Many thanks and apologies to all my reviewers and readers! I do intend to finish this. Writers block is vanquished. I have a new PC (finally). As always, reviews are food for my muse.

Sengoku Otogi Zōshi: Buffy

By Abby Road

CHAPTER 10

"Sesshoumaru-sama! Hey,Sesshoumaru-sama! Is she okay?... Sesshoumaru-sama?"

"Be still,Rin."

"Yes! Sesshoumaru-sama!"

"Keh! Stupid human woman!"

"Silence, Jaken."

The first thing to come back to Dawn was her sense of hearing. She couldn't make sense out of the words and it took her a moment to realize that it wasn't because she was concussed. There were three voices. A young girl. And two men. One with an even, commanding tone and the other conveying an unpleasant petulance. She was kicked sharply in the shoulder and moaned as other hurts make themselves known.

"So mean! Jaken-sama!"

"Ack. Apologies,Sesshoumaru-sama. Please forgive this humble Jaken."

Friction burn on her wrists. Yes. From that freaky Legolas-wannabe on the flying origami crane. Tied her up. With, ugh, snakes. Her shoulder felt bruised and her temple throbbed. She'd landed awkwardly when she rolled to the ground. Hit some rocks. Knocked herself out. That was why. Her leg felt, wrenched and sore and then she remembered that she'd been lifted by her pant leg by...well basically it was Clifford the Big White Dog...and deposited on the ground. Her last thought before she smashed her head was that it figured she'd end up being eaten by an over-sized Saluki.

Dawn felt that she was being watched. Someone was standing very close to her. Blocking the sunlight from shining red through her eyelids. Opening her eyes, sluggishly, she was looking up at him. Back-lit by the sunlight she could still tell that his hair was preternaturally white - the same shade as Inuyasha's - and fell to his waist. Not any kind of demon she knew but certainly not human. She squinted into the light and he moved to her side with only the slightest sound of shifting silk, kneeling to look down at her with an inscrutable expression. He looked, well, stunningly handsome, really, if you went for beautiful men...almost effeminate but too menacing to really pull it off. If the aura weren't enough to give him away as a demon, the inhuman, amber eyes clinched it. He just kept staring down at her and his expression slid subtly toward puzzlement.

"This is -" She couldn't understand the words, but got the impression he was talking more to himself than to her.

He cast a glance over his shoulder and spoke. "Rin, what do you see here?"

"Sesshoumaru-sama?"

"What is it?" He repeated.

"Um...a woman, Sesshoumaru-sama."

"Hnn....Inuyasha's scent ...interesting. Rin, come here."

There was some shuffling going on around her and then a small hand touched her cheek. A little girl was crouched down and looking at her with some concern. Her hair was tied up lopsidedly with a single flyaway pigtail and she wore a bright orange patterned furisode.

"Nee-san are you okay?"

"Huh?"

"Are you hurt?"

"What?"

"I'm sorry,nee-san. I don't understand."

"..great."

"What?"

Dawn took the pause in their attempt at conversation to scoot herself into a sitting position. She still felt a little nauseous and weak.

"Rin."

Dawn looked up to find the little girl pointing toward her own face.

"Lynn?"

A little head-shake and then, "No...Ri - n"

"Rin."

"Yes! That's right. I'm Rin. And this is Jaken-sama!"

Rin gestured to a scowling little Kappa-demon, whom Dawn pegged for the one who'd kicked her.

"Jah-kin?"

"Yes! Jaken-sama," then she gestured to the demon who'd been scrutinizing her. "This is Sesshoumaru-sama." He was now gazing into the middle distance, seemingly unconcerned. On second look, though, Dawn found him even more imposing. She'd missed, before, in her grogginess, the truely predatory bearing with which he carried himself. Also, his flowing garments and white hair seemed to be billowing slightly against the wind. That looked like the effects of magical overflow. Shape-changers and other frighteningly powerful magic users tended to be the only things that produced that particular effect. Dawn nearly recoiled, but took comfort in the fact that Rin was practically beaming as she introduced him.

She looked earnestly to Dawn and saw her hesitation. "Nee-san are you scared? It's okay.Sesshoumaru-sama is very kind.Sesshoumaru-sama protects me and he saved you. Right,Jaken-sama?"

The kappa sputtered incoherently for a moment, seemingly on the verge of an apoplectic fit at whatever Rin had just said. He was promptly beaned by a good-sized rock. Said rock could only have been thrown by Sesshoumaru, yet when Dawn looked back at him he appeared not to have moved and maintained his distant and dignified bearing. Dawn burst out laughing. There was nothing else for it.

"...Kagome."

Oh! She'd landed in a tangle of limbs with Inuyasha and they were so close that they were breathing the same air. As they tried to disentangle themselves they came face-to-face and she froze as he looked at her with awe and a raw yearning that he usually hid so well. He had an astonishingly ridgid sense of propriety. Really frustrating - and - was he going to kiss her?!

Just at that exact moment, when she drew in a shuddering breath of expectation and he leaned up toward her, a muffled squeaking shattered the mood like a fine-stemmed champagne flute.

"I can't breath! Get off! Get off me!"

He was so adorable when he blushed...it even touched his ears! Inuyasha's eyes widened comically as he rolled them into a sitting position, gently gripping her arms and twisting to check on Shippou.

"Oi, are you okay Shippou?"

In answer, Shippou leapt up and smacked Inuyasha on the head, shouting "Idiot!"before darting off in a huff to straighten himself out. Shippou was surprisingly particular about his grooming and appearance, given his age. But that was not taking into account the fact that he was a fox. For once, Inuyasha was abashed enough that he didn't react to the insult.

They were finally getting awkwardly to their feet when Buffy and the vampire, Spike, landed almost on top of them and in a similarly awkward position. After a long, wordless pause, the two of them flew apart like a pair of scalded cats. Definitely something going on there. Something she'd be glad to avoid.

It took just one second longer than that for the vampire to realize he was standing in full sunlight and start flapping around in hysterics.

"Fire! Fire! ...wait. Why am I not on fire?"

Buffy looked up at the sun and then back to her companion.

"Um... Wow."

He was still squinting in stupification into the alien sun when Xander collided with him as if launched from a cannon and took them both to the ground.

"Bloody ow Harris! Gerroff me!"

"Wait. Why aren't you on fire?"

"That does seem to be the question, dunnit?"

"Probably just something to do with interdementional metaphysics."

This last came from their witch-friend Willow who'd sauntered up the group as if she'd walked from Cleveland.

A feline roar announced the arrival of Sango and Miroku astride a smugly airborne Kirara. They were largely ignored in favor of the non-spectacle of a sun-drenched vampire.

"English please, Wills."

"Yes, do share with the rest of the class, Red."

"We're probably in another dimension. This sun isn't The Sun. So, no vampire flambe."

"Well, being not-on-fire works for me. But that begs the question - "

"Where are we?" Buffy finished for him.

Kagome had known from the moment they'd landed, but it hadn't occurred to her to explain until now.

"Looks like home."

"Smells like home," added Inuyasha. And that seemed to brook no argument.

"Where else but straight to Naraku would Byakuya have been going?" Sango added bitterly.

At that, Bufffy shot Sango a sharp look.

"I think it's time for you all to dish on this Byakuya of the Mirage who took my little sister. Now-ish."

TBC Soon ;) Um... is anyone else in glee over the release of Inuyasha: Kanketsu hen?