When Blossoms Wilt

Rating: M for complex themes
Genre: Action/Adventure/Supernatural
Disclaimer: Do not own

GLOSSARY

I'll try to avoid using foreign jargons, but there are a few terms that either cannot be translated into English or are necessary to set the mood to the story.

Hanten: An informal, working-class version of the haori that is padded for warmth in the winter.

Honshū: (literally "main state") the largest island of the Japanese Archipelago.

Kiseru: A long narrow smoking pipe; the perfect visual example would be the one Yuko frequently smokes from in Holic.

Taiyoukai: (Literally "Great Youkai") Extremely powerful youkai.

Youkai: Japanese mythological being. They are a fusion between a spirit and a monster and it was generally believed that youkai had special powers (i.e. transformation, longer lifespan, etc.) and were direct descendants of the Gods.

- I -

THE HALF MOON SAILED LOW IN THE INKY SKY, CASTING ITS FEEBLE ARGENT LIGHT ON THE DARKENED MOUNTAIN TRAIL UPON WHICH SESSHOUMARU TREADED. Having left Jaken in an abandoned hut earlier, the taiyoukai traveled alone that night, accompanied only by his thoughts and the soft snow crunching beneath his booted feet. In the cold November air, he felt a sharpness that had little to do with the temperature.

Sesshoumaru paused and raised his head skyward—marigold eyes blinking languidly—as though to contemplate the celestial beauty. Indeed it was very cold that night; Sesshoumaru felt it against his face and hands, yet yielded no emotion on his cold, handsome face.

There had been a strange shift of scent in the wind and it piqued his interest greatly. Something new and intangible suspending in the night air—it felt powerful and he could sense a slightly ominous premonition stirring deep within even the recesses of his soul. That strangeness had been felt days ago. He could still smell it all around, lingering and tugging at a small thread of suspicion knotting in the back of his mind, ever so irksome.

Despite his annoyance, Sesshoumaru's instincts whispered to him from deep within and, to his surprise, he found himself tracking that foreign scent quite doggedly. It seemed as though he was wasting his time on something he had deemed trivial, especially given that he had other more pressing matters to attend to. Regardless of his crumpled mood, Sesshoumaru could not help but speculate a sort of connection. The connection was impossible for him to describe in words (not that he spoke often) and it would appear to remain so until he found the source of whatever it was that had been bothering him so.

That being said, Sesshoumaru continued up the slope, his thoughts spinning faster and faster still. Here, in this nameless mountain located at the northern-most end of Honshū Island, the smell had grown remarkably stronger. It had grown so potent Sesshoumaru found it difficult to keep his face smooth and a small wrinkle of puzzlement crinkled across the bridge of his nose.

The scent itself was neither pleasant nor unpleasant but Sesshoumaru had never encountered it before and thusly categorized it as foul. He didn't have any reason to. It just so happened to be that Sesshoumaru was a rather proud man so when he chanced upon a scent that perplexed him straight to his core, his mind automatically classified it as "disagreeable."

All in all, Sesshoumaru was in a wretched mood that evening, regardless of that fact that he had reached his destination at a comely time. It was supposed to be a good thing, of course—Still, Sesshoumaru's mood was, as of recent times, blacker than the darkest night itself. He continued to push his way through the gnarled foliage and had gone no more than a few paces before he was alerted by the weak glow of a lone lantern radiating from a small lean-to. A young woman wearing a brown hanten over her pine kosode sat on a bench just outside the hovel's entrance holding a ceramic cup in her hands.

"Good evening Youkai-san," she greeted the taiyoukai conversationally, but not without taking her eye off her unseen tea. Sesshoumaru emerged from the deep shadows silently unperturbed by Kameyo's friendliness.

Almost everything was exactly the same as it had been when Akitami and Isamu visited all those previous days. The only change that came to the hovel engulfed in dense forestry were the bare branches, the powdery snow, and a thin waft of smoke billowing out from the roof. Sesshoumaru inhaled quietly and the strong stench of heavy incents and mysterious magic almost overwhelmed his sensitive nose.

"A lovely cup of tea and conversation, perchance?" Kameyo goaded cheerfully as she set her own cup (apparently empty) on her bench and rose serenely to her feet. Sesshoumaru responded with cold, calculating eyes. It was not the woman who was completely immersed in that peculiar scent he had been tracking, but her home. "Perhaps you'd like to come inside?" Kameyo offered while smiled sweetly, perhaps as an attempt to be cordial, but to Sesshoumaru she appeared sugary and completely insincere.

"What sort of strange magic have you been weaving here?" He demanded in a leisurely but terrible voice. The seemingly-saccharine smile did not falter as Kameyo turned away from the door with grace that almost rivaled that of a youkai.

"A summoning," She said simply. "Requested by people whose names I shall not reveal."

Sesshoumaru didn't require nosing about to obtain information—that is, in the metaphorical sense; there was nothing to wheedle and prod from either, for Sesshoumaru was very good at discovering hidden little secrets. He smirked snidely to himself at the thought.

Still, Sesshoumaru noted with slight annoyance, Kameyo happened to be an honest woman apart from his discontent with her manner of approach. Should the taiyoukai happen to discover the source of her powers, he knew there was nothing he could do for she had told him precisely what he asked for.

The summoness, who had chosen not to approach him, positioned herself outside her hut entrance where she gestured cordially toward her guest. Already she was made aware of Sesshoumaru's exact reason to have come to her, whether it was conscious or not. Had he ever learned the truth behind that strange luring scent which carried him to her remote dwelling, he too would understand Kameyo's importance quite clearly; perhaps then would he also be liberated from his shadowy mood. Regardless, the man in question remained tenaciously guarded toward her benevolence and stared down at her through hard, amber eyes.

"Please," The summoner insisted amicably, gesticulating to her door again, "Do come in for some tea, if not that, then at least for a bit conversation."

Sesshoumaru's suspicions have not been qwelled and he did not relinquish his hold the small woman with intimidating eyes. He could not help but feel nothing but mistrust from this woman. What exactly was this strange woman up to? She knew he was a youkai; it was commonly accepted that humans throughout their generations feared him for what he was (an awfully terrible creature with immense power) and in the recent months, the humans' fear for him or anyone of his kind took on a rather aggressive bent. Thusly, when the woman invited him into her home with relaxed ease, Sesshoumaru decided she had nothing for him but malice and trickery. Yet, instinct whispered to him and when Sesshoumaru regarded her amicable disposition from a different angle, she seemed almost genuine… and regardless of Sesshoumaru's doubts, something within his core stirred him to accept.

The taiyoukai caught himself nodding once then approaching Kameyo's hut and stooping his head as he passed the threshold. Once inside, the summoness followed, dropped the woven mat behind her and hurrying toward her heath where she removed her shoes and bustled about to strengthening her fire. "Do make yourself comfortable, Sesshoumaru," She began as she added more wood to the glowing embers, "you'd only waste your energy standing about for so long." Sesshoumaru raised his brows upon hearing his name and Kameyo smiled brightly.

"You may call me Kameyo," she began conversationally, "Such a cold day, is it not?" A small flame grew from the red ashes and she was now setting a blackened kettle over the increasing flames. From a tray resting not far from where she knelt, the summoness scooped up the shriveled tea from a beautifully embellished box. She let the leaves slide into a ceramic teapot, shut its top and rested back on her heels, ready to spring into motion when the water boiled.

All the while, Sesshoumaru stood by the wooden uprising. He watched her movements quietly and meticulously, noting with slight distain that, despite his prior decline, this Kameyo woman had arranged two cups that were just large enough to hold an entire mouthful of tea. What interested to Sesshoumaru more, however, was not the fact that Kameyo was—in his opinion—a woman incapable of accepting a very simple and direct no. Rather, it was the foreign little oddities that lay hidden in all around her. Although the hut itself was clearly of Japanese making, Kameyo's tea things were clearly from the continent as was the more-important scent filling the entirety of her home.

"It is clear that you are hiding something that is not from these lands," Sesshoumaru stated as Kameyo prepared a large but elegantly sculpted pitcher full of piping hot water. The woman raised her head, her pleasant gaze meeting Sesshoumaru's steely eyes. "What's more," He continued savagely, "two human men have come to this place, men of whom I know quite well." Kameyo looked about ready to respond, but Sesshoumaru plodded on, "There is a third human, one of whom I haven't been acquainted with and your little home reeks of its stench. The most unusual concept of this is that the smell cannot be found anywhere outside here. Rather, it seems as though the scent of this third thing had come straight from within the very floor of your home. Was this not your doing, woman?"

The kettle began to foaming from the heat. Kameyo removed its lid, lifted it from its hook, and poured the water, piping hot into the open teapot so that the steaming liquid spilled over the smooth edge. She shut the lid and poured hot water over the covered pot before settling the kettle on its hook, away from the licking flames.

"It was," She affirmed, her busy hands finally stilling and settling in her lap.

"The humans are planning something, what is it?"

"You are thinking to kill me, given that I keep my silence," Kameyo said quietly, the vigor within her voice immobile, "That being the case, let us put it this way, the strange scent you've been trailing was of no coincidence. You are here because despite your stubborn denial, you require just as much aid as those men did two months prior. Our world has entered a time where humans and youkai can no longer coexist, and you know this just as much as I. Neither human nor youkai may stay on one given world, yet you strive to live on as did your forefathers, and so, knowing this, these men came to me seeking answers to the riddle of survival, as have you tonight."

A dark scowl marred Sesshoumaru's face. How dare this woman question the answer to his survival! "I, Sesshoumaru, do not harbor any quandaries" The taiyoukai said icily.

"Though you are more that fully capable of handling yourself, you are all quite aware of the existence of a higher being who conducts the tides of our life and they've concluded that humans and youkai must be separated. And while you may not carry the burden of trouble over your shoulders, there are those whom you care for who walk with that weight. Their troubles happen to become your troubles and so, whether you care to admit it or deny it, you are lost in a cycle of worry… thusly in need of help."

Despite his outward appearance, Sesshoumaru could not control the small buzzing pain pulsating with the core of his mind. It was a familiar pain that had come more and more frequently and continued to fuel his dour mood. Inwardly, as he stood listening to Kameyo, he grudgingly comprehended that soreness and how it cumulated.

"Deny it if you will," Kameyo sighed, "Still, you are here and because that is the case, you have problems requiring solutions. I assure you Sesshoumaru, those are the reasons why you have come here. You may not realize it now, but in time you will. If you tolerate my presence only a few minutes more, a new path will be paved and your destiny shall continue its course."

Wintry silence reigned Kameyo's hovel as Sesshoumaru considered her offer. The flames in the heath danced and the long vespertine shadows flickered violently against the walls and the shelves choking with scrolls. Sesshoumaru watched Kameyo seated on her tattered futon and saw that the previous near-mocking serenity had faded into a look that was both serious and profoundly real—a look that he could tolerate over that of smiles and pleasantries, for no matter how pure the inner motive, these felt too far away from his lifetime of strife and squalor so he could not help but nod again.

x x x

Sesshoumaru stood atop a barren, frozen knoll overlooking a weary path. It twisted through a narrow gorge without even a tuft of decaying grass in sight. Only ice and snow blanketed these lands with a lone, naked tree standing to one side, forever dead and never to blossom under spring's gentle breeze. He listened to the wind whistling through the crisp air, smelled the sharp coldness of it and the remained motionless under the bright, high sky with the sun so far away in her heavenly kingdom.

Here, on this empty land, Sesshoumaru waited and pondered over words that had been exchanged two nights ago with the strange and unpleasantly-pleasant Kameyo. She had suggested him to this soundless, visionless land and, regardless of his misgivings, Sesshoumaru found himself standing here concealed from any unlucky potentials who chanced upon him by the too-bright sun.

He heard them coming a mile or two away and smelt a curve in the wind, something strong. It sliced through the gelid air stronger than the calm icy world surrounding him and it was the same as that scent that filled Kameyo's home with its powerful smell. Moments passed and now it was not long before Sesshoumaru saw a gloriously built palanquin bobbing toward him in the distance. He sighted two men sitting high upon their horses, the two men whom Kameyo had received two months ago, and the same men whom he despised so greatly.

Akitami rode languidly along the path fully dressed in his vivid red and blue armor. His long ponytail had been done up in a tight topknot on his head and hidden beneath his elaborate helmet. Isamu rode next to him, also dressed in full armor, the hilt of his sword glinting in the morning light. Their horses trotted along the coarse road, their polished hooves tapping smartly against the packed earth. Behind Isamu and Akitami, six other men followed, also on horseback, each dressed in his own distinct armor, faces masked by mouthpieces carved and worn to frighten enemies.

These eight bodies continued along, all in perfect order and formation. They passed beneath the white taiyoukai without so much of a glance. The footsoldiers, all dressed in dull monotony, marched on in infallible formation and nestled amid the sea of leather and metal, the great palanquin floated as would a boat out at sea. It was large enough to encompass that of royals, with perfectly braided mats rolled down to conceal its rider. The glossy cherry wood hood gleamed scarlet under the high sun and the gold-gaited tassels twinned with silk ribbons swayed along with the motion of the palanquin. It was from there where Sesshoumaru felt that presence, which had intrigued his curiosity two nights ago. He felt it again and watched silently as the large train marched on, without a single person raising his head to where Sesshoumaru stood.

The men carrying the vehicle trudged on, minds focused only on the pain of the wooden bars pressing against their shoulders and the extra miles that were left until they were relieved from it. All the while, Sesshoumaru only watched, eyes burning onto their burden, mind whirling faster and faster with Kameyo's words. Behind those embellished walls sat the only human since the ancient times with power that would one day cause so much misery to his kind.

Moving in measured paces Sesshoumaru pursued the men, careful to keep his figure hidden in the sun's radiant shadow. When they passed out the gorge some hours later, Sesshoumaru fell many paces back and tailed them, relying on his sense of smell, which was exceedingly good.

By then, the sun had vanished behind a blanket of dark clouds, which had settled quickly, covering the earth with dull colorless light. Despite the change, the scent doggedly led Sesshoumaru through a wayward village, charred to the ground and devoid of anything that breathed. Large tufts of snow fell from the sky, packing onto the old landscape. A strong easterly wind gushed by, upsetting Sesshoumaru's silver hair and spraying snow as it passed.

The footsteps in the ground were fresh and the scent of that strangeness even fresher still. They slipped through the remaining clutter of burnt and splintered homes and into a mountain carpeted with dark evergreens. Sitting at the flattened summit, Sesshoumaru could see a fortified palace standing about ten stories high behind large stone fencing erected as high as humans could build them. It was not long when the great procession reappeared, now considerably smaller in comparison to when Sesshoumaru had seen them in the early morning.

Surrounded by the charred splinters of the dilapidated village, Sesshoumaru stopped and only watched as the convoy passed out of sight. As he watched the gates close, his mind worked, clicking and processing all that he had seen and heard with smooth efficiency. It wasn't before long that he understood precisely what Kameyo meant about paving new destinies. The headaches that mounted within him and the frightful mood he had fallen into as of late lightened considerably and, after sixty-six years, Sesshoumaru finally understood exactly what was needed to be done.

A chapter finally done and out of the way… in how long...? Only the devil knows!

But one chapter finally done after grueling laziness and… and… other shit you don't need to know about that only the devil knows.

So, without further ado… comments? Hit the review button! Questions? Send me a message!

A bientôt, mes amis!