself pinned to the ground, sword tossed to the side just out of her reach. She struggled, trying to loosen his grip on her. “Hey, I haven't done anything to you!” Then she seemed to see him for what she was and bristled. “If you're after the jewel shard…”

 

Jaken gasped, “To even assume that the mighty lord Sesshoumaru would have use for such…petty…”

 

Sesshoumaru didn't hear the rest. Damn Jaken. This Sesshomaru will show him exactly what he can do with his `mighties' and `lords.' The girl…what was she trying to do now? Trying to escape? He growled again, louder this time.

 

Autumn froze in her struggles and stared at him with the eyes that reminded him so much of his brother. “What's that?”

 

“You will speak when spoken to,” he said putting pressure on her neck. It wasn't quite choking her, but it was uncomfortable enough that she was made fully aware of the danger she was in. “Now, who are you?”

 

Who am I? she thought. Seems to be a question I'm hearing a lot lately. I'm not sure I know, myself, anymore.

 

The tai-youkai glared down at her, waiting for his answer. Autumn found herself unable to respond. Her throat and tongue had become pieces of dusty sandpaper and all she could do was squeak. Lucky for her, this seemed to satisfy him. He seemed to be about to say something else, when suddenly a girl appeared out of the bushes.

 

“Lord Sesshoumaru! Can we go back now?”

 

“Rin, I told you to stay in the bushes,” he said, releasing his grip on the hanyou's neck.

 

“You did, but I got bored and Jaken was mean.” Rin seemed to notice Autumn for the first time and said, “Sesshoumaru-sama! A girl! Another girl like Rin!”

 

“Hi Rin,” Autumn said, in spite of herself.

 

Sesshoumaru couldn't believe she was choosing to defy him. He pressed back down on her throat. “No talking.”

 

He used his claws this time, and Autumn was worrying that she would get cut. Stupid psycho. The `no talking' rule apparently did not apply to Rin, because she kept happily yammering away, talking about herself primarily in the third person.

 

“Rin picked flowers, but mean old Jaken took them and gave them a mighty big stomp and said Rin mustn't be so loud.” She sounded sad at the loss of her flowers and broke off in her monologue long enough to give Sesshoumaru a hug.

 

How can she hug him? Autumn wondered. Surely it must be like hugging a marble statue.

 

“She's so pretty,” Rin said. “Rin likes her. Will she be your mate, Sesshoumaru-sama? Will she be Rin's new mommy?”

 

Autumn saw him look down at her and dismiss her with a shake of his head. “No Rin.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“It's complicated.”

 

Suddenly Autumn began to feel…strange. Sesshoumaru let go over her, and she was only too aware of the light of the full moon over head.