Chapter 14 - Forming an Anchor
Muchitsujo-rei studied the flowing board, circling around it to examine the currents from many angles. He couldn't dislodge his opponent's anchor, but if he placed another one close to it, just there, he could channel the current over a set of riffles and make it boil with violence.
He decided against a youkai anchor. InuYasha's sword was proof against all but the most powerful youkai and those were notoriously difficult to control. He knew there were few mortals strong enough to form an anchor's core. He had one in mind, the ronin Shimomura Sumio, but the man was currently embroiled in the disputes between the Hojo and Imagawa clans, much too far to the south. He would need to do something to push the man farther north. Relations between the Hojo and the Ashikaga clans had been at a wary simmer for fifteen years; perhaps he could stir it up and reactivate the dead spot.
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Bored, restless and seventeen, Ashikaga Masanori itched and fidgeted in the small castle his uncle commanded at the border of Ashikaga and Hojo lands. The castle overlooked the entry to a mountain pass over which the Ashikaga trade goods spilled out of their valleys to make their way to a small harbor to the east. At this time of year, the trail was quiet and the castle's garrison spent their time in training exercises. Even the mock battles dreamed up by the arms master had lost their luster, and with winter coming on hard, Masanori could only look forward to being more restricted as the castle became snowbound.
He had to get outside for a while, ride a powerful horse breakneck over the trails, feel the cold brisk wind slap his face and purge his mind before he went mad. He put it to his uncle as a hunt; fresh meat for the castle before the winter snows locked them in. His uncle agreed, and sent him out with a small party of the castle's samurai and servants.
They went out armed for boar and deer. Luck favored them when they startled a small herd of deer. The older men felled two of them on the spot, but Masanori's shot only wounded his doe, which bounded off into the forest bleeding from the wound to her neck. Masanori and three of his friends rode after the deer. She shouldn't be able to get far with that injury; the blood coming from her neck was frothy, he must have nicked her windpipe.
The doe plunged downhill, along a well worn deer track beside a small stream. At a clearing, she paused, staggering, to pant. Masanori and his companions entered the top of the clearing and carefully and quietly tried to fan out around her to hold her there while they found a clear killing shot.
The doe stumbled a few wobbly steps and looked up, ears swiveling. Tadafumi's horse snorted loudly and she was off again, out of the clearing and leaping down the path in vain, mindless flight.
"Damn!" The four of them quickly kicked their horses into the pursuit.
"It is truly astounding how far a dead animal can run," Masanori thought in frustration as the doe ran on and on, stumbling and weaving now, as her life blood leaked into her lungs and her vigor faded. They thought they had her when she fell jumping a log, but incredibly, she scrambled to her feet and pushed on, out of the mountains and into a valley, where she finally came to ground beside a small river clearing.
Masanori quickly dismounted and slit the convulsing animal's throat before she could summon the will for another run. Tadafumi looked around him, trying to determine just where they were. Not recognizing any landmarks, he stood on his stirrups and craned his neck anxiously back and forth.
"Oh man," he said, his agitation making his voice quaver, "we better get out of here. We're outside the pass. This has got to be Hojo land. If we're caught here..."
"Yeah..." Masanori felt a surge of panic wash through him. It had been quiet, but it didn't take much to make a warrior jump to conclusions.
They quickly tied the deer onto Hideo's horse; as they finished the knots and stowed the extra cord, voices, women's voices, drifted to them from upstream. They froze and looked frantically around them for cover.
Too late. A small group of young women carrying baskets entered the clearing and stopped abruptly, staring at them with frightened eyes.
"They're dead in the way!" Tadafumi moaned. "What are we going to do?"
"How far do you think it is to the border?" Masanori asked.
"You mean, make a run for it? Just blow right through them?" Tadafumi stared up the trail and looked around again. His breath hissed anxiously through his teeth as he thought. "I don't know. I don't recognize any of this. The mountain's back there a ways. And they'll be on us in no time. If we blow a turn..."
"Hostages," Masanori said. "We'll grab three of them. That way, we'll at least get a chance to talk."
It was risky, but no one had a better idea and the girls were about to bolt. As one, the young men all swung into their saddles and charged the girls, who screamed and scattered. Masanori, Tadafumi and Fujio each leaned over and scooped up a kicking, yelling girl and swung her before him as they all bolted up the trail toward the mountain. While the other girls were content to wail and cry, Masanori's girl thrashed and tried to lunge off the saddle, grabbed at passing branches, and failing that, reached behind her head to claw at Masanori's face.
"Stop that!" he snapped, "You'll dump both of us under his hooves!"
"Good!" she snarled, redoubling her efforts.
Masanori managed to catch an arm and twist it painfully behind her back. "I don't want to hurt you," he said urgently as they continued to plunge up the trail. "I'll let you go as soon as we're back in Ashikaga land. I just don't want to get shot getting there."
"Ashikaga!" she said, startled. "You're spies!" She made another lunge for freedom, then snapped back into his chest as her shoulder was wrenched painfully.
"No!" he said, "We were hunting. We chased an injured deer down here, we didn't notice where we were until it was too late. I swear it; we'll let you and your friends go at the border."
"There!" Hideo called ahead of him. "I see the border posts!"
They galloped another hundred feet up the trail, around the first corner, then pulled up long enough to release the girls. Masanori and his hostage paused for a brief moment to stare at one another, to see who the other had been.
The girl was extraordinarily pretty, with snapping black eyes under graceful brows, a straight nose and even teeth behind small coral lips. Her cheeks were flushed with the cold wind from the ride and she was panting from the struggle. A faint air of haughty willfulness hung about her and her clothes were of noticeably better quality than her companions. The headman's daughter, perhaps.
She, in her turn, saw a young, well-equipped warrior, muscular and trim, riding a powerful horse with understated, but rich, trappings. Although he wore clothes fit for the hunt, they were heavy and supple, draping with a smooth elegance that told of their former glory. The face above the fine clothes showed a nature more generous than cruel, still untried and impetuous. He wavered a moment between his danger and hers. He didn't like leaving the girls unescorted, but protecting them meant his own life.
"Go! Go quickly!" he cried. "Go back to your friends and get home before dark. It's not far if you hurry." The horse under him danced with his agitation. With a despairing look, he called again, "Go!" Then he and his companions turned and cantered up the trail.
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Miles away from any hint of trouble, InuYasha glared through the darkness toward Tsuchiya's basket, then stuffed his head under his pillow. The incessant tapping was still there, merely muffled. Just what exactly was that brat's problem with the concept of sleep? He no longer required the presence of other people to amuse himself, but that had not made sleeping around him any easier. Instead, everyone in the house just spent the night wondering what he had managed to get hold of that was making all the noise.
RRR-II-I-IP! InuYasha jolted upright and stared at the basket. He couldn't think of anything that could make that sound unless Tsuchiya was shredding his blanket. He got up to check.
Tsuchiya gave him a friendly grin when he looked in the moonlit basket, then slapped the two pieces of velcro he had together and yanked them apart again. RI-IP!
InuYasha blew out an exasperated breath and stared at the boy.
"You do that on purpose. I know you do," he accused.
"Ah?" Tsuchiya gave him a quizzical look and started chewing on the velcro.
"That's enough. Hand it over." InuYasha confiscated the velcro after a brief tussle. Maybe now he could get some sleep. "Since I'm up anyway," he added, glaring at Tsuchiya significantly, "let's check your pants."
He was, of course, wet, so InuYasha changed him and brought him in to Kagome to share the fun. "Chow time!" he announced smugly when Kagome cocked a sleepy eyebrow at him.
"Gee, thanks," she grumbled as Tsuchiya appeared beside her.
"My pleasure," replied Inuyasha, settling back into bed.
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Yoshimi, the tax collector for the northern Hojo precinct, had seen the girl on his rounds for years. He had not paid much heed to her when she was a scrawny half-grown kid, but now that she was developing a woman's curves, he took note of the sparkling eyes and sleek hair. When his wife died after a miscarriage, his interest in her became more than academic.
Inquiries into her village revealed she was the headman's daughter and not yet promised. Yoshimi wasted no time starting the marriage negotiations. Her father was quick to see the advantages to himself and his village of having a daughter married to the local tax collector. He and Yoshimi soon agreed to terms.
The girl, Minori, was less pleased about her match. She sat obediently beside her father during the betrothal ceremony, eyes downcast as befit a dutiful daughter, but she stole sharp discriminating glances at her intended husband through her lashes. The man before her looked hard and uncaring; his servants cringed slightly as they jumped to their orders and the horse he had ridden in on looked thin and jaded. She had heard unsavory rumors about what had actually killed his wife, that the woman had been beaten before the miscarriage.
Visions of another samurai flashed through her mind, a young man with a kind face that she had seen only briefly, wearing the Ashikaga mon on his gear and clothes, but Ashikaga was out of her reach, beyond the boundary.
Later that night, she complained bitterly to her parents, pointing out her objections to the match. Her father informed her it was too late now. They could not honorably withdraw.
Minori was not at all sure she was willing to die for the honor of a father who put so little regard into his daughter's well being. She decided there were much better prospects for her life elsewhere. And so, trusting to the rain of a storm to muddle her trail, she fled into the mountains and threw herself on the mercy of the Ashikaga castle. She misjudged the rain. Instead of a clean-washed trail, the mud captured her footprints and led her pursuers right to her refuge.
Masanori wanted to give Minori sanctuary, but the last thing his uncle wanted was a border incident. Despite his nephew's strenuous objections, he turned the girl over to the party that came to claim her.
Masanori couldn't accept this; the next night he and his friends made a raid on her village to rescue her, not realizing she had been sent to the Hojo castle for safekeeping. The headman complained of his treatment to the castle, who sent an armed party to the Ashikaga castle demanding Masanori be turned over for Hojo justice.
Despite his rashness, Masanori was very well placed within the Ashikaga clan and was popular with the castle garrison. His uncle refused the demand, saying they would deal with him themselves.
This declaration did not suit the Hojo; they settled in for a siege, expecting the little castle to break before long. Both sides postured and feinted for about a week, until the first winter snows drove the Hojo back home.
News of the tale reached Odawara castle, the headquarters of the Hojo clan. The Hojo daimyo chose an aggressive stance, replacing the castle commander with Shimomura Sumio. Sumio had a way of getting things done, as long as one didn't examine his methods too closely. The Hojo were not too particular, as long as he held their border secure.
At the same time, the Ashikaga began secret negotiations with the Takeda and the hidden remnants of the Uesugi to bolster their position come spring.
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In their quiet little backwater village, Kagome and InuYasha's lives continued undisturbed. Kagome was scheduled for another spiritual lesson in the afternoon with Kaede. She had found the only way to get anything done in the lessons was to leave Tsuchiya with Shippo; Shippo was napping in anticipation of the ordeal.
Kagome sighed and looked at her storeroom again. There was no way around it; she was going to have to go shopping. At one time, it had been a pleasant break to go into the village and visit her neighbors. These days it was more of a high-performance obstacle course. But the last few days had been frantic and the food supplies had gotten away from her. InuYasha was out, chasing down some boys from a neighboring village who had raided the brewshop for sake last night. The boys were just an annoyance; it had become the vogue lately among the surrounding villages' teenagers to see just how far they could get with a raid before InuYasha caught up with them. Last night's batch had been cleverer than most, InuYasha was usually back before dawn after having scared them all silly, loosened a few teeth and confiscated the spoils.
Right, well, Tsuchiya was fed and comfortably sleepy. If she went now, she might get it done before he wound up again. She gathered her bags and a pair of empty bottles and settled Tsuchiya on her back for the trip, walking gently into the village square. Tsuchiya dozed against her shoulder until she entered the vegetable stall. The baby perked up as soon as she entered, his golden eyes looking around with interest and his little nose twitching as he took in all the varied scents of the produce.
"Oooh, who's the handsome little man?" cooed Miyako, tickling Tsuchiya under the chin. Tsuchiya giggled and snuggled closer to Kagome, giving Miyako an engaging shy grin.
"He's such a flirt!" Miyako laughed as she gave him a small carrot to chew. Kagome eyed the carrot dubiously, weighing its potential for mayhem. It was a lot smaller than last week's bunching onion which Tsuchiya had poked into poor old Minoru's eye. Maybe it was safe. Still, this was Tsuchiya...
Kagome sighed, relenting. While Tsuchiya examined the carrot, she selected some daikon, burdock, onions, mushrooms and a kabocha pumpkin, then made it safely out of the stall, one sack filled.
With her bag of vegetables over her arm and Tsuchiya happily sucking on his carrot, Kagome made her way to Aiko, the brewmistress, next. Just as she approached the threshold, Tsuchiya dropped the carrot in the dust, then burst out crying when Kagome refused to give it back. The crying ramped up quickly in volume and shrillness until, ears ringing, Kagome stooped and picked up the carrot.
"Ewww. Icky," she informed Tsuchiya examining the carrot which was now coated with slimy, gritty mud.
"eeeEEEEEeeeee!" Tsuchiya squealed, reaching desperately for the carrot and yanking her hair in his frantic lunge.
"Oww!" Kagome yelped, grabbing her hair back.
"Aa, aaa, aa, ah!" Tsuchiya was still flailing over her shoulder and kicking off against the shawl holding him to get higher up.
"All right, all right, let me dust it off!" Kagome exclaimed, rubbing the carrot off on her apron. She got most of the grit off and, shuddering slightly, handed him the carrot. He sucked on the carrot again for a moment as Kagome went in the door, then began using it to rap her on the back of the head.
"No. Don't hit Mama," Kagome said sternly, holding the carrot still against her shoulder.
"Yaah!" Tsuchiya wrestled with her for control of the carrot. Failing, he sulked, sucking on her shoulder.
Kagome took a moment to swallow her exasperation and remember why she was here, then she smiled and bowed to Aiko.
"Good morning, Aiko-san. I hope you are well today."
Aiko bowed back respectfully. "Indeed I am, Kagome-sama. You look busy, so what can I help you with."
"I'm completely out of cooking-grade sake and I'm running low on vinegar," Kagome said as Tsuchiya recovered from his sulk and sniffed the pungent aromas of vinegar and soy. Kagome lifted her bottles from her bag for refilling. While she was bent over, fumbling around as she untangled a bottle stopper from the net of the bag, Tsuchiya examined his surroundings. A vividly patterned cruet caught his eye. He reached over Kagome's shoulder and snatched it, then thumped it firmly on her head.
"Oh!" Kagome staggered, dazed, as stars danced in her eyes.
Aiko caught Kagome's arm and steadied her, then tried to pull the cruet out of Tsuchiya's hands. He yowled a protest and pulled back. He was surprisingly strong, a fact no one really appreciated until they were in a tugging match with him. After a vigorous yank, Aiko won, falling backward into her shelves. Several jars tumbled to the floor, spilling their contents.
"Oh no! I'm so sorry!" cried Kagome as she helped Aiko back to her feet.
"Eh. Never mind that. Let's just fill up your bottles and get you on your way," Aiko grunted, straightening and brushing her hair back. "Strong little beggar, aren't you? I might have figured, knowing your father." Tsuchiya grinned a sunny grin back at her. "Right then, let's see what we have here." Aiko unstopped the first bottle and sniffed. "Sake." She turned around and filled the bottle from a cask behind her, then seized the other bottle. Kagome verified the stopper was firmly set on the sake bottle then slipped it into her mesh bag as the vinegar gurgled into its bottle.
For a few short seconds, Tsuchiya was unmonitored, and in that time he crouched down in the shawl and reached under Kagome's arm to seize a burdock root from the vegetable bag. Long and stiff like a wood switch, the root was a near-lethal weapon in his hand. He pulled it from the bag in a wide arc, dashing a line of cruets, jars and small bottles from their shelf along the way. Exotic infusions and expensive sauces crashed to the floor to meld into a powerfully reeking stew. The last jar to tumble contained freshly grated horseradish which had been packaged in vinegar to mellow.
Gasping from the fumes, the women fled the shop. Tsuchiya coughed and choked behind her then started crying as Kagome and Aiko stopped upwind of the shop, their eyes streaming.
"Oh! Oh my! Aiko-san, I can't even begin to apologize enough," Kagome said abjectly and bowing repeatedly through her apology. "Please tell me what I can do to help put it right."
"Well, Kagome-sama, for starts, let's just have me deliver to your house from now on," Aiko gasped. "As for the rest, I'll tally the losses and perhaps you can provide me with herbs and firewood for a time." She handed Kagome the bottle of vinegar, which she still had clutched in her hand.
Kagome retreated, bowing again and again, and made her escape.
There was just the fishmonger left. Still rattled from the disaster at Aiko's, Kagome made her way to Saito's fish ponds. As she approached, two of Saito's daughters jumped up and begged to hold Tsuchiya. Kagome handed him over with a sigh of relief; she could count on the girls to keep him entertained.
Saito laughed at the expression on her face. "Rough day?"
"You have no idea," she moaned. "He just single-handedly destroyed Aiko-san's shop."
Saito laughed again and said sympathetically, "He is a handful."
Kagome looked at her boy in the girl's arms and asked, "How can someone so small cause so much trouble?"
"He's a boy!"
"My brother was never like this," Kagome objected.
"Your brother is not InuYasha's son," Saito pointed out.
"I keep wondering how his mother managed," Kagome sighed.
"His mother?!" Saito actually looked startled at the thought that InuYasha had had a mother. Kagome often got the impression most of the villagers thought InuYasha had walked fully formed from the forest into their lives. His history was a distant memory at best, more legend really, with only odd snippets of it known. Only Kaede and a couple of the other elders remembered the events of fifty years ago, and even then, they had not known where InuYasha had originally come from. He may as well have been born of moonbeams and forest mists.
"His mother was a mortal woman from long ago," Kagome stated. "I don't know much more than that. He never talks about it."
Saito pondered for a time, then shook his head, having nothing more to offer. He returned to the matter of business. "I have mackerel in fresh today," he offered. "My cousin had a large catch yesterday and sent a couple of baskets my way."
"Oh, that sounds good!" Kagome exclaimed. "I haven't had mackerel in months." She selected enough to grill that night and pickle for the morrow. As Saito wrapped the fish in oil cloths, he said, "My cousin also brought news. The Hojo clan is having another dispute with the Ashikagas and are planning to refortify their North East castle. They have a new castle keeper coming in at the head of a small army. His name is Shimomura Sumio and he has the reputation of a violent and grasping man."
"Does Kaede-sama know?" Kagome asked. Saito, being an easy man to talk with, always seemed to have the news before anyone else.
"I passed it on to the elders at council this morning," Saito answered. "InuYasha wasn't there, so please be sure to tell him too."
Kagome nodded, sucking on her teeth thoughtfully. The North East Castle of the Hojo was three days journey south and east of the village, in the richer open plains of the river valley. It was still within an easy distance for a greedy warlord to consider this village his rightful domain. Gossip with the villagers had told her what they could expect once the new keeper had settled himself and 'visited' his local villages. InuYasha was just one man, hanyou though he was. Could he handle a trained and hardened army?
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Shimomura Sumio was no sooner in his assigned castle that his presence was felt throughout the area. All his neighbors quickly discovered his reputation for ruthlessness was well deserved. Taxes were heavily increased and rice, food and weapons were confiscated. Fathers soon learned to hide their daughters whenever riders left the castle. Young men fled from conscription gangs into the mountains, descending into their villages only after dark to deliver game they had caught and receive what rice could be spared. As winter descended, the specter of hunger haunted ever more villages.
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It was now early winter; the rain that had been falling all night turned to sleet, and the temperature in the house dropped precipitously. Mist formed before Kagome in the lamplight as she breathed. She draped a heavy shawl around her shoulders and stood at the door, looking out into the white-streaked darkness of the stormy night. InuYasha and Shippo were still out there. She hadn't seen them since just before noon, when the rain had started.
Shippo, who had many contacts among the small youkai of the forest, had been hearing rumors of rogue wolves haunting the northern edge of the forest. InuYasha had gone out with him to check it out.
Kagome had tried to sleep, but between her anxiety and Tsuchiya's fretfulness over a new tooth that refused to emerge, she had finally given it up as a bad job. She set a kettle of water and a pot of broth to simmer on the mostly-banked coals of the fire as she waited. Towels and dry robes also waited, warming, by the hearth. She brewed some tea and sipped it, steadying her nerves, then passed the time reviewing her latest lessons from Kaede. They were just beginning barrier spells.
The wind picked up and moaned through the trees. The last few leaves clinging to the branches rattled past, scrabbling over the porch and across the yard. The window screens rattled and flexed, drafts made the lamp flame dance, despite the shade protecting it. Tsuchiya whimpered and squirmed in his sleep; his tooth hurt, but he was too exhausted to rouse fully.
Kagome sighed and looked out the door again. She took another sip of the tea, then knelt on a cushion by the fire and closed her eyes, trying to muster the calm needed before forming a spell. Slowly, breath after breath, the swirling turmoil of her thoughts stilled and a clear center in her inner vision appeared, pushing back the shades.
A couple of sharp thumps and rattles on the porch made her jump, then she heard brisk shaking as flying water and slush hit the wall. She looked up, then rose, heading for the door as it slid open and InuYasha and Shippo entered quietly, both drenched and Shippo shivering badly. InuYasha's eyes took in the lit lamp and the simmering broth.
"Why are you still up?" he demanded. "I can take care of myself."
"Tsuchiya's tooth has been bothering him for most of the night," Kagome replied. "I wasn't sleeping anyway. Get out of those wet things," she continued, handing over the towels and robes. "You'll catch your death of cold." She turned to the fire to ladle broth into soup bowls and stir in some miso, then slipped in some cubed tofu, mushrooms and a sprinkling of minced dried peppers.
InuYasha snorted softly at the thought of catching a cold, but Shippo took the soup gratefully enough, wrapping his shaking paws around the bowl and sipping the salty soup.
"Go on," Kagome said, pressing InuYasha's bowl into his hand, then picking up the sopping clothes and hanging them, stretched out, on a frame before the fire.
"They should be dry by morning," she added as InuYasha eyed his fire-rat kimono, loathe to take it off, even in its current half-frozen condition. He slipped his sword into the sash of his robe before he settled by the fire to sip his soup.
Kagome refilled Shippo's bowl, and slowly his teeth stopped chattering as his fur dried and he warmed up. A short time later, when he had nearly fallen asleep in his bowl, he excused himself and slipped off to bed.
"What took so long?" Kagome asked softly, disappearing into the bedroom and returning to stand behind InuYasha. "I expected you hours ago."
"The storm, mostly," he answered. "There are a lot of branches and trees down in the mountains."
"And the wolves?" she asked. He felt gentle tugs as she started to brush the sticks and leaves out of his hair.
He shook his head slightly. "Not really a problem. Some eastern tribe that got pushed out of their lands. It looks like Koga took them in."
"Koga!" she exclaimed. "Did you see him? How's he doing?"
InyYasha's ears flattened at the interested note in her voice. "Why do you care?" he asked, suddenly surly. "That fleabag has nothing to do with us!"
The brushing stopped abruptly with a much harder tug. "How can you say that?" she snapped. "He was a good friend and he helped us with Naraku. He lost almost his entire clan in that mess. I'd like to know he has made a new beginning."
She started brushing again, but now she was making no attempt to be gentle in her annoyance.
InuYasha sulked under the now harsh treatment. He didn't want to admit it, but he had been enjoying the brushing. Echoes of the last time anyone had cared about him had woven themselves into Kagome's gentle strokes. He wanted that feeling back. That was really the problem, wasn't it? He and Kagome had been so caught up in their daily tasks they had lately neglected to remind each other of their love. A quick peck here, a hand squeeze there and far too much time between them as they juggled Tsuchiya and their other duties.
He reached around behind him, caught her hand and pulled her around to sit in his lap. "Hey," he said, "Sorry." He looked intently in her eyes for a moment, then kissed her thoroughly. She clung to her resentment for a moment, stiff backed and unyielding, then relaxed into the kiss, ending up nestled into his shoulder with her own arm around his waist.
"How does a nice warm snuggle under the covers sound?" he asked as he nibbled on the top of her ear. She nodded, so he lifted her up and carried her into the bedroom, taking care to kiss her again as he went.
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