THE END [4/12]

[Calla Lily]

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?At the end of a highway, There's no place you can go.?



And so the little girl grew up. Her visits to her people were at first, irregular, but as she approached her 16th birthday, her excursions became a weekly ritual, almost a daily field trip that started in the early hours of the day and ended well into the evenings. Tension began to stir.

Peace had been given to Feudal Japan with the end of Naraku, and there was nothing else to worry about. Long since did the Lord of the Western Lands forsaken his pursuit to bother Inuyasha and his clan and neglected to seek out the sword of their father?s fang, Tetsaiga. Instead, Sesshoumaru dedicated himself to his land and his duty, becoming a most revered demon of reckoning. But there was still one imperfection, Rin.

There was still no heir to the Western Lands, and as the aristocrat?s financial and social success increased, the courts began to worry. The human girl that lived in his household surely must be of age now? the time to leave the demon world and rejoin her own loomed ever closer. When she would be gone, perhaps Lord Sesshoumaru could focus on finding a suitable mate.

He ignored their pleas.

And the gossip stopped.



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On the twelfth of May, when the last quarter of the silver Moon shone in the blue-grey midnight sky, little Rin arrived home, crying herself to near exhaustion. She had Jaken?s right arm in a death grip and the puny demon held onto his Staff of Skulls with his remaining hand, struggling to stay upright with her weight. When both of them passed through the front doors, Rin let out a wailing cry loud enough to wake the stoic dead and launched herself upon the toad again, toppling him over with a loud CRASH.

?MasTeR SESSHOUMAROOooOOO!? Jaken screamed. Rin was now strangling that toad?s neck in perfect timing with her nerve-wracking sobs. He yelled again.

Sesshoumaru heard the cries from his library where he had been working on his accounting books for the latest trade caravan. He hadn?t expected them to be back so early, Rin usually came home 1 hour and 39 minutes from this precise moment. He sped down multiple stairs and came across an unusual scene.

Jaken was flat on his back, holding his throat with both hands, gasping for precious air. It seemed that the maiden had been choking him until he was blue with lack of oxygen. Sesshoumaru made a mental note to repaint the toad?s chambers the exact same hue as his face. Turning his gaze away, he also noticed that the wooden staff lay on the far end of the entranceway; a noticeable dent of the Old Man?s face was imprinted onto the wall itself.

Finally, he turned to the source of all this commotion. Several servants who were up at this late hour surrounded the upset girl. A few turned their heads towards their Master and shrugged their shoulders, meaning that they could not get her to speak logically? or at all. With a quick bark, Sesshoumaru separated the small crowd and lifted the girl up on her feet. She looked terrible and he let her cry for a few more minutes, waiting for the worst to subside. Her blood-shot eyes rivalled a demon Inuyasha?s, her pale skin was as white as the priestess Kikyo, her body still shook with sobs? but sound had ceased to escape her lips.

Sweeping the lamenting girl into his arms, he carried her up the stairs while her handmaidens followed suit. No one had ever caused Rin to be so distressed, and that person would pay dearly with his life. Yes, his life? Sesshoumaru was sure of it.

Once he kicked open her door, Rin awakened from her trance and thrashed about in his arms, almost kicking her Lord in the face in order to be put down. Without turning back, she ran to her bed and buried her face into the nearest pillow, her long tresses in complete disarray. Then, he noticed it. Her hair was tangled, bits of grass and foliage clung to it and her feet were bare. Then her handmaidens came in and taking one look at their Mistress, tried to usher him out of the room. Catching their alarmed looks, Sesshoumaru knew something was very wrong with Rin and he had to know. He was her guardian. Throwing their arms aside, he fought 30 or so angry females to get to the bed: he grabbed the blanket, pillow and Rin all in one go, and swiftly jumped out of the nearest window to escape his servants. He made for the roof.



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