InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Bloodlust ❯ Destinations and Dreams ( Chapter 19 )

Miroku climbed off Kirara's back and stood in front of the great gates of the Northern Lands, and stared at the figure of a black and white tiger emblazoned across them, and remembered the white inu youkai that occupied the same place on the gates of the castle to the West. He turned to Kirara and crossed his arms thoughtfully in his sleeves.

"I am not certain how to call attention to our presence here…Sesshomaru opens the gates to his castle with a touch, but I have a sneaking suspicion that I will not be able to do the same."

The fire-cat nosed Miroku's staff, and he looked at it, slightly amused.

"Knock? Well, I suppose there is no harm in trying."

He raised his staff in both hands and beat strongly against the gates three times, and called out loudly when a pair of youkai appeared on the walls.

"I am Houshi-Miroku, come with a message of urgency for your Lord, from Sesshomaru, Lord of the West!"

His left hand tightened in the fur at the scruff of Kirara's neck, and he fought down fear as the gates opened silently and he was faced with a line of lowly growling youkai. One of them stepped closer and sniffed at him with distaste.

"Human? The Lord Sesshomaru would never trust a human with an urgent message, would never trust a human with any message at all. You die too easily."

Miroku stood straighter and looked the sneering youkai guard directly in the eyes.

"I have been sent with a message for Lord Kinawai. You are no Lord. Direct me to him, or need I remind you what Lord Sesshomaru will do to you if you fail to allow his messenger passage?"

The youkai growled, and the line of demons parted down the middle. Miroku kept his hand on Kirara and walked through them, coming to a stop in front of Kinawai, who came down the steps that led into the castle itself.

"Houshi-Miroku, this is indeed a surprise. You must forgive my guards - they are not enlightened when it comes to the application of human strengths. What brings you to my lands?"

Miroku bowed deeply and Kirara moved from standing beside him to standing behind him.

"I am afraid I have not come on a social call, Lord Kinawai. I bring a grave message from Lord Sesshomaru."

Kinawai nodded, though he looked surprised.

"No wonder my guards were suspicious. Lord Sesshomaru has never been one to promote relations between human and youkai. Come, it appears we have much to discuss, and you have undoubtedly had a long journey. We will talk over dinner."

Miroku bowed his thanks, and Kinawai motioned for one of the surrounding youkai to show Miroku into the castle. And hour later, washed and refreshed, Miroku found himself alone at a long, polished table with Lord Kinawai. The youkai lord dismissed the servants, and looked down the table at Miroku.

"Now, Houshi-Miroku, tell me what it is that has made Sesshomaru send a human messenger - strong though he might be - to bring me a message of such urgency."

"I have been sent to instruct you to summon the youkai council."

Lord Kinawai sat up straight and dropped his chopsticks by his bowl.

"Summon the council? On what grounds? That is in no way a casual request, though I am sure he knows it."

Miroku took a deep breath and stared intently into his bowl.

"The clan of dragon youkai who were responsible for the poison that was used to kill Lord InuTaisho abducted the human girl under Lord Sesshomaru's protection. When he and Lady Kagome went to retrieve her, the dragon clan attacked them in number. Lord Sesshomaru killed many of them, but in a final battle with one of the lords of the clan, the same poison that killed Lord InuTaisho killed Lord Sesshomaru."

Kinawai reeled internally.

"Lord Sesshomaru is dead? But I - "

Miroku held out his hand to halt his words.

"Lady Kagome destroyed the dragon clan leader with tetsusaiga, and used Tensaiga and her miko power to bring Lord Sesshomaru back and heal him. Both of them are well now, but Lord Sesshomaru desires vengeance."

Kinawai let out a sigh of relief and leaned back.

"So he wishes me to bring the council together in order to take action concerning the dragon clan's violation of the council dictates. There would be several orders of business…the poison was banned, the claim of the dragons to the Western Lands was denied, and they were made aware of what the consequences would be."

"Yes. Lord Sesshomaru showed me several of the scrolls which were written by the council after it was convened to punish the dragon clan, and they have resorted to the same sort of underhanded tricks to kill the Lord of the West that they used before."

Kinawai nodded.

"Lord Sesshomaru is luck that he took miko to mate. I am assuming that if he had not, he would have died?

Miroku nodded.

"He was indeed lucky."

Kinawai sighed deeply.

"This is not a good situation. I must convene the council, of course, and we will have to decide how to punish the dragon clan. If we do not make it known that breaking council edicts will result in swift and immediate punishment, other of the lesser clans will not hesitate to flaunt council authority as well."

Miroku nodded and set down his bowl.

"Shall I return to Lord Sesshomaru and tell him that the council will be convened?

"No…he knows that it will do so…but I would prefer if you remained here until I have finished drawing up the formal summons. You will be of much use, Houshi-Miroku, for you have heard the details of the dragon clan's offense, and I have not. It will take only a day or two, and then you may return with the summons."

"I will stay. But there is perhaps one other thing you should know, because of the basis of the dragon clans claim to the Western Lands. Lady Kagome went into her heat just as I was leaving…and it is not true that at the end of this time she will have conceived?"

Lord Kinawai stiffened and looked at Miroku in offended astonishment.

"I will take no offense at your words, because you are human and it is obvious that Lord Sesshomaru did not tell you anything of youkai etiquette, however much he may have educated you in youkai politics. When the mate of any youkai goes into heat, it is never spoken of - the two are far too vulnerable during that time, and the male is too lost in his own bloodlust and desire to be held responsible for nay harm he does to any who approach his mate. Even other children must be kept away…though I would say that if there were any who were capable of controlling themselves, it would be Lord Sesshomaru. Even this taboo against mentioning the time of heat is not spoken of, it is like instinct to us…but I tell you to keep you from repeating the mistake with others who would be less forgiving. It would perhaps be wise for you to inform your mate of this custom among us."

Miroku flushed slightly.

"I am not married…mated, yet, though there is one who has agreed to become my wife. As you say, I did not know of this taboo among youkai. I thank you for the information, it will be of much use to myself and the Lady Sango."

Lord Kinawai nodded and stood.

"The Taijiya will be your mate, then?"

Miroku nodded, and the youkai lord smiled.

"Come Houshi-Miroku, I can see that you are fatigued, and there will be time for talk in the morning. I will require your aid in drafting the summons."

Miroku followed him to a set of chambers similar to those he occupied in the Western castle, and found a transformed Kirara curled up on the end of the bed. Aside from the two tails, he was surprised as always by how much she looked like a normal kitten. He composed himself for sleep, and sank at once into weary dreams. The water filled them again, and there was a heavy pressure on his thoughts that jerked him back into wakefulness.

*Future…dreams?*

He shook his head and went swiftly back to sleep, and in the morning he did not remember the dream or the wakefulness that had interrupted it. The rising sun hit his eyes at an odd angle, and he woke almost at once, forgetting for an instant that he had reached his destination. He dressed and left the room, and Kirara leapt up into his arms. He wandered the upper floor the castle, looking for Lord Kinawai, and nearly walked into a youkai female who stood admiring a hanging on one of the walls. She looked up in surprise and smiled graciously.

"You must be the Houshi that my mate spoke of. I am the Lady of these lands."

Miroku bowed deeply, and sensed in her manner something which required more formality than the had used in his conversations with Lord Kinawai.

"I am the Houshi-Miroku, Lady. I came bearing a message from Lord Sesshomaru, and your mate was kind enough to allow me to remain here until I could return to the Western Lands with a formal summons to council."

She nodded.

"My mate has had no war or conflict with any of the other three lords since he became Lord of these lands, and it is because of this that the power to call and dismiss the council."

"Ah! I had wondered why it would be given to him to summon the youkai council. Thank you Lady, you have answered a question that has been on my mind since I began the journey here. I would ask your indulgence in answering one other question, however."

"And what would that be, Houshi-Miroku?"

"Lord Kinawai requested I meet him early this morning in order to provide details for him to include in his council summons, but I do not know where he is, or how to find him."

She laughed lightly.

"Of course. He will be in the library at this time in the morning. If you follow this hallway, you will come to a set of black doors on your right - they will let you into the library."

He bowed his thanks and set off down the hall. Kinawai welcomed him into the library, and hours passed slowly before they began to draft the summons.

Kagome stood panting and sweaty across from Sesshomaru, dressed in the miko robes she had worn her first day in the castle.

"That will be enough for today, my Kagome."

The glowing pink loops of power that had wrapped itself around his yellow youkai whip withdrew into the tips of her fingers, and her shoulders slumped slightly.

"You are an evil taskmaster, Sess-chan. Why all this training so suddenly?"

"When Miroku returns, he will bring with him a formal summons to the youkai council. The inevitable outcome of the council ruling will be violent and harsh, and the dragon clan has proven already that they will not take the council's words without a fight. I will not leave you alone here without some knowledge of how to use your youkai to defend yourself as well as you use your miko…and it would be far more dangerous to take you into that battle with me."

She nodded and reached for his hands.

"Bathe with me?"

"Of course."

The hot water eased the aches in her overstressed muscles, and she sighed happily and relaxed against him.

"We should do something for Sango, Sess-chan. She hasn't been herself since Miroku left."

"He will return soon, and they will mate. That will make her happy."

Kagome laughed.

"They aren't going to mate, they'll get married."

He blinked thoughtfully.

"What is the difference?"

"Marriage is a human ceremony, a feast, sometimes a party…humans use it to join two together for a lifetime. The bond is the same as a mating…but it isn't as intense for humans, they do not share emotions, and there is no mark. That is what the ceremony is for, to tell others that the two are joined."

Sesshomaru nodded and ran his claws through the wet length of her hair.

"IF you are looking to take Lady Sango's mind off of the Houshi's absence, why not plan this ceremony with her for when he returns?"

Kagome squealed in delight and hugged him tightly around the waist, pulling him accidentally sideways under the hot water. She let go at once and giggled.

"Oops…"

He sat up with forced dignity, dripping wet, and glared at her through the hair plastered over his eyes.

"If I were you, I would run."

He moved in a blur of wet silver and pinned her to the side of the spring, and she laughed.

"This seems oddly familiar…"

He nodded and cut off the rest of her words with a kiss.

Sorry this chapter took so long, I'm usually faster…but vacation just started and laziness overwhelmed me. Yay for my reviewers, I would name you all but you know I love you anyways….we'll see Sango and Miroku's wedding, and Sesshomaru and Kagome at council, and lots of other yummy things! Please review and make me happy!