Hi! This is a new multi-chapter story I'm starting. The title is based on the 36 Battle Stratagems. Number 31 focusses on the usage of using beautiful women to distract an enemy lord from official duties.
Once again, the story will be Sessh/Rin, my absolute favorite couple!
For those of you still following Sesshoumaru's Smile, er...the good news is that it's not discontinued. The bad news...I didn't bring the written out papers with me to college this semester...Again! Sorry!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize (though I do have my fantasies P) and please excuse any mistakes I make on Japanese culture--I got all the info from Wikipedia and it was a shoddy bit of researching I did in the first place!
Stratagem 31: Beautiful Woman
Stratagem 31: Beautiful Woman
Warm hazel eyes shone from under a well worn but high quality cloak. They gazed eagerly this way and that, absorbing all they witnessed with rapturous delight. All around, were tall, slender, youkai.
Rin was having trouble controlling her excitement. For all the stories she'd heard about demons and all the low level demons she'd encountered on her way here, she found herself flabbergasted. This was the demon capital of the West. Of the lands controlled by youkai, the Western Lands was the most prosperous. And it's capital city was the most illustrious and flourishing she had ever seen.
Mind you, that didn't make the demons and demonesses any kinder. The fancily dressed ladies and tailor-fitted men would take one small, disdainful sniff at her and walk away in a well-practiced fast pace timed to not appear rushed. It wasn't that demons regarded humans to be lower than them in general—in fact, there were some upper-middle class families in the capital city that were fully human. And even among the lower gentry, mixed children were not entirely uncommon.
So why the particular condescension towards the petite young woman so obviously interested in the workings of upper and middle class demon society? Quite simply, she reeked. Even Rin herself cringed when she thought about it. By no means was her journey here luxurious. It was quite the opposite—involving a month of sweaty, grimy travel by foot or the occasional donkey cart that took pity on the small woman, a particularly nasty landslide during a rainstorm that left her stranded in a mountain cave for a week waiting the weather out, and well…here she was—all two weeks free of bathing and half a day worth of mountain climbing, or slipping, later.
Despite her weariness, Rin couldn't help but to explore the famed Crescent Marketplace before trying to find lodging for the night. Economics wise, the Western Lands was the most laissez-faire of all the lands in Japan. This led to a natural gathering of the most highly skilled craftsmen and producers that had ever been witnessed. The Western Lands Castle, a gargantuan structure further emphasized by its elevated structure atop a one-thousand acre plateau, loomed over the Crescent Marketplace, shaped like its namesake, and dedicated to the hereditary mark of the ruling family.
Dimly, in the background of her excitement, Rin heard music—majestic, victorious music emanating from all around the Marketplace and leading to the winding incline towards the castle. Specifically for that afternoon, the Marketplace had been cleared. A gaggle of finely dressed, pretty demonesses hastily fixed their already perfect kimonos and daintily held their ornate fans. Rin furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. She could understand the festivities—the High Prince, Lord Sesshoumaru had led a successful retaliation against a dragon demon clan slowly gaining power on the border between the Western and Northern Lands. Because the Lord of the North had been unable to stop the dragon clan, which had originated in the northern region, Lord Sesshoumaru had negotiated and claimed that region for his own after defeating the leader of the dragons. Though the region itself was quite small, it was rich in minerals, particularly mithril and orichalcum ore, as well as diamonds and other precious stones. What she didn't understand was the need for the entire female population of the city, and some from the country, to dress in their best and flutter their eyelashes while coyly hiding their faces behind fluttering fans. For goodness sakes, the army hadn't even appeared yet!
Looking left and right, Rin saw no sign of a large army procession marching through. That was when she heard the awe-filled gasps and reverent whispers. Following the directions of everyone's gazes, Rin found herself spellbound. There came from the skies in the north a small army of around two hundred, not marching, but floating towards the city on a large cumulus cloud. As the cloud began descending, Rin could make out the shape of the figure in the forefront. His head of billowing silver hair lashed wildly in the demonic wind of the cloud's descent. His tall, regal body was adorned in spiked armor that shone silvery grey.
All around, Rin heard a strange, uniform, half-sigh, half-moaning sound. More confused now, she observed that the females who had had the misfortune of standing near her were having trouble supporting themselves. Some were, distastefully enough, drooling. Turning her attention back to the procession, Rin saw that it had fully landed. Her eyes were magnetically drawn to the aristocratic figure in the forefront, walking briskly towards the path winding up toward the castle gates. His powerful presence would pause briefly between intervals and the small skittering figure following behind him would jot down some words on a parchment. It seemed that the small figure was getting more and more confused because at one point, he swiveled his body this way and that, as if trying to find something, before hurriedly scribbling some things down and clumsily running to catch up.
As the tall figure neared her, Rin understood what the strange sighing sound from earlier was—swooning. She understood because she began emitting it right then, along with everyone else around her. The tall figure, the one with the over-powering aura about him, was a sex god of a demon. His silvery hair swayed slightly in the breeze and the tendrils seemed to tease out every hidden fantasy of the female mind. His eyes were the most predatory she'd ever seen, lined with thick lashes that emphasized the golden glint in the slitted amber irises. They were mesmerizing. And the aristocratic bridge of his nose, the full, soft-looking lips, and the proud cheekbones did nothing to save a girl's heart. Even the way he walked, lifted each finger, showed no excess but only the most simple, yet graceful essence of the virile male body. Rin found herself rooted to the ground, unable to move, and hardly able to breathe, as the Adonis in corporeal form assessed her with a piercing gaze. She saw a minute tick in his finely arched silver brow as he lifted his clawed finger again, as if irritated, and moved on without pausing, disappearing into the fortified gates of the castle. The little toad demon who was following him, however, worn a shocked expression on his green face as he reluctantly scribbled down yet a few more characters on his parchment, nose twitching as he peered at her once again before darting off in a huff.
Rin didn't quite remember how she found her way to an inn that night. All she remembered was that all of a sudden the women around her threw furious glares at her, disbelief, jealousy, and loathing apparent in their deathly gazes. Sensing danger, Rin fled before the rest of the soldiers had reached the gate, hoping that the demonesses had enough tact to not attack her when the parade honoring the warriors had yet to end. Somehow, the next thing she knew, she was standing in front of an inn. Or rather, one of the inn hostesses had dragged her there and was currently pushing her through the door.
Grudgingly, Rin dug out the required amount of coins the clerk behind the desk demanded. Awareness came back to her though, when she felt multiple hands eagerly tearing off her cloak and the rest of her clothing.
Reacting instinctively, Rin twisted her lithe body so that she was free from the hands and reached into her yellowed kimono shirt, grasping for her dagger.
"Calm down! Please! We mean you no harm!"
It was then that Rin noticed she had just escaped from three women, all wearing the insignia of the inn on their yukata. That was when she realized that the room she was in was very steamy and moist.
"You paid for a serviced bath, miss, when you paid for the room and I apologize for being rude, but we were just very eager to get rid of the smelly clothes on you," one of the women explained, cautiously taking a step forward from the wall Rin had backed the three into.
Realizing how ridiculous her situation was, Rin flushed a bright red before relaxing her stance and helping the women peel off her stained and threadbare hakama, tabi, and kimono shirt, taking care to hide her dagger from sight. It seemed the only salvageable clothing she had was her cloak, which needed serious washing.
Still embarrassed, Rin sighed as she lowered herself into the steamed bath, feeling her muscles relaxing. Closing her eyes, Rin moaned as she slowly arched her back and twisted her neck a few times, hearing the satisfying clicks as her joints relaxed. Opening her eyes after a few minutes of bliss, Rin yelped as she noticed three sets of eyes staring at her.
"Er…you may go now," Rin ordered, embarrassed and self conscious.
The three women bowed and left, promising to bring her clean clothes.
Giggling softly to herself, Rin lathered the scented soap the three had provided over herself, reveling in the feel of clean skin and flowery smells. She meticulously messaged her scalp and sighed as she felt the last of the grime leave. It had been too long for a girl to go without some standard of cleanliness!
As promised, one of the serving ladies brought a clean, albeit plain, yukata for her. Rin had barely hidden her dagger in the obi sash when the screen door was rudely slid open. Automatically, Rin unsheathed her dagger and threw in the general direction of the wall next to the door.
"Ah!" A squeaky, nasally voice screamed, "How dare you filthy human girl attack me? Me! Personal secretary of the High Prince Sesshoumaru! You'll be put to death for this!"
Rin's eyes bulged out. There, cowering near the wall was the shrieking figure of the little imp that was following the head general around in the parade. Less than a centimeter from the crown of his head was her dagger, which had his little black cap securely pinned to the wooden wall.
Rin bit back a retort as she deftly pulled her dagger out of the oak wall, silently reminding herself that demons, unlike humans, came in all sizes and forms—it wouldn't do to throw her dagger and miss, after all. Then, the reality of what the imp had said set in. Swirling on her heels, Rin faced the imp.
"What did you say? Lord Sesshoumaru? Wh…What does he want with me?" Rin cringed. That just came out wrong. It was completely disrespectful towards the alluring and talented lord who had enraptured her a mere hour ago.
"Hmph! Like I would tell you now! You…" He ranted, "You are completely and utterly unworthy! I refuse to do it! I refuse!"
"But what would it look like, if you, secretary of the High Prince, Lord Sesshoumaru, were unable to do the task that was assigned to you?" Rin interjected, restraining herself from doing any more damage to the green toad who was currently insulting her.
"I'm not falling for that trick! Hah!"
"I was merely pondering on a very reasonable possibility."
The toad stomped his webbed feet, highly agitated, before apparently deciding to swallow his pride. Clearing his throat pompously, as if nothing involving the whole dagger business had ever happened, he declared, "You, Nameless Human, are summoned to the Imperial Harem as of tonight."
First chappie, done! How was it?