Faerie's Play
by
Iris
"What the fuck?!"
The silver-haired man stood up abruptly, his tall, lithe form towering over that of the cowering, unfortunate soul that had been sent to deliver the message. Outside the extravagantly furnished room, the sounds of a busy office died away as everyone waited to see what would become of his new victim.
Said victim tried to push his fear away into a small, distant corner of his mind but only managed to succeed in making his already trembling body tremble even more. His eyes were wide with fright as the door behind him seemed to slam open and close as if it had a mind of its own.
"Mr.-"
"Hojo, sir." the messenger whispered, his voice wavering, "Watanabe Hojo."
"Yes, Mr. Hobo." the man's violet eyes narrowed dangerously, a bad sign, a VERY bad sign, "I could have sworn you just told me that the bulldozers broke down mysteriously in Segment 441. And...on further inspection, the fuel tanks seemed to be completely empty."
"Yes, Mr. Inuyasha, sir." Hojo squeaked.
"That is Mr. Arasashi to you." Inuyasha snarled, "Doesn't Miroku teach any of you new recruits anything?!"
"I'm sorry, Mr. Arasashi." Hojo whimpered, "It won't happen again, Mr. Arasashi."
"Good. You're fired." Inuyasha sat back down to review the report that had been given to him.
"E-Excuse me, Mr. Arasashi?" Hojo asked, eyes wide.
"Need I repeat myself?" Inuyasha said, glancing up, amber eyes focusing on the quivering blob of flesh, "You. Are. Fired. I've been having a bad day and frankly, you've just made it worse. Get out, Mr. Hobo."
"B-But you can't do that, Mr. Arasashi!" Hojo cried, "I didn't do anything."
"I can and I just did. If you've forgotten, I own this company." Inuyasha said, his voice overly patient, "You are fired, Mr. Hobo. Please pack your things and go before you are forcefully removed from these premises."
Gulping, Hojo backed out of the office, "P-Please, M-Mr. Ara-sashi. W-Would yo-you p-p-please recon-consider?"
"No, Mr. Hobo. Go." Inuyasha said tiredly, massaging his temples, "And close the door after you."
Hojo left, closing the door behind him.
'Finally.' Inuyasha thought, leaning back in his chair and placing his feet on his desk, 'I thought he would never leave.'
As expected, minutes later, the phone rang, bringing him out of his reverie. Grinning, he pressed the button and placed the caller on speaker phone.
"Yes, Miroku?" Inuyasha said cheerfully, leaning over his desk to talk quite loudly into the speaker.
"Inuyasha, man, how's life treatin' ya?" Miroku answered, equally cheerful, "No, wait, scratch that. I don't need to listen to your problems. Well, I've got me a Mr. Watanabe Hojo down here. Says you just fired him."
"As a matter of fact, I did." Inuyasha said calmly, "Tell Mr. Hobo to get his stuff and his lazy ass out of the building."
"Alright. You heard him, Mr. Watanabe. You're fired." there was a murmur on the other end, "I'm extremely sorry, Mr. Watanabe, but there's nothing I can do for you." more talking, "No, you can not be transferred to another department. What Inuyasha says, goes. Sorry. Nothing personal but that's just the way it is. Bye, Mr. Watanabe. It was nice knowing you. Have a nice day."
The door to his office opened minutes later as the CEO of Arasashi Constructions Inc. waltzed in. Inuyasha smiled lazily as he turned off the speaker phone.
"Yes, Miroku?"
"Ah, Mr. Arasashi-sama. I believe you know about our, uh, technical difficulties down in Segment 441?" Miroku said breezily, seating himself in the overly stuffed chair located in front of Inuyasha's desk.
"I don't believe it." Inuyasha replied, "Obviously some construction worker has been playing pranks. Nothing serious. Fire them all. Get a new crew on the scene and continue as planned. We need those trees bull-dozed before the end of this month. By the way, before you ask, I fired him because I didn't like the way he acted. To over-eager if you ask me. Next time hire someone with a little more backbone."
"Of course, of course. But about Segment 441," Miroku continued flippantly, "some of the crew workers have reported seeing winged figures and running, green-skinned people." he took out his notebook and flipped it open, "And a couple of humanoid foxes, a very pretty lady, a blonde busty one I might add, that led one of them away before vanishing like smoke, a pint sized girl dressed in what seemed to be flower petals, oh, and a woodpecker."
"What?"
"A woodpecker. But that's beside the point. Well, anyway, I believe that Segment 441 is a magic hotspot. I think there may be mythical beings living there." Miroku said seriously, violet eyes meeting Inuyasha's amber ones.
Inuyasha raised an eyebrow, "Feh. Miroku, I thought we went over this, there is no such thing as MAGIC."
Before they got to continue debating whether or not mythical beings exist, someone burst into the office and stormed over to the desk. The black-haired lady was just about to speak, something outrageous no doubt from the way her cheeks were highlighted with flushes of anger, when Miroku cut her off.
"Ah, gorgeous lady, sunshine of my life, would you be so kind as to bear my child?" he asked, standing up and taking her hand before turning, what he hoped anyway, a soulful gaze into her maroon colored eyes.
SMACK!
"Hentai!" she screeched, scrambling away from him before remembering why she was there, she quickly composed herself before continuing, "Mr. Arasashi Inuyasha, I am Tasuki Sango of Peace on Earth. I've come to discuss your latest move on Archer's Woods."
"Archer's Woods?" Inuyasha questioned, ignoring the twitching body of his CEO on the floor, after all, it was a common enough occurrence, "You mean Segment 441 I assume?"
Sango bristled, "Yes, of course I mean Segment 441. Archer's Woods is a sacred and historical part of our beloved community." she said forcefully, eyes flashing, "You simply cannot cut it down."
"I'm afraid that's where you're wrong." Inuyasha said, "I CAN cut it down and I WILL cut it down. And, I am forced to say, that if your group of environmentalists won't stop fooling around with our equipment, I will have to call in the law officials."
Fuming, Sango stared at him, was this guy for real? Her eyes narrowed, he was just another pompous, arrogant moneybag.
"WE have done no such thing." she said stiffly, eyes flashing, "Peace on Earth would not stoop down to such lowly tactics. We are a peaceful group as specified in our name."
"I'm sure you are." Inuyasha said, dismissively, "Please leave, Miss Tasuki. I'm in the middle of a conference with my CEO right now."
Sango spared a look for the apparently unconscious man on the ground, she growled softly in the back of her throat as she turned around to leave, taking care to step hard onto Miroku's body, she stopped stiffly at the door, "I'll be back, Arasashi. You will not be cutting down Archer's Woods, not in this lifetime."
With that, she slammed the door behind her, rattling it in its wooden frame. Inuyasha peered down at his seemingly unconscious CEO.
"Get up, Miroku, I know you're faking it." Inuyasha said menacingly.
"Ah, of course, but I had such a wonderful view, she was wearing the nicest white underwear under that navy blue skirt of hers you know. She has very nice legs." Miroku said dreamily, "I think she may just be the one."
"She better not be the one." Inuyasha snapped irritably, "Rule Number One: No courting the enemy."
"Hmph. You're just jealous 'cause I'm more handsome than you and you haven't been getting some."
~*~
Soft doe brown eyes skimmed over the clearing, imprinting every last detail in her mind. Locks of dark hair tumbled down to her shoulders in elegant waves of unadulterated raven black. She wore a pale pink summer dress made out of dyed spider silk and a delicate diamond tiara sat on the top of her head. Her eyes filled with tears as she took in every remaining member of her court.
As High Lady of Archer's Woods, she was magically bound to each and every tree within it, instead of just one like a normal faerie. Whenever a tree died, she felt the pain of its death as well as the pain of its blood-bound faerie. Sadly, she had felt that pain too many times in the past couple of days as members of her court perished before her eyes as the monstrous yellow machines, known as bulldozers, chopped down their beloved trees. Their lifeline.
The dusky twilight hung around her as she opened her palm to contemplate the small pink jewel that it held. Today's death had finally spurred her into action, not that any of her sleeping court knew. Because, today one of her best friends, Ayame, had died. Her eyes hardened as she formed a fist around the humming jewel, sharp nails digging into milky white skin until the crimson droplets of blood began to well up.
For the Shikon no Tama demanded a blood sacrifice. Legend had it that one of the most powerful High Ladies of the world was trapped in the pink ball, forever fighting a monster until one of them finally won. The legend never specified what monster it was. It only told of High Lady Midoriko who lived forever in the glimmering jewel. This sacred jewel could give her enough power to save her court. But the monster induced part demanded blood in return for granting her that power.
Lifting the bloodied jewel, she studied it, imagining in her mind's eye that she could see the battle going on. Sighing, she placed the jewel in her lap and picked up the silver ring she had chosen just for this purpose. It had an empty, hollow spot. Where a jewel was obviously supposed to go to be forever embraced by claws of needle sharp metal.
Even as the moonlight shone on the half-translucent jewel, her blood began to sink in, tingeing the crystal red for the briefest of moments before dissipating altogether. Reverently, she placed the jewel into the ring, moving the clasps around it to hug it so tightly that it seemed the metal and Shikon where fused together in an everlasting embrace.
Both ring and jewel glinted as she slid it onto her right ring finger with the jewel facing outward. And then, in the dead of the night, she made her wish.
Disclaimer: I do not own Inu-Yasha.