The sounds of Jakken's shouts filled her ears as well as the cacophony of clashing swords, explosions, and yowls that ushered her from unconsciousness. Another blast hit nearby and she could feel the percussion slamming her off of the saddle of the dragon and she fell through the sky.
"My lady!" Jakken was screeching, the piercing sound snapping her out of her daze and her eyes flashed open. The air whizzed past her ear as she whipped her body around like a cat falling and preparing to catch itself and she landed in a crouch on all fours. "Lady Daiyu!"
"Alright, I heard you already!" Daiyu grunted as pain gripped her ribs and shoulder. She quickly assessed the area, they were in some sort of bamboo forest and the dawn was only a few hours away. Snow lightly covered the ground, winter slowly making its way south of Japan as snowflakes began to drift down from the sky and the air was crisp. Puffs of steam billowed from Daiyu's lips as she panted lightly and gripped onto the wound, her body on the verge of shivering from the amount of blood loss and the cold exposure.
"My lady, we should get going, there are many after us." Jakken squawked loudly as he brought the dragon down from the sky to pick her up, Ah-Un gave a huff through its nostrils as it stomped to her side.
"Where did that explosion come from? Did it hit us in the air?" Daiyu asked, her tone firm as she scanned the area.
"Yes, lady Daiyu, now please get onto the dragon!" Jakken was exuding panic as he gripped tightly onto the two-headed staff, his green knuckles paling by the second as he looked about the area frantically.
"Jakken, give me the bandages!" Daiyu ordered suddenly and the toad demon startled.
"We don't have time for that my lady."
"Just shut up and give me the damn things!" Daiyu barked before loosening her haori and Jakken's face became bright red. He covered his face with his sleeve to hide her nakedness from his sight.
"My lady, please forgive this lowly servant for seeing that which is only for my lord!"
"Keh, you're not the first. Now, give me the bandages!" Daiyu said and Jakken tossed her the salve box and held out the bandages in front of her. She quickly put on the salve over the wound in her ribs and shoulder, biting back the pain, before quickly covering it with thick cotton swatches to staunch the wounds. She wrapped the long white strips of cloth around her ribs then up and over her breasts, then looped it over her wounded shoulder.
"Will your wounds heal quickly, lady Daiyu?" Jakken asked while she tied the ends and then slipped on her haori before adjusting her obi.
"The bullet went cleanly through my shoulder, but the one in my rib is still inside." Daiyu answered as she fastened the Dao sword at her hip. At her words, Jakken's eyes widened greatly and his worry piqued.
"We need to get you to a doctor!" Jakken said anxiously, but Daiyu remained calm.
"There's nothing we can do about it at the moment." Daiyu replied, she unsheathed her sword and turned her eyes towards the direction they came from.
"My lady?" Jakken asked, but she ignored him. The sword pulsated in her hand as her eyes glowed brightly to almost white. A cold gust of wind blew through the trees and swirled around the sword of Shoushan as an aurora emanated from the blade.
Her vision became that familiar white void, the green bamboo disappearing into an image of a blizzard as she scanned through the storm that appeared before her. While the real world around her remained the same, if not colder than before.
"We must go! Please, milady!" Jakken croaked behind her. A horde of reddish silhouettes appeared through the white void in her sight, spotting multiple enemies coming towards her as well as a large golden light.
"Sesshoumaru's on his way here, but he won't make it before the small army reaches us." Daiyu said. "If we fly, we will make for easy targets."
"Then what should we do? If any more harm comes to you, lord Sesshoumaru will have my head!" Jakken was growing ever more frantic with fear and he tugged onto her obi.
"We need to leave now, damn it!" Jakken croaked loudly this time and Daiyu shook him off. She turned towards the dragon and noticed that the saddle was drenched in her blood and an idea struck her.
"Jakken, take the dragon and run towards the village without me." Daiyu ordered, "My scent is all over that dragon and they will no doubt follow after that. I will mask my scent in a hiding place in the ground and attack them from behind when they come after you."
"B-but milady-!"
"This is an order, Jakken!" Daiyu gave him an icy glare, one to rival that of his master and Jakken shuddered in trepidation. Without any more to say, Daiyu sped off, leaving Jakken alone with the blood drenched dragon and a terrified expression erupted across his face.
"What the hell am I going to do? Lord Sesshoumaru's going to kill me for sure!" Jakken exasperated loudly on top of Ah-Un, but the dragon seemed unfazed by the events and began stomping through the forest quickly.
Daiyu had managed to find an abandoned fox hole in the earth and buried herself inside. The hole was quite small, so she had to lie on her stomach to fit with her head close to the entrance. The smell of foxes exuded from the soil, masking her scent enough to where they shouldn't be able to sense her and she awaited their passing through with the hope that her plan will work to her advantage.
Minutes dragged on and her body became ice cold as she awaited the cats' arrival. When she finally heard the fast steps of their feet she stiffened, her visage hardening. "About God damn time!" She whispered to herself as she gripped onto her sword and it seemed to pulse back in agreement. Suddenly, Jakken emerged from the trees, his tiny green frame scurrying across the ground.
"What the fuck is he…? Such an idiot!" Daiyu groaned irritably, she cupped her hands around her mouth and whispered loud enough for him to hear. "Jakken!" The toad demon's bulbous eyes scanned over to her hiding spot and she gestured with her hand to get him to hurry over and he ran to the fox hole.
"My lady-!" He was interrupted when she suddenly gripped onto his collar with a tight fist and gave him a heated glare.
"What are you doing? I told you to go with the damn dragon!" Daiyu growled loudly and Jakken shook with trepidation.
"I-I have to protect you, milady!" Jakken stuttered and her glare hardened. "I-I'm sorr-?"
"Oh, shut up!" Daiyu muttered before tossing him over her shoulder to land inside the hole and she returned her attention back to the youkai unit chasing them. "How the hell is a toad demon going to get us out of this mess, seriously? Fuckin' useless." Daiyu muttered, thinking aloud.
"Hey! I was once the general of my clan, y'know!" Jakken retorted.
"Yeah? The general of toads? That's sooooo impressive!" Daiyu replied sarcastically. "Who'd you fight? Flies and more toads?" She chuckled wickedly and Jakken glared daggers at the back of her head, but he could not make a come back, unfortunately for him, she was right. "Is the dragon heading towards the village?" Daiyu asked, changing the subject.
"Yes, milady." Jakken grumbled dryly, still feeling a strong sense of depression from Daiyu's harsh reality. "Do you think that Ah-Un will be in danger? They are chasing it."
"They're after me, not some random dragon. The moment they catch up to him, they'll be too concerned about finding me than killing it out of frustration."
"Why don't you wait here for lord Sesshoumaru to return before engaging in battle?" Jakken then inquired and Daiyu grinned wickedly.
"We can't let Sesshoumaru have all of the fun, can we?" Daiyu began chuckling evilly and Jakken shuddered.
"I fear for milord's future."
Daiyu's acute hearing noticed the change in the flow of the trees and she motioned for Jakken to be quiet and they both turned towards the bamboo forest before them. She kept low to the ground and covered her mouth to muffle her breathing as the eclectic cat youkai began littering the area.
The group was clad in black Shinobi attire, wearing black masks over their faces as their light yellow gaze pierced through their dark hair and clothes as they leapt gracefully through the trees. Daiyu took note of their weapons, which were eclectic, but the popular items seemed to be the chain and sickle, a couple Zhuas, Chinese war swords and one, most noticeably, was wearing behemoth Tekko-kagi over the back of his hands.
She debated about taking him out first; he seemed to be the leader of the group as he barked orders at them over his shoulder.
When their backs were turned as they followed the scent trail left by the dragon covered in her blood, Daiyu leapt from the cave and impaled the closest demon with her sword.
"She's here!" The Tekko-kagi wearer bellowed to his men as he quickly changed his direction towards her. Daiyu ripped out her sword and evaded a sickle aimed at her head and she slashed the chain.
"Jubei-san, we must hurry! The dog is coming!" One of the men exclaimed as the leader, known as Jubei, launched at her with his claw-like weapons. Daiyu managed to block one swipe of the Tekko-kagi, but then his other hand came at her from the side and she blocked it with the armor over her left arm as her shoulder erupted in pain. With a loud grunt, she slammed her foot into his chest, knocking him away from her and his back broke through many bamboo shoots. The panthers jumped in, surrounding her quickly and she stabbed another panther in the chest as Jubei quickly recovered. With a loud whistle from the leader, they threw their sickles and she evaded several of them, then another whistle came and the sounds of chains clanking filled the air as the panthers moved quickly. Daiyu tried to break their attack by cutting as many chains as possible, but there were too many and, with a yell, the chains coiled around her, rendering her immobile.
"My lady!" Jakken had leapt in front of her with the staff of two heads raised high. With a quick tap of the bottom end into the ground, flames hurled forth from the mouth of the staff. The cat youkai yowled as some were scorched on various surfaces of their bodies before managing to leap away.
Daiyu struggled against the restraints; her sword pulsated loudly in her hand as her eyes became a bright silvery white. However, her attempts were proven futile and she fell onto her knees.
"Shit!" She cursed loudly while Jakken continued to keep the cat youkai away. The sword felt increasingly cold in her hand, making her skin turn a deathly pale hue as the chill stretched across her body and she wondered what the sword was doing. With a loud pulsation, the chains froze over, appearing like ice had enveloped the metal and Daiyu attempted to break free. With a large, resounding crack, the chains snapped and, with all of her arm strength, she broke free. The chains clattered at her feet as the youkai came to surround them, making Jakken work even harder to keep them at bay before Daiyu came to stand back up. "Jakken, get behind me!" Daiyu ordered and the toad was more than happy to obey. The toad demon was panting wearily as he scurried over to stand behind her legs.
The one known as Jubei came closer, his yellow eyes glinting, but Daiyu could not read his expression behind the mask. "I've never been kicked by a girl before, that was quite impressive." The youkai got into poised positions and Daiyu's main concern was focused on Jubei and the youkai with the Zhuas, which would hurt the most if she were to be hit by them. The last thing she wanted was to have her skull crushed by a six foot pole or being shredded into ribbons by that behemoth Tekko-kagi.
"Milady, this is not good! We're gonna die!" Jakken muttered frantically behind her and she fought the urge to break her concentration and kick the toad off into the distance. She got into a stance, spreading out her legs and bending her knees with sword held out in front of her. In perfect Wushu stance, she awaited the impending attack from the dozen youkai with extreme patience, her face hardening into extreme focus and Jubei's eyes betrayed the excited smile that he held underneath his mask.
"Too bad you're a wolf; you would have made an excellent panther youkai," Jubei, whom was a panther youkai himself, chuckled as he held his attack-ready position, "And a cub bearer."
"Go fuck yourself." Daiyu quipped back, though she did not break her focus or stance. The youkai circled around her and Jakken like predators and the toad demon collected himself enough to take a position of defending her blindside. When the youkai grew too close, Jakken released the flames from the staff while Jubei launched at her, raising his claw like weapon for a killing blow and Daiyu evaded the swipe of his blades before taking a swing of her sword. Blue and white light burst from the blade as the air around them felt like it was nearing sub-zero temperatures and Jubei managed to dodge, but several of his comrades weren't so lucky and they were impaled with the blizzard like beam of energy. Another panther swiped his Zhua, the iron hand nearing dangerously close to her face and she quickly shoved Jakken away before leaping out of the way. She tumbled into a crouched position again and she glanced at Jakken's location, which was several yards away.
"Get out of the way, God damn cats!" Jakken squawked before torching more of the cat youkai; trying to get back to his mistress' side. Jubei launched at her once more and she leapt upwards into the trees and the cat youkai quickly tailed her. Anticipating this, she smirked menacingly and with a blast of black mist, she transformed into her true state and caught several cat youkai in her jowls before snapping them in half with a large snarl.
"Bitch!" Jubei growled loudly and Daiyu made an animalistic chuckle as she landed onto the earth floor. Many trees were knocked over by her mass like nothing more than blades of grass and the black wolf bulldozed into the cat demons, biting off one of their heads before evading an attack with finesse.
Jubei's frame erupted into smoke as he transformed as well, his large panther body towering over the she-wolf, but she did not cower. Her lips curled back, baring her white fangs ominously as a feral snarl continued to rumble from her frame. A large wound in her ribs began to bleed openly and dripped onto the ground between her paws and Jubei grinned confidently.
"My lady, pull back! Your wound is-!" Jakken was interrupted as Daiyu attacked the panther while the other youkai below surrounded her, whipping out their large jiujiebians, long enough to ensnare a demon of her size and Jakken panicked. "No you don't!" He bellowed before torching into the nearest youkai and the cat leapt away from the flames. While the black wolf and panther fought ferociously, the cat youkai found an opening in Daiyu's defense and quickly threw their chains. However, right as the chains were about to unfurl around the wolf, they were repelled back with a large sword.
"Half-breed!" Jakken exclaimed at the newcomer and Inuyasha snarled angrily.
"Don't fucking call me that! I have a name, y'know!" Inuyasha bellowed as he came to land next to Daiyu's paw. The hanyou, with Tetsusaiga already in hand, leapt between the dueling large demons, to swipe at the panther, releasing the Meido from the blade and countless black crescents cut into the panther and the surrounding cat youkai while Jakken scurried out of the way.
"You almost killed me, you cretin!" Jakken yelled at Inuyasha, whom only smirked wickedly. The demolished bamboo forest became littered with various cat youkai body parts that were left behind from the meido, leaving Daiyu, Inuyasha and Jakken the only ones alive in the area.
"Keh, that ended easily enough!" Inuyasha chuckled as he landed in front of the large she-wolf, whom was panting heavily. Blood continued to pour from her wound in her rib, though the one in her shoulder had already began to close up, and she collapsed onto the ground, making the earth tremble lightly from her mass. Too exhausted to transform back into her humanoid form, Daiyu laid out on her side in her true form with the wound facing up and Inuyasha walked over to assess it.
"That looks like shit!" Inuyasha commented as he rested the blunt side of his oversized sword against his shoulder in a relaxed manner.
"Milady!" Jakken shouted as he ran over to her side and he hopped onto her form to get a closer look into the wound while she huffed, not particularly liking the fact that Jakken was standing on her like an oversized rug. "There's a bullet stuck in there! We need to get it out or her wounds will get worse!"
"What can we do about it right now? She's stuck in this form, it looks like." Inuyasha said, "I can't carry her when she's this big!"
"No, you idiot! You need to dig in there and take it out!" Jakken exasperated and Inuyasha startled, a disgusted expression crossing his features as he took a step back."Eww, I ain't sticking my arm in there!" Inuyasha exclaimed. "You do it."
"I can't, dumb ass! My arms are too short!" Jakken retorted hotly. Before Inuyasha could reply, a powerful demonic aura came towards them in a familiar blue orb before dropping down next to Daiyu's pointed ears. Not shockingly, Sesshoumaru emerged from the orb and kneeled beside her head, his hand resting onto her long black strands of fur and she emitted a whine.
"Milord!"
"Sesshoumaru, we gotta get the bullet out or else she ain't gonna heal up. Ya wanna do the honors?" Inuyasha said with a last touch of sarcasm and Sesshoumaru glanced up at his brother with a cold stare.
"You will have to do it," Sesshoumaru said, his tone stoic. "I will hold her down."
"Damn it." Inuyasha muttered. After a heavy sigh, Inuyasha pulled back his sleeves high up onto his arms and seemed to be preparing himself mentally before looking over to Sesshoumaru. "Ready when you are."
Sesshoumaru nodded before quickly transforming, towering over the she-wolf and making her appear quite small in comparison and he used his body to hold her down while she remained unmoving. His massive head rested over her neck and his crimson eyes glanced at Inuyasha, cuing him to begin and Inuyasha took in a deep inhale.
"Be gentle, you clumsy peasant!" Jakken grumbled at Inuyasha and the hanyou punched him off of Daiyu's fur. He placed his left hand beside the large gash to help steady himself before bringing his right hand just before the hole.
"Alright, here it goes." Inuyasha grimaced before plunging his hand into the wound and Daiyu squirmed beneath Sesshoumaru's frame, but he pressed harder into her to keep her from moving. Loud wails came from her muzzle from the pain and her tail flailed about angrily, but Inuyasha continued.
"Ah! Got it!" Inuyasha exclaimed with almost his entire arm submerged between her ribs and he quickly recoiled his hand, all too happy to get out. His bloodied hand held up a large round iron ball the size of a walnut encased in a dark aura and smelling of wolfsbane before Sesshoumaru and Daiyu's massive heads and Sesshoumaru lifted himself from Daiyu, whom was now growling incessantly.
"Can you transform now?" Inuyasha asked Daiyu, but she made no answer, just continued to growl in a tantrum. Sesshoumaru licked into her neck, attempting to calm her back down which took a while, but her growls eventually subsided.
"Milord, have the cat demons retreated?" Jakken asked then, standing on top of Daiyu again to gander at the wound and Sesshoumaru whacked him off with his tail. With a couple barks, he gave them the news.
"Shun has escaped, but I took care of most of them." He replied, any human would be incapable of understanding his words. "Where's Ah-Un?"
"U-uh, milady used him as a decoy to get most of the cat youkai off of our trail." Jakken answered. "Hopefully, he is unharmed."
"Yeah, it looked alright." Inuyasha cut in, "I ran into it on the way here, the cats must have caught on and abandoned it to retreat with the rest of 'em."
Sesshoumaru said nothing further as Daiyu began to move, turning slowly onto her chest and raising her head before attempting to sit up onto her hind legs and then lifting her front leg to lick at her wound. Sesshoumaru, seeing that she was improving, transformed back into his humanoid form, this time with her towering over him and he regarded Jakken stolidly.
"Retrieve Ah-Un and take it to the village." Sesshoumaru said and Jakken startled.
"A-ah, yes, lord Sesshoumaru." Jakken stuttered awkwardly, with a quick bow he scurried off and disappeared quickly from sight.
"What now?" Inuyasha asked Sesshoumaru, whom was staring at Daiyu while she was continuing to lick her wound.
"We return to the village and prepare for an attack, though you need not worry for your human village. The tiger's only interest is in killing Daiyu. So much so that he was not interested in fighting me despite my attacking him." Sesshoumaru answered, "With this in mind, I have no alternative other than to keep her within sight and perhaps he will be foolish enough to attack her with me nearby."
"How big is his regiment?" Inuyasha asked, his demeanor that of extreme interest.
"Enough to give you some exercise."
"Awesome!" Inuyasha burst out, his gold eyes gleaming and his ears flicking forward at attention. "Finally get some serious action!"
"Indeed." Sesshoumaru replied calmly before turning his attention back to the giant she-wolf behind him.
"We are leaving." He told Daiyu and her silver eyes glanced over to him pensively, her tail wagged as she lied back down on her chest with head lowering and she crawled over to him, appearing playful and he replied with a hard glare. "Now."
She rolled her eyes at him, huffing agitatedly before erupting in black mist, swirling around her like a tornado until it shrank down significantly and her human form appeared. She sat with her knees bent, regarding Sesshoumaru with a disappointed expression and a dark brow raised.
"You're no fun." She muttered and Sesshoumaru walked over to her, appearing unfazed by her attitude. He crouched in front of her and she blushed at his sudden closeness when he suddenly brought his hand up to her forehead.
"What are you doing?" Daiyu asked, noticing that his hand felt like it was burning into skin and she wondered if he was always this warm to her.
"I noticed when I was holding you down that you were unnaturally cold." He remarked.
"I noticed that too!" Inuyasha commented. "Even her blood was cool."
She was startled by their words, but then looked down at her Dao sword, her dark brows furrowing in thought.
"It's because of the sword." She murmured. "Some call it the "sword which summons winter" or the "arctic sword"."
Sesshoumaru was not shocked by her words, since he had once seen lord Shoushan use it. A sword that had the ability to create a sub-zero atmosphere, freezing anything it touches and turning even the hottest of days into a blizzard storm, covering the land around it in snow and ice.
He found the sword itself to be a double-edged blade, for not only does it freeze your opponent but also the sword wielder itself, if they were not cautious enough. From the feel of her skin, currently, it seemed that the sword had already begun to turn on its master and a deep frown appeared on his face. He quickly took off his armor and withdrew his red and white haori and placed it around her shoulders, followed by the mokomoko. She was startled at first, but quickly smiled at him, grateful, before marveling at how warm the mokomoko felt.
"Wow, this thing feels alive! It's so warm!" Daiyu exclaimed merrily as they both came to stand up. Sesshoumaru gave her a thoughtful look, his white brow rising.
"That's because it is."
"…what?" Daiyu gasped, her silver eyes growing wide.
"It is an extension of myself. Have you not figured that out?" Sesshoumaru asked, "I would have thought you knew this by now."
"No fucking way!" She loudly burst out as she tugged at the fur. "So, can you feel this?"
"Hn."
"So cool!"
"Oi, let's get going. I'm getting hungry." Inuyasha cut into Daiyu's elated squeals as she fiddled with the mokomoko while Sesshoumaru appeared to be silently tolerant of the poking, petting and other such things she was doing. At Inuyasha's words, she raised her head with eyes sparkling.
"Me too! I'm starved!"
"You're always hungry." Inuyasha remarked dryly.
"Shut up!" She snapped back, "You eat way more than I do!"
"Says who?" Inuyasha argued. Sesshoumaru, bemused by their meaningless argument, grabbed onto Daiyu's waist, cutting her off before she was about to make a come back towards Inuyasha and she yipped from being startled.
"Enough, let's depart." Sesshoumaru said firmly, picking up his armor with his other hand and he looked to his brother. "You may hold onto the pelt."
"Are you serious?" Inuyasha asked, his tone dry.
"Then walk back." Sesshoumaru replied coldly before turning him and Daiyu away from Inuyasha.
"Stop your bitching and get on." Daiyu muttered at Inuyasha.
"Aargh, fine!" Inuyasha yelled as the two began to hover in the air and the mokomoko stretched outward for Inuyasha to grasp onto before they all flew up into the early morning skies.