Chapter 6 – Rude Awakening

The sun was high in the sky when Rin finally awoke.  Shutting her eyes against the bright beams of light that stabbed through the cracks between the wooden screens, she stretched lazily.  Her fingers crept to the other side of the futon.   As she had suspected, it was empty, the blankets cold beneath her fingertips.  With a sigh, she curled into a tight ball and snuggled deeper into the bed.  

She suddenly bolted upright, dark eyes wide.  What had she just heard?  It had sounded like a crash, but the manor was so large that it was difficult for her to place exactly where it had occurred.  Fingers toying nervously with the weave of the blanket, she strained to catch another noise.  Silence was all that met her ears and she relaxed.  With a lopsided grin, she stared at the bright screens closing off the garden, chiding herself for being such a harebrained girl.  Her encounter with the boy from Usagi Manor and her husband’s anxious behavior the day before were playing tricks on her mind.  There was nothing to worry about. One of the servants probably broke a pot or knocked something over.  She found herself seriously surprised that Jaken’s enraged screaming hadn’t forced its way into her bedroom by now.

At the thought of Jaken she pushed herself to her feet and, finding a kimono to wrap around her body, walked over to the sunlit screens.  Chilly air swirled around her ankles and neck, and she pulled the kimono tightly around her.  Puddles of muddy water stood in the garden paths and the trees and bushes were a few more leaves short thanks to the storm the night before, but other than that, the scenery was unchanged.  But something needled at her deep inside, a little push in her mind that told her that something was wrong.  And then she saw it.

The sun had risen high and would reach its zenith within a few short hours.  She squinted at it again to make sure.  That could not be right.  It could not be after noon.  Her heart tripped in her chest.  She should have been roused from her bed hours ago.  A watery growl rumbled in her belly, confirming her suspicions.  Rin frowned; it wasn’t like Jaken to be anything other than brutally punctual.  She made her way to the inner galleries in search of her youkai caretaker and breakfast, one hand rubbing at her noisy midsection.

A crisp breeze was wafting through the empty gallery and she wrinkled her nose at the slightly acrid aftertaste it left in her throat.  The scent grew stronger as she slowly made her way to the front of the mansion.  Something about it seemed distantly familiar to her, but she would worry about it after she ate.  Motion flickered in the corner of her eye and she glanced out into the courtyard.  Fat water droplets shimmered on the colored leaves of the ornamental trees and bushes, twinkling in the morning light.  The branches were tossing and shivering as if a large creature had passed through them.  A cold thrill seized her chest as she began searching the courtyard and empty galleries.

A large dark shadow suddenly darted across a distant hall, passing silently into another room.  Another figure followed after the first.  Low voices rose from the room along with the sounds of furniture being tossed aside.  Rin pushed herself back from the railing as if it were hot to the touch.  Numb with fear, she didn’t halt her backwards motion and collided hard with the flimsy screen behind her.  With a loud crunch, it split and toppled over beneath her weight.  All noise from the occupied room immediately ceased and Rin froze in terror.

Something large and round whistled through the air and crashed into the floorboards several feet away.  The strange metal ball rolled towards her, dark purple smoke streaming from a multitude of ragged holes perforating its sides.  The smoke was laden with the sharp, pungent scent she had smelled earlier and she instinctively covered her mouth and nose with one hand as she struggled to her feet and darted through the space where the screen had been.  

Shouting rose from the room she had seen the dark figures enter; she had been seen.  Eyes watering from the bitter smoke, she began to run blindly from room to room, guided only by the knowledge that she had to get as far away from the figures as possible.  From what little she saw in her panicked flight, she knew that eventually she would come upon the outer galleries and ultimately the gardens, where she would be able to flee to safety down the mountain.  Frantically, she pulled aside the screen before her and stifled a scream that rose in her throat at the sight before her.

The bodies of several of the palace’s toad-like youkai servants lay strewn across the room.  Their eyes bugged sightlessly from their faces, their small hands clutching at their throats.  A haze of the foul-smelling smoke drifted above them. Jaken lay on his side near the outer wall, his head thrust through a crack in the screens.  A wail rising in her throat, she rushed to his side and fell to her knees.  She grabbed hold of his tiny shoulders and pulled him into sight.  His head flopped bonelessly on his neck, large yellow eyes rolled back into their sockets.  She began to shake him frantically, calling his name over and over again.  The youkai gave no response and she clutched his limp body to her chest, sobbing piteously, all thoughts of her pursuers and the noxious cloud of smoke curling above her pushed aside in her grief.

“Rin…-chan.”  Jaken’s voice was a harsh, raspy whisper in her ear.

A loud sob of relief burst from her mouth and she squashed his small body against her chest in an exuberant hug.  “Jaken-sama!  Oh Jaken-sama!” she cried.  His legs flew from side to side as she rocked him back and forth.

“Can’t…breathe…let me…go,” Jaken gasped, one claw pounding weakly against her shoulder.

“Jaken-sama, please don’t leave me!  I’ll be good, I promise!  I’ll act like a proper lady and—”

“Baka!  Let me go now!”

Rin halted in mid-sentence and released her grip on the small caretaker.  Jaken inhaled sharply and slid lifelessly from her lap and onto the floor.  Chest hitching, she wiped the tears from her eyes.  A muffled thud rose from one of the rooms through which she had fled followed by the voices of more men.

“You have…to escape,” he panted.  “Must find Sesshoumaru-sama…he can protect you.”

“I won’t leave you, Jaken-sama!”

“Rin, you idiot!”  Despite the effects of the purple vapor, he pushed himself up on one elbow and glared at her furiously.  “You must leave now!  If you stay in these fumes you’ll pass out and choke on your own fool tongue!”  Her protests were cut short as the pounding of feet flooded into the room behind her.

“Hime-sama!” called a rough voice.

Rin froze, eyes wide and staring at Jaken’s equally fearful face.  She placed her palms on the floorboards and slowly pivoted on her knees to face the speaker, shielding the youkai with her body.  Four men, clad head-to-toe in black, stood in the room and she could hear more approaching from the inner rooms of the palace.  Tarnished masks covered the lower halves of their faces.  Most were unarmed save for handfuls of the little metal balls pouring more of the noxious smoke into the air.  Her hands curled into tight balls, her temples pounding with mounting anger.

They knew.  Knew that Sesshoumaru would be leaving this morning. They knew and they planned this.  All of this.  

The first man spoke again: “Hime-sama, we’ve come to rescue you from the youkai.”

She glared up at the speaker. “Leave this place,” she spat.

Unruffled, he continued: “There’s no need to fear, Hime-sama, the monster that stole you away from your home will no longer bother you.”

Rin bared her teeth in rage.  “LEAVE NOW, YOU COWARDS!”

The speaker’s eyes narrowed arrogantly as he smirked behind his mask.  “The youkai has not only possessed her body but her soul as well.”  The men behind him began to murmur anxiously.  “But not to fear, this too will lapse once we remove her from his jaki.”

Rin paused on the verge of rising and spewing a series of vile profanities at the foul man standing before her when Jaken’s hand tugged weakly on the back of her robe.  She hated this man, hated him for his patronizing tone of voice, for his utter lack of sensitivity among the dead bodies of her faithful servants who had died in agony.  Most of all she hated him for his lackadaisical references to Sesshoumaru, but she couldn’t let herself lose control.  Jaken’s life would surely be lost if she did, and much as she hated to admit it, something deep inside was telling her he would not be back in time to restore Jaken’s life with Tenseiga.

She loosened her fists and flattened her palms against the floor.  She forced herself to grin at the man standing before her.  “If you take me, Sesshoumaru-sama will come after me.”  She ground the heels of her hands into the floorboards and slowly pushed herself and Jaken backwards a few inches.

“Is that so?” the man replied calmly, laughter in his voice.

“Yes.  He will destroy you.  All of you.”  She slid back another two inches.

The men behind the speaker began to whisper nervously.  Their leader laughed aloud, and they fell silent and to listen.  “And how will he find you, Hime-sama?”

“He knows where I am and where I go at all times.”  A splinter punched into the heel of her right hand as she gained another few inches but she ignored the pain.  “No matter how far away he is he can appear at my side in minutes.”  

The speaker placed his hands on his hips and took a step forward.  “Oh?  But what if I told you that I can hide you from your precious youkai?”  His eyes twinkled cruelly above his mask.  Rin stopped her tortuous backward slide, her eyebrows rising in curiosity.  His eyes never leaving hers, the man thrust one hand out, and the man beside him dropped one of the smoking metal balls into his gloved palm.  A thick cloud of purple smoke gushed from the holes in the ball’s side as he bounced it in his palm.  

“You see these fumes, Hime-sama?”  He took another step forward and held the ball out towards her.  “Can you smell them?”  The noxious smoke tore at her nostrils and throat, clogging her lungs.  Rin began to cough fitfully.  The man’s chuckle was muffled by his mask but clearly audible to men behind him, who began to snicker.  “This herb, when burned, gives off a smoke that is deadly to youkai.  It first numbs the senses, then the body.  Death follows in short succession.”  Rin lowered her head to the floor, chest heaving with another bout of coughing.  The man suddenly gave a coo of mock worry, his eyebrows raising in concern.  “But don’t fear, Hime-sama, humans are merely stunned by its smoke.”  More laughter rose from the men behind him.

Rin fought the urge to shield her mouth and nose with her sleeve; she wouldn’t be able to push herself backwards one-handed.  She could feel the smoke sinking into her body, pervading every organ.  Her muscles felt numb and weak and a fierce headache was beginning to pound in the back of her skull.  Her vision blurred, doubled, tripled, and she planted her hands firmly against the floorboards to steady herself.  She could feel Jaken’s silent convulsions of pain behind her, his tiny body burning against hers.  She turned her head to spit out the tainted mucus rising in her throat and saw the edge of the walkway mere inches from Jaken’s side.

“Sesshoumaru-sama is far too strong to be harmed by your stupid herb,” she replied, her voice a raw croak in her throat.  She gritted her teeth and forced her remaining strength into her arms.  Only a little farther left to go.

“Ah, but your fierce doggy lord can do nothing if his precious nose doesn’t work.  When he returns there won’t even be a trace of your fine scent for him to follow.  As long as you’re in the presence of this herb, Hime-sama, you are invisible to him.”

Rin grimaced.  Could he be telling the truth?  Heart pounding in her chest, she forced herself backwards the remaining few inches.  She felt Jaken teeter, then roll off the edge, landing limply on the ground with a thump.  The room swam before her eyes as a wave of dizziness swept over her.

“He will find me,” she said.  “There won’t be enough of you left to bury when he’s finished.”  Their jeering laughter swelled, reverberating in her pounding head like fists.  Her vision swam with color, the dark red of drying blood.

“Nay, Hime-sama,” the man said.  “He’s nothing more than a one-armed youkai who allowed himself to be gored by a puny boar.  His power amounts to nothing more than the glammer he can cast on young girls with his pretty face.”  He moved forward and thrust the ball beneath her nose.  

Her mouth opened to protest, but nothing issued from it except for a dry squeak.  She tried to lift her hands to ward off the foul metal ball, but they remained planted on the floor.  The man’s face wavered in the purple haze rising from the ball.  Her body swayed to one side, and she braced for the impact of the floor.  An arm wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her upright.  A second arm slid beneath the crook of her knees and she was lifted upwards, her hands traitorously refusing her orders to fight.  Her eyes focused weakly on the face of her captor, the ceiling began to twist and twirl above him.  He began to speak again, his contemptuous words floating in the air with sickening clarity.

“Sleep, Hime-sama.  Perhaps your childish sentiments for such as him will clear when you awake.”  

Rin shuddered in his arms and fell into a deep swoon.