An
unexpected meeting
As
Mai saw Rin, everything just clicked into its place in her mind. Why Rin was so
reluctant to spend nights in the temple, why the youkai knew her real name. Mai
has told it only to one person: Rin. The girl realized with horror that she
brought all this mess on her herself the very day she saved the child from the
villagers.
Rin
glanced with curiosity at the person behind Sesshomaru. Her eyes widened as she
recognized her friend.
“Mai!”
she exclaimed with joy in her voice and ran to the older girl. She threw her
hands around Mai’s legs and smiled at her. “Mai, you’re here! I missed you so
much! Will you stay with us? Will she, Sesshomaru-sama? Please let her stay!”
The
kid asked the fearsome demon, not letting Mai out of her grip. The older girl hugged
the child back and thought that it would be good to have Rin between herself
and Sesshomaru, just in case he would get mad again. The kid was looking at the
youkai with hopeful eyes.
Then
the toad-creature made its way to where they were standing.
“Don’t
be silly, Rin.” It patronized the child. “Sesshomaru-sama would never allow the
company of a filthy human such as herself.”
Mai
felt anger boiling in her. How did he dare to call her that?! To her surprise,
the tall silver-haired demon kicked the creature right in the face. The green
youkai yelped and crashed into the nearby tree. He got up immediately and
started groveling before Sesshomaru and kept asking for forgiveness.
“Jaken,”
the tall demon said calmly. The green imp was still apologizing, bowing so
deeply that his forehead kept banging on the ground. “Jaken!”
The
youkai named Jaken looked up and finally shut up and stood up. Because of the
commotion with the imp, Mai didn’t notice that Sesshomaru was looking at her,
standing a little too close, which made Mai feel uncomfortable. She was
holding Rin in front of her like a human shield, protecting her from the demon.
He looked intimidating to Mai, as she was relatively short compared
to her peers; she had to tilt her head to look at him. The top of her
head didn’t even reach his shoulder. His cold gaze bored into her. She tried to
take a step back from him, but Rin held her in place.
“Woman,”
he addressed her. Mai furrowed her brows slightly. Why did he keep calling her “woman”?
She had a name!
“It’s
Mai.” She said stubbornly, looking back at him with a little more courage. He
didn’t seem to be impressed in the slightest.
“From
now on, you are my servant.” The silver-haired demon stated. At his words Mai
felt dumbfounded. Was he serious? The girl thought that she probably hadn’t met
anyone more serious than him. The green imp gave out a surprised squeak.
“What
do you mean ‘servant’?” asked a confused Mai. Did he want to make her
some kind of slave?
“I
shall be your master.” The demon narrowed his eyes. “Your duty is to take care
of Rin’s well-being and attend to her needs. You will not disobey me; you will
not attempt to escape or I will kill you. Do you understand?”
Mai
nodded slowly, not really knowing how she should respond to that. Did
the demon just say that he wanted her to be the kid’s babysitter? He kidnapped
her for that? And murdered all those innocent people?
“Sesshomaru-sama?”
Jaken spoke up once again. “Is this human going with us as your…”
The
tall demon glared at him.
“The
human woman is now my servant, just as you are.” Sesshomaru spoke in a tone
that indicated the conversation was over. “We’re leaving.”
With
those words he turned on his heel and started walking away. Jaken
followed him, running on his short legs, and the two headed dragon also started
trotting behind Sesshomaru. Rin took Mai’s hand and started dragging the older
girl towards the demons.
“Mai,
we need to catch up to Sesshomaru-sama! Come on!” the child said happily to
her. Mai followed her, not knowing exactly what to do. If she tried to escape
now, the silver-haired demon would kill her. Mai doubted that it was merely an
empty threat. He seemed to be used to killing without a second thought. For
now, it would be best to do what the tall youkai says and not to behave
suspiciously. She’ll run away in the night.
“Mai?”
Rin spoke up, looking at her with her chocolate eyes. “Rin is happy that you’ll
travel with us. It is really fun, you know.”
“Sure,”
Mai muttered, wondering if the kid was delusional or maybe brainwashed. How
wandering with a murderer, green toad and two-headed creature could be possibly
fun. Or… there was another explanation. Mai looked at Rin with suspicion. She
could be a demon in disguise, couldn’t she?
“Rin,
you’re a human, right?” Mai asked the girl. The child smiled and nodded.
“Yes,
but Sesshomaru-sama, Jaken-sama and Ah-Un are all demons.” she answered
happily.
“Oh,
I see.” said Mai, thinking that, in that case, Rin must be seriously
brainwashed. “Who’s Ah-Un?”
Rin
pointed at the dragon that was trotting beside the girls. As it heard Rin
saying its name – or names – it turned one of its heads and roared. Mai jumped
and shrieked. Jaken bumped into Sesshomaru’s leg as the silver-haired demon
stopped and turned his head to look at Mai.
“Be
silent, human.” Sesshomaru told Mai.
“It’s
not my fault that, that monster scared me!” she answered angrily. Ah-Un roared
at her again and Mai shrieked one more time. Jaken rolled his eyes and muttered
something under his nose. Sesshomaru glared at her.
“As
expected from a human,” he said, clearly insulting her. Jaken nodded in
agreement. Mai felt her blood boiling in her veins. She was scared, but anger
was stronger than fear at the moment.
“A
human? That was supposed to be an insult? Try better, you… you… youkai!” she
shouted at him, not being able to think of a better insult at the moment. Jaken
rushed towards her.
“Do
not disrespect the great Sesshomaru-sama! The lowly human as yourself…”
“Shut
up, you toad!” yelled Mai at Jaken, who waved at her with his staff. The girl was
so focused on the green imp that she didn’t notice neither Rin tugging her
sleeve nor Sesshomaru’s angry glare. In a heartbeat the silver-haired demon appeared
right in front of Mai, emitting an aura of rage. The girl yelped in surprise
and fear. She tried to take a step back, but he grabbed Mai’s arm, the one he
injured earlier, keeping her in place. She whimpered from pain as his grip
tightened. He looked at her, anger in his eyes, and Mai immediately regretted
opening her mouth.
“Do
you have a death wish, woman?” he asked calmly. Mai quickly shook her head. “Do
not anger me anymore. I despise humans as yourself; pathetic beings you are.”
He
released her arm and stalked away. Mai couldn’t stop herself from shivering. He
scared the wits out of her. She couldn’t believe how stupid she was to say such
things and to piss off a demon. She decided that she has to escape no matter
what. Mai was under the impression that with her temper it won’t be long until
Sesshomaru is mad enough to murder her.
She
rushed after the demons with Rin at her side, keeping a safe distance between
her and Ah-Un, who obviously didn’t like her much. The child was babbling all
the time, but Mai didn’t really pay any attention to it. She kept looking in
front of her and trying not to think about how horrible the situation she
found herself in was. The girl concentrated her gaze on Sesshomaru. The demon’s
silver hair was billowing in the wind as he walked and so did the long
sleeves of his haori. Mai narrowed her eyes. There was something wrong with his
left arm. It appeared as if the sleeve was empty. To think of that, she didn’t
remember him using the left arm, so was it missing?
“Human,”
said the voice somewhere around her. Mai looked for the source of it and found
it at the level of her knees. The demon named Jaken glared at her with
his round yellow eyes. Mai narrowed her eyes and was about to argue with him,
but in the last moment she remembered the outcome of her previous outburst. She
took a deep breath to keep herself calm.
“My
name is Mai.” She said. Jaken cleared his throat.
“Since
Sesshomaru-sama decided to take you on as his servant, I must inform you, human…”
Mai shot at Jaken her poisonous glare and lifted her fist, letting him know
that she won’t hesitate to use it.
“I
must inform you, Mai,” Jaken started again, “Of your duties.”
“I
thought Sesshomaru already did it,” said Mai. However, the green imp continued
preaching to her.
“As
a servant of Sesshomaru-sama you must be loyal to him at the cost of
your life. And never disobey him, for your own good.” Mai thought that this
advice actually made sense. She sighed.
“I
got it. And I have to take care of Rin, right?” Mai asked quickly before Jaken
had the chance to continue his preaching. The imp nodded, looking
satisfied.
“And
you must always treat Sesshomaru-sama with respect!” he added. Mai rolled her
eyes. She really couldn’t wait to free herself from all those demons.
As
the sun was setting, Mai began to feel exhausted. They were travelling for half
of the day and she was pretty sure she had blisters on her feet. Her whole body
was sore from falling off the horse, then off Ah-Un and from being dragged by
Sesshomaru. She winced as she moved a little with her wounded left arm. She was
in quite a pitiful state right now. In the morning she looked beautiful
like a princess and now… Her really expensive outer kimono was torn and dirty
and the sleeve stained with her blood. Her long hair was a nuisance; it
was so tangled that Mai wondered if she would manage to comb them. The
princess’s attire wasn’t suitable for treks; it was unbearably heavy and moving
in it was quite a challenge. Mai had to keep the hem of it lifted all the time
to not trip and land face-flat on the ground.
It
was getting dark, but Sesshomaru didn’t seem to have an intention of stopping
for the night. Rin was sleeping soundly while laying on Ah-Un’s back. Mai didn’t
notice a stone in the dark and tripped. She groaned as she landed on the
ground. She struggled with her numerous layers of clothing to get up as Jaken
looked over his shoulder, and much to Mai’s surprise, reached out with his
staff. The girl grabbed it and the green youkai pulled her back onto her feet.
“Thanks,”
she muttered to him and rushed to catch up with Sesshomaru and Ah-Un, limping a
little, as her feet hurt. Jaken looked at her.
“If
you can’t keep up, you should get on Ah-Un.” He said to Mai. The girl looked
towards the two-headed dragon and shivered inwardly.
“No
way I’m getting on this thing.” She said and continued limping forward.
Suddenly
Sesshomaru stopped and looked at Jaken.
“Jaken,”
He addressed the imp. Jaken ran to him with enthusiasm. “We will set a camp
here.”
Mai
sighed with relief and just sat down where she was standing. She watched as
Sesshomaru lifted Rin from Ah-Un’s back, surprisingly gently, and laid her
carefully on the ground. Jaken collected some wood and used his staff to set it
on fire, causing Mai to gasp loudly.
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