Chapter Two : Forgetful Goddesses

The taiyoukai followed the presence as it grew steadily stronger. The image of the tree became clearer and clearer as the fog lifted. When Sesshoumaru came within about a hundred feet of the tree, it became clear to him that the presence was in fact from the very center of the tree.

He slowed to a graceful stop atop the humongous tree. It was about the same size as a redwood tree, but its bark was smooth and the branches arranged in almost a sphere-like shape. Overall, the tree didn't seem too different than a child's drawing bought to life.

Sesshoumaru could tell easily that this was no ordinary tree. He stood on the very apex of the branches, but his feet did not sink beneath the leaves. He knelt and laid a hand through the greenery. His fingers brushed against smooth bark.

As soon as he touched the bark, the presence flared and a certain foreboding emanated from the tree. Sesshoumaru gracefully moved from the tree to the other, more natural ones around it.

Standing on a branch of a large evergreen tree, he decided something that he probably would regret later.

He didn't want that tree in his lands.

Sesshoumaru leapt from his current/previous perch towards the great tree, extending his claws and loading them with venom all in one motion. The swift and blurred movement was abruptly halted as his claws impacted with and dug into the barrier just behind the leaves.

The acid hissed and boiled away at the bark as he removed his hand from the tree. Sesshoumaru leapt back to his previous standing point and watched the results of his work. Soon the venom faded, leaving seemingly untouched bark behind.

OOO

"Oh! Oops! I forgot. That legend is that it's impossible to get into the tree! Oh no! What now!" The young goddess fretted as the portal before her closed, shrinking into nothing with a small pop.

She twirled a lock of her whitish pink hair around a finger as she thought fixedly of what to do.

"Oh I know!"

OOO

A small drop of venom dripped from the area where it was applied, landing squarely on a small flower. The bloom hissed as it withered and disintegrated, causing Sesshoumaru to look. His eyes traveled from the ashes that were once the flower, to a small knothole in the bark of the tree that wasn't there before.

Eyes narrowing, he left the treetops and landed expertly at the base of the huge tree. Reaching out to the knothole, he extended a single claw and inserted it into the center of the swirl that formed the knothole.

Almost like as though a key was turned, a sound, something not unlike a very large lock opening, emitted from the trunk of the tree. Sesshoumaru tried to move, but some unseen force held him fast as a light blue glow crept up from the tip of the taiyoukai's claw to engulf his entire body.

In a flash of brilliance, the youkai lord had disappeared.

OOO

Sesshoumaru stood on a smooth, almost slippery vine of wood about three feet wide, but was wider than tall. The branch extended from the inner wall to the very center of the chamber, coming to a point where it and several other branches converged in the middle of the spherical room. The air inside was damp and smelled of foliage and rain.

In the very heart of the chamber rested a glowing sphere, which seemed to be the source of the earthy yet uncanny green light that illuminated the room. It sized to about eight feet in diameter. Though brightly lit, the edges of the sphere were finely defined.

Sesshoumaru slowly approached the object, walking along one of the vine like branches. As he grew closer to the sphere, its boundaries became translucent, revealing to the taiyoukai a human like form within it.

He reached out with a clawed hand and swung lightly at the boundary, stopping the motion when his hand was halfway in the sphere. He had stopped, mostly out of surprise but also to see what caused his youki to decrease.

The part of his hand that was in the sphere had changed considerably. His claws had vanished, reduced to human nails. The residue of his venom had been "scraped" away by the boundary to sizzle briefly just around his wrist before vanishing. Sesshoumaru retracted his hand to find it no different than before he had put it into the sphere.

Finding no lasting harm in the touching the sphere, Sesshoumaru stepped into the orb.

The air inside was nearly opaque, but strangely no different than the air outside. The same scent of trees, foliage, and an undertone of mist and rain lingered in the air, but was stronger than outside.

The taiyoukai made his way through the chamber, following the presence in the center. He soon came to a patch of thinner air, through which he could see. The new ability enabled Sesshoumaru to see a floating form of a young girl in the very center of the orb.

Her ebony hair flowed about her, completely disregarding gravity, as did the rest of her seeing that she was floating. Her skin was a pale cream color, contrasting intriguingly with her dark locks. Her long slender legs were curled loosely to her front, held slackly in place by her arms, her clawed hands resting gently on her shins.

Though her face was partly covered, Sesshoumaru could see the night blue markings that ran from just above her ears, across the top of her cheekbones, and down her face to join at the end of her jaw. As well as two lines of either cheek that started just above her long, elf-like ears and curved in a horizontal arch and turned sharply before reaching her nose and retreating back to her hair just below her earlobe.

Sesshoumaru approached the girl, who was evidently a youkai, and cautiously took her out of the air. As soon as she was securely in his arms, her weight seemingly came back to her. But she was surprisingly light, she only seemed to weigh about as much as a medium sized dog or lynx.

Not long after her weight appeared, the greenish light vanished, as did the tree. Leaving Sesshoumaru standing in the middle of a small clearing with a youkai girl in his arms. The only remainder of the tree was the lingering scent of foliage and mist that made up the youkai girl's scent.

OOO

Emerald eyes opened to a darkened room as their owner attempted to move, slightly restricted by the blankets in which she had slept. Ishiru blinked and rubbed her eyes, still no images graced her sight.

She heard a movement to her left and turned to try and see the source. But again the youkai could see nothing.

"Who is the pretty lady Sesshoumaru-sama?" the voice of a child reached her ears but Ishiru could not see the girl. She listened and heard the child's footsteps approach her followed by smooth more graceful sounding steps of a person who, judging by the scent, was the youkai to whom the little girl had previously spoken.

The area of futon beside her sunk as the little girl hopped onto the bed.

"Hi. Rin is called Rin. What's your name?" Asked Rin as she kneeled beside the youkai girl. Rin watched as emerald eyes fruitlessly tried to seek out her face.

"I am, Ishiru." Ishiru puzzled at the fact that she had not known as much before the girl had asked.

"Ishiru. Rin thinks that Ishiru has a pretty name." Rin smiled and turned to her guardian. "Where did Sesshoumaru-sama get Ishiru?" The addressed youkai decided not to answer.

"Rin, go play with Jaken. I wish to discuss some things with Ishiru." Rin smiled happily and ran off to find her previously mentioned play-toy.

Sesshoumaru approached Ishiru silently, confusing the youkai girl. 'I can't see him, I can smell him so where is he?' she turned her head as though to look for him regardless of her lack of sight.

She felt the futon sink again, signifying that whoever this person was, he was sitting next to her. Ishiru felt a hand brush her longish bangs away from her face. She blinked, her confusion mounting.

The hand moved to grasp her chin, holding her face firmly in place. A thumb traced the dark blue markings on her cheeks. Ishiru jerked her face from his grip, glaring indignantly at the demon.

Sesshoumaru examined her eyes. They were a defiant shade of emerald with streaks of silver in them, as though painted by some celestial artist. But through all this, Sesshoumaru noticed that the girl's eyes were unfocused and blank. Almost like they were disconnected from her mind. Although her face showed her annoyance, her eyes did not support it.

"You're blind." He stated simply.

OOO

In Erisa's Domain

OOO

"Oh no! I forgot the side affects!" Living alone had made the little goddess partial to talking to herself.

"I think it should clear up in about a week. But how will I keep her there until it does?"

"Oh I know!"

OOO

In Feudal Japan

OOO

Sesshoumaru released Ishiru and stood, walking towards the door.

"You are to stay here and attend to Rin." Was all he said before leaving Ishiru to puzzle as to how she was to find her way around.

OOO

A few days later, Ishiru sat out in the gardens. Dressed simply in a white sleeveless kimono trimmed with forest green and a thin obi of the same color. She "watched" Rin as she chased a small bright blue butterfly around the grassy area that bordered the gardens on all sides.

Though she couldn't really watch the little girl, Ishiru's demonic powers, that she knew innately, included hearing equivalent to that of a bat's. The little girls laughter was an excellent reference for keeping track of her.

Rin snatched the butterfly off of a small wild flower and hurried back to Ishiru.

"Lookit Ishiru!" Rin had no idea that the youkai girl could not see. "I caught it!"

"It's beautiful Rin, but you shouldn't hold it by its wings. Try just letting it sit in your hand." Ishiru took the little girl's wrist and used it to locate her hand, replacing the butterfly in Rin's palm.

"Why not by its wings?" asked Rin, curious to know.

"Because after you touch their wings, they cannot fly."

"Oh, ok. How'd you know that?" Ishiru straightened and blinked in confusion. How on earth HAD she known that?