Ch. 11 Inutaisho's Observations
Guardians
He observed his youngest's packs dynamics and was pleased with what he saw they behaved like a real Inu pack it even went so far that they did not need to speak to communicate something. His son regardless of first impressions was a good alpha his tracking/navigation skills could use some improving, but he was still rather young and could learn. He also noticed that his youngest carried himself like a true worrier, and wondered if that was Sesshomaru's doing or if it was someone else's. Two of the females in his pack were curious the one who had helped the miko Kagome and Kagome herself. The one had helped Kagome was curious because she not only had a strange eye color her hair color was strange as well yet she smelt human. Kagome was strange because she was a Miko, yet she traveled with a hanyou, neko youkai, and kitsune it didn't make any sense.
His son found a good clearing with hot springs and a stream not too far away so they could bath and have a supply of fresh water as well as a source of food if they did not want forest game.
He watched as they set up camp efficiently only setting up the bare essentials necessary for it to even be called a camp. No meal was prepared as everyone but the female named Aria were and looked tired. Everyone went to sleep pretty much as soon as they were comfortable except for Aria who stayed up a little longer than the rest she sat on a tree branch looking up at the stars. Eventually she came down and settled at the base of a tree to sleep with no coverings or bedding of any kind another thing that was odd about her.
After he was sure she was asleep he turned to his eldest and asked what he knew of the miko and the other women. He didn't know much except for the fact they were both educated he had witnessed the older of the two the one named Aria help the miko with her studies on occasion. The way they spoke was different and often times confusing using phrases he had never heard before and the whole group was so secretive when it came to where the two women came from. They apparently came from the same place and the miko and Aria seemed to have a deep connection of some sort that the others did not have with them. He had heard them talk about a well in reference to the place they lived on several occasions, and in the village they frequented there was only one well.
It was certainly an odd puzzle and one he intended to solve the miko had aroused his curiosity and now she would have to pay the price for it. Sesshomaru saw the wheels in his father's mind turning and gave a mental shiver he remembered his father's curiosity all too well from when he was younger though he had only been whitness to it twice. He did not envy the miko in the least and was just glad his father's curiosity was not directed at anything related to him.
Break
The next morning he observed as the first to get up shortly before dawn was Aria after she stretched she turned towards the forest and he asked where she was going, and she replied "I am going for a run" and took off into the forest. About an hour and a half later she came back, got a fresh set of cloths out of her bag and some homemade soap that was lavender and lemon grass scented before heading to the hot spring. When she came back from bathing her hair was down and he was astonished how long it was it reached mid-thigh she pulled it up into a high ponytail and started a fire to cook breakfast. She took out some supplies and then went to the stream to fetch some water and set the water to boil over the fire. She added something he was unfamiliar with to the water then when it boiled added some rice.
When the rice was nearly done she added some nuts and dried berries and some honey to the mix it smelled wonderful, he also noticed how she made a large batch of the breakfast food so she must have been intending him to eat with them.
As soon as the delicious smell began wafting on the breeze his youngest was down off his perch in the trees eagerly awaiting the food to be done, and he couldn't help but chuckle at his son's antics. Eventually the smell became so strong that the humans began waking as well they talked quietly to each other and the miko came over a bid him good morning.
When the food was ready it was passed out and everyone himself included complimented the cook she truly was a good cook and he could see why no one else got up to cook food with Aria there to cook for them. The girls except for Aria who had already had her bath and Shippo went to the hot springs to bath while the men stayed back and helped Aria clean up from breakfast. Then they sat down and waited and while they waited he asked them questions throwing in ones about the two females homeland every now and then, the only one that wasn't tripped up was Aria. He wasn't really surprised about that as she was the one that had the air of the experience about her and apparently that experience included verbal warfare as well as physical warfare.
Break
WITH KAGOME AND SANGO
It was rough going reaching the hot springs because there were a lot of branches and logs in the way, and they were both thanking Aria for the training she had given them because they probably wouldn't have made it to the hot springs if they didn't have it. Once there Kagome set down the bag of cleaning supplies by the edge of the onsen and then she and Sango shed their cloths and got in the springs Shippo was already swimming around and splashed them when they weren't looking. Kagome lathered up the shampoo then passed the bottle to Sango and massaged the stuff into her hair, and then did Shippo's hair after she managed to catch him. She then took up the conditioner and repeated the process.
After that they relaxed in the springs for a while before they reluctantly got out and got dressed before heading back to camp.
When they got back to camp they were greeted by the sight of an irritated Aria and a panicking Miroku and Inuyasha apparently something had gone down after they left camp they tried to figure out what it was, but were having no luck. Though she was probably the only one that could tell Aria was frustrated Kagome cleared her throat and got everyone in the clearings attention.
WITH EVERYONE
They looked towards the forest and watched the females come back into the clearing both had questioning looks on their faces and Miroku and Inuyasha had sheepish looks on their faces. He took it upon himself to fill them in on what was happening and they glared at the males while Aria had a smug look on her face. The females then proceeded to drag the two males into the forest and teach them a lesson and most likely beat them up. He turned towards Aria and asked what had been bugging him since the argument began "you really are not opposed to me my traveling with your group?" "No I am not, in fact I approve of you traveling with us I know if I got the chance to spend time with my father once more I would do it." "Your father is dead?" "Yes he died when I was six years old." And with that she refused to say anymore on the subject it was obvious that it still pained her even though her face and aura said nothing about what she felt.
While they waited for the others to come back he pondered the look he had seen on the face of the women named Arai a world weary look that said she had experienced hell and survived, and was forever changed by it. He wondered what exactly she had been through to give her that look the look he had only seen on experienced youkai who had fought many battles over the centuries. One thing was for sure his journey with his youngest's group was going to be an interesting one at the very least.
|End Chapter|
Author's Notes: Wow sorry all my lovely readers for not writing a chapter for this story for so long, but I came down with a slight case of writers block, now I'm back and hopefully will be writing more for this story now that I have my inspiration back. As always all characters except my OC's belong to Rumiko Takahashi.
Ja Ne for now,
Purplerose97