The eastern lands were riddled with the remains of human kingdoms fallen into ruin. If Toga had been a lesser demon, it would have taken him days to span the broken lands of the East searching—but his status as a Lord and Daiyoukai gave him the right to call upon the Eastern Lord with no notice. Additionally, the Great Bear of the East had long been a friend and ally, so when Toga called, he answered.
Now the Lords flew through the sky at speeds so fast humans couldn't even see them. "Are you going to tell me why you search my lands for a human hime named after the sixteenth night?" Gou asked, the orb of light he floated on steady under his boulder sized feet.
Toga hesitated, unsure what truth to speak. There was the chance, ally and friend or not, that if Gou knew about the resurrection ability Toga sought he might wish to keep it for himself and if that happened, Toga would risk war if he tried to take it. There was also the chance though that if he was caught in a lie, the outcome would be much worse. "My ward has died," he said finally, settling on the truth as the burden of his goal settled heavily on his broad shoulders—and he hoped it was a truth worth telling, that his friend would aid him in this quest. "She has died, but a small piece of her soul remains with her body. An old ally informed me of a human family that held the power to bring the girl back, to retrieve her soul from the underworld."
Gou had been, and always would be, a superstitious old bear. The dead were meant to stay dead, period. He frowned. "She might be better left to begin her next life," he said, green eyes glancing at the Inu with worry.
Red bled into his own gold eyes and Toga shuddered as the beast rammed against its cage. "Her soul cannot remain in the underworld, Gou. She is not of this world, and Fuiasu has seen where and from whence she came. She is certain the child must live to maturity." He paused, and eyes still red, tightened the leash on the monster within. "And she is mine. My ward, my pup. She will live again."
For a time, both were silent. Finally, Gou sighed. "Very well. If such a girl with this power exists in my lands, you may take her. I don't want such things in my lands at any rate." Both males knew those were the kinds of abilities that wars could be fought over and since Gou would rather not court death by playing at being a Kami, he would gladly give such a human to his ally. "Come, there are only a few human families of royal status with daughters remaining in my lands. The rest have fought and destroyed each other. I will take you to the living Lords."
And so they flew and landed amongst the lands of the humans—unmoved by the weapons and farm tools pointed their way as they searched. If a human dared to attack, they were batted away like a cat's toy—neither Lord was particularly fond of humans per se, but nor were they prone to kill those so far beneath them.
When Gou led them to the last of his human Lords, he sighed. "Lord Setsuna has many daughters, but no sons. I believe he hopes to find a husband for one who might one day become Lord in his place. We will speak with him and appraise his daughters. If none of them have what you want, then I'm afraid I don't know of any other human Lords in my domain."
Toga nodded as they landed in the courtyard of the Lord Setsuna—where they were surprisingly not attacked on sight.
"This Lord pays his tithe to my household, and so is free to call on my armies to help settle disputes should he have them." Gou shrugged, unconcerned. "It's a small thing—it keeps them off my back and from killing each other, since everyone near here is scared of a demon army bearing down on them. Though, I havebeen itching for a fight lately. I half hoped you'd come to let me throw you around my dojo."
"You are always welcome to attend my court and spend your time in the sparring rings," Toga said as he studied the gardens they had landed in. Distantly, he could hear children laughing and a furious tutor chasing after them as they ran.
When a guard approached, he bowed low. "Gou-sama. Lord Setsuna will attend you shortly. He asks that you allow me to accompany you and your guest on a stroll through the gardens."
"Sure," Gou said, unfazed. "Let's go, Toga. Lady Setsuna had an easy hand with her gardens I've seen matched only by your own Lady." He led the way through the gardens, the guard following behind at a polite distance.
Sighing, Toga rolled his shoulders and fought to think of something to distract him. It was best not to speak of the real reason they had come until approached by the Lord. "You know, if you crave a fight you should tend my borders with me soon. The dragon's have been testing my boundaries—their filthy, conniving blood has covered my blades often of late."
Gou grinned and rubbed his hands together in delight. "It's been a time since I had a dragon. I've been thinking of gifting my eldest with some new armor—dragon hide would make an excellent contribution to that."
Before Toga could respond, the sound of multiple little pairs of feet darting over stone and dirt interrupted his train of thought. Within seconds, three little girls came running through the gardens, straight to Gou. When they latched onto Gou and started making demands to play, Toga snorted. "Tithe, eh?"
Unembarrassed, Gou shrugged and leaned down to pick up the oldest girl and toss her into the air. "Shove it, Tashio."
Despite the tension riding his spine, Toga unbent enough to crouch down in front of the smallest girl as she stared up at him. She was quite stunning for a human child, her long dark hair almost brushing the ground, her eyes warm and dark as melted chocolate. "What's your name, little one?"
She hesitated for a moment, before bowing. "Izayoi," she said, the words whisper soft as she stared into his gold eyes, utterly entranced. "We're hiding from tutor-san," she added conspiratorially, and at the sound of heavier steps coming towards them, darted behind the dog general to hide in the folds of his hakama as the other two girls moved to hide behind the bear. "Izayoi does not like tutor-san. His breath smells of fish and ale."