Disclaimer: I do not own either of Rumiko's 2 characters that have thus far appeared in this fanfic.

Chapter 3

Sesshomaru sighed as he stumbled through the doors of his quarters and all but collapsed on his bed. What a trip, he thought. Taro's strong wind had blown them right into a large group of crow youkai, and he and Matsunaga had been obliged to fend them all off, as well as protect the females. Admittedly, they had both been a tiny bit slow when it came to diverting the crow youkai's attacks on Chiyo…

Hopefully that would discourage Chiyo from traveling with them in the future, although more likely than not, it would only earn him a bad report. "Your son was careless enough to let us fly right into the center of a large gathering of crow youkai…" he could imagine her saying in that whiny voice of hers to his father. Sesshomaru closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

What seemed like only a few moments later, cold water splashed in his face. Sputtering angrily, he opened his eyes to see Sayuri standing over him, a slight smirk on her face and a half-empty pail in one claw.

"Good morning, your highness," she said sweetly. "Your training as a true warrior begins today."

"You…you…" Sesshomaru searched for an expletive foul enough to describe the kind of person that would wake an inu-youkai up by throwing cold water in his face, found none, and settled for growling menacingly.

"I will give you exactly half an hour to dress and eat. Meet me out on the field where we sparred the other day." Sayuri replied cheerfully, and sauntered out of his room before he could retaliate.


"No! Not like that! Like this!"

Sayuri's frustrated snarl cut through the cool morning air as she stomped over to Sesshomaru and yanked the sword away from him. Their tempers were both frayed from the first few hours of his training. After the first quarter hour, Sayuri had let out a long breath and announced that he would have to be completely retrained from the style that he had learned.

"What was that?" she had demanded.

"It was the block-strike combination," Sesshomaru said through gritted teeth. She shot him a contemptuous look.

"That," Sayuri snapped, "was not the block-strike. That was a woodsman chopping down a tree. What is all this," she swung her own sword wildly around, imitating his movements. "this hack and bash nonsense? Do you think you are holding an axe? Because let me assure you right now that what you hold in your hands is a sword, not an axe."

And that had only been the first hour.

"You are the most irritating pupil I have ever had," Sayuri complained, demonstrating the combination after he had butchered it again.

"You are the most infuriating bitch I have ever met," Sesshomaru shot back, trying to copy her exact movements.

Around noon, she finally called the training to an end.

"You're…to be honest, you're not exactly doing well, but I think you are beginning to grasp the basics." Sayuri told him. "You will improve." She flopped down on the grass and patted the spot next to her. He sank down next to her.

"I was much worse when I first started." she said suddenly. "The warriors told me to give up the fighting arts and try something that didn't put my life at risk. They said if I was ever in real combat, my opponent would slice me to tiny pieces between my first and second swing.

The fighting style of the inu youkai is sheer brute power, your strength against your enemy's. It only works as long as your opponent isn't too much stronger than you. Against a truly powerul youkai, you would die."

"Then how am I supposed to fight?" Sesshomaru asked somewhat irritably.

"By matching your strength against his weakness. That is what I'm trying to teach you."

"Is that how the warriors of…what is that place called, anyway?"

"Roughly translated? The rainy place of great trees where we play Ja'La'Hai. It can also be translated as 'The kingdom of warriors'."

"Jalahai?" Sesshomaru asked, stumbling over the unfamiliar word.

"Ja'La'Hai. 'The Game of Life'. It is…hard to explain."

"Try," he urged her. Sayuri stretched out on her back, and stared up at the clouds.

"I'm bad at explaining …there are two or three attacking teams, and they try to retrieve the ball from the guarding team, and whoever has the ball in their possession when the game ends wins."

"That doesn't sound too complicated," Sesshomaru said.

"There are three rules that apply in every game: You can't kill anyone, you have to play by the rules, and the rules are different for each game. Other than those three, they change the rules for every game. The length of the game, the way they are allowed to fight for possesion of the ball, how the ball must be carried, how many players are allowed, what weapons will be used-"

"Weapons?" Sesshomaru asked. Sayuri nodded.

"Most players go into the game fully armed, as they would for battle."

"Did you ever play?"

"Only once, right before I returned. I had been in training for a decade, and I was just barely good enough to be considered a novice at the game." She half-smiled at the memory. "It was their farewell gift to me, to allow me, an unworthy trainee, to play Ja'La'Hai. They even allowed me to make the rules."

She was silent for a bit, and Sesshomaru thought she wouldn't say anything else, but at last, she said, "It is called the Game of Life for many reasons…to play that game is to truly understand their way of life...but also, once you play, you will never feel more truly alive than when you are in the game. There is no way I could describe it to you. If I ever get the chance, I will return there, and play that game until I am too old to draw a blade."

"My advisor, Matsunaga, wishes to speak with you. He is waiting for us in my quarters." Sesshomaru told her.

She stood, offered Sesshomaru a hand to his feet, which he declined, and brushed off her clothes. "I will wake you tomorrow morning."

"Is that how they woke you?" he asked grumpily. She laughed.

"No, their way was much worse."

"How so?"

"I often awoke swimming in the river among flesh-eating fish."


Sesshomaru returned to his quarters thinking about what Sayuri had told him. He was trying to understand these people, to see how to approach them, and if they would help him, but the more he learned about them, the more he was beginning to think it would never work.

Umeko and Matsunaga were sitting at a table covered in papers talking quietly when Sesshomaru and Sayuri entered the room. Umeko was skimming pages of a dusty tome and reading the occasional bit of information out loud while Matsunaga scribbled notes on a piece of paper.

"Lord Sesshomaru, Lady Sayuri," Matsunaga said, bowing to both. "Lady Sayuri, I need to ask you abou these people. Umeko and I have been working on a tentative plan for accomodations and training, but we need to know more about them."

"What do you want to know?" Sayuri asked, sitting next to them.

"You speak their language, correct?" he replied.

"Yes."

"Then would you be accompany and translate for us?"

"That…depends." Sayuri said, frowning a little. "What exactly are you planning?"

"We're going to go to this country with a force of warriors, including yourself, and convince a group of these female warriors to return to Japan with us and train our females. They will be compensated for their time, treated with the highest respect, and we will return them to their country when they have completed the training." Matsunaga told her confidently.

"They'll never agree to that." she snorted. "Never."

"Well…then we will persuade them. One way or another." He was taken aback when Sayuri burst out into mocking laughter.

"You think you could possibly kidnap even one of them?" she snickered. "Then only way you could possibly kidnap one is if you caught them unaware at the edge of the beach and hit them over the head with a rock, then set sail immediately before her clan could come after you and annihilate your entire force. And even if somehow, you did manage to do that, you could only take one, because two together would destroy your ship."

"Could one female train all of ours?" Matsunaga asked Sayuri as soon as she calmed down. She considered it for a long moment, then said slowly,

"I have heard of it being done once before. A lone warrior was captured by a barbarian clan. Before they managed to capture her, she slew a great number of their men. For this, many would have put her to death, but this clan was so amazed and impressed by her fighting skill, they begged her to teach their people to be strong like her. She trained an entire clan, every person able to hold a blade, young and old, male and female alike."

"How was she able to do that?" Umeko asked in wonder. Sayuri turned to her.

"She was from a clan that had…powers. It enabled her to teach them many things in a short time. It isn't a very rare power, among their kind. Most of the warriors I encountered had the power to some extent." They all sat in silence, thinking.

"Matsunaga and I have also come up with an alternative plan, if this one should fail." Umeko said, breaking the silence.

"And that is…?" Sesshomaru asked.

"We've contacted other youkai clans, and some of their females were interested in helping us. Sayuri could train them, and they could help us train the rest of our females." she replied, as the door slid open. It was Chiyo. Ignoring the frigid looks she was receiving from Sesshomaru and Matsunaga, she marched over to the table and sat down.

"Your aide will give me a brief summary of the meeting up to now." Chiyo said to Sesshomaru.

"Her name is Umeko, and you will direct your request to her." he snapped. Chiyo glared at him but was forced to speak directly to Umeko. Umeko, in a low voice, told her everything while Matsunaga drilled Sayuri on everything she knew about the warrior clans.

"What has Lord Sesshomaru decided to do, then?" Chiyo asked at last. "I have heard what you are proposing, and while I believe it to be the ridiculous and fanciful undertaking of an impetuous youth, the final choice has been placed in your inexperienced hands."

"What would you do, then?" Sesshomaru retorted. I am ice, he thought, trying to hold his temper in check.

"I would have the warriors we have here train the females. Sayuri could, perhaps, instruct them in how to teach and train females, but the job would ultimately fall to our warriors."

"And then the females would be as bad as the rest of your army," Sayuri snorted. Chiyo shot a glare at her.

"You overestimate your ability as a warrior. We have not been defeated as long as anyone can remember."

"Except all those times that we've lost to the neko youkai," Sayuri shot back. "The only thing we have going for us is brute strength and large numbers, and both of those can be countered more easily than you think."

"What are you talking about?" Chiyo asked disdainfully. Sayuri opened her mouth to reply, but Matsunaga interrupted.

"There is talk of two largest neko clans, Blood Claw and Gold Eye, joining forces. The neko are all skilled fighters, and with the strength of two clans, they could launch a devastating attack against our own clan." he informed them.

"And that's why my father wants the females trained to fight. There aren't any more inu clans we could join with, and he's trying to increase our numbers." Sesshomaru said slowly. Matsunaga nodded.

"The negotiations between Blood Claw and Gold Eye could take months, which is why this is so important. We don't have much time."

"And that's why I can't allow you to implement these foolish plans." Chiyo said. Sesshomaru and Umeko started to talk at once, but Sayuri hushed them.

"They might be your only chance at fighting the neko youkai off." They rounded on her.

"What are you talking about?" Sesshomaru demanded.

"I can't train your females in that amount of time. I could only give them the most basic training by then, nowhere near enough to send them into battle." Sesshomaru slammed his fist down on the table, splintering the wood.

"Damnit to the nine hells and back!" he snarled. "Are you saying it's impossible, then?" Sayuri met his stormy amber gaze steadily with her mismatched eyes.

"I could train a small group of talented females to fight well. Not many."

Sesshomaru clenched his fist until his claws cut into his skin. He ignored it, thinking furiously.

"Sayuri." he said at last. "Go and pick out your group of females. Test them however you want and choose whomever you believe to be fit. From this moment on, you are acting on the authority of the royal family."

He walked over to his desk and reached into a small, hidden compartment, pulling out a medallion with the crest of royalty and handing it to Sayuri. "This will be proof that you are. Take this to my father and he will see to it that you have an aide to assist you." She took it from him and hung it around her neck.

"Matsunaga. Contact any and every mercenary group who would work for us. For every female who does not learn to fight, hire two mercenaries."

"But Lord Sesshomaru-?" Matsunaga protested. Sesshomaru sighed inwardly. Ever since Matsunaga had heard of the females warriors, he had been…very interested. He pored over the ancient scrolls for any mention of them and spoke endlessly with Sayuri whenever he had the chance.

"There are too many risks in the plan, Matsunaga; we cannot afford to gamble on this slim of a chance."

"You sound like Chiyo," Matsunaga growled under his breath, just low enough so the bitch couldn't hear them.

"Did you hear Sayuri? She says that at best, you would return with one warrior, and even that senario is highly unlikely." Sesshomaru replied in an equally low voice.

"She also said that it was our only chance." Matsunaga argued. Their two gazes met for a moment, then Matsunaga straightened and raised his head proudly.

"My Lord Sesshomaru," he said formally, "I wish to make my Warrior's Request."

Sesshomaru froze. The Warrior's Request. He was obliged, as Matsunaga's lord, to grant him one request in return for Matsunaga's years of loyal service. If he denied the request, it was the same as calling Matsunaga worthless, the greatest insult to a warrior in the service of a lord, and Matsunaga would take his own life. Matsunaga...dammit, don't do this…

And he knew exactly what Matsunaga was going to ask for.

"What is your request?" he asked quietly.

"I wish to undertake this journey to the land of warriors, and attempt to bring one back to train our females. On my honor and my life, I will see this mission carried out."

Chiyo sputtered. "Surely you are not…"

Sesshomaru fixed him with a stare. "Request granted, warrior. Who will see to your affairs while you are gone?"

"Umeko has the training plans we have drawn up. She has already agreed to oversee my business while I am gone."

"I suppose you already have a team and ship picked out," Sesshoumau said ruefully. The older warrior nodded.

"I wish to depart as soon as possible." Matsunaga rose to his feet.

"Naturally. Go, then. May the gods watch over you."

They all watched silently as Matsunaga left the room, tall and proud. He stopped by Umeko, touching her face gently. She managed to smile at him, although Sesshomaru could see that her eyes were glittering with tears.

Chiyo broke the silence by gathering her things and heading for the door.

"I…must go give your father the report. Sesshomaru, I hope you realize what you've done. Acting on impulse, you've allowed your most experienced and valuable cabinet member to go off on some wild chase for a land that doesn't exist. Pray to the gods that he returns soon, because a foolish pup like you needs all the advisors he can get." With that, she left the room.

Sesshomaru and Umeko sat quietly for a while, lost in their own thoughts.

"Umeko…" the inu prince began hesitantly. She looked up at him, a tear trickling down her cheek. "Do you…do you think we did the right thing?"

"I think…we did what we had to." she finally answered. "Matsunaga is no fool; he would not be willing to risk so much if he did not have a good reason." Umeko paused for a moment, and then said more softly, "You are a good leader, Sesshomaru. This isn't an easy assignment, and you are handling it well. Don't let that bitch Chiyo make you doubt yourself." She bowed to him and left the room.

Somehow, Sesshomaru thought, everything doesn't seem like the disaster it was a minute ago.


This is not my style...but... ::sighs, puts away dignity, and begins groveling:: I need feedback! I really want to know what aspects of my writing style need to be improved and what people like. Please review...you'll make kitty happy!