Disclaimer: See chapter one
A/N: Okay, here's the deal. Apparently I miswrote my question at the end of the last chapter, because I received answers translating Dokugakuji's name AND Sesshoumaru's. My bad. I DID, however, receive a correct answer to what I was asking, which more accurately put is "Which anime did the lord of the castle's name come from?"
KURAMA'S LOVING WIFE got it right with Goyjo's brother from the anime Saiyuki. I'll be dropping her(?) name into a future chapter, so look out for it. Bravo!
Now, honorable mentions for extended answers to the question go to:
Ender Wiggin190 for an excellent translation of Sesshoumaru's name
Me for a translation of Dokugakuji
Gamja the Wolf's Fang for an interesting guess – but sorry, timberwolf would be something like zaimoku ookami, not Dokugakuji.
(Hands out plushies of kitsune Miroku to all four reviewers)
Should we have another little bonus question (written PROPERLY) in another chapter? Let me know what you think. And if I missed anyone who reviewed with an answer, I apologize, my email had been a bit screwy...
On to the fic!
Chapter Six
"Down!"
Miroku hit the ground with a thump. He sighed and waited for the spell to wear off.
"Slipped again, huh Miroku?" Shippo hopped onto his shoulder. Since the night in Dokugakuji's castle, the kit had been much more amiable to the monk, treating him almost like a surrogate father or older brother. The man in question gave a wry smile. Kagome shook her head and Inuyasha grinned toothily at the sight of someone besides him getting subdued. Sango looked intensely irritated.
"Have you no self control?" she demanded. He smiled more broadly.
"Not around you, dear Sango." Her cheeks pinked and with a warrior's grace she leaped onto Kirara's back.
"We're going to scout ahead," the demon slayer stated in a tone that brooked no argument. "Houshi-sama, if I hadn't subdued you, you would have changed even further. Think about that." The firecat leaped into the air, out of reach and then out of sight.
"Miroku," Kagome scolded as said monk sighed in relief at the lifting of the spell, "It's bad enough to be traveling through Sesshoumaru's lands to a place where we know Naraku is waiting, without you upsetting Sango on top of it!" He grimaced but did not argue the point. They continued traveling, Inuyasha heckling the monk over the 'down' and Shippo defending Miroku by biting Inuyasha's ears. The hanyou grabbed the kit by the tail and bonked him several times on the head. Miroku smacked Inuyasha over the head with his staff.
"Sit! Down!" Kagome yelled in frustration. Unfortunately for the monk, she had set the subduing spell so that she as well as Sango could trigger it. The young men both hit the ground, nearly squashing the baby fox. "Honestly, sometimes it's like watching The Three Stooges!" snapped the irate teen girl. Inuyasha mumbled curses into the ground, and Miroku had to bite his lip to prevent himself from doing the same. He nicked his lower lip with a fang and sighed in frustration. Kagome began removing juice boxes and crackers from her bag. "It's time for a break anyway."
Moments after the spell released the boys, there was a rustling in the bushes nearby. All of them turned towards the sound warily, ready for anything. Inuyasha sniffed the air and growled.
"Shit! It's that damn whelp –"
A dark haired little girl emerged from the forest, smiling a wide, gap- toothed smile.
"Kagome-neesan! Rin is so happy to see you!" She ran to the surprised older girl and hugged her so tightly that the startled Kagome squeezed the juice box she was holding too hard and sent the contents spraying everywhere.
Six months before, Kagome had nursed the child through a flu with future knowledge and medications. In this time period, it could easily have been fatal. It had taken over thirty 'sits' to get Inuyasha to calm down and stop trying to attack his half brother. Sesshoumaru, for a change, was not interested in the Tessaiga at that time. All he cared about – and the word 'care' was dubious in regards to the cold taiyoukai – was his ward's health.
That had been a most tense week, interrupted only by something that had to be seen to be believed: Kagome scolding Sesshoumaru over the care of Rin. Telling him that if he was going to let the little girl follow him around the countryside, he needed to make sure she had proper clothes and shoes for the weather, not a ragged summer yukata and bare feet!
He'd remained impassive throughout her scolding, but the group noticed that Rin was now dressed in a warmer kimono and even pants, with sturdy shoes, that looked appropriate for the cooler weather. There was a crescent moon on the sleeve, something Inuyasha knew was the family crest and would deter any youkai smart enough to comprehend it from messing with Sesshoumaru's human tag-a-long.
"Rin, what are you doing running around the forest alone?" Kagome asked as soon as the kid had released her hug and allowed her to breathe again. Rin looked thoughtful. Meanwhile, Inuyasha was practically bristling, looking around and sniffing the air, trying to see if his half-brother was anywhere near.
"Sesshoumaru-sama went to catch something, and he told Rin-chan go find some food for Rin since she was hungry."
Miroku had been watching this little interaction with tolerant amusement, particularly since the child was so focused on her 'big sister' that she didn't even notice the angry hanyou or his own kitsunish features. At her words, though, he felt cold shivers run up his spine.
"Ah, Rin-chan?" he asked, dreading her answer, "what was Sesshoumaru...sama...going to catch?"
"A pretty lady riding a pretty kitty in the air."
The monk went still as stone. Simultaneously Inuyasha gave a snarl and unsheathed Tessaiga, Shippo dove behind Kagome, and Kagome turned and nocked her bow. And Sesshoumaru stepped out of the surrounding trees like a phantom. In his only hand, he somehow managed to hold both a limp, de-transformed Kirara by her tails, and the unconscious Sango by her belt. He dropped them almost contemptuously on the ground and turned his cold golden eyes on Inuyasha.
Before either of the brothers could speak or move, there was a loud, rumbling growl. Miroku's green eyes were bleeding to red, and he dropped his staff. Infuriated beyond all reason, he charged across the space between himself and the demon lord.
I'll kill him for hurting my mate! was his last coherent thought before he was engulfed in his red, red, rage. He leaped at Sesshoumaru with fangs and claws bared. Rin and Shippo cried out in terror. Miroku was unable to land a single blow on youkai. The cold lord's yellow whip flashed out, quick as thought, and hit the enraged monk hard across the chest, tearing his robes and sending blood flying. He reeled back under the blow and then tried again, still growling. Kagome and Inuyasha were yelling at him, but he did not hear them and would not have understood their words even if he had.
The whip struck again, opening fresh wounds on his arms and torso. Miroku was badly overmatched, kitsune attributes or no.
Sesshoumaru, who doubtless could have cut him in half in the blink of an eye, struck with the whip once more, coiling it about him and lifting him into the air, unable to move. The taiyoukai's eyes were narrowed, but otherwise he remained impassive.
"Teme! Let the bouzo go now!" Inuyasha held the transformed Tessaiga threateningly, while Kagome was trying to check Sango and Kirara while simultaneously trying to comfort the terrified children.
"Attack me and I'll crush him to death before you can even come close," warned Sesshoumaru, tightening the whip in warning. Miroku hissed in pain and growled again. The youkai turned his eyes on his captive.
"You are the monk that travels with this absurd group. This Sesshoumaru wants to know how you have come to take on the appearance of a kitsune."
The monk was well past the point of being able to speak. His growls increased, and strangely, slipped into the canine speech shared by the dog youkai, wolf youkai, and kitsunes.
: Dog lord, my mate has harmed! :
The eyes of Inuyasha, Shippo, and even Sesshoumaru widened in various degrees. The taiyoukai then replied in kind, the deep bass growls sounding strange coming from his slender human form.
: Monk, true kitsune is not. Regardless, no mark, mate has. :
: When gone air rip is, my mate will she be! :
: MY territory you trespass in. YOU, I rank. Submit! :
: NO! :
Kagome had been wondering why on earth they were growling back and forth like that, but she hadn't ceased seeing to her unconscious friends. Suddenly, she called out,
"She's okay! She and Kirara are just knocked out. They're okay!" Sesshoumaru smirked and told the enraged monk,
: Fine, your mate is. Waking up now. :
Miroku's head snapped around to see Sango being helped into a sitting position by Kagome. He gave a deep sigh, and his eyes began to slowly turn green again. He shook his head, ears pinned back, looking like someone who'd been awoken from a deep sleep.
"Who -? Wh – what just happened?" he asked in confusion, then winced at the pain of his fresh wounds and blanched at the sight of who was holding him and how.
"You need to learn to control your youkai instincts, monk," Sesshoumaru said coldly. Said monk went an interesting shade of pale at his words. "Now. Tell this Sesshoumaru how you have come to be nearly a kitsune, or I will end your life before your Air Rip can consume you."
Rin was recovered from her fright, and she ran to her lord and wrapped her arms around his leg. Even after seeing it before, the others had to stifle their astonishment at this.
"What is it, Rin?"
"Rin thinks the monk looks nice, all fuzzy and kawaii, like when Sesshoumaru-sama takes his doggy form." Inuyasha choked at this description. The child continued, oblivious to the reaction she had caused, "Rin wishes she could be a kitsune or inuyoukai, too!"
Something flashed briefly in the taiyoukai's eyes at those words, and Miroku suddenly perceived what was going through the inuyoukai's mind. Sesshoumaru would most certainly be interested in a way to turn a human into a youkai. If he was reading him right, probably in regards to the little girl looking at the cold taiyoukai with utter trust in her eyes. Rin was so fragile and would age so fast compared to him...
Without giving it a second thought, Miroku explained about the curse. He balked a little at the trigger with Rin around (even he had to uphold SOME standards) and finally settled on the evasive,
"When I act towards ladies in a manner which usually results in a slap."
Sesshoumaru's eye twitched.
"The raven youkai of which you speak, monk, is the taiyoukai of the north lands. This Sesshoumaru does not understand why she did not simply remove your head instead of placing a curse." Sango was holding a cloth Kagome had provided to her head, Kirara purring in her lap. "You seek the flower of health then. For the information you have provided, I grant you and your group safe passage across my lands."
"Sit!" Inuyasha, enraged at the arrogant tone his unwelcome relative was using, had been about to attack him. The taiyoukai shook his head and dropped the monk, who immediately clutched at his bleeding wounds.
"Come, Rin." He picked up the girl and his cloud formed around his feet. They rose into the air and vanished from sight, much to a certain hanyou's irritation.
"Shippo, get my first aid kit from my bag. I'll need the antiseptic, the bandages, and a cold pack for Sango – she's going to have a wicked headache before long. Miroku, take off the top of your robes, I need to treat those wounds." When it came to first aid, Kagome was all business.
Miroku sat rather dazed while the girl from the future treated his injuries. He guessed Sesshoumaru must have inflicted them. But what had happened in that fuzzy space between seeing the taiyoukai drop Sango's unconscious form, and 'waking up' in the coils of the whip?
A/N: Okay, here's the deal. Apparently I miswrote my question at the end of the last chapter, because I received answers translating Dokugakuji's name AND Sesshoumaru's. My bad. I DID, however, receive a correct answer to what I was asking, which more accurately put is "Which anime did the lord of the castle's name come from?"
KURAMA'S LOVING WIFE got it right with Goyjo's brother from the anime Saiyuki. I'll be dropping her(?) name into a future chapter, so look out for it. Bravo!
Now, honorable mentions for extended answers to the question go to:
Ender Wiggin190 for an excellent translation of Sesshoumaru's name
Me for a translation of Dokugakuji
Gamja the Wolf's Fang for an interesting guess – but sorry, timberwolf would be something like zaimoku ookami, not Dokugakuji.
(Hands out plushies of kitsune Miroku to all four reviewers)
Should we have another little bonus question (written PROPERLY) in another chapter? Let me know what you think. And if I missed anyone who reviewed with an answer, I apologize, my email had been a bit screwy...
On to the fic!
Chapter Six
"Down!"
Miroku hit the ground with a thump. He sighed and waited for the spell to wear off.
"Slipped again, huh Miroku?" Shippo hopped onto his shoulder. Since the night in Dokugakuji's castle, the kit had been much more amiable to the monk, treating him almost like a surrogate father or older brother. The man in question gave a wry smile. Kagome shook her head and Inuyasha grinned toothily at the sight of someone besides him getting subdued. Sango looked intensely irritated.
"Have you no self control?" she demanded. He smiled more broadly.
"Not around you, dear Sango." Her cheeks pinked and with a warrior's grace she leaped onto Kirara's back.
"We're going to scout ahead," the demon slayer stated in a tone that brooked no argument. "Houshi-sama, if I hadn't subdued you, you would have changed even further. Think about that." The firecat leaped into the air, out of reach and then out of sight.
"Miroku," Kagome scolded as said monk sighed in relief at the lifting of the spell, "It's bad enough to be traveling through Sesshoumaru's lands to a place where we know Naraku is waiting, without you upsetting Sango on top of it!" He grimaced but did not argue the point. They continued traveling, Inuyasha heckling the monk over the 'down' and Shippo defending Miroku by biting Inuyasha's ears. The hanyou grabbed the kit by the tail and bonked him several times on the head. Miroku smacked Inuyasha over the head with his staff.
"Sit! Down!" Kagome yelled in frustration. Unfortunately for the monk, she had set the subduing spell so that she as well as Sango could trigger it. The young men both hit the ground, nearly squashing the baby fox. "Honestly, sometimes it's like watching The Three Stooges!" snapped the irate teen girl. Inuyasha mumbled curses into the ground, and Miroku had to bite his lip to prevent himself from doing the same. He nicked his lower lip with a fang and sighed in frustration. Kagome began removing juice boxes and crackers from her bag. "It's time for a break anyway."
Moments after the spell released the boys, there was a rustling in the bushes nearby. All of them turned towards the sound warily, ready for anything. Inuyasha sniffed the air and growled.
"Shit! It's that damn whelp –"
A dark haired little girl emerged from the forest, smiling a wide, gap- toothed smile.
"Kagome-neesan! Rin is so happy to see you!" She ran to the surprised older girl and hugged her so tightly that the startled Kagome squeezed the juice box she was holding too hard and sent the contents spraying everywhere.
Six months before, Kagome had nursed the child through a flu with future knowledge and medications. In this time period, it could easily have been fatal. It had taken over thirty 'sits' to get Inuyasha to calm down and stop trying to attack his half brother. Sesshoumaru, for a change, was not interested in the Tessaiga at that time. All he cared about – and the word 'care' was dubious in regards to the cold taiyoukai – was his ward's health.
That had been a most tense week, interrupted only by something that had to be seen to be believed: Kagome scolding Sesshoumaru over the care of Rin. Telling him that if he was going to let the little girl follow him around the countryside, he needed to make sure she had proper clothes and shoes for the weather, not a ragged summer yukata and bare feet!
He'd remained impassive throughout her scolding, but the group noticed that Rin was now dressed in a warmer kimono and even pants, with sturdy shoes, that looked appropriate for the cooler weather. There was a crescent moon on the sleeve, something Inuyasha knew was the family crest and would deter any youkai smart enough to comprehend it from messing with Sesshoumaru's human tag-a-long.
"Rin, what are you doing running around the forest alone?" Kagome asked as soon as the kid had released her hug and allowed her to breathe again. Rin looked thoughtful. Meanwhile, Inuyasha was practically bristling, looking around and sniffing the air, trying to see if his half-brother was anywhere near.
"Sesshoumaru-sama went to catch something, and he told Rin-chan go find some food for Rin since she was hungry."
Miroku had been watching this little interaction with tolerant amusement, particularly since the child was so focused on her 'big sister' that she didn't even notice the angry hanyou or his own kitsunish features. At her words, though, he felt cold shivers run up his spine.
"Ah, Rin-chan?" he asked, dreading her answer, "what was Sesshoumaru...sama...going to catch?"
"A pretty lady riding a pretty kitty in the air."
The monk went still as stone. Simultaneously Inuyasha gave a snarl and unsheathed Tessaiga, Shippo dove behind Kagome, and Kagome turned and nocked her bow. And Sesshoumaru stepped out of the surrounding trees like a phantom. In his only hand, he somehow managed to hold both a limp, de-transformed Kirara by her tails, and the unconscious Sango by her belt. He dropped them almost contemptuously on the ground and turned his cold golden eyes on Inuyasha.
Before either of the brothers could speak or move, there was a loud, rumbling growl. Miroku's green eyes were bleeding to red, and he dropped his staff. Infuriated beyond all reason, he charged across the space between himself and the demon lord.
I'll kill him for hurting my mate! was his last coherent thought before he was engulfed in his red, red, rage. He leaped at Sesshoumaru with fangs and claws bared. Rin and Shippo cried out in terror. Miroku was unable to land a single blow on youkai. The cold lord's yellow whip flashed out, quick as thought, and hit the enraged monk hard across the chest, tearing his robes and sending blood flying. He reeled back under the blow and then tried again, still growling. Kagome and Inuyasha were yelling at him, but he did not hear them and would not have understood their words even if he had.
The whip struck again, opening fresh wounds on his arms and torso. Miroku was badly overmatched, kitsune attributes or no.
Sesshoumaru, who doubtless could have cut him in half in the blink of an eye, struck with the whip once more, coiling it about him and lifting him into the air, unable to move. The taiyoukai's eyes were narrowed, but otherwise he remained impassive.
"Teme! Let the bouzo go now!" Inuyasha held the transformed Tessaiga threateningly, while Kagome was trying to check Sango and Kirara while simultaneously trying to comfort the terrified children.
"Attack me and I'll crush him to death before you can even come close," warned Sesshoumaru, tightening the whip in warning. Miroku hissed in pain and growled again. The youkai turned his eyes on his captive.
"You are the monk that travels with this absurd group. This Sesshoumaru wants to know how you have come to take on the appearance of a kitsune."
The monk was well past the point of being able to speak. His growls increased, and strangely, slipped into the canine speech shared by the dog youkai, wolf youkai, and kitsunes.
: Dog lord, my mate has harmed! :
The eyes of Inuyasha, Shippo, and even Sesshoumaru widened in various degrees. The taiyoukai then replied in kind, the deep bass growls sounding strange coming from his slender human form.
: Monk, true kitsune is not. Regardless, no mark, mate has. :
: When gone air rip is, my mate will she be! :
: MY territory you trespass in. YOU, I rank. Submit! :
: NO! :
Kagome had been wondering why on earth they were growling back and forth like that, but she hadn't ceased seeing to her unconscious friends. Suddenly, she called out,
"She's okay! She and Kirara are just knocked out. They're okay!" Sesshoumaru smirked and told the enraged monk,
: Fine, your mate is. Waking up now. :
Miroku's head snapped around to see Sango being helped into a sitting position by Kagome. He gave a deep sigh, and his eyes began to slowly turn green again. He shook his head, ears pinned back, looking like someone who'd been awoken from a deep sleep.
"Who -? Wh – what just happened?" he asked in confusion, then winced at the pain of his fresh wounds and blanched at the sight of who was holding him and how.
"You need to learn to control your youkai instincts, monk," Sesshoumaru said coldly. Said monk went an interesting shade of pale at his words. "Now. Tell this Sesshoumaru how you have come to be nearly a kitsune, or I will end your life before your Air Rip can consume you."
Rin was recovered from her fright, and she ran to her lord and wrapped her arms around his leg. Even after seeing it before, the others had to stifle their astonishment at this.
"What is it, Rin?"
"Rin thinks the monk looks nice, all fuzzy and kawaii, like when Sesshoumaru-sama takes his doggy form." Inuyasha choked at this description. The child continued, oblivious to the reaction she had caused, "Rin wishes she could be a kitsune or inuyoukai, too!"
Something flashed briefly in the taiyoukai's eyes at those words, and Miroku suddenly perceived what was going through the inuyoukai's mind. Sesshoumaru would most certainly be interested in a way to turn a human into a youkai. If he was reading him right, probably in regards to the little girl looking at the cold taiyoukai with utter trust in her eyes. Rin was so fragile and would age so fast compared to him...
Without giving it a second thought, Miroku explained about the curse. He balked a little at the trigger with Rin around (even he had to uphold SOME standards) and finally settled on the evasive,
"When I act towards ladies in a manner which usually results in a slap."
Sesshoumaru's eye twitched.
"The raven youkai of which you speak, monk, is the taiyoukai of the north lands. This Sesshoumaru does not understand why she did not simply remove your head instead of placing a curse." Sango was holding a cloth Kagome had provided to her head, Kirara purring in her lap. "You seek the flower of health then. For the information you have provided, I grant you and your group safe passage across my lands."
"Sit!" Inuyasha, enraged at the arrogant tone his unwelcome relative was using, had been about to attack him. The taiyoukai shook his head and dropped the monk, who immediately clutched at his bleeding wounds.
"Come, Rin." He picked up the girl and his cloud formed around his feet. They rose into the air and vanished from sight, much to a certain hanyou's irritation.
"Shippo, get my first aid kit from my bag. I'll need the antiseptic, the bandages, and a cold pack for Sango – she's going to have a wicked headache before long. Miroku, take off the top of your robes, I need to treat those wounds." When it came to first aid, Kagome was all business.
Miroku sat rather dazed while the girl from the future treated his injuries. He guessed Sesshoumaru must have inflicted them. But what had happened in that fuzzy space between seeing the taiyoukai drop Sango's unconscious form, and 'waking up' in the coils of the whip?