Hi all! Welcome back to 'The Moon and The Sun'! Here's chapter 11, and don't forget to R&R! Enjoy!

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Chapter 11: Oshiego no za Ken (Disciple of the Blade)

Three days. She was supposed to stay inside for three more days! She couldn't STAND it anymore; she had stayed inside yesterday already! Why today, too?!

The worn yellow pages of the tome flipped violently from the breeze flowing playfully through the open window. Kagome lay sprawled out on her chamber's futon, arms and legs draping out as far as they could as she stretched and relaxed for a long afternoon nap. She deserved it! Reading that ridiculous old book was pointless! Sango had said Lord Sesshoumaru wanted her to read it, but Kagome found it completely dull and boring! It was the rules and notes on a female in Western culture; in other words, politics and decrees. The book was better suited to Kikyo. So, the hime did the only thing she could.

She gave up on it.

The attempt was completely written off in a moment's inspiration, and she decided to sleep instead. After all, if one was sleepy, they should sleep, and then make up for lost time later, right? Her eyelids began to drift closed, and just as they were about to finish their heavy journey, she was jolted awake by the sound of yelling from outside!

"Oh, curse it all!" she barked, standing up and pulling her yukata over her shoulders loosely. Through the opening down the centre one could only see her thick, white torso wrappings. She sighed and approached the window. She knew Sango said not to go outside, but she could at least look, right? She had been good yesterday and not looked, and it was driving her insane!

Just as she reached the windowsill and was about to look down at the ground, an annoying needle stab made the back of her neck burn! She spun around, slamming the shutters closed in anger! Her hand went to the source of her discomfort underneath her hair, and smacked the small bulge that she found there. When she pulled her hand out again, she watched as the poor flea drifted like a feather off her palm. When his light body hit the floor, he remained perfectly still. She knew better, though.

"Are you all right, Myouga-san?" she smiled, coming down to sit on her shins in front of him. After a short time, he puffed up his chest and regained his third dimension of width.

"Quite all right, my lady," he replied, voice raspy and rugged with the strain of lack of oxygen.

Kagome smiled gently, and picked him up into the palm of her hand. It had been a while since she'd seen her little friend, for he was most often away somewhere with Inuyasha. Or if not that, he was home – wherever THAT was – with his wife. From what he had told her from one of their common midnight conversations, Myouga and his beloved Kimi were very passionate. That is, when they weren't arguing! Despite all that, though, Myouga said he knew that she was his soul mate; she kept him in line and anchored firmly. She was his rock.

This made her wonder about her relationship with Inuyasha. How different were they to Myouga and Kimi?

The corners of the hime's mouth went up a little higher at the thought of the Inu-oji. She wasn't entirely sure what it was that had come over her, but she was more and more interested by him. Something about him drew her to want to know him! What was so special about him? Whenever she was near him, she felt a strange tingling in her fingers and toes, as though tiny jolts of lightning were going off inside her! Like fireworks...

Kagome was drawn out of her thoughts when she heard Myouga call to her.

"Huh? What?" she replied, shaking her head a little in hopes of clearing it with a good rush of wind. "I'm sorry, Myouga-san, what did you say?"

"I was asking if YOU were all right, my lady," he replied. "You looked distant."

She bowed her head in apology. "Gomen, I am a little disoriented today."

"That is quite understandable."

Her eyes met his and she let a tiny giggle pass over her lips. "Don't tell me I look as dreadful as I feel!?"

In all honesty, she felt slimy all over. She needed to bathe, but Lord Sesshoumaru had forbidden her to go outside today – and she had NO intention of jeopardizing her and her sibling's chances of survival by disobeying. Her curiosity was unbearably peaked (which was one of the things which made her force herself to sleep), but she would not give in to it!

She couldn't help the twinge of shame and regret that passed through her as she remembered her last real encounter with the osama. He had done nothing indecent to her as of yet, and had been nothing but kind to her, in his own distant way... And look at how she had treated him! She had let the sun go down on her anger, and now she was paying the price of self-hate.

Even though long said and done, Shippou's words haunted her with their tragic reality. It was a reality she could not bring herself to apply. The West WAS different from the East, and she would have to accept that one day or another. But how could she "come to terms" with barbarism and savageness? It was against everything she had ever known!

"No, Kagome-hime," Myouga bowed lightly, "you look radiant, as always."

"How many times must I ask you to be truthful, Myouga-san?" she scolded, standing and moving over to a large square table at the centre of the room. There she sat, and placed her companion onto the shining oak surface. She carefully propped her elbows onto the polished tabletop and folded her hands under her chin to support her head.

Myouga puffed up and pouted. "I was, Kagome-hime!" A short silence was instigated, and the two found themselves lost in it until Myouga found his voice again. "May I ask what you are thinking about?"

Her half-lidded eyes wandered down to his face again. "Hm? Oh, nothing."

"The truth of one look can shatter a thousand lies, Kagome-hime," he scolded back.

Her thin eyebrows raised up in amusement. He may have been small, but he was not one for tricks – unless they were his own, of course! "I was thinking about what was happening outside. What's going on that's causing so much vigilance?"

"Well, that's to be expected," he replied, swaying his head from side to side. "What else would one predict when preparing for a war?"

Kagome's eyes shot wide open and she stared at him as her breath caught within her throat! She found herself gagging, just like at the long-passed party where she met Shippou! "War?!?! What are you talking about, Myouga?!"

Myouga was perplexed. Didn't she know? A cold chill ran through him as he recognized his fatal error; Lord Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha didn't want Kagome-hime to know yet! And he had blabbed! 'I'll be squashed for sure!!!' he thought miserably. "Oh, nothing! Nothing you need worry about, sweet, lovely, believing Kagome-hime!!"

Kagome drew her face into a glare that could make even a demon such as Inuyasha quiver in his marrow, were he there! She wrapped her thumb and forefinger tightly around Myouga and lifted him up so that he was inches from her face, but out of biting range. "You are not a very good liar, Myouga-san. Now, tell me, or else I'll have to explain to poor Kimi why you couldn't be around to see the birth of your children!"

Myouga's squirming and thrashing did him no good, but it made him feel better that he was at least trying to keep the secret. Perhaps that would work in his defense when the lords found out about his big mouth! 'Open mouth, insert foot!' "I swear, your ladyship, I don't know anything about it except that it's happening!!"

"I doubt very much Lord Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha-oji would fail to tell their consul and good friend about something as important as war, Myouga-san! Now, tell!!"

"All I can say is that Lord Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha are leaving with our armies in four days! That's all I know, I swear!"

"I don't believe you!" she hissed.

"Put him down, Kagome-chan," came Kikyo's soft voice from the doorway. "He's just following his orders. I, however, am under no such bond. Lord Sesshoumaru spoke with me yesterday. I... will tell you."

Something in her sister's voice was pained, as though a great tragedy wracked Kikyo's heart. Kagome was at a loss, for she had never before seen her in such a state. It surprised and frightened her!

Standing and letting her miniature companion free, Kagome remained silent as she watched the flea. Myouga pounced away vigorously, and fled to the safety of a high shelf, where the temperamental hime could not reach him. When she finished observing his disappearance, she returned her gaze to the doorway, but found Kikyo sitting on one of the cushions at the table. So, she sat once again and waited patiently.

Kikyo cleared her throat. "I don't want to bore you with details, Kagome-chan, but I will tell you what is most important for you to hear."

Kagome grinned despite herself. 'I never was one for useless chit-chat, anyway!'

"You have heard the truth about Inuyasha-oji and Sesshoumaru-cha—! Sesshoumaru-osama leaving very soon." Kagome raised her eyebrow suspiciously at her sister's stutter.

"It's unlike you to correct yourself, Kikyo-chan. You don't say anything unless you planned how to say it first."

"Well," Kikyo replied, "I... am under a great deal of pressure at the moment. Please, forgive me. But, as I was saying: you know the departure plans. It seems our beloved Otou-san has... looked to our furthest borders for support against the West."

Kagome's jaw dropped. Her heart seemed to stop as her fear escalated to panic. "But why would Father do such a thing?! Does he not realize that our army is not enough to stand against demons?!! They will be slaughtered! What could ever drive him to such insanity?!?!"

The normally cold eyes of Kikyo turned dark and desolate. How could she do this? How could she bring herself to shatter the heart of her dear sister? If she answered, she would reveal the most horrible reality to Kagome that had longed been denied! Kagome had always refused to accept it, for her own sanity!

Kikyo braced her heart for the devastating blow she was about to inflict upon her own flesh and blood. There was nothing that could be done; Kagome had a right to know! For her heart's sake, she had to know! 'Forgive me, my dear Kagome-chan!' "Father... wishes to bring me back... by force. He has bargained with our country's neighbours to fight with him to retrieve me."

The look upon Kagome's face then was enough to send Kikyo into unbidden tears! She couldn't help it! Kagome remained strong in the face of the knowledge that their father still cared nothing for her. She felt sick with heartache, and blind with grief though no tears fell to match Kikyo's. She was both burning in an inferno and numb with cold at the same time.

So confused was Kagome that she stayed still, face pale and jaw slightly ajar, even as Kikyo swept round the table to embrace her little sister fiercely. Nothing registered in her mind; the shock was too great, so deafeningly loud that all else was blotted out! She was in darkness, and a chill swept through her like a menacing snake slithering up her spine!

Her sire did not love her...! He would never... Regardless of what she did, her beloved father would be cold to her forever! The portrait of a dead man in the mirror of her heart, never to breathe warmth or speak love again.

As dismal as her broken heart felt, she could not let it go. There was one more thing she had to know, and it was something her sister could not answer.

Why...?

Her warm hand reach down and wiped the tears from Kikyo's eyes. Kagome knew only one thing: until she had an answer, she, too, would be cold. "That's not like you, Kikyo-chan. You were never one to cry."

Kikyo looked to her sister in confusion. "But, Kagome-chan, your pain is worth my tears!"

"Many things are worth our tears," she replied, and stood up straight. "And this is not one of them. Don't weep for the dead."

Kikyo crawled onto her hands and knees and pushed herself up to stand before Kagome. She followed the stunned youth out of the room, rapidly moving down the halls to an unknown destination. "Kagome-chan, what are you saying?"

Kagome turned and let a crystal tear fall down her left cheek. "Until I have an answer, I will be forever in despair and pain...!"

"Well, then, ask me and I'll answer!" Kikyo pleaded, ashamed of her desperateness. However, she had no choice but to shove her pride away! She was appalled by this stranger in her sister's body! And the thought of Kagome like this scared her with its formality and coldness. Kagome wasn't supposed to be like her...! She was born to be the wonderfully excitable one; the bouncing child with an insatiable curiosity! Not this... shell.

"You can't," Kagome sighed, "Only Father can... Please, sister?"

The spark of understanding that was before always there glinted again in Kikyo's eyes. There was a moment of silence where Kikyo nuzzled her forehead against Kagome's in comfort and realization. When she moved away again, the calm and fluid Kikyo had returned. She took Kagome's hand gently, and squeezed it once while taking a step forward.

"Come with me."



The sunlight was brilliant as it beamed down on the field. Rays caught and glinted upon the threaded sheaths of freshly cut wheat that lay in gathered and bound piles: food for the massing army of demons. Amid the shining was a man, gray with age, who hunched over as he sat in the knee-high shafts left after the reapers finished their night harvesting earlier that morning.

His course brows were drawn down in deep concentration. He inhaled deeply, then released it and drew a flask of cool water up to his lips. He drank a long while, then replaced the flask onto the ground beside him, and he sighed.

"So much to do!" he rasped in his weathered voice. "For six hundred years I've forged and idled my life in privacy! All to have no time now!"

A ringing voice carried through the air on the soft breeze, and called his name.

"Toutousai!"

He turned and watched the approaching figures that waded gracefully through the sheaths. He couldn't resist admiring the soft sway of their hips as they moved, or the curves of their... But, no, he was much to old for these beauties.

"Better to leave the pretty young ones to the youthful men," he sighed, disappointed.

"Toutousai!" came the lovely cry again, like a moth's wing fluttering against the edge of his pointed ear. He continued to watch until the dark-haired women were standing a few metres to his left.

"And what may I do for you, Kikyo-hime?" he asked, pulling out his hammer and tapping it on his knee absently.

"I would like to ask a favour of you," the said hime replied.

"Yes?"

The second woman who stood at Kikyo's side stepped forward. She had the prettiest blue-gray eyes and obsidian hair that shone in the sunlight. "Actually, Toutousai-sama, I am the one asking."

"Well, young lady, it's polite for introductions first, before we go asking favours."

"Yes, of course. I'm Kagome-hime, Kikyo-chan's younger sister."

"Ooh, so you're the one Inuyasha-oji's been talki—! I mean, good day to you!"

Kikyo smiled cooly at Kagome. "I met Toutousai just last week, when I was wandering about the armouries below the castle."

"I thought that was off limits to women," Kagome commented.

"I never said I asked. Either way, I was really only looking for Lord Sesshoumaru to ask him about something."

"I see," Kagome nodded.

"Well," Toutousai interrupted, "since we know each other..."

Kagome's stare grew cooler, and she was passive in her own manner. "Yes. I would like to ask you a very prominent favour, but you must tell no one."

"And what might that be, Kagome-hime?"

"Teach me to fight with a sword."



Inuyasha moved forward suavely. His eyes were narrow with determination and he was blatantly peeved. "Sesshoumaru, where's Toutousai?!"

His brother turned to look at him over his shoulder. He had been inspecting a number of katanas and yaris that were for his personal guard when his half-blooded sibling had so rudely interrupted his examination. But, that was Inuyasha's way, and nothing could change that.

'Well,' Sesshoumaru smirked inwardly, 'Perhaps ONE thing could. But she's not ready to yet.' "What is the matter, Inuyasha?" he sighed.

"The damn baka ran off in the middle of sharpening Tetusaiga!" he held up his long, elegant sword to display the tarnished metal and rugged, dull edge for effect.

"Well, then, go look for him," Sesshoumaru replied testily. "I haven't time for your childish complaints!"

"But I have a group of demons outside waiting for me to spar with them! I don't have time to look!"

"Then go spar now and look for him later! Besides, he's old and most likely needs a break from impatient children like you."

Inuyasha "Humph!"ed very loudly before turning on his heel and leaving for his said session. Sesshoumaru shook his head and sighed again. "He's the real heir to the Tetusaiga, Father? Really now, how foolish."



Toutousai was completely astonished. "You want to what?!"

"I want you to teach me to fight."

"W-why?! You're a woman!"

"Because," Kagome replied sternly, "I need to speak with my father, and to do that I must leave with the troops in three days!"

Toutousai gaped. There was NO WAY he could train a woman! It was forbidden for women to fight! Didn't Kagome-hime know the rules?! "But—!"

"I know!" Kagome hissed, squeezing her eyes shut and fisting her hands. "I know what you're going to say. Please, Toutousai-sama! I NEED to do this! Please...!"

Kikyo moved forward and placed a soft kiss upon the top of his head. A very deep blush crept over his face and he giggled lewdly to himself. "Please, Toutousai-san? Not even for a princess?"

He shook his head to clear it. "NO!! Not even for a princess!"

Kagome's eyes grew deep with malcontent. "Then you doom me to death."

"But—! I—! It's the rule of the—!" He looked between the speckled orbs of Kikyo and Kagome: from cool mists to dark chasms of despair. He could help melting. "Oh!!! Very well! Why must you two be so lovely?!!"

A small smile appeared upon both creamy faces, and their eyes lit with a faint hope that burned like a single ember in the pits of oblivion. It was enough to make him snort back a tear uncouthly.

"I believe," he stated, hauling himself up from the ground to stand before them, "that you a not high or... ahem... graceful enough, I deem, to wield a katana. And being a woman denies you the power behind the swing of a yari, naginato, bisento, or hoko – anything along those lines would be a hindrance. You need something short and straight enough to cut cleanly... Something easy to carry and conceal..." He snapped his fingers and smiled. "Of course! You would best be suited with a ninja-to; that is, a ninja sword. Naturally, you'd need a side weapon; the sword isn't always enough."

Kagome gave a small smile. "I choose the shuriken."

Toutousai stared at her. "You sound as though you have experience with them, being you're so eager."

"I do. Some, at least," Kagome replied. "My mother learned them when she was little. ... She was the daughter of a respected ninja master in the East, and taught me when I was growing up, when Father wasn't home. He didn't entertain the thought that women should ever fight. But Okaa-san said it was always a good thing for a woman to be able to defend herself if she ever had need to."

"Very well," Toutousai said, "Then, let's begin training. Not here, though. At the edge of the forest. See, over there," he pointed to the lining fringe of the thick trees at the far side of the field. She nodded in response.

Toutousai gathered up his strength and began waddling along. Kagome, though, glanced at her sister. She took as step forward and cupped Kikyo's hands in hers.

"Why did you do this for me, Kikyo?" she asked.

"You are my sister," she replied, and lifted a hand to brush away from stray strands of Kagome's hair that fell into her face. "I will do anything to help you be happy. Besides, you were never meant to be like me: stately and proper." She ran her forefinger along Kagome's jaw lightly. "Go, Kagome. Go be whatever it is you must be, and follow your spirit to whatever end. And if you should not return to me... I will join you in whatever world comes after this...!"

The sun began the first part of its descent into the horizon as the afternoon wore on, fixing playful shadows upon a wheat field where sheaths glowed in the light and the outlines of two loving sisters – the princesses of a proud land – could be seen embracing fiercely, as though life would end at the setting of the day.

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Weapons:

Yari (sorry forgot this last chapter) - spear with a long, straight, double-edge blade

Katana (duh!) - longsword (often worn with a shorter version called a Wakizashi as part of the "Daisho" [long and short] set)

Naginata - staff with single-edge, curved blade

Bisento - polearm with a broad, curved blade

Hoko - polearm with short, curved blade and small hooked blade

Ninja-to - shortsword, straight, double-edged

Shuriken - throwing stars (yaay!!!!)

I thought I'd do an update since I've had a bit of free time during my studying; exams are in 15 school days (less than three weeks away!!) I'll try to update again soon, but be patient with me, k? See you all in chapter 12!!! R&R please!