Disclaimer: This story is based on "Inuyasha," copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi. No infringement of copyright intended or implied.
Chapter 9: Cats and Dog
The golden-eyed youkai considered the seated woman as she finished her proposal. "To penetrate the miko's barrier, your suggestion is the most likely to succeed." He shifted his weight slightly. "Assuming, of course, that she chooses only to defend herself."
She gave him an exasperated look. "You did say that it was the barrier that defeated you before, inu. If she had offensive weapons, why didn't she use them against you?"
"It is true," he said carefully, "that I saw no physical weapons at the time I unleashed my youki." He did not add, even in his mind, that he had earlier broken the miko's bow. "Since I chose not to attack once the barrier had injured me, I cannot say from that encounter what other abilities she may have at her disposal."
The icy-blue eyes surveyed him with just the hint of annoyance. "You are a cautious youkai."
He smiled slightly. "Caution can be a virtue, my lady."
"Only when it does not become a weakness," she retorted. He thought she was about to get up from her ice throne, and pace, but her eyes closed only a long moment, and then opened. "Caution will not gain us the Shikon no Tama."
"Probably not," he agreed, affably. But behind his relaxed pose, his senses were at high alert. The sense of the miko's barrier had not changed throughout their conversation, so whatever had caused the earlier shift was probably not from any sense of danger. But there were a number of youkai in the area, and too many of them smelled of ice imps. The youkai before him was clearly trying to avoid telling him more about herself than necessary, just as he was. But, it was clear to him that the imps looked to her, and that they were the source of her knowledge of the miko's location. "But, neither will unconsidered action. I—"
A faint caterwaul, from the direction of the miko's barrier, came to his ears. The youkai reacted before he thought, snapping his head around, his arms uncrossing and his hands tensing as his weight shifted forward.
"What is it, Inu?"
He cursed himself as he realized that he'd given away his greater sensory reach. "Something is howling, coming this way."
"Really?" The naginata that had been lying across her lap was raised to a vertical position: immediately, he felt the nearer ice imps starting to move. "Can your nose identify it?"
"Feline, youkai." Pointing out to himself that the source of the noise was moving away from the miko he'd sworn to protect, the youkai made himself relax his hands, and look back towards the female. "It sounds upset," he added.
Something flickered across her face. "Perhaps the miko has rebuffed another attack?" she said, rising to her feet. "Shall we encounter it? We may learn more that will aid our attack."
"I have no objections."
She moved ahead of him, her naginata held in a position for instant use. Which told him that this 'Xue-Sama' was more concerned about the voice than she was willing to let on. He followed, drifting to one side, feeling the ice imps shifting towards him. He stayed within her peripheral vision, not wanting to the imps to think he was dropping back to attack her from behind. Not that he feared them; but he wanted any fight to be on his own terms.
Preferably, he'd rather not fight at all.
They were about halfway to the miko's camp when a dusty-colored, knife-toothed cat galloped into view. His ears perked as he saw the woman, and he shifted his course slightly, voicing a yowl that even to a dog's ears sounded of relief and welcome. Landing at her feet, the cat crouched, chattering away in feline. The unnamed youkai drifted to a halt himself, making a guess as to the identity of the feline.
The naginata spun in the ice woman's hands, and the staff end slammed into the cat, throwing him against a nearby tree. Yowling with pain and with a noisy burst of youki, the cat transformed into a richly dressed boy. "Ow!" he complained, holding his ribs. "Mama! Why—?"
"Don't 'Mama' me, you fool!" she snarled. The inu noted with interest that his guess was correct. "You were told to scout, and remain silent until my attack! Instead, you waken the entire forest to our presence, including our enemies! What have you done!"
"But, Mama! Mama! The humans have a firecat captive!" The boy pushed himself to hands and knees as the inu tried to keep his face impassive. Humans? The taijiya must have decided to come after their miko, but how had they caught up so quickly?
"I-I smelled her," the boy contined, as the inu tried to think through how much the appearance of the taijiya was going to complicate the situation. "I had to try to rescue her! I went, I-I tried to attack, and she attacked me, and when I tried to talk with her, she didn't talk back in words, but she told me she stood with the humans, and to go away! But, they've got to have a spell on her! Don't they, Mama?"
"Not all youkai hate humans," the inu interjected quietly, trying to remember if he had scented youkai cat at the village.
Xue whirled to glare at him. "Stay out of this, inu! This idiot son of mine may have wrecked my—our—best chance to achieve the Shikon no Tama!"
He gave her a slight bow. "Your son lacks discipline," he offered, "but his instincts to help are not un-admirable."
Blue eyes flashed with icy ire. "His instincts should be to obey, not forget his orders in a thoughtless concern over a low-level youkai too stupid to avoid captivity."
The inu gave a slight shrug, deciding to say nothing more. Giving him a long look, Xue returned her attention to her son. "How many humans did you see—all of them, I hope?"
He shrank in on himself. "I-I think so, mama. I saw two men, and a woman. One man smelled of earth and plants. The other smelled of-of blood and youki. He wore armor."
"Taijiya are known to be in the area." It felt safe enough to suggest that. He saw the woman tense slightly.
"And the woman?" she asked.
"She-she smelled of power." The adolescent shivered. "And-and the cat: she boxed my ear, then walked over to the woman, went really small, hopped onto her shoulder, and licked the woman's face."
"So, it's the miko who holds power over the cat," muttered Xue. The inu had his doubts, but remained silent. "Their weapons?"
"Umm…" The boy's brow wrinkled in thought. "Spears. The armored one, had a spear with a blade on both ends."
Which meant the humans would have to get in close to fight.
Xue's fingers tapped against the shaft of her naginata as she thought for long moments. The inu kept his body still, his face impassive, but he listened with all of his senses. The imps had drawn closer, though they were avoiding the space beneath him. There was a very subtle shift in the miko's barrier. He could not tell what it meant, but he hoped she was aware of the possibilities of betrayal by the two human men. And the neko, for that matter—who knew what she was thinking.
And, of course, he was more certain than ever that Xue had no intention of dealing honorably with him. He had little doubt, that she would not commit her full power to the attack. It wouldn't surprise him, either, to know that she planned to signal the ice imps to swarm him at the opportune time.
Cats.
"The fire cat may be a problem," she pronounced finally. Xue glanced at the inu. "How much of a problem are these 'taijiya'?"
"I believe they were the humans who wrested the Shikon no Tama from youkai hands," he said. "They are trained to fight youkai from childhood, and are reputed to have many ways to defeat even powerful youkai." He hesitated briefly, before adding, "It is known that they once took out an inu youkai with a single attack."
To his dismay, she smirked at him. "Let me guess—they overpowered the inu's sense of smell. Inu noses are one of their weak points."
That woman was a bit too clever. He gave her another bow, trying to keep his chagrin from showing. "A shrewd guess, Lady Xue," he acknowledged.
Her smirk widened for a moment, before she returned her attention to the matter at hand. "Aisumaru!" she called, banging the end of the naginata against the ground. "Come!"
Frost appeared at a spot about two lengths in front of her, expanding rapidly to half that in diameter. A translucent form of a man rose from the ground, having the appearance of an unarmored, unweaponed samurai. He bowed, the crystalline lengths of his long hair faintly tinkling. "My lady."
"I will need your imps to provide a distraction, Aisumaru," she said. "You have been listening?"
"Of course, my lady."
"The humans have a fire-cat on their side. After the miko, she is probably the greatest threat, as her nature is our opposite. Are your imps sufficient in number to freeze her?"
The imp chieftain tilted his head. "There are fire cats and fire cats, my lady. Permission to speak with your son?"
"Permission granted."
The imp bowed again, then walked over and knelt by the lad who was still in his crouch. The inu kept his eyes on Xue, and his ears on the whispered conversation, which mostly consisted of a detailed description of the firecat and her actions. After he finished his conversation, the ice youkai stood up and re-approached his mistress.
"The neko is known to us, my lady," he announced, with a hint of rage and disgust in his whispery voice. "Long and long ago, she chose to side with humankind. She used to live in the taijiya village that was destroyed last year, after the Shikon no Tama came into taijiya hands. It is said that she saved many human lives when the village was destroyed, and protected them on their quest to find the one who could purify the jewel. It would give my clan great satisfaction, to be ones who brought one of the betrayers down."
"But, have you the strength?" she demanded to know. "The plan requires your clan to attack from two sides."
He visibly hesitated, then bowed. "Kirara is the most powerful of the living firecats," he acknowledged slowly. "I … cannot be certain, my lady. Especially if the taijiya uses his ground poison."
"But, you are willing to try?"
His eyes gleamed with an abrupt, feral fierceness. "We have lost to that cat before. For the sake of your promise, for the chance for revenge, we will do our utmost."
"Very well." Xue slammed the naginata's silver base against the ground. It vanished, only to reappear in Aisumaru's hand. The inu youkai blinked, almost losing his external composure, for why would any youkai give up her main weapon, into which she had stored a great deal of power?
He stared at the naginata in the ice imp's hand for a moment, and then, abruptly realized that it was not the same naginata. The blade was more white than silver, and its scent was sharply less. The aura seemed the same, but not when he concentrated his attention on it. It was a hollow aura—the same on the surface, but the power residing within the naginata was much less. Quickly shifting attention back to Xue, concentrating his senses on her for a brief moment, he sensed a kind of shadow within her lowered, apparently empty hand. He came to the conclusion that she still had the naginata, but had somehow split a weaker twin from it, while hiding the real weapon within a shadow domain.
Very clever.
Very, very clever.
And probably treacherous. If the ice imp acted on the assumption that the naginata was as powerful as its signature…
"Very well," she said, as the inu brought his full attention back to her. "The plan changes slightly: have the north group attack first: when the humans and neko are concentrating on them, have your main group attack concentrate on the cat. And wait for my signal through the naginata."
"Yes, my lady." The ice imp bowed once more, then dropped into the ground.
Xue turned to look at the inu youkai with a smile. "I think we can continue with our plans," she said. "It will be a bit more difficult, with three humans and that youkai, instead of the miko alone. But, I am quite confident that the Shikon no Tama will be ours. Do you agree, my dear inu?"
He considered briefly, and made up his mind. He had thought to wait until the ice imps were ready to attack, and then fly to the miko's side and demonstrate that they were working together. The presence of the taijiya, however, changed his plans. He didn't know what other surprises the human warriors might have, and the situation would simply be too complicated.
The inu youkai sighed, and flared his youki, using the power to restore the armor that the miko's barrier had dissolved. "There will be no attack on the humans, Xue-sama," he said. "Nor will the Shikon no Tama fall back into youkai hands."
… … …
The youkai lady stared at him. "What? Has your head suddenly cooked? What are you talking about, inu?"
"I am not after the Shikon no Tama, as I allowed you to assume," he said steadily. "I have felt its presence close up and know that its promises of power are but a deceit to bring about more suffering. The miko and I are not enemies, but allies. I have sworn to protect her, until she can purify and banish the Shikon no Tama."
She stared at him, anger kindling in her eyes. Her son also stared, still crouching on the ground, his mouth agape. "You thought to betray me?" she hissed. "You lying dog—"
"There is no betrayal." He deepened his voice, and intensified it, as he stared into her pale blue eyes. "I allowed you to make incorrect assumptions about my intent and my activities, but I have not lied. Nor would I ever attack from behind, or without warning."
He felt the attack rising from behind him even before he started his denial. Holding her eyes to the very last moment, he whirled. With perfect precision, he met the descending blade of the naginata with an armored, youki-sheathed wrist. The blade shattered. Continuing his turn, he stepped, and his other hand lashed out and found the ice imp's throat. Aisumaru was pulled off his feet, and flew through the air to land at Xue's feet as the inu completed his turn.
More ice imps swarmed towards him through the rock and soil. The silver-haired youkai leapt into the air, crossing his arms up and across his chest as he gathered his youkai, before sweeping both hands down to deliver the youki as a double set of eldritch claws. Imps yelped and shattered into non-existence as the ground shook under the impact of the golden, claw-shaped youki. The surviving imps dived back into the non-sundered sections of ground and disappeared.
A shuddering silence fell. The youkai allowed himself to drift down, to gently land on undisturbed soil. Xue stared at him, her expression one of shock, while her son was wide-eyed and shrinking in on himself. With one part of his senses reserved for the impetuous youth, the youkai met her eyes again.
"Xue-sama," he said in a gentle voice, "I can sympathize with your goal, to find enough strength to return in triumph to your own lands. But, the Shikon no Tama will not give that to you. Even should you manage to defeat myself and the miko, it will not bring you what you truly desire, but only a twisted, poisoned version of it." He paused, then continued more softly.
"Think on my advice, Xue-sama," he said. "You have a fine son, impetuous, perhaps, but brave. He needs you; needs your guidance. For his sake, turn away from the Shikon no Tama. Protect him, teach him, raise him to be a fine, strong, honorable youkai who will become your partner as well as your son. Do not risk throwing away his life, to continue seeking the false promise of the jewel."
The snowcat youkai continued to stare at him in silence. He waited a moment longer, and then bowed, turned, and walked away.
