The water's current felt cool against her legs and arms, the ripples curling between her fingers and toes and creating a soothing sensation of refreshment on her skin with the sun hot across her back. She had taken off everything except the haori jacket and obi as she hunched over in the village river, her hands hovering in the water in a poised position. There was a splash, followed quickly by her suddenly piercing through the water's current to catch the slippery silver creatures before throwing them over her shoulder to land on the shore with rapid repetition. After a good long minute, she had a dozen large fish splashing on the dry rocks.
"Wow!" The twin girls, Momoko and Sachiko, applauded energetically. They had been watching the entire time on the shore and, not long after Daiyu began making the fish pile with inhuman speed, many of the other children from the village were drawn over.
"So cool!" A boy appearing around seven in human years exclaimed with large brown eyes, "What else can you do?"
Daiyu was stepping out of the water and killed the fish with a quick swipe of her talon like nails before throwing them into a straw basket. Once the boy had asked her that question, she raised a brow at him and put her hands on her hips.
"What exactly do you have in mind, eh?" She asked, somewhat amused by these little creatures. She never had much experience around human children except for the twins. She wouldn't mind sating their curiosity of her for the time being.
She was quite bored.
"How far can you kick this?" The boy asked, he was holding a worn kemari ball in his small hands and the she-wolf noticed the calluses and cuts on his skin from working long hours in the field. She hesitated a moment, her eyes glancing at the other children's hands and she felt pity, but did not portray that in her expression. The life of a human peasant must be a hard one, to say the least.
"You want me to kick this?" Daiyu asked as she tossed the ball up and down in her hand.
"Yeah! As hard as you can!"
The children were awaiting her anxiously, their eyes bright with excitement and awe, and Daiyu scratched at the back of her head. Their adorable pleading expressions making her cave in.
"Alright, here it goes!" Daiyu took a step away from them and faced the open field, where, she hoped, no matter how far it went she wouldn't lose sight of it. With a fluent kick, the ball sky rocketed into the sky.
"Wow!" The children gawked as they all watched the ball to see how far it would land. It sailed across the rice fields and towards the hill and landed, much to the children's amazement, into the forest canopies about two miles away.
"Sister can really kick!" Momoko and Sachiko chimed.
"Yeah, but now we don't have a ball." There was suddenly an atmosphere of depression arising amongst the kids and Daiyu gave an uneasy laugh.
"Well, you did ask me to kick it as hard as I can." Daiyu muttered before noting that the littlest ones began to cry and she gave an uneasy smile, "It's ok, I can go get it back in no time! Just give me a moment to…"
Daiyu quickly slipped on the rest of her clothes, "Ok, wait here!"
The she-wolf took off, leaping with finesse over the rice fields and quickly into the forest trees preceding it. She leapt from the base of a giant tree, bursting upward to then weave through the branches to then stop at the top of the tree where the ball had gotten stuck. She reached out her hand and grasped onto the leathery material then hooked it securely into her arm. Daiyu dropped down from the tree and landed in a crouch on the earth floor, landing weightlessly despite the massive drop.
Seconds later, she had crossed the two miles to stop in front of the children and she was greeted with flabbergasted expressions.
"Here you are." Daiyu smiled as she handed the ball back to the boy whom had handed it to her earlier, the second the ball rested into his hands his eyes sparkled.
"You're amazing sister!" His outburst shocking Daiyu and she made a short laugh.
"Is that so?" She chuckled, ruffling the top of his head.
"How old are you?"
"Uh, one hundred and twenty-"
"Why are your ears and eyes funny?"
"Are you related to those white haired guys?"
"Are you a spirit?"
Daiyu was suddenly overloaded with questions, shocking her greatly that children asked this much, within so little time and so randomly. Momoko and Sachiko suddenly latched onto her legs and glared at the other children.
"This is our sister!" Momoko stated, followed by Sachiko saying, "Go find some other sisters to play with!"
"Uh, kids…" Daiyu was not quite sure how to negate the situation to where the children would settle down when her senses picked up something in the wind. The scents were definitely familiar and somewhat unwelcome, but she mainly felt agitation begin to dwell and the twins looked up at her curiously, noticing her stiffen.
"What's-?" Sachiko was about to ask when the sounds of four legged animals sprinting came even to their human ears and all of the children whipped their heads around to find fifteen brown wolf youkai coming to stand before them.
"Hey there, babe!" One of the wolves exclaimed and she seethed at them, her light expression becoming sour, among the wolves were the two that were responsible for the fight on the last full moon just weeks prior.
"What do you guys want?" Daiyu asked dryly as she stepped in front of the children, taking on a protective stance as she stood with her arms crossed over her chest and feet shoulder width apart. "Didn't take enough of a beating last time?"
"No, no." Kazuo was raising his hands up, gesturing for peace and Daiyu's glare hardened. "We were just checking on our foreign sister, is all."
Kazuo was giving her a long evaluation with his gaze and the children huddled behind her.
"It seems that you are not mated, I see no mark on you-"
"That's none of your business, lowlife!" Daiyu growled, "Besides, I would never take a weak demon like yourself, you bring shame to all wolves with just your odor alone."
Suddenly the wolves leapt over to her and sat at her feet, their tails wagging merrily and Daiyu took a step back, bewildered by their overly attentive gaze.
"Come on, sister, don't be so cruel!" A wolf whined and it was then that Daiyu noticed that they were being submissive; however, she did not relax, her silver eyes studying them suspiciously.
"What are you guys going on about?" Daiyu muttered. "I'm not a part of your pack; go on before you cause a bigger ruckus!"
"How come sis is by herself? Where's that dog?" A teenaged wolf asked her and her brow twitched.
"He's running an errand, but should be back soon." Daiyu crisped, "Now, can you guys leave? I have better things to do than answer your stupid questions."
She motioned for the children to leave and they complied, albeit half heartedly. The last with her were Momoko and Sachiko, but they seemed diligent to stay with her. Daiyu sighed heavily, why were these girls so clingy? They did the same to Inuyasha for a time and now they seemed to have directed their attention to her, much to her dismay. This was not a good time for them to hang on her constantly.
Daiyu huffed irritably as she came to kneel with her back to the girls and gestured for them to get on and they squealed merrily.
"Come on, girls. I'll drop you off at your house." Daiyu murmured and she began to walk towards Sango and Miroku's house when she noticed that the wolves were following her.
"Hey! Get lost! I've had it!" She snarled, her eyes flashing but the tails continued to wag gaily in the air.
"But you smell so good, ne-chan!"
"Don't call me that!"
She leapt quickly over the village and the girls screamed with excitement while Daiyu nearly lost her balance from the screeching to her ears. The wolves followed her and as Daiyu saw Sango sitting with the baby, Miroku, Kagome and Inuyasha, she landed and dropped off the girls.
They turned towards her with wide eyes.
"What's goi-" Kagome was about to ask, but Daiyu leapt up.
"Sorry, no time!" Daiyu hollered before taking off, an entire pack of wolves chasing behind her and Inuyasha growled.
"What the hell is up with them?" He exasperated loudly over the cacophony of whining wolves as they sped through, leaving a gale of dust behind them.
"Is she going to be alright." Kagome asked Inuyasha.
"Keh." Inuyasha grumbled. "She'll be alright. I'd be more worried about the wolves."
Daiyu slowed down to a steady walk once she had made quite a distance away from the village and the wolves quickly caught up with her, their desperate whines filling up her ears and giving her a migraine.
"You dumb asses don't have anything else better to do?" Daiyu groaned. "My lunch has been ruined! The village kids probably took all of my fish by now."
"We can bring you something!" A wolf happily offered.
"I don't want it." She quipped back and the wolf made a sad whimper.
"Come on, sister, let's go hunting! It'll be fun!" They carped and Daiyu gave them a death glare.
"Do you wanna die?" She snarled loudly, about ready to unsheathe her sword. "Get lost! I have shit to do!"
"What do you need to do? We can provide assistance." Another wolf added and she moaned in frustration as she massaged her forehead with her hand.
"This is gonna be a shitty day." She muttered under her breath before stomping off, a sea of brown fur following after her.
For the remainder of the day, the wolves kept a close pace behind her and she desperately wanted some peace and solace…followed by a bath, which was impossible with these relentless beasts. Once night had fallen, she had lost her last nerve and tried to speed away from them, morphing into a blue orb and taking off across the sky. A power that neither of the brown wolves possessed which allowed her to gain quite a distance from them.
When the almost full moon stretched high into the sky, she was bathing in a hot spring that she had come across after her escape. She relished in the warmth of the water and dipped her head back, soaking her hair into the mineral water as she glanced up at the sky. A large, pent up tension releasing from her with a long exhale. The stars winked down at her as the gentle sounds of the wind brushing against the leaves soothed her frazzled nerves.
"Ah, I would kill for a good bottle of sake…" Daiyu breathed, "And some meat."
"Sister!" At the sound of the wolves Daiyu was thrown out of her tranquil bath and she screamed in fright, something she never did.
"W-what the hell!" She gasped as she covered her exposed breasts with her arms and dropped down in the water until it was up to her chin, her flushed face peeking over the water at the intruders and her aura spiked with animosity. The wolves came to hover on one side of the hot spring, panting from excitement.
"Can we join you?"
"Fuck no! Get the hell away from me!" She screamed, "I'm calling my mate and if you're not gone by the time he shows up you'll really regret fucking with me!"
"Aw, don't do that!" A wolf whined, "Look, we even brought some food and we can get some sake too!"
There was a moment of silence as only the sounds of the wind whistled through the trees as the she-wolf glared at them in the water, her darkening aura licking across the water like the hands of death reaching out to them
"I'm gonna tear you a new asshole!" She roared, followed by an explosion of black mist, engulfing the forest into darkness that even the youkai could not see through. Daiyu slipped on just the haori jacket and made a quick sash out of the black silk that was used for her obi before turning her attention to the wolves.
By the time the black mist evaporated, the wolves were beaten black and blue, many missing their front teeth with dislocated arms and they groaned loudly in pain.
"It was…so worth it." The teenaged wolf grumbled, though he could not contain his tears.
In the afternoon of the following day, the pack returned, already fully rejuvenated, and came running over to the base of the closest mountain to the human village. The location served as Daiyu's new, debatably temporary, home; Sesshoumaru was not pleased about the location, but she had put up quite a fight to keep the settlement. She had used a lot of the money she had earned from the job with Miroku and Inuyasha to construct the cave into a partial house with tatami mat flooring, wooden walls, a fire pit and a large enough door to cover the mouth of the cave, which she hardly ever closed, preferring to have a constant draft through her little home. Her old home in China was similar in idea to this, however, the cave was many times larger; enough to fit an entire castle.
When she caught sight of the wolves running towards her, she was sitting against the wooden frame of her door, legs crossed and a small strip of salmon jerky between her teeth as she gripped a large wood carving knife and a hollowed bamboo shoot. She was trimming the ends with her knife with a quick chop as the wolves came to stop before her. She looked up from the bamboo with a bemused expression.
"You guys are the dumbest creatures on earth." She muttered between her clenched teeth, then continued with chopping at the bamboo. She had noticed that they had brought a load of supplies with them, all wrapped in furs to protect the various objects inside for the journey there, but she chose not to comment about it.
"We brought gifts as an apology for yesterday." Ginji had stated and the wolves began revealing the offerings from underneath the fur pelts to be set before Daiyu. She continued with chopping, not even taking a moment to gander at the kimonos, jewelry, paintings and pottery pieces. "We have sake as well. Let us celebrate the joining of our new sister."
The wolves didn't let her silent rejection hinder them as they brought forth a barrel of sake and began to drink around her in attempt to build a merry atmosphere. Daiyu kept to her work, shaping the bamboo pieces with various sizes of knives and the younger wolves came over to watch her curiously.
"What are you making, sis?" A pre-teen wolf asked, his eyes wide with fascination and Daiyu glanced at him, then continued working.
"Making a flute." She murmured.
"Wow, you know how to make one?"
"Nope, just winging it." She replied, she set down the knife and analyzed her work, then put the mouth piece to her lips to test out the sound, but only the sound of air blowing came forth from the hollow wood. She sighed and tossed the bamboo off to the side, landing on a pile of cut up wood chippings before picking up another shoot and began working on another.
The wolves were chatting merrily, already quite buzzed, and Daiyu felt a headache arise.
"Why are you dip shits drinking in the middle of the day?" Daiyu finally snapped, "And in front of my house?"
The wolves looked over to her, their faces quite rosy from the alcohol and their fangs glinting in the sunlight, smiling stupidly.
"Come on, sister. Have some fun! We promise not to bug you too much."
Daiyu sighed heavily, feeling a bit of dejection and she rubbed her palm against her forehead in attempt to ease the ache in her head. "I'm gonna go crazy." She muttered with an exhale.
Her ear twitched at a certain sound that suddenly whispered faintly in the air, her nostrils flaring as she sniffed and her eyes looked around suspiciously. Her eyes finally caught sight of the intruder within the trees and she quickly threw her largest knife at it and a yowl came from the tree tops, followed by the sound of something flailing about in the trees and Daiyu snapped up onto her feet, her eyes a glow. She watched as the dark creature suddenly dropped onto the ground with a thud, appearing dead.
"What was that?" The wolves asked curiously, their merriment coming to an immediate halt. Daiyu did not answer as she walked over to a small black figure that had landed on the ground, something similar to a bird with its raven wings and she kicked it over on its side.
"A crow youkai." Daiyu muttered as she kneeled in front and gave it an inspection. It did not take long for her to find something noteworthy about the demon and her eyes widened. Across the breast of the bird was a burn mark in the shape of a Chinese seal, the seal itself brought a darkness in her demeanor and a deep frown crossed her lips.
"A spy of Tingfeng..." She whispered, her knife was imbedded in its stomach and she ripped it out, the stench of blood filling her nostrils as she cut the youkai's head off as extra precaution then tossed the bird at the wolves behind her.
"Lunch." She said, her tone cold.
"Uh, sure." One of the wolves stated uneasily. They were all staring at Daiyu, wondering what had caused her sudden mood change as she came to sit back down in her spot. She picked up on the make-shift flute, about to continue with its design, when she looked up at them, her eyes sharp.
"What's with the sudden atmosphere? Go on, eat the damn thing and carry on." She muttered, her mood lightening a bit and the wolves looked at each other in confusion. Kazuo made a shrug and they continued their little party, soon breaking into laughter, and after a while, Daiyu smirked at their silly nature. Her thoughts reminiscent of the days when she would train with her father's soldiers atop the mountains of Northern China. They also called her sister despite her position as princess and, in many ways, she was exactly that. She missed her brethren, along with every aspect of her life back in those vast, evergreen mountains; however, no matter how annoying these brown wolves can be, she felt the pang of sadness lighten as she watched them laugh and tease one another.
Perhaps I should be a bit nicer to them, she thought.
"Hey, sis! Can we see your breasts again?"
The wolf was answered with a large rock thrown into his head.
Or not…
