AN: It's been way too long. I took too many classes and am working full time, I'm running myself dry. I hate writing at work because I feel like I can't focus enough on it, but I kinda had to to finish this chapter up. Hope you guys like it! ...really I'm trying my best, I'm not a fast writer unfortunately.
And I just found out I'm having a BABY! So I'm excitedly telling you guys that.
Now on to the chapter:
Chapter 21: Dancing
Harsh yellow rays beat down from the sky, the sun hot despite the coming cold weather just around the corner. Crisp and fresh, he could smell the arriving chill just as he could see the leaves falling from the trees. In a variety of purples oranges and browned greens, the leaves fell from the tall trees and littered the ground in pretty colors. He could hear them in the wind, grazing the current. It reminded him on the past seasons, and the few days of falling sakura blossoms not so long ago. The pink petals danced through the breeze, washing against every bush, tree, and stone like beautiful vagrants; so too, now, were the leaves rushing the grounds and fleeing the air.
Every cycle, the seasons changed, he'd witnessed so many of them alone, and now… now he could not remember how it felt to be without his Mate's presence on his very skin.
He couldn't help but think on how much Kagome would enjoy the turning season, to see these falling leaves beside him. He had not taken her outside of the shiro since they had arrived, and for good reason, however he decided she must miss the vast lands she'd used to travel. It was a wonder how she'd managed to survive such travels with how clumsy she seemed to be. Her kimonos all had small tears due to her carelessness claws. Thankfully, at least, she did not trip constantly as she had during their first meetings.
Though…
She had looked rather enticing bent over in that skimpy green skirt…
He delved into more hentai thoughts, the texture and crunch of the leaves beneath her body as he pushed her down on top of them. Perhaps they both would enjoy her leaving the confines of the Shiro, he'd kept her under lock and key for so long trying to keep her and their pups safe.
His nose twitched as a droplet of blood seeped from his claws, spotting the orange leaves. While he could keep her safe, he could not justify putting her into an ounce of danger simply to satisfy his carnal urges, neither to watch her prance through the changing foliage with a ridiculous grin on her round face.
Flicking the blood from his tensed claws, he continued to patrol the land. His Mate still ran through his mind, an endless presence he'd come to cherish.
With her came so much more, images and warmth. Truth be told, he'd caught something from being with her, something winding and binding that had strung across his chest and bled through his veins and into his blood. Perhaps he loved her.
He clenched his fist. A frown line wrinkled his brow. He despised love... How many claimed this and still left their Mates? There were too many instances to count; though his situation, clearly, not comparable to those… he still hated the word which held so much disappointment. Speech came too easily when sharing emotion, and suddenly he realized he wanted her to know just how high she ranked in his affections, just how much he'd come to adore her. He didn't need senseless words, actions… actions meant more than anything. And in his own way he would show her.
Turning on his heel, he moved to make his way back to the Shiro.
His feet paused, and he glanced up into the deep blue sky.
A feather twirled, a spiral, and gracefully fell. The brown silky strands brushed his shoulder as his golden eyes peered up, narrowing.
A messenger hawk flew high above his head, silent yet clearly noticeable. He had not advised to send out any messages, and this hawk flew from the direction of the Shiro. The youkai of his lands would not use such a way to communicate; hawks were used for war, for stealth.
With a burst of speed, he jumped up from the forest floor and with a flick of his acidic whip he cut the bird down and caught hold of the letter bound foot.
He unraveled the parchment, revealing a long line of delicate writing with sweeping flourishes.
Obviously whoever had written the missive was incompetent. Taking up large amounts of a small paper with filigree did not leave room for the important bits of a message, and any message of war held importance.
"Your son will do as he is told, and so will you lest I lose my patience and kill him. Begin the next wave of attack."
Eyes bled red, rage coiling around his form like a brewing maelstrom. His silver hair billowed, crackling with his lightning like aura as he brought the missive to his nose. "Camellia!" He snarled internally. He'd suspected as much, the ignorant whore needed to learn her place she'd earned in Hell. His claws flexed as he seethed. He had decisions to make, to kill her now or bide his time and gather intelligence.
One thought curled his claws around his blade while the other forced his brain into submission.
"We must produce a strategy against this imbecilic youkai."
"Indeed."
He glanced down at the tiny carcass splayed out on the ground; its intestines littered the yellowed grass. He doubted his Mate would find this beautiful.
-888-
Heart pounding, Rin stared up at Kagome, brown eyes wide and pleading. Her small fingers clutched the sides of her kimono as she tensed them in worry. She was waiting, praying her Lady would be willing to answer her question. The words she'd been trying hard not to voice, not to ask, however after visiting the study, she found herself more confused. The information she'd discovered left her anxious, nervous, and her belly hot.
She needed reassurance, needed the voice of someone she trusted to tell her the truths. Reading alone had not helped sate her fears.
Kagome's hand landed on her shoulder, a soft smile on her lips, and Rin let out a sigh of relief.
"I will do my best to help you understand. Why don't we go enjoy a walk to the stables?"
Rin's brow rose, out of sudden confusion, "…Why?"
Worriedly, Kagome patted the girl's head before grabbing her hand. She knew there the stable master had implemented a breeding program for the horses, hopefully they would stumble upon a scene that would help her out. The girl had just asked her why her mother had told her of the stork-kami if he did not exist… A question sure to follow with many more…
She wasn't sure she was ready for a conversation like this, she could barely remember the conversation her mother had with her. A book had randomly hit her lap full of biology and straight facts, with a bright smile, her mother had said, "Please read this and then you may ask me your questions." And that had been that. She'd grown up in the age of the internet, she didn't need her mother to answer her embarrassing questions, but the woman hadn't left her completely in the dark her whole life either. The stork story had not been told in her house.
"Rin," She stared forward, leading them to the stables high on a cliff adjacent from the crashing waves of the sea, "Sometimes parents are not sure how to explain sex to children." Her hand tugged and she tilted her head, Rin had stopped walking her big brown eyes on her. "Keep walking Rin, and I'll try and explain everything to you okay?"
She nodded, taking one step and then another.
"That word I used, sex, it is an act of intimacy between a man and a woman and it can create a baby."
"…Is that… did you and Lord Sesshomaru…"
Kagome blushed but nodded her head quickly, she couldn't let the girl think it was something to be ashamed of. "Yes we did. It is a natural act that can be very enjoyable to do with someone you care for." Thinking for a moment, she quickly added, "It's not only done to create a baby though Rin, but you will learn more about that when you are… Mated." She couldn't help the small frown on her face, just because the girl could have children didn't mean she should yet.
Suddenly a loud screeching neigh broke through the silence and her heart hammered.
"The horses!" Rin shouted, "Something is hurting the horses Lady Kagome!" She took off in a run leaving Kagome to run after her.
"Wait! Rin!" She shouted after her, and groaned, "Oh no!" She had a gut feeling this would not end up how she expected. The skirt of her kimono tripped up her feet as she scrambled to catch the girl.
The neighing and braying grew louder as Kagome caught Rin standing at the edge of the fence, the sight before her: brutal. Both pairs of eyes went wide.
A stallion steadily and harshly slammed into the mare. After a moment of being frozen, Kagome clamped her hand over Rin's eyes, "Don't look Rin! Sex with youkai and humans is nothing like this! I'm sorry I brought you here! ….I didn't realize horses could be so rough…" She began a ramble, embarrassed, shocked, and worried she'd just scarred Rin for life.
The stallion bit at the mare's back until it bled, the sounds coming from the pair resonating in her chest and pounding in her ears, this idea definitely back fired. Something squirmed in her stomach; Is this how Sesshomaru looked on top of her? She shook the thought from her head.
The horse groomer eyed the pair with a curious eyebrow, his deep brown goatee jutted out from his chin in a braided twist.
"Is that normal?" She shot him a look of annoyance, as if it were his fault.
"Ah, no My Lady, but we are breeding the fiercest stallions at the moment, they come with a lot of aggression…"
Rin's fingers curled harder into her flesh, and without replying, she pulled her away, hoping she hadn't ruined the girl's mind for life.
-888-
Rin sat down her tea, eyes on the steam, "So… you are saying that… that IT should only hurt for the first time…?"
"For the most part, yes… though sometimes you might want it to hurt…" She all but mumbled.
Kagome's eyes too remained on the steam flowing from her tea cup. Her mind held memories of her own experiences with Sesshomaru that would probably send the girl running to a convent, she blushed deeper, Rin would learn her own interests with her own Mate someday.
"I… okay then." She murmured, her mind lost to all the information that had just been thrown into her small skull, the sounds from the horses still ringing in her head, "…Thank you for answering my questions…"
"…Of course."
-888-
Decision made, Sesshomaru took long strides toward the pulsing aura of his Mate. The situation between the South and the West held importance, significance, and as much as he'd prefer to keep his pupped Mate in the dark to such stressful matters of State, he simply could not allow her to remain in a state of ignorant bliss.
He found Kagome and his Ward sitting in an awkward silence at the dining table starring into full cups of tea. The discomfort in the air felt thick and palpable. Both were flush faced, embarrassed. His eyes fell on Kagome and she sighed, "Rin you are excused."
The girl merely nodded, scurrying out of the room like a mouse, clearly her mind on something.
Never before had the young girl ever not acknowledged his presence, but she walked from the room without a single glance in his direction.
"What is this?"
Dark eyes caught his gold, and he noticed her jaw twitched. "I just explained how to have sex to Rin."
"I see."
"I… I took her to the stables thinking she'd learn by seeing them…"
"Horses do not procreate in the same fashion."
"Well, yeah… I didn't think it'd be so… traumatic." She frowned, "She thought the sounds were from the horses being hurt, and let me just say the mare looked awfully uncomfortable... But, I explained after that- that- is not the way it will be when she…" She stopped as his jaw clenched.
Taking a deep breath he murmured, "It was necessary, the girl must know what her future holds. She is not a child any longer."
"No, no she is not." She took a sip of her tea, letting the liquid flow down her throat in a scalding line.
A strange smell hit her nose, pungent like rotten garbage and metal, she tilted her chin at him, "Why do you stink?" It was enough to make her grin widely, he never stank.
His lips thinned as his nose tilted in the air, "It can be discussed in the bath."
"Oh?"
"As you say, I stink."
She couldn't help but laugh, setting down her tea and helping herself off her cushion, "Yes, yes you do." Her slender arm looped with his elbow and she placed a flat palm against his chest, "Let's go clean you up, shall we?"
-8888-
Slowly moving through the halls, Rin made her way to a place where she could think. The highest balcony of the Shiro overlooked the world, and it was there she felt the most peaceful.
The sun looked as if it might disappear behind a blanket of clouds. The grey mass hovered to the North and it lit up the land behind the mountains. Lightning cut the sky in half and split the world for but a millisecond before sinking into the ground below.
She looked down at her hands with an alien feeling, though they had not grown or changed. Would she want to do those things, the things Lady Kagome had described? To let someone else touch her as well?
Growing up she'd not had the most touchy feely experience, she might like hugs but Jaken and Lord Sesshomaru never encouraged such behaviour. Was it because she should reserve her touch for only her Mate?
It was all so confusing, and she, although slightly frightened, found herself very curious.
To feel desire... Lady Kagome described it as warm and needing... No one made her feel needing before... but that boy, Takeshi - He made her feel so warm and tingly. Was that what she'd meant? Honestly her mind never went to the sex thoughts, she'd never have imagined doing that with, well anyone.
And suddenly she found herself quite frustrated that so much of life had been kept from her, she felt ignorant and stupid to have not known something so basic.
With a sigh, she leaned over the rail, holding her face in her hands before peering straight down. Two figures were dancing to a tune of no music. Slowly, they moved so peacefully, holding each other so very close. It was not the way she'd danced with boys at her ceremony, no, this was something different.
They were old and they pressed to each other like swans in a pond. The woman was dressed in fine robes, her grey hair loose and flowing behind her like a silver moonlit river. The man, he wore sheets of armor, and she wondered why the woman would want to be pressed against something so hard.
But as they continued to dance to a tune of their own, she realized the roughness of his armor did not matter to the youkai, just to be pressed so close.
She watched them dance for a long time, she watched them hold each other and she watched them when they broke apart.
The woman had a sadness on her face, Rin could see it from five stories above. She pressed her palms against the man's cheeks and pulled him down to kiss her and to simply stare into his eyes. Something told her they were in love, but the love looked sad and desperate.
She looked away, not wanting to continue seeing something so private, and tilted her eyes back to the sky. Did she want someone to love like that of the couple down below?
-888-
The water did not ripple as she moved around him, her body cutting through with a strange precision, and he focused on the sound of her steps on the rocky bottom of the pool. A serene smile tilted the edges of her lips, lips he loved pressed to his skin, lips he loved to kiss.
Sharp claws scratched his scalp. He purred for those hands, the titillating graze of the points through his hair. Eyes closed and Kagome's scent washed through him, powerful in all its delicate tones.
Her stomach brushed his shoulder, so warm.
Breath tickled the shell of his ear, when had she gotten so close, her soft hands running over his shoulders. "What's wrong?" She breathed through the silence, and he further tensed.
Could he get away from this? Could he save her from knowing, save her from the realism that would bleed men dry? He opened his eyes and pulled her hands around his neck until her swollen stomach pressed flush against the planes of his back.
"Sesshomaru? What is it?" Her perfect lips found his hair, his ear, and the side of his face, caught in a sensual slide he couldn't even compare with silk stretching over his skin.
Something thick and heavy knotted in his chest, a painful burdensome weight he'd never before experienced. He searched for her eyes, onyx pools filled with concern. She moved closer, drifting around him in the water and sat in his lap with her arms around his neck like a shawl.
"Talk to me." Her voice laid firm yet still laced with her loving maternal tones.
Without trying, his hands found her belly, holding the beings he cared for most, and he wondered why now that he felt more strength within himself than he'd ever felt before…
"Sessho…?"
He grunted, caressing the line of her jaw with his nose and breathing in her overflowing scent. She could ask a million times, yet he couldn't bring himself to tell her. Instead, he kissed the lobe of her ear and the crook of her neck. He listened to the shallow pants of her breath, the steady thrum of her quickening heartbeat. He felt the softest skin, painted the water up her arms and over her legs until his erection bobbed between them and all he could move himself to do was hold her tighter. He'd not ever let her go, not if she begged him to.
His children, his Mate… he'd do everything in his power to protect them, even if blood burst from his lips.
Her voice grew soft, and somehow remained strong despite the smell of salt in the air, "Sesshomaru… you are scaring me…"
They were watery, her dark eyes, as he peered through them. "Your fear smells more of worry and sadness."
She stuttered, "I… I… well I am. I'm worried because you're acting strange… more strange than usual and I'm sad because I'm worried about you."
Despite impending battle, despite the prospect of long weeks of separation, he smiled and he laughed. The sound came out harsh and rough, a short bark that made her tilt her chin and quirk a brow, but her tears had gone. "There is no need for your worry…" He brushed her nose with solid comfort, a brush of his own, and a chaste kiss.
Her lips turned, eyes down cast, settling on her fingers as they wound together, "You're mine, I will always worry for you."
Like a hot drop of tea, his mouth took her open lips, closing off the soft gasp as her lungs fought to make the sound. Large demanding hands found the sides of her face, and she felt him drink her up, she poured everything she had into him. She could feel him in her soul, his hands and lips, the water between them became viscous and she had to push through.
To eat him up, to be filled with all of him: ecstasy. She escaped his lips with a gasping breath, her chest pounding. He moved to the side, plucking hot wet kisses over her steam heated flesh. Her skin showed pink and flush from the hot bath, but his lips were hotter, like the beating sun.
She felt desperate, but his ministrations came with deliberate motivation. Kami. Her head lolled back in his cupped palm, desire splitting through her nerves like an electrical storm. He knew the places to destroy her mind, he knew the curve of her neck and the sensitive bones of her chest.
He drew her up from the water, a trail of sopping silver and black trailing them like an inky river beneath the moon.
The cold air stung, ten thousand pinpricks, but it was good because she knew she had yet to die from the fluttering of her heart.
He drew his hands over the insides of her arms, drawing a shiver inducing path over her sensitive skin. Soft mewls of pleasure escaped her chest, her breasts rising and falling with the movement. She trembled, claws grazing the insides of her wrists.
He bit her earlobe. "Sessh-oh!-maru..."
"Do not move your hands."
She couldn't resist, enjoying the feel of his affections entirely too much.
Plush soft and full. Her chest filled his palms, nearly overflowing his large hands. He squeezed and she groaned, her legs twisting together like a rope before her toes began trying to claw at his calve.
"Oohh…" Her body jolted with his touch as he massaged the sore mounds with heady strokes of his thumbs and fingers, his palms gently twisting with small changes of pressure. Back and neck arched, he manipulated her moans and breathless pleas and watched her struggle as she forced down the urge to bring her hands back down from where he'd placed them.
His eyes caught her hungry stare as she took in the sight of him, deliberately, he opened his lips, and ever so slowly curled his tongue around a single nipple. A strangled moan ran up her throat causing his erection to throb with heat against her thigh.
His growl ran through her breast with a vibration that made her ache and hiss, her breaths shallow and quick. Kami. His hot mouth and prickling fangs on her tender breasts sent a coiling snake of needy desire squirming through her insides.
She couldn't take it.
Sucking, with sweeps of his tongue over her nerves, his eyes further darkened deep red; the sight becoming too much, she closed her eyes and released a pent up moan.
Her toes pushed hard against his leg, dragging through the soft hair.
Her fingers dug into her palms as she fought against the urge to run her hands through his silver hair and hold his mouth to her breast.
Chilling energy sparked with every lap of his tongue, his fingers driving her mad on one while the other pulsed with his puckered lips. He'd been right, oh so right. "I… I should've let… you do this… sooner…" He eased the soreness and brought her to a point of paradise. Her admittance struggled through sharp heady moans as one hand moved down her side and dipped into her contracting vagina.
Blood trickled from her lip as she bit down too hard, she couldn't take it.
Her fingers caught in his hair, and she held him closer, forcing him to suckle her swollen nipple harder. Heated pressure ached in her lower abdomen, she arched into him, the anvil of desire angrily throbbing and pent up. Thighs quivering, a frustrated grunt slid over her tongue. She tried to shift beneath him, to rub her thighs and trap his hand between them, but he stopped her with his knees.
Lips left her breast and his hands took to stroking her sweat slickened flesh. She whimpered, watching him as he kissed down her belly and hissing as his lips grazed her skin.
Salty and sweet, the taste of her skin held him captive, and he made it a rule to lick every inch of her delicious flesh. Sticky fluids coated his fingers, and he brought them to his lips, watching her as she caught the sight of him relishing the taste of her desire. He enjoyed the mindless hunger darkening her big eyes, her lips swollen and parted as soft sounds curled over her tongue.
"Sesshomaru," Sultry and wicked, she growled his name and he thrusted his needy cock against her leg, his answer a thick gasp.
"Please…" Her teeth clenched as his mouth suckled the dip of her hip, the taut flesh stretched tight, "I can't take much more…"
Too bad. He had much more to do to her delectable body. Too much need washed through him day by day, and he'd not give in to her pleading. He craved to touch her and enjoy her, and to show her just how much he needed and adored her.
"Sesshomaru…" Her moan created a pulse in his erection, and he growled against her labia, relishing in the endless stream of breathless moans spilling from her lips. Like honey, hot saliva ran between her pussy, stroking from her sensitive clit to her aching hole as he tasted her wet essence.
"Ooooohh!"
"You taste delicious," The sound vibrated against her and she cried out, growing hotter and wetter as he tortured her further.
Claws scraped her thighs, piercing the flesh as she moaned and groaned. Her own palms squeezed her breasts hard and firm, as she writhed. Her toes curled as she came and he lapped up her sticky cum.
Every iota of flesh seemed to sizzle, sharply moaned hisses catching on her tongue as he kissed her pulsing clit. She felt high, caught in his web of tongues and heat.
With one long glide, he licked from her entrance to her clit, torturing his Mate as she glowed. Her claws tangled in his hair, and she bade him upward, "Please…" Her whimpers made his heart beat faster.
She could taste her cum on his lips as he kissed her soft deep and slow. His warm palms slowly kneaded her already aching breasts, once again she'd manipulated them too much, squeezed them too hard. Her legs curled around his waist. She kissed him hard, as if they'd never have another day, simply escaping to his lips.
Fumbling over rippling abs, her hands found his pulsing erection, hot and swollen with blood. He hissed against her tongue, before allowing her to guide his hungry crock into her awaiting pussy. Her walls fit tight, like a second slick skin. With every thrust came a tremendous grip, her fluids making each pound swift and quick but her swollen pussy created a teasing environment. He could die, and he'd not even mind. She milked him, holding him tight like a vice as he moved their sensitive nerves together in a euphoric grind.
"Oh!" She could feel it like a bursting water pipe, her fluids rushing his cock and tempting them with hot sweet warmth, "Oh! Yes! More!" She tightened, grinding upward to meet their hips. Kami. Barely thinking straight, she knew it like a bucket of cold water over her head, "Oh!...I…I'm.. going to… cum…!"
Her body pitched, muscles tensing as a rushing wave of pleasure bit down on every sensory receptor in her body. A sunrise, and his white hot cum met hers.
He slumped, and she buried her nose in his hair, sighing, "You smell so good now…" Like sex and fluids, lightning and power.
With a grunted, "Hn. So do you," he rolled over and pulled her to his side, the cold rocky flooring biting his skin.
It did not take long for his mind to focus on the impending war, his arm holding her closer the more he thought about the future.
"Are you going to tell me what was wrong earlier?"
He answered with a forced smile, "Later." Why would he want to ruin this moment? She felt far too good strapped to his side, and somehow that mattered more than war. For the time being war could wait, he just wanted to listen to the sound of her breathing and feel her fingers in his hair.
The blade, gleaming with diamonds, cut deep, wedged between thick cuts of stone. Sweat dripped down the lines of alabaster flesh, a harsh pulse of blue veins lined his constricted bicep as he drove the blade deeper. The mountain budged, moved, shifted and he broke through with a thunderous crack. A gush of wind rushed through the fissure in the rock, batting his sweat slicked black hair.
Anger boiled, his fist clenched, and he slammed a punch to the stone; it crumbled from the force.
Massive rocks littered the forest floor a mile below, crashing into the trees and snapping branches.
Squirrels scattered from their homes in hallows, running away through the throngs of battling Ishikiri and Aisu Youkai, as he continued the assault on the mountain.
"Yamagata…" He tensed, the cold palm of his friend seeping into his shoulder, "Ease up, you're killing the birds below us."
"What does it matter Shouda!? My integrity has been stained, my son taken and used against my honor! For years we've done their bidding, used by weaklings to tackle their enemies and for what?
We will be used an eternity!" Yamagata's sword cleaved into the fissure of the mountain, breaking deeper until sheets of stone sloughed from the crevice. Beyond the rock laid the whole of the Northern Territory.
"But Yamagata, what of Takeshi? What of Tama? You cannot win Yamagata-san, you cannot win against the threats against your children, we will succeed in ending this in the right moment. We must bide our time and…" Shouda was promptly cut off.
"We've bided our time long enough…" He nearly growled before jamming his sword and sighing, "I feel Tama is safe, it is Takeshi who is in danger. We must come up with something soon. My honor may be tainted but I will not allow my children to suffer the same fate. Even if… even if we may not secure the safety of my son, soon I will kill the race of Shinihana scum."
"What are you saying? Have you found it?" Shouda peered into the newly created fissure, looking for the jewel in the myths that'd settled into the land not too long ago.
With a great rumbling sigh and a slap to the back of Shouda's thick skull, Yamagata withdrew his sword from its pinned spot, "You fool, how many times Shouda-san? How many times must I remind you that some things are merely myths- we cannot allow ourselves to hope for Kami's finely interfering hands, I am simply tired of this endless feuding. I'm going to do something I should have done years ago, before this whole treacherous fiasco."
His large feet clamored downward, heading toward the forest below, with resounding strides.
"What will you doOOOO-!" Shouda tripped over his feet, rolling down the side of the steep mountain with a shriek, his long gangly legs toppling over his body.
Yamagata shook his head, his chest ached for his children, his people, and those they were fighting for no reason at all. Tamia, his daughter had left shortly after Takeshi had been taken, her heart set on getting her younger brother back… but now, it'd been so long… Was it too late to save him? Would there be any reason to wait longer? For so long he felt time was the only thing on his side, the death of his wife and then the trickster Camellia disturbed his life, and what could save them all but the passing and healing of time? Yamagata had never been a fighter, his strength served for protection, and now he and his people were used as weapons of destruction.
Ducking inside a hidden cave at the base of the mountain, he searched for Zinan. The emerald gleam of the spy's flesh sparkled in the flickering yellow light. The fire sat in the back of the cave and Zinan stood beside it, his long fingers clasped behind his back.
"You summoned me, My Lord?"
"Hai. An update if you would, my patience is growing thin."
"It seems your prince is growing stronger… and I sense his true self has not been completely washed away with the Shinihana curse. He has found a young girl and when the souls met, I could feel his essence has remained unsullied, perhaps he may save himself. He has never before had a reason more than now to regain his full strength."
"Do you truly believe this is so Zinan? Could this truly be over soon? What I would give for my son to be safe…"
Zinan turned to see a look of hope on the worry worn face of his lord, deep lines marred his brow and thick wrinkles cut a permanent line of angry sorrow around his lips. "I believe we may have an opportunity to rid us Ishikiri of the Shinihana. I found a hawk, a messenger bird, near the west along with evidence that Camellia had sent the missing missive. If the Western Lord does not know of her treachery yet, he will soon I believe. He is not so easily deceived, she has truly buried herself by interfering with his domain, and thus we will have an opportunity to end it all."
"Excellent. Perhaps we should discontinue this ridiculousness here and in the Southeast, and make a move on the Shinihana themselves."
"I advise against it My Lord. Appearances should be kept up until the perfect moment."
Yamagata ran his fingers through his hair with a heavy sigh, "You are right Zinan, I'm getting ahead of myself. This all is very good news I must say." And as if the light had not yet lit his face until that moment, the gray paleness of his face lit up like creamy alabaster, white glittering stone, "So, you say my son has found a Mate? Tell me about this girl."
Zinan frowned, of course his Lord would linger on that detail, the Youkai was a softy at heart. "She is not his Mate Yamagata-Sama, but her soul did resonate with his and she is slightly available…"
"What do you mean slightly?"
"I'm not sure you will like the details in which she must procure a mate…"
"Spit it out Zinan, do not step around my curiousity!"
"She is a Shinihana, cursed by Camellia, and the ward of Lord Sesshomaru of the Western Territory."
Yamagata scrunched his face and grumbled, "It seems everything must get more complicated… is she at least pretty?"
"The young prince is enamored."
"Of course… We must remain on decent ground with the West then… I'd quiet like grandchildren someday, even if they are half flower folk…" He quietly grumbled the last bit, almost sulking.
"Yes My Lord." The night would be long, and he had to get back to the West and keep an eye on developments, "Shall I be on my way?"
"No word on my daughter?"
He shook his head with a frown, "Unfortunately My Lord, there has been no sign of her since the flowers were left on Nui-Sama's grave…"
With a wave, mind on other things and his expression crestfallen, Zinan was dismissed.
Curls of coal and fine shavings marred the railing, a lengthy parchment stretched over the surface. Kagome scribbled, her drawings lacking true dimension, she hoped Benjiro would be able to create the things she desired, western furniture! Furniture built in the future!
Her back ached, and as her stomach grew she was finding it harder and harder to bring herself up out of bed no matter her strength. There were times she felt like a turtle on its back. A desk, Kami, she wanted a desk, anything she wouldn't have to bend over. She drew straight lines and squares, rectangles, with hardly any details, she needed basics, just enough to get what she wanted. She'd realized that morning she had no place to draw up diagrams, not when she didn't want to hurt her back more, all the tables were far too low, her stomach in the way of seeing the parchment, and so she found herself standing out on the third story balcony.
She ignored the slightly chilled breeze and rubbed the coal off her hand onto the white silk of her kimono, before sharpening the coal stick with her claw for what felt like the millionth time.
The list of items had grown since the morning, first it was a desk, an actual desk, and then a chair, and from those thoughts and desires sprung up baby furniture and a new bed… her mind furiously went over everything she missed until tears poured down her face and she realized it was not only the amenities, but her family. The face of her mother, a hazard scribbled drawing that disturbed the squares on the page, stared back at her. Heart stopping, a choked sob, and she sucked in the heavy feeling, forced it down and away. Time. Time would pass and she would see her mother again, and her children would see their grandmother and uncle.
Wiping the tears from her face with the back of her hand, she sniffled before folding over the image until she could no longer see anything but the straight lines of the desk she'd been drawing.
"Excuse me… M'Lady?" A smooth voice broke through the sound of the wind, and her fingers ceased their movement over the page.
She tilted her head, glancing over her shoulder at the blank haired guard Rin seemed to fancy. "Yes?"
"I don't mean to intrude Lady Kagome, but I wanted to ask something of you." It was then that she noticed the small box in his hands, velvet wrapped and tied with bamboo trimmings and small stones.
"Oh?" She held her parchment so it wouldn't blow away and turned to face the guard. This was the first time she'd seen him up close. His face was dimpled though sad, his lips tilted downward without trying for a frown, as if he'd found it hard to smile for so long they simply fell that way. His bangs were fringed, casting a shadow over his pale face. Young and not as built as most men her Mate employed, she found it a bit shocking that he held such a role in the Southern household; perhaps in a few years he'd have the musculature required for a guard, but he was simply tall and strong not deadly.
Don't judge a book by its cover. She had to remind herself that looks often deceived. Glancing from the gift to his face, she murmured, "Is this for Rin? Would you like me to give it to her?"
His pale cheeks flushed pink, brought to life by a rush of embarrassment. He opened his mouth and closed it, searching for the words to say. Suddenly she could see his insecurities, a slight slouch with a pain in his green eyes.
"She would like it if you gave it to her yourself, so, I will have to decline."
The strange frown reclaimed his lips, skin growing pale once more. His face held more feeling than she'd ever seen a youkai let show out in the open, save for a couple – a fox and a hanyou. "I would, but there is something of urgent importance that I must do."
How strange, she could scent a slight deception, a salty smell that burned the hairs in her nose.
"Hmm, is that so? Well then I guess you'd better hurry and find her. I believe she is outside tending to her flower field before the storm comes."
"But… I-"
She stifled a giggle, she liked this boy, he would be a good match for Rin, and she also enjoyed the opportunity to practice being a nosy parent. –Not that she was a parent to either of the children involved, however… She watched his face scrunch up before she turned around and went back to her drawings.
"Yes M'Lady…" The soft sound of his boots on the stone floor met her ears. And she let her laugh flow into the wind, she would be sure to ask Rin about the gift later.
The cool wind blew up her sleeve and she shivered before a heat met her back and she breathed a soft, "Sesshomaru…"
"Hn." His warm lips brushed the shell of her ear, grinning as her breath hitched. Letting herself lean back against his heat radiating chest. "I can hear your stomach growling at the other end of the Shiro."
"Hmm… I hadn't noticed." Her traitorous stomach picked that time to rumble beneath his heavy palm and she grimaced.
"What will you do if I'm not here to remind you of such necessities?" The words were rough yet uttered so softly, warmly grazing her skin.
She bit her lip, anxiety swimming in her chest. Her fingers curled around the side of his hand, the parchment falling three stories below on the dying grass. "Why…? Are you leaving somewhere?" She arched her neck to look him in the eyes, but they were closed and instead of answering, he promptly shoved a rice ball into her open mouth.
"Sometimes I must." He kissed her cheek. She jumped as he slapped her left butt cheek, nearly choking on the rice she was trying desperately to swallow down. "Go eat. Your papers will await you in our chambers." He didn't wait for her protests before jumping off the balcony in a blur of silver.
With a huff, she bit off another bite of rice, grumbling quietly as she reluctantly made her way to the kitchen.
A fine mist blew in from the east. Tonight, if the weather did not ease, the dew covered grass would frost and die. The wet cold sunk into his kimono, but his flesh simply glimmered beneath the soft glow of the clouded sky, and he did not grow colder. Tucking the present safely inside his robe, he began a jog to where he knew Rin's field of flowers were. Annoyance, anger, worry, they pulsed through his veins as he looked for the girl. He did not feel cold as she would, and he hoped the Lady Kagome had been wrong. Why would Rin be out in the chill?
He found her heading toward the castle, a basket in her hands filled with seeds from her flowers.
"Lady Rin, why are you out here? It is too cold." He reached out to touch her, but she shied away a sudden blush prettily filling her cheeks. Every time he saw her she looked more beautiful. The rain picked up, dripping along the curves of her face and sagging the sleeves of her kimono, sopping and darkening the long strands of her hair. He caught a flash of her brown eyes before she looked away and then down at her hands.
"I needed to get the seeds from my flowers so they can regrow next spring, what are… Why are you here?"
His heart ached, real and truly a burn that began in his very soul, he did not want to let her go, to tell her to find someone else before he even had a chance to ask her to love him. He did not want to end something that had never been given the time to begin.
"I came to find you. You know it is far too cold out here, and wet, and far from the main castle for that matter." His eyes drifted to the forest just a few paces away, "There are still wild things that are active during storms, you're out here alone and unprotected. You could get hurt."
"We are the only ones out here Takeshi-San, do you plan on hurting me?" She looked up from her basket and watched his face morph into a look of surprise.
"I… no, Lady Rin. I plan on protecting you."
Seemingly satisfied, she nodded curtly and started walking once more toward the main part of the Shiro. "Do as you please." It was a sentence that meant so much in her world, a sentence that had led her into the very castle she resided, and somehow, she hoped that maybe the strange bubbly warm feeling in her chest would mean that Takeshi would follow her, maybe they could follow each other...
He opened and closed his mouth twice before following after her, his chest pounding. It seemed strange, usually she was so shy and reserved, yet now she was sure and walked with straightness to her back. What had happened over night? Was the wetness in his palms from the rain or was it sweat? He watched her take small steps, her dark hair like a river of heavy oil behind her. She glanced at him over her shoulder and they both blushed.
Using his long legs to his advantage, he took two strides to catch up to her. Both wet and chilled, yet as they walked side by side warmth enveloped the space between them. "Rin?" He leaned down, murmuring quietly.
"Hm?"
"Have you… chosen someone yet?" Biting his lip hard, he wanted to kick himself for asking her.
Her wide eyes told him she didn't expect the question either.
He came here to give her the flower and leave, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ask you that." Grimacing, he frowned as she turned away, ears growing red from embarrassment.
She whispered so quietly he barely heard the words, "I might have, but I'm not sure." And he felt his heart break in his chest. His fingers trembled as he reached for the small box in his robe. Cold fire lit up his insides with a pain he hadn't realized was possible, he didn't know it could hurt so much. What if they had gotten to know each other? Would the pain of rejection have been worse?- He would never find out.
Her arm felt like ice as his fingers curled around her forearm, making her turn the face him, a soft gasp on her lips.
"Takeshi-san?" Her chocolate eyes were large and confused, dark eyelashes prettily casting a shadow over the irises. Water dripped down her cheek to her chin, and he felt like screaming. Why did the world have to be so cruel as to deny him of the only being to make him happy in half a decade… Tamia would have liked her, and his father, she would have made a good fit to his family. And not for the first time, he wondered if maybe his family was cursed.
"I want you to have this," He held up the velvet wrapped box, the package looking black as the sky darkened and water ruined the fabric.
Startled and nervous, she moved her gaze between the small box and his face, almost afraid to touch the small parcel, "Oh?" Her fingers trembled as they hovered close, just over the gift.
He could hear a pounding in his ears, his heart and maybe hers, two rhythms that slammed together and resounded in the rain. The world felt quiet aside from the steady thrum and the quick pace of her shallow breathing.
"I want you to take this, and I want you to open it when you know who you want to be with forever... It's for you both." He felt his teeth grit down on the last of his sentence, the words burning his tongue.
Everything inside him wanted to turn away, to stop looking into those dark confused eyes, her trembling lip. Cold fingers brushed his as she let her hand fall against the sopping velvet. Soft pink light formed between the pressed skin, heating the cold pads of her fingers as they stared down in awe.
Her whisper shook between worry and amazement, the swirling light spilling over their hands and up their arms, "Take-shi?"
"I...I'm not sure what it is either..." Was this something to do with the flower? Or the warmth in his chest?
He felt caught in her gaze as she looked to him for an explanation, the pink coiling between them with a warmth she could feel in her very bones.
Her chest ached, and some part of her wanted to cry as she felt it burrow into her soul, and whether out of sadness or happiness she wasn't entirely sure. The world had turned alien in a matter of moments. The past month or so had been so confusing and this moment seemed to follow the suit of confusion. What was happening?
Her fingers unfolded from around the basket handle, the seedlings dropping to the wet grass below them. She didn't bother to look at the mess that'd been made, her body moving closer to Takeshi. She liked him for some reason, it wasn't as if she even knew him, but she liked him in a way that made her insides light up. He was different.
The coiling soft glow of pink spread against her skin and his, as if they were glowing with the warmth. The cold wet rain evaporated from her flesh and hair, drying her out even as the sky still poured.
Confused, and not sure what he'd been trying to say, she sucked in a deep breath and gave him a smile that felt reserved and new, "I wanted to dance with you... during my ceremony. I was able to dance with everyone else..." She watched as different emotions swirled in his green eyes, his face morphing from a look of dismay to a hopeful soft smile. "But I really wanted to dance with you... I think dancing would be different with you." What if they could dance like that of the old youkai couple? What if they wouldn't need the sounds of drums and music to sway together...
As quick as his smile came, it left, and his eyes filled with a torn shadow, "I very much would like to dance with you Lady Rin, but I have a duty to fulfil." She felt suddenly strangled.
The coils of pink began to fade, soaking into their soft pliable skin, and the rain once again penetrated the fabric of their clothes. Something slammed inside her chest and a pain whipped her insides, a steady throb that made the breath catch in her throat and a large lump lodge there.
She'd never tried to tell anyone her feelings, never tried to do something so grown up, and she'd thought it'd be so easy to just be with the person she liked... he liked her as well so why?
Before she realized tears fells from her yes, the pad of his thumb brushed the liquid over her cheek, mixing it with the icy rain. He leaned in and she thought she might suffocate.
His nose felt hot on the side of her temple, his lips burning as they pressed a chaste kiss there. She felt frozen in a sad heat as it poured through her. Her eyes closed as he pressed the small box into her hand.
"If I am able to return I'll dance with you for the rest of time, but I'm not going to ask for you to wait forever. Be happy Lady Rin, I want you to always be happy." And before she could open her eyes or grab hold of his sleeve, he disappeared into the night.
Like a withering tree, she crumpled into the wet grass, softly crying as she gathered her seeds. Everything had to be so confusing... And what did she want? To wait? Did she like him enough to wait?
Her hand went to her temple still burning with his kiss, heat warming her flesh once again and she blushed. She could wait. There certainly weren't any other suitors she found herself interested in... But what was it that he needed to do, and why wouldn't he return? And why on Earth did she want a love that could make her so sad?
Her fingers curled around the velvet box wet from the rain and shoved it into her basket amidst the seeds. She would open it later out of the wet chill, for now she had more to think about.
-888 -
Anci stood out in the cool rain, looking out into the empty distance. A party of guards had followed her Mate back to the North. Duty would kill him, they both knew it to be true. Her eyes felt the sting of tears she refused to shed, she had already cried far too much for the inevitable, now the next time she would see her Mate would be in Hell.
Her fingers went into her robes as she wrapped her arms around herself, thinking of hope. What would become of them? What would become of the North? The AisuYoukai were low in numbers and most of the men were on the battlefield, how could their race survive so much devastation. Who would sire the children?
She held herself tighter before coming out of the cold, walking the long silent corridor alone. The guest wing laid to the East but she needed to see the home of her people past the other entrance to the Shiro, where the sea crashed into the sand and rocks.
In a trance, she did not notice the Western Lady tiptoeing out of the kitchen.
"Lady Anci." She nodded her head with a smile, her hands clutching a satchel of persimmons to her chest.
She tried on her best smile but it fell into a thin line as she nodded in return, "Lady Kagome."
"I... have you been? Are you alright?" The girl looked genuinely concerned her dark eyes swimming with concern and sympathy.
She sighed, this life of formality was draining her fast. This was not what she wanted nor what she asked for, joining the land culture had been only to be with her love, for her Daiki. The lies of the Youkai and hidden agendas, she found herself sick of it all. She liked the Lord of the West for he held honor so highly, he did not lie for the sake of it. They'd been allies for centuries, and now she found protection in his Lands until the North... until it would all be over.
"I'm tired." She wanted to let go, she couldn't find it in her to hide or sulk, she wanted honesty and so she gave it. "Daiki left for the North today and he will certainly die."
The persimmons fell, the satchel squishing against the stone as fruit rolled from the sack. Two arms swung around her sagging form, wrapping her in a warmth that made her tear up. This Youkai woman was so strange. She felt frozen in place.
"Oh Lady Anci, I can't imagine what you are going through right now. You can stay here as long as you need to."
Anci nodded once and waited for Kagome to stop hugging her, maybe she hadn't been ready for something so personal.
"My Mate and I had a long and happy life together, there are many memories to cherish. I'd like to go outside if you don't mind, I haven't visited the sea in some time."
"Oh?... I mean of course, if there is anything I can do in the future to help ease your pain please let me know."
Kagome watched the older youkai disappear down the hall, her chest pounding with an ache. She had not spoken much to the Lady of the North, but she couldn't help but to try and offer her a semblance of comfort.
If Sesshomaru ever... She shook her head, bending down to gather the fruit she planned on eating in her chambers. She lifted the bag and juice flowed from the fabric, sticky and sliming the floor. Her head tilted as the shrieking sound of Jaken turned the corner.
"Jaken, get someone to clean this up please."
"Wha- As you wish Lady Kagome!" He waddled away in a mad dash, and she sighed, picking two intact persimmons from the pile before heading up stairs.
As she opened the door the smell of polish filled her nose and she followed the scent to the room with the fire. Sesshomaru glanced up from his spot on the futon, cloth and sword in hand.
"You're polishing your sword?" She didn't wait for him to answer as she sat her fruit down on the low table and went to wash her hands in the adjacent room.
She could hear him clearly, "The blades must be kept sharp."
What could she say? The sinking feeling that maybe he too would be going off to war nagged in the back of her mind, but she shoved it aside as she walked back to him and curled around his side. She pushed his hand out of the way and rested her cheek on his thigh.
"Am I to continue?"
She closed her eyes and grinned softly as she burrowed against him, "Why not?"
"Are you meaning to make this task complicated?" He sounded frustrated and she liked that she was the only one able to do so without the threat of looming death.
Her fingers caressed his crossed legs, carefully avoiding his sword. "I saw Anci in the hallway, she looked like she'd been crying. Daiki left for battle. She said he will die, do you think this is true, that he will really die?"
"Hn..." She could feel him move above her, continuing the processes of polishing the sword. It took him so long to answer she thought he wouldn't say anything at all.
"Daiki is dying, with or without the war, his life will soon be expired."
"Oh. I didn't know that." How sad... She sighed into his hakamas, muttering, "You'd think he would want to spend his last months alive with his Mate."
"It is for her that he will continue his duty. It will be an honor for him to die protecting what he cherishes."
"Is that what you would do?"
"This Sesshomaru will never be so foolish as to place himself in such a position."
She wanted to laugh but her chest hurt. "Not that she said much, but Anci doesn't seem like she will want to go on without him."
"She must. The heir to the North grows in her womb, she will live for her child."
Her head popped up and hit his wrist, knocking the sword and causing it to slice through the cloth and cutting his hand. "Ow." She rubbed the back of her head as she climbed over his lap to examine the cut, "Sorry," She cast an impish smile at his frowning face before running her tongue over the shallow cut. The flesh stitched together almost instantly and she winked, "No harm, no foul."
"Is that so?" He tossed Bakusaiga to the side and pulled her into his lap, nipping the side of her jaw as his hands ran the length of her side. Her laugh chimed in his ears and he let out a contented sigh.
"Mm, yes." Her arms slid around his neck and she kissed him on the cheek before settling into his embrace. Her hands lingered on her belly, fingers circling the mass. "She didn't feel pregnant when I hugged her."
The inflection of his tone told her he was surprised, "You hugged her?"
She looked at him incredulously, "Yeah I hugged her, she was sad, I couldn't not hug her..."
Resonating, his deep laugh rumbled against her chest. "Well," His palm felt hot and heavy on her belly, a safe feeling she'd come to adore. "Her kind do not show like Inu and humans. You would only be able to see it when she is in her true form."
He didn't continue so she poked him in the arm, "And?"
"And what?"
"What kind of Youkai is she?"
"She is a Nereid." He could tell she was about to poke him again if he did not go into further details, "A sea nymph; however she gave her power up to live on the land."
"Oh, okay, well that explains why she wanted to go look at the sea."
"Hn."
She leaned back as his fingers absentmindedly brushed through her hair, his chin resting against the top of her head, while his freehand continued heating her belly.
The room fell silent until she finally sighed, "I feel sad for Anci and Daiki, but why would they wait so long to have a child. You said that he is near death, that is pretty strange to wait until you are dieing..."
"Daiki is Aisu and Anci is Nereid, for both beings gestation takes many centuries. Usually they only produce one or two offspring in a lifetime."
"So will the child live in the sea or on land?"
"I'm not certain Kagome, why are you so interested in the young of others?"
She shrugged and slouched against him with a yawn, "I'm naturally... curious, I guess." The fire warmed her side and she squirmed, relaxing in the warmth. Steadily her eyes grew more heavy and since he did not pick his sword back up, she murmured, "Take me to bed?"
Gravity shifted and she found herself curled against his side and in bed in a matter of moments, his hair already tangled in her fingertips.
"Rest."
"Mhm," She grinned, "Sweet dreams."