InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Moving Pictures ❯ Sibling Rivalry ( Chapter 9 )

A/N: I read somewhere that we can't post reviewer responses in our chapters anymore? Hmmm.

 

Disclaimer: I do not own any character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

 

Chapter 9 - Sibling Rivalry

 

Charlotte stretched, careful not to fall from the branch she'd slept on. She'd opted to sleep in the tree mainly because she didn't think Sesshomaru's scout, Kato, could climb trees. He gave off a vibe that creeped her out, and she knew from experience to stay well out of his reach. Rubbing a kinked shoulder, she scanned the campsite for him. Both he and Sesshomaru were absent, so she dropped out of the tree, landing gracefully in a crouch with her hands between her feet.

 

Rin giggled over her breakfast: the last of the dried, smoked venison. Charlotte looked at her questioningly. “You really looked like a cat, Kitty.”

 

Charlotte wrinkled her nose, but grinned back. “I'm a lion.” She eyed what was left of the venison with distaste. It had held up surprisingly well, but it had gone past the point of appetizing. “I think I'll go find something fresh for breakfast.”

 

“Like what?”

 

`Coffee,' she thought. It was the longest amount of time she'd gone without the beverage in a good twelve years and she sorely missed it. “Berries, eggs, I don't know. Anything but that,” she pointed at the offending jerky.

 

“Eggs?”

 

“Yeah, we could boil them or something. Jaken?” The imp jumped at his name and hunched his shoulders.

 

“Yes… lady?” his voice was almost respectful.

 

`I should have known,' Charlotte smirked. `He's just a bully.' “Charlotte is fine. Should I get something for you, too?”

 

“No, thank you.” She shrugged and wandered off, wondering how she would go about finding eggs. Wistfully, she pictured the face of the corner market's owner: wrinkled, careworn, wearing a sour expression. He always had eggs in stock… and bacon. `Would boar youkai make good bacon? Maybe in his beast form…' she mussed as she climbed over the trunk of an enormous tree that had fallen long ago.

 

At least the search would give her time to figure out what to do. She really liked hanging out with Rin… and Sesshomaru, she admitted finally. Maybe too much. Jaken might even be tolerable, now that she'd set some boundaries. But going with them would be all but admitting defeat. Was she prepared to stay in this era? She didn't belong here, couldn't take care of herself. How long would it be before she'd worn out her welcome and Sesshomaru kicked her out of his house? She'd never been a freeloader and had always prided herself on her independence.

 

So wrapped up in her thoughts, she didn't notice the bird until it dive-bombed her, shrieking and clawing at her hair. Yelping in surprise, she ducked and swatted at it. It flew back up into the trees, scolding her shrilly. `Ha! I bet it's protecting a nest…' she inspected the branches above her, finally spying the mess of twigs and mud in a tangle of limbs and leaves. Digging her claws into the bark of the tree, she climbed the trunk, shooing away the bird when it got too close. Soon, she was eye-level with the nest. Four brown, speckled eggs sat nestled in the bottom. They were within arm's reach and she figured that she could take the entire nest as a makeshift basket. She reached out and almost touched it, then hesitated. These weren't dead chicken's eggs, raised specifically for human (or werelion, in her case) consumption. These eggs had baby birds in them.

 

Sighing, she retracted her hand and scaled back down the tree. `Some carnivore you are,' her beast scoffed at her. `I can't eat that bird's babies,' she growled back, ducking another rush by the irate mother. `You have no problem eating baby back ribs, veal, or lamb,' it reminded her. `Yeah, but I didn't have to steal them from their mothers. Besides, I did kill that deer.' Derisive laughter filled her head, `Pussy cat.'

 

She stomped away, ignoring the jibe. Since when had her beast, youkai, whatever, been so vocal? But it had a point: how could she travel alone if she couldn't even take bird's eggs?

 

The hem of her kimono caught on a low-growing bush and she bent to unsnag it. The bush was bursting with small berries, some green, some violet. She gave it an appraising stare: they looked similar to blueberries. Plucking one and popping it into her mouth, she was fairly certain that even if the berries were poisonous, she probably wouldn't get sick. It tasted ok, no bitterness to indicate poison. With a shrug, she picked a wide leaf from a nearby plan and filled it with berries. Wrapping the ends of the leaf over the berries, she had a serviceable package.

 

She was about to make her way back to the campsite when the sounds of metal scraping against metal assaulted her ears. `What on earth?' she knew she should go back, but her curiosity got the better of her. Following the ringing and clashing, she had only gone a short distance when the forest ended at a large field. Sesshomaru was faced off against a man in baggy red clothes with silver hair and small, triangular ears. Charlotte touched her own cat ears, fascinated.

 

The man in red roared and rushed Sesshomaru, swinging an enormous fang-shaped blade. Sesshomaru parried it easily with a wicked-looking sword that pulsed with evil energy. He cut a truly dashing figure: refined, elegant and deadly. The other man was not so bad himself. Wild and impulsive, he moved with a grace of his own. Momentarily, she forgot her food-hunting mission and simply ogled the pair.

 

Sango thrust the tip of her Hiraikotsu into the soft earth and watched the duel with a speculative eye. “Is it my imagination, or is Sesshomaru fighting with a little more flare than usual?”

 

“It's not your imagination,” Kagome replied as Sesshomaru twirled Tokijin in a bright arc.

 

“I wonder if it has anything to do with her?” Miroku pointed to the woman standing on the other side of the field. He squinted against the light; she seemed familiar. With a start, he realized that she was the youkai he had met in town yesterday. She had seemed so promising… he slipped away from the girls and made his way toward her.

 

“Hey, monk!” Sango shouted after him. Far enough away to avoid a beating, he waved a hand over his should and kept moving. Kagome rolled her eyes.

 

“He's cruising for a bruising,” Shippo commented from Kagome's shoulder. Kagome nodded and put a reassuring hand on her furious friend's shoulder.

 

Charlotte's attention was snapped away from the fight by a firm squeeze of her bottom. Startled, she whirled, suppressing a grimace when she recognized the monk from the town. Too annoyed to play the vixen, she snapped, “Excuse me, but did my ass have a `Please Grab Me' sign on it?”

 

Miroku stared at her, taken aback by the change in her demeanor. Giggling, blushing, maybe a kiss was what he'd expected. However, he barreled on, sure that when she'd got over her surprise, she'd change her tune. “You've returned to me! Have you reconsidered the offer of bearing my children?”

 

`I guess I deserve this,' she sighed. “Thanks, but you really aren't my type.”

 

“I can promise you an unending night of pleasure…”

 

“Look dude,” she said, fixing him with a no-nonsense stare and held up two fingers. “There are two important dimensions to a man. Height,” she gestured above her head, “ and length.” She held her hands apart, measuring a length of air. “You don't meet the first criteria, so I'm not interested in the second.”

 

“But…”

 

“Sorry, no.” She turned back to the fight, suddenly aware that the sounds of battle had ceased. Both men had paused and were watching them, Sesshomaru with his typical impassive expression, the other man with a resigned, disgusted frown. Miroku missed this detail and opted for another tushy squeeze, convinced that she was merely playing hard to get.

 

“Knock it off!” she shook open the packet of berries and smashed it into his face, just before being pushed aside by a large white blur. She stumbled backward, tripping over a gopher hole and falling on her butt in the long grass.

 

“You,” Sesshomaru snarled and grabbed the monk by the neck, hoisting him into the air and bringing him up to his face. His hilt of his sword swung back and forth, anchored by the point buried in the ground. Miroku burbled and scrabbled at the iron grip, his face, already purple with berry juice, rapidly turning darker.

 

“Sesshomaru, you bastard, put him down!” the red-clad demon yelled, leaping toward them. Two women were also running over, one with a huge boomerang, another notching an arrow into her bow. The second was wearing a sailor-style school uniform, Charlotte noted incredulously.

 

`What on earth?' Another gurgle from the unfortunate monk distracted her from the girl. “Sesshomaru, what are you doing?” she cried, horrified.

 

His eyes slid toward her, chips of ice that were touched with red. He should have recognized the scent yesterday but the mix of town smells must have masked it. To think that the cat had consorted with his worthless brother's friend… “He's the human from the town.” The two women skidded to a stop close by, horror and fear reflected in their eyes.

 

She gaped at him. Did he recognize him from his scent? “Yeah, but I took care of it. Please put him down!”

 

He dropped him unceremoniously and turned, advancing on her and glowering. “With fruit?” he growled.

 

She reared back and glanced at the purple-stained monk gasping for breath on the ground, `Well, I usually use a drink, but…yeah.” She stifled a snicker with a hand over her mouth, her nose tickled by the smell of catnip still heavy on his clothes.

 

His eyes narrowed dangerously. Did she think this was a joke? He was beside himself with fury and had half a mind to finish off the impertinent monk just to relieve some frustration. Flexing his claws, he watched the cat smother another giggle.

 

“I told you to wash off the catnip,” she mumbled and backed up until the minty odor no longer affected her.

 

He dismissed her abruptly, restoring his expressionless mask and pulling his sword out of the ground and sheathing it. Taking a deep breath, Charlotte skirted around him and approached the girl in the uniform. She stopped short when the demon with white ears leapt between, growling. “Stay back, bitch. You're with that bastard brother of mine, so you're no good.”

 

The girl watched her warily from behind his back, “Inuyasha, I don't think…”

 

“Inuyasha? The ignorant half-breed?” Charlotte asked in surprise, cocking her head. His growl deepened and he raised his sword. “I'm Charlotte, the indecent woman.” She extended a hand, which he ignored. Belatedly, she realized that she should have bowed; she let it drop back to her side and bent slightly at the waist.

 

“It's nice to meet you Charlotte,” the girl managed before being shushed by the hanyou. “Inuyasha…”

 

“Don't even say it,” he warned.

 

“Cat. We're leaving this rabble.” Sesshomaru's voice broke over her like an ice flow.

 

“But…”

 

“Now!” he barked, instilling alpha-male authority into his command. She jumped, her body complying despite her desire to stay and chat.

 

Throwing up her hands in exasperation, she stomped up to him. “For fuck's sake, she's…”

 

“Silence!” Her mouth snapped shut as he turned from her and strode into the woods.

 

The little group of shard hunters watched them go, confusion written on their faces.

 

“Well, that was weird,” Kagome said as she stepped from behind Inuyasha. Sango nodded and Miroku wiped smashed berries from his face. Inuyasha tucked his arms into the sleeves of his haori and scowled.

 

“Keh.”

 

XxxxxxxxxxxX

 

`What did I do this time?' Charlotte bored holes into Sesshomaru's back with her eyes. `I wasn't the one playing grab-ass. I wasn't even flirting.' And even if she had been flirting, there'd been no reason for him to overreact like that. He didn't own her; they weren't even dating. She thought he'd jump at the chance to get rid of her.

 

“That girl wasn't from around here, you know,” she finally spoke up, breaking the uncomfortable silence as they trudged through the forest. “She might have known how I could get home.” He showed no sign of having heard her. She sighed, but had another go at it. “So, that was your brother?”

 

He took so long to speak that she thought he was going to continue to ignore her. “What were you doing there?” The uncharacteristic anger was gone; his voice was flat and emotionless.

 

“Oh, I went to look for breakfast and stayed to admire the view,” she cringed at her own flippant words. `Damn catnip. He probably suspects something anyway; you were all over him yesterday.' He made no comment and they finished the walk without speaking.

 

Kato bowed to his lord as they entered the campsite. Charlotte groaned inwardly; she'd hoped that he'd left for good.

 

“Kitty! Did you find eggs?” Rin jumped up from her seat and skipped over to her.

 

“Uhhh…. no. And I lost the berries,” she shrugged apologetically.

 

“That's ok. I'm not that hungry, anyway.” Neither was Charlotte; she hadn't had much of an appetite since her transformation on the full moon. She'd caught and eaten something while in her beast form. She hadn't thought much of it after changing, but now she wondered what it was; her dim memory of it revealed nothing that she recognized. For all she knew, it could have been another demon.

 

“There's no time for that anyway,” Jaken squawked from beside Ah-Un. “We need to get moving.”

 

“Rin, you, Jaken, and the cat will ride Ah-Un.” Sesshomaru ordered as Kato made an adjustment to the dragon's bridle.

 

“Okay!” Rin ran over to the two-headed beast and climbed up, seating herself behind the imp.

 

“Aren't you getting on, Kitty?” Rin called from the back of Ah-Un.

 

“Ummm,” she chewed on her lip.

 

“Get on,” Sesshomaru's cold order grated on her nerves.

 

“I have to find that painting,” she protested irritably. His domineering attitude was getting old quickly.

 

“Kato, escort the cat to Ah-Un.”

 

“I'm getting on already,” she avoided the hands of the boar youkai and scrambled onto the back of the dragon behind Jaken and Rin, shooting the dog demon a withering glare. `He gets mad when that monk touches me but he's ok with that creep? I can't believe I almost screwed that asshole,' she thought as the dragon took flight, Sesshomaru flying ahead on a fluffy cloud he had conjured out of thin air. Kato saluted smartly as he watched them go, then disappeared into the forest.

 

XxxxxxxxxxxxX

 

Ah-Un landed lightly in a wide courtyard, waking his passengers nonetheless. Charlotte glanced around, surprised that she had dosed off in the first place. Irritated that her decision had been made for her, she'd fumed for a good hour as the landscape swept by underneath the dragon. She'd eventually come to the decision that she would sneak out of the mansion in the middle of the night and continue her search on her own.

 

Rin slid off the dragon, followed by Jaken. Charlotte swung her leg over his back and pushed off, landing neatly on her feet. It really was a nice place, she grudgingly admitted. Perched on a ledge of the mountain, it had a nice breeze and the air was cool and refreshing. The valley stretched behind them and the tall gates of the mansion rose in front of them, the wall built of closely fitting stones and the doors made of wood, intricately carved with abstract, curvy designs. As beautiful as they were, she didn't doubt that they were strong.

 

The gates opened with a whisper and a plainly dressed male youkai with short blue hair hurried forward, taking the reins of the dragon. Another youkai, better dressed and female, took Rin's hand and lead her into the gates. More demons rushed up, chattering, bowing, but none took notice of Charlotte, who standing to the side and out of the way.

 

Sesshomaru strode in and she followed, not really sure why she was there in the first place. Ears pinned flat, she felt almost as uncomfortable as she had in the village. The servants that did look at her summarily dismissed her with cold, unfriendly glares. No matter that she was several inches taller than all of the females, they looked down their noses at her with disdain. Drawing herself to her full height, she stared at Sesshomaru's back and refused to make eye contact.

 

They had traversed great halls and entered countless ornate doors before Sesshomaru stopped his relentless pace. “Aoi,” he stopped a diminutive demoness who had tried to make herself invisible as they passed.

 

“My Lord?” she kept her dark eyes downcast, iridescent black bangs hiding her homely face.

 

“Show this woman to the women's quarters down the hall. See that she is dressed appropriately,” he opened another carved door and shut it behind him, expecting his order to be followed.

 

Aoi bowed to the closed door, “Yes, my lord.” She shot Charlotte an annoyed look, and then gestured to her to follow her. Charlotte glanced at the door in apprehension and hurried after Aoi's retreating figure.

 

“Can I have a bath?” she asked the little demon.

 

Throwing open the door to a suite of well-appointed rooms, Aoi glared at her. “You're filthy. To be dressed `appropriately' would require a bath. Maybe a disinfection.”

 

Charlotte glared back as she stepped over the threshold, “It had better be hot.” Aoi sneered at her and slammed the door behind her.

 

She had to admit the suite was beautiful. The first roomed seemed to be a sitting room furnished with cushions, low tables, and a shelf with several scrolls. Through an open shoji screen, she could see a bedroom, complete with wide futon. The pillows and coverlets were made of fine silk and painted with fanciful designs of flowers and youkai. Both rooms had tall windows with spectacular views of the valley, and the sitting room window served as a makeshift door that opened onto a small balcony.

 

A sharp knock announced the return of Aoi, who opened the door without waiting for permission to enter. She stomped through the sitting room and into the bedroom, setting down a large basin of steaming water. “Bathe,” she tossed Charlotte a rough cloth and huffed out of the room.

 

Charlotte caught the cloth and stared after her in confusion. `What the hell is her problem? Do all demons have such bad attitudes?' Stripping out of the ruined silk, she scrubbed herself clean with the cloth and scalding hot water, rinsing her hair in the dregs. Though not what she'd had in mind, the bath still felt good.

 

Aoi entered again, this time without knocking. She laid a bundle of brightly colored fabric on a rack near the futon. “Put these on,” she snapped, gesturing to the pile. “And these,” she laid a variety of hair ornaments on a low table near the clothes rack. Without further explanation, she left Charlotte to her own devices.

 

Letting herself air dry, Charlotte sorted through the garments on the rack, enjoying the feel of silk on her fingers. `What am I dressing for, anyway?' she mussed, astonished by the quality of the material. There were three separate kimonos: one in plain white, one in canary yellow, and one in a soft purple embroidered with yellow flower petals. A yellow sash lay on top of the collection, with a pair of toed socks and wooden sandals. The order in which to wear the garments seemed fairly obvious, but she had no idea how to tie the sash such that it made the big, fluffy bow in the back. Fighting with sleeves that covered her hands, she wrapped the yellow silk around her waist twice and knotted it to the side, letting the ends hang long.

 

Rummaging through the many drawers in the dressing table, she found a brush, a small mirror, and cosmetics. Teasing the knots out of her long blonde hair, she brushed it until it glistened in the afternoon sun that filtered through the windows. She twisted the top half of her hair into a neat bun, fixing it in place with one of the combs. The rest of her hair she left long and shining.

 

The cosmetics took a little figuring out, but she managed to line her eyes with a dark paint and add a hint of a blush to her cheeks and lips. With a fine-toothed hair comb, she applied the dark paint to her eyelashes. Surveying herself critically in the small mirror, she decided that she liked what she saw.

 

Slipping on the tabis and shoes, she was surprised that they fit pretty well. Finding nothing else to do, she took her time inspecting the hangings on the wall. Made of woven straw or rice, they were painted with scenes of female youkai posing in gardens or lavish rooms. Most were inuyoukai, but other breeds were present as well. She almost missed a particularly interesting painting: it was almost covered by another hanging. Moving aside the top wall hanging, she giggled. The scene depicted reclining youkai in various states of undress being greeted by their lovers. It hid another peculiar feature of the room: a narrow door that seemed to lead into the next room. She jiggled the handle but the door was locked.

 

Aoi burst in to the room and glared at her. “Follow, …” she called Charlotte an unfamiliar name. She wasn't sure if she should be offended or not. Scowling, Charlotte strode after her, forcing the smaller demon to pick up her pace to stay ahead.