Chapter 5: Onimusha's Sea

The next day was overcast by a sea of dark rain clouds. The glade was soaked from a downpour that night and the grass was slick and twisted downwards. No birds sang the morning's arrival and even the forest animals were nowhere to be found. Kaori woke up and looked around. Sesshoumaru was standing at the end of the glade, staring into the surrounding forest. Kaori stood up and stretched. She felt completely recovered from the battle with Ryuu-Kogane. She tied the sash around her outer kimono and silently walked up to Sesshoumaru. His ear twitched and he turned to glance at her as she made her approach.

"Are you well, My Lord?"

"I am well, My Lady. How are you feeling?"

She closed her eyes and thought briefly. Sesshoumaru watched her as she stood with her eyes closed. She opened her eyes and smiled at him, "I am well, My Lord. Well enough to travel."

He turned his gaze up to the heavy rain clouds in the sky, "Do you wish to travel in such bad weather? A downpour could catch us at any time."

She looked up to the sky and sighed, "True, but a little rain will not dampen my spirits. Perhaps my fur, but not my spirits."

Sesshoumaru nodded, "Then we shall go."

Kaori shifted into her true form and Sesshoumaru followed suit. Soon they were on their way again, racing through the forest and leaping across the rivers.

Sesshoumaru slid to a stop when he reached the northen most edge of the island. He stood wide-eyed and stared across the seemingly endless body of water that greeted him. Kaori bounded up behind him and stopped next to him. She looked at him as he stared across the water, silently giggling to herself as she thought: 'Is this the first time he's seen Onimusha's Sea?' She twitched her tails and sat down, glancing out over the water's surface. Sesshoumaru stepped closer to the water and peered at his reflection. He was slightly startled by a fish who leapt from his reflection to get a better look at the giant demon lord. He snapped at the fish, but missed. Slowly he lifted his furry head and rubbed the water off, looking toward the East, "This is a great body of water. It rivals the sea that borders the western land."

Kaori snickered softly, "This is Onimusha's Sea."

"Onimusha?"

"Long ago, when China and Japan were still connected. A mighty god descended and ordered the people to pay tribute to him. The people of the land refused and this angered the mighty god. He began to drain the life from the land and soon the land and the people grew weak. A traveling samurai had heard about the god and decided that he would have to save the land and his people. He journeyed to this very spot and battled the angry god. The fight was hard and soon the samurai found himself facing his own death inside the god's mouth. He knew his time was up and he used the last of his strength to pierce the roof of the god's mouth. By luck the samurai's blow proved fatal. The god roared out in pain and fell backwards, dead. The impact was enough to divide the land in half. The life that was stolen then returned in the form of rain and it filled the massive void. The people named the newly formed body of water after the samurai that defeated the god...Onimusha."

Sesshoumaru sat down on his haunches and stared out over the water, "You had to cross this sea when you journeyed here the first time?"

Kaori stepped into the water and nodded, "Yes, but there's a trick to crossing it. Take bounding leaps with your toes spread out as far as they can go. You can run on the water that way." She leapt out into the water and bounded about on the surface, "You see?"

Sesshoumaru stretched his toes out and took a deep breath, "You are smaller, though. Do you think it will work for me?"

She bounded back to him and slid to a stop, dousing him with water, "I'm positive, My Lord." She grinned as he shook the water off, looking rather miffed as he did so.

"That was uncalled for..." Sesshoumaru stood up and snarled.

Kaori snickered and pranced about, splashing him with her waving tails, "I suppose it was."

Sesshoumaru was soaked and furious, "Stop that at once! The salt water is irritating my skin!"

She skipped across the water and looked back at him, "Truly you won't let a little water get you down."

"If you hadn't noticed, I was just beginning to dry off from the nonstop downpours we faced while we were traveling here." He shook the water from his coat and snarled as several dead fish fell from his mane.

She turned away from him and kicked her hind leg out, soaking him completely, "Oops."

Sesshoumaru gritted his teeth and growled, "You did that on purpose.."

She smirked and flicked her tails, "Perhaps I did."

He snarled and leapt into the water, "Such nonsense is uncalled for! This Sesshoumaru shall punish you for such actions."

Kaori yelped and bounded away from him as he followed close behind, bounding across the surface as well. She glanced back at him and noticed his eyes were burning with rage. She drew in a deep breath and sighed, "I shall have to apologize to the lord later. I really did anger him."

They bounded across the sea, sending strong ripples across the surface. A set of eyes slowly rose to the surface and watched them as they ran by. Slowly the eyes rose out of the water to reveal they belonged to a sea serpent and it was not pleased by the trespassers at all.

Sesshoumaru snapped at one of Kaori's long tails as he slowly came up on her. Kaori yelped and bounded faster, swerving to keep her tails from his grasp. Sesshoumaru continued to catch up to her, though. He was right up on her when he noticed the strange line of bubbles coming up on the side. He looked up and noticed Kaori was slowing down some. She had noticed the bubbles, too, and was now staring at them as they ran by. Suddenly a large head exploded from the water ahead of them. Kaori skidded across the water to a stop and fell through the surface immediately. Sesshoumaru slid to a stop and sunk as well. They both doggy paddled in order to keep themselves from sinking completely. The head rose out of the water followed by a continuous sinewy body covered in glittering scales. Several pairs of legs and webbed wings swished by as it continued to rise out of the water. They looked on in silent awe as the sea serpent loomed over them.

"How dare you enter this sea without paying respects! Your punishment shall be death!" The sea serpent hissed loudly and dove, snapping Kaori's tails into its mouth and pulling her under with him. She yelped as she disappeared underwater. Sesshoumaru gasped and dove in after her, paddling as hard as he could to catch up to her. She stared up at him through terrified eyes as the water started to fill her lungs. The sea serpent coiled its body around her and roared at the approaching demon lord. Sesshoumaru quickly snatched up the sea serpent's tail and bit into it hard. The serpent reared and quickly went after the attacker, pulling Kaori with it. Sesshoumaru swam back to the surface and gasped for air. Seconds later, the serpent exploded from the water, roaring in anger. It peered down at the dog demon and snarled, "You dare to attack me?"

Kaori's nose barely breached the surface as she struggled to breath in air. The serpent glared down at her and pulled her completely under watching with a pleased expression as she kicked and struggled to get more air.

Sesshoumaru peered back at the sea serpent, "Paying respects, you said?"

The sea serpent stared down at Sesshoumaru, "Yes, to cross this sea you must offer a tribute to Onimusha. Anything of importance will do. Since you entered the water without giving up something, you must instead give up your lives."

The demon dog shut his eyes and growled under his breath, "This Sesshoumaru refuses to repay respects to any human..."

Kaori's head popped above the water and she gasped, "The fish, Sesshoumaru! The fish on the shore!" The serpent hissed and pulled her under, making sure she was far enough below to keep silent.

Sesshoumaru turned back to the shore and remembered, "Of course, the dead fish that clung to my mane." He turned back to look at the serpent, 'That should be good enough for some human.' He called out, "But, we have payed tribute to Onimusha!"

The serpent peered down at the demon dog, "You have? Where is this tribute, then?"

"On the shore. We have left a pile of fish."

The serpent snarled, "Fish?! You pay respects to the great Onimusha with a pile of dead fish?!"

Sesshoumaru mocked sadness, "The fish...they are all my mate and I had. They were going to be our dinner for the next two weeks."

The serpent blinked at the small pile of fish that sat on the shore, "That little pile could not last but one meal and you say it was to last two weeks?"

He nodded, "Yes. We are poor and we can barely hunt because our parents never taught us. We have learned to make small amounts of food last for days since food is hard to come by for us. Please accept the little food we have as tribute."

The serpent looked at the dog demon as it paddled, "But you look able enough, dog. You look as if you could bring down an entire herd of deer and your teeth are as sharp as nails."

Sesshoumaru fell silent, trying to figure out what to say next. The sea serpent knew greatness when he saw it. Kaori's snout appeared above water and she gasped, "Your lordship, you must understand. You can give a boy a warrior's power, but he will not win the battle unless he is properly trained! He may have the build and teeth of a powerful Youkai lord, but he is not! It is just a trait that rests in his blood."

The serpent pulled the fox demon from the water and held her at eye level, "You offer Onimusha the last of your food. That tribute will suffice." The serpent then pulled Sesshoumaru from the water and slowly began to swim toward the opposite shore, "I shall carry you across."

Kaori coughed up water and shut her eyes, exhausted from having struggled so much. Sesshoumaru licked her cheek and shut his eyes as well. The trip across the water was a long one. The serpent swam with a slow and steady pace that seemed to follow the gently lapping water. The sun slowly set on them and the dark rain clouds faded away. The night was clear and cool and the full moon's light danced across the water's surface. Kaori slowly opened her eyes and looked around to see Sesshoumaru staring out over the gentle lapping water. She cleared her throat and poked at his hind leg with her tail, "Are you well?"

He looked up and flicked his ear, "I am well. You crossed this sea before, didn't you?"

Kaori nodded.

"Then why didn't you warn me that a youkai was guarding it?"

She lowered her head, "I wasn't aware." Her eyes fell on her dangling front legs as she spoke up again, "I never had a run in with the sea serpent."

The serpent's narrow head turned so that his eyes could fall on the two passengers, "I saw you running across the surface almost two years ago. I would have caught up to you, but I was ill that day and could not keep up. I had made a vow to catch you the next time and I did. You owed me two tributes, but since I see that you are not in good standing with fortune, I shall let it go. To have lived so long with such poor skills is unheard of to me."

Sesshoumaru growled and turned away, greatly annoyed that the serpent thought he could not fend for himself. Kaori looked at the demon lord and sighed, "I will repay you one day."

The sea serpent hissed softly and turned its head away, "That is unnecessary."

She blinked and turned toward the serpent, whispering to herself in thought: 'It thought I was speaking to it?' She lowered her head again and stared at the water as it lapped at the serpent's body.

It was early the next day when they reached the shore of China. The upper half of the serpent stepped out on land and stretched itself, uncoiling itself from around the two. Sesshoumaru stood up and shook the water from his fur. Kaori sat on the sandy shore, soaked to the bone. For some reason, she didn't feel like shaking the water away. She felt utterly miserable. The serpent slowly slid back into the water and peered down at the two Youkai, "I wish you luck. You will need it." It turned to notice the female was staring down at the sand. It slowly lowered its head and stared into her eyes, "No female would be with a male who does not know how to hunt and that male, he is too strong to be as weak as he claims." Kaori looked up a bit surprised. The serpent grinned, "I was not seasoned yesterday. I am well aware that the Youkai is Lord Sesshoumaru, great white dog of the Western Land."

Sesshoumaru looked at the serpent as well, "If you knew... then why did you accept that story we told you?"

The serpent pulled away from the fox and smirked at the dog, "Because... your quick wit reminded me of Onimusha himself. To see a speckle of cunning that he had in someone else...well, it is worth more than any physical tribute. The demons of this age have grown dimmer it seems. I wish you both the best on your journey."

The sea serpent turned and headed out into the water again, sinking underneath the gentle waves. Sesshoumaru and Kaori stood on the shore and watched it until it vanished completely.

She slowly turned and began walking away, "I'm sorry, Lord Sesshoumaru. I've been causing so much trouble for you."

He looked back at her and shook his head, "Don't apologize yet. We haven't even reached the Lord Phoenix yet so there are more troubles to come. Save it for the end."

She looked back at him and smiled a little, "Let's go. We have another day of travel ahead of us."

Sesshoumaru nodded and trotted up along side of her. They continued along the shore, the sun shining down on them.