InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Flower Girl ❯ Beware ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Inuyasha - or any of the flowers, either. Just the plot.

---oOo---

Kagome clutched tightly to Rin's hand, looking around with a worried expression. She needed to find a place to hide, and soon.

The group had been ambushed by Naraku's puppets and incarnations, and in the resulting confusion, she and Rin had become separated from everyone else.

She'd worried that the enemy would find them easily by scent, but apparently, someone had been watching over them from above, because they'd wandered into a highly volcanically active area, and the resulting sulpher smells overpowered their personal scents quite well.

Surprisingly, Rin had been very quiet, following along behind her trustingly, and Kagome was grateful for that. Most children in her position would have been hysterical - but once again, Rin proved just how different she was to anyone else.

She looked up as Rin tugged on her hand, whispering, "Kagome-sama, what is that flower... and why is it here? There aren't any other flowers around here."

That... it's monkshood. She frowned, bending towards it, she picked it and handed it to Rin, trying to remember what it meant. Something... not good, it was, her eyes widened suddenly as she remembered.

Beware - A deadly foe is near... shoot! I don't know why that flower is here in the middle of a volcanic field, but I'm not gonna question it!

She looked around frantically, glad that the area was covered in heavy steams, and that there were plenty of noises as well as strong smells.

I couldn't have asked for a better place to hide.

"Rin, I need you to be very quiet, okay? Try not to make any noise right now, we need to find a place to hide - and fast."

Rin's eyes widened in her little face, but she nodded, still keeping calm, and Kagome pulled her forward, moving as quietly as possible, they continued on for several minutes, and finally, they came to an area that held several small holes and cracks in the cliff face before them.

After a couple quick looks, she found one that had a small curve, it would hide them from the view of anyone passing, and she hurriedly had Rin crawl in, before scrambling in behind the child, determined to shield her with her own body should they be found.

Mere minutes after they'd hidden, Kagura herself floated past on her feather, obviously searching, and Kagome was glad she'd barely peeked around the corner of their safe-spot. She continued to watch for several minutes, and breathed a near silent breath in relief when the wind kaze huffed with irritation and moved on.

She never knew how long they stayed there, waiting and hoping that help would come, before she finally caught sight of Sesshomaru himself, and ordering Rin to stay hidden, she crawled out, hoping it really was the youkai Lord, and not a deception.

When he sensed her and pinned her with red-tinted eyes, flaring his youki and demanding to know where Rin was, she slumped to the ground in relief and called for Rin to come out, barely even noticing when the child attached herself to Sesshoumaru's leg.

"You protected her with your own body."

It wasn't a question, it was a statement, and Kagome merely nodded, suddenly too tired to care about anything else except finally being safe.

Rin pulled back and looked up at her Lord, then waved the hand holding the flower at him.

"Kagome-sama saw this flower and then got scared and found us a place to hide - and then that scary lady that took Rin before came looking for us, but she couldn't find us because Kagome-sama was better at hiding us than the scary lady was at finding us." Her little brow furrowed for a moment, then, and she looked over at Kagome.

"But, Kagome-sama, why did you get worried when you saw this flower?"

Kagome tilted her head and stared down at the ground for a minute, acutely aware that Sesshoumaru was listening for her answer.

"That flower is called monkshood, Rin," she said, finally. "It means 'beware', and that a 'deadly foe is near'."

A haughty brow lifted at that, as he stared at the miko still slumped on the ground.

"A flower told you that you were in danger?" His voice swam with incredulity, and she shook her head wearily.

"It doesn't matter what you believe, Sesshoumaru-sama, whether or not it seems ridiculous to you, the proof, as they say in my time, is in the pudding." At his confused look, she chuckled. "In other words, Rin and I are here, and safe, aren't we? That's all that counts."

Sesshoumaru stared at her for a moment longer, then looked at Rin as she tugged on his hakama leg.

"That's true, Sesshoumaru-sama. Rin thinks, though," she smiled at him, then at Kagome, "that the kami were watching today, and sent that flower to help Kagome-sama keep us safe. After all, who else but a kami would put one single flower in a place like this where there aren't any others?"

The two adults stared at the child for a moment, and then Kagome smiled back at her.

"You know, Rin, you are the smartest little girl I've ever met." She stood and brushed off her skirt, then held out her hand to the child, waiting for her to take it, then they both looked at Sesshoumaru.

"We're ready to go, Sesshoumaru-sama. Thank you for finding us," Kagome said, still smiling.

He nodded, then turned on his heel, a thoughtful expression on his face.

I do not hold with relying on the kami for anything, they are fickle, and as for the flower, it is ridiculous... however, he glanced behind him at the two girls following along behind, in this case...

"That flower should be put in your book, Rin."

He said nothing else for the rest of the trip back to the group, but both girls had smiles that lasted for the rest of the day.

---oOo---

A/N: Isn't it nice to know that someone up above is watching out for you?

Amber