InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Seven Feudal Fairy Tales ❯ OtoHime ( Chapter 33 )

Disclaimer: These characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi and other associated companies.

 

 

Chapter Thirty-Three: Oto-hime

 

 

The turbulent currents of turquoise churned around the stripped tai youkai as he and his reptilian mount swam through the tide, its tumultuous pulls belying the calm surface above them. He looked up, his vision slightly blurred in the haze of water that enveloped him. Overhead he could see the checkered radiance of the sunlight striking the sea, the diluted rays filtering down and leaving delicate designs of light on his pale skin and on the broad shell of the turtle he rode.

 

As they descended into the darker teals of the deepening waters, he felt the strain of his lungs, demanding air much like he often demanded respect. Again, his sight drifted up to the departing surface. If he could not breathe water in this story then it was best to discover it now and before the safety of the sky was too far for him to reach.

 

Slowly he expelled his breath. Strings of bubbles escaped his lips, rising eagerly to the surface above to join their distant brethren overhead. Soon there was nothing left, but the aching pull of his lungs to be filled. Ready with a small, tentative intake of breath, he inhaled the seawater. The fluid coursed into him, unexpectedly seizing his body into a wrenching, coughing fit. He grasped futilely at his chest as more unbidden water invaded his open mouth and nostrils as he gasped. Then as he summoned his youki to propel himself to the surface, his body gradually relaxed, allowing the liquid air that is the ocean to flow in and out of him as naturally as any air above.

 

`The miko's story did not elaborate well enough on that particular event,' he thought to himself with his mouth bent in an irritated frown as he quelled his aura and resettled himself on the turtle.

 

Slipping even further into the abyss, the animal nearly grazed the white sand of seafloor, rippled evenly by the constant caress of the tides. Sparingly at first, the knobby, porous formations of coral began to appear. Deceivingly sharp, their pastel rainbows soon carpeted the ocean bed, covering the sand with their alien designs. Hidden safely in the security of their nooks and crannies, the colorful apparitions of fish idled, unsure of the strange visitor who glided on the familiar beast above them.

 

A shadow loomed over the demon and briefly faded away before returning a moment later. His gaze again traveled above now to see the long silhouettes of hundreds of sharks soaring by in the distance, their odd heads capping their sleek bodies at a strange angle.

 

Mesmerized by the beautifully eerie sight, he failed to notice the abrupt drop ahead as the continental shelf ended in a sheer cliff. Without ceremony, the turtle descended steeply into the darkness of the chasm. The water chilled the tai youkai's skin and he instinctively tightened his grip on the rim of his mount's shell. The night of the deep consumed the little radiance of the sun that remained so that even the silver glint of his flowing hair was loss to its appetite.

 

Faint at first, a cool glow slowly warmed in the demon's eyes. The icy currents gradually subsided as they journeyed closer to the welcoming beacon of light surrounded by the inescapable dark. Towering columns of rock furnaces revealed themselves from the shadows as the travelers closed in. Hot, bubbling gases escaped from their peaks, heating the sea around them. Brightening with every stroke of fin, the glow broadened and the beast beneath him shifted in its glide, leveling the approaching sanctuary ahead of them.

 

Shapeless initially in the fog of the black ocean, the growing radiance before them began to take form. Soon the outline of a broad castle made of enormous seashells appeared, contrasting harshly with the sheer, onyx rock it was nestled against. The ripples of scallop, the spirals of conch and the fans of oyster; these countless shells formed the walls, the roofs and the towers and all were illuminated in a brilliant, white glow.

 

The turtle paused in its flight through the water, hovering above a soft blanket of sea anemones, their strange blossoms radiating with a blue light. Their numbers seemed endless as they formed a glowing path to the palace a short distance away. Slipping from its hard back, the tai youkai landed lightly on the flora below, the blooms he touched withdrawing promptly into tight buds under the slight pressure of his feet. Free of its rider, the turtle swiftly swam away, gliding high above and towards the waiting castle.

 

Sesshoumaru watched it until it was merely a speck against the massive palace and then disappeared altogether. When it was gone, he leveled his sight on the luminous structure at the end of the road. The water around him felt strangely thin, the weightlessness of the ocean lost as he began to step down the pathway. With each careful footfall he made, the anemones closed, leaving a lingering trail of dark footprints to mar the once unblemished way he had been.

 

The road ended at the gradual arch of a giant oyster shell whose broad, glowing surface resembled a gentle cascade of steps. At the peak, an archway stood, formed from the downward placement of an open scallop, its two shells still joined at the apex. Floating effortlessly in the water before it, an eel undulated. Points of light gracing its sleek form and a glow escaping its mouth as it casually yawned; it waited patiently as the demon approached.

 

Then in a swift sudden motion, it circled the youkai lord like an iridescent whip. He raised his hand defensively in case the creature had any sinister designs for his person, but soon relaxed, marveling at the speed the agile animal spiraled around him. The lights that illuminated it moved like streaks as it swam, his eye barely catching more than the afterglow of the eel as it passed through his vision.

 

Strangely satisfied, it stopped as abruptly as it had begun, zigzagging away towards the arch before pausing in its flight. With a flick of its transparent, tail fin, it beckoned its guest. Lightly furrowing a brow and folding his arm comfortably against his bare chest, Sesshoumaru followed his nimble guide into the castle.

 

 

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The walls of the narrow corridor glowed brightly as they traveled through it, their smooth appearance resembling the thin flesh of giant, overlapping fish fins complete with the delicate spines that framed them. The floor beneath the soft, padding steps of his bare feet shimmered like mother of pearl, its surface glossy and pure like the sheen found within the open shell of an oyster.

 

The eel slipped through the water of the hall, twisting in play every so often before settling back into an easy glide as it led the demon lord through the labyrinth of passages and quaint courtyards of the palace. From simple rock gardens to elaborate crystal monuments of sea life, the castle appeared ceaseless in its exotic wonders. Finally the animal came to a stop, coiling through the liquid air before a broad sliding door made from a single clamshell filed flat to suit the entryway. Using its narrow snout to point, it gestured to the shallow handle carved into the door.

 

Self-assuredly, the tai youkai stepped forward, grasping the handle and sliding open the deceivingly light door. Gliding easily down its track, its absence revealed a sprawling, open-air room. Fine silks of rich teal, fuchsia and purple draped across its length; their gold dipped ends weightlessly fluttering nearly to the polished floor below.

 

Sesshoumaru stepped through the threshold, brushing the fabric from his path as he walked through the room. Like drops of water falling in a cavern, a giggle echoed, stopping him in his tracks as he cast about guardedly for its source.

 

“My, my, what do we have here?” a sultry, feminine voice asked as it poured through the liquid air

 

“Where are you?” the demon ordered, disregarding her question as he slowly moved through the waving cloth surrounding him. He scowled as he listened for her movement, the water and strange echoes distorting his hearing.

 

“I am before you, love. You only need to look,” she laughed effervescently, her voice retaining a rich purr through her amusement. “Come to me.”

 

Not caring to dignify her command with an answer, the tai youkai moved stealthily as he wove his way forward towards the center of the room. He parted the final panel of silk and found his quarry.

 

Reclined alluringly on a shimmering bed of pearls, the slender figure of a woman lay, biting her lip tenderly as her violet eyes roamed in appreciation at his sight. Pale blue in tone, her skin glittered faintly in pink and lavender in the low light of the room. Draped loosely over her shoulders and bound at her waist, her fuchsia kimono hung off her lithe body, concealing little with its transparent fabric. Coiled around her arm, the eel rested, its lights growing red under the gentle ministrations of her stroking fingers. Her eyes never leaving the demon before her, she pulled the creature close to her glistening, dark violet lips, setting a soft kiss on its cheek. It writhed excitedly at the caress of her touch.

 

“Be gone, my pet,” she finally whispered to it in a soothing tone as the animal slowly calmed. Its lights still burning bright, it whipped away in a blur of radiance, sending the floating silks high into the liquid air as it passed. “You though,” she added as she leaned forward, the dark tips of her full breasts pressing against the inside of her delicate robe. “You will stay.”

 

“Who are you?” the youkai lord demanded, ignoring her command again.

 

“Me? I am Oto-hime, the daughter of the Dragon King of the Sea. I am your love, Urashima Taro.”

 

“I am not he,” he answered stoically.

 

“Really?” she replied with a soft moan of pleasure as she stretched her supple body and then rose to her knees. Achingly slow, she crawled to the foot of her jewel filled bed, her silken robe falling from her shoulders, nearly exposing her before she met the end. “I only see a fisher-boy before me and a fine one at that. Why would anyone, but my love appear before me in so little clothing?”

 

“Armor and silk do not weather saltwater well.”

 

“A practical fisher-boy, I see,” she remarked coolly as she stood, her navy hair bound perfectly upon her head with shells and starfish decorating it. “But still a fisher-boy. Come to me, love. Allow me to spoil you with every desire imaginable.”

 

“I do not wish for anything, but the chest.”

 

“Not three days have passed and you wish to return to the surface,” she commented in mock disappointment as she strolled towards him, her hips swaying seductively with every step. “You would deny yourself what you deserve?”

 

“I will deny myself what I like. Now retrieve the chest for me.”

 

“Pity,” she remarked as she approached him, reaching out smoothly to touch his exposed skin. He grasped her hand firmly, gripping it tightly as his eyes narrowed severely on her. She gasped lightly in delight at his strength, stroking his clenched hand with the fingers of her free hand. He felt his nerves prickle then ease at her soothing caress, loosening his grip and freeing her. He blinked in bewilderment, staring at his open hand in confusion. Playing into his momentary distraction, she continued her touch, dragging her nails lightly along the tightly corded muscles of his thick forearm and bicep, setting his nerves on fire with every lingering caress. Her fingers found the fine ripple of his broad shoulder, slipping down his powerfully built back. Wetting her lips in anticipation, she let her hand slip to his exposed rounded cheeks, delighting in the firmness that she found there. “You are quite a strapping boy, my love.”

 

“What are you doing to me?” he demanded, his baritone voice deepening huskily as he pivoted away from her and her dangerous touch. She looked up at him demurely with her sparkling, violet eyes, a long, purple fingernail of her hand held evocatively between her teeth.

 

“Encouraging you to stay,” she replied at last, stepping towards him again, her body moving with a fluid grace. “I will have you for three days, perhaps more. I will not be denied.”

 

“And I will not be commanded,” he snarled as he sublimated the growing desire her sensuous touch had stirred. Moving like a flash of silver and beige, his clawed hand found her elegant neck, raising her delicate figure into the liquid air. “Give me the chest. Now.”

 

“You are a silly fisher-boy,” she purred, her nails again finding his skin. This time he was ready and he focused his thoughts, concentrating on every muscle of his arm and hand, willing them to contract as her touch sought to loosen them. His breaths became heavy; sweat beading on his smooth skin and slipping down the firm, muscular curves of his torso. He would not lose to himself. The indignity of it alone kept his hold tight as he increased the pressure of his grip. Then he felt it. Subtle at first, but it was undeniably there. The repelling force of the barrier. Could she be one of them?

 

“Who are you?' he demanded again behind clenched teeth as he felt his strength waning before her persistent attentions.

 

“Who am I?” she repeated, unfazed by his attack and moaning happily at his slowly weakening grip. “I am Oto-hime.”

 

“No, who are you beyond this realm? Who were you?”

 

She giggled softly as his hand fell away in defeat, allowing her to land agilely on the floor below.

 

“I was the earth god maiden, Kushinada-hime. Susanou's wife. I was his and now you are mine, my love.”

 

 

A/N: Wow, I'm productive this week… and with good reason:P