Can You See Me Now?

Sesshomaru dodged trees left to right, his figure practically a blur to unsuspecting creatures. His face was in a blank slate, but his thoughts were going all over the place. Questions buzzing frantically.

“Take a turn down that tree,” Takeo pointed. Sesshomaru nodded and sped up even more if possible.

“Sesshomaru, will you slow down?” Inuyasha yelled. “I know you want to save her but it won’t do us any good if we get separated.”

“Inuyasha is right, Sesshomaru,” Miroku said. He was behind Sango, both of them riding on top of Kirara, “It would be wise if we stayed together.”

Sesshomaru growled slightly, but slowed down his pace anyway. To him it felt like they were taking too long. If he could, he would have left them a long time ago, but he knew that it was inevitable. As much as he would like to deny it, they were all a team and they would have still come even if he tried to kill them.

It was almost ironic. Before, he didn’t need anyone’s help, all he needed was himself. For centuries he lived for himself, cared for himself, and fought for himself. No one matter except, well of course, himself. Now all because of one girl, a human…no not human, a witch…he has practically thrown out his pride and has teamed up with others…with his half brother of all people.

Inuyasha ran up to his side. Kagome was on his back, just like Takeo was on his. “Hey shouldn’t we come up with a plan,” Kagome suggested.

“For what?” Inuyasha scoffed. “I can just go Wind Scar on his ass and save the day.”

“Of course. What was I thinking?” Kagome rolled her eyes. No matter how many years have past, he was still the same hotheaded person that fought first and thought later. It was almost sad, really. “But it’s just for back up. You know, in case your brilliant plan doesn’t work out.”

Behind the bickering two, he heard a loud slap and a scolding Sango. It had something to do about Miroku’s inappropriate gestures. Sesshomaru could have sworn he heard something like, “please Sango. What if we don’t make it out alive? Can’t I have something to take to the grave?”

He had no idea how they have managed to kill so many powerful demons lived to tell the tale. They were all idiots. It’s a wonder that they have managed to stay alive all this time. The Gods were truly on their side…or they were just lucky…a lot.

“I’d prefer if you stayed out of my way,” Sesshomaru muttered. He meant for them to not hear it but Inuyasha did anyways. Stupid ears.

“What was that, you bastard? I’ll have you know…” at that Sesshomaru tuned them all out.

Screw being teammates. If Inuyasha’s squabbling did not cease, he was going to have to squish some heads. What the hell was he thinking when he accepted their help to save Rin?

Jumping over a huge boulder, he sensed a strong gust of power up ahead. They must be getting close. Taking in his surroundings, Sesshomaru frowned. Something was wrong.

Before, the forest was surrounded by animals. He couldn’t see them, but he did sense them. Now it was quiet…too quiet. Crickets were going off when they first left, but as they got closer to the source of power, an ominous feeling washed over him.

The others must have sensed the dark aura, too, because they all became silent as well. A frown was etched on each of their faces.

“It’s really quiet here,” Sango whispered, as if if she spoke too loud they would all be suddenly attacked.

‘I wouldn’t doubt that at all’ Sesshomaru thought.

“Where are all the animals?”

“There aren’t any around here,” Takeo muttered. This was the first time that he has spoken in a while. Occasionally he would utter directions every now and then, but mostly he stayed silent. The others looked at him in surprise. They must have forgotten that he was there. “Master Vishnou got rid of them all.”

The way he said it made them all inwardly cringe. Sesshomaru looked at him from the corner of his eyes. Something was off with this boy. He just seemed to change from when they were at the hut to now. Something was clearly going on around here and it wasn’t good.

No one said anything at first. They were all a little disturbed by the news. Sesshomaru didn’t say anything. It wasn’t because he was scared, it was just that it seemed a little pointless when someone else was going to ask anyways. Humans are extremely curious creatures. This bunch sure would be the same.

Sesshomaru’s theory was proven correct when Kagome was the one to ask the question. “What…what did he do?”

Takeo looked at everyone before looking forward again. He was silent for a second and Sesshomaru was almost positive that he wasn’t going to answer. Apparently he wasn’t always right.

“You don’t want to know.” It was then that they all realized a mere boy has seen more than all of them when it came to cruelty.

“I’m almost tempted to say that this guy may be worse than Naraku,” Sango said frowning. Sesshomaru, one to never agree with anyone, especially from a human, couldn’t help but admit that Sango was probably right.

Rin studied Vishnou warily. He was busy going back and forth, doing god knows what, while humming. He was fricken humming. This was no good.

Rin was backed up on the wall. She was crouching down with a frown on her face. She was stuck with a psycho. She had to get out of here. Shifting slightly, the chain mad a loud rattle noise and she looked up. She studied the chain for a while and pulled on it. Nothing happened.

“Now, now. I know you’re excited, but you still need to wait, My Dear,” he tsked teasingly.

Rin looked at him in disgust. This…demon made her feel sick to her stomach. She felt dirty just being in the same room as him. He was looking at her with that disturbing smile of his. His eyes were practically glowing with amusement and she felt dread in her.

“You don’t think Lord Sesshomaru is coming to save you, do you?” He mocked, his smile getting bigger. “Or his half-twit brother and his friends as well?”

He came closer to cell, his eyes glowing stronger. “Don’t you think that they would be here by now if they wanted to save you? The truth is they are happy that you are gone. You were nothing but a burden to them. Why do you think that he left you all alone for seven years in the first place?”

Her fear escalated at that and because of that, so did her anger. It was almost as if he was reading her mind, but she hasn’t thought of those things in years.How does he know all of these things? How can he cause her fear so easily when she has fought so hard not to feel it? Vishnou smile turned into a smirk when he saw the reaction that he wanted from her.

“That would explain why you have these powers, right? You couldn’t stand to be the weak pathetic human that you were, so you traded up. Too bad it didn’t work out that well.”

“You got some nerve saying those things, you bastard,” Rin snapped. She was satisfied when she felt her eyes start to pulse, indicating that they were changing; her hair began to float as well. “You have no right, no right at all.”

Rin felt a sharp pain in her neck and the strong waves of powers she felt disappeared. She reached for her neck and felt a long syringe. She yanked it out in frustration and swiftly turned around, only to flinch at what she saw. The syringe fell to her feet. It rolled towards a pair of feet.

A woman was standing there, looking at her blankly. Her eyes, Rin noticed, were blank as well; almost as if they were dull of life. The woman resembled of a zombie. Rin could feel her heart start to pump loud in fear. Her gaze lowered and she had to force down the bile down from her throat.

Her chest had a hole in her heart and Rin could see straight through her body and to the wall behind her. What made it worse wasn’t because of the bones that Rin could see or even the sight of muscles and tissues. It was because of her heart.

It was still beating.

Rin lowered her sight to the woman’s feet, but immediately regretted it. She saw a puddle of blood there, faintly she could see blood drop towards it, creating ripples, from the bottom of the woman’s tattered dress. She felt a sharp pain from behind her eyes. Rin blinked and rubbed her eyes as they started to get blurry.

“We don’t want you getting all worked up before we get you prepared. It’s not good for your healt.” Rin turned back to face Vishnou and scowled in anger as she lost her balance. She crashed onto the floor on her stomach and struggled to pick herself back up, only to fall back down. Rin picked up her head and her eyes locked with his.

“I…won’t let you…touch me,” she gasped out as black dots began to form in front of her.

“Rin, you don’t have a choice,” Vishnou smirked down at her. He slightly fingered the bars on the cell and went to his side to get the keys, only to pause. He looked to his right for a second and another smile broke out. “Well, it seems that I stand corrected. You’re friends should be here soon. Let’s give them a big welcome, shall we?”

Rin’s vision got worse. “No…you can’t.”

“I can,” he threw back at the now unconscious girl. He unlocked the cell and walked in. Crouching down in front of her, he tucked a piece of hair behind Rin’s ear. He traced her cheek slightly with his finger and down to her jaw. His eyes followed his finger, almost in a mesmerized kind of way. He paused shortly and gave another smirk. His gaze went back to her face and he stood up, looking down on her. “Oh, I really can. You’ll see…you’ll see.”