The view before Kagome was completely awe-inspiring, and the closer Sesshomaru's giant form was to that beautiful scenery before her, the more of fascinating details Kagome could see. Statues, stairs, soldiers, servants – so many 's'-words! And also gardens, and architecture, and all kinds of youkai – and all of that was floating on a giant cloud so high in the sky that Kagome could barely breathe.
When they flew closer, Kagome could feel a barrier that was surrounding the floating island. Sesshomaru and she passed it through effortlessly, and the priestess immediately felt her labored breath easing out as the air around became thicker and warmer, as if it was summer here. She looked below them, onto the terraces, squares and buildings looming below, and could see youkai looking up at her and Sesshomaru, some with wonderment and admiration, some with little to no emotion, and some with fear.
Finally, Sesshomaru landed on a top-most part of a somewhat pyramidal island. The place they landed at was surrounded by more stairs and terraces, and hosted the richest-looking mansion of them all, and also the highest number of guards. When Kagome climbed down from his back and her teacher transformed back into his human form, she could see that they have been expected already.
The woman, white-haired and fair-skinned, was sitting upon an elaborately made stone bench directly opposite the wide set of stairs that was leading to the square. She was so similar to Sesshomaru in every part of her looks, that if he himself didn't stood just next to her, Kagome could have thought that some witchery transformed him into a woman when she didn't looked. The woman wore clothes of similar colors and style, had almost the same marks of heritage on her cheeks and forehead, and even her face was looking similar not just in its abstract beauty, but in some features of it as well. Kagome could instantly notice how similar to Sesshomaru's forms of her slanted eyes and sharp chin were. Thankfully, she had time to build up her immunity for perfect youkai's looks, so she wasn't noticeably dumbfounded.
"Sesshomaru," the woman greeted with a cold smile. Her voice was high-pitched and gentle, but didn't seem to hold any real warmth. "How nice to see you finally come to greet your mother. And here she thought that you decided to skip this year's festival altogether. But not only you came; you brought another guest with you – how wonderful! And this Tsume had believed that you despised humans..."
'So this is his mother… They look more similar to siblings! Although, she really doesn't share Sesshomaru's brevity,' Kagome thought, looking from one to another as if trying to spot five differences.
"She is not entirely human, mother, and you know it," Sesshomaru replied with his customary coldness. Kagome was starting to think that he and his mother hated each other, with that passive-aggressive sort of animosity.
"My name is Kagome, by the way," the priestess chimed in with a low bow as soon as she could. She was sure that if she wasn't going to introduce herself, no matter how rude it was, nobody was. "Nice you meet you, Tsume-sama."
Sesshomaru glowered, but his mother just giggled into her long sleeve.
"Oh, girl, you are so amusing already! Later you must tell me everything about what you are and how you met my son. And don't be so angry with your mother, Sesshomaru – we both know I would've needed to pull it out of you together with your tongue. Do you wish for your mother to overexert herself and fall ill?" Tsume put her hand to her forehead in a mock sadness.
"You two may talk, if you wish," Sesshomaru said and turned to Kagome. "Any unregulated fights between guests are prohibited in this place, priestess. You may roam free until this Sesshomaru needs you again."
"And he is leaving already," Tsume said with an over exaggerated sigh as Sesshomaru turned towards the stairs down. "Just as usual. Now he is going to avoid everyone until the tournament, even his dearest mother!"
Kagome, who was left alone with an unfamiliar female copy of Sesshomaru, suddenly felt very out of place. And her hands now were so interesting to look at…
"Girl," since there were no other girls in the vicinity, Kagome raised her head to look at Tsume expectantly. "Let's go and entertain this one's guests for a while. Majority has already arrived. And when we are walking there, you are going to tell this Tsume all about yourself!" the youkai woman said with excitement. Those were the words of Kagome's doom.
The rest of the day was a whirlwind of new faces and countless words exchanged. Tsume, in sharp contrast with her son, gladly spoke with each and every of the grand amount of people she invited to the festival and those whom they, in turn, brought with them. The time in-between she used to explain Kagome ins and outs of the event and ask her questions about herself in return. The whole day until sunset and long after that, Tsume continued to take the priestess with her everywhere she went, like either some sort of pet or a special guest. With Tsume the difference was really hard to tell – she seemed to see the whole festival like some sort of an exciting game, made by herself, for herself, with her guests as play pieces, and wasn't even hiding it very hard.
When eventually Kagome was finally brought to a guest room for the night by a quiet servant and left alone, she felt exhausted and full of excitement to the brim. The day was one of the most interesting in her life, and as Tsume said, the festival didn't even truly begin yet! Tomorrow, though, there were going to be feasts and performances of all kind, and Kagome hoped to have an opportunity to talk more with Shunran, who was invited to the festival together with other three wildcats.
The room was dark without any lamps lit, but Kagome didn't bothered with searching for them, instead just dressing down to the thin white yukata that was serving as her underwear now that she wasn't wearing pants. It was only when she found a rolled out futon in the dark and fell on it that Kagome noticed that it was looking so strangely, because someone was already lying on it! She shrieked on reflex and scrambled away from a vague shape of a rousing person that she could see in the dark.
"Was it necessary for you to attack my eardrums, priestess?" a familiar voice said with annoyance. Kagome breathed easier.
"Why you are sleeping in my room, Sesshomaru-sama?" she asked suspiciously. She hadn't seen even a glimpse of him the whole day, and was wondering now if he spent all that time in this room.
"This is not your room," he replied, sitting up. "Since this Sesshomaru did not announced bringing another guest with him, you were put to sleep in his room as well."
"And why I am hearing about this for the first time?" Kagome cried out. It wasn't the problem for her to sleep in the vicinity of Sesshomaru – hey, she was doing it since he became her teacher! – but lying down to sleep to find another person in what should have been her bed was quite unpleasant. She fumed.
"Be quiet and sleep," Sesshomaru rumbled in dog-speak. Low notes of his growling reverberated in Kagome's chest, making her relax as the youkai spread his long pelt near him for her use.
Not even trying to hurt her throat with an answer, Kagome yawned and lied down on it. As usual, the pelt was softer than any futon, and long enough to create a fine bed for both her and Sesshomaru. In a few moments she was already asleep.
When Kagome woke up, she was lying alone in the middle of the futon with no hint of Sesshomaru's ever being present in the room. Guessing that he was going to continue to be antisocial, Kagome prepared herself in the adjacent bathroom and went out to face the day.
Just as yesterday, the place was hectic and giant, and now Kagome had no helpful guides to show her around. Not wishing to disturb already busy servants with her questions, the priestess used her a bit blurred memories of yesterday to find her way out of the building.
It was placed upon one of the highest terraces, and when she ventured outside of it, Kagome could easily see the crowds below. Many of the squares that yesterday were more or less empty now hosted long tables filled with food and drinks, and she spotted a big stage, where few dancers performed for gathered guests. Everything seemed to be filled with joyful people and noise, and if not yesterday, Kagome would have been overwhelmed. This was the most lavish festival she'd seen in her life, and the guests were of the strangest sort – all of them youkai. Yesterday Kagome felt like a living attachment to Tsume, but now she was being a white raven – a human among beasts in human skins. And many of those skins weren't even that good. Some guests brought their children with them, who did not yet learned how to transform into humanoids, and some looked grotesque despite all their efforts.
Shaking her head and filling her chest to the brim with air and determination, Kagome went toward the nearest table in search for Shunran. She tried to feel for her aura, but it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Not that looking for her with eyes was much easier. Still, even if Kagome didn't noticed the girl anywhere near the crowd of youkai she passed by, she reached the table that was full of food, which was a good enough goal on its own.
It must be noticed, that since Kagome added some raw meat in her diet, she needed to eat much less than before, but even so, her still human body craved normal human food for it as well. She wasn't left hungry yesterday, thanks to servants ready to bring her something to chew on, but now Kagome was curious for the youkai cuisine. Especially with her knowledge on eating habits of some specific youkai… her hand touched the sword on her hip without thought.
As it was, dishes on the table were of the great variety. To her surprise, Kagome noticed human dishes of all kinds there, lying together with what looked like different meats of varying stages of raw. Some of those, she could tell because of the youki that Kagome could feel inside, belonged to youkai, but some weren't. Just in case, Kagome didn't touch this unidentified meat, instead sticking to what she knew.
After stuffing her stomach – she didn't meant to at first, but all the food was just so tasty! – Kagome left again to continue her search or to enjoy the festivities. Many of the guests that Kagome already met yesterday greeted her in passing, while those who seen her first time preferred to throw curious glances. Strangely, nobody seemed to mind her being human – maybe it was the merry atmosphere that was making youkai around so positive about everything.
Not seeing Shunran or any of her cat-band anywhere around, Kagome took her time to explore everything. She grabbed an owl festival mask from a stall where a servant was giving them over to guests, watched a leash of fox youkai to perform a life-like play with illusions that left Kagome so immersed, that at some point she almost jumped at the stage to protect a main hero of the story from the villain, and took a stroll in gardens to rest a little and enjoy the beautiful scenery that could be seen from so far above the ground.
It was there that Kagome noticed a little girl that was crying quietly in an empty gazebo. Of course, the priestess instantly came over to rectify the situation. Children shouldn't be crying alone, especially at the festivals.
"Girl, what's happened? Why are you crying?" Kagome asked in a gentle voice as she came over. The girl stopped hiccupping for a moment to look up at her, but still continued to hug her knees pitifully. She couldn't have looked older than four, but as far as Kagome knew, at this physical age most youkai still had only their true form, with trickster kinds, like foxes, being only exceptions. Her blue hair and violet eyes were too colorful for a human, though, and her aura was full of youki. A half-youkai?
"I… I don't know where my dad and mom are…" the girl said so quietly that Kagome needed to lean closer to hear, which in turn made the girl to hide her face in her knees again, which made her voice even quieter.
"They came here with you?" when the girl replied with a barely noticeable nod, Kagome continued in a calming voice, "Don't worry, I am going to help you to find them. My name is Kagome. Now, what is your name?"
"Sh-shiori," the child whispered, looking up again. Kagome smiled encouragingly and reached out her hand.
"Shiori, let's go and look around for your mom and dad. Can you describe them?"
"My dad… he is tall and has pretty blue hair, like me," Shiori said a bit louder, taking Kagome's hand with noticeable hesitancy. The priestess waited patiently for the girl to do so and stand up. "And my mom looks like you."
'So she is probably a human,' Kagome noted, 'It should be easier to find a human there than a youkai.'
"Alright, Shiori-chan, now can you lead me to where you saw them last time?" she asked, and then followed after a quiet girl out of the gazebo. Shiori, though, didn't lead the way for a long time before stopping with a helpless expression on her face.
"I don't know where to go… I forgot…" she said and started to tear up again.
"Sh-h, calm down, Shiori-chan, I am sure that they are also searching for you around. Let's not walk too far and wait for them to find you?" Kagome hurried to calm the girl down. When she didn't start to cry again and instead just nodded, Kagome sighed with relief.
They found a bench to sit on not too far away and settled to wait, with Kagome distracting Shiori from her distress by playing easy games with her and telling her stories. Thankfully, she didn't need to divert child's attention for too long before she perked up with a bright smile.
"My dad is calling me!" Shiori said. Kagome looked around in confusion – she didn't hear anything. The girl didn't let that distract her, though, and jumped from her seat to start running in what seemed to be a random direction for the priestess. Of course, she followed straight after the child.
They run down the garden path and ended up on a crossroads, where stood a couple that couldn't be anyone else but Shiori's parents: a tall, noble-looking youkai with light blue hair and an ordinary-looking human woman. The youkai in question was standing with his mouth open, as if in shout, but Kagome couldn't hear any sounds leaving his lips. That is, until he noticed Shiori running to him.
"My girl!" he exclaimed, kneeling down and spreading his hands to embrace her. "Oh, we were so worried!"
"Shiori-chan, we told you not to go away on your own," the woman next to him chided with a severe tone of a worried mother.
"I am sorry," Shiori whispered into her father's clothes. He, in turn, stood up, lifting the girl in his hands effortlessly, and looked at Kagome.
"Lady, may I guess that you helped Shiori to find us?" the youkai asked friendly, while gently patting Shiori's back.
"I really did nothing," Kagome waved away with an awkward smile. "Just watched over her for a while until you… Called her?"
The youkai smiled and seemed to understand the source of the priestess's confusion.
"My name is Tsukuyomaru, and this is my wife, Shizu," with his hands busy with his daughter, the youkai could only nod at his wife, who bowed in greeting. Kagome politely bowed back. "I am a bat youkai, and our kind can make out sounds that other bats could hear from very far away, but most of other beings can't perceive at all," Tsukuyomaru explained with a smile.
The priestess introduced herself in turn, when Shiori suddenly lifter her head up to say her own words. "She told me stories," the girl said, before hiding again on her father's chest. Kagome smiled tenderly over the little girl's innate cuteness.
"Thank you for keeping an eye on our daughter," Shizu said gratefully in her turn. "I don't think that many of other guests would have been as helpful."
"Yes," Tsukuyomaru nodded thoughtfully, "I am surprised to see another human there, and especially a priestess. Tsume-sama is known for her general disinterest for human race beside the luxuries they come up with. Were you brought with one of the guests?"
While Kagome was wearing not her priestess garb, but a simple silk yukata - appropriate for festivals and celebrations, but not too constricting - and hiding most of her aura, she wasn't surprised that Tsukuyomaru noticed sparks of reiki in it. Most of youkai she met there also did.
"I was brought by Sesshomaru-sama," she said, expecting Tsukuyomaru to at least hear about the son of his hostess. When his brows lifted in surprise, Kagome was sure that he did. "I am his servant, sort of. It's a long story. But he is hiding somewhere, so I am alone for now."
"This is most unbelievable," Tsukuyomaru shook his head in shock. His wife looked at him with confusion, than at Kagome.
"Are you a priestess, Kagome-san? How can you serve a youkai, then? Sesshomaru is a youkai, right?" she looked questioningly at her husband.
"Well, as I said, it's a long story. But in short, I have promised to serve him in exchange for his help with one very serious problem of mine," Kagome explained. "I don't know why he brought me here, though."
"I see," Tsukuyomaru said. Both he and Shizu still looked full of bewilderment. Shiori was looking up from her father's hands curiously, but was not chiming in. "If you don't have any plans for the festival, what about staying with us for a time?"
"I was hoping to find my friend Shunran out there, but I spend the whole morning on it already with no results," Kagome replied with a wide smile on her face. She was starving for some company, and those two seemed to be good guys. She was also very curious to learn about how they came to be together. The only youkai-human couple she knew before were Inuyasha's parents… And this story ended badly and begun she didn't even know how. "So sure, let's go!"