Chapter 5
Kaede sighed as the crystal grew dark.
"What happened?" Kagome asked, still staring at the crystal. "Is it broken?"
"Nay, child, it is not broken, but a crystal is not always the most reliable way of seeing," the old priestess explained. "It will only work for so long while you use it, so watch everything that happens carefully. It will be up to whoever sees it to remember what is going on."
"Okay, Inuyasha and Sesshomaru are trapped with a beautiful woman," Miroku said, shaking his head. "How lucky they are."
Everyone glared at him.
"I was being sarcastic," he said, holding up his hands to ward off any blows. "I would hate to have to obey every command given me, and I think it's awful that they're trapped there. What if she ordered them to attack someone? Inuyasha would never forgive himself, so we must get him out of there as soon as possible."
"Miroku's right," Sango said. "We should start searching."
"Now hold on a moment," Shippo said, using every inch of his tiny height to get their attention as he stood. "We don't even know where that place is, and you want to go running off to find it. We should at least try to learn where to look."
"Agreed," Kagome said, stringing her bow. "Kaede, do you know of where any sorceresses might be?"
Kaede thought for a moment, trying to remember all that she had ever heard about sorceresses. "There had been word of one about ten years ago who made her home in the mountains to the north, but that is all I know."
Shippo thought about this. "That woman's castle lay in a valley. D'you think it could be the same one?"
"It's possible," Sango said, standing. "Why don't we go check it out? If Inuyasha isn't there, then we'll know to keep searching."
"Don't you leave without me!" Jaken cried, leaping up. "I am coming to search for Lord Sesshomaru!"
Rin also jumped up.
"No, Rin, you must stay here," Jaken said, trying to placate the determined child. "Lord Sesshomaru would never forgive me if anything were to happen to you."
"I think Jaken's right, Rin," Kagome said, grabbing her backpack. "If we run into trouble there's no guarantee we could keep you safe."
"He is going," she said, pointing at Shippo. "Why can't I?"
"Shippo's able to protect himself," Miroku explained. "If the trouble is too dangerous, he's still able to confuse any opponents without even fighting. If you are able to do the same, I have yet to see it."
She didn't look happy, but Rin agreed to stay with Kaede until they returned. Jaken told her that she could learn all sorts of things in the village with Kaede, so she had better learn well, and Lord Sesshomaru would be pleased with her if she did. That contented her, and she waved goodbye as they left.
"What could she learn in the village, Kagome?" Shippo asked curiously as they sat on Kirara's back.
"Just about anything, I guess," Kagome answered. "Kaede's a good teacher. She taught me all about herbs and healing, and there's a lot to learn about that. There's stuff she could learn to do, like sew or weave baskets, and I'm pretty sure that she'd like to make a present for Sesshomaru."
Shippo laughed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. We shouldn't worry about her."
"I just hope the child stays out of trouble," Jaken said. "If I had hair, it would be gray by now because of her. One afternoon she dragged me along while looking for flowers to pick, and that little adventure still gives me nightmares! She managed to get us lost, to dangle dangerously over a precipice, to cross a chasm on a rickety old log, and she angered a family of wolves. Half a dozen chances to get herself killed, and Lord Sesshomaru wanted to know why I didn't watch more carefully!"
Miroku chuckled. "Ah, nothing like the presence of a child to make life worth living, eh?"
Jaken glared at him and grumbled until they set down to make camp for the night.
Space
Inuyasha was worried about Sesshomaru, and that in itself was a rare thing. After being told by the witch how happy she was to have him, she told him to go and clean up at the bath house. At her behest, dozens of little furry creatures scurried into the room, making a racket as they did so. They were her servants, she said, and they would attend him. She ordered Sesshomaru to go as well so that the two brothers could relax together and talk.
Who is she kidding? he wondered as he followed Sesshomaru out of the castle and across the small side courtyard to the bath house. We loathe each other, and she acts as if we were old friends. Surely she can tell that the feelings between us aren't exactly friendly.
Once he was in the bath house, Inuyasha didn't get much time to think. The little furballs were frighteningly efficient: within moments his clothes were gone and he was seated on a stool, being doused with hot water. After that he was scrubbed until he was positive he had lost a layer of skin, and he was splashed with cool water that made him yelp in the heat of the bath house. His hair was soaked with more hot water and washed, and he was convinced that his scalp was going to part company with his skull from the way they tugged at it while scrubbing. More cold water was used to rinse it, and he was led to a large tub with a fire underneath it. At their insistence he slipped into it, not moving much since it would make the water feel even hotter. Sesshomaru slipped into a tub next to his.
"How do you feel?" Sesshomaru asked.
"Scoured and scalped," Inuyasha said, examining his skin. "Are they always that rough?"
His brother nodded. "What's worse, you have a bath every day here."
"What if you don't need one every day?"
Sesshomaru shrugged. "It's still what she wants you to do, so you do it."
Inuyasha stared at him. "Sesshomaru, what happened to you? You're completely different! I mean, you're not ready to fight me, and you're following her orders without a word! What's the matter with you?"
"One of the reasons why I'm this way now is because I fought for the first two days after I arrived. It's infuriating, because I couldn't even get close enough to her to touch her, let alone slash her head from her neck. I'm exhausted, and once I collapsed from the battle, she simply came to my side and placed the collar around my neck. Now I have no choice but to obey her," he said, clenching a fist. "After that, I had to spend two hours with her every afternoon, and the worst thing is that she insisted I sit right next to her, and there were always plenty of small orders that I had to comply with. I always try to fight this damned collar, but it leaves me exhausted each time I try. The other day I fell asleep and I awoke with my head on her knee. She was stroking my hair, and she told me that it was useless, I couldn't fight the collar."
"Can you attack her with that thing on?"
Sesshomaru shook his head. "I can't attack anyone. She hates to have her 'guests' fight, so each one with a collar isn't able to. Those without them do not fight, since doing so would assure being made to wear one."
Inuyasha thought about this. This was the longest conversation he'd ever had with his brother that did not include hurling insults back and forth. It was a bit scary.
"So, what do we do now?" Inuyasha asked, feeling adrift.
"Frightened?"
"No!" Inuyasha snapped, glaring at his brother. "Just worried. What'll happen next?"
"For you, most likely a meal and rest," his brother said, getting out of the tub and wrapping up in a towel. "Tala most likely snatched you and hasn't let you have much time to rest or eat, right?"
"Yeah," Inuyasha said, getting out as well. It was good he was going to get something to eat soon, he was starving!
"Well, let's get dressed and go back to see her; she'll order what you need."
Inuyasha was more than ready to do that, but before they could, their furry attendants made them sit down on a bench outside once they had their clothes on. Their hair was rubbed with towels until dry, and then they had to sit still while it was combed out. As rough they had been before, they were surprisingly gentle with the combs. It reminded Inuyasha of the time Kagome had said "sit!" until he stayed in one place long enough to let her comb his hair out. It had looked, according to Kagome, like a bird's nest. He would never admit it to anyone, but having his hair combed by someone was oddly relaxing.
Once released from their ersatz hairdressers, the two brothers went inside, feeling almost ready to face the sorceress again.
