InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Teaching Rin ❯ Chapter 13 ( Chapter 13 )

Disclaimer - It’s not mine. Never was. The only characters I own are the ones that have never appeared in the Inuyasha anime or manga.

A/N - Special thanks to all of you who have reviewed my story. I’m always glad to hear from you, whether it be comments or criticisms on a character’s behavior.

And here is an extra, extra long chapter for all my patient reviewers. Thanks for sticking in there with me! Good news is, now that my classes are over for the semester, updates should be much more frequent! Sounds good, yes?

Teaching Rin

Chapter 12

Getting More Than Expected

Kaida felt herself slowly drifting into the world of painful wakefulness, but struggled to stay in her current state of blissful ignorance. She probably would have managed to escape back into her dream world had the other occupant of the futon she was resting on not decided to roll over and mumble incoherently.

Kaida, not used to having someone sleeping beside her, opened her eyes and looked down, only to find Rin curled up under another blanket. The dragon demoness frowned and quickly took in her surroundings, pining her location as the infirmary in Sesshomaru’s fortress. She reached down and pulled the cover off of her, wincing at the sight of numerous bandages that covering her legs.

“What happened to me?” she whispered, pulling the bandages off and rolling them up to dispose of.

“Apparently you were ambushed.” came a male voice that Kaida knew quite well, despite not hearing it for so long. She turned to look towards a corner that was shrouded in shadow and found two glowing green eyes, slit in aggravation. As the owner of those eyes came out of the darkened corner, Kaida stared at her twin brother Keiji, her confusion obvious. “But that is just my guess.”

“How long have you been here?” she asked.

“Father and I have been here for two days.” he answered, making her sit so he could remove the bandages around her midsection. “Sesshomaru sent us a letter that you had been lured away from the fortress by a false letter, and attacked. Apparently, Ishika managed to get you back here, but I still haven’t figured out how.”

“What do you mean?” Kaida asked groggily. “And what happened to me?”

“Her wings are in shreds, and there’s more bare muscle showing on her body than scales.” Keiji said, rolling up a ball of gauzy material that had been soaked with his sister’s blood. “As for what happened, we were hoping you could tell us. Although father seems to think Haruto and Kiyoshi have something to do with it.”

“How long have I been out?” she asked grumpily. She didn’t like the fact that her friend had been so gravely injured, especially when she had been unconscious and unaware of the damage being done to the beast.

“Two days.”

“Two days!” she barked, not believing him.

“Don’t start complaining about it.” her brother snapped angrily. “You’re lucky, that’s for damned sure. That blasted rock you had around your neck was siphoning off enough energy from the human girl to keep you alive until the Healers fixed you up. And you are not healed enough to go stomping around like you normally do. These wounds have barely closed!”

“Bet Sesshomaru wasn’t happy about that.” she grumbled, adjusting her clothing back into place, and completely ignoring her brother’s rant about her health.

“I think he is more concerned with the fact that’s she’s been right by your side since this happened.” Keiji commented with a shrug, looking down at Rin‘s sleeping form. “I need to go tell father you are awake. Excuse me.”

“That’s it?” Kaida asked suddenly, eyeing her brother like he was some being from another land.

“What’s it?” he asked.

“You’re not going to tell me off for getting hurt?” she prodded. Usually Keiji would relish having something to hang over her head. This had to be serious. “No comments about how stupid I am for leaving the security of the fortress in a huff, and not thinking before I act? Nothing?”

“Not from me.” he said dryly.

“Are you sure you weren’t the one who got hit on the head?” Kaida asked skeptically. “Maybe you’re the one that needs to lie down.”

“Wait until father gets here.” Keiji said dryly. “He’ll say enough of that for the both of us.”

-

Keiji had not been kidding when he’d told her that their father had a scolding waiting for her. The dragon lord had come to the infirmary only a few moments after Keiji had left, anger in his eyes at what had happened to his daughter. Kaida had managed to get her father and Sesshomaru out long enough to change into some clean clothing, thanks the help of Rin. The young girl had been woken when Ryu had come busting through the doors, demanding to know what had happened to her.

Rin had escorted her to the conference chamber that Sesshomaru and Ryu waiting in, then left with Keiji to see to some other matters. Kaida had walked in and took her seat, barely able to stay erect from the pain that was coursing through her body.

“What happened?” her father demanded angrily, just as soon as she kneeled down. “This mess has Haruto’s stench all over it! What did he do to you, Kaida?”

“I’m fine, father.” she answered, trying to placate the fuming demon in front of her. If her father didn’t get some answers, and soon, she’d doubt Sesshomaru’s fortress would be left standing much longer.

“You’re covered in abrasions and half dead. Your definition of fine is…..peculiar.” Sesshomaru pointed out stoically. Kaida just shot the Western Lord a cold glare and settled back on her knees.

“What happened?” Ryu repeated, stopping the stare down between his daughter and the white headed dog demon.

“It was an ambush.” she said quietly, looking down at the floor in absolute shame.

“So we assumed.” Sesshomaru said coldly. “Who was it?”

“I don’t know.” she answered truthfully.

“You don’t know?” her father asked.

“It could have been anyone. I was dazed….confused….” she said.

“Tell us what happened, from the beginning.” her father stated, his voice somewhat gentler.

“A messenger arrived with a letter that had your seal on it.” Kaida answered, looking to the demon across from her. “It said that Haruto’s armies had invaded, and Leiko and Kei had been taken as prisoners. They would trade me for them, but I had to meet Keiji at the borderland checkpoint first. So, I grabbed my weapons, hopped on Ishika and left.”

“It was later brought to my attention that the letter was a fraud.” Sesshomaru said calmly, handing the crumpled parchment to the Southern Lord to inspect. “By then, it was too late.”

“And after you left?” Ryu asked.

“I flew home as fast as I could.” she answered. “I stopped at the borderland checkpoint like the letter said, and waited for someone to show up. But no one ever did.”

“You said you were disoriented when you were attacked.” her father said, frowning. “Confused?”

“There is a standing spring near where I landed.” she said. “While I was waiting, I drank some of the water, as did Ishika. It wasn’t long after that, I was feeling odd. The only thing I can guess was that whoever was there, slipped something into the water before I got there. It‘s the only possibility I can think of.”

“Into a spring?” Sesshomaru asked skeptically. “Are you so susceptible to such a trick?” It was obvious he wasn’t believing a word of what she was saying, but Kaida really didn’t care. She knew what had happened, and she’d be damned if the demon across from her called her a liar, Western Lord or not! She was just about to give said lord a piece of her mind when her father stepped in.

“It depends on what they had put in the water, especially for it to have an effect on Ishika.” Ryu said solemnly. “It’s been known to happen before. Lacing a water source with something to make your enemy hallucinate. It’s an old trick, but a thorough one.” Ryu quickly reached across the table and took her hand in his own, flipping it over and lifting the sleeve of her kimono back to reveal her charred wrist that was still red and swollen.

Kaida cringed as her father’s fingers ran over the sensitive skin, but she said not a word. The older demon’s face contorted into a look of pure rage, and she knew all to well why.

Every demon walking the Earth had a weakness, something that could bring them to their knees in no time at all. For some, it was the properties of a particular plant. For others, it was a certain smell that overwhelmed their senses. But for the dragon demons, it was an aversion to anything made of iron. Iron charred their skin, left them weak and susceptible to attacks. Even their iron-made weapons were treated in a special mixture of natural compounds that kept metal from hurting them. And ingesting the metal in any way made them get confused almost instantly; causing them to hallucinate to a point where they would black out after a while.

It was a weakness that had always been kept secret within the species. No one besides another dragon demon was supposed to know about it. But whoever had attacked her knew exactly what to do to weaken her.

“It still doesn’t tell us who done this.” Sesshomaru said coldly. “There is no evidence that the Northern family had anything to do with this. The council is not going to listen if this is all the proof you have, Ryu. It is her word against theirs. Not a very convincing argument, given Kaida’s reputation.”

“There were no telling marks.” Kaida answered. “I don’t remember much, but they were dressed in normal clothing. Not the armor of soldiers, and not the cloth of merchants.”

“Bandits, then.” Sesshomaru said.

“Bandits would not be this organized.” Ryu answered. “Nor would they have any use of attacking Kaida, then letting her go. If they were going to hold her for ransom, I have no doubt she’d be sitting here right now.” Lord Ryu turned to her and frowned. “Is there anything else you can remember, Kaida? Anything at all.”

Kaida shut her eyes and tried to organize the little flashes of memories she had in her head. She could remember hearing jumbled voices, all mixed together, and the raucous laughter that accompanied it.

One of the demons, a lizard of some sort, had been wearing a yellow tunic, and he had a very nasally sounding voice that grated on her nerves….but that was all she could remember. Their speech had been muffled and disorienting to her ears, but she did remember one of them saying something about tipping their knives in viper poison.

“One of them said something about dipping their blades in viper venom.” she said, shaking her head to dislodge the rest of the memories. “And how their lord was going to be happy that they carried out their mission so well.”

“Viper venom?” Ryu asked.

“A blood thinner.” Sesshomaru said. “A blade doused in venom of a demonic viper will bleed consistently. Another old, but thorough, technique.” Ryu growled and sat back down at his seat, flustered by the lack on information that Kaida could provide for him. He apparently noticed her attempts at staying upright, and nodded in the direction of the shoji screen, silently telling her that she was dismissed. Grateful for the dismissal, she slowly got to her feet and headed for the entrance, trying not to wince as she walked. Outside the screen, Rin and Keiji were waiting for her.

“Well, what happened?” her brother demanded.

“Not now, Keiji.” she growled.

“Let’s get you settled down, Kaida.” Rin said, leading her back towards her quarters. “You still look pale, and the Healers said that it would be a few more days before you got back on your feet completely.” For once, Kaida did not argue with the young human’s nurturing nature, and turned to head for her quarters, only to be scooped up into her brother’s arms halfway down the corridor.

“Put me down!” she fumed.

“You can barely walk, little sister.” Keiji said calmly, weathering her icy glare. “No need for you to undo the Healers work just because you are stubborn. For once let someone else help you.”

“I don’t need help.” she stated firmly. “I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thank you.”

“Well right now, you’re not.” Rin said, pushing the door to her quarters open and motioning for Keiji to put her under the blankets of the futon. When they got her situated, Rin excused herself to go and get some food and tea for her patient. Keiji took a seat on the floor next to his sister and frowned.

“What did you not tell them, sister?” he asked. Kaida turned her head to the side, not willing to face her twin. It was an innate ability they had, always knowing when the other was hiding something important from the other.

“I think the ones who ambushed me were Northern soldiers.” she said quietly.

“Why do you say that?” Keiji asked.

“The way they spoke, their accents.” she said, closing her eyes and remembering all to well where she‘d heard those clipped tones of her attackers before. “It reminded me of Kiyoshi when he taunts me.”

“Ryuji went to the borderland checkpoint when we heard what had happened.” Keiji said. “Guess what he found.”

“Blood?” she asked sarcastically.

“Close.” he answered. “There were the uniforms of two of Haruto’s elites found along the spring bank.”

“Figures those damned cats had something to do with this.” Kaida murmured.

“What happened, Kaida? You didn’t tell father everything that happened to you, did you?” Keiji said.

“I don’t think Sesshomaru wants father to destroy his home.” she said, completely seriously. “So, no haven’t told him everything. And I doubt I will.”

“Did they hurt you?” Keiji asked, his own anger boiling dangerously close to the surface.

“I’m covered in bruises and gashes, big brother. So, yeah, I’d have to say I lost that particular fight.”

“You know what I mean.” he growled. Kaida sighed and turned to face him, her face devoid of any emotion.

“I don’t know.” she said quietly. “All I remember is flashes of what happened. I’m so sore all over…there’s no telling what they did to me. But I sincerely doubt they just patted me on my back and sent me on my way after they got done beating the hell out of me. ” Keiji growled and folded his arms over his chest.

“There is going to be a Lord’s meeting about this.” he said firmly. “Father has already decided to call an emergency meeting to confront Haruto with what we’ve found. That cat is on the verge of being killed, if not by me then by father. He’s gone too far this time.”

There was a knock on the shoji screen and a moment before it slid open, revealing the stoic forms of Sesshomaru and Ryu. The dragon lord walked over and stooped down to look at his daughter, but Sesshomaru simply shut the shoji door and walked away.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Could be better.” she answered, frowning slightly when a pain shot up her leg when she tried to move. “Have been worse, though.”

“The Healers said that it is going to be a few days before you are up to fighting with Sesshomaru again.” he grinned, seeing her throw a glare at him for that little comment.

“The bastard can find someone else to fight with.” she grumped. “I don’t have the energy to piss him off right now.”

“Now, now. No need to get hostile.” he said placatingly. Ryu had seen his daughter severely injured only a handful of times before. And she was always moody during the recovery, snapping at everyone she could until she was well enough to get on her feet again. Unfortunately, it looked like this time would be no different.

“What is going to happen, father?” Keiji asked. “This can not go on unpunished. Kiyoshi has gone too far this time!”

“I am going to call a Lord’s meeting.” he said standing back up. “Something has got to be done. As you’ve said, he’s gone too far this time. And now that we have evidence of him being in the Southern Lands, and having something to do with the attack on Kaida, I have a legitimate reason to call of this ridiculous arranged marriage without going against our laws.”

“So what am I supposed to do?” Kaida asked, sitting up slowly and looking to her brother and father.

“You, my dear, are staying right here for the time being.” Ryu answered.

“What?”

“You are not to move from the confines of this fortress again.” Ryu said sternly, fixing her with a glare that would have had her shrinking away at any other time. “No matter what kind of ridiculous letters you receive.”

“But..”

“No arguments, Kaida.” Ryu said. “Sesshomaru has assured me that from now on, you will have a sentry with you at all times when you are not within the confines of the castle.”

“I don’t need a babysitter.” she said hotly.

“That remains to be determined.” her father said sternly, his gaze pointedly on the healing gash on her arm.

“Do you honestly think I can’t take care of myself?” she asked. “I was ambushed, for Kami’s sake! And there were at least six of them there! How was I supposed to fight back when I couldn’t even stand up straight?”

“Which is exactly why you need someone else with you for a while.” Ryu said calmly. “I won’t have this happening to you again.”

“Then let me come home.” she said.

“No. You’re safer here.” Keiji said, shaking his head. Kaida was about to crawl down her brother’s throat, but her father stepped in once again.

“He’s right, as much as I am reluctant to admit it.” he said, rubbing his forehead absently. Kaida looked up at her father, expecting him to continue.

“Why is that?” she asked.

“There is a spy at the Southern fortress.” Ryu said simply.

“We think whoever it might be is working for Haruto.” Keiji said. “Right now, Ryuji and I are trying to flush him out.”

“Any suspects?” Kaida asked.

“A few. Each one as unlikely as the next.” her father said. “But we will find out soon. Even Leiko and Kei are on guard.”

“How are those two?” Kaida asked. “I’m surprised they didn’t come here just to pick on me.”

“They’ve been quiet lately.” Ryu said, almost as if he didn’t believe what he was saying. “I’ve had a number of suitors ask for permission to court them lately, but I am reluctant to allow it because of the problems we’re having with Haruto.”

“Let’em go. They can take care of themselves in a pinch.” Kaida said. “And if they can‘t fight their way out, they can always bitch enough to make the demons bring them back.” Kaida caught the laugh that Keiji discretely turned into a cough, and almost laughed herself as his face turned an interesting color of red. Her father, however, just frowned and shook his head.

“They are your sisters.” he stated.

“And they’re probably the ones who told everyone that putting iron ore in the water will turn us crazy for a while.” she fumed.

“Your sisters wouldn’t do that to you.” Ryu admonished harshly. “They are your family.”

“They hate me.” Kaida said pointedly. “Always have.”

“Your paranoia about your sister’s dislike for you is getting old, Kaida.” her father said. “This has been going on too long.”

“Don’t look for it to stop anytime soon.” she said. Ryu visibly tried to calm down, then kneeled to give his youngest daughter a careful hug.

“I don’t expect you to change anytime soon, my daughter.” he said. “But promise me that you will get well soon. You are going to have to appear before the Lord’s council and tell them what happened, you know that. And you are going to have to face Kiyoshi and Haruto as well.”

“I know.” she said sourly. Ryu stood from his position and motioned for Keiji to precede him.

“We’re on our way back to the South.” he said. “I will send word to you where and when the council meeting will happen.”

“Yes, father.” she answered. Ryu nodded and walked quickly from the room, leaving Keiji with his sister.

“Be good, little sister.” he said, ruffling her hair.

“Only if you are, big brother.” she teased. Keiji just grinned and walked out the entrance, pulling the screen as he went. Kaida settled back down onto the pillows, trying to hear what her father and brother were saying as they walked down the corridor.

A few moments later, she could pick up the faint steps of Rin coming down the same path and slipping the shoji screen back open. Kaida looked up and saw that the girl was carrying a large tray of food in her hands.

“I hope you’re hungry.” the human girl said, sitting the tray down on a small table nearby and looking at the demoness carefully. “I am under orders from Keisha to make sure you eat all of this. How are you feeling?”

“I could do with some tea.” Kaida said, reaching slowly for the small teapot. “I’ll be okay otherwise.” The young human girl continued on talking, rattling on about what had happened the night that she’d turned back up at the fortress, beaten to a pulp. Kaida listened to her as she ate, trying to piece together exactly what had happened to herself that evening.

She honestly remembered sensing the approaching demons, but her mind had been so blurry at the time, she had not had the sense to get on Ishika and leave. Not that it would have made all that much difference because she had a feeling that her faithful friend had been just as affected by the laced water as she had been.

There had been six of them, all males, and all dressed in common clothing. They had been carrying weapons, but she could not remember what they were. Kaida had never been one to be scared of an unfair fight. Kami knows she had been in her fair share of unfair battles. But the feeling of dread she’d had when she realized that she was practically helpless to the attackers had terrified her to her core.

Two had attacked her after making sure that Ishika was tied up and sedated, and the rest soon joined in. She had tried to fight back, but after landing a few good hits in, they had tied her hands behind her back and forced her to the ground. She remembered the punches to her face, the kicks to her stomach, the elbows to her back.

Her attackers had been ruthless, that much she remembered. The beating had went on for seemingly hours until everything had started to go black. She remembered being on the verge of passing out from blood loss when they had untied her. Another good hit to her temple, and she had been out cold. As for what they did to her after that, or how she’d managed to get to Ishika and back to the Western fortress, she still hadn’t figured it out.

She hadn’t even figured out why Ishika had headed back westward when their home in the south had been the closer of the two destinations.

“..come back later with some more medicine for those wounds.” Rin said, pulling her out of her analytical daydream.

“That’s fine.” Kaida answered, not really paying attention to the human girl at the moment. Rin stood and gathered up the dishes she had brought in, placing them on the tray, then turned back to Kaida. She fished for something in her pocket and quickly produced the small yellow energy stone that was missing from her neck. Rin reached down and deftly secured it around her neck again, and gave her a half smile.

“Get some rest.” she said calmly, pulling the blanket back up over her teacher’s shoulders when Kaida lay down. “You’re going to need it.”

“When did you become so bossy?” Kaida asked grumpily, feeling the first tendrils of sleep wrap themselves around her body, and picking up Rin‘s calming energy that was suddenly swirling around inside her.

“When my teacher decided to go get herself all banged up.” Rin said simply, smiling at her sweetly. Kaida said nothing, but simply nodded and let herself fall into the world of dreams, knowing deep down that whoever it was that had attacked her would not dare to come near Sesshomaru’s fortress.

So she was safe from any more attackers….at least for now.

-

“Kaida! Kaida! Come back here this instant!” Keiji yelled, following his sister out of the huge double doors that led into Sesshomaru’s fortress, Ryuji and Ryuichi right behind him . Kaida refused to slow down, and headed straight for the outer walls of the fortress, determined to get herself under control before she took the heads off of the proud cat demon was taunting her. Her mind was a whirl with anger and fear, and she was in no shape to deal with the council members, especially the Northern family.

-

It had been nearly a week since the attack, and her subsequent return to the Western Lands. As her father had said, he had called a council meeting of Japan’s ruling Lords and advisors, and she had been put front and center to tell what had happened to her. After her time in the council room, she’d been dismissed. And she had happily left the bickering males to their own devices.

Her father had brought out the uniforms of the Northern elite’s and presented them to the council for inspection before her testimony, but she doubted that it had made that big of a difference. Over half of the advisors of Japan were chauvinistic pigs that thought she was no better than a common whore, so she doubted that Haruto would get off with more than a slap on the wrist.

As Sesshomaru had pointed out, it was her word against Haruto’s. And few of the ruling council members were willing to listen to her story, let alone believe it. She had left the council room, intent on finding Rin to make sure that the human girl was okay, only to run smack into the one person she had not wanted to see.

Kiyoshi.

And it wasn’t bad enough that he had found her. If he had been alone, she could have handled him easily enough. But what finally made her snap was the elite soldier at his side. The tall lizard demon at Kiyoshi’s side was vaguely familiar to her, and she finally placed where she’d seen him before when he spoke.

His nasally voice had sent chills down her spine, and caused goose-bumps to pop up on her skin. It was the same demon that she remembered from the ambush. The one who had been wearing the yellow tunic, and the one who had tied her up between the trees.

They had cornered her in the corridor, taunting her and teasing her to the point where Kaida had finally snapped.

She lashed out at them both, causing a ruckus in the corridor, and honestly trying to tear Kiyoshi and the elite into shreds of bleeding flesh. It had only been a few moments after that when her three brothers had come running down the corridor, quickly honing in on her flaring energy, as well as Kiyoshi’s eldest brother Saburo.

The elder siblings had broken up the fight before any of the ruling Lords could get there. Keiji had pulled his twin to her quarters within Sesshomaru’s fortress, and Saburo had taken Kiyoshi to the other end of the castle.

Now, had they not met up again until the council meeting was over with, everything would have been fine. But as luck would have it, Kaida and Keiji had went to search out Rin not long after Kiyoshi and Kaida had been pulled apart the first time, and ran into the scheming cat and his lizard buddy once again. Only this time, they had cornered Rin near one of the fountains in the inner courtyard.

Kaida had stalked over, quickly getting between the obviously flustered girl and the two full grown demon males, and sending Rin to Keiji’s side.

-

“Take her inside to Keisha.” she ordered her brother. Keiji nodded and ushered Rin into the fortress, although he seemed reluctant to leave her side.

“Lovely day isn’t it, Kaida?” Kiyoshi asked, a malicious grin on his face as he looked her over.

“Don’t go near her again.” Kaida threatened. “Or I’ll take your head off.”

“You’re in no position to be making threats, love.” Kiyoshi said, reaching out to run his finger down Kaida’s jaw, only to have her slap it away. “You’re barely able to walk on your own.”

“I can still kill you, you bastard cat.” Kaida growled. “Rin is my student. And you are not to go near her. Is that understood?”

“I am beginning to think you don’t like us being here, Lady Kaida.” the elite had snickered.

“You can think? That’s a surprise.” Kaida said, turning to the elite. “I thought the majority of Kiyoshi’s lackeys were brainless, spineless idiots that he got to do his dirty work for him.”

“Well, you see, love, Kano here is not brainless, nor is he spineless.” Kiyoshi said simply, the smile still on his face as he walked around the demoness. “In fact, he seemed to like doing my last little bit of ‘dirty work’, as you so eloquently put it. I was otherwise occupied at the time, but I figured I could reward his good behavior by sharing one of my most prized possessions…..you.”

-

Needless to say, the fight that had ensued was one for the record books. Kaida, still healing from her wounds, attacked the Northern cat, quickly pinning him to the ground. Unfortunately, the elite soldier decided to join in the fight, and bodily picked Kaida up from his Lord’s son, pining her arms to her side so she couldn’t move.

By that time, the council members in the fortress had sensed the rising demonic energy outside the building and took to the window to see what was going on. The last thing that Kaida remembered seeing when she looked up at the large window was her father’s angry face, and then her control finally snapped.

Her anger overflowed, and her fear mounted until she was sure it would overflow and drown her. She had only been this angry, this terrified on a handful of other occasions, the last time being nearly sixty years before, when half of her battalion had been slaughtered right before her eyes. Her blood boiled, and she could feel the slow changes as her body reverted to its full demonic form.

She felt the painful tearing of the skin below her shoulder blades as a pair of leathery wings protruded through, tearing her haoiri. The seam of her hakamas ripped as her tail cut through the material easily, slashing from one side to the other in anger.

The northern elite was forced to let her go when she sank her elongated nails into his leg, causing blood to gush forth. The lizard dropped to his knees, howling in pain as she whirled around and slashed at his chest, causing his uniform to rip open. He fell to the ground, clutching his chest, and Kaida turned her attention to the blonde headed cat demon behind her.

She never remembered slashing at him, cutting his face and chest with her claws. Nor did she remember knocking him to the ground, and putting her booted foot in his bleeding chest. She never remembered knocking away some demon that had tried to restrain her from raising her hand back to deal the cat the final death blow that he so deserved.

But she finally snapped out of her murderous fit when the furious roar of a dragon rang through the inner courtyard, and she was bodily picked up by a pair of huge talons. Her fuzzy mind cleared immediately, like a bucket of icy water had been poured on her; and she looked back to her captor, and then down at the assembled Lords and council members standing at the entrance into the inner courtyard. She quickly saw her father, Keiji and Ryuji standing closest to her, and deduced that the dragon holding her in its taloned grip was none other than her brother Ryuichi.

The winged reptile let out a deafening roar and took to the air, quickly leaving the others standing in the inner courtyard. Kaida’s mind was still hazy, but when Ryuichi landed on the deserted part of the outer courtyard and let her go, she dropped to her knees, gasping for air, and fighting for control. She felt the demonic energy of her brother pulling in on itself as he reverted back to his more familiar humanoid form, and she felt the auras of her father and brothers running towards them.

She looked up and saw Keiji leading the pack, running towards her, and she panicked, which left her in the state she was in now, running away from her brothers because she was scared that she would go crazy and try to attack one of them while she was still in her full demonic form.

-

Her eyes were sparking in jade fire, and her wings batted against her back. Her tail whipped back and forth angrily as she quickly took to the sky and headed towards the forest where she knew Ishika was resting. She could feel her brothers following her, but she dared not turn to face them. She did not pick up her father’s energy though, and vaguely thought that he was probably trying to do some damage control, considering that she had just maimed, if not killed Lord Haruto’s son and one of his elite soldiers.

Oh yeah, she had not only pushed the line this time, but she had crossed it. And she had no doubt that if Haruto’s plans had not been to kill her before, they would be now.

Of course, that was if there was anything left of her after Sesshomaru and her father got done with her. Somehow she highly doubted that this display of uncontrolled power would go unpunished by either of them.

Yep. She was in trouble.

-

Sesshomaru watched in some sort of morbid fascination as the demoness he had employed as Rin’s instructor slowly changed into what looked like some sort of dragon-woman. He was close enough to see that the pupils of her eyes had disappeared, and the faint black markings that had appeared on her cheekbones and hands. But what surprised him the most, although no one surrounding him could tell, was the black wings that ripped through her clothing.

“Oh, Lord, not now..” he heard Ryu plead beside him. “Ryuichi! Ryuji! Keiji! Get her out of here!” The sons of the dragon demon moved into action quickly, but not before he saw Kaida quickly dispose of the elite holding her, and turn on the cat that had been taunting her for so long.

“Sesshomaru!” one of the councilmen hissed. “Do something!”

“This is not my fight.” he said icily, watching as Kaida easily back handed her eldest brother Ryuji away from her and then turning her attention back to the cowering cat lying on the cobblestones at her feet. The woman was just about to take Kiyoshi’s head off when she was restrained by her other brother, who had turned full demon in order to battle with her.

When the overgrown reptile simply took flight, leaving the rest of them to stare in wonder, Sesshomaru found himself wondering what was going to happen to the demoness. He saw Keiji and Ryuji take off towards where Ryuichi had taken her, and Ryu come back towards them.

“What happened here?” Haruto snarled, going to his son’s side and helping to stabilize the younger man. “How dare she do this to my son! I’ll have her head!”

“You’ll do no such thing!” Ryu growled back. “Your son, and elite, provoked her. Kaida doesn’t attack without a legitimate reason! It was self defense!”

“I didn’t touch her!” Kiyoshi growled, holding his bloody hand over his face where Kaida’s claws had cut a gash across his cheek. Sesshomaru had to tamp down a morbid grin when he realized that the proud Kiyoshi would probably be scared for a while before his body repaired the damage Kaida had inflicted on him in less than twenty seconds.

“This is an outrage!” cried one of the councilmen closest to the Eastern Lord Ronin. “A woman attacking the son of a Lord!”

“She was provoked.” Kentaro said, stepping to his father’s side and glaring down at the shorter hawk demon who had cried out. “I saw it. And so did Lady Rin.” Sesshomaru saw Rin stand beside the Eastern fox, her face pale and scared at what she had just seen.

He noticed that the yellow stone around her neck had started to glow slightly, and she had it clutched it in her hands. At his side, he felt the Tenseiga give off an angry pulse, demanding that reparation be paid to the demon who had hurt the demoness under its protection.

“Nonsense!” Haruto bellowed. “Sesshomaru! You saw it!”

“Your elite tried to manhandle my ward’s instructor.” Sesshomaru said calmly, eyeing the Northern Lord critically. “How dare you take her side?” Haruto growled. “You would take the side of that worthless bitch? What has she done to you, Sesshomaru?”

“She has done nothing. I know what I saw.” he answered icily.

“You’re going to let her get away with this?” one of the councilmen asked. “This blatant display of disrespect?”

“The only disrespect I have seen is his refusal to leave Lady Kaida in peace.” Sesshomaru answered, nodding to the staggering Kiyoshi. He looked over at Ronin, as though waiting for some sort of conformation. When the Eastern lord simply nodded, Sesshomaru turned to Haruto, his face emotionless. “Gather your entourage and get out of my lands.”

Haruto snarled in response to the dismissal, but Sesshomaru was already headed back into his fortress. The majority of the councilmen followed him, but a few went to Haruto’s aid.

“That bitch has had it.” Rin heard Haruto tell one of the councilmen. “She will submit to my family if I have to make her do it myself! I will not be humiliated like this!”

Rin was just about to go offer the fallen lord some aid, but the angry demon lord simply continued to spit and snarl, finally letting his son go. The two Northern nobles quickly changed into their demonic forms and took off towards the north at a rapid pace, obviously anxious to get away from the Western fortress. The councilmen that had surrounded them shook their heads and walked back towards the fortress, obviously unsure of what the outcome was to be for this change in events.

Beside her, Kentaro took a huge breath, letting it out slowly as he looked back towards the window where the council and remaining lords were meeting again. He picked up the vague sound of raised voices, but did not clue Rin in to the fact that her guardian was now going against half of the council advisors on Kaida’s behalf, arguing that what she had done was out of self preservation, as opposed to open spite.

“Well, this was definitely not what we were planning to see when we got here this morning. That’s for sure.” Kentaro whistled. “I forgot how well Kaida can shake things up when she wants to.”

“Now is not the time for jokes, Kentaro.” Rin admonished. “This is horrible! She attacked Haruto’s son! They’re going to be after her head now!”

“As if they weren’t before?” Kentaro asked cryptically. Rin just frowned and shook her head.

“What’s going to happen now?” she asked, looking up at the fox demon for answers.

“Not a bit of telling.” Kentaro answered, shrugging. “Although I do have a feeling that the council advisors are going to be a far cry from happy with Lord Sesshomaru, Lord Ryu, and my father after this.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Love, if you could hear what they are saying right now, your ears would be bleeding red.” Kentaro grinned, leading her back towards the stables and away from the fortress. Something was telling him that more heads were going to be rolling before this meeting was over with, and Rin had seen enough for one day.

‘Oh, you’ve done it now, Kaida.’ Kentaro thought, quickly pulling Rin into a conversation about her practice with constructing the energy shields Kaida had been teaching her about. ‘If you cause anymore of an upheaval, you’re going to split Japan in half!’

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A/N - Hey everyone. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. And I apologize for the long wait. But the real life calls, and I have college finals to study for. So, off I go……..

Anyhow, please remember to review. I want to know what you are thinking.

Later,

A.A.