InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Price of Vengeance ❯ Chapter Sixty-Two: Trouble ( Chapter 63 )

Disclaimer: I do not own any of Rumiko Takahashi's characters, etc. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

 

A/N: Thanks for the continued support! One note on Sessy's allies: I had not seen the episodes of the Panther-demon tribe yet when I started along this tack, and so Ryoukan and the others will not be making an appearance in Vengeance. Although the thought of Naraku having overtaken Ryoukan once before with a couple of Jewel shards was tempting, it just did not fit in with what I had planned. This chapter is a little long and quite jumpy, but I am impatient to get to the Battle, so please forgive. I've thrown out quite a bit of nonsense, I have quite a tendency to “over-write” things. XD Take care, and thanks again! ~ Fate

 

WARNING: DARK imagery. No one under seventeen, please!

 

Japanese Words

 

oushi - bull

kochou - butterfly

tsuchi - earth

ookami - wolf

 

Chapter Sixty-Two (Trouble)

 

Dead eyes surveyed the snow-covered village with no emotion in their cold, black depths. The desolation of the village's emptiness was covered by a pristine layer of white deception. She had seen the village of the demon slayers once before, just after Naraku had taken the horde of marauding demons into himself, stealing the Shikon shards that the slayers had guarded with their lives.

 

Something was different about the village. Even under a blanket of snow, there should have been more devastation...more destruction. Her thin awareness wondered if someone had repaired part of it, and why they might have done so.

 

But the answer was easy. The last surviving villager, the girl Sango, must have cleared some of the wreckage away. Had the girl not returned to bury her brother? Did it matter, truly? Whatever had been done to the village, to repair or to destroy, bore little consequence to what she now sought.

 

One of her Soul Collectors ribboned around her, a whisper of sound escaping it's opened mouth as its pale blue eyes shone momentarily. Kikyo turned away from the village, her mind carefully focused on what she had come for.

 

*Midoriko's tomb.*

 

And inside of that tomb, Midoriko's soul.

 

The ancient priestess of legend had created the Shikon no Tama with the very essence of her soul, entrapping the combined might of the ravaging demons of the past as her life was on the knife's edge of finality. Some thought that Midoriko's spirit now lay entwined with the demons, forever locked in unending battle with the dark heart of the monsters of the past with no hope of ever being free to lay down her blade and rest...

 

But Kikyo knew better. She could sense, had sensed, the aura of Midoriko's spirit locked within her tomb, Guarding the last testament of her heroic efforts. No one of evil intentions would be suffered to enter that cavernous crypt, and the barrier of Midoriko's will could be seen clearly by those who had been trained to discern such things.

 

And Kikyo had been trained since infancy.

 

The barrier was a fluid thing, a shimmering glow of sacred blue energy that hovered across the cave's entrance like a watery curtain. Kikyo's sandals crunched across the snow-covered rocky path. The snow soaked through her tabi socks, but the miko did not heed the cold, which only echoed the chill of death that shadowed her mannequin body.

 

Dark eyes empty and manner confident, Kikyo raised her white hands in supplication to the guardian spirit who protected those within. "I seek your power." Her voice was soft, hushed, reverent. "I am Kikyo reborn, sacred miko and Guardian of the Shikon no Tama. I seek your aid, Midoriko-sama, in order to recover the Jewel of Four Souls, which has fallen into darkness. I do not have the spiritual power to slay both the dark demon Naraku, who desires it, or the false priestess Kagome, who shattered the Shikon no Tama with her foul sorceries. I, Kikyo, born again into this earth, ask for entrance!"

 

She held her hands out, bowing her head. And waited.

 

Nothing happened, and Kikyo's head jerked up, her eyes black pools of dark rage. *What is this? She would not dare to deny ME, would she?*

 

"Midoriko-sama!" Kikyo called out, her voice pleading and soft although her dark eyes flashed her anger and frustration. *How DARE she! I am KIKYO!*

 

Perhaps the spirit could not answer, could not dissolve the barrier. Perhaps Midoriko could only let her through, to pass beyond into the tomb where the old warrior stood fixed in stone as she had been in the last moments of her life. Kikyo knew that she needed to get inside of that sanctum, to lay her hands upon the stoned body of the dead warrior-priestess in order to steal the shreds of soul still left within that eternal monument. Only with Midoriko's power could she hope to kill the girl Kagome, the girl who had taken her power and her soul and made her, Kikyo, steal the souls of the dead in order to fuel her own existence.

 

*I will live again!*

 

Midoriko, as trapped as Kikyo in a state that was neither living nor dead, but doomed to wander a shallow existence forever, would understand. She would sympathize. She would help her, Kikyo, to regain her power, and help her to reclaim the Shikon no Tama. Help her to heal it, and use it to turn the islands of Nihon into a peaceful paradise, untainted by the filth of demonic corruption. She, Kikyo, would ensure that never again, under her unending Guardianship, would her people suffer. If there was blood spilt along the way to achieving perfection, than so be it. If there were lives lost and hearts broken, than it was only a small price to pay for the greater good. Kikyo's vision was not like that of that foul hanyou, Naraku's. Hers was pure.

 

PURE.

 

Stepping forward, with all of the confidence of knowledge that she was a pure, untainted miko, free of sin and darkness, superior in both purpose and place in this world, closer to the kami than ever dare mortal dream or demon despise, Kikyo reached forward, expecting acceptance by her sister acolyte.

 

*Acceptance!*

 

The scream that was ripped from her undead throat was echoed back on her by the uncaring mountains. Fire raced along the miko's body, and her screech of outraged sorrow and rejection reached a new height in volume as Midoriko's power sang through her like a lance, like one of the purifying arrows Kikyo had used to kill hundreds of youkai and men. It BURNED, and the pain was unending.

 

Kikyo could feel the darkness reaching out for her. It had always waited with bated breath, waiting for her to weaken so that it could claim her once more. She could feel her cold body weakening as the souls trapped within escaped her loosened grasp. With a frenzied shriek, the dead miko screamed her denial to the heavens.

 

"NNNNOOOOOOO!!!!!"

 

*I must LIVE!!!*

 

She could not die a second time. She could not lose herself to the darkness, lose what chance she might have at regaining what she had lost. The sadness overwhelmed her until it smoldered and burned into hatred and rage. *They did this to me! THEY did this to me! THEY---*

 

~Join us...madness...mad...join...us...mad...mad...join...~

 

The voices were reaching for her, they were much stronger now that her resistance was weakening. In another moment, her fragment of soul would depart this world and this clay body of ash and dust, and she would be lost forever...

 

~We will help you...~

 

~Help...mad...we...you...mad...help...you...~

 

The whispers grew louder, until Kikyo could hear them over her own unending scream as her body collapsed into the dirt, her limbs numb as the captured souls of the dead fled from her grasp. She clutched at the fragment that was hers, ripped from the essence of Kagome, and the anger and intense rage at the unfairness of it all fueled what little strength she had to pull back away from the silence of death.

 

She knew that to join with the mad whispers of her dark heart would be to forever abandon herself to it. She would be as Naraku, the spawn of darkness and the slave of evil...

 

But she would LIVE!

 

And with the dark power, she would be able to seek vengeance on those who had wronged her, those who had brought her, the sacred miko, to this dark hour of conflicted choice. With the dark power, she would be able to crush Midoriko's jeweled heart in her hand and claim the souls of all for her own use...

 

With a mad laugh, the miko opened her arms and surrendered herself into the embrace of darkness.

 

*I will LIVE!*

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

The tiny kitten growled low in its throat, her eyes glowing crimson fire. The sleeping taijiya beside her murmured a muffled question, the brown eyes opening sleepily.

 

"Kirara?" The girl, Midoriko's daughter many generations removed, asked with concern.

 

The silver-haired hanyou who curled himself around the taijiya let out a jaw-popping yawn and blinked amber eyes. "Stupid cat."

 

The taijiya gathered the two-tailed kitten into her arms and held her snuggled against her breast. "What is it, Kirara? Is everything all right?"

 

The hissing growl died as the crimson glow surrendered. The two-tailed kitten rubbed Sango's fingers, seeking reassurance. The neko purred loudly and nosed her mistress's hand.

 

"Whatever it was, it's gone." InuYasha stared at the purring kitten in disgust before flopping back down beside his mate and muttering in a tell-tale yawn, "Dumb cat. Probably only a nightmare..."

 

"Maybe." Sango rubbed the neko's ears, her concern still evident. But Kirara only wrinkled her nose at the hanyou's remark and cuddled closer to her mistress, seemingly content. Sango sighed, and allowed the sands of sleep to flow over her once more. The neko purred in the dark night, huddling closer to her mistress.

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

The sword hung in a small outbuilding by itself, on the far edge of the remote castle's rocky verge. The angry, fuchsia aura that hovered over Toukijin was enough of a ward to keep even the unwary at bay. Most of his pitiful servants feared that sword and the evil menace that surrounded it. Even Kanna did not deign to cross the threshold of the door, even though fear could not touch her empty awareness.

 

Naraku had never let fear touch him---or not that he would admit. Besides, when all was said and done, this particular weapon was his own child, his own creation.

 

"I am here, my son."

 

He grinned, a maddened glint in red eyes.

 

Toukijin's aura darkened into rage, growing almost blood-scarlet in color as the swirling miasma of its aura spun with maddened fury.

 

"Is that how you welcome your master, Goshinki?" Naraku taunted his son before reaching out and laying a single, clawed finger on the braced bars of the sword's hilt. Instantly, the whirling ambience surrounding the blade became a hazy wisp as Naraku sucked the menace and rage into his own aura, draining Toukijin of its hatred and feeding on it like he did other demons.

 

Naraku let out a long sigh. "How lovely." He bowed mockingly to the sword that hated him, the sword whom he had had fashioned out of his son's fangs. A sword strong enough to break through the Tetsusaiga, steeled fang of the late InuTaisho.

 

A fit weapon for his hand.

 

"I thank you for the gift of your hate. It feeds me, and strengthens me. One day, perhaps, I shall take all of you in and bring you back into what I created you from, Goshinki. But that day has not yet come..."

 

The sword's aura had paled, a mere flicker compared to the angry miasma that had swirled around it before in perpetual frustration. Naraku made a low, tsk-ing noise in his throat and cut off the vacuum of his body as it fueled Toukijin's aura into his. Opening his claws, palm held out, he funneled the aura he had stolen back into the sword. The swirling mists that surrounded the sword's steeled blade thickened into scarlet-streaked fuchsia once more. The wheeling motion around the blade sped up into a tiny whirlwind, showing its anger and frustration as Naraku laughed and taunted,

 

"Soon enough, my son, you and I will be reunited."

 

The sword glowered, but the spinning whirl of wheeling fuchsia slowed as Naraku placed his claw back on the hilt and jerked at the miasmic aura in reminder of what defiance would bring. Death. Eternal death.

 

"Behave yourself, dear one. I have other uses for you yet. Be good, and I may reward you with the return of your true form, Goshinki. Serve me, and I may let you live. Defy me, and..."

 

He let the threat trail off. The sword seethed, but the mad spinning of the furious aura slowed in thoughtful silence.

 

Naraku patted the hilt fondly. "You will have your blood, my son. I assure you."

 

The aura brightened, the scarlet-touched fuchsia color deepening.

 

Naraku's dark smile was smugly sweet.

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

"Susumu, I shall entrust you with the eastern flank." SesshouMaru tapped a sharp, white claw against the unfurled map which spread across the high table in the lower hall. His general, a young inu who showed much promise in strategy and battle, nodded thoughtfully. "Lord Shichiro, your uma youkai would be best assaulting from that small rise on the right. We will need the maneuverability of your men to act as a tactical diversion as I bring up the main force from the lower valley."

 

Shichiro, seventh Lord of the Horse Clans, merely grunted his assent. The horselord was a powerful youkai whose head was shaved except for the dark brown hair worn in a single long tail down his broad back. Short of stature, the uma was powerfully built, muscles bulging under the simple brown armor he affected in his humanoid form. He had been a close friend of InuTaisho's, and SesshouMaru trusted the lord's skill in battle.

 

"Now wait a minute!"

 

There was an uneasy stir through the small knot of youkai who attended this meeting as Lord SesshouMaru straightened at that bullish interruption. Golden eyes chilled as they turned to stare down at the garish form of Lord Ryota, who pushed his way past the other lords and generals to stand across from the Taiyoukai.

 

Lord Ryota was even shorter than Lord Shichiro. His own arms were muscled and strong, but the older lord had grown quite fat with good living and his lands' virtually assured security---a security provided by their alignment to the inu-held Western Lands. Belly bulging over the golden obi that knotted his red and purple kimono closed, the oushi youkai thrust out his chin in typical bullish style, and pointed a greasy finger at the Taiyoukai.

 

"I won't be needing any help from some stupid little ponies, SesshouMaru-sama! You promised me the front lines, and I'll be damned if I allow some piddling little mountain lordling to usurp my rights as lord."

 

There was a faint hiss from the youkai standing around them, and Shichiro had already laid hand to his sword, his brown eyes turning blood-red with anger over the insult. Lord Ryota was unfazed by the horselord's silent rage, or that of the Western Lord, whose demeanor had grown steadily more chilling.

 

Sensing the danger instinctively, Lady Lusaidh drew back with formal grace. The other youkai followed suit, stepping back, and watching to see what the inu Lord would do. InuTaisho would have beheaded the bull youkai where he stood without saying a word, but SesshouMaru had always been less volatile than his father.

 

Though just as deadly.

 

Silence descended, and even Ryota was finally affected by the flat stare the Taiyoukai gave him. Stirring uneasily, the bull youkai tried to apologize. "My lord...I was just..."

 

"Silence." The inu growled, and Ryota froze as he saw the blood seep into the golden gaze.

 

The bull lord began to sweat under that steel-eyed scrutiny, and he wished fervently that he had never come to the inu lord's call. If only his own father had not tied their loyalty to the inu, if only he, Ryota, had been given his due and allowed the forefront in battle, as his loud warriors had demanded. To a bull youkai, there was only the charge, the glorious rush at an enemy. Death did not matter, only the kill, and the charge head-long into honor and glory. His men had grown restless under the past years of easy living. While Ryota grew more content to graze his own fields and marry as many cows as he could find, his men had grown restless. Ryota did not know for how much longer he could restrain them. They kept demanding he, Lord of the Western Cattle Clan, step down in favor of his eldest son, Ryo. But Ryota was not prepared to give up his place, his herds, or his power.

 

And now he wished fervently that he had. Oh, so very fervently!

 

It was his son who stepped forward to save him now. Ryo, his red-chestnut hair cut short and dressed in the plain armor of his preference, stepped forward and bowed low to the Taiyoukai.

 

"My lord SesshouMaru, I beg that you spare my father's life."

 

The golden eyes still glowed faintly crimson, and the inu growled beneath the cold voice as a single word made Lord Ryota flinch in fear. "Why?"

 

Steady brown eyes regarded the inu Lord with trust. "My father only seeks to keep the honor of the bull youkai intact. He does not realize, my lord, that our honor rests with yours, and that you would never allow our honor to fall."

 

The younger youkai bowed low again, and waited the Taiyoukai's judgement. The rest of them waited with bated breath, expecting the order of the bull Lord's death. But the anger was fading from the chilling gaze of the Taiyoukai, and he regarded the young son of Ryota thoughtfully.

 

"You are generous." SesshouMaru said, and the youkai flushed faintly at the praise. "Very well, Ryo-san. I will spare your father's life."

 

*For now.*

 

There was a surprised stir among the watching youkai, and Shichiro grunted his disdain. His general, one of his own young sons, wasn't as stoic, and burst out, "What of our honor, Taiyoukai? Ryota disgraced us with his words!"

 

Shichiro spun about and smacked his son to the ground with one powerful blow. There was an uneasy stir among the watching youkai, and faint whispers of agreement and dissent.

 

"He should expiate his shame on his sword!" One young youkai daringly challenged from the back. Others nodded in harsh agreement, and the bull Lord paled, the sweat staining his brow. SesshouMaru's cold gaze swept over them all, and the room grew silent once more.

 

"No." The Taiyoukai's voice was deadly cold. "He is not worthy of that honor." The golden gaze swept back to the trembling Ryota. "He lives in far deeper shame than taking his own life by his own blade would ever purge."

 

Contempt flared in the Taiyoukai's gaze as Ryota's held breath whooshed out in relief. "You will return to your home, Ryota and give thanks to the kami for your son Ryo, that he holds your clan's honor in his claws, and not you."

 

Ryota sunk into a trembling bow, and the Taiyoukai turned his back on him, rejecting the bull lord in the inu youkai way. The others paused a moment before turning as well, and it was Ryo who helped his father to stand and leave the hall on trembling legs.

 

After a bare moment, SesshouMaru waved the Lady Lusaidh forward, and went on as if nothing had occurred. “My lady, I am counting on your warriors to be my feint. Naraku will not expect me to have aerial fighters of any strength. I would have your warriors come in behind the first wave, as Lord Shichiro pulls back and I assault the walls of the castle...”

 

As Lady Lusaidh bent over the map with thoughtful contemplation, the other youkai lords and generals exchanged telling glances with each other before crowding around. Whatever was said of the inu lord, there was nothing and no one that could possibly distract him from his singular goal...

 

Vengeance.

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

"It is a good thing, child, that you like to bathe."

 

"Of course I like to bathe!"

 

"Many ningen do not." The other midwife, Junko, replied rather blandly, to Kagome's glare.

 

Usagi shot her assistant a quelling glance and motioned for her to go on about her duties. Junko shrugged and calmly reached into the tepid water for one of Kagome's feet. Kagome let out a startled yipe as she felt the blunt fingers right there in her bath water, and tried to shimmy aside. Water sloshed over the sides of the stout wooden tub Usagi had ordered built and splashed onto the floor and the three other women who knelt there.

 

"I only want to massage your legs, girl!" Junko told Kagome impatiently. Kagome flushed an unbecoming shade of scarlet. Bad enough that everyone and their sister wanted to sit and watch her take a bath, let alone reach in and GRAB at her!

 

Usagi laid a gentle hand on Kagome bared shoulder. "Massage is good for the circulation. The added weight you carry weakens the blood to your extremities." With demonstration, Usagi nudged out Kagome's hand (which was white-knuckled on the side of the tub) and took it between her blunt, brown fingers. With deep, gentle strokes, the osambasan eased the muscles in wrist and fingers. Kagome relaxed enough to where Junko could grasp one of her feet and pull it out of the dripping bath.

 

Kagome tensed back up again, but Koharu leaned forward to whisper sweetly in her ear, "It's okay, Kagome-chan. Usagi-san has told me all about shiatsu."

 

It still didn't help.

 

Koharu had taken an instant hero-worship of the old earth-youkai. She followed her around, and asked after many things that made Kagome yawn. Koharu was nearing her sixth month of pregnancy, and anxious. She often told Kagome in aside that she was learning more about youkai healing and birth from the earthy midwife than she had ever learned from her adopted mother or Lady Kaede.

 

Strong fingers grasped the arch of her foot and pressed down, before running a light, feathering touch back up to her toes. Kagome giggled at the ticklish sensation, and tried to move her foot away when the motion was repeated. It was Junko's turn to glare, and mutter, "Ningen."

 

"Junko!"

 

All of them jumped at the sharp tone, and more water splashed over the sides of the tub. Usagi's dark eyes were cold. "Your prejudice does you no credit. You will leave us."

 

Junko bowed so low her nose touched the wet floor before turning away and departing Kaede's small hut. The silence was strained, and Kagome suddenly shivered. Youkai were so strange...and they thought SHE was! Usagi could be kindness itself, but she would not tolerate any behavior that might upset her patient. She could be a demanding tyrant at times, and what was worse, old Kaede often agreed with her!

 

Kagome could still remember the battle over the goat's milk, which Usagi insisted she drink at least twice a day for the calcium. Kagome loathed the taste of it, and had demanded to know why she couldn't drink cow's milk like everyone else. But Usagi had arrogantly replied that inu pups could not tolerate the thicker substance of a perfectly good milk cow, and Kaede had thoughtfully agreed, pointing out that even puppies born in the village whose mother could not feed them were fed on goat milk.

 

And so Kagome had bowed her head to their knowledge, and held her nose while drinking the nasty stuff.

 

Usagi had taken over her care, and with a vengeance. Miroku and InuYasha were tossed out of the hut, and refused entrance, even though Kagome asked for them. Usagi flatly disapproved. Men were not to be present or near a pregnant woman, especially ones who had gone hunting, as was necessary for Miroku and InuYasha to do in order to stockpile the village for the coming harsh winter that even Koharu could sense in the air. Kagome had argued the point as just so much rubbish, but Usagi had replied that in the usual circumstances, a bearing woman's husband would not even consider hunting for her full term of pregnancy.

 

Kagome had forborne to point out that HER circumstances were far from usual!

 

She had insisted that they be allowed to visit each day, and it was Kaede who pointed out rather drily that dogs were considered to be good luck to a pregnant woman. Some of the other village women, ones who had given birth or helped in birth before, had staunchly agreed, and old Kumiko (whose eels Kagome would never forget!) had suggested Kagome go and pat InuYasha on the nose for good luck, as she would a good little doggie.

 

InuYasha had exploded at the notion, and only Sango could make him calm down enough to leave without telling the helpful old woman what she could go and do with her damn doggie-pats.

 

Kagome giggled in remembrance, and then gasped as Usagi's strong fingers smoothed over her shoulders and right over her breasts. She lurched backward, away from the unwelcome touch, but Usagi hung on grimly.

 

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Kagome squealed, her face on fire.

 

"Massage." Usagi said crisply, ignoring the young miko's embarrassment. With her arms wrapped around Kagome's shoulders from behind, she couldn't move, and Kagome squealed when the blunt fingers started rubbing her tender nipples vigorously.

 

"OW!!!"

 

Usagi merely grunted, continuing her brisk ministrations.

 

"Don't fight, Kagome-chan!" Koharu whispered again in her ear. Kagome wanted to strangle her. She was going to die of mortification, if she didn't die of the pain FIRST.

 

"Usagi-san says your nipples are too tender for youkai teeth, they must be toughened, and this is the only way." Koharu went on earnestly.

 

She didn't care one dang bit if her breasts were too tender for youkai teeth...she was hurting NOW! But, even as she thought it, the pain was receding, and Usagi's motions were easing. The osambasan finally let go, and patted her on the shoulder like SHE was a good little doggie.

 

"You are young, and over-emotional. Pregnancy does that. But what I do, I do for necessity, young miko." The tsuchi said, not unkindly.

 

Kagome only glared.

 

Necessity was a bitch.

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

"What do you think you're doing, you stupid little girl?" Jaken stared at the rotten little turnip with ire.

 

Rin ignored the little green imp's exasperation, and continued on unperturbed with her self-appointed task. Carefully folding a peach-blossomed kimono, she lined it up next to the dark green one. Humming a little tune under her breath, she slipped a spare pair of sandals into the small bundle.

 

Jaken stared at her, galled impatience growing. Rin kept folding without paying him the slightest bit of attention. It was disgraceful, how she ignored him as if he, First Advisor and humble---yet undeniably irreplaceable---servant to me lord SesshouMaru, was not even there. Finally, he could stand it no longer, and shouted, "WELL?"

 

Rin looked up, brown eyes curious. "Well, what, Master Jaken?"

 

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Jaken shrieked, eyes bulging. There was a muffled laugh outside the door, and Jaken snapped his beak closed with even more ire, recalling his dignity. The castle was aswarm with bustling youkai and ningen, packing and gathering and hurrying about with important matters---more important than one recalcitrant little stinking twit of a ningen brat!

 

Rin smiled. "Packing."

 

"What?"

 

"I'm packing, Jaken-san." Rin repeated patiently. She often had to repeat herself to the little imp who was her playmate, but she never held his limited faculty for comprehension against him.

 

"For what?" Jaken stared, a small arrow of worry piercing through the armor of self-assurance. Had he heard the Taiyoukai correctly? Had he missed something? Hadn't me Lord SesshouMaru stated very clearly that he, Jaken, would be accompanying him across the mountains to the dark hanyou's castle, and that this little troublesome twit would not?

 

Jaken had been elated. SesshouMaru needed him...and NOT as a baby-sitter for that stupid little ningen girl he had taken a passing fancy to.

 

The great inu Lord couldn't have changed his mind...could he?

 

No one knew what the great Taiyoukai would choose to do next...least of all his most loyal and trusted servant---er, ADVISOR---Jaken.

 

"For the war." Rin explained, blithely interrupting the troubled imp's troubled thoughts.

 

"War?" Jaken felt like an idiot, squawking back the little onna's words like poor, humiliated Lord Ryota's poor, humiliated parrot.

 

Rin smiled, hoping her little green friend would finally understand what she was telling him. In case he didn't, she calmly repeated, "I'm packing, Jaken-san, for we all go to war."

 

"War?" Jaken parroted, gulping.

 

He hadn't really thought about it, but of course they were going to war! He had just assumed that this was a mustering of me Lord's forces for show...an honor-guard, perhaps. The task of eliminating the dark hanyou would be almost anti-climactic, in Jaken's personal opinion---when he even bothered to think about it. He had been too busy with other matters...like finding a spare servant to sew together a brand-new pair of brown robes, so that he could throw out his fishy-smelling second-best and turn his hem-torn first-best into his second. His third-best were too wrinkled to be considered, and Jaken had been rather pleased that the harassed maid (harassment having coming from him, as he believed the lazy slattern would have ignored his polite request in order to do the other duties assigned her...who cared what soldier needed links sewn into his armor, when he, First Advisor to me Lord SesshouMaru, was stumbling around in disgusting attire unfit for his worthy station?) had finally finished his garments, and had been in rather a good mood until THIS.

 

But if me Lord were going to WAR, why that meant that he, Jaken, had so much more to do than stand here talking with a stupid little stinking turnip like Rin. Why, men and youkai could be KILLED in war! They could be lost along the way, or fall ill, or a hundred and one other things that might befall the unwary imp who journeyed without prior precautions as to his personal protection. Not that he doubted me Lord wouldn't manage all too well, but the Taiyoukai was too important to be bothered with the million and one tiny details that would surround his calling his allies and armies to WAR.

 

Why, had there even been an order of march planned? Many youkai would demand to be at the front, namely Lord Ryota---well, maybe not HIM. Jaken recalled belatedly that THAT particular bull lord was now out of the picture, and his vast ego would not have to be considered. Now, he, Jaken, should be at the forefront, right behind the Taiyoukai. Wasn't HE the First and Foremost Advisor to me Lord SesshouMaru?

 

Dismissing Rin from his thoughts, the imp turned around, yellow eyes shining. What had made him tremble with anxiety before was now almost thrilling. What better stage could there be but for me Lord to show his might and power to the known world than in front of those very armies and allies who were most loyal to him? The defeat of Naraku would be publicly spectacular, he was certain, and the Taiyoukai's honor and status in the eyes of the world would rise as a result.

 

Wasn't war wonderful?

 

Jaken picked up his beautifully-sewn brown robes and sailed from the room. Rin watched him with a quizzical expression. A sudden, tardy thought stopped him in his tracks at the door, and he stuck his olive-green head back in to snap out, "Don't even think about packing, you little fool! YOU are not invited, and I, for one, am delighted by the thought! Quit causing trouble to your betters, and put those clothes back where they belong! You stupid little twit, whatever made you think SesshouMaru-sama would ever consider taking YOU along! I, for one, am HAPPY you are going to be out of my hair...er...claws! Whatever made you think me Lord would ever consider..." His voice droned on in a nasty grumble as he exited the room, leaving the little girl behind to ponder his words.

 

Rin stared at the empty door...and giggled.

 

Wasn't Jaken-san cute?

 

But then she quieted, a worried little frown marring her pretty little face.

 

He couldn't be telling the truth...could he?

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

An Ash-demon, manner diffident, bowed low. "Your mount awaits, my Lord."

 

SesshouMaru nodded once in silent acknowledgment. He strode across the erupting courtyard into the relative quiet of the stables. The castle resembled a small ant-hill that had been pulled over, so that it's teeming colony rose out of the depths of darkness to scurry about in startled surprise.

 

The impromptu camps that had dotted the valley below had been struck, and his allies made ready to march. His generals and lords had gone to see to their own men, and directions had gone out as to what company would go where. SesshouMaru had no purpose in hiding his intentions from the dark hanyou. Perhaps it was inu arrogance, but SesshouMaru would not skulk in the night. Naraku would know what marched to his very door, and tremble before the gathered might of the Taiyoukai's wrath.

 

HE was not one to hide in the shadows.

 

"You be good to my lord, Ah. You too, Uhn. I want you to protect him, and help him."

 

Golden eyes grew thoughtful as he watched the small wisp of a girl who had her arms wrapped around the two-headed dragon's joined withers as far they could go. Ah nuzzled the black curls while Uhn looked up and huffed a greeting to the watching Taiyoukai.

 

Rin blinked, and a broad smile split her face. "My lord! I have been waiting for you!"

 

"Rin." SesshouMaru's voice was cool, but his eyes warmed slightly as he regarded his ward. The love-starved little girl took it as license to dart across the straw-strewn floor and tangle her arms around a silk-clad knee.

 

Golden eyes widened the slightest bit in surprise at the strength of the little girl's hug before Rin---never one to push, and ever sensitive to her adored master's levels of tolerance---stepped back and gave him a rather tremulous smile. SesshouMaru could smell the tears that were held back from furiously blinking brown eyes.

 

His voice softened as he questioned her tears. "Rin?"

 

The little girl just shook her head, and turned away to hug Ah-Uhn as tight as she could, a hug that was meant for her beautiful lord, but one she could not give him. Even with her childish understanding of the world around her, she understood HIM. "Take care of my SesshouMaru-sama." She whispered thickly, before turning and running out of the stable.

 

The Taiyoukai stared after his vanishing ward for a long moment, before Uhn wuffed air through his bridled nose and Ah made a low, plaintive noise. Stepping forward, SesshouMaru smoothed his claws across the twined neck in silent understanding before recalling himself. Slipping the reins through his fingers, he mounted the two-headed dragon with a single, graceful movement. Pressing his muscled thighs into the dragon's sides, he nudged Ah-Uhn forward, out into the watery sunlight that did little to warm one.

 

Focusing his thoughts, the Taiyoukai assumed the mantle of cool command once more, the slight interruption forgotten as his formidable mind flew forward, into the unknown future he had prepared for.

 

Nothing...and no one...would stand in the path of vengeance.

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

"I desire you take the girl." Naraku said coolly. "As a mere show of your sudden loyalty to me. A sign, perhaps, of your abilities."

 

The youkai in the misty face of the mirror bowed his head, his eyes bleeding slightly with outrage that the dark hanyou would demand a show of his own innate worthiness. Had he not presented the rotten monkey with a Jewel shard as a sign of his pledged allegiance? But without Naraku, he would not be able to gain his own pride and position back. And kidnaping the young miko would be easy.

 

So very easy.

 

"As you wish, my lord." The youkai bowed his head again, and Naraku dismissed the image with a wave of his hand, his red eyes glowing with glee.

 

All was falling easily into place as he with his dark heart had known it would.

 

So very easily.

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

A single light danced above the vast army that rolled across the rocky landscape. Trailing a champagne-colored trail of diffusing light, the butterfly youkai flit from one side to another. It sang out to its brothers, who returned the oddly lyrical note in a higher pitch than the rumble of thousands of men and youkai shifting ranks and settling into their position of march. Strange voices rose, in growls and bellows, as hooves pawed the dirt, and claws dug in tensed anticipation. Any moment now, the Taiyoukai would beckon. Weight shifted, and metal weapons clanged against shields. Generals called out to their men, and commanders bellowed. Lords raised their heads high, looking for the signal to come. High above, higher than the butterfly's fluttering path, an eagle keyawed.

 

The glowing nimbus that surrounded the kochou brightened as he caught sight of his Lord. With a flick of his delicate wings, he drew alongside and sang out that all was ready. The Taiyoukai gave his tiny messenger a sharp nod, the golden eyes surveying the panorama of his armies and allies before him with cold calculation. The eagerness and excitement shown by the others bore no weight in the Taiyoukai's cool gaze. He sat as still as a statue, untouched by even the icy wind that howled down from the upper mountains. The ever-present clouds which covered the sky in sullen mists had parted, allowing weak sunlight to filter through that did nothing to warm the waiting assembled.

 

“Me Lord! Master SesshouMaru!”

 

Jaken, his brown robes kilted up to his knees, scrambled up the rocky rise on which his Lord rode the two-headed dragon Ah-Uhn, whose tail lashed at the Advisor's hasty approach. Panting with the effort, the little imp almost fell flat on his beak before righting himself and making a rather graceless bow. “Me Lord! All is ready! They only await your order to march!”

 

The little imp puffed up with self-importance, his yellow eyes almost teary with devotion and pride. All of the Taiyoukai's power and strength were here, displayed before him, and all of them, daimyo and youkai, clan-ally and pledged vassal, waited for his Lord to lead them into glory and honor.

 

The Taiyoukai's cold glance swept across the vast army and on toward the southeast, where lay his enemy like a filthy spider in its web of treachery. They marched to the heart of the baboon's lair, there to ensnare him and bring forth the vengeance they sought. He could not hide such vast numbers from the dark hanyou's spies, and did not care to. Naraku would see him coming, and know that it was his own death that marched straight to his door.

 

Raising his single arm, the Taiyoukai allowed the green mist of his poisonous acid to seep out among his opened fist. With a slight, almost casual motion, he tossed the small ball of eerie green light up. It spun for a moment, and then exploded into splinters of flashing radiance.

 

The resounding roar that filled the valley from end to end echoed off of the very rocks, where even the snow-capped peaks could not muffle it.

 

It had begun.

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

He studied the jagged edges for long moments before selecting the first of the three shards that lay scattered beside him. With much care, he aligned the pointed edge of his chosen piece into the crevice that marred the perfect, glowing sphere in his palm. The Jewel hummed for a breath's moment, and then flared dark fuchsia as the two pieces, mother and daughter, aligned together. The glow deepened, and then subsided, leaving the once-separate edges seamless and whole, as if the smaller Jewel shard had never been rent from the other.

 

Red eyes alight, the dark hanyou picked up a second shard and studied it carefully. Each of them were so beautiful, with their own special light, their own particular features that he could stare at, mesmerized, for hours. But when he was able to align them SO, and add the small shard to the larger bauble, it was almost as if he could feel the power of them surge, feel it grow with each tiny increment added...

 

It was beautiful.

 

Utterly, fascinatingly beautiful.

 

With an almost weary sigh, he enfolded the third shard into the crevice until it, too, sealed itself to the jagged crack that marred the perfect surface of the Shikon no Tama. He cradled the bauble in his palm, wishing he might sink his awareness into it and flit away a few hours in dreamy contemplation of all that he might achieve with the help of such a perfect little tool of Power. But there was no time for idle daydreams. There was too much to be done, too much to prepare...

 

He had laid his trap carefully. And if the dog had surprised him, in coming to him across the wintry world's surface like a neighbor come to call, but with sharp spears instead of gifts of food and drink to welcome him, than he, Naraku, must just simply adjust his plans.

 

It did gall him to have all of his neatly laid traps tangled by the dog-demon's obstinate tenacity, but the dark hanyou was adaptable. If the dog-general's son wanted to flex his muscles in a bout of wills, than so be it. He had his own allies, his own resources. He was more than equal to what that paltry Taiyoukai could send him.

 

A clawed thumb glided over the smooth surface of the Jewel with pleasure. With THIS, he was more than a match for SesshouMaru. And with THIS, he could take the dog-demon into himself as had been his goal from the start.

 

Red eyes glowed crimson promise.

 

*Come with your army, dog. I am waiting for you...*

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

Koga's attention was all on his mate, who stood, back straight and body stiff, her whole attention focused on the greying mountains below them. He knew that she feared this with all of her soul, but his heart swelled with pride at the steeled strength in her that allowed her to set that fear aside in order to ease the mental barrier she had thrust up to keep the insidious mind of her dark creator away from claiming hers.

 

He formed a mental gift of his own admiration and strength, and sent it to her. Her fixed attention did not waver, but her delicate fingers, clasped in his, tightened slightly in appreciation.

 

"Uh...Koga?"

 

*Damn it all!*

 

He growled, his blue eyes flecked with ice as he turned his attention away from his mate and to the poor lout who stood nervously jiggling his weight from one foot to the other.

 

"What." He kept the volume down, but Hakkaku jumped a good foot in the air and scratched the back of his shaved head while trying to look innocently chagrined.

 

"Uh...Koga...uh...the northerners are asking for you."

 

The air in his lungs was lent out in a gusty, impatient sigh. *Damn it. What now?* Them damn fish-eaters had been kept to themselves, and he had no time to spare for their whining complaints. He had set a few wolves to guarding them, but intended to abandon the dumb louts just as soon as Kagura found out in what direction Naraku's castle lay. They posed no problem, now that Katashi was dead. He was tired of wasting his time on the stinking cubs, and he needed every single one of his ookami to be ready to go at a moment's notice.

 

He damn well didn't want to waste any of HIS energy on dealing with the fishy remnants of Katashi's defeated tribe...

 

His mouth opened to snarl a denial, when he spied a young grey ookami nervously waiting just beyond Hakkaku. His glare made both wolf-brothers---east and north---flinch, but there no help for it. He'd have to go and listen to the damn wolf's damn howls.

 

Koga motioned sharply for Hakkaku to walk with him, away from Kagura, where they might disturb and distract her intense concentration. The northerner, a limping grey flea-bag at his knee, followed slowly. A couple of red and brown wolves silently padded up to them, making long-eyes at the lean grey wolf who dared to approach their leader.

 

Koga chose a nice, solid rock as a handy seat and waited with arms crossed for the northerner to approach. Hakkaku kept his spear ready, and the eastern wolves growled low in their throats. The northern bastard flinched, but kept his back straight as his furry companion nudged him forward.

 

The wolf-brother was young, and bore wounds across his face and a dirty bandage on one arm. But there was some pride in him, and he straightened his shoulders after bowing low to the eastern lord. His voice was hoarse and low, as he said simply, "Take us with you."

 

Koga's gaze was forbidding and cold. His voice was harsh as he snapped out, "Why?"

 

"There is nothing left to us." The northerner bit his lip. He was young, but ardent. He MUST make the eastern lord take them with him. There was nothing left to them now. The dark hanyou had destroyed their clan once before, when they had sought out the Jewel shards for their own use. And the white baboon had betrayed their leader, Katashi. Although none of the northern clan had supported Katashi's decision to seek the dark hanyou's aid, the betrayal and murder of their former leader was just another blood-stain on their honor, tattered as it was.

 

There was nothing left to them now but vengeance.

 

Koga's blue eyes bore into the northerner, who stood for what seemed like eternity. The dim, brown eyes seemed to glow a moment with the red lust of rage, before he bent his head and awaited the eastern lord's decision.

 

In the back of his mind, Koga felt a sudden stab of elation, before it was quickly buried beneath a wary caution. He felt Kagura's barriers snap shut, and knew that his mate had discovered just where the dark hanyou now lay hiding as satisfaction unfolded in wisps across the back of his thoughts.

 

It was time.

 

Making a sudden decision, Koga abruptly stood. A wolf howled as Kagura stood also, her red eyes glowing like rubies with sudden blood-thirsty anticipation.

 

His voice was harsh as he called on all the wolves to join them.

 

"Come."

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

The white child bowed low to her dark master, taking her leave at his impatient wave of dismissal. A slight frown wrinkled across the pale brow above the dark, soulless eyes before smoothing away as she slid the shoji-screened door closed with a small click. Her sandals made whispered scrapes against the stone floor of the dim hallway as she withdrew slowly to her own small rooms in the back of the main great-house of the sprawling castle.

 

Outside of her own door, Kanna paused for a moment and turned the mirror held in her hands so that she could again view the swirling darkness that clouded out vision. The mirror's surface remained tumultuous and showed her nothing. If she had known emotion, she would have felt anxious over the mirror's refusal to cooperate, but she was the Void, and could not feel. There was a troubling in the air, though, as if the world held its breath. In the hushed quiet of oppressive waiting, she sought knowledge of the future.

 

Sometimes, her mirror would show her what might happen, what might come to pass if the present acts of the world aligned to allow the predicted outcome in the mirror to come true. But the future was a fluid creature, twisting away even from the threads of Fate, or the determination of mortal or youkai. Often, when asked, the mirror would show only the spectator's own desired image of the future, affected by the power of the viewer's own wishes. With it, she had shown Naraku his own dreams of ultimate power and domination realized, and her dark creator had summoned her often to his chambers, to stare in delighted fascination at what the mirror revealed to him in prediction.

 

But it was only a reflection of the dark hanyou's deepest desires. In an odd way, Kanna's mirror resembled the Jewel of Four Souls. It made the possibilities of a man's ambition to come true---if only in image on the glowing surface of the mirror, instead of in truth. It could be a powerful tool, if used correctly. What the viewer wished to see, the mirror would show him. It had often served a dual purpose as spy and revelation. But Naraku was too busy at the moment to be bothered by Kanna's mild worry over the sudden clouding of her mirror when she sought to use it for prophesy.

 

He had not even consulted the mirror past the first time he had demanded she show him the enemy's march across the lands of Japan. He had stared at the Taiyoukai, who rode the great two-headed dragon above the line of march his army snaked across the winter-held landscape. And his expression had been strange...almost avid...his red eyes glowing with anticipation, rather than enmity.

 

"Soon, my lord Taiyoukai..." Naraku had drawn out, with a dark purr. Then he had abruptly dismissed Kanna, and had not summoned her again.

 

Kanna turned the mirror and held it to her tiny, child's chest. Her eyes reflected nothing, for the Void was made of nothing, but her head bowed slightly, her white hair sweeping forward to hide her pale face. Her master played with fire, and even if she had had use of her mirror, she could not have dared to predict who just might get burned...

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

A wolf wuffed beside him, and Hideki scratched the lolling furball behind his ears. He was lazily enjoying the afternoon, watching as his wolf-brothers helped some of the villagers put up shutters along the thatched huts that lined both sides of the river. It had been Nobu's notion to have the ookami aid the villagers to prepare for the coming winter in payment for their generousity in taking the wolves in and healing them. It helped the recovering ookami to build up their strength, and the villagers seemed more grateful for the assistance than offended by the source.

 

This was a strange place. Most ningen were afraid of youkai---and with good reason. Hideki had never really cared one way or the other---an onna was as good as a youkai when it came to some bed-warming on a cold night, but he wasn't an idiot. It was rare for human and demon to mix in any way, and the people of this village seemed unfazed by the arrival of several youkai in their midst.

 

Hideki's eyes wandered over the changed landscape. The small village had been increased by quite a few structures. Each of the youkai ladies the Taiyoukai had sent had demanded her own residence, disdaining to mix with the lowly peasants of the village. The Ash-demon guards the spider Suyo was in charge of had only been able to build three huts, and that gaggle of querulous females had complained about the cramped space as they had been given only one of them for their use. The osambasan had taken up her own quarters, ignoring the complaints of the others with her usual high-handed manner. Hideki actually respected the old crab-face. She didn't put up with any nonsense. Only two of that gaggle were allowed to live with her in the hut, and it made the other females' eyes bleed with jealousy.

 

The Ash-demons were busy building more houses, hoping to ease the crowding and complaints, but Hideki didn't think they would finish in time before the first blizzards struck. It had snowed a few times already, and even now the icy touch of the wind foretold sleet in the night. Such weather was unknown in this remote village, but Hideki knew in his old bones that this was going to be one hell of a winter.

 

"C'mon, wench!"

 

The old wolf grinned as he watched the rough-spoken hanyou swing an arm over the taijiya's shoulders and drag the glaring girl off. That dog had guts, and Hideki had always liked him. He was more like Koga than the stupid wolf would ever admit, and he was glad that both of those clout-heads had finally found their own women and would quit fighting over the miko Kagome. Not that either of them knew that yet. Still, it made the old wolf look forward to the eventual confrontation of those two bull-headed idiots when they realized they didn't have a reason to fight anymore...

 

A howling caterwaul reached the old ookami's ears, and he swivelled his head, just in time to see a pack of wolves, tails between their legs, come bolting down this side of the river, yelping and hollering like Fury herself was behind them.

 

And she was.

 

The fire-neko was three times the size of his furry pack-brothers, and her roar drowned out all their high-pitched howls as she chased them right down the center of the village. Startled ningen and youkai got out of the way just in time, and one of those females poked her head out her door just long enough to shriek as the cream-colored demon flashed past, her twin tails leaving a stream of orange fire trailing behind her.

 

*Stupid whelps!*

 

They were at it again. Those damn mutts couldn't seem to grasp the fact that that cute little two-tailed kitten with the over-large eyes could transform at will into a saber-toothed, fire-footed monster that could tear them limb from limb. The wolves kept trying to torment the kitten, thinking she was just the right size for a between-meals snack. They baited her, trying to play cat and mouse. But this mouse could turn into a roaring terror, and it had become a daily event to have a whole gaggle of wolves go yelping by, a charging fury of a neko youkai roaring after them.

 

Howling pack and flaming neko disappeared into the woods, and Hideki chuckled to himself, digging his claws into the more sensible wolf who laid at his side. The brown wolf's tongue lolled out in a grin and he seemed to share the healer's amusement.

 

*Foolish young furballs.*

 

Speaking of foolish...

 

Hideki spotted one of his younger ookami brothers helping a raven-haired village girl pick up the packages she had dropped when she fled the stampeding wolves and neko. She appeared young, and pretty in a winsome way. Both of them were blushing and looking at their feet, and Hideki shook his greyed head over their maidenish behavior.

 

"Hmm. There might be more than one hanyou born this year..." He grinned to himself, watching the pair.

 

There was a commotion across from him, as one of the youkai women came stomping out of her hut, her eyes blazing and her scowl determined. She was an aging inu youkai, and the snobbery fairly oozed out of her. "I'm not going to stand this nonsense one more moment!" She actually shook her fist at Hideki, as if HE had been the one to cause all the commotion. He just grinned, showing his cracked fangs at the old curmudgeon. Lady Natsuko was an old fool, intolerant and unbending. He had overheard her scandalized whispers over the young girl whose pregnancy had brought her here at the Taiyoukai's order. She was a perfect example of just why inu youkai females were called "bitches".

 

Natsuko marched her way across the mud-hardened street and over the bridge, her mouth set into a cramped little line of indignant fury. A gaggle of females followed in her wake, looking more rabidly curious for a spectacle than personally outraged, as the inu was. Natsuko sailed past him, giving him a withering look of scorn, and stalked her way to the miko's hut, which stood just behind the breeding shed. Both Kaede and Usagi were in that hut, attending Kagome, who was late into her sixth month of pregnancy, and Hideki had a grand view of what was going to become quite an enjoyable squabble.

 

He held his breath and waited in delighted anticipation.

 

Just as Natsuko raised her fist to rap sharply on the wooden door, something made the hair on the back of Hideki's neck stand straight up. Tensing under the eerie feeling that suddenly raced down his spine, the old wolf turned his head up to the sky. Under his clawed hand, the brown wolf's furred back shook with a growl that deepened by the moment.

 

The village was suddenly quiet, all eyes turned up toward the cloud-covered sky in sudden fear. They all seemed frozen---from the old woman who had bent down to pick up her grandchild, to the staring Ash-demons who had been hard at work thatching a roof. Ningen and youkai stared at the awesome spectacle that lit the horizon in roiling, fuchsia-tinged madness...

 

Trouble.