InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Seven Feudal Fairy Tales ❯ A Knight and A Maiden ( Chapter 58 )

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

 

 

Chapter Fifty-Eight: A Knight and A Maiden

 

 

Eager, ocean waves broke against the dark rocks scattered along an empty shoreline, their impacts sending generous sprays of saltwater high into the air. Sheer and insurmountable as it loomed overhead, the waves splashed heavily at the base of the steep cliff as it rose from the sea and reached high into the heavens. Craggy and treeless at its summit, it looked down at the blue ocean rippling below, the timelessness of its stone contrasting sharply with the dynamic motions of the sea.

 

A speck of gray grew in the pale, cloudless sky above the ocean, lightening with every passing moment as it neared the shore. Formless at first, the silvery streak gradually slowed as it approached, taking on the vague outline of a man and colored with the hues of white, black and red. Then as smoothly as he had flown, he landed atop the cliff, taking a few, short steps before stopping completely. With the curls of his downy pelt wrapped around his shoulder and trailing down his back, Sesshoumaru turned to look back at the limitless ocean and at the way he had come. China seemed further than he remembered.

 

With a noncommittal shrug, he returned his gaze to what lay in front of him. Their shadowy entrances littering the mountainside, a cluster of sea caves were scattered before him. Unnaturally rounded in shape with a maze of trails leading between them, the tai youkai knew without a doubt that he had arrived to the right spot. Choosing the closest path, he cautiously hiked up the broad track, silently noting the glass-like surface of the earth, the hardened ground appearing rippled as if it had been melted again and again over time.

 

Nearing the first burrow, he warily paused at the enormous opening of the tunnel that lay before him. Silhouetted black with the bright sun at his back, he reached to touch the black glass of the entrance with his golden sight methodically tracing over each curve until it settled on the dark abyss of the descending burrow. The smooth stone tinkled as he soon tapped it lightly with his nails while listening carefully for any telling sounds hidden in the soft whispers of wind as it funneled past him. Then his fingers stilled and his eyes narrowed. The sharpness dulled little by the rushing breeze, the intermittent scraping of scurrying claws rang out from deep in the disappearing passageway.

 

His hard jaw set firmly, the youkai lord withdrew the heavy blade, Tokijin from his yellow, obi sash, the youki-imbued metal catching what scant sunlight that penetrated the darkness of the cave. Prudence murmured in the back of his rational mind, warning wisely against challenging the mysterious beasts that scrambled deep in the mountain. He had never fought a firerat in his many years of warring and hunting and only knew vaguely of them through their less than savory reputation. At best, they quite literally lived up to their name and the scroll should protect him from the worst. Despite the impending danger, his somewhat bruised pride directed his reason as it still protested over his actions in the last tale. Sleeping indulgently on the boat when the simple miko had been left to fight a band of ogre bandits on her own with only a monkey and a colorful fowl as back up was not his finest moment as a demon warrior. No, his pride wanted blood and it would be no good unless it was a challenge.

 

Hesitation now a notion of the past, Sesshoumaru progressed cautiously into the blackness with his eager sword raised and ready in front of him. Soon swiftly denied even the faintest glimmer of light, the demon's easy and confident stride slowed as he continued blindly down the winding tunnel. Determinedly straining his usually keen eyes, he finally and reluctantly conceded to grope for the sure guidance of the smooth yet rippled wall. The cool glass met the back of his hand as it still gripped his weapon and he sighed soundlessly at the polished touch, allowing his forearm to graze along the rock as he delved deeper into the borrow.

 

Scratching claws and snuffling breaths echoed louder on the warming air and the stone he brushed against lost its chill. A hint of amber flickered dimly ahead, penetrating the encompassing darkness and hardening the tai youkai's expression. Snorts and shuffling sounds started and stopped as the radiance akin to torchlight grew. Then around the bend, the first flickers of fire appeared.

 

Swathed in a torrent of flame, the massive rodent approached, ignorant of the demon's presence as its lowered head rose in a bobbing motion to vainly scent the air. Both sleek and bulbous, the firerat's body engulfed the passageway, heating the rock it pressed against until it glowed nearly as brightly as the fiery beast did. Oozing from its pointed snout and down its protruding, fire-darkened teeth, molten saliva dripped to sizzle on the floor below. Bulging, crimson eyes sat wide on its elongated face with a red afterglow tracing the air as it twitched nervously, sensing an intruder in its midst. Then with a piercing screech that reverberated through the walls, it found its quarry.

 

The high-pitched ring of scratching claws striking glass followed as the firerat charged at the youkai lord before it. Standing unwaveringly as it thundered towards him, Sesshoumaru glared at the rodent and waited. With the blistering tendrils of fire nearly upon him as the creature lunged with its tooth-lined maw agape, the demon dodged away at the last moment, pressing hard against the wall. Unable to twist toward its elusive prey, the lumbering firerat dove by the inu youkai, feeling the searing pain of a blade puncturing its side. Gritting his teeth under the strain, the tai youkai held Tokijin straight and still as it sliced through the bone and flesh of the passing beast. A flurry of tortured screeches erupted in the burning air and sprays of blood scorched the ground as it spattered from the wound.

 

Landing hard and clumsily, the injured firerat tumbled and slid up the tunnel, leaving a boiling trail of blood in its wake. Disfiguring the swirl of flames that coated its body, the deep slash hung open, jagged and dark. Then it slowly narrowed, sealing shut under the cauterizing fire that surrounded it. Rising to its feet, it snarled its screech with broad fangs clicking as it gnashed its teeth.

 

“Hn,” Sesshoumaru snorted, patting out against the wall the embers that singed his silken sleeves. Stepping carefully over the pools that sizzled and popped on the ground, he approached the growling rodent as it now in turn wisely waited for him to attack. Another mild snort broached his lips and the youkai lord sprinted forward, becoming a silver blur reflecting gold in the firelight.

 

Leaping back onto its haunches in an instant, the shrewd creature avoided the lethal strike that intended to drive into its brain, but the quick edge did not leave it unscathed as it pierced through its chin and snout, nailing the beast securely to the ceiling above. Roaring angrily, it shook its head back and forth, attempting to free itself. A hot, sickly green glow grew in the amber light and Sesshoumaru released his grip on Tokijin to further beckon the poison youki that poured from his hand.

 

Then his hand shrouded in volatile poison shot forward, firmly grasping the pinned rat by its vulnerable throat. Intense flames licking his blistering skin, he winced at the sharp pain searing his arm and stared on in astonishment as the blaze vaporized the harsh youki he thought to melt the beast with. The air heavy and marbled with smoke and the acerbic vapors of acid, the tai youkai sprang away to land several paces from the writhing rodent still impaled through the snout. Looking down to examine his peeling and bubbled injuries, he snarled his annoyance and summoned the return of his demonic aura to relieve him of the oozing wounds.

 

Absorbed in swiftly healing the deep burns that scarred his hand and arm, the dripping of molten glass nearly escaped his notice. Spattering on the ground by his boot, the demon's sight rose in time to dodge as another as it seeped from the melting ceiling above. Splashing innocuously where he was standing, Sesshoumaru spied back at the descending burrow lit in the bright glow of liquid glass. He desired a challenge and that is what he received. Now he better understood why there was relatively little known about firerats and why a pelt of one was rather prized. To think he considered the flight over the sea between Japan and China to be his greatest obstacle.

 

“The sea,” he spoke out loud and under his breath, staring past the frustrated rodent and at the hidden opening that lay beyond the winding passages. A suitable plan formulated in his mind and he took a step toward the beast. “Perhaps there is only one way for a dog to dispose of a rat.”

 

 

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A rumble vibrated throughout the dark mountain, sending bits of dislodged stone clattering down the trails and caves that lined its side. The quaking persisted and grew in strength with each passing shake with the crackling of shattering glass paths sharp in the air. Boulders tumbled next as several tunnels collapsed under the stress, sending the large stones spilling over the edge of the cliff.

 

Then with a burst of rock and earth, the brilliant flames of the firerat found the brighter radiance of the sun as it flew from the once protected confines of its burrow. Behind it, emerged an enormous dog with a white coat that dazzled in the sunlight. Wrapped in a silvery mane of fur and adorned with a blue crescent upon his forehead, Sesshoumaru shook the soiling dirt from his pelt. Panting from the exertion, his pink tongue, jagged at the tip, lolled from his jaws and he watched the now insignificant rodent plummet helplessly over the edge of the cliff.

 

With brewing satisfaction, he padded down the mountainside in a few strides and looked down at the distant shoreline. Meeting his pleased sight, a billowing cloud of steam pooled off the surface of the ocean. The fog dispersing slowly on the wind, revealing the red form of doused firerat as it paddled toward the beach.

 

Springing over the precipice, the youkai lord bounded down through the air as if it were solid beneath his paws until he met the soft, wet sand of the shore. Pressing it into neat prints, the minuscule grains gave in easily as he strolled confidently toward his prize still adrift in the pulling currents of the sea. Through the lapping saltwater, he waded out to the rodent and snatched it up easily in his jaws. Not quite to the demon's taste, the soggy firerat squirmed and snarled futilely in his maw before being shaken vigorously back and forth. Under the furious jerking, muscles tore and bones broke with a series of sickening pops and snaps. As the hide easily healed as the youkai's sharp teeth scraped, the beast's spine was another matter and with one final crack, the rodent's screeching ended and it lay limp in his jaws.

 

Tossing the revolting and lifeless creature onto the sandy beach, the tai youkai waded back looking vaguely disgusted. With a good shake, water flew from his dripping pelt, leaving him marginally drier than he was before, but his disgruntled expression remained. How he did despise getting wet.

 

 

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Painted lips pursed to match her furious glare, Kagome stared down at the sly smirk of the white knight below her perch at the window sill above. Glimmering brilliantly in her delicate hands was a tree branch of solid gold with broad, silver leaves and weighted with diamond encrusted fruit. Glittering beautifully under her luminescent skin as jewels and precious metals only could, it was the promised gift delivered by the second knight after his quest to find Mount Horai.

 

“Does it not please you, my future bride?” he asked smugly, sending another sparkling-toothed grin her way.

 

“No, it doesn't,” she seethed, her sepia eyes narrowing darkly at his presumptuous declaration of victory.

 

“I traveled to the legendary Mount Horai for your hand in marriage and now you deny my claim? I am deeply wounded.”

 

“You didn't go anywhere!” she yelled vehemently, “This isn't a branch from the tree of gold and silver on Mount Horai.”

 

“Do I dare believe that you would name one as noble as I, a liar?”

 

“Yes!”

 

“Why for?”

 

“Because, you're lying!”

 

“These persisting jests of yours are simply too cruel, my love. My heart cannot bare it much longer. Please be merciful.”

 

“What? Do you want proof or something?”

 

“Ah, if I prove your proof false then will you leave this palace for mine?”

 

“Sure, why not?”

 

“Then do your best to prove me wrong, lovely, sheltered princess,” he agreed with a self-satisfied chuckle.

 

“All right, if you think you're so confident,” she said with a devious smile, raising her finger to point at the group of men in yukata robes waiting patiently behind him, Then who are those people behind you?”

 

“There are no people behind me, my mistaken bride,” he replied without turning, his smirk flashing again.

 

“There are too people behind you!”

 

“Your nerves must be stressing you so that you see that which is not there.”

 

“If my nerves are stressed, it's because of you!” the school girl growled angrily before turning her sight on the whispering men both enraptured and terrified of the beauty sitting in the window. “Why don't I ask them who they are? Excuse me! Yes, you guys. Who are you all of you and what are you doing here?”

 

“We are simple jewelers,” the bravest one piped up nervously after they briefly discussed about who would be the unfortunate one to answer the enraged woman looming overhead. “We came to seek our payment from this knight for our services.”

 

“Really, must this be asked?” the knight questioned.

 

“And what services were those?”

 

“For the creation of a branch molded from gold with leaves of silver and bearing fruit encrusted with diamonds,” the jeweler continued shakily.

 

“So, all of you made this, right? He didn't find this during his voyage to Mount Horai, did he?”

 

“We made it so that he would not have to seek Mount Horai, beautiful moon princess.”

 

“I see,” Kagome remarked coldly, her icy glare finding the shrugging knight, “Would you care to dispute that?”

 

“Perhaps they are the liars?”

 

“Get out!”

 

“Yes, if you so bid it,” he graciously acquiesced with a long sigh, and then bowed elegantly before turning on his heel and shuffling dejectedly toward the stone steps.

 

“Jewelers!”

 

“Yes, hime?”

 

“Take it,” she offered, tossing the gleaming branch down into the grasp of the boldest jeweler. “I have no use for false treasures.”

 

“We are greatly appreciative of your generosity. You are a truly honorable maiden if not marginally frightening,” he thanked with a broad grin and then scurried off with his companions as they descended the stairs after the rejected knight.

 

With a puff of breath ruffling her bangs, the school girl rose up from the uncomfortable sill. Taking her usual, small strides, she walked carefully across the polished wood floor of the room. Sliding the rice paper door open, she left the room for the exquisite décor of the dining area. Passing beautiful murals detailing the brilliance of the night sky, she approached the elderly couple sitting around a large table.

 

“Are you satisfied now, my dear?” the old woman asked as she knelt on the tatami mat floor, scooping rice from a pot into a porcelain bowl for her husband waiting contentedly to her left.

 

“No,” Kagome grumbled, eyeing the broken, stone bowl, the badly painted clam shell and the glued-together, multi-colored glass jewel; all failed offerings meant to fulfill the knights' quests, although she had to admit the red knight's attempt to pass a clamshell off as belonging to a swallow had been more an exercise in amusement rather than annoyance. “I'm just frustrated.”

 

“Why? Your favored knight shall arrive soon. Were you not so sure of his impending triumph?”

 

“I am. He can't lose. He doesn't know how to. It's just that…”

 

“Come and sit, my child,” the Bamboo-Cutter beckoned gently and gestured to the soft cushion beside the ebony table that his wife was busily serving dinner upon. “Tell us what troubles you.”

 

“It's nothing really,” she said dismissively, kneeling down with a newly practiced grace. “I just don't know what to do.”

 

“You are doing as one of your revered status is expected to do. You are not meant to do more. That we allow you to confront-”

 

“Yes, I know,” she interrupted with a sigh as she poked grumpily at her perfectly piled rice with an ivory chopstick. “I appreciate that you allow me to send them away or that you let me spend my days outside of that boring room. Please don't believe that I don't. It's just that because of him and the experiences I've had here, I'm stronger and wiser now. So, now as I sit here and wait for him to return, it feels as if all of that has become pointless. I am who I was when it all began. It's as if I've become again the weak, little girl who stays back while others fight to save me.”

 

“Do not consider such thoughts, my child,” the elderly woman chided kindly, her warm eyes finding her daughter's worried stare. “There is purpose in being the one who waits.”

 

“What good purpose is there to sitting around in safety when others are putting themselves in danger for your sake?”

 

“Do not think of it from such a cold perspective. Consider it instead from what your champion believes. From what he needs. From what you represent to him.”

 

“I don't understand.”

 

“All heroes and adventurers worthy of their title need a reason to fight. A reason to stride into battle and to face their potential end. No warrior can slay evil or vanquish their enemies without it. Some may do it for the reward of treasure and others for pride, but the truly great ones do it for what they come home to. When you wait for your knight, you give him that intangible strength, because when the terrifying beast lurks before him, he knows that there is someone who will be waiting for him once the monster is put to its death. Do you understand your importance now, Kaguya-hime?”

 

“I think so,” Kagome admitted, still prodding her food as she contemplated on the words of the old, earth goddess. “He needs me to wait for him, right? He needs me to be here for him when he returns?”

 

“Yes, more than anything else.”

 

“Then, I'll wait for him,” she answered with a weak smile, finding a bit of hidden resolve in her declaration.

 

“Good.”

 

Brassy and regal, the melody of a horn sounded beyond the walls of wood and paper, jarring the school girl from her contemplations.

 

“What was that?”

 

“The emperor,” the Bamboo-Cutter replied, looking worriedly to his wife. “He is already here.”