Sesshomaru left Rin in the care of the old miko with the reassurance that the younger miko would soon return. He was headed east, to deal with a disturbance he'd heard of near his border.
When Jaken's constant overly loud praise began to grate on Sesshomaru's nerves, he turned to silence the kappa in the most entertaining way possible— a boot to the face. Before his foot left the ground, the Inu was surprised by the sudden appearance of a lone male at Ah-Un's flank. As Sesshomaru moved to attack, the male disappeared.
Sesshomaru looked around warily. He attempted to track the male by scent, but was startled to find there was none. It was almost as if the male was a figment of his imagination.
Jaken stood frozen, his beak-like mouth hanging open in shock. He watched helplessly as the strange looking male moved faster than his lord's attack.
Sesshomaru growled in frustration then turned to continue his eastward trek. As soon as he turned, the male appeared in front of him. Before he could think to attack, the strange male moved close and with a glowing hand, flicked the powerful Daiyokai between the eyes. Jaken squawked as he watched the yokai lord slump to the ground from such a simple gesture. He trembled in fear when he realized he'd drawn the attention of a being that had just taken down the Lord of the West with a simple touch.
"Little kappa," the male intoned.
Jaken squeezed his eyes closed tight and didn't answer.
"Why are you afraid of me, little one?" the male asked, kneeling in front of the unmoving toad.
"You— you're not going to kill me?" Jaken squeaked.
The male laughed. "Why would you think such a thing, little kappa?"
Jaken's eyes slid toward the prone form of the big Inu then back to the strange male kneeling in front of him.
The male laughed again. "Little kappa, he's not dead. He's merely been sent, in spirit only, to another plane. I need you to take his body back to the village of the Shikon Miko. His slumbering form is to be tended by his human daughter until the miko returns."
He then moved away from Jaken, drawing Ah-Un behind him toward Sesshomaru's body. As the male moved to lift the unconscious daiyokai, Jaken squeaked then ran to stop him.
"Stop! Do not touch my lord!" Jaken squealed as he ran to intercept the bold male reaching for Sesshomaru's still body.
"Silence, little kappa," the male growled. "I was sent by Tsukiyomi. Surely you realize who I am, that I was able to subdue a warrior such as this with only a touch?"
Jaken froze at the mention of the moon god. He stood, staring at the still unrecognized male before him.
"Silly little kappa…" the male sighed, exasperation evident in his tone. "I am Bishamon, god of fortunate warriors. I was sent by Tsukiyomi to the strongest warrior of the House of the Moon. He is being called to his destiny. At this time, his soul is between realms where he is learning his part in future events. He will awaken when he accepts his fate. Until then, Amaterasu has charged Sesshomaru's daughter, his human ward Rin, with the care of his body. When the Shikon Miko returns from her home, he should be awake and ready to undertake the tasks set before him."
With that, Bishamon stepped around Jaken and lifted Sesshomaru's body to Ah-Un's back.
"Come, little kappa. We return to Edo village." Bishamon stilled, closing his eyes and fell silent for a few moments. When he opened his eyes again, he continued. "Young Rin has been made aware of her task. She is currently arranging a suitable space with the aid of the elder miko. Let us return."
~~~~~~ Meanwhile, in the dream plane… ~~~~~
Sesshomaru opened his eyes and sat up with a growl. He looked around and saw… nothing. All that could be seen was a vast expanse of white. As Sesshomaru got to his feet, he heard a masculine voice.
"Oh, good. You're awake, though the term "awake" may not quite fit."
Sesshomaru growled again.
"Who are you? Where am I?" he spit between clenched teeth.
"You're in a dream plane, Lord of the West. Between the realm of the living and the dead," the voice responded. "While you're here, your body is being tended as the gods have requested."
Sesshomaru continued to growl menacingly. His claws dripped with poison as he looked around, searching for the source of the voice.
"You fail to tell this Sesshomaru who you are."
Finally, he saw the figure of a male in the distance. The male was tall and lean, with shining silver hair and eyes the same shade. His appearance was, in fact, very similar to the angry Daiyokai.
Sesshomaru darted toward the figure and slashed at it with his claws. Most definitely male— but he couldn't tell if it was yokai or human. The body quickly faded from sight.
Sesshomaru turned when he heard a rustle directly behind him. It was the same figure he had just struck down with poison claws. The being thumped him between the eyes, leaving the Daiyokai frozen but aware.
"You didn't honestly think I'd die that easily, did you?" he asked incredulously. He saw shock register in Sesshomaru's eyes.
"Oh, you did!" the being continued, laughing. "Maybe I should introduce myself, young pup."
Sesshomaru glared.
The being laughed louder. "Stop your glaring, pup. It will get you nowhere fast. I am Tsukiyomi no Mikoto."
At this revelation, a multitude of emotions crossed Sesshomaru's eyes, the most prominent being disbelief.
"So you don't believe me, pup? By the time you leave here, you will," Tsukiyomi said, a hard edge to his voice. "I sent Bishamon to fetch you in the forest. Your kappa retainer defended you valiantly."
Slight sorrow crossed Sesshomaru's eyes at the thought of the annoying toad's death.
"Stop that, foolish whelp," Tsukiyomi commanded. "The kappa lives. He's assisting Bishamon take your body to be tended as demanded by my sister."
Sesshomaru looked relieved then confused.
Tsukiyomi, getting frustrated by the one-sided conversation, thumped Sesshomaru between the eyes again.
"Speak your mind, boy."
Sesshomaru growled then lunged at Tsukiyomi.
Tsukiyomi sidestepped and waited for Sesshomaru to turn. He thumped Sesshomaru between the eyes again, freezing him in place.
"Seriously. I tell you I'm a god and you still think you can effectively attack me? Do you even think these things through? At least when your soul's mate was called here, she listened! She didn't attack, she asked questions. She allowed her spiritual advisor to answer those questions and even give proof… Why cant you be more like that?" Tsukiyomi asked, exasperated.
Tsukiyomi walked a short distance from Sesshomaru's frozen form then disappeared, leaving the dream plane.
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a/n: Exciting, no? Maybe I'm just easily amused... Yes, Japanese deities are coming out as OC's! There is a purpose behind the ones I chose to use... And I do have some "educational" tidbits regarding them, and those bits are copied from Wikipedia because I'm too lazy to reword things. Again, some of them will only be in the story for small bits, some have larger roles.
So far, I've mentioned:
Amaterasu-Ō-Mi-Kami Commonly called Amaterasu, she is the goddess of the sun as well as the purported ancestress of the Imperial Household of Japan. Her full name means "Great Goddess" or "Great Spirit Who Shines in the Heavens"; she may also be referred to as Ōhiru-menomuchi-no-kami. For many reasons, one among them being her ties to the Imperial family, she is often considered (though not officially) to be the "primary god" of Shinto.
Tsukuyomi no Mikoto Also known as Tsukiyomi, Tsuki no Kami, Tsukiyomino Mikoto, and Tsukiyumi no Mikoto, he is the god of the moon. He killed the goddess of food, Uke Mochi, out of disgust and anger in the way she had prepared a meal. This caused Amaterasu to never face him again, causing the sun and moon to be in different parts of the sky.
(According to everything I've read, those two most certainly do NOT get along... However, for the purpose of my story, they will cooperate.)
Bishamonten Also called Bishamon or Tamonten, he is the god of fortunate warriors and guards, as well as the punisher of criminals. Said to live halfway down the side of Mount Sumeru, the small pagoda he carries symbolizes the divine treasure house that he both guards and gives away its contents.