Hi guys! I'm so, so sorry for the delayed update! Midterms are basically here, so the last couple weeks have been busy. That and there were birthdays, roadtrips, and all this other stuff. Whew! T/T Anyways, this chapter is a bit short in anticipation for what is going to be a very exciting chapter. :D As promised, Rin's brother is mentioned in this chapter, and a lot of subplots take off (though you probably won't recognize them, haha). Please enjoy reading it, and again, sorry for the delay! Love you guys!

5

The Lupine princess woke up in a small enclosure, warm beneath the general's cloak, and noticeably alone. The encompassing darkness that would normally render a man blind was a soft gray through Rin's gleaming eyes, and she was able to find the small and low opening to the pocket fairly quickly. It opened back into what Rin didn't doubt was the tunnel she and the general had been walking through earlier. Or rather, him walking and Rin being carried by him. She couldn't help the warmth that creeped into her cheeks at the thought, but didn't dwell on it. Instead she focused on something that -in her sleep clouded mind- she had not noticed till just then.

It was cold around her. Frigid.

Eyes widening in panic, Rin whipped her head around her to try and gather how long, exactly, she had been alone. There was no prominent indicator, so that left the princess with two options: stay put, and hope that her ticket to exiting these tunnels hadn't died from the temperatures, or leave the safety of the small cave and try to find him. Sesshomaru, she remembered then. His name was Sesshomaru.

Steeling her resolve, Rin decided on the latter. It reasoned that if she didn't know how long he had been gone, it was better for her to look.

So, pulling the cloak tight against her, she crawled through the small cave opening and got to her feet. The tunnel was quiet, save for the occasional echo of droplets hitting stone. Rin wasn't afraid of the dark, but the loneliness of her current state had her mind working quick to figure out which way they had come from. Where Sesshomaru had went.

That was the only reason she hurried, she told herself. Any bit of worry she might have for her captor was imagined.

She used her nose. To her left, the scent of Sesshomaru's and her own had been mingled; he had carried her up to here.

Then, to her right… Rin tensed. Sesshomaru's scent continued on that way, but not with Rin's… with… something else's. It was some sort of creature, and the fact that Rin didn't see Sesshomaru here now left only a few possibilities. His being dead was the strongest of these, and her still holding his sword in her enchanted necklace increased that possibility. And that left Rin with two options. Again.

Follow the trail of Sesshomaru's scent, or go back the way they had come and search for a different way out. Fear settled deep in Rin's heart, but (in a decision she would later be grateful for) the princess took in a breath and followed after Sesshomaru's scent.

The tunnel seemed to stretch on forever, and while Rin had earlier assured her immunity towards the dark, it was now no longer comfortable for her, even with her wolf eyes. It was tense, and Rin was scared. She walked, for what seemed hours, going slow as her legs were sore. As she went, the scent of Sesshomaru and the creature grew stronger and stronger, the air colder and colder. Rin had hardly noticed that there were no more off-shoots of the tunnel. It had been narrowed down to one. One, large, hollowing tunnel that even Rin's vision could not see the end of. She continued on in a daze of fear and anticipation.

Then she hit a wall. How she hadn't noticed it, she did not know, but the scents were so strong at this point, that the princess' nose wrinkled. Instinctively, Rin drew the cloak in closer for how cold it had gotten. She was about to go past the wall, as she had seen that the tunnel continued to the right, but then she noticed the lines.

The wall was covered with lines, intricate, ancient, and oddly… familiar. It was a map!

A shudder of relief went through Rin as she stepped back to take in the map. The height was nearly twice her own, and the map stretched twice as long, but Rin was able to figure out relatively quickly where she was on it. One, from the small star symbol that was placed in the middle of it; and two, running through the center of the map was one, singular, especially deep line. It was the tunnel she was in. The main tunnel. At the beginning she could see the cavern they had feel through, indicated with a large circle. A little past that was the cave with the water and the stars, and the one with the edible moss, indicated with a symbol of water and one of food.

Rin's mind halted in its process. What kind of tunnel was she in, that it would mark food and water sources regularly? It was almost as if… it was an escape tunnel. But an escape to where? Rin followed along the main line, the main tunnel, to where she was now and to where it led. She had to walk next to the map as she followed it, for how long it extended.

Two things caught her eye. At the end of the line there was an ancient symbol for the sun. It was paired with a symbol for waterfall and food. She had learned how to read these symbols from Kaede when she was younger as part of her royal education, and she could figure their meaning relatively quickly. It was an exit. The tunnel ended in a waterfall, but it was an exit. That was only the first thing, though. The second to catch her attention dampened her mood considerably. Farther up ahead from where she was in the tunnel, it split. The left path led to the exit, and the right… led to some sort of cave. It was marked with a symbol Rin didn't recognize, but by the sense of dread she felt, and how the symbol seemed to describe a creature, she would bet anything that Sesshomaru had been taken there.

And so… Rin was left again… with two options.

Clenching the cloak the general had given her, Rin bit her lip, and walked past the wall.

~ . . . ~

He drifted in and out of consciousness.

The coldness of the air around him made him slow and lethargic, and he couldn't remember where he was. Golden eyes staring up empty and delirious, Sesshomaru laid, bleeding out, on the cave floor. His silver hair fanned around him, the strands near his abdomen stained reddish-black with his blood.

He was fading.

He found some strange satisfaction in the knowledge that his bride was safe as he died. He knew -had he been alert- he never would have allowed himself to call her that, but he could tell he was dying. So he didn't care.

In the moments that he was aware, Sesshomaru thought he could see his father standing above him. His golden eyes looking down at him, hair a river of glowing white behind him, his wide shoulders and sturdy frame larger still then Sesshomaru's. He would never suprass his father, would he?

It didn't really matter now, did it?

Tiredly, Sesshomaru looked up to his previous idol, said idol looking back with… what was it? The emotion in his eyes? It bordered on what he could infer as sadness, however… he was smiling. Pity?

Sesshomaru, my son, he could hear him speak, the deep bass of his father's voice painfully familiar, get up. Sesshomaru couldn't, so he didn't reply.

You need to leave, Sesshomaru. You will die here.

"Just like you? Shamefully and without honor?" He couldn't stop the ashy, toneless retort from whispering past his lips. His father frowned.

I died for her. That will always remain my greatest pride.

"Add leaving your son, barely out of childhood, alone, to that pride, father. Or would you perhaps label the birth of that half-breed as your next proudest moment?" his retreating voice was venom, but was still so muted that it barely echoed around the cave. It sounded hurt.

His father looked as if he was about to respond, his eyes sad, but then his head snapped up, looking to his side.

She is coming. Protect her, son. And with that, he was gone. Sesshomaru strained to turn his head to follow where his father was looking. Black. Only black.

A hiss sounded next to him, and two pairs of pale, yellow eyes glowing in the blackness moved past him towards that direction. Towards her.

He lost consciousness as soon as he had tried to sit up.

~ . . . ~

She had made her choice, and wouldn't let herself regret it as she tip-toed into the den of whatever had stolen her traveling companion. This cave was huge, nearly as big as the cave of stars. It was considerably darker in here, and even Rin struggled to make her way to Sesshomaru's broken body in the middle of the floor.

The room smelled of rotting flesh, feces, and decaying moss. It was almost a relief when Rin settled down next to Sesshomaru to check him over for injuries; his smell was pleasant. Almost, because when she found the gaping wound in his middle, he didn't stir. He was cold, and unmoving.

A shudder of fear ran through her. Whether it was for herself or him, she did not know.

"General," her small voice next to his ear prompted nothing as well. No. No, no, no, no, no. This was not happening. Rin held back a helpless sob as her shaking hands, having nowhere else to go, settled on his chest.

Here she was, in the home of a beast, hundreds of feet beneath the earth, alone. Rin's distraught finally got the better of her as a shuddering whine left her. Panic at the sound flooded Rin her hands flying over her mouth, but was nothing compared to the fear she felt when that sound prompted something else's. To her right. Barely a yard away.

Hssssssssssssssss.

Rin stifled the whimper in her throat through sheer fear as whatever had made the noise slowly slid around her. She could feel what was probably a tail slither past her in a brush of scales.

Then something wet pressed into her hair. The air shifted with this object, and Rin realized in horror that it was the thing's nose. Ears wilting, Rin shook as the thing continued to press its muzzle into her hair, inhaling her scent. Probably a taste for what it was to eat next. But then something happened that had Rin stock still. Slowly, tentatively, the creature let out a whine and… licked her ear.

Memories came back so startlingly and clearly that Rin had to gasp. There was no way! Turning, Rin looked to the creature and tears of recognition slowly filled her eyes. She knew this creature!

"It's you!" she said, voice wet with joyful tears.

Four yellow eyes blinked in greeting and Rin laughed.

~ . . . ~

The lone figure of the animal overlooking the valley highlighted itself in the soft waxing moon rising over the cliff. The hardened cerulean eyes that stared down at the enclosure regarded the chars of the village below with hatred; the sharp glare intermingling with the shadow beneath the beast's brow.

The onyx-coated wolf growled sharply. Beneath the coal-furred alpha, the large pack of Lupines watched the smoke rising from their home with loud discontent. Worried whines and soft barks filled the group of werewolf warriors as they regarded their burnt village with a mix of anger and fear. But this mattered not to the black canine. Rage seared his blood, and fury caused his muscles to shift. From fur… to skin, tan and smooth and damp with sweat. He was tall, toned, naked in his shift, but covered mostly by the long mane of pitch hair that ran down his body. The wolf, now a man, clenched his fists at the destruction of his home, but one prominent figure held his worry. Teeth unclenched to let one name through:

"Rin."

Lots of vague thingies going on in this one. Don't worry. All shall be explained! XD Please R x R! I wanna know what you think!

Also, in response to the comments about you!

I was actually really surprised to see that a lot of my readers are older, haha! Then again, you guys are probably the generation that grew up with Inuyasha, right? :) I actually was introduced to the show when I was younger by my older sister! So, I'm kind of a second-gen. Also! I was really excited to learn I had readers from such different places. I was really honored to learn that I had readers from New York, London, and even India!/ So fun! Thank you guys for telling me, now I feel a bit closer to y'all! Maybe next time I'll tell you guys more stuff about me? :)

See ya next time!

-ChimamareNoTsuki