Title: Whispers on the Wind - Ch. 2 - Healing
Author: CrystalTokyoPrincess
Chapter Rating: G
Summary: In an era of daimyo and youkai, strife and torture, elegance and
intolerance begins a story of love and sacrifice. This is a tale of romance, courage, and
strife, a story of the love between Inuyasha's parents!
Author's Notes: This time around, I'm not quite so verbose in my title block!
Basically, the glossary never has words in it that have been in previous chapters, unless
they're fairly uncommon words like uchikake and I've used them in a chapter.
Japanese words are still in italics. Anyhow. Hoorah! Story time!
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"H-himesama..." the youkai said breathlessly, warm eyes blinking rapidly, "It was...no trouble at all. The worst kinds of --"
Bravely, the woman put a finger to the youkai's lips and smiled gently down at him. "Perhaps no trouble, but you are wounded. We've doctors coming for you." With that said she lifted the finger from his lips and placed the hand she'd been holding on the youkai's stomach.
The youkai managed a wan smile. "I suppose I might need to be patched up a bit."
"Hai. Your wounds, it seems, would have killed a normal man, what with all that blood--"
"I'm a youkai, after all," he managed, lips twinging in amusement.
"That you are," the woman replied, her own lips twinging slightly in response to the youkai's amusement, "and one of the few kind, honorable ones out there."
The youkai offered a wan though pleased smile. "Thank you for your kind words, himesama."
"It certainly seems the truth, sir," the woman spoke softly. She reached out to pat gently the hand resting on the youkai's stomach. "Heal and rest, and we'll thank you properly once all is said and done."
The youkai smiled up at her. "Thank you, Lady, and you as well, Lord, for your hospitality."
Just then a pair of doctors, accompanied by a young houshi and an elderly miko, pressed through. All cringed at the bloodloss the youkai had suffered; the youkai closed his eyes and awaited the treatment. One doctor, a middle aged man with hair already graying at his temples, stood resolutely by the stretcher, fists defiantly applied to his hips as his fellow healers gathered 'round the stretcher and set to work.
"Everyone...OUT."
The spectators slowly shuffled towards the door.
The Lord and his daughter turned to watch their subjects leave. With a frown, the Lord crossed his chest and barked out: "A bit more quickly. No loafing about." And so the subjects left.
The Lady glanced down at the youkai, a touch of concern playing over her features. What was to come of this man, this demon?
The Lord uncrossed his arms and took a firm but gentle hold on his daughter's upper arm. "Come now, daughter."
The Lady followed dutifully behind her father, but not after a glance to the youkai being tended by a troupe of trained healers. Then she turned her head forward and did not look back, though concern still rested delicately upon her brow.
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The two doctors removed the tatters of the youkai's upper garment and began inspecting the wounds on his torso. The two spoke quietly amongst themselves, questioning and diagnosing, and finally the younger of the two took out a clean rag and dipped it into a bucket of what looked like water but ... most assuredly was not.
The youkai's hand reflexively clasped and unclasped around the hilt of the sword at his side, his only sign of discomforture. The middle-aged doctor removed the sword from the youkai's grasp and set it aside without a second thought. The youkai's hands dropped to the floor beside him.
Meanwhile, the miko dropped various herbs into a mortar, gripping the wooden bowl between gnarled fingers as she began grinding with a stone pestle. She dug around in a satchel at her side and retrieved a small flask, popping the stopper and emptying a good portion of the flask's contents into the mortar. She handed the flask to the priest, who capped it for her. The miko set to work grinding away at herbs and liquid.
"I more often destroy youkai than save them," the old miko related with a good-natured chortle as she paused to hand the priest her satchel. "But when there is good in the heart, there is no use to destroy the heart's bearer."
The youkai smiled lightly though his eyes remained closed. "Few youkai have the interests of others in mind or heart."
"Well spoken, youkai-sama, well spoken," the young priest said as he shuffled through the elderly miko's satchel for varying ingredients, adding a drop of this or a pinch of that to the mixture until the old woman held up her hand. She motioned for the priest to look into the bowl.
"This is the consistency needed for this particular treatment. A paste, but a smooth paste. Not lumpy. If it's lumpy, you may not have ground far enough."
"Hai, Hakumei-sensei," replied the houshi as he peered down into the bowl, "I see what you mean."
"It reduces scarring and helps seal and disinfect wounds. It also may alleviate the topical pain though the doctors seem already to be worrying about any pain our youkai savior may have," she paused momentarily to watch the doctors administer a pain relief draught. "Hopefully that's enough for a youkai to be numbed."
"It will be," intoned the youkai. His eyes remained closed. "I can take pain in any case. The fact is simply that the extent of the wounds was more than my body could repair. Give me a few days and I should be fully repaired."
"Ha. He treats his body as though it was merely a structure, a building!" laughed the elderly priestess.
"In some ways, the body is much like a building," said the youkai. The doctors continued checking over his wounds. "After all, it is built on a frame and when damaged can be repaired though it often does not seem ."
"A house can be rebuilt from the ground up, though, youkai-sama," said the priest as he finished packing away his teacher's herbs and potion, "...whereas the body cannot."
"Wise words, Nikkou. You learn well," said the old woman gruffly; the young priest merely bowed his head respectfully. Taking that chance, the miko nabbed her satchel from her pupil and pulled out a wooden utensil that looked like a flattened out spoon. She stirred up her mixture and then glanced over at the doctors who had finished swabbing down and cleaning out various wounds.
"Where are the worst wounds?"
They motioned to the first one, a wound on the youkai's stomach that had come frighteningly close to disembowling the poor man.
"Hmph," said the old woman as she slathered on the mixture. The youkai lay as serenly as ever, no clenching or unclenching of fists along the edges of the stretcher.
"Most of the other wounds are superficial, but some are worse than others," said the older of the two doctors, who indicated the worst wounds. The priestess and her pupil slathered the youkai's torso in the mixture. So began the system of point and slather which continued on until the entirety of the youkai's wounds over the entire of his body had been slathered and finally bandaged.
In the end, the quartet of healers found the youkai asleep. So the four healers cleaned up after themselves and covered the youkai to give him so dignity. Then they departed. Henceforth, the main house was off limits to all but the Lord's family.
Some time later that evening the Lord's daughter tiptoed in and left the youkai a change of clothing.
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Well, as usual, if you've an inkling to do so, please review!
CrystalTokyoPrincess
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Glossary
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houshi:(pronounced: hoe-she) a Buddhist priest.
miko: (pronounced: me-koe) a Shinto priestess.
-sama: (pronounced: sah-mah) a suffix of deep respect that can often be translated to "Lord" or "Lady" as it is in this case.
-sensei: (pronounced: sen-say) a suffix to indicate respect for a teacher, doctor, or other professional.