Chapter Three: An Amusement
When Miyori returned to camp still dressed in her old clothes Sesshoumaru looked at her less than enthusiastically. It had taken her long enough that he had pondered if she had drowned only for her to return looking like that? His annoyed look wasn't lost to her and she made an embarrassed face. "These clothes are much harder to put on by yourself than you would imagine... And I got cold..." She muttered trying to avoid his gaze as she pressed the clothes to her chest and held the flowers in one hand. She was shivering ever so slightly and he could sense her discomfort but truthfully her clothes wouldn't keep her warm through the night.
"Go back to the spring..." He ordered coldly but she could tell he was rather annoyed at the moment. She nodded slowly and a little disheartened before doing as she was told. Much to her shock and dismay she heard him groan and soon after a set of footsteps started following her.
"Could this wait until morning? Rin could help me then..." She called over her shoulder though it was more like stammering because of her frayed nerves. The full moon over head helped her along the way by at least making everything cast shadows. The luminescent orb did little to help her from slipping on a rock near the spring and flopping in. She surfaced and coughed spastically to clear her lungs. A completely unamused Demon Lord bent down and pulled her out effortlessly with one hand. For a moment he held her at eye level as her turned to place her on solid ground. It was the first time she had ever looked him straight in the eye and to be perfectly honest his gazed scared her. It wasn't the annoyed look he was giving her but more the fact that his eyes seemed to reveal a whole other world behind them. One look and she saw something she didn't think her Lord capable of. For just a split second it seemed as though he wondered if she was all right...
"If you'd prefer to freeze to death tonight by all means..." His voice and gaze were emotionless on the outside but she was sure he was still quite annoyed with her.
"I'm sorry Sesshoumaru-dono... I promised not to be a bother..." She sighed rather disheartened as she bent down to pick up the clothes he had supplied her. Luckily they survived the fall unmoistened. She stack them in a neat pile in order of what she would be putting on first. "These clothes... I was never allowed to wear anything like this... I wasn't supposed to stand out when I traveled... And here I am dropping them..." The way she was moving the Demon Lord suspected she had hurt her arm or shoulder in the fall but she said nothing, only winced slightly as she pulled. Once she was finished she hesitated to stand up again as he was still standing behind her. What's more he seemed to have no intention of leaving... "I'm perfectly capable of undressing myself..." She commented looking back at him and trying to hide her frustration.
"You've proven yourself incapable of completing a simple task... Don't expect to maintain your decency now... Think of this as a punishment if you must..." He portrayed his usual outward apathy however his mind was somewhere else entirely... "Well she certainly seemed to lack little in the way of physical attractiveness..." He thought to himself as he noted her wet clothes clinging to her every curve. "Truly it's been entirely too long since I've been with a woman if I'm finding her attractive..." He scolded himself as he noticed her near scowl. She had seen something in his eyes or thought she did... They looked happy! She turned her attention away and gritted her teeth. Her fingers were clenched tight around the haori and juban that covered the top of her body. She felt as though she might cry as she pulled them slowly out of her matching, plain blue hakama but she fought the urge. Instead she tried to make her mind quite blank as she struggled against the pain in her shoulder and her own nerves. With the ties undone she pulled them off and folded them carefully.
"She's doing this to annoy me..." The Daiyoukai thought to himself already annoyed as he waited impatiently for her to start undressing. As her upper garments slowly slid off he noted that it was actually hard for her to move her arm easily. "Wow... She is rather stunning in this light..." He commented cocking his eyebrow slightly as his eyes followed the curves of her sides to the hem of her hakama. He noticed how flawless and smooth her skin was not to mention how it had a eerie pale hue he found strangely attractive.
"Why is he doing this to me? Have I really upset him so badly for him to embarrass me like this?" Miyori wondered to herself as she sat her old garments down next to the new ones. "Why did I have to fall in that stupid spring and get everything wet! It's so cold out to be naked much less in front of him! I was foolish to very think he could have an ounce of kindness or decency..." She was crying on the inside but still she struggled on shivering now as she took off her hakama and laid it on the ground. She started to unfold the pile of clothes that had been heavy before but suddenly felt as though it weighed much more than it should. As she pulled the sleeve of her new juban on she dreaded trying to get it on the other...
"No wonder she had such a hard time... This girl gets cold quickly..." Seshoumaru thought as he noticed Miyori's shivering was getting worse. "She's going to get sick..." The thought of her being sick did sit well with him on multiple levels. The obvious complaint of him having to cawdle her more made him disgusted. At the same time though he didn't want to see her sick for another reason... One he could quite put his finger one. "Well I might as well speed this along..." He sighed walking up and pulling the Juban off of Miyori after watching her agonize over trying to get it on. She instantly froze in shock as the garment slid off but that didn't faze him. He held it with one hand as he gently pulled her injured arm up and slid it in. He noticed her head was cocked back at him but he just kept looking straight ahead as he slid her other arm back in. She turned her gaze downward to tie the strings that held it closed. With her less exposed he moved in front of her and picked up the next garment to put on her. The pile had several matching and brightly colored kimonos although it wouldn't be quite as complicated as the juni-hitoe worn by aristocrats. She turned side ways to make sure he wasn't looking up her shirt and blushed a bright red. After putting the first kimono on her he picked up the hakama and handed them to her.
"Thank the gods he has a line somewhere!" Miyori sighed to herself as she pushed one leg through the soft material of the pants. As she tried to pulled the right leg through a tremendous pain shot through her arm making her drop the pants and put her foot down. Her weight on the half placed pants pulled down right into Sesshoumaru who caught her with the worst hand placement ever... "Ah! His hands are so cold!" She gasp feeling his frigid digits against her skin. It was then that she realized where his hands were and jumped out of his strangely comforting embrace. Her utter embarrassment made him outwardly chuckle.
"I like that look on her face... And how she feels in my hands... She so weak though..." He mused noticing her struggling to quickly pull the pants up in an embarassed flurry. He moved behind her and grabbed the pants calmly and pulled them up for her. "I don't suppose one time could hurt anything... But not this night..." He stood behind her securing the hakama and enjoying the feel of her racing heart with nervous breathing against his chest. He broke away and picked up another colorful kimono leaving her staring at him in utter shock.
"Now he's smiling?! He's capable of smiling?! Why is he smiling? Sugoi... he's so cute when he smiles..." She had almost completely zoned out at this point so the fact that he was touching her chest to tie the strings of the next kimono didn't really faze her.
"Gaping like that is very unbecoming... Stop doing it..." He snapped as the smile quickly faded back to his stoic gaze. She instantly snapped her mouth shot and diverted her eyes away. She snapped her attention back to him as he handed her a beautiful pair of kanzashi that had been wrapped up in the middle of the pile. "Doing something with your hair as well... it's unsightly to have it flying all over..."
"I'm just a toy to him aren't I?" Miyori couldn't help but mull over the thought incessantly after seeing how much he was enjoying this. "Why am I allowing him to do this? I know my village... my people are in danger... Yet I'm just standing her acting like a living doll for him to play with... That's all he's doing... Playing with me still... This isn't right... I can't stand her anymore and take this... I don't care if he is the Daiyoukai! No... that's not right either... He forfeited that title when he turned his back on us... No... I really don't owe him anything do I? Certainly not to be degraded like this. I didn't fail him I failed his Father..." She clenched her fists and decided on what she had to do now that she had came to a resolve. With as much strength as she could muster she shoved Sesshoumaru away just as he finished wrapping the thick and warm haori around her. With more speed than she thought she was capable of she found a path leading away from the hot spring and took off down it. Her plan would have worked much better if the Demon Lord didn't possess far more grace than she did. Instead of falling into the spring he flipped over it and landed on a rock overlooking it. With a stiff spring of his legs he bolted through the air and straight after her. She didn't get far, she hoped she would have but her hopes were weak. After just a few seconds she jerked as his strong arms locked under hers and pulled her to an abrupt stop. Her feet flew out from under her as he lifted her up and started carrying her back to the spring.
"Let me go!" She sobbed feeling completely helpless and defeated as she tried desperately to smack her captor.
"I will NEVER understand your kind much less women. I show you even more kindness than you deserve and you try to run from me? Are you so foolish as to think someone like you could outsmart or overpower me? Why I ever bother with your worthless carcass is beyond me..." The Daiyoukai fumed with blood red eyes as he threw the Blood Priestess down at the base of a tree. She had gone limp and silent when she realized she couldn't break free of him and just sat looking at the ground. "You're lucky I didn't take your head off at the neck..." He seethed lashing her hands around the tree. Just as an added measure he tied the cord meant to go with her outfit around her feet. She didn't protest instead a few rogue tears dropped on to the soft dirt.
"Why?" She wondered quietly with a breaking voice. "If I'm so worthless... then why did you waste your time on me?" He didn't answer instead he proceeded to disrobe and slinked into the hot spring. She had kept him from his bath long enough and he no longer had any desire to amuse her foolish whims. After a few long moments of silence she started laughing but her laugh was tainted with tears. "I see... Then I really am just a toy to you... And you wonder why I run from you... If you treat people like mere objects it's only natural for them to resent you... Sesshoumaru..." Her lack of any connotation of respect wasn't lost on the Demon Lord.
"A toy? Yes you are an amusement to me now... But that isn't why I bothered with you... Why did I bother with you exactly? Certainly your powers are of some minor benefit to me on occasion but not enough to put up with your insane whims..." He fumed to himself as he sunk down in the water. "I should rid myself of you... But... if you are a tie to my Mother..." He muddled on that thought for a few moments before growling at himself for wasting the time. "Such sentimentality is useless... almost as useless as her. I'll rid myself of her as soon as the opportunity arises..." He sat in the hot water until even his resilient skin was wrinkled but he admittedly enjoyed the silence. Occasionally he heard a stifled cry from the girl but they soon died out completely. True Miyori spoke far less than most women even when upset but she still spoke far too much for his liking. He looked back at her finally and realized she had cried herself to sleep. He smirked a little and decided to leave her there for the night as a fitting punishment until he noticed her shivering. It was then he realized she hadn't fallen asleep, she had passed out from the cold... He rolled his eyes and pulled himself out of the comfort of the spring.
"I barely got her in these damned things and now I have to get her out..." He grumbled under his breath as he set about getting her undressed so he could get her in the spring. "At least I don't have to worry about her foolish embarrassed antics." He conceded pulling her hakama off and picking her up. It dawned on him then that socks and shoes would have been a greater improvement then replacing her decent enough clothes. Her feet were turning blue by the time he sank down into the hot water with her. He shrugged off the oversight and got comfortable again which was a bit more difficult with a naked girl in his lap. When he did finally get comfortable he found it oddly soothing to feel her slowly quickening heartbeat and breathing.
"She's at least easy to look at..." He grumbled to himself as he gazed down at the being curled up in his arms with her head rested against his chest. He rubbed her side compulsively and noted how smooth her skin was. "Why do I find her so attractive? Am I really so desperate?" He was disgusted with himself but couldn't look away from her. She had some kind of power over him that he couldn't describe. At first he had decided to make a conquest of her in some way or another to show he was better than his Father. However gaging her reaction when she first woke up, she never ran away from his Father. He still wanted to break her to his will however it was no longer as a matter of pride for him. No matter how long he thought, he could come to a definitive reason as to why. "Why do I... Why have I always wanted to keep her safe?"
- - - - - - - - - -
"Sesshoumaru-dono! Please wait for me!" Miyori cried sadly as she ran to catch up to the demon.
"Miyori... What do you want?" He replied stopping and turning to look at her. His look was angry as it had been in the year since his Mother's death. Her very presence around him made his blood boil though he had noticed she tried to only be around him when necessary now.
"Scouts from the Banshee clan have been spotted in the area! I know you probably don't need me to say this but please be careful out there alone!" She pleaded urgently as she bowed to him. "I'm sorry I felt I should tell you..." She always sounded a little sad when she spoke with him these days but he cared little as to why.
"Your concern is unnecessary... No one in the West but my Father is stronger than this Sesshoumaru..." He replied walking away and out the front gate of the village.
"Miyori... Please keep your distance but keep an eye on him. Sesshoumaru-dono's state of mind as of late would make him an easy target for the Banshee clan..." An elder of the dog demon tribe urged her with a gentle nudge and a smile. Miyori nodded reluctantly and chased after the young lord. She had become an expert at concealing her presence from even him as his Father had taught her. They hadn't been gone very long when a pack of five from the Banshee clan surrounded Sesshoumaru. Miyori chose to keep her distance so as to not injure his pride by intervening.
"As so here you are... Aren't you a little cutie..." One mused with a wicked grin.
"I'd expect nothing less of the Prince of the West..." Another added licking her lips. These weren't normal scouts. They were high ranking lieutenants of the Dark Queens inner circle. They were here for him and he had basically handed himself over... Despite all of this he put up a valiant fight repelling all five for a good long while. It was clear to the Blood Priestess he was outmatched in this instance.
"Ritual of Blood! Summoning of power... FULL ACTIVATION!" Miyori cried cutting her hand over and flinging the blood into the air around her. The blood swirled around and wrapped around her hands and face. The ritual completed just in time for her to see one of the demoness dig her fangs into Sesshoumaru's neck. "Sesshoumaru-dono!" She screamed in anger before rushing forward drilling through the offending demon's chest with her blood armored hand. She pulled the Banshee's claws out of Sesshoumaru's torso and broke the arm off.
"What the Hell is this? Blood Priest aren't this strong... And their eyes don't glow like that!" One of the surviving demons panted as they watched their leader fall to the ground dead, her heart in Miyori's hand. Before she could catch her breath Miyori activated another ritual. This ritual sent a spear of blood through the nearest demon's forehead.
"We're leaving! Let's go!" A third cried and the three survivors disappeared in a flash. The glow in the Priestess's eye faded and the blood armor turned back to liquid.
"Sesshoumaru-dono!" She cried in horror dropping to his side. He looked up at her desperately gasping as he held his torso. Without hesitation she put her hand to his mouth and force her blood down his throat. It took a lot to bring him back and it made her very weak. "I'm sorry Sesshoumaru-dono... I should have tried harder to protect you..." She smiled weakly and fell over across his chest. The choker on her neck reacted and a moment later the Daiyoukai appeared.
"What happened here?" He wondered picking Miyori up in one arm and his son in the other.
"She saved my life... Perhaps not all humans are useless." Was all the young Lord said groggily as he was still recovering from his injury. The next day the Daiyoukai left with Miyori. When Sesshoumaru woke up there was a sash wrapped up laying next to his bed with a note from the girl.
"Please accept this token from me Sesshoumaru-dono. One day I'll make up for my failure to protect you. One day... I'll be strong enough to worth of serving you... - Miyori"
- - - - - - - - - -
Sesshoumaru's eyes flew open and he looked down at the Blood Priestess. She was nice and pink now and it was still dark so he hadn't been asleep long. He pulled her up and used her old clothes to dry her off before redressing her. "When did that truly strong girl I admired die? Why did he kill her?" He whispered aloud as he gazed at her fully clothed body. "I'm not giving you up until she comes back..." He decided as he picked her and the flowers up and left the old clothes lie. "I'll not forgive him for this..." He growled to himself as he laid her down next to a soundly sleeping Rin and wrapped her up in a fur pelt. Aun had done well to keep the fire going but now that his master had returned he to drifted off to sleep.
Miyori's eyes fluttered opened and she looked around briefly. It was still dark out and it seemed as though Sesshoumaru was asleep as well. With great stealth she pulled away the pelt and crept off into the dark woods. Every step was painful because of her feet still having some frostbite left. The frigid cold ground certainly didn't help any but that was the last thing on her mind. "He has taken very good care of me... but that doesn't change how he sees me or that he abandoned us. But how can I possibly escape him?" She thought of a few good plans but decided none of them were very viable in terms of success. She knew full well what Sesshoumaru was capable of and wondered why he hadn't killed her yet as it was. She stopped on the beach of a still lake and looked out on it rather forlorn looking. Suddenly she felt a familiar youki that didn't belong to the Demon Lord coming close to her.
"MIYORI!" The youki's owner beamed but before she could acknowledge the greeting she was being spun around in the air. "Oh Miyori I've missed you so much!" He sighed as he sat her down and hugged her tight.
"HIYAMI! I've missed you too! I... Can't believe you're here!" She sobbed burying her face into his soft fluff.
"I can't believe I'm going to take you back without a fight..." He grinned and rubbed her back gently.
"Take me... back?" She wondered more than slightly confused. Before she could get an answer she felt Sesshoumaru's youki whip rushing towards them. She shoved her childhood friend out of the way in time to take the whip in the throat just below the choker. The Demon Lord withdrew the attack instantly but the damage had already been done. A smoldering hole was left in her neck cutting off the passage of air into her lungs. Tears streamed down her wide eyed face as she tried desperately to breathe to no avail.
"You're too weak to heal that aren't?" Hiyami wondered tearfully as he took her hand and held it tightly. "Take some of my energy... please... Miyori... DO IT!" He cried desperately as he inched closer to her and started crying. She only shook her and pointed a trembling finger at Sesshoumaru. "I'll kill him..." The demon growled angrily shifting blood red eye at his nemesis. As he lunged forward to attack Miyori fell face first to the ground. Before they could clash both demons were froze in place inches apart by some strange power. Hiyami spun around to a most horrific sight. Miyori was being consumed by the power imprisoned in her body. White streaks and blue glowing eyes were accented by the strange blue energy floating around her.
"Not good... Not good at all.." The younger demon gasped running toward the Blood Priestess. "Miyori please! Stop!" He grabbed her hand but was instantly shot away by a blast of the blue energy. "Miyori! If you don't stop you'll die! Please try to get a hold of yourself!" Sesshoumaru cocked an eyebrow and slowly made his way to the girl. Her energy flowed around him but couldn't seem to touch him as he watched the wound in her neck heal completely.
"Whatever ill-fated endeavor you hope to accomplish with this display... I forbid it..." With that the power faded instantly as electric spark coursed over her body. She fell into his arms and he picked her up.
"She's coming with me..." Hiyami growled getting to his feet and eying Sesshoumaru maliciously. To his surprise the Daiyoukai walked up to him and handed the Blood Priestess over.
"You may take her to visit that wretched village she calls home... But trust this... I will come for her sooner as oppose to later..." Was all he said before walking away.
"I'll be waiting..."