A Flower and A Dog Demon (Sesshomaru Fanfiction)

Chapter 3 - Strangers

Chapter 3 – Strangers

Lost and in a daze, Hana woke up only to find herself lying on a mat in a place which she did not quite recognize.

Didn’t she die? Or maybe her running away from home was but a mere dream – or nightmare, rather.

Maybe father had realized she was gone and, being worried, sent his men to find her after she’d passed out from being stabbed.

The stab wound…

She lifted her arm and placed a hand on her lower abdomen -where her wound was supposed to be. There was nothing.

Was it really just a bad dream? It had felt so real. She thought to herself. Maybe she had managed to heal herself before she had reached the point of death. That wasn’t possible though. Why heal at such a time, when it was already almost too late?

“Oh, she’s awake,” a soft whisper caused the girl stop her questioning. She sat up and looked over at a corner in the room, and was stunned at what she saw.

A human girl of about twelve years with long dark hair and bright brown eyes sat watching Hana attentively. Some of the girl’s hair was in a short ponytail to the side.  The girl gave the wolf demon a pleasant and welcoming smile – an unlikely greeting for a demon coming from a human.

Where exactly was she? Why was she in a room with a human girl? Were the men from her ‘dream’ real? Maybe they’d captured her and brought her here, and maybe the only real dream had been her being stabbed.

All the thoughts and questions overwhelmed Hana. She rested her head in her hands.

“What’s wrong?” The girl from the corner quickly got to her feet, rushing to Hana’s side. Hana looked over at the human who seemed to be genuinely concerned.

“W-who are you?” Hana stuttered, “And why -why aren’t you afraid of me?” she whispered the last part of her sentence. Hana remembered how the men from her tribe would describe the things that they did to mortals. If she were a human, she would have definitely been terrified.

“My name’s Rin.” The girl stated with a bright smile.

“And, well,” she continued, looking down a bit. “You don’t seem like an evil demon. Besides, why would Lord Sesshomaru bring you here if he knew that you would be a danger to us? You’re actually really pretty.” She grinned at the last part.

“Lord who?” Hana questioned, bewildered. Who was ‘us’? And was Sesshomaru the name of the man whom she’d encountered near the river? No – it couldn’t be – she had heard his name – Haku, wasn’t it? The thinking made her head spin more. She once again rested her forehead on her hand.

“You should lie back down,” Rin suggested, gently pushing Hana back down onto the mat anyway. “You had died, but Lord Sesshomaru revived you with his sword – the tenseiga. I –.”

“Rin,” the voice of a woman interrupted. Hana looked over at where the voice was coming from.

A short old woman with an eye patch stood at the entrance to the room. The woman – whom she heard Rin address as Lady Kaede - said something about not talking to unfamiliar demons as the young girl got up and walked over to her. Hana was too caught up in her own thoughts to bother concentrating on what the two were saying.

Who was this Sesshomaru person that this girl – Rin – spoke of so much, and what was this about him ‘reviving’ her? Is that even possible? Whoever he was, he must’ve been very powerful. But her being revived still didn’t quite answer how she’d ended up here. Did these people find her after she’d been brought back to life (if that was even true)? Or did this ‘Sesshomaru’ bring her here himself– to be taken care of by humans.

“Are ye listening to me?” The familiar voice of the old woman brought Hana back to reality. She’d never even noticed that the woman was talking to her. By now, Rin had left the room. Hana sat back up and looked over at the woman who now took Rin’s place next to her.

 “I’m sorry, what?”

“I said what were ye doing so far away from your tribe? I have heard of the wolf demons of the southern lands, and it is very unlike your kind to travel alone. Ye should consider yourself lucky that Sesshomaru had found you and that he even chose to use his sword on you.”

Hana hesitated before answering Kaede.  Should she tell her?

“Oh, I…um… I…I ran away. I was becoming weary of their lifestyles and wanted to know what life outside the southern lands was like. So far, I don’t miss home, but I’m not really enjoying my time away from home either.” She answered sheepishly, hanging her head. Kaede replied with a low “hm.”

 She then got up and turned around, beginning to walk out the door. She paused and without looking back at the wolf princess began talking once more.

“Rin will be back with some food soon. Whether or not ye choose to eat is up to you.”

Kaede proceeded to walk away, and was about to walk out the door when Hana spoke.

“Wait!” she yelled. The old woman turned around to look at the girl.

“This…Sesshomaru…that you both speak of, will…will I ever meet him? I have to thank him for what he has done for me.”

Hana was still a bit dazed since she’d awoken and a couple questions still ran through her head, but what she did know was that she had to meet Sesshomaru, the man that had saved her life. She needed to thank him – to see him.

Kaede chuckled to herself.

“He comes here often to visit young Rin. I have a feeling that if ye want to meet him, ye won’t have to wait very long.”

And with that, she walked away.

Hana said nothing more. She simply lay back onto her mat and stared up at the ceiling, thinking about her ‘journey’ so far. She’d run away, gotten stabbed, died, was revived, and was now in the care of complete – although kind – strangers. Unlike most of her tribe, and many other demons, Hana saw no reason to hate humans, but being up close to them and being in the care of them was still a bit strange. Considering that her recent encounter with the soldier from the river bank still had her a bit shaken up, she hadn’t expected these people to be so caring.

Hana closed her eyes and sighed, thinking.

She wondered what her father must’ve been doing.

One moment, before she fell asleep, she could have sworn she’d heard his howling in the distance.

Do I miss home that much? She questioned to herself. No, I refuse to have any thoughts of going back to that place anytime soon.