AN: Well, actually, I have nothing to say. Read on. Don't forget to review!
Chapter 2: Mother's Whims
The morning was cool and bright, the perfect sort of morning to be awake for. The birds sang their fast little hearts out, leaping from perch to perch in play and war.
A small kingfisher perched on a high branch, emitting an anxious shrit-it-it.
From the ground beneath it, a line of fast-moving light whipped upwards. The bird leapt from its branch, screaming its alarm, but the light overtook it. The whip cut the bird cleanly in two.
"Now, Sesshoumaru, was that entirely necessary?" asked a reproachful feminine voice.
"Yes," intoned a much deeper voice.
Underneath the fisher's tree, the two demons watched the separate pieces of the bird's body fall to the ground. The female looked on with slight disappointment.
"It wasn't doing anything to you!" she said, turning narrowed eyes on her son.
The male returned her gaze blankly. "It was loud. There are plenty of other birds on this side of the River, Mother."
She shook her head, but resumed her walking. "Sesshoumaru, you must learn to be more tolerant."
Sesshoumaru settled in for a long lecture, one he had suffered through many times.
"Because if you are tolerant of other beings…" It was all about tolerance and being open to beauty. "Even lesser beings can teach us many things…" He sighed softly and turned his senses outward, sniffing the air.
"My dear, if you never learn to see the beauty in the world-"
"Mother, silence." Sesshoumaru had frozen in the path, his expression focused. He inhaled deeply once more, scenting the air.
"Sesshoumaru! That is no way to talk to your own mother! If you were any younger I would-"
"I smell blood," he interrupted, his voice calm.
His mother's immediate interest was palpable. "Whose is it?"
"A human's." Sesshoumaru began to move towards the smell.
His mother hurried to keep up with him. "A human? What is a human doing here? Is it dead, Sesshoumaru? Is it close?"
"If you would use your own nose, Mother, you could find out yourself," said Sesshoumaru, pushing past a wall of ferns. His mother, following closely behind him, huffed her displeasure with a dramatic sigh.
"Alas, I get no respect from mine only son!"
Sesshoumaru paused to scent the air again; then continued on, reassured he was following the right course.
"This is the fate of a mother who raised a warrior and a Lord: to be easily dismissed and dishonored!"
The sound of the River, which had been a constant, but distant, companion all throughout their walk, was now close. The scent of blood on the air was stronger.
"No love for your own mother! By what deed did I earn your hatred, O' Son? Was birthing you not enough to earn deference?"
Sesshoumaru pushed aside the arm of a leafy shrub and stepped passed it, surveying the stretch of water before him. He stopped short, his arm still extended to hold the branch aside for his mother.
"I should say I suffered mightily to bring you into this world- my body never has been the same. My- oof!" She smacked into his shoulder, her hair ornaments jingling merrily. "Sesshoumaru, why in the world did you-?"
Interrupting, again, he said, "Look, Mother."
"What…" She followed his gaze and gasped. She took several steps forward, until her slippers were at the edge of the slow-moving water. All her pretenses dropped when she turned to him.
"Go!" she demanded. "Bring it here."
Sesshoumaru would have refused, had the order come from anyone else. However, since she was his mother, he would indulge her- and satisfy his own curiosity.
On the opposite bank of the river, a small body was caught in the roots of a tree that grew from the steep bank.
Sesshoumaru took one look at the distance between the two banks and leapt. He sailed through the air smoothly, landing with precision on one of the same roots that had caught the human.
It was a girl, not young, but not old either. Her arm was caught on one of the roots and her quiver wedged firmly between one root and the embankment. Even as he watched, her chest moved. He didn't know how she'd gotten caught up in the roots, but being trapped there had probably saved her life, keeping her head up so that she breathed air instead of water.
He bent down, careful of his footing, and used one sharp claw to slice the strap of her quiver in two. The release of tension caused her body to jolt and her head to loll. He paused, taking a moment to study her face.
She was pretty enough for a human female, he supposed. He'd only seen three or four mature ones. She looked too young to be so far away from other humans and far too weak to be anywhere near demons.
"Sesshoumaru, are you going to just stand there all century or are you going to do as I said?" asked his mother, her voice impatient.
He heard her as if she'd been right next to him, though she hadn't shouted. He refrained from childishly rolling his eyes and bent again, this time wrapping a hand around the girl's arm to pull it out of its confines. Once he had freed her, he took hold of her by the shoulders, holding her away from his body- she dripped muddy water- and made another giant leap.
He landed next to his mother, who began to fuss over the human immediately.
"Oh, look, the poor thing's soaking wet, and injured, too," she sympathized. "Lay her down so I can look at her."
Sesshoumaru did as she asked, placing the girl on the ground. He called his youki to the surface of his skin, burning away the moisture and dirt that had clung to his hands after touching the girl.
His mother bent over her, careful to keep her pristine white sleeves away from the mud. "She's breathing, but she's out cold. Sesshoumaru, how far is the nearest human settlement to this part of the River?"
Sesshoumaru stood away from the two of them, inspecting his hands for any dirt he had missed. "Settlement?" he clarified. "At least three days travel at a human's walking speed. There is a guard tower closer though, perhaps only a half of a day's walk."
"Would a guard tower have a healer?" asked his mother, reaching out to touch the face of the human.
"Unlikely."
His mother glanced up at him, a look in her eyes that he had learned to be wary of.
A thought occurred to him. "You can't keep it, Mother," he said, his voice dark.
"It is a she," she replied, lifting her chin. "And why can't I? You kept one."
Sesshoumaru growled softly in exasperation. "That was entirely different, Mother."
She growled back, hers a little more challenging. "I don't see how."
Sesshoumaru took a step closer, glaring at the human girl with disdain. "It will most likely die."
His mother laughed. "Sesshoumaru, that might possibly be the worst excuse you've ever given me," she said. "And like I said, it is a she."
Sesshoumaru frowned at her for a moment, and then gave up. He could defeat any opponent in battle and conquer the will of any being, but pit him against his mother and he knew when to just give up. He gave an irritated growl.
"Do as you wish," he told her, "but I'm not carrying her home."
His mother shrugged and stood, lifting the girl with her. She held the girl in her arms like one would a pup. It was a little awkward, for the human was just as tall as the demon, but his mother, as usual, managed.
Sesshoumaru watched carefully, waiting to see the damp and muck seep into his mother's kimono, ruining it forever. His mother shot him a smug smile as a cloud of mist gathered at her feet, and he saw a brief glimmer of blue-green light across the surface of the girl's skin, hair, and clothes.
"A barrier… Mother, that's cheating," he said dryly, forming his own cloud and letting it raise him into the sky.
His mother smirked at him as she rose up after him. "Have respect for your elders, Sesshoumaru. We're allowed to take the easy way out."
Sesshoumaru would have countered by telling her true age and pointing out that she was still young for a demon, but he didn't even want to think about the ways she could turn that statement against him. He merely conceded his defeat with silence as they flew back to the spreading palace they called home.
-end-