A/N: Chapter two of Prince of the Wood. Sorry it took so long and it is rather short. But at least it's finally up.

Five Sided Dice

Prince of the Wood

'Story of a Coup'

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After dealing with the hunter, InuYasha made his way through the forest. It was getting darker and every step he took neared him to his destination. At the other side of the forest nestled in a gently sloping valley was a village he had come to know through the years. Not far from there, yet still hidden in the depths of the forest lie his encampment where he and his merry band took refuge.

He was closing in on the site of where his friends were stayed, so he picked up the speed. It had been over a fortnight since he had last rested in peace and he was fatigued by mostly sleepless nights as he was out patrolling his woods.

And then, he was there and he landed in the clearing - not to mention scaring the daylights out of his friend the monk.

"Whoa, InuYasha, what pub did you drag yourself out of? You look terrible."

"Glad to be back, Miroku," his ragged voice replied in sarcasm.

"Ahha, sorry about that, I uh... just meant... Welcome back!!" An innocent smile graced his features as he gently pulled at the neckline of his robes.

"Why don't you just go back to your cloister."
"Oh, Inu, don't be so cold. You shun me, you know?"

"And you deserve it, I'm sure. Where are the others?" InuYasha dipped his hands into a bucket of water and splashed the cold fluid over his face, then grabbed a nearby cloth to dry off.

"Hey! That was going to be used for my brushes!"

"Your what?" InuYasha raised an eyebrow at his friend - forgetting for the moment about his earlier question.

"Oh, that's right you don't know about my newly found talent!" Miroku radiated with glee as he practically danced over to a table covered in canvases and leather-tubed satchels.

"What the f..."

"Look, look! This is my talent!" And the monk held up a canvas covered in a detailed landscape. It was quite good, something that surprised InuYasha noticeably. He was mentally proud of his friend for finally finding a talent that he was actually good at.

"Nice, what did Jinenji say?"

Then Miroku gave another joyful smile,"He's the one who gave me the idea. I think that after creating so many... not-quite-healing... healing potions with his herbs he decided that he should give me a different talent to try out!"

"Not-quite-healing?" InuYasha questioned, not quite sure to grimace at or make fun of his friend.

"Well, let's just say that whenever I gave them to my test subje--I mean patients, the next day they looked more monk-ish than me." He gave another one of his innocent smiles as he fumbled to put away the canvas.

"I'm not even gonna ask." And thankfully the monk was off the hook, for now. "So, where is everyone?"
But the monk didn't get to pass go or collect two hundred dollars quite yet, so he busied himself with straightening up his artwork.

"Monk."
He continued to shuffle around and accidentally dropped a leather tube in the process. He bent to pick it up just as a clawed foot was placed threateningly on top of the satchel.

"Umm..." Then he sighed and straightened himself to look the half-demon in the eye.

"Your brother had to leave the kingdom due to some sort of business and left his subordinate in charge. It is rumored that said subordinate sent an assassin after Sesshoumaru-sama. And so now he thinks that Sesshoumaru is dead and that he is the ruler. He has called upon all of 'his' subjects to 'his' castle to a banquet that 'he' is having. The others went to scout out the place to see if the rumors are right, or at least that's what their excuse was. I decided to stay back, of course."
"At least you are loyal, though that may not mean much. So... my bastard of a brother was idiot enough to leave Naraku in charge? Unless... Unless of course it is a trap to see if Naraku had planned to pull a coup d'etat. That would be more like him..." InuYasha trailed off in thought until Miroku burst his thought bubble with faux outrage.

"InuYasha! Again you harm my honor! Of course I am loyal to you! I am a highly regarded monk of great spiritual power, how could I not mean much?"

But InuYasha had turned away and began walking to one of the many tents in the encampment,"Tomorrow we're leaving to check out the banquet. Something's up with this and I don't like it." In his mind he continued, And I'm worried about where my Kagome stands in all of this.

"Ahh, you worry about your priestess?" The monk smiled deviously.

InuYasha threw a glare over his shoulder before entering his tent and pulling the flap over the entrance-way.

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

"Kagooomeeee!" A high-pitched voice chirped. The owner of the voice being none other than a small girl as she ran through the castle gardens searching for her friend. Bare-foot, dirty, and clothing askew from planting flowers, the adopted princess was now tired of it and wanted a story.

"Kagooo--umph"

"Oh! Are you okay?" A woman dressed in the tell-tale red and white garb of a priestess turned around to pick the little girl off the ground. "My are you dirty, Rin! Planting flowers again?"

"I'm fine and yes I was, but now I want a story," the girl -- Rin -- smiled brightly and continued to ramble as her priestess-friend carried her back into the castle. She continued on talking about random events of her gardening until she found herself in the wash-room and stripped of her clothes.

"Ahh! Kagome, I don't want a bath! I'm not dirty, I'm clean! Clean!"

"You're about to be clean, and if you want that story you'll have to bear with a little bath," Kagome laughed as she picked up Rin's clothing and put it in a woven basket, then walked over to a wooden chest that she shuffled around in until she found a bar of soap and herbs that had fragrances that Rin was agreeable with.

"Okay, Kagome-chan. But! After the bath you have to tell me the story of the girl and the magical well."

"Again?"

"Mhm! You promised!"

"Kagome gave her a wry grin,"And when did I promise something like that?"
"When you were asleep. Yep. I asked you yesterday and you said something that kinda' sounded like 'Okay, Rin-chan, I promise to read you the story of the girl and the magical well'."

Nonplussed, Kagome sighed and gave Rin the bar of soap,"Some reason I just don't think I would be able to say all of that so clearly. In. My. Sleep."

"Oh, but you did, Kagome-chan. Trust me, you did."

"Alright, alright! I'll read it, but first -- a bath!"

"Mhm! That's what I said." Rin smiled triumphantly before her head was dunked unceremoniously under the luke-warm water to pop back up again with dripping jet black hair hiding her scowling face.