No notes today. You don't want to read me blathering on anyway. LS ^_~

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Of Moonlight & Honor

Part Eleven

But spring gave way to summer, which in turn handed the reins to autumn, which then bowed out gracefully in deference to winter. And matters remained the same.

Winter did, however, with its arrival bring a few changes to the household. The youkai forces relaxed their vigilance against each other a little; winter was the resting time for earth and youkai alike. Snow blanketed the ground; Yumemi rejoiced in bounding among the drifts, throwing snowballs at Sachiko when Rin brought her daughter for a visit. Tsukiyo, never as healthy as she had been before Yumemi's birth, caught what was apparently her annual cold. She still attempted to perform all of her duties, but was ordered to her room by both Rin and Sesshoumaru. Yumemi's tutors took up the task of educating the girl full-time while Tsukiyo recovered. Tsukiyo refused to remain in her rooms in the evening, though, and joined the intimate family gathering as she normally did. Sessoumaru learned to respect her for her quiet endurance of her illness (though he was disdainful of the fact that she was weak enough to become ill in the first place). And though frustrated, he also came to respect her quick intelligence as she continued to defeat him in their impromptu poetry contests. She also proved an intelligent listener to the histories and tales he told Yumemi. In all, it was a quiet time in the mountains of the Western Lands and, for the first time in centuries, the Taiyoukai was content.

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It was the first month of the year, the eve of the waning half-moon. Once again, Sesshoumaru left his home with the excuse of a need to patrol his territory, still uncomfortable with the idea of a hanyou daughter. He leapt easily from rock to tree-top and back, letting his mind drift away from his disturbing thoughts and be entirely controlled by his hunter's instincts. He revelled in the sights, smells, sounds. In the wind through his hair and the solid feel of the rocks under his feet.

His ear twitched back, hearing something from the direction from which he had come. Hearing the sound of a childish scream of terror. He stiffened in utter shock for the briefest moment before he was gone, only the tiniest sifting of dust to prove he had been there at all.

He found the castle eerily quiet. While he kept the number of servants and retainers in residence to a minimum, all of them appeared to have followed their master's example and removed themselves from the immediate area. His anger grew as room after room proved itself empty. Anger not only at his faithless servants, but at himself. To leave the castle this vulnerable to invaders! It was a disgrace!

"Okaa-chan!" The cry served to pinpoint his daughter's location, though he needed no such indicator; he had already heard and identified the sounds of combat. With youkai speed, he hurried to the rear of the castle, where Yumemi and her mother were housed. The sound of steel against steel sounded clearly in the still night. Was his daughter holding off the attackers? Even as a human? The possibility was dizzying.

But he could hear the cold steel and his daughter's voice. And he could smell youkai blood.

Drawing the Toukijin, his feet pounding the wood decks, Sesshoumaru rushed the unknown assailants. He found three still standing and cut two of them down before they could turn to face him. Assassins deserved no honorable death. The third he kept at the point of his sword, forcing the youkai to turn and face him. "Who ordered this?" he asked, his voice low and steady. When the youkai remained silent, his sword flashed, slicing two thin lines down each side of the assassin's face. "I can cause you much pain before I allow you to die," he added conversationally. "I will not ask you again."

The black-clad youkai looked down at the sword at his throat and visibly swallowed. He knew he had no chance against the Taiyoukai, whose gold eyes were hard and merciless. If he had a warrior's honor, he would throw himself on the sword and end this before he could be made to speak. But he and his companions were merely hired killers. He had no loyalty and no obligation. "Nagisa-sama, my lord." The lord's smile was the last thing he saw before he collapsed to the floor, body sliding off of the blade of the Toukijin.

Sesshoumaru stripped the blood from the sword and sheathed it. "Nagisa will pay for this." The youkai retainer had been visibly displeased with Yumemi's investiture as heir. That he had waited spoke well for his abilities, but disobedience merited death. It would be taken care of. In the meantime, Sesshoumaru finally took a moment to assess the scene.

What he found was enough to freeze him in shock. Both mother and daughter were alive and though Yumemi held her sword, its blade was unbloodied. Tsukiyo stood before her daughter, leaning heavily on an upright naginata. Three more men lay around her as she struggled to breathe, apparently ignorant of the blood flowing down the blade of her weapon and onto her hair and fingers. Her face tilted slowly up towards him. He was struck by the odd smile of triumph on her face. "I was strong enough for our daughter, Sesshoumaru-sama," she breathed. "I was strong enough... for her."

Tsukiyo toppled slowly forward. Yumemi ran towards her. Sesshoumaru realized distantly as he caught Tsukiyo in his arms that none of the blood was hers. She had faced six youkai and lived.