Thinking about rain seemed to make clouds appear. They had been in a forest once again for several days now. The canopy was thick and overgrown, the trail they were following barely visible. Sesshomaru smelled the rain long before it started falling. He urged Rin not to dawdle. They made camp that night in the shelter of a cave, barely big enough to fit the trio. Jaken, used to being outside most of his life, paid no heed to the rain. When the thunder started clapping, however, he began pacing nervously. This was not just a rainstorm. That thought was punctuated by a lightning strike, no more than a few miles distant. With a shriek the little frog of a Demon shot inside the cave, where Rin huddled next to Sesshomaru for warmth against the damp. All through the night the storm raged outside. The wind gusted in all directions, driving the rain into the cave at intervals. The group gave up trying to keep the fire lit. They had not gathered enough wood before the rains came, so there was nothing more to burn. Rin sat against Lord Sesshomaru's side, burrowing her head into his furs. She slept fitfully, the damp air hurting her lungs when she breathed. She awoke towards dawn, once again burning with fever. Sesshomaru, sleeping lightly as always, felt her first wracking cough against his side shortly after the winds died down. The sun was barely up when he sent Jaken to find the two-headed dragon Ah-Un.

It took three days for Jaken to locate Ah-Un, and one more to ride him, flying high above the land, to return with him to the cave. During that time Sesshomaru had little luck getting water down the girl's throat. Still less getting food into her. When he did succeed, most of it would come back up. She was very weak and helpless. He bathed her face and neck with cool water every few hours. She was not improving, however. He knew she needed more than he could do for her. He had to get her to the castle in Otherworld. He knew there was a powerful healer there. By now he knew Kaiba was her only chance if she were to survive. Her coughing had reached the point that she was spitting out blood. As he bathed her face again, he did something he never did. He prayed that the gods would save her.

When Jaken arrived on Ah-Un, Sesshomaru wasted no time gathering the girl into his arms and mounting the dragon. He gave the two-headed beast a whispered order and the dragon took off, headed east. It only took three days for the flying beast to get to the castle. He stopped to rest only twice, and then only for a few hours each time. By the time they arrived at the castle gates and were greeted by Princess Aara, Rin had slipped into unconsciousness.

“What?!” With that thought she began to swim up out of the blackness that was engulfing her. As her mind began to clear her eyes focused slowly on her surroundings. She was in what was, to her untrained eye, a beautifully-appointed room. The walls appeared to be solid rock. Imagine! She thought to herself. ROCK for walls! At her little home she had only mud and clay mortar making up her tiny hut. In the winters she had had to stick dry grasses in the holes to keep the cold and wind out. Here, there were no such bothersome things. There was a desk on the wall across from the foot of her bed. It held things such as writing instruments and paper. She had only seen real paper a few times, and only owned such a thing once. That was when her friend the tinker had wrapped some seeds for her in it. How extraordinary for her to see it simply lying there, untouched and unwrinkled.

Beside the desk, to the left, was an open doorway that seemed to lead outside. There was where the breeze was coming from. She turned her head to the right, her eyes scanning the room slowly, her body not moving from its position in the center of the bed. If she was still dreaming she did not want to wake just yet. To the right of her bed was a closed door. She looked down and saw carpet on the floor, halfway under the bed and halfway out. It did not reach the wall on either side.

As she turned her head to ascertain this for a certainty, her eyes met those of a man standing less than two feet from the side of her bed. She gasped in surprise, immediately understanding that she was not, in fact, still dreaming. He smiled at her, and the smile reached his eyes. She found she could not look away from them. They were the most gorgeous blue eyes she had ever seen! He had long purple hair, very intriguing to her. Though still nervous at being alone in a room with a man she did not know, she found herself asking, her voice a mere croak, “Who are you?”

Rin, knowing who the Princess was due to Sesshomaru’s careful instruction, screwed her face into a frown and continued staring at the mage. She had no idea what a “mage” even was, but since he had called himself that, that is how she would think of him. “Where is Lord Sesshomaru? Where is Jaken? What was wrong with me?” She did not really want to know where Jaken was, but she felt she should ask.

“Sesshomaru is with his Princess and the other bound males. If Jaken is the little green demon, he has left us already. To the third question, you had what Human World calls ‘pneumonia’. It is an illness that gets into your lungs. You were a very sick little girl when you arrived. I helped heal you, and then Kurama, first of Princess Aara’s bound males, set his sleeping plants for you to remain in a healing sleep. But you are all better now.” With that statement his smile, which had not faltered, grew even wider. He was stunned to think she was only a child. He had known from the instant he had laid hands on her to heal her, that he was attracted to her in a very unsettling way. He put these thoughts aside for now. The child needed him.

“Lord Sesshomaru told me your name was Rin. So, Rin, the cook here makes a wonderful venison stew. Would you care for some? I am sure you must be very hungry.” When she nodded, Kaiba left the room and returned only moments later, having sent someone to bring her some stew. He waited with her, both of them silent, simply looking at each other, then away, for several long minutes. For some reason she could not explain, there was tension there. She didn’t know why the man was looking at her so strangely, but it made her uncomfortable. The silence was long, and when the knock came it was a welcome respite.

Kaiba helped her sit up then handed her the bowl. He had intended to help feed her, but her proximity was too much for him. He was restless and so settled himself in the chair at the desk. He turned it so it was facing her. “I would leave, but Sesshomaru was very concerned about you and wished that you not be left alone for too long. There is a very evil demon in the castle at the moment. He is to leave tomorrow with the Blood Demon Shido, and he is enthralled to him, but Sesshomaru wanted to take no chances. It was that same Demon’s doings that caused Sesshomaru to be so badly wounded when you found him.”

When Rin looked up from her stew, her eyebrows raised so high they went into her hairline, Kaiba chuckled to himself. “Sesshomaru told most of your story to the Princess. She relayed it to me so I would have a better understanding of you. No harm was meant in the telling.”

Rin, who didn’t understand even half of what the mage was telling her, simply nodded and continued eating. She was a little dismayed that Lord Sesshomaru wasn’t here with her. She had no idea what “bound” meant, but it didn’t sound very happy to her. What was it he had said before? Oh yes, her “other bound males." She spent a few minutes pondering this while finishing her stew. The mage had been right, it was delicious!

When she was finished eating the mage took her bowl and leaned over her, asking her if she was still sleepy. When she nodded, he helped her pull the blankets back over her as she snuggled back down into the bed. Then he left her to return the bowl to the kitchen. “What an intriguing child,” Kaiba thought as he walked out of her door.