Off to See the Past
The determined rescuers heading off it was quickly decided that in order to get to their destination as quickly as possible they'd take turns being vehicles. Those who had a much larger true form to turn into made excellent rides for those who couldn't and people who saw them would stare in amazement at the large beasts running past with people on their backs and a large white tiger close behind. The tiger was the third member of the three musketeers which was made up of Dare, Aiden and their beloved pet tiger Sonya. They'd met up with her about four years ago and though she stayed in the Feudal area she always seemed to know when they were around and found them with remarkable ease. The strangest thing about the cat though was that it never made a sound, not ever. It didn't even purr. But it loved the boys and they loved her in return. That was all that really mattered.
"So how long is this likely going to take? To get there I mean?" Mika asked as she leaned back against the chest of her oldest brother, her eyes half closed sleepily. She was all worn out but too stubborn to fall asleep just yet. It was the principle of the thing. She had a rep to protect after all. Especially since Ren was there to see it slip.
"We'll get there when we get there now go to sleep before I put you to sleep, squirt." Shippou threatened from behind her, an arm protectively around her waist in case she accidentally started to fall off Dare's back.
"Go cough up a hairball." Mika snarled back halfheartedly, her eyes closing to mere slits.
)
"Mika, go to sleep now." Mina called over from Ren's back, her voice suggesting a great deal of pain and retribution if she wasn't obeyed. No one could sound scarier then Aunt Mina after all which everyone knew and as a result had a healthy fear and respect for her.
"Yes, ma'am." Mika muttered and promptly went to sleep.
"Nicely done." Aiden said with a chuckle from behind Shippou. That was Aunt Mina for you though. You didn't question her and you always did what she said no matter what. It was just safer that way. Well there were some people that questioned her like his Uncle Sesshoumaru and the water demons but that was only because they were just too prideful not to. They were too used to giving orders rather then following them. Plus Aunt Mina respected them too much to abuse them like she would everyone else. He himself had never gotten anything worse then a whack on the head but seeing her in action was enough to know how much worse it could be. Looking behind him to check on Sonya Aiden blinked then yelled in a loud voice. "Stop, you guys!"
Everyone coming to a halt Dare and Ren turned around to see what had caused the need to stop and watched Sonya walking over between Sesshoumaru and Triton who'd unexpectedly joined the party from out of nowhere. Dare and Ren quickly walked over to meet them with everyone calling down greetings.
"I think I've found a way to bring them and us back from the past after Ferio is destroyed." Triton said with his usual serious look on his face, getting right to the point. "In order for it to work though I must go back with you all to the past."
"Well the more the merrier, especially if you'll make it that much easier to accomplish." Mina said with a shrug as she looked down at them from nearly two stories up. One didn't look down at the tall lord of the west or his son in law often. She was glad to see them both though since both were more then adequate in a fight and Sesshoumaru's sword would come in handy if any of them got themselves killed. "Care to climb aboard, boys?"
)
"It would be wiser to walk the next few hours on foot." Triton said with a thoughtful look on his face, always weighing and processing situations and ideas.. "There's a demon slaying community near here. If they see any of you in your true forms they'll attempt to kill first and ask questions later as there have been many attacks on that village recently. If we walk on foot in your usual false forms we'll be less likely to have to deal with them."
"Okay." Shippou said knowing better then to question Triton. The guy just knew things. Things that there should have been no way he could know. He was always right too which was often annoying except when they got his help placing bets on things. Then he made them lots of money. Picking up Mika in his arms Shippou jumped off Dare's back with Aiden right behind him, both landing easily on their feet. When everyone was off Dare and Ren transformed to their regular forms and Dare walked over to walk beside his dad.
"Still recovering from her most recent brush with death?" Sesshoumaru asked as he nodded to the still unconscious Mika who was happily dreaming away, protectively cradled in her big brother's arms. Normally his headstrong niece would have been alert and raring for a fight instead of passed out in la la land.
"Yeah, she just gets worn out easier. Well that and she's been using most of what energy she has fighting with Ren as usual." Shippou said with a dark look in the wolf's direction. An over protective brother to say the least Shippou was at his worst when it came to people he felt were causing problems for his little baby sisters even though they were both actually fully grown and capable of taking care of themselves. Even though Mika was tougher and meaner then he'd ever been he still babied her whenever he got the chance which out of love she let him get away with. Hotaru thought it was cute that he still treated her like a child even though she was married with children of her own already. They both let him think he was getting his way.
"Those two, fighting? Now who could have ever seen that coming?" Aiden commented with a smirk as he walked on Dare's other side, pleased when Sonya moved over to walk between them, her favorite place to be it seemed sometimes. "Good girl." Aiden murmured as he reached out to stroke her head, smiling a little when she nuzzled her head against his touch. Next to Dare Sonya was the only one he could tell everything to and she always made him feel better. A Hermione Granger to his Harry Potter, Aiden thought then had to force his smile to remain in place because thinking of Harry Potter made him start thinking of another Hermione who wasn't a fictional character.
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"Good think he doesn't have a collar like Uncle Inu yasha or he'd spend all his time with his face in the dirt thanks to Mika." Hermione added with a grin as she walked over to stand beside Aiden, frowning slightly when she noticed he stopped smiling right away. Something had been bothering him recently but for the life of her she couldn't figure out what that something was. It was obviously related to her but she couldn't remember having done anything wrong. She'd asked and he'd just smiled it off but she knew he was hiding something. Dare wouldn't tell her and Sonya, unfortunately, couldn't either.
"She'd have sent him farther then six feet under after there first meeting, that's for sure." Dare agreed as he looked over to the slumbering hell cat. "As it is she's nearly sent him there a few times."
"Somehow I can't see that mellowing with age. Either of them." Triton said with a shake of his head having watched both Mika and Ren grow up over the years. The two had been bickering like an old married couple for as long as they'd known each other and it was down right ridiculous what they found the time to argue about. They'd argue about the color of the sky if they could. "Those two will be fighting till their last breaths."
"And having a marvelous time doing it." Hermione said with a chuckle as she looked over at the bad tempered would who was arguing with her mother about something. Likely about his father's ideas to appoint Ren's younger brother into the wolf council as well as Ren. Then again she knew Ren didn't think his brother was smart enough to lead flea demons into battle much less his fellow wolves. "So, Uncle Sesshoumaru. How come you came? I thought you were going to stay at home?"
"I decide to come in order to prevent my past self from killing Sango." Sesshoumaru replied, everyone gapping at him questioningly. "Knowing my past self I would be liable to kill her as soon as I found out I was going to take her as my mate. It's in everyone's best interests if I were there to intervene."
)
"Uhm..why would you..I mean the other you want to kill mom? I mean aside from the whole her being one of Uncle Inu yasha's friends thing." Dare wanted to know, having a feeling he really didn't want to know.
"Because if Triton is correct as to what time line Ferio and the children are in then I would want to kill your mother because if she wasn't alive I'd never take her as my mate and produce you and your siblings. Children of impure blood." Sesshoumaru elaborated when he saw that his son wasn't getting it. "Think of how Manta views those of mixed blood and you have some idea of my views at that time."
"Yeah, I can see how a babe like mom could make a guy rearrange his thinking a little bit." Dare said with a sober look on his face, now having another reason to want to go to the past. He needed to protect his mommy from his bad dad. That wasn't going to be fun, Dare thought with an inner wince. Cause his bad daddy was gonna be able to kick his ass pretty easy since he couldn't even beat his good dad on his best day. Well maybe with Sora and mommy's help they could pull it off but they couldn't kill bad dad either since he kinda needed bad dad alive so that he could become good dad. God it was so confusing.
Lifting an eyebrow at his son for calling his mother a babe, Sesshoumaru simply shook his head at the whole thing. He'd long ago given up on trying to understand his youngest son and the way the boy's head worked. The human in him most likely.
)
"A whole bunch of humans are coming this way and they've got the stench of demon blood on them." Ren called out while Mina inhaled the smell of blood in the air like most women would inhale the perfume of a flower. She was weird that way.
"The slayers." Triton said with his usual all knowing look on his face. "Fresh from battle and heading this way."
"How many?" Sesshoumaru wanted to know.
"Any one of us could handle them all on our own. two dozen at most." Triton said with a considering look. "It would still probably be in our best interests to try and settle this peacefully though. As easy as it would be to get through them they're likely the villages main protectors. We take them out and the women and children will have no one to protect them during the next demon attack."
"I love the smell of fresh blood in the morning. Who needs coffee?" Mina said with an almost dreamy smile as she turned and looked over at the others questioningly, wondering what their game plan was going to be. This could get ugly if these slayers were on a roll and wanted to add a few more bodies to the death count. Especially since beating them all up would still make them useless in another attack. Not a good thing even if it would be their own dumb ass faults. "So I take we aren't going to kill them then. Pity."
"I nominate either Triton or Aunt Mina to do the talking." Dare said as the scent of the slayers became stronger and stronger. Of the group they were the two who were most human like in appearance and could actually hold their tempers and appear reasonable. Well that and Mina could charm men into falling onto their own swords worse case scenario.
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"They're all men. Mina would be the wiser choice." Triton pointed out. After all in his experience there wasn't a male that Mina couldn't wrap around her little finger when she wanted to. The sole exception would likely be Manta but than that would be more of a case of her having caused the idiot wolf too much physical damage to forget.
"I'll do my best." Mina said with a purr as she smiled in anticipation. She loved making dumb idiots out of men. It was just so easy and so entertaining.
"What's going on?" Mika said with a wide yawn as her eyes sleepily opened as she looked around her curiously. "I smelled blood and it destroyed my Orlando Bloom dream. Hi ya, Uncle Sesshoumaru, Triton. When did you guys get here?" She added absently with a small flap of her hand in the place of a proper wave.
"Some demon slayers are headed our way and might be causing some problems. And they've been here for a while." Shippou said as he put her down, knowing she'd only let him carry her so long before she'd bop him on the head or worse.
"Oh, okay." Mika said with a shrug, putting her hand over her mouth to stifle the next yawn while she blinked her golden eyes to wipe away the sleep. "So are we beating the crap out of these slayers or what?"
"We're going to try to use our words first." Hermione said with a chuckle at her cousin's sleepy appearance. Mika always looked like a cute kid when she just woke up and wasn't awake enough to be mean or sarcastic yet.
"I hate using my words." Was Mika's muttered reply as she wandered over to pet Sonya on the head then looked over at Dare questioningly. "By the way, are we there yet?"
)
"Nope and we should all kinda gather close maybe? You know, present a united front and all that?" Aiden suggested, noticing that they were sorta spread out or in a straight line. Ren wasn't near anyone period at the moment.
"Good idea." Sesshoumaru agreed then started issuing orders of who went where. All but Ren and Mina were quick to fall into place but they good naturedly did so after a moment's pause. They were now in three lines, Sesshoumaru, Triton and Mina in front, Mika, Hermione, Aiden and Sonya were in the middle and Dare, Ren and Shippou were covering the back. Stopping to wait for their possible opponents they didn't have long to wait. From the forest path came a large group of men, five on horseback while the others ran on foot. It was obvious that the man in the middle was in charge, the other four men on horseback guarding him on both sides. They all slowed down when they saw the sight before them, many drawing their weapons and were only waiting for the order to attack.
"My turn." Mine murmured as she broke away from the group and did her stuff. Her hips swaying as only Mina could and a come hither look in her emerald green eyes she had the slayers' attentions. The wind whipping through her long red hair she was quite the unusual sight in her open black leather trench coat and tight black pants, black leather ankle boots continuing the Matrix look as she swayed over before coming to a stop a few feet and pulling off an elegant bow that gave them a very nice view of her cleavage. "Milord. Are these your lands we travel upon?" Mina inquired as she slowly straightened, her eyes zeroing in on the guy she judged to be head dimwit. She could have killed them all by now. Walking forward again the men parted like the Dead Sea to let her through, Mina walking right up to the leader without an ounce of fear, her sheer presence making the men back off in wonder.
)
"They are." The leader said as he hastily cleared his throat. She was oddly dressed but she didn't strike him as a demon in disguise despite her travel companions. at least four of them had to be demons or at least with demon blood in them. If he'd been thinking rationally he might have suspected a trap but he couldn't seem to take his eyes off the stunningly beautiful creature before him. He'd never seen such perfection and it took all his mental power to remain coherent much less think rationally.
"Well then we'd like your permission to continue on our way then." Mina purred as she fluttered her lashes at the idiot. "We haven't come here to cause trouble or even to hunt if that's a concern. We're simply traveling to nearby lands and this would be the quickest route."
"You travel with demons, my dear lady." The leader pointed out gruffly, motioning in the direction of her family with the blade he'd drawn as they'd approached.
"That is true, milord. The demon directly behind me with a mirror image slightly behind him is Sesshoumaru, Lord of the West who's...territory you happen to inhabit. Also with me is the daughter and son of the half demon Inu yasha and the feared priestess Kagome. As well we have a wind user, the oldest children of two of the heads of the nearby wolf clans and the youngest son of the demon slayer Sango. I really think you'll be wanting to let us through. We have no quarrel with you." Mina said with a knowing look in her eye, leaving out that she was the wife of one of the heads of the wolf tribe since learning she was married might make them harder to wrap around her little finger. "So will you let us through or do things have to get ugly?"
A mental struggle going on the leader finally shook his head. "We have no quarrel with the Lord of the West or his kin. You may pass, expect to face your death should you attempt to harm any of the people on my lands." Normally he would have risen to the challenge so that he might have been able to boast to having killed the lord of the west but his men were worn from fighting and since these demons were with this beautiful creature how could they possibly cause any problems.
"You're too kind." Mina said with a nod then heading back to rejoin the others. "Easy as pie." Mina said in a low voice as she rolled her eyes at her family before turning around to face the slayers again. "Shall we?"