AVALANCHE
"Next time, aim for my head."
Sesshoumaru watched her go. Roof tiles cracked and slid beneath her feet as she lept between them, before she finally disappeared under an eave, then even her scent was lost to him, stolen away by a gust of wind, and with it any sense of responsibility he'd held for her.
He palmed his abdomen and took a breath, calculating the severity of the injury. Nothing broken, only sore and smarting. There would be a sizeable bruise, but the attack hadn't meant to maim, only to shock and shove him off. It'd done the job fairly well, he hadn't expected it, and the force had surprised him enough to send him stumbling, something he would not allow to happen again.
There was an inkling, a tickle of energy swirling down his spine, knowing that he should follow, make right the blow she'd dealt him. The power was there, but his legs remained resolutely in place like a stuck wheel.
The wall still sizzled from his poison, the plaster sloughing off and dripping to the floor to eat away at the tatami, bubbling and hissing with steam. A momentary lapse in control, his temper getting the better of him at the mention of Rin, the girl a tender subject that needed to be handled carefully in the mixed company that wandered the halls. Kagura had never been a threat where she was concerned, but the mere insinuation―
He'd have to kill her, if he went after her now. Though given her little display of power, that might be a tougher task than he'd imagined. He'd never seen her in battle, and had underestimated what she was capable of.
Still, his legs refused to move and there was a brief twist of pain in his gut.
He'd been a damn fool.
Too caught up in the high of victory, he hadn't questioned her miraculous revival or the change in her scent the way he should have, had simply let her go on her way because to do otherwise would mean questioning himself.
It had been a debt, those years ago, a wrong that needed righting. She'd given him aid, aid that no doubt had contributed to the circumstances of her death. Her revival had lifted the weight from his shoulders and freed him from any due she was owed. He hadn't questioned it, too caught up in blood red eyes and the memory of a smile…
And then she'd done the same now, showing up where he least expected, all smiles and laughter and teasing. He'd grown too complacent, and allowed her through the doors without so much as a second thought all because she'd never given him reason to doubt her.
He was above such simpering weakness. A mistake that wouldn't be made twice. If it was all some elaborate scheme then so be it, he'd killed the spider once already, he would do it again.
Yet, his legs remained resolute, stuck to the floor.
With a snarl he forced them to action, turning on his heel to go back inside. He slammed the door open, nearly snapping the fragile panes and almost tossing it off its tracks with the force.
The light of a torch disoriented him, just a little too bright for the previously dark corridor. He blinked. ...It hadn't been there before.
Typical. There were times when he had the thought that his current predicament was more trouble that it was worth. Often, he lamented he could no longer enact the violence he was once so revered for. There were some positives to being a soulless monster. But Rin would be upset if the fox suddenly went missing. Unfortunate.
A solid thump of his fist against the wall as he passed and the kit tumbled to the floor with a pop of smoke. The boy glared up at him rubbing his head, but wisely kept whatever insult he wanted to voice to himself.
"If you're going to eavesdrop," Sesshoumaru said, stepping over him, "choose something less conspicuous."
Shippou stared up at him, dejected, but it wasn't until Sesshoumaru had taken several steps that he opened his mouth.
"I don't like Kagura all that much, but… she used to help us sometimes."
He didn't stop, but Sesshoumaru minutely slowed his pace.
"If he was… if Naraku was back, we'd know, wouldn't we?"
Four years would be quite a stretch for the spider to plot his revenge. But then again, the bastard had lived half a century without Sesshoumaru ever hearing of him. It seemed he could bide his time where it mattered.
"'Give people the benefit of the doubt,'" the boy said, optimistic, but then softened his tone. "...At least, that's what Kagome would want me to say."
Sesshoumaru scoffed and kept walking. "You spend too much time with humans."
He picked up his mother's scent trail, and finally found her lounging against a railing on one of the upper floors and looking out over the castle, a long pipe in her hand, watching as several younger dogs wrestled in the snow and slush of the courtyard. Above, the waxing moon hung in the star strung sky, it's light nearly as bright as the sun despite it's lacking a quarter, it set the nearby mountainside aglow with it's icy glare. The temperature had already dropped significantly since the sun had set, yet that didn't seem to bother his mother or her entertainment.
One of her retinue sat beside her, but scurried off at his approach. His mother looked up with a long suffering sigh and a roll of her eyes. She tapped her pipe against the railing, letting the wind catch the smoldering coals.
"I don't smell any blood on you," she said, giving him a once over, "though I do smell poison, and judging by the look on your face there wasn't a lack of violence."
"I want to know what happened between you four years ago."
"Don't tell me you're so easily swayed by a pretty face."
He leveled a glare at her, which only earned him another sigh and a wave of her hand.
"She came to me with some spindly excuse for a god's familiar," she said, scoffing, "the damned thing looked like he could hardly stand, sick as he was, but still had the audacity to be rude. He demanded I open the way to hell for them to go fetch his misbegotten master."
"A god's familiar?"
The castle trembled, a tremor shaking the foundations accompanied by a series of shouts. Mother and son wore similar expressions of disinterest as they inclined their heads towards the sound.
Dust and snow swirled from one of the floors far below, kicked up by a collapsed roof. A fight? Not uncommon, there was always bound to be someone who lost life or limb when so many youkai were in one place. Spats rarely went regulated, so long as the skirmish only involved two aggressors willing to fight, nothing to be concerned over so long as they kept it to themselves. But whoever it was causing havoc down below didn't seem to care for common decorum, destroying the castle as they were.
"That won't be easy to fix," his mother sighed, exhaling smoke.
"I'll deal with it." A way to dispel some energy. He turned, intending to take the long way down, but the wind changed direction, bringing new scents to him…
The scent of blood and―
…Poison.
…
Son of a bitch. She should have fucking known better.
Memory hadn't served her well, and a few cordial nights hardly meant anything when someone was a right bastard. A little friction at his mother's arrival, she'd expected that, not whatever the fuck had just happened.
Whatever. It'd been getting too cold here, anyway.
She'd soothed her curiosity, and it had gone spectacularly worse than she'd expected. Fine. Now she knew better. At least there'd been little bloodshed, she had no interest in having to make the bastard a cripple again. She wasn't sure if the feeling was mutual and didn't care to find out.
Tekari jumped when Kagura slammed the door open to their room, the girl almost drowning in torn cloth as she worked. Urue hung like a shadow from one of the rafters, one glimmering red eye peered at her curiously from a crack in her wings.
"We're leaving!"
"Really?!" The bat was on her shoulders in seconds, nearly giddy as she clawed at Kagura's robes, searching for purchase on slippery silk.
"Tekari, tell the others I've gone south," she said, picking through the mess on the floor to find whatever decent clothes she could find. "Achara will know where to find me."
Urue gave a high pitched chirp right beside her ear, but Kagura ignored it, choosing to continue her search, tossing the bulk of Momiji's collection over her shoulder and Urue's head in a heap. She'd need something sturdy and warm to forego using her own energy for heat, a thick wool hanten, a multi-layered kosode made of hemp, tabi―
The door slid open behind her and Kagura jumped, not recognizing the aura. She turned, an insult ready on her tongue, only to be met with pitch black eyes.
"What the fuck do you want."
"We weren't properly acquainted, earlier." The crow who'd shaken her, a sly smirk on his face and flanked by his two lackeys. Kagura fought the urge to grimace when he sank into a deep bow. "I only came to make that right. I am Ryuuhoubou, fourth son of Soujoubou, Dai-Tengu of Niigata. A pleasure."
"Can't say I feel the same," she spat, she waved the cloth slung over her arm at him. "You made your little introduction, now you can see I'm busy."
He pursed his lips, pouting as he took a step over the threshold. "Well that would be unfortunate, I've been admiring your dancing these last few days, I just hadn't gotten the courage to ask for your companionship. I'm sure we could change your mind?"
The ko-tengu stepped up beside him, beady eyes flickering across the small room. Kagura dropped her bundle, taking her fan firmly in hand and quirked her shoulder, Urue fell, gliding away to land beside Tekari. The two ugly birds certainly lacked any sense of modesty, one already pawing at one of Hotaru's flaming silken furisodes.
"I doubt it." She eyed the ko-tengu with disdain. "And I suggest you get out of here before I lose my patience."
His face fell and he clicked his tongue. He took a step forward. "Now, now, you're here to entertain aren't you? I think we could arrange something―"
"I'm not in the mood to play your fucking game, crow," she hissed, "either tell me what you're here for or get the hell out."
He chuckled, a thick, unnerving thing that held little amusement despite the way his shoulders shook.
"You control the wind, don't you?" He tilted his head, those pitch black eyes alight in wonder, a thread of awe coloring his voice. He reached out for her, the same as he had earlier in the night, trying to brush the back of his knuckles against her skin. She leaned away. "A good match, don't you think? In a way, we both own the skies…"
She grimaced and smacked the flat of her fan against his hand, swatting him away as if he was nothing more than a fly. He pulled back, shaking his hand feigning injury.
"Besides," he grinned, "I've never fucked a goddess before."
There was a beat, the wind went still as the words processed, Urue might have gasped, but Kagura hardly heard it for the blood pounding in her ears. She put on a smile, and for a moment it looked like he just might believe the sincerity of it. She twirled her arm elegantly, her fan open wide.
"That's nice, but I don't think you heard me. I said―" she whipped her arm, energy curling off the blades like a well aimed punch, "―get the fuck out!"
The gust hit him in the side, bludgeoning his ribs and probably cracking a few. It hadn't been her most refined attack, given the confined space, and half of the shoji doors went out with him, the wood and paper shooting out into the yard. Ryuuhoubou hadn't expected the force of it, and it sent him flying into the slush outside, he skidded in the hard packed snow while his underlings squawked his name in shock.
"You should lower your expectations."
For a moment he was still, and she wondered if she'd hit him hard enough to knock him unconscious. But then there was a quiver, his chest heaving with―
Laughter?
Silent, but definitely laughter.
She would fucking kill him.
The crow looked up, propped himself up on one elbow, a wide grin on his face, showing off blinding white teeth. He pulled himself to his feet, his wings unfurled, spreading out wide as he gave a firm nod to his lackeys.
And then he lunged.
The air under his wings propelling him forward at a breakneck pace, crossing the distance to the open doorway within half a second. Kagura jumped back, throwing a gust in his face, the air pressure slowing his flight.
"Dumbass, I control the wind here!" She thrust her fan down, bringing a tornado down on his head and slamming him into the tatami which crumpled under the force. "Big wings won't do you any good against me."
His body was unrecognizable under the force of the attack and the debris caught up in the winds. The ko-tengu screamed for their master, flapping around the cyclone like headless pigeons trying to locate him. This was Soujoubou's fourth son? A pitiful excuse for a dai-tengu, pathetic and a fool to boot. The crows would need to reeducate themselves on how to act before their betters.
Suddenly, the crows stopped their flapping and turned their attention towards her, determination flashing across their faces. Unfortunate. Their wing beats were slower, Kagura rolled her eyes, wondering why they even bothered. They charged from different directions, one from the front and the other at her back, though the sound of their wingbeats did little for stealth, and their squawking even less.
"Ryuuja no mai!" Stupid. She heard wood splintering and plaster crack under the force of the cyclones, pieces of the room crumbling under the wind. Strange, that their little spat hadn't been interrupted.
She swatted away the crow at her front once he'd dodge the cyclone, she let it dissipate, not wanting to cause any more damage than she had. Her opponents hardly needed it, this was pathetic, she ought to just take their heads. The first was fluttering in the air before her like a fly, and just as annoying. Ryuuhoubou was still pinned beneath a cyclone, maybe she'd broken his spine, she hadn't noticed him move since she'd thrown his face to the floor.
"You still alive under there?" She called. She couldn't feel his breath, so maybe not. She stepped over a torn cloth, Momiji would be pissed―
"Kagura-sama!"
She turned, caught sight of Urue with a snarl on her face, her body pulsing, her fangs growing large in her mouth and her eyes glowing a bright crimson. Behind her, Tekari cowered, while the second crow swiped at them with his talons. She wanted to curse, she swatted the first one again for good measure and turned to deal with the son of a bitch. Something flared in her peripheral, that black aura again, faster this time―
Pain erupted from her left shoulder, an icy cold from her collarbone and down her ribs as talons sliced through flesh and bone. The metallic smell of her own blood―and something else―gushing from the wound met her nose before the pain had fully registered. She tried to breath, but even that was stolen from her as a hand clasped around her throat.
She was thrown back, that hand pushing her until her back slammed against a wall with a crack.
"You may control the wind, but we tengu have lived long enough to undermine it," that voice was ragged now, breathing heavily. "I've never killed a god, either, so this will be a night of many firsts."
Kagura bared her teeth, a snarl on her lips, but the sound was blocked by the hand crushing her windpipe. She squirmed under his hold, her hand clawing at his forearms. A knee forced itself between her thighs, pinning her to the wall. Those pitch black eyes demanding her attention when he forced his face close to hers, she struggled as his talons bit into the flesh near her jaw. She'd never been one for hand to hand combat, and his grip was like iron, his body immovable as she thrashed, trying to shove him off.
His intention was obvious, and she knew it by the tilt of his head, the way his gaze moved down and how he leaned forward. Her skin crawled and disgust flooded her, revolted at that touch and the feel of him. Her stomach roiled despite the pain eating away at her shoulder. Her left arm wouldn't move, the muscles severed, but she refused to be outdone by a fucking bird.
Somewhere, Tekari screamed.
She needed air, just to pry his fingers from her throat. Her hand found his, she would just need enough space to inhale. It didn't matter that the wind channeled from her hand sliced her skin as well as his, so long as it gave her room to―
Kagura took a deep breath, and spit in his face.
Anyone else, it wouldn't be a worthwhile blow, more to spite than anything, but the air in her lungs was enough to create wind strong enough to slice open his face from mouth to ear.
Ryuuhoubou released her immediately, cradling his jaw as he inspected the blood cascading down his cheek, from his face and his hand. Kagura coughed and gasped for air, not taking her eyes off of him but unable to move for the knee still between her legs. He met her eyes, and punched her in the face.
She hit the ground with a thud, her shoulder screaming against the shock, no longer ice cold, but beginning to warm. She received no relief when he followed after her, a fist connecting with the injured flesh and holding her down on the floor. He dug his talons into the injury, but Kagura managed to bite back the scream that tried to tear out of her raw throat. The expanse of his wings blocked out all light and shielded her from the outside world, reducing her reality to nothing but black. She flailed, finding a grip on her fan, she could only open it so far, but enough to raise her arm and bring down a wind blade, sharp as steel…
And then Ryuuhoubou was the one to scream.
Blood spattered over her face, spilling into her eyes and mouth, the thickness of it and the taste of metal only increasing her gasps as she tried to breath and cough. She felt the heat of it seeping into her robes as those beady black eyes stared at her, unseeing, his mouth hanging wide.
But her world was no longer black, light from the moon and far off torches lit the crow's terrorized face. Not dead, but…
Kagura shoved at him and he went off of her without struggle, falling to the side in the blood soaked rubble of what had been their room, a mess of roof tiles and bolts of sullied cloth. She went to stand, her hand going out to steady herself but she jumped when she touched something warm and feathered.
His wing. One lay to her right, a clean cut where it had once been attached to his back. She'd taken the crow's wings.
"Urue!"
She forced herself to her feet, she stumbled at a stab of pain, heat bloomed in her shoulder, not quite hot enough to scald, but enough to make her uneasy. She spotted her familiar's head peeking out from the wreckage of the building, shielding Tekari with her wings. And beyond her…
Spectators, some of them dogs, but none she recognized. And all of them wore a similarly disgusted expression, tense and flexing their own claws.
A squawk reminded her of the ko-tengu as one came charging at her, wings flapping and beak clacking. This time she did not hesitate and dispatched him quickly, one well aimed blade of wind rending the crow in half. He was dead before he hit the ground, the second right behind him and screeching in indignant fury.
Fine. She flicked her fan, and a corpse became a weapon.
The live one's screeching turned to screams of horror as his dead companion rose and attacked. Kagura leapt over splintered support beams, gasping against the pain searing her chest.
"Let's go!" Her voice shook more than she would have liked, the wound at her shoulder only growing hotter by the second. Urue was quick to grab the girl by the shoulders as Kagura pulled a feather from her hair and took to the sky, shooting straight up towards the moon.
Things hadn't gone exactly as she'd planned, but that wouldn't matter. She'd still go south, it would only take two days to reach Ise―
Electricity crackled around them, the air pressure abruptly slowing her ascent, a warning that made her abruptly stop and nearly threw her passengers off.
The barrier. Kagura took a shuddering breath, they were trapped inside.
The fire in her shoulder was starting to grow unbearable, she struggled to keep her breath steady, and this was only another fucking thing she didn't have time to deal with. She had to slow her breathing, to calm herself, a difficult task to try to focus on the feel of the wind on either side of the barrier.
Kagura held up a hand, if diamonds could pierce them then she could do the same; she'd spent too fucking long trapped inside barriers, she wouldn't allow this one to stop her. Eventually, everything would fall to the wind.
She pushed and pulled, the barrier wobbling under the pressure, until it finally…
Popped.
Dissolving like a bubble as sparks fell like snowflakes, it trembled, a wave buckling the membrane until it wobbled, a burning curtain falling to the mountainside as it shimmered until there was nothing left. The wind rushed in, sucked into the vacuum she'd created, but Kagura didn't have the time to savor the beauty in it, her shoulder gave a sharp throb of heat, so strong it stole her breath and the feather bucked several feet.
She clamped a hand over the wound and when she pulled it away her palm was smeared with blood and something thick and oily…
No, they had to get away from here, she needed to go―the sea.
At this height it swallowed the horizon, glimmering in the moonlight. Above the water, the wind would be stronger, would be cooler, undampened by mountains and trees, out there, she could find solace. Trees rushed beneath them, the valley growing wider as they raced towards the coast, everything blurred together in a wash of greys and whites, the icy world beneath them painful just to look at until they passed the shore and the moon's reflection softened against tumultuous winter waves.
She gasped as the inferno erupted along her shoulder, spreading to her arm, her neck, her heart―!
Fire in her veins that wouldn't be quelled by the icy air whipping at her skin, burning as hot as the bite of fiery chains digging into her flesh, as hot as Kagutsuchi's flames. Her mind reeled, struggled to keep the feather afloat, only thinking of focus, focus! An attempt to smother the fire with sheer force of will but―too much, the heat infected her lungs, every breath like being dragged over a bed of coals, choked and rasping, she had to―
"Urue… take Tekari…"
She didn't even feel the slap of the water's surface.
…
She really just not having a good day y'all :(
Side note Sess being grumpy uncle is definitely my favorite headcanon joke, he already adopted rin and basically kohaku, shippou is next
Also also my computer is out of commision so i'm not sure when the next update will be
