InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ War's Shadow ❯ Relations ( Chapter 10 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

10 - Relations

She believed that she was getting a stark glimpse into the future of the northern lands. This castle and its inhabitants were on edge, not because they wondered overly much about the fate of their lord, but because they were nervous about his successor. Eizan was generally unforgiving toward those that crossed him, but that harshness did not translate into how he ran his home. The servants were relaxed and free to attend to their duties uninterrupted. It was less because he felt kindness toward them, and more because Eizan would not be bothered with such mundane details.

The servants clearly felt that Kawahira would be a harsher master. She could see it in the way they practically fled from him when he would walk past them. Chores were done silently and efficiently, nothing was out of place, and the castle was nearly soundless. Kawahira was all business, and expected everyone around him to be the same. Every person in this house served a purpose, his purpose, and that was the entirety of their worth.

Zadi was not nearly so impressed with him. She did not bow and scrape to him. She was not overly polite. She did not fawn over him like some spoiled prince. And, as strange as it may be, she believed that was why he let her get away with her behavior. It intrigued him, to be treated so, as though he was beneath her notice and not the other way around. It was an aberration in his daily life.

She often chose to soundly ignore him, but as she passed him in one of the corridors on the upper floor, she slowed her steps and could not help but notice that he looked as though he had been thrown into a room with a pack of feral cats, only to have the door locked behind him.

"You don't seem to be healing from your battle, Kawahira-sama," she said airily, as she approached him. She watched as his brooding glare settled on her, and his steps slowed as they drew closer, the early afternoon sunlight pouring in to wash the floors to a golden bronze. "In fact, I would suggest you have taken a turn for the worse."

"Are you amused, Zadi?" he asked, turning as she swept past him and watching her, exposing the deep, oozing claw marks on his face and arms to her scrutiny.

"Perhaps I would be if I knew the reason you look so terrible today," she said with a polite, interested smile.

He bowed his dark head mockingly at her inquiry. "I had Sashe imprisoned. She did not come peacefully, but I can assure you that she looks worse."

Zadi nodded, carefully schooling her expression into something uncaring. "I cannot blame her. Falling into your arrest is the easiest way to find one's head staked on a pole outside the gates."

"Not the easiest," he answered, dark eyes glittering. "If I wanted her dead, she would be so. She might be useful later. And, beyond that, I am not lord yet. I would not presume to take my father's place prematurely."

"Of course not," she replied in sarcastic understanding. "Then if the ruse is up, she might be of a different sort of use. She went to see Sesshoumaru a few days ago. She might be coerced into speaking about anything useful she might have heard. He did send Elif away, after all."

Kawahira chuckled lowly. "If you can get her to speak, Zadi, then by all means. I think you'll find she's inordinately stubborn, however."

Having secured the permission she wanted, Zadi added ingratiatingly, "And how is our lord today?"

Kawahira smirked at her. "My lord is doing better. Gods only know who your lord is, Zadi."

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She had woken to find herself in pitch darkness, but that was mostly due to the fall of a moonless night. A soothing breeze washed over her skin, and she exhaled a weary breath as she recalled that brief, but bloody fight with Kawahira.

Clearly, I lost, Sashe thought wryly, attempting to pull her leg into a more comfortable position only to find her ankle chained securely to the slick, moldy wall behind her. It was too bad, really, that Kawahira had not underestimated her. If he had chained her wrist instead, she could have done as her father had instructed her to do in such a situation ... break the hand to get it free and attempt an escape. That was not going to happen with a foot, unless she did something slightly more drastic.

She was sore beyond recollection. Something was digging into her back, preventing any form of comfort. Her head was fuzzy, making her feel slow-witted. And so she finally gave up on trying to regain much of her senses and relaxed as much as she could, one cheek pressed against the chilly stone floor.

There was no transition between consciousness and sleep, she simply laid there, feeling like a prisoner in her own head. Unable to wake herself up fully, unable to achieve true rest. And something continued to poke her mercilessly in the back. Her dazed mind filtered back through the events of the previous few days, and the emotions that had gone with them … anxiety, guilt, remorse, fury … a dizzying array of thoughts and feelings. It was astounding how drastic a turn one's life could take in such a short space of time.

Somehow, she was not at all surprised when she heard a voice, though she supposed, somewhere in her mind, that she should be, especially from this person, who had not entered her thoughts, until very recently, for many decades. She opened her bleary eyes and blinked into the darkness. When she saw nothing, she blinked again and found the face of a small, sulky, dog-eared child frowning at her with all the annoyance that he could summon.

"He's angry with you," the hanyou child said disapprovingly.

"Inuyasha," she frowned. A dream … surely … he should be so much older now, but this is how I last saw him …. She watched as he seated himself across from her, folding his little arms into his sleeves, just as Inutaisho oji-sama had always done before he had been about to give a stern lecture.

"You've really done it this time," the boy admonished her again with a shake of his head.

Now thoroughly doubting her sanity, Sashe replied, "He's right to be angry with me. I am, too. But I was happy to hear that he came to help you."

Inuyasha raised his chin haughtily. "Of course he helped me. He's my big brother."

"He is that," she agreed softly. "Despite everything, it all comes down to that, doesn't it?"

Child Inuyasha nodded wisely. "You should have gone back instead of doing something so stupid. Hate and love are practically the same thing with Sesshoumaru. You shouldn't let him scare you."

She blinked her eyes again as that voice changed to one she knew so well, and was so beloved that it made the backs of her eyes burn. Little Inuyasha morphed fluidly into the form of her mother, Lien, who smiled gently back at her. The room whirled into focus, and Sashe recognized it easily as her old home, the one her parents had built and shared together for as long as Mother had been able to stand it.

"You can still come with me," Mother tried again, the slight ringing of a plea in her voice.

Sashe, pulled into this memory, felt control of herself slip away as she reenacted that heart-crushing parting. "My home is here, Mother. And I don't want to leave him alone."

"Then you have the grace to deal with him where I do not," her mother replied, her pale eyes hinting at the years of pain and anger at her mate. "Leaving him means leaving you. I hate it."

"I'm not a child anymore, Mother," Sashe reminded her.

A long shadow fell across them as Sesshoumaru moved to linger in the doorway. Sashe watched him, waiting expectantly for him to say something to make her mother's mind change, to convince her that Kanaye's bouts of temper, dark moods, and merciless confrontations with the nearby human population were something that he could assert authority over, just as Inutaisho oji-sama had done ….

Sashe's mother smiled kindly at her visitor. "Sesshoumaru, have you come to say good-bye?"

As always, he rebuked that accusation of sentimentality. "I've come to make sure he doesn't interfere."

"No reproach from you?" Lien asked.

"Why?" Sesshoumaru questioned in return. "He is unbearable. You should have done this years ago." His gaze slid to Sashe. "And from what I just heard, you are not going with her and your sister?"

Sashe mutely shook her head.

"Then maybe one day you'll be as smart as your mother."

Lien moved toward him and gently squeezed his hand, bringing his attention back to her. "My sister would be proud if she could see you now. You're a good boy, Sesshoumaru."

He quirked an eyebrow at her word usage. "What about me could possibly have given you that idea?"

Lien turned and opened her arms to her daughter. Obediently, Sashe moved stiffly forward and allowed her mother to embrace her. She had a few last minute words, but Sashe could not recall them. She had not been listening, so amazed had she been by the turn of events. And, suddenly, her mother was gone. Back to China, the land of her birth, as though she had never left it to begin with.

And perhaps she should not have. She had mated with the wrong person. Lien was benevolent and kind, where her sister had been cooler, more reserved. Inutaisho and Kanaye had made the wrong decisions as well; they had each chosen the wrong woman, and neither union had worked out for the better….

The creaking of the door snapped Sashe out of her strange half-dream, and she forced her sore muscles to push her back up to a seated position in time to see Zadi approach. The woman had taken to Japanese dress lately, donning kimonos more often than her own native clothing. But nothing could make that woman look Japanese. Everything about her was foreign.

The door was bolted behind Zadi's entrance. Sashe could not imagine what sort of business this strange woman would have with her, but supposed that even a confrontation would be better than lingering in this dark, damp cell that reeked of rotting wood and mold. It was a horrible barrage on her senses. And it was going to prove to be excessively boring.

Zadi crouched down on her feet, careful not to kneel in the brackish puddle that covered most of the floor. She eyed Sashe appraisingly. "He was right. You do look worse than he does."

Sashe looked away from the scrutiny, wishing again that she had simply acted on her first impulse to kill Eizan for his treachery. At least then she would have something to hold over Kawahira's head other than a few claw wounds. "Did he also tell you to come gawk at me?" Sashe asked rudely.

"In a sense," Zadi granted. She cast a sly look toward the door, and noticed that the shadow of the guard was not evident through the slats. She turned back to Sashe with a conspiratorial whisper. "But you'll do us both a favor if you'll keep your voice down. Despite my actions toward your father, I want you to know that I am Eizan's enemy, not yours. I want to do what I can to help you."

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend?" Sashe repeated the old saying. "That will not apply in this case, I'm afraid. You are my enemy."

"I am working for Eizan in order to secure a better life for a little girl. I intend to do what it takes to restore your life as well."

Sashe shook her head, her normally immaculate hair falling in dirty tangles around her shoulders. "Why? This makes no sense. You tried to kill my father."

"That," Zadi said grimly, "is why."

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It had not taken long for something to start. One well-aimed and admittedly brutal comment about Inuyasha's mother had set the half-demon off into another of his displays of bad temper. The night rang with the sounds of clashing swords and, as Sesshoumaru watched Inuyasha and Kanaye attempt their best to behead one another, he found that it was nearly impossible to decide on who he would prefer to win this fight. Inuyasha was annoying. Kanaye was a bastard. Sesshoumaru resigned himself to holding out hope that the ground would simply open up and swallow them whole so that he could continue peacefully on his way.

He also could not help but wonder if the frequent confrontations that broke out between himself and Inuyasha were as tiresome to others as Inuyasha and Kanaye were threatening to be to him. But as he watched the unfolding scene with clinical interest and no small amount of disdain, Sesshoumaru still maintained his non-interference. Inuyasha had the better weapon by far, but he was battling against centuries more experience, as well as someone who had fought against Tessaiga regularly even before Inuyasha had dimmed the world with his birth. These attacks were nothing new to Kanaye. In fact, the older demon looked rather unimpressed by the entire display and Sesshoumaru got the feeling that he was toying with Inuyasha.

At Sesshoumaru's right, Rin was biting nervously at her lower lip, having temporarily forgotten the lurking presence of her new wolf companion as she watched the violent altercation. On his left, Kagome stood, her hands clenched into anxious fists. Sesshoumaru supposed that the girl was fortunate to still have her nerves in tact after all of the years spent with Inuyasha. The boy attracted trouble like no one Sesshoumaru had ever known.

He noticed she had been purposefully avoiding him ever since their brief conversation earlier in the evening, which was not something unwelcome or overly surprising. She refused to meet his eye, and he supposed that she felt as though they were in league on some secret that could almost be considered a disloyalty to Inuyasha. The hanyou would hate that Sesshoumaru knew of the child's existence before he did.

Normally, causing Inuyasha some form of distress was something he was given to doing without thought. This time, however, Sesshoumaru was not interested in involving himself any more than he already had. But he was correct. He could hear it even now, two opposing, thumping heartbeats, one loud and strong, the other small and very faint, audible only to the most select of hearing. It would not be long before Inuyasha found out what his mate and brother already knew, and the discussion that would follow would likely be very interesting.

Sesshoumaru watched as Kanaye finally ducked under a blast from Tessaiga and sent Inuyasha flailing backward into a tree. The sword momentarily dropped from Inuyasha's grasp as he bent to regain some air. Then, yelling a loud swear, his hand wrapped around Tessaiga once more and he went hauling after Kanaye for another round.

"Aren't you going to do something?" Kagome questioned him quietly.

"No," Sesshoumaru replied. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rin glance up at him.

"But they're going to tear each other to pieces."

"Yes, it should be entertaining," he agreed easily.

"But they---"

"I will not interfere, miko. Did you not hear me?"

"Kagome," she hissed back at him, turning her head, brown eyes sparkling angrily. "I told you I hate it when you call me that."

His own eyes swerved toward her. "I do not like you enough to care."

Her brows knitted together in a furrow of consternation, as an attack kicked up a great cloud of dust around them. "Would it kill you to be nice every once in a while?"

"Possibly," he replied just for the sake of infuriating her, then turned his attention back to the battle.

He heard Rin heave a sigh beside him. The three of them, along with Jaken, continued to watch the darkness as the two figures --- one red, one white and blue --- worked the aggression out of their systems. Oddly, Sesshoumaru found himself vaguely interested as he watched Inuyasha. The hanyou's fighting skills had improved considerably over the past decade. He still handled Tessaiga with rough immaturity, not at all with the grace and precision of their father, but he was doing well enough to frustrate the hell out of Kanaye. Kanaye was used to an easy win. He was not accustomed to having to work for any of it. Sesshoumaru was certain that, a lucky shot aside, Kanaye would win out, but at least Inuyasha wasn't embarrassing himself.

A Kaze no Kizu sliced right past Kanaye, so close that it left one sleeve smoldering slightly. Kanaye launched himself at Inuyasha, aiming a claw attack at him. Inuyasha brought up his own hand to grasp Kanaye's wrist and began working to keep it away from his face, teeth gritted into a furious snarl.

It was then that Sesshoumaru decided he was tired of being held up. "If the two of you cannot bring yourselves to behave civilly, I will gladly leave you both behind!"

Inuyasha ignored the statement. Kanaye smirked and pulled his arm from Inuyasha's grasp. "My comment still stands," he said. "And your sloppy fighting only defends my statement. You inherited too much of her filth."

Inuyasha growled and looked prepared to restart the fight. Kanaye's evil smile widened. The half-breed was far too easy to rile.

"You speak too much, Kanaye," Sesshoumaru warned. "Inuyasha, if all you are going to do is rise to his baiting like a child, I will treat you like one and leave you behind with your woman to play mother to you."

"You'd have killed him if he'd said it about your mother," Inuyasha complained with a growl.

Sesshoumaru nodded in agreement. "Yes, I would have. But it is your human conscience that keeps you from properly defending your mother, not me. Quit wasting my time."

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It was approaching the early morning hours by the time they arrived not far from a dark, inky lake that was surrounded by what looked like a wall of overgrown trees; a forest allowed to grow of its own will until it was nearly impenetrable.

Sesshoumaru signaled for them to be quiet, and he, Inuyasha, and Kanaye worked to cut their way through the forest, the slashing of weapons the only audible sound. All three demons would stop periodically, as though gauging any activity other than their own, but the forest remained silent and as abandoned as when they had found it.

Astride Ah-Un's back with Kagome and Jaken, Rin drew her legs up to keep her clothes from snagging on the choking overgrowth of thorned vines that were pulling at the sleeves and legs of the working youkai. Their actions were sending all manner of forest dwelling animals scurrying in terror from their homes or their hunting.

When a sufficient area had been cleared, Sesshoumaru went to speak to Kanaye and, within an eyeblink, the older demon had nodded and was gone. Inuyasha made his way over to Ah-Un, sheathing Tessaiga as he moved. He pulled Kagome down from the beast's leathery back, and explained, "He's gone to check on some things. When he comes back, we'll move on to the castle."

"Are you sure you can trust him to fight with you?" Kagome asked in a low, worried voice as Inuyasha extended a hand to Rin.

"Heh … which one?" Inuyasha remarked snidely. "If you mean Kanaye …" Inuyasha paused, as though considering, then answered, "During this battle is about the only time I would turn my back on him. His kid's caught up in all this mess. He's not going to screw it up just to take a shot at me."

Some tingling feeling of unease made Rin hope that Inuyasha wasn't overconfident in that estimation, but she wandered away from them in the direction she had seen Sesshoumaru disappear. She had to work her way through the tightening forest, and wondered how he was able to slip through it without so much as breaking a branch. She also did her best to ignore the distantly padding feet that signified her unwanted guardian's perpetual need to shadow her. Even taking to the air had not hindered his ability to follow them. The wolf ran eerily fast and that made Rin even more uncomfortable.

She slipped past a gnarled, rotted tree, heard the light-footed jump behind her as the wolf cleared it and continued in her wake. When she spotted Sesshoumaru's form through the copse of leaves and overgrowth, Rin turned to eye the wolf with determination. "He's right there!" she hissed at it, pointing a finger toward Sesshoumaru. "What's going to happen to me in the twenty steps it's going to take to reach him? Stay here!"

She felt like a prisoner. That's what this feeling was. She couldn't take a step without the wolf moving to follow her. Rin had already carefully plotted out exactly what she intended to say to Kouga the next time she saw him, and she was certain he was not accustomed to being called the rather descriptive words she was going to hurl at him.

Heaving a frustrated sigh, Rin watched as the over-large canine seated itself, its eyes still following her as she made her way forward. Sesshoumaru was seated near the edge of the lake, looking out to the distant island. Rin followed his gaze and noticed the dark, hulking structure of Ashihei's fortress sprawled out, looking nearly too large for its island home. It appeared very old, but it was impossible to tell from this distance as to whether it was well-maintained. Although, no doubt, Sesshoumaru and his scary eyesight would be able to count the blocks of stone that made up the walls even from this far away.

"My offer to kill it still stands," he told her quietly.

"If it attacks, you're free to do so," she said half-jokingly. Truthfully, she was still holding out hope that it would tire of her and wander away. Trailing after a human woman had to be intensely boring, compared to serving a demon master.

"Maybe when this is over, Kouga will call him back," she mused aloud. "He can't mean for this to be a permanent arrangement."

Sesshoumaru did not comment, and Rin took a seat behind him, tucking her legs underneath her as she reached out to comb her fingers lightly through his hair. There were no tangles to dislodge, it was always perfect, but she liked to do it anyway, and he seemed to enjoy the attention. He relaxed visibly, back muscles loosening.

"You pick strange times to do such things," he finally murmured.

"Am I affecting your concentration?" she teased, brushing her hands through the silky strands.

"Quite often."

"Are you being serious?"

He turned his head slightly to glance at her. She grinned back at him. "That's right. I forgot who I was asking." She waited a few moments, wondering if what he had said had been meant as more of a compliment or a complaint. He turned back around to face the island again, and Rin admitted, "I always get nervous before these battles."

"It calms your nerves to groom me?" he questioned wryly.

"It calms my nerves to be near you," she replied.

He shook his head slightly and Rin thought she heard him laugh lowly. "You are the only person that has ever said that to me. I generally have quite the opposing effect on others."

"I know you better than they do."

"I am not the same with others." He turned around, his back to the water, and faced her. His hands reached out and folded around her upper arms, pulling her in closer until she was practically sprawled across his lap. The hands then settled around her body in a relaxed embrace. "You know what I show you."

"You're a good person. I do know that, even though you deny it," Rin said quietly, allowing herself to be thoroughly mesmerized by the face that was only inches from her own. She could see every detail, every perfect feature. It was somehow strange to be staring at a man that was prettier than she was.

He inclined his head slightly at her comment. "At times, I alter my behavior to please you. I have not always been so … flexible," he said, unable to think of a better word. His hands fell to rest at her hips. "But you've always had some strange effect on me, which is why I am weary of adhering to rules of conduct when I no longer wish to comply with them."

She shook her head at the words, minutely aware of every breath, their close proximity, and those hands that seemed so comfortable in such an intimate gesture. "I'm not sure I understand." One hand moved up to her head and claws began threading gently through her hair, very much like what she had been doing for him. She closed her eyes contentedly. No wonder he likes it, she thought, as it was intensely relaxing.

"I'm a very selfish creature. I've told you that before."

"You exaggerate," she murmured, luxuriating in the tingling feeling that ran from her scalp to her shoulders. He stopped the motions and pulled her in closer until they were pressed firmly together, his arms wrapped around her, holding her so tightly against him that breathing became a secondary concern. She opened her eyes in surprise to find them practically nose to nose. He kissed her, and this time it was not so much innocent and affectionate as it was hungry, and "rules"-be-damned. That long-held restraint seemed to unravel with a speed that caught her by surprise, his hands tightened their grip even more firmly around her, and his mouth moved against hers with a heated, nearly astonishing fervor. Rin decided quickly that she did not mind in the least.

Before she was fully aware of what she was doing, her arms were flung tightly around his neck, and she was encouraging this long-denied moment of lost restraint on his part, though she quickly found that keeping up with him was nearly impossible. She did not mind that, either.

He pulled back so suddenly that Rin grasped onto his shoulders to steady herself as she watched his face, feeling completely breathless. His pupils were enlarged, making his eyes look dark instead of their normal gold. He blinked as though to regain himself, and they went back to normal, alert once more. Rin noticed that he was not releasing her, so was certain that this distraction was from an outside source, and not from sudden realization that he was instigating behavior he had sworn to avoid with her.

Rin was quick to discover the reason for the sudden halt, because a voice called out from so short a distance that it made her jump.

"If I'd come down here a couple minutes later, I'd have had to gouge my eyes out," Inuyasha's voice complained. "God damn, Sesshoumaru, this is hardly the time. Show a little restraint."

Rin looked behind her in unabashed horror as the hanyou's form stalked out from the trees, clutching a bundle of firewood. "Not nearly so dignified when you've got a girl sprawled all over you, huh, brother?"

Rin felt Sesshoumaru's muscles tense back up, but he still made no move to disentangle himself from her. His mouth went into a firm line. "Have you nothing else better to do, Inuyasha?" he asked, mentally coming up with just where would be best to dispose of the dismembered body.

"Anything's got to be better than what I just saw," Inuyasha replied with a scowl. His eyes flickered toward Rin and he shook his dog-eared head in obvious disapproval. "You've gotta be out of your mind, kid."

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As they walked in tense silence back to their momentary encampment, Rin was still attempting to get over her embarrassment of being caught in such an intimate moment. Sesshoumaru was stalking ahead of her, silent, his mind back on the task at hand. Inuyasha trailed behind, wisely keeping his mouth shut.

But as they entered the clearing the demons had hacked out of the thick forest, Sesshoumaru's head came up and Inuyasha instantly dropped his armload of firewood, his hand going to Tessaiga's hilt. Sesshoumaru stopped him from pulling the sword with a quick motion of his hand.

Rin froze in a moment of concerned confusion as Sesshoumaru moved swiftly toward Kagome, pulled the bow off of her shoulder without explanation, nocked one of her arrows, and turned to aim at a section of the dark forest.

"There's no need for that, Sesshoumaru. This is a peaceful visit," came a calm, strangely-accented voice.

Rin watched as a woman exited the forest and walked toward them, one who was quite obviously not of Japanese descent, but clearly human. And she apparently was not afraid of having an arrow pointed at her heart. She stopped several steps away from Sesshoumaru, who made no move to lower the bow. "No youki," the woman said, acknowledging the strategy of using the perfectly ordinary bow. Her smile did not waver. "Kanaye told you, did he?"

"Yes, but it is you who needs to tell me why I should not release the arrow."

"I warned him ahead of time about what would take place at Inuyasha's village. I had hoped he would arrive in time to warn you. Did he inform you of that?"

"Yes, and that is the only reason you are still standing."

"I've come to speak with Kanaye."

"We can shoot her when she's done speaking, Sesshoumaru," Kanaye's voice added to the mix as he dropped down from out of nowhere within inches of Rin, his sudden appearance very nearly making her jump out of her skin. "We're set," Kanaye informed Sesshoumaru. "They have no idea. There are no extra fortifications. Nothing. Just some guards sitting on their asses, drinking sake."

Sesshoumaru nodded and lowered the bow as Kanaye walked over to Zadi, grabbed her by the arm, and hauled her bodily into the forest, her loud protests mixed with the sounds of breaking tree limbs and rustling bushes.

Rin frowned at the strangeness of that action, then glanced over at Inuyasha who was looking as though he had just missed something vitally important. "All right, did someone forget to fill me in about something …?"

"We've taken pity on your withered brain and spared you the complicated details, half-breed," Sesshoumaru replied mildly.

"That wasn't your brain that was functioning out there by the lake, was it?" Inuyasha sneered. "So I don't see that you've got room to talk, jerk."


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Zadi tried everything she could to stop her forward motion. She dug in her heels, she leaned back with her weight, she jerked her arm, but Kanaye moved forward like a tsunami toward shore, completely heedless of her attempt to disentangle herself from his grasp.

Finally, she gave in to his obvious display of dominance and settled for putting up a hand in an attempt to protect her face from the choked forest. Kanaye stormed ahead, lethally clawed hand still wrapped firmly around her arm, seeming to take great pleasure in moving branches out of the way only to let them thwack her in the face on their trip back to their original positions.

"Will…you…stop…ow!" she cursed as her foot caught under an exposed tree root and sent her sprawling face first toward the ground. Kanaye released her arm and let her hit the leaf-strewn forest floor. He then stood back and waited as she exhaled an angry breath and pulled herself up from the indignity.

"That should be far enough, I think," he concluded.

"So they can't hear us talk?"

"So they can't hear you scream," he replied seriously, leaning back against the wide, expansive trunk of an ancient tree. "You have a minute to convince me of why you should keep breathing."

Making an effort to dust herself free of the leaves, twigs, and dirt she had accumulated from her fall, Zadi speared him with a displeased look. "I came to find you because I have news of your daughter."

He didn't blink, but those eyes fixated on her with a depthless stare. "So now you are their messenger?"

"They don't know I'm here. I came to find you and imagine my surprise to see that you were lurking outside of Ashihei's home."

"And Sashe?"

"She was arrested and imprisoned. Kawahira used her as a scapegoat for Elif and that warning she sent to Sesshoumaru."

Kanaye nodded slowly, eyes slanting angrily. "And what will they do with her?"

"Nothing at the moment. Kawahira has said that he will defer to Eizan on that, but I think she's useful to them as long as the rest of you are alive. She is a way for him to legitimately claim the west once you, Sesshoumaru, and Inuyasha are gone. I think he'll keep her alive at least until then."

"You assume."

Zadi nodded in grim agreement. "That is true. I don't pretend to predict Eizan once he is in charge again."

"Why are you telling me all of this? You must know that you are not welcome here. But," he added with a sneer, "then again, you have yet to strike me as terribly bright."

Zadi dropped all confrontation from her tone. "I told you because I was sure you would be afraid for her. Now you know her status … and you can rest assured that I'll watch her."

The sneer changed to a smirk, and Kanaye crossed his arms over his armored chest, scrutinizing the woman that stared back at him with blue-eyed sincerity. "Why does that not comfort me?" he asked sarcastically.

"It should," Zadi replied quietly. "If they make a move to kill her, I will make sure she escapes."

"Why?" Kanaye spat back flatly. He felt like wringing an explanation out of the woman. What was it about her … or him? … that made her so desperate to interfere on Sashe's behalf? She was quite possibly the strangest creature he had ever encountered.

"I owe you a debt, Kanaye," Zadi explained. "I'm repaying it. I'll make sure she stays safe, whatever it takes."

He continued to eye her silently for another long minute. Zadi finally looked away from his scrutiny and continued to dust off her disheveled clothing, pulled leaves from her long hair. When he made no move to cease his study of silence, she finally looked up, feeling oddly disconcerted by the stare he was giving her. "What?" she questioned.

"I am trying to discern the real reason you continuously seek me out. You've clearly developed some sort of fascination with me," he accused. "Has the human wretch allowed herself to form a pathetic crush?"

"You're insane," Zadi immediately balked, horrified at his conclusion and certain that her astonishment had to be written across her face.

He made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "That aside, it is now perfectly obvious. Why else would you seek my approval? First by apologizing for your grievous actions on the night you came to kill me, then by babbling out Eizan's intentions and directing me toward the battle and, now, taking such a benevolent interest in a demon girl you barely know." He frowned as though something unpleasant had just wafted past his sense of smell.

"Who says I'm looking for your approval?" she exclaimed defensively.

"I do, did you not just hear me?" He shook his head at what he supposed was her stupidity. "Even now, you're completely rattled. How perfectly nauseating. I am clearly not doing enough to earn the loathing of the human species. You poor, wretched creature."

All Zadi could do was stare in open-mouthed horror at the demon that stood before her, so secure in the conclusion of his overly large ego. How had this taken such a turn? She felt her face begin to burn with anger. "You think very highly of yourself. If you must know, I believe you are quite possibly one of the scariest, soulless individuals I have ever encountered."

"I think that says more about you than me," he proclaimed airily. "Surely you can find those qualities in a human male. I contest the very idea that any of you have souls to begin with, so it should be fairly simple."

Zadi closed her eyes in a moment of utter vexation. "I've told you what I came to tell you. And now, if you don't mind, I'd like to know when exactly you plan to attack Ashihei," Zadi said, attempting to regain her composure.

"Imminently," came the certain reply. "And all the more reason to kill you. You've already shown a tendency to divulge the plans of others. I cannot very well let you leave and announce our arrival prematurely, now can I?"

"I only want to involve myself long enough to retrieve a little girl that lives in that castle. Then I will be on my way with her and you can do what you will with Ashihei and his people."

"Can't let you do that," he replied with a stubborn shake of his white head.

"I'm going to have to fight you," she warned.

"Then I'm going to have to kill you," he immediately countered.

"I thought you were going to do that anyway," she smirked, but the smile fled her face when he shoved her back against the trunk of a tree with enough force to propel the air from her lungs. He closed his hand around her throat and began to choke her.

"I have a short temper," he stated conversationally, appearing completely unaffected by her struggling. He frowned at her as something seemed to occur to him. "Truly, this is so sad. If it is the abilities of another that you must summon to use as a weapon, then you are out of your league fighting with demons." He squeezed tighter, then said sincerely, "You're disappointing me."

The moment she went limp, he released her and her body dropped to the ground with a heavy thump, her manic heartbeat fluttering in his ears. He took a step back from her and shook his head in a moment of bemusement.

Ah, Kanaye, he thought to himself, you know you're getting old when killing humans becomes more of a chore than a pastime.

"You're fortunate that I become bored easily these days, Zadi," he called to the unconscious woman before striding back through the woods toward the camp.

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The wind swept across the lake, flattening the thick grasses that obscured their crouched forms. Sesshoumaru finally broke the silence of their group by ordering Kanaye to approach the island from the left, while he went on to the main house.

"Not wasting any time getting to the bastard, are you?" Kanaye muttered.

"And?" Inuyasha asked expectantly, noting that he had been left out of the plan entirely.

Sesshoumaru glanced over at the half-demon. "Do what you want," he said simply, before turning to regard the two girls, who were hanging back with Ah-Un, Jaken, and the wolf. "I presume you two are coming as well," he said, not sounding pleased about the idea.

"Naturally," Kagome responded archly, shifting the bow that hung over her shoulder.

Sesshoumaru gave her a bland look. "Then stay in the air and shoot whatever moves."

"As long as it's not one of us," Kanaye added with a sneer.

"Don't tempt me," Rin muttered.

"You forget my hearing, human brat."

"No, I don't," she answered sweetly.

Kanaye scowled at her, but his own scathing retort was cut off by Sesshoumaru's voice saying, "Let's go."

He and Kanaye stood, the wind-swept grass almost to waist level. It did not matter if they were seen at this point. The ill-guarded island was simply unprepared.

"How do you propose that we all get over there?" Inuyasha asked, the thought suddenly occurring to him that these waters were guarded by the same freakish creatures that had attacked Rin.

"I can fly, Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru reminded him.

"Yeah? Good for you," Inuyasha scowled.

Sesshoumaru nodded. "Yes, it is. Good luck, hanyou." With that, he leapt into the air and hurtled out over the lake, Kanaye evaporating from sight an instant later, leaving Inuyasha behind to curse at them.

------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------

She watched in some mixture of horror and fascination as the moth repeatedly circled the candle on the table. It grew closer and closer to the flames … before Ashitera experienced a moment of panic on its behalf and shooed it away. The action also snuffed out the candle entirely, darkening the room some.

The small girl felt a moment of relief at her successful rescue, then glanced behind her at the form that was bent over the desk, scribbling characters across a page in sloppy succession. Ashihei-sama was busy. It would be best not to bother him, she decided.

But she was bored. Folding her arms across the desk, Ashitera laid her head down and stared vacantly out the window. She wished she was back at Ji-sama's home. At least there, there were plenty of people to pay her attention. Elif oba-san, Sashe-san, and the servants. Even Zadi-san had seemed very nice. This place was full of too many soldiers. Lazy men who did little that she could see except sit around and talk or drink or fight.

When she was here, no one told her to go to bed. No one made sure she got her bath or was dressed correctly. Not like Elif oba-san did. Sometimes it was like she was a ghost.

"Ashihei-sama," she said quietly, not sure if he'd be angry for being interrupted.

"Hmm?" he called distractedly. The sounds of his writing instrument scribbled along the paper he was hunched over. She heard him utter a curse, and then scratch something out.

"Will we go back to Ji-sama's soon?"

"He's not well. You'll be in the way there."

Ashitera exhaled a tired sigh. Her eyes were starting to burn. It was very late, and she was so sleepy, but she really did not want to have to go back to her dark bedroom alone. She supposed she could sleep here until he noticed and made her leave ….

She lowered her head back down on her arms, one cheek nestling into a silky sleeve. She blinked wearily and stared out the window into the dark night, the waves on the lake visible and lapping lightly against the shore. It looked like an ocean of black, like the ink Ashihei-sama was using.

It was the flash of white that made her blink again and bring her head up slightly. Something was standing out against the darkness and coming closer at a very fast speed, shooting across the lake like a star. Within a moment, the white streak passed overhead, as though going over the rooftop.

"A … Ashihei-sama, there's something out there," Ashitera warned suddenly. Chilled, she shivered slightly as more images of ghosts came to mind. She certainly did not want to have to walk back to her room alone now ….

"Nonsense," Ashihei muttered. "This place is guarded to the hilt. You just imagined…"

And that was when the chaos began.