Before There Were Fairy Tales...
by Faehime
Chapter Eleven:Intro to a Short...Temper?
After a week of traveling, Kagome wasn't sure she ever wanted to sleep indoors again. Each day had been filled with new sights and discoveries as they trekked through forests and fields towards their destination. They passed through a couple of villages as well, although they didn't linger any longer than necessary. The headman of each village came out to greet the Lady of Setsuna and her caravan, and after assuring their Lady that all was well or informing her of any shortages they might be experiencing, the company would once more head off. Traveling at an easy pace, they were making excellent time according to Izayoi, who had made this trip on several occasions over the years.
The princess's tutors had been left back at the shiro, and thus Kuenai had taken on the role of instructor. The arrangement turned out to be much more informative and entertaining than any classes Kagome had attended in the future, and with each day she looked forward to what the Lady would have to say. She taught them about plants that could be used for herbal remedies as well as those that were deadly poisonous. There were others that could be used as seasoning for meat and soups, and still more that could be eaten raw in a pinch, if you were caught without a means to hunt for yourself.
"You never know when circumstances might leave you lost in the middle of nowhere with no supplies," she lectured, her no-nonsense attitude catching each girl's attention. "If that happens, at least you'll be able to forage for things to keep your body nourished until you can find a village or someone to help you."
Whenever they came across animals or forest creatures, she would explain what they were and which ones to avoid. She would then explain either how to defend yourself or escape from the more dangerous animals, and by turns tell the girls how to set snares and traps to effectively catch others for a meal. And she didn't stop there. Often she'd have one of the trappers she'd brought with them go and catch something for the noon or evening meal. She'd then set about having them practice preparing the animal for the spit, which turned out to be one of the most disgusting thing's Kagome had ever done. She particularly hated the hot, metallic scent of the creature's blood, and even after washing her hands the young girl could smell the lingering scent upon her skin when she went to bed each night.
Kagome had known that Kuenai was knowledgeable, but had assumed that her learning would be limited to academic pursuits befitting royalty and the educated upper class of the time. Izayoii had taken the time to explain how odd it was to begin with that the Lady was so intelligent, not to mention the fact that she'd seen fit to educate Izayoi in the same manner that she had been.
"It's why I don't have any friends, even among other courtiers. Our family is considered far too strange, and they worry that my mother's beliefs will rub off on their kids," she said, voice matter-of-fact and without a hint of regret. Apparently, the princess wasn't fond of most children of the court, informing Kagome that most were unreasonably snobbish with a holier-than-thou attitude. Personally, the young girl couldn't help but feel amused by the princess's description of the other kids.
'Because you're not like that at all,' her mind supplied sarcastically as the other girl began to snore softly.
Turning onto her back, she looked up and couldn't help the wistful grin that overcame her face. Because the thing she loved most of all about traveling across the countryside was night. When the sun fell below the distant crest of the horizon, millions upon millions of glimmering stars frosted the sky like the sugar crystals her mom had decorated her birthday cake with last year. She would struggle to stay awake into the late hours of darkness, following the path of the moon as it slowly rose to it's zenith. Fireflies of the sky, the stars seemed to move out of it's way in her imagination, sweeping aside like loyal subjects before their lord. It was one of the most amazing things the young girl had ever seen, and she treasured each waking moment before sleep stole her away into dreams.
"Are you not sleeping well?" Izayoi finally asked towards the end of the week, noticing the dark circles under Kagome's eyes.
She shook her head, explaining, "No, I've just been staying up late to watch the stars, and I'm kind of tired is all."
The princess had frowned at her response, before saying she was being foolish. Why stay up every night to look at something that is always there? She had smiled, before shaking her head in disagreement.
"Not in my time they aren't," she stated, earning a surprised look from both her companion and Kuenai, who had been listening to their conversation. Seeing their interest, Kagome informed them, "I mean, I'm sure the stars are still there, you just can't see them anymore. I live in the city, and all of the lights from the buildings block out the night sky."
Shrugging, she continued with a wry grin, "To see them you have to travel far outside of the city into the countryside, but even then you can't see this many. The world at large is just... too bright."
Izayoi had still looked skeptical, but eventually snorted, "That's still no reason to make yourself so tired, stupid."
"I'm not stupid!" Kagome protested, and in moments the argument had devolved into a contest to prove who was smarter.
The Lady of Setsuna took a moment to absorb this new information before turning her attention to the quarreling children. The next few hours were spent using their contest as a way to asses what they had learned over the course of the trip, eventually transforming into a new lesson for the day. Later that night, they'd been informed that they would be arriving at the Western Shiro on the morrow, much to Izayoi's excitement.
"Finally! I can't wait to take a bath and sleep in my own futon!" She muttered with obvious relief. Shifting to glance at Kagome from the corner of her eye, she'd continued with a small smirk.
"Of course, we'll have to put up with him."
Interest perked, the ten year old had snapped to attention, and ignoring the half-eaten meal on her plate asked, "Him who?"
The princess flapped her hand dismissively, face puckered with distaste. "Only the rudest, snobbiest, most irritating boy to walk the face of the earth."
"The Western Lord's son?" Kagome guessed, shocked by the venom in her companion's voice. While she hadn't shown any particular favor when speaking about any of the children of the upper ranks, Izayoi had yet to show such dislike for anyone since... well, since they had first met.
"Wait, so... you're saying he's more annoying than me?" The young girl couldn't keep the disbelief from her expression, and it rise a notch when the princess merely nodded, confirming both her question and the fact that she was still considered 'annoying.'
'I think I'm gonna like this boy... wait...'
"How old is he? Is he close to our age?"
It was a perfectly reasonable question, and so she couldn't help but feel a little miffed when Izayoi started laughing at her. Crossing her arms, she bit her tongue as she waited for the other girl to calm down, knowing that anything she said right now would either bait the princess into teasing her more or result in the other girl shutting down and refusing to answer any of her questions for the rest of the night. However, it was Kuenai who answered, smiling eyes betraying her own amusement at the question.
"Not even close, Higurashi-chan. He is the son and heir to Lord of the West, and has been so for the past two-hundred and forty-nine years," she stated seriously.
Kagome fell over in shock, eyes wide as images of an old, decrepit man danced through her head. Something in her expression prompted the older woman to add, "As a demon, he ages much slower than humans, so he's still quite..."
She paused, eyes looking to Izayoi, who had finally calmed down but was still grinning devilishly. The two exchanged a look, a silent communication as the princess gave her head a barely noticeable shake. Kagome was oblivious to the quick, non-verbal conversation between mother and daughter, waiting for Kuenai to finish whatever she was saying.
"I think you'll find Sesshomaru is still youthful in appearance, Higurashi-chan. Quite the dashing young man, I might add."
She winked, and the young girl's mental image transformed from a grandfatherly man to one who was in his late teens. Frowning as her visual remained nothing more than a vague shadow, she realized that no one had told her what the rulers of the West looked like. Her query was met with yet another secretive smile, and Izayoi spent the next few hours before bed telling her all about the dog demon's of the Western Shiro.
By the time she laid down for bed that night, she was looking forward to meeting this Sesshomaru. If he could annoy her new friend as easily as her, then he'd probably be easy for her to get along with, and she couldn't wait to get to know him. Exhaustion soon overtook the young girl, and she quickly slipped off into dreams about a tall, dashing prince with long flowing hair and sparkling golden eyes.
~O~
"Who the hell are you?"
Kagome felt her eye twitch even as she heard Izayoi dissolving into laughter behind her. After arriving at the shiro, Kuenai had briefly introduced her to InuTaisho before urging Izayoi to take her to meet Sesshomaru while she discussed her business with the Western Lord. The two girls had immediately departed for the training dojo they'd been told he was training in, each of them eager for the meeting, but for radically different reasons.
The princess had entered the dojo ahead of her, and before she'd had a chance to look around for the infamous son of the Western Lord, the girl had loudly cleared her throat before holding her arm out with a flourish.
"I give you Sesshomaru-sama, heir to the West!" she declared formally, the effect ruined by the mocking tone to her voice. Peering around curiously, the young girl had been disappointed when she didn't see anyone in the dojo.
She'd been in the middle of asking her friend where he was when she'd been interrupted by the rude question asking who she was. Now she stood staring into the face of a boy who barely reached her nose. Arrogant golden eyes glared at her as she continued to stare at him wordlessly, her illusions of a teen idol shattering in the face of reality.
Silver hair chopped close to the scalp stuck out at odd, uneven angles, and Kagome was positive that he'd probably done the cut himself. Maroon slashes tapered into points in the middle of his cherubic cheeks, and a large indigo crescent moon seemed to glow from the center of his forehead. He was wearing a green yukata and hakama outfit that made his pale skin look a sickly yellow, and in his small, clawed hand he clutched a worn looking bokken.
"This is Se-"
"This Sesshomaru will not repeat himself, filthy human."
'Well, that answers that question, doesn't it?' Kagome thought to herself, no longer in doubt as to who the midget in front of her was. Feeling her temper flare at the insult, the young girl was deaf to the crowing laughter coming from the princess now rolling on the floor as she frowned down at Sesshomaru.
Sniffing dismissively, she relaxed her expression into one of doubt before holding her hand up. Reaching forward, she held her palm even with the top of the arrogant demon's head before moving it toward herself. Raising an eyebrow, she looked down her nose they way she'd seen Izayoi do when upset with her before answering.
"My name is Higurashi Kagome, not 'filthy human', and I'd say you should be feeling pretty lucky, Sesshomaru," she declared before moving to help Izayoi to her feet. The princess had calmed enough that she could stand, but she was still grasping her sides from the strain. She had barely turned to help the other girl when she heard the demon boy speak again.
"This Sesshomaru does not get 'lucky', girl," he snarled, golden eyes flashing with anger. "Anything I achieve is done through hard work and dedication!"
Smirking at him and fully aware that he had purposely refused to use her name, Kagome drove in for the killing blow.
"Is that so? In that case, it must be good to know all your hard work has paid off," she paused, giving him a long look from toe to top before finishing, "You are obviously quite dedicated to being a shrimp, Sesshomaru. I don't think I've ever met anyone so... what's the word I'm looking for?"
Tapping her chin, the young girl made a great show of thinking, allowing both the silence and the boy's rising anger to grow in intensity. Right as he went to open his mouth, she slapped her fist into her hand with triumph.
"Runty!" She exclaimed, delighted when Sesshomaru seemed to be rendered temporarily speechless in his fury.
Grabbing Izayoi's arm, she steered the now choking girl out of the dojo and back towards the shiro. Behind her came the sound of a small explosion as the boy threw the mother of all hissy-fits. Between growls and snarls she could hear him calling her names she was sure her mother would have washed her mouth out for, and couldn't help the feeling of victory flooding through her.
'I guess I'm going to have to teach him too,' she thought to herself, glancing sideways at the princess gasping for breath as tears of mirth streamed from her eyes. Smiling to herself, Kagome couldn't help but look forward to the challenge the small demon-child promised to be. Something told her Sesshomaru was going to be even harder to convince than Izayoi had been, but if she was going to be a guest here, he was going to be her friend.
'Whether he likes it or not!'
