All Hallows Eve, a most auspicious of nights. It is a night of rich enchantment of the spirits ascending from the depths of Samhain with beautiful frights and pranks that delight and fright the minds of children of any creature, human or demon. This is truly a wondrous and superstitious night in which, if one is not careful, one could succumb to the endless bewitching of the ghouls and goblins alike.

The sun is gently setting, its light gently dissipates among the treeline as the fresh smell of nightfall lingers in the air. The Lord of the West and his companions make their way as the moon becomes full and its endless autumn power overpowers the dusk. Fully aware of what another Hallows Eve can bring, as does the rest of his clan, the Demon Lord Sesshomaru continues along the path with his journey taking in great consideration with what can happen to those who are weak to the power that belongs to this night; weak mortals like the child that is fast asleep upon the two-headed dragon's back behind him.

"We will rest for the night," he called to the trio of followers that lingered. An imp suddenly scurried over to his lord's side in sudden attention.

"Aye, my lord," said the imp, "but why the sudden change in mind?" But the Lord did not answer, he only led the trio into into a secluded area deep within the trees to keep from unwanted spirits. With a night such as this, it is too risky to wonder within their journey with mindless spirits roaming the night sky. It is most wise to rest an meditate for the journey ahead.

"Jaken," Sesshomaru summoned the imp. "Go and get firewood, we will be resting here for the night." he said eying the toad-like creature as he scampered away into the darkened wood.

Sesshomaru strolled to the two-headed dragon that carefully knelt on the grassy ground, hoping not to wake the child. He lie a gentle hand on the back of the small, dark haired human girl.

"Rin," was all that was said as he lightly shook her for reassurance. His stoic face was met with two very large and angelic auburn eyes. She sees her lord almost nose to nose desperately trying to wake her body to his command; too close to comfort, he refuses to admit, but he needs to be close to her tonight.

"Lord Sesshomaru," she squeaked as she pushed herself up to sit up right from the two-headed dragons' back. Her voice has matured quite fast, yet the child-like innocence kept. "Is there something wrong?" so mature, yet sill such a child.

He took a moment to look into her wide eyes, she has grown in such exuberance in such a short length of time. Only ten years has this lord known his small and meek ward, though it feels as it has been ten centuries. So long has he loathed humans and their weak demeanor's, how they have little to no souls, little hearts and little minds. But this... but her... she is significantly different, she is unlike the others, any other human wretch is so inferior to her ways. It is almost impossible for him to think how she could go thought such a past and still "love" as she does. She continually perplexes him. - All of which crosses his mind in a matter of a second. He becomes bold as he reaches his hand to her long black hair to shift her long bangs from her eyes to the back of her ear and gently cups a lonely hand under her chin.

"You are sleeping with me tonight," he said with a reassuring sense in his voice among the same stoic emotion. Anyone would be fooled by it, but Rin knows better. He may be expressionless, but neither his actions nor his words, can be fooled with his eyes.

Those beautiful eyes that shimmer in the perfect combination of the natural amber color and the pearl white of the moonlight. The beautiful eyes that tell no lie, that can always be truthful to her, no matter the situation. She can always trust him because of his eyes and nothing more than that besides his strong hand that hold to her tightly in danger, or that just keep her under wing as a reminder just who she belonged to. She can always rely on his emotions, especially when no one else can.

She silently nods as he skillfully picks her up with great care with the one arm that he has and holds her close to his chest. She can tell by the way he holds her tightly that he is unsure of how to feel, almost as if danger is near, yet she doesn't worry, he will protect her. She looks up to his eyes seeing as he is now more hyper aware of his surroundings, keeping alert. She sees his ear twitch with every slight movement as small as a leaf moving in the breeze as he walks to a nearby tree, kneels down and sits as comfortably as he can with with the child in his arms. He keeps her oh, so close to his heart keeping his scent on her, and away from the unwanted visitors of the night of the Samhain.

He hears the distant cries and uncontrollable laughter form the villages near and far, knowing that spirits and demons feast upon and eat humans as the children of the underworld rot the minds of the barbaric ningens, just like the ones that killed his father. But, he will be damned is any creature of any kind, besides he, even try to touch a single hair on her head. He would surely be most unhappy if he would ever let Rin succumb to the worthless, lifeless limbo that his a cold and miserable death, yet again.

- No, never again... -

A mix of curiosity and slight worry became of the nerves within his brain as a sudden rustle of a bush catches him off guard, and the realization of pointless paranoia escapes his mind as Jaken comes out of the restless leaves to base once more with wood and his staff at hand that needs naught but a chant to create warmth of a fire to heat the night a little.

The soothing illumination of the dancing flames eased the demon lord, he almost completely at ease as he is hypnotized almost into a dreamless sleep, or a meditation of sorts. Yet, knowing of the darkened hue of night's moon, he knows that the sorcery is strong tonight, strong and near. No, it would not bewitch the powerful creature that is he, it would most certainly catch a most unsuspecting prey such as she, perfect bait for the late night with a high moon and rotating stars at hand. He must be careful with Rin on this night. If he is not, it would be quite the obstacle to get her back.

"My lord," the imp knocks him out of his thoughts. "The moon is quite strong tonight, witching is afoot, Shall I conjure up a barrier?" Jaken shouted almost in a rampage. Sesshomaru nodded, letting the imp do his job. With the night as active as it is, the barrier will most likely counter-react , but it is worth a try.

The Lord's ear twitches again. Nothing is strong enough to break him on the outside, but the ridiculous pranks of the spiritual world can capture his only internal weakness, and he cannot help but to stay aware. There are powerful entities that linger near and far, stalking for it's prey. A fire should shun them off, yet few are attracted to the dancing flames, much as he is. His initial, unseen fear continues to creep up his throat. He is thankful that she is only human and cannot hear the screams and feedings from the villages and its poor, pathetic humans. It is even gruesome for his own war-toned ears to bear.

"L-Lord Sesshomaru," a shy and quiet voice calls from below his chin. He lowers his gaze to the lone child in his arm, silently answering her as he makes eye contact and awaits her response. "Are you well?" she simply asks as the child that she is. Her eyes sadden in a certain curiosity. His eyes soften as he almost grins at her maturity of a child. He gives an ever so slight sigh as he breaks eye contact.

"No, Rin," he simply replies hoping that she is satisfied with the answer he has given and go to sleep, but, of course, she stays persistent.

"Milord, you look unwell, Rin is worried." her sadness grows into her voice. He sighs as he leans his head back upon the tree bark.

"Go to sleep, Rin," he says almost in amusement. But his mellow and content thoughts of the peaceful and delightful moment scurry away as he inhales deeply. He can smell the predators from more than a mile away; he can smell the evil surround him and the innocent blood they previously devoured. They now smell her; they now come for her.

They smell him Protecting her.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" Jaken's voice is heard as he runs back. "My apologies milord, but it did not work!" he pants in exhaustion, "They have spotted the girl!" the imp spins and stands in his combat position with his staff ready to strike.

Sesshomaru grows cold, he can hear the hysterical laughter and their vulgar thoughts as they make their way closer. He suddenly starts to slowly fade away from himself as he starts to crave the blood and flesh of the ridiculous demons that believe that they are worth a fight. His vision hazes away from his perfect view as a red hue starts to dominate his mind. The power and speed of the disgusting things that comes his way urges him to deform into the demon that he really is. Their flesh smells... good, but their fear will smell even better.

He can feel his inner claws sprint out of him and start to slowly and steadily dig into the child's thigh that he had clung to for protection. The feeling of hot, red liquid from her body in between his fingers was almost too much for him to bear and enrages him to want death even more as his fangs suddenly spike from the gums of his mouth. In an instant, Rin squeals in sudden pain as she looks to see a complete change in her lord. Shock releases from her as her heart drops in pain and utter fear as she gasps for air.

"L- L- Lord... Sesshomaru?" her words are at a sudden loss as she hears a scary growl came from under his breath. Her eyes grow wide as the growl takes her back to her past. Flashbacks flicker within her eyes as she remembers the day she lost her family; Large claws, teeth and fangs that slowly tortured the bodies of her once beautiful father and mother and scar her mind for life. She remembers perfectly the wolf that slit the throat of her mother and pierce the heart of her father, as she was strapped tightly for a front row view. Her life flashes before her eyes as she starts to do nothing more than to lay as still as life would let her, with nothing more than a lonely tear to fall from the warmth of her eyes to cold and bitter air that surrounds her. And as she lie still, she fall away from his death grip, feeling the claws pull away from her as she hit the hard and cold ground of her lord, looking to him with sadness and utter fear. "What is wrong with you?" her eyes water even more as her cry starts to grow louder, and she holds herself close and far, far from him. She hiccups in despair...

He Freezes...

Still..

As ice...

Silent,

- What's Wrong? -

"LORD SESSHOMARU!" she sprints from her current position toward him with sudden courage screaming out his name. She runs into his chest with a loud thump and wraps her arms tightly around him, refusing to let go, struggling to speak among her cries. She presses her face against the expensive fabric wrapped around his torso holding for dear life, not letting her will to wilt in fear. She can hear his heartbeat, she can hear his horrid staggered breaths of vengeance slowly fade away. Even she can feel the spirits come closer.

She won't let him...

"Lord Sesshomaru, please," a deathly whisper crawled out of her mouth. She tightly clutches him not letting go for anything... For anyone... Especially him. "P- Please... Please don't," she hiccups as she cries resting her head. Almost soothed by what is left of the vibration of his venomous growl. She absolutely hates his horrid form, as beautiful as he is, he is deadly; he is crazy; he is hurtful. Her past is too much to bear for her to see him this way. She doesn't want to see him as a monster...

Not yet...

After her crying dies out, another another lone tear sheds from her lashes, believing that her hope would only become false. Just as her hopeless cries hiccuped away from her tears, he starts to shake uncontrollably. Try as his other side may, he cannot help but to heed to her voice and sink her words into his deforming mind. He can feel the tears that had fallen for him.

In his mind, his transformation is nearly complete, just kill the girl, and he can kill... His ravenous mind only dreams of ripping the demons frothy flesh right in half, only enjoying the soothing sound as if it were a juicy piece of meat. He is an inch away from ripping every sad and pathetic soul in his path... For the Child... Child...

- Child? -

- What child... -

"Sesshomaru!" She screams at the top of her lungs clutching onto his back! She screams his name...

His first name,

His first name with no title... She calls him with no respect, with no heeding or warning, and she won't, she refuses to. She calls him as her equal.

She calls him as a human...

His eyes turn white.

- She called my name... - Oh, how bold she was,

Rin realizes what she has said to him. She opens her eyes in quiet shock with the lack of respect between him and her. Ever so slowly, she unlinked her arms from around his torso and fell away from him, staring, wide-eyed onto him just to see what would happen in her silent fear. Who knows how much she has enraged him now?

His vision becomes perfectly clear again, his claws and fangs retort back into his body with a hiss, and his mind becomes coherent once more to his own eased senses. He looks ahead to see the child as frightened as death itself, with brilliant eyes that shun away the Lord and tears that burn the very evil entities that come forth. She looks to him this way, she sees him as more than a man now, but a horrid monster, and she hasn't even seen the worst. He let his true form show, and even the preparation makes her want to faint away. She backs away from him a little, silently deciding if she should run to him for protection, or run away from him in perfect horror. He realizes that he has frightened her greatly with the form that he had tried to become, hell, he almost scared himself as his brain started to take control.

Before she could get too far from him, he snatches her up with his mokomoko and tightly grabs onto her. She starts to scream as she claws the ground trying for him to let go. But he simply hold tighter as he eventually yanks her from the ground, lifts her up, and places her upon the square of his back as she is comfortably wrapped in his warm embrace. He binds her safely for flight.

"Hold on," his stoic, normal expression returns as he makes a large leap for the bright starlit sky. He lands in a tree as the spirits finally arrive at their campsite. He looks down to see Jaken doing his job with the various Hallows monsters head-butt the surprisingly strong water imp, and the Lord of the West leaps on to do what he is called to do with the lonely child upon his back. "I promise that you will not be hurt," he says in a hurried tone. She only nods in agreement, quietly thanking him with a tiny smile that he cannot see. He is okay now. flexing his claws, he leaps higher and runs square into the night.

One after another, Sesshomaru moves as swiftly as the wind, slicing one after another to a point where she couldn't handle it and digs her small fingers into his shoulder and hides her head in the nook of his neck. Moving as a clone of his father, he pulls out his Tensaiga to do the job of sending the hell-raisers back where they came from. He swiftly and movingly kills each with one strike after another, and the job was done; his job was done, he had done what he needed to do for her, and with nothing but the fade of the last demon fight, he floats back to the ground like a leaf freely moving in the breeze with not even a second wind.

After a safe landing, he keels down on one knee and uses his mokomoko once more to carefully levitate her and place her on the ground. He looks to her with the same expression as he does normally, but his eyes always fall short to his fake expressions. She sees him... at ease. She sees contentment in his eyes as the sun suddenly starts to faintly rise. The night is completely over, the only thing keeping her awake is initial shock of the night. Easily inhaling and exhaling, she looks to him perplexed and dazzled as to what he had just done for her. He had yet to take his eyes off of her, as were hers.

But without another mindless thought, she sprints to him and thrusts her lips on his, refusing to be afraid of him any longer. She wraps her arms around his neck, holding him, oh so close, with a mixture of love and utter hate. Her lips do not move from his as one last tear falls from her face to his. Yes, he scared her, nearly to death, but he also saved her life, much like he has done for years. But the thing he had almost turned into, the thing on this night was too much for her, she did not want it. She doesn't ever want to lose him, she doesn't want a pet...

She wants a mate,

He sits vastly confused, he was sure that she would do nothing short of running away from him in the perfect horror he saw in her earlier tonight. He was sure that she wouldn't even touch him, and here she is holding to him for dear life in nothing but a simple kiss, risking everything, just to be a little closer to him.

And thank God she is,

All he could do in this moment is just return the favor and hold her closely in a tight embrace as she slowly parted.

"T- Thank you..." she managed a whisper among the silent cries. He sits perfectly still, listening. He deeply inhales as she pushes her forehead up to his and continues her plead. "Please..." she cries louder. "Please... Don't change, milord." she whispers as she gives a butterfly kiss and hugs him tightly holding onto his head, then whispers into his ear, "I love you just the way you are." she says calming down.

He lightly shuts his eyes as he grows courage himself and leans his head on hers for reassurance. Alas, it is not the monster he is that scares her, but the monster that he almost became. She is not afraid of him, but his potential. No words became of his voice; no voice could. All he does is purr in her ear and hold her tighter for comfort and security for both he and her.

Without another word from either of them, he lovingly and skillfully caresses her, now grown body and lies her on the ground and returns the kiss. There was perfect silence around them, nothing left the the sleeping of the two-headed dragon, the absence of the imp, and the crackle of the fire to strike the mood for the most bold action that he could ever make in his long and dreary life. He takes her as his own among what is left of the magic filled night. He takes her assuring her that he is hers and that he will be for her.

The sun gently rises, and his purr remains in her ear. Various creatures ponder over why he keeps the human, she is no longer a child, like he would like to think, but a woman that could have the potential to make a human happy...

Ridiculous... She is for no one but him.

And he is for no one but her.

He is her equal, her mate...

It makes for a lovely Hallows Day present.