Chapter 7
House of the Hanyou
Namida led the little group out of the small garden into a long, narrow corridor. A high wall arched on their left, but to the right there was an awning covering what looked like the simple wooden wall of a house, windows and all.
Make that a very long house, Kagome thought, looking down the passage. It looked like it stretched the entire length of the mountain fortress. But rather than walking down the hallway, Namida turned to the right after a few steps and opened a door. The inside was dark and shadowed, far too dark for humans to navigate with any safety. Kagome paused, not wanting to enter that dark place.
But Namida seemed to understand the limitations of her companions. "Akari," she said softy, and white stones embedded in the walls began to glow softly, casting just enough light to see by. Paintings of dragons and demons adorned the walls in a twisting, shimmering mural and bronze sconces to hold incense cones were set at regular intervals along the walls.
Kagome was nervous as Namida led them along the winding corridors. The many twists and turns made it impossible to navigate or get any directional bearings, and the chaotic murals made her head spin.
"These halls are designed to be a giant maze," Namida said over her shoulder, as if she had heard Kagome's thoughts, "to help slow down an invading human or demon army. The many turns and doors, along with the bright, overwhelming murals, make it difficult to find your way by sight and when lit, the sconces of incense make it impossible for demons to navigate by smell. The farther one goes the more confusing the maze becomes…and the more deadly its surprises."
"How do you keep from getting lost?" asked Sango, curious about the defenses of Seidou, which were so different from her simple stockade home.
"Practice," answered Namida. "All of the children have been trained to pass through the maze unaided, blindfolded, if necessary. And there are other ways of finding your way besides sight and scent." She glanced back over her shoulder. "I suggest that none of you enter doors marked with a red sun on the lintel posts unless you are with one of the children or myself."
"Isn't there a less… inconvenient way for you to travel?" Miroku asked.
"Yes," came the simple reply, "but I thought it best to take you this way first."
Ah, I see… a test perhaps? the young monk wondered. Or a way to show us that while here, they have the advantage?
"We're staying on the outskirts of the Complex as it is," put in the hanyou boy from the rear of the group.
"The Complex?" Kagome repeated, puzzled.
"That's what we call the parts of Seidou that are basically one big decoy," the boy answered. "Since there aren't that many of us, we really don't need that much living space. The rest just buys us time if an enemy breaks through the barrier shields. Plus," he added with a wry grin, "Seidou looks much more impressive this way than a collection of huts with a wood fence."
"The dragon's size can deter an enemy…" began Namida.
"…but the flea's bite can be the most deadly," finished the boy, sounding like he was repeating a familiar adage. Namida nodded slightly in approval.
"Huh," snorted Inuyasha. "Whoever came up with that obviously hadn't met Myoga."
"And perhaps you underestimate your retainer," said the hanyou woman.
"I doubt that," answered Inuyasha. "Myoga always runs at the first hint of danger."
Namida said nothing, but Kagome caught a hint of a smile on her face.
Suddenly, the woman stopped and pressed her hand against the wall. There was a faint grinding sound and the wall swung back like a door. Namida turned to meet their wide eyes. "I told you there are other ways through the maze… if you know where to look." She motioned them through into yet another corridor and Kagome saw that the hidden door fit seamlessly back into place, leaving no trace of a passage at all.
This process of traveling through a hall and then passing through a hidden door was repeated two more times, but Kagome could never find the doors or the means of opening them, no matter how hard she looked.
"Have you been able to see any difference between the doors and the walls?" she whispered to Inuyasha.
"No," he muttered. "She's got 'em hidden real well. But a demon could just bust through all these walls, door or no door, with enough power."
"But power is the key," said Namida. "By this time, almost any demon would be exhausted from breaking through the shield barriers and getting past or around the wards on the walls. And the Complex is made of stuff far sturdier than mere wood."
Sango and Miroku touched the wall. "It feels like wood to me," said Miroku.
"Try hitting it," said the hanyou boy, a fanged grin crossing his face.
That face looked a little too much like Inuyasha looking for trouble for Kagome's peace of mind. "Um, Miroku," she said, "I wouldn't try─"
THWAP! "Ouch!"
"─that," Kagome finished an instant too late.
"What is that stuff?" Miroku asked, holding his hand and glaring at wall. "It's way too hard!"
"It's a solid substance that comes out of the ground," said the hanyou boy with a wicked grin. "I think you call it 'rock.'"
Miroku glared at the wall and then looked at Namida. "Sculpted from the side of the mountain?" he asked.
She nodded.
"And then sheathed in wood to disguise it," the monk finished, thoughtfully rubbing his throbbing hand.
"You did all this?" asked Inuyasha. "How much bloody power did this take?"
Namida glanced back at him. "A lot," she replied, "though the waterfalls helped. They had carved out much of the rock before I came. I had to divert their channels and make some minor adjustments, but I worked with the natural shape of the mountain as much as possible. Much more structurally sound that way."
"But what about from above?" Kagome inquired. "Most of the demons we've seen can either fly or leap amazing heights. How do you keep those away?"
"We have our ways," Namida replied. "Perhaps I shall show you some later." She paused. "Ah, here we are." Her blue-clawed hand pressed against the wall once more. This time, the grinding was louder and it took longer for the door to open.
Kagome felt a cool night breeze blow against her face and Namida motioned them through onto an open pavement made of the same smooth rock as the rest of Seidou. Another wall loomed in front of them, but some distance had been left between it and the Complex. A simple, but strong wood gate was the only break in the sheer gray stone. Namida looked back into the lit corridor they had left, whispered, "Kasuka," and the pale white light of the stones faded until darkness reclaimed the halls. Then she closed the door, leaving the passage invisible once again.
Miroku felt like his neck was going to break as he stared up at the huge wall. Even the gate, which really wasn't that big, gave the impression of indomitable strength. It was rather overwhelming… which was probably what Namida had had in mind when she built Seidou, to demoralize the enemy. More wards and runes twined around each other in fantastic patterns, which only added to the protective strength of the structure. The white-haired woman led them towards the gate, which creaked open at their approach, leaving just enough room for them to pass through one at a time. Through the gate was a traditional three-tiered palace with arched columns and upward-curving roofs, all tastefully shaped and designed for maximum defense. Marveling at the elegant design, the group followed Namida around to the left side of the building where a few steps led through a door into the ground level of the palace.
"Welcome to my House," said Namida. "This is where the hanyou children and I live most of the time."
Kagome looked around in awe. Most of this floor was taken up by one big, open room. Weapon racks stood in orderly rows along the walls, punching bags hung from the ceiling, and pillows for sitting littered the floor. Lanterns hung from the gracefully carved support columns.
"It looks like a training room," said Sango.
Namida nodded. "It is our indoor arena. In the back is the kitchen and there are hot-spring baths portioned off by those bamboo walls." She nodded to the left-hand room. "That is the girls' baths and the boys are on the right, next to the kitchen."
A light pattering of feet came from the back left corner of the room and the little boy with white hair and green eyes appeared from behind the girls' bathing room. He grinned, showing long, needle sharp fangs and a forked tongue.
"Lady Namida! Rosuto! You guys finally got here! What'd you do, get lost in the Complex? We're starving up here, and Ookami's ready to start gnawing on the drapes. Or on Naito. She keeps teasing him."
Namida smiled. "I am sorry to keep you waiting, Sasuga. We are coming. Tell Ookami that he is not to eat Naito, no matter how hungry he is."
Sasuga grinned again. "I don't think he'll like that."
"Well, he'll have to live with it," said the hanyou boy near the door.
With a hissing laugh, Sasuga disappeared back around the corner. The rest of them followed him, and Kagome saw a flight of stairs leading up through the floor of the second level. The room they entered had a long, low slab of polished wood with seat cushions set around the table. The rest of the hanyou were already there, even Akaaka, although she ignored the newcomers completely. Rice cakes, jars of water, bowls of vegetable stew, fish, bread, meat, and fruits were spread out in an abundant fair. Shippo looked ready to dive into the table.
Namida gestured to the cushions. "Please sit and eat your fill. Be welcome at home and hearth."
"Home and hearth," all of the children, expect Akaaka, repeated dutifully. They waited long enough for Inuyasha and the others to sit down before diving into their food in a barely constrained frenzy.
For the first couple of minutes, no one spoke and the room was filled with the sound of contented munching. All the hanyou sat across from Inuyasha and the others, except for Tanshin and Kaze, who chose to sit next to Kagome. Namida did not eat, but sat at the head of the table, completely focused on giving Kajiru a bottle of milk, which kept him quiet and content. Akaaka sat opposite Namida at the end of the table, eating sparingly while watching the little group carefully.
Once Kajiru had finished his milk and the rest of them had blunted the edge of their hunger, Namida's blue eyes sought out her guests once more.
"I am afraid I have been remiss in my duties as host once again. You have already met Kaze and Tanshin in the forest, but the rest you may not know. Sasuga−" (here the little boy with white hair and green eyes looked up and grinned again) "−whom you met on the stairs is our resident trickster, a snake hanyou. Akaaka−" (again the girl scowled) "−is a fox hanyou as well as the eldest of my charges."
"Pleased to meet you," said Kagome politely, smiling at Sasuga. She looked at the black-haired girl with violet eyes and asked, "What's your name?"
The girl looked up at Kagome and inclined her head. "My name is Nodoka," she said in a quiet, melodious voice, "and this is my little sister, Eika." She put a slender hand on the shoulder of the small girl with webbed fingers. "Our father was a water demon."
"How old is she?"
Eika looked at Kagome with eyes that were the same violet shade as Nodoka's. "I'm five!" she said proudly, holding up five webbed fingers. "Sister is much older. She's fourteen!"
Nodoka hide a smile and nodded towards the little girl next to Eika with feathery blue hair and wide golden eyes. She looked tense and ill-at ease, hunching down as low as she could and shooting frightened looks at the humans.
"This is Tori," said Nodoka gently. "She's a bird hanyou, so she's always a little nervous and flighty, especially around strangers. Try not to take it personally if she keeps away from you. We think humans might have hurt her in the past, but since she's so young, we don't know for sure." Tori just shivered and pressed herself closer to the older girl, who made some soothing sounds, trying to calm her.
Next to Tori was the orange-haired cat-girl, who was making disparaging comments to the older boy who looked like Koga. Sitting between them, acting as a sort of living barrier, was the dark-skinned girl with horse hooves for feet. She looked at Kagome and gave a small, shy smile.
"I'm Hayai Half-Horse," the hoofed girl said, brushing her long black bangs out of her eyes. "These two are Naito and Ookami," patting first the little girl on the head and then nodding to the black-haired boy. Naito, looked at Kagome for a moment, gave a lazy wink, and went back to pestering the wolf hanyou. Ookami did his best to ignore Naito, tearing off strips of meat with his teeth, while watching the newcomers suspiciously.
"Hello, Hayai," said Kagome. "Hello, Naito, Ookami."
Naito paused and looked at the human girl for a moment, pricked her ears forward and then continued teasing Ookami at a rapid pace. The wolf hanyou said nothing.
"Hayai is our resident cook," said Namida. "She prepares most of our meals."
"I'm impressed; this food is delicious!" said Miroku, accenting his statement by taking another roll. Hayai ducked her head and blushed.
"Hey, I helped too!" said Naito, looking accusingly at Namida.
"Yeah, she's really good at adding the spices to make everything taste so good," Hayai said. The little girl beamed, her pale green eyes gleaming with pride.
"What about you?" Kagome asked, turning to look at Ookami. "Do you cook? Or are you a hunter?"
The boy paused a moment, then snapped his teeth at her. Sasuga rapped the older boy on the nose with his spoon.
"That was rude, Ookami!" said the snake hanyou. "She didn't do anything to you!" When he got no reply, Sasuga sighed and looked at Kagome. "Don't mind Ookami, he's really anti-social. Doesn't like being around us non-wolves, just 'cause we're not silly enough to stand on a rock and howl at the moon."
Ookami dropped his meat and put Sasuga in a headlock. "Take that back, little white worm," he growled.
Sasuga wiggled and squirmed, trying to free himself. "Hey, hey, let me go, you flea-bitten mongrel!"
A pair of hands plucked the two boys from their seats and held them by the scruff of their necks. "That's enough horseplay at the dinner table for tonight," said the older dog hanyou sternly, though his golden eyes gleamed with amusement. This was apparently a familiar scene, for the rest of the half-demons just smiled or snickered behind their hands. Shippo nearly choked while trying to laugh and drink at the same time until Inuyasha pounded him on the back. The boy lowered the younger hanyou back into their seats. Ookami was still muttering something about "slimy little pipsqueaks" while Sasuga tried unsuccessfully to hide a triumphant leer.
"And what is your name?" Kagome asked the dog hanyou.
"Rosuto," he replied, bowing his head.
Kagome smiled. "I'm Kagome, and my friends here are Inuyasha, Shippo, Miroku, Sango, and Kirara. We're very happy to meet all of you. None of us had any idea that there were other half-demons besides Inuyasha, Jinenji, and Shiori."
Namida's face grew grim. "There are not many of us. There never have been. Unions between humans and demons are rare and most do not last for one reason or another."
"How come?" Shippo asked through a mouthful of rice.
"Most women who give birth to a demon-child do not do so of their own free will," answered Namida, her eyes hard. "Some demons take pleasure in abusing mortal females, either as captives or random attacks. These women, if they live long enough to escape, are often killed by their fellow villagers because they risk birthing demon-spawn, a half-blood. This stigma can lead prospective mothers to abandon their newborns in the forest or dispose of them in some fashion to save their own lives."
Nodoka looked up. "Some pairings are not born from violence," she said softly. Her violet eyes turned towards Kagome. "Our mother was originally sent as a sacrifice to a water demon, but he fell in love with her and married her. Eika and I were born among the yokai, and lived as one of them for a time."
"What happened?" asked Sango.
Nodoka looked away. "Other demons didn't like how Father treated Mother and Eika and I. So they came and killed everyone. Eika and I escaped. I don't know how long we wandered before Lady Namida found us and brought us here to Seidou." Eika squeezed her sister's hand reassuringly, and the older girl gave a small smile.
Namida nodded in acknowledgement of Nodoka's argument. "That is how I found most of these hanyou children: lying abandoned in the forest or running for their lives with the ruins of their homes burning behind them. This world is not kind to half-bloods, and I have done my best to aid them."
"So that is why you created Seidou," said Miroku, "to act as a sanctuary, a home for half-demons."
"And a school as well," Namida replied. "Here they are trained in the skills that will enable them to survive in the outside world. They can develop their powers and master both weapons and words without fear of condemnation."
"But the demons keep coming," Sango said softly.
"Yes, there are always demons hungry for power and destruction."
"That's why Lady Namida tells us we must fight demons and be friends with humans," said Kaze brightly.
"Why?" snorted Inuyasha. "Humans can be as big a pain as demons."
"But humans are far more willing to accept half-bloods like us," answered Hayai.
"That's cause we're stronger and they know we can kick butt," Naito said with a wicked grin.
"Naito!" cried Tanshin, shocked. "You know that we aren't better than humans just because we're stronger!"
"Really?" said Inuyasha. "Who fed you that line?"
"I did," Namida replied quietly, "because it is true. The moment we set ourselves up as better than the humans is the moment that we make them resent and fear us. That is the best way to make enemies, which is something we cannot afford."
"That's why demons always try to kill us, because they think they are better," Rosuto commented quietly.
"And you're mad if you think humans can ever be on the same level as us!" growled Akaaka, savagely stabbing a slice of meat with her knife.
Sensing the potential for another argument, Sango quickly intervened. "Milady, did you build this part of Seidou as well?"
Gratitude flickered in the white-haired woman's eyes as she answered Sango's question. "Yes, though it took longer. This House is not made of sculpted stone, but entirely of wood, which is better for living quarters."
"But doesn't that leave this place more vulnerable?" Miroku asked.
"The wards and outer walls provide much of the protection," said Namida. "Wood is still strong and more flexible in some ways."
"The wood is good and sturdy," Sango mused, "but it's really no different from the stockade around the village. And that didn't even slow down the demons when they attacked."
"Your village was attacked?" asked Rosuto.
Namida watched carefully as Sango turned to look at the dog hanyou.
The demon-slayer was silent for a moment. "Yes, Rosuto," she said quietly, "my village was attacked and everyone was slaughtered. I am the only survivor."
Rosuto bowed his head, hiding his face. "May their souls fly free and your own find peace," he said. Sango inclined her head in acceptance.
"I've never heard a saying like that before," said Kagome.
"It is something I have taught my wards," answered Namida, handing Kajiru to Nodoka so she could stand and retrieve a tea cup from a small chest by the window. "Far too often I have found that it is the souls of the living who cannot find peace with death."
"Many times the dead cannot rest either," Miroku said quietly.
"Like Kikyo," Kagome murmured sadly to herself. She had forgotten about the keen ears of dog demons.
"Kikyo?" said Namida, turning to look a Kagome in surprise. "You know of Kikyo?"
Kagome squirmed uncomfortably. This was not a line of conversation she wanted to pursue. "Yes, we've met her."
Namida blinked for a moment in confusion. "That is not possible. Kikyo died fifty years ago. I heard her death-song on the wind myself. Unless you are far, far older than you look, there is no way you could have met the priestess Kikyo." She turned back towards the chest, picking up one of the tea cups.
"Yes, she did die," said Kagome, "but then she… came back."
The room went completely silent.
There was the sound of a cup shattering as it hit the floor. Shards of porcelain littered the floor around Namida's feet. The woman's back was rigid, hands clenched into fists at her sides.
Kagome looked around at the hanyou children. Tori, Naito, and Eika were all huddled around Nodoka, whimpering with fear. Nodoka, her eyes wide, clutched Kajiru to her chest and drew the little ones in as close as she could, as if she was shielding them from something. Kaze and Tanshin hung onto to each other staring at Kagome. Hayai tossed her head nervously, looking like she wanted to run, but couldn't. Sasuga and Ookami had their daggers out, looking like they expected an attack at any moment. A low growl rumbled in Akaaka's throat. Rosuto just looked grim.
"W-what is it?" asked Kagome, frightened by this sudden change. "D-did I say something wrong?"
A cold, low, harsh voice answered her. "What you have said is impossible," said Namida, her back still facing them. "The dead are dead! They do not come back!"
"But Kikyo is alive!" said Inuyasha, looking around at the terrified half-demons.
"Not really," Miroku put in. "Kikyo's body is made of grave soil and bones, animated by the souls of the departed. She's not dead, but she really isn't alive anymore either."
Eika moaned softly. "Hate song, bad song, dead song!" she cried, repeating it over and over as Nodoka tried to hush her.
"The killer. The destroyer," whispered Sasuga.
"Nai Onna Ayumi," Rosuto said softly, his eyes quiet and sad. "The Dead Woman Walking."
Kagome gasped as she saw red running down Namida's fists and pooling on the floor. The woman's hands were clenched so tightly that she had driven her claws into her palms, drawing blood. Yet she continued to stand there, still and silent.
"Who did this?"
Kagome jerked. "W-What?"
Namida dug her claws even deeper into her palms, her face still hidden and her voice low and tight with barely suppressed fury. "I want to know who dared to desecrate my granddaughter's grave!"
