Ch.10
The Crow's Secrets
"What do you mean, 'she doesn't have to tell us if she doesn't want to.'? Of course she does. Our daughter just wasted her first words on her. You're going to talk of Miroku is going to open the Wind Tunnel on you!"
"Stop. NO." Said a very sleepy, small voice. They all looked at Tay, confused. "Stop. No." The voice sounded again, more awake and full this time. It was not Tay! "Stop. No." The voice was getting nearer. "STOP! NO!" It sounded in everyone's ear like someone was screaming in them.
"Ahhhh!" Sango screamed in pain, as her nose started to bleed, eyes streaming with red tears.
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B.B.- (in small dark corner) "Shall I continue?"
W.W.- (somewhere outside, completely out of her druggie haze) "B.B., where are you, you little bitch?"
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"Who is that!" Screamed Sango, trying to cover her bleeding, ringing ears.
"I AM MORE THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE!" Said the loud voice steadily, making them all scream, except for Tay, who was unaffected.
"What do you mean!" Asked Lady Crow, in her cracking voice.
"GUESS." The voice sounded amused. "I SHALL NOT SPEAK UNTIL YOU MAKE SIX GUESSES." They heard footsteps going away.
"Are you...a...demon?" Sango asked, trying unsuccessfully to stop her bloody nose.
"No." Came the faint reply. Whoever it was walked away again.
"A human?" Asked Miroku.
"Certainly not."
"A cat?" Asked Kala.
"Hell NO!" The voice thundered, causing them all to cry out again in pain. Once it subsided, Lady Crow made her guess.
"A God?"
"Goddess. But which one?" The voice sounded like it was about to laugh. "Only two left."
"Bird?" Asked Fala.
"No."
"Only one left." Said Kala. "Let's make it a good one." They were still thinking when something touched Sango's leg. Tayallay was crawling! She got about three feet from the others, and stood holding out her arms to the woods, as if asking to be picked up, and said, "Moon, moon. Woof Moon, Wose Moon, Two Moon on Been." (Wolf, Rose, Being) There was a laugh from their mystery visitor.
"How Old Is She?"
"About two months! She's not supposed to be talking, crawling, or standing!" Screamed a hysterical Sango, who was wondering what was happening to her beautiful child.
"Really?" The voice was closer. "She's Right, Though." All of a sudden, the voice's owner appeared in the form of a woman with hair that was whiter than snow, violet eyes that had slitted pupils, and very white teeth and fangs. Her clawed, slender hands held a blue tipped white rose. Her wolf ears and tail were just as white as her hair. And she wore a white silk kimono with a silver wolf stitched into the obi, sitting on a creamy hill, howling at a golden moon that was on her right shoulder.
She bent down and picked up Tayallay.
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W.W.- "You know, she's just not normal." (Holding B.B. by the ear. B.B. snatches story, holds fingers to head, and disappears.)
D.C.- (appears out of nowhere, dragging B.B. behind her) "Is this yours?" (Tosses B.B. at W.W.)
W.W.- "Not really." (Grabs story) "This is." (Nudges B.B. with foot) "You can take this back."
D.C.- "Nah, it's worthless. They don't buy many adults anymore on the black market." ( B.B. wakes up, bites W.W. on the leg. W.W. screams and drops the story. B.B. takes it, runs away)
W.W.- (holding leg) "Does she have rabies?"
D.C.- "No, she's just high. She still has your stash."
W.W.- "How did you know about–" (D.C. disappears as suddenly as she appeared) "I hate this world I created sometimes, you know that? Especially when other people can appear in it as they please."
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"What is your name?" Sango asked.
"I am the Moon Goddess."
"I know that, but every God and Goddess has another name." Sango replied. "What's yours?" The Moon Goddess smiled at Tayallay. "My Name Is Night Wind Rose. The Rose In My Hand Is A Moon Rose. My Howl Can Be Heard On The Wind..."
"An' s'e prowls the night." Said Tay, smiling back at the Goddess.
"Tayallay, STOP TALKING!" Screamed a still hysterical Sango. "IT'S NOT NORMAL!"
"When Has Her Life Ever Been Normal?" Night Wind Rose asked, amused.
"Well..." Sango said, deep in thought. She started to mumble to herself, "Right after she was born, she was taken by Naraku as bait...then saved by a baby-crazy cat demon..."
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Ankha- "HEY!"
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"...then a crow comes and says we must go with it... Then everything is larger than it seems...then she starts talking . . . and crawling...and standing... and being held by a Moon Goddess..." Sango looked at Miroku. "Our child has only had nine months and two hours of a normal life."
"Your Child Is Special. No One Has Ever Guessed, In One Guess, Who I Am." She looked up at Sango. "And I've Tested A Lot Of Humans And Demons Over My Long Life. Only Animals Know Who I Am." She looked at Lady Crow. "You Were Once An Animal Yourself. But Now That You're Human, You Couldn't Have Known Who I Was."
"What are you trying to tell us about Tayallay?" Sango was hysterical and frantic, now.
"Your Child Has Been Chosen By The Gods And Goddesses Of All Creatures. She Is The God Voice. She Will Become Stronger As She Gets Older. Rejoice In The Time You Have With Her, For By The Age Of Five, She Will Be Able To Choose To Have Very Powerful Things. Then Her Destiny Will Take Her Away From You. I Will Be Back When She Is Ready." She put Tay on the ground, and disappeared.
"What the...?"
"Twoof, Twoof!" (Truth!)
"But I still don't get how Lady Crow is a 'Beautiful Crow', or a 'Pretty Crow.'" Sango said.
"Tew, tew, twoof, twoof!" (Tell, truth) Tayallay was struggling on Lady Crow's robes. She chanted "Tew, tew, twoof, twoof," over and over again. Lady Crow's only response was a repeated "Shut up, shut up."
For a while, Sango and Miroku merely watched the exchange. Then Sango became annoyed. She grew about five feet taller and said in a very scary voice,
"TELL ME." Lady Crow sighed and finally told the truth.
"Once I was a very beautiful crow, until a year ago, when I became a human." She spent an hour describing just how beautiful her crow body was, until even Tay, chosen by the Gods and Goddesses of all Creatures, became bored. When Crow finished, she added in an off hand way, "Of course, I don't really look like this." This statement, after pounding through the layers of boredom, was finally understood by Sango. Miroku still had a few more layers of boredom left. Sango said,
"What do you mean?"
"Pwittee." Tay said. (Pretty)
"Yes." Lady Crow answered. Then she snapped her fingers.
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W.W.- "Ack! NO SNAPPING!" (Runs off, just in the nick of time for B.B. W.W. had been very close to finding her again)
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A flurry of black feathers flew through the sir, hiding Lady Crow from sight. Soon, the last feather floated down, touched the ground, and disappeared, like all the others. Before the newly wed couple, their daughters, and the two girls, stood a young woman, a beautiful young woman in a tight fitting kimono.
Predictably, Miroku's hand started to twitch, and he started to drool. A sentence might not have gotten through his head, but a pretty woman in tight clothes sure got his attention. A vein showed on Sango's forehead, and she conked her husband upside the head, effectively shaking him out of his trance. "What's you do that for?" was all he could say before the new Lady Crow caught his eye again. The scene played out over and over, Tay giggling the whole time.
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Announcer Guy- "Unfortunately for B.B., W.W. merely ran in a circle, eventually tripping over the hidden B.B., story and stash. Fortunately for B.B., W.W. only grabs the story, not the stash. B.B. continues smoking."
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Rain finally arrived back in camp, after dragging his feet all the way there. Ankha had reached there before him, and was even now telling them that she was leaving. He heard her mention the goblin army, but thankfully she said nothing about the kiss. 'It had been an accident, right, Rain?' He asked himself. Squashing a small doubt, he answered himself. 'Right.' Then, gathering up his thoughts, he walked into camp, just in time to hear, "...after I take care of this, I won't be coming back. And I'm taking care of this ALONE."
Loeyla snorted. When Ankha looked questioningly at her, the fox/wolf demon said,
"You can't 'take care of this alone', you idiot. Don't you remember what happened last time you 'took care of things alone'? You were trapped in a house for two weeks. You want it to happen agian?"
Ankha's cheeks were on fire. "Well, at least I took care of it–" Sessho cut her off.
"She'll just follow you, you know. She's stubborn like that." He looked fondly at his mate, who was glaring back at him, but a slight smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. Ankha sighed in exasperation.
"Fine. We'll leave tomorrow. Today you all can get ready. I'M going to sleep." She walked right past Rain, not looking at him, and slipped into her tree. Shippo sat under the branches and stared up into the leaves. First, Rorrim only looked at him, but then she joined him in his staring. Soon, something dropped from the tree. Shippo snatched it up and the two children ran off. Rain saw that it was two small stone monkeys with movable limbs and mouths.
The Bounty Hunter said nothing to the group, only went to his roll to sleep. Well, to think quietly. He wasn't able to sleep, not for a while. But, eventually, his brain stopped, his eyes closed, and he slept.
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W.W.- "B.B. is too high to continue her part of the story, so she quit." (Cheering is heard) "Luckily, I know her part, so you can still hear it." (Groans heard) "That's the spirit!"
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Crow shifted back into her old woman form.
"Now, Miroku, follow me, please." She turned and walked toward the Blue DoJoe. They got about three steps before Sango realized that she was about to let her letchy husband walk into a building alone with a sometimes beautiful woman.
"Hey, hey, hey! Stop RIGHT there! You two aren't going in there alone! I'm coming with you!"
Lady Crow sighed and motioned to Fala. Fala obeyed her mistress, by freezing Sango. Miroku looked worriedly at his wife. "She'll be all right, right?"
"Yes, she will." Lady Crow looked back at Fala and Kala. "You two will take care of the baby while we are training. Do not let anyone or anything disturb us for an entire month. Exactly a month from this day, knock on the door and we will come out. Hopefully his training will be completed." They went through the main doors of the Blue Dojoe and disappeared from sight.
Kala picked up Tay and took her to a small house on the side of the Dojoe. After she placed the baby on a bed there, she sent Fala to get to child's mother. Fala left a solid trail of ice in her path to make moving Sango easier. Soon, everyone was settled, and the waiting in the small house began.
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W.W.- "Ok, back to my part." (Cheers heard) "Oh, why thank you."
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The next morning, they were all ready to go. After a morning of fast walking, they reached the outskirts of town. In a place out of sight from it, they set up camp, and began their work.
It had been decided to gather information rather than just charging in blindly. Loeyla and Rain were asking questions during the day, while Ankha and Sesshomiru stalked the dark alleyways at night. This mode of information gathering continued for about three weeks, and while they heard lots about both Gobline and Requem, nothing was known about Rammahallen. Ankha was getting desperate. She knew the fox was here, but WHERE? No one had ever herd of her, and there was not a trace of fox smell all through the town. The cat demon waited three more days, and ran out of patience.
That night, she waited until the moon rose, then slipped away from camp. She knew where Gobline's house was, and she headed in that direction.
Sesshomiru sat up, shook his head, sighed, and woke up his mate. "She went." Was all he said. His and Ankha's search had just ended for the night, and he was annoyed at this losing of sleep. Loeyla muttered something and rolled over. He got up and woke up every member of camp besides the kids. By the time he had finished, Loeyla had woken up fully and had started stirring up the fire.
They all sat in a circle. "Someone has to stay and watch them." Loeyla said in a froggy morning voice. Kagome volunteered.
"I'll do it. But someone needs to help me." No one said anything. Kagome sighed and said, "Ok, then. We'll draw straws." Inuyasha got the shortest straw.
"NO!" he yelled. "I'M NOT STAYING BEHIND TO WATCH A COUPLE OF BRATS!" His yelling woke up the 'brats', and they tackled him, effectively keeping both Inuyasha and Kagome occupied while the three that were left went off to rescue the cat demon from whatever the hell she might have gotten herself into.
Ankha silently walked up to the mansion/house of Gobline Kyng. In their weeks of gathering information, Requem had come up clean. Gobline, on the other hand, had many shady dealings. The assassin had spent a lot of time mapping the outer side of Gobline's house in her head. She knew the best entrance. Not making a noise, she scaled the wall, then stopped in the shadows under a window ledge, clinging to the cold stone, listening for any movement. Satisfied, she swung up onto the ledge, opened the window and climbed inside.
The cat demon padded down the halls, look for watchmen, or, if she was lucky, Gobline or Rammahallen themselves. She found a watchman, a lone goblin, and slew him before he knew what was going on. Carefully avoiding the blood, she continued walking, noticing that she was going downward. Her hall ended in stairs, also going down. She was about halfway down when voices reached her sensitive ears. The assassin jumped up, and braced herself against the dusty stones of the dark ceiling. 'No one ever looks up, and they all die.' As the goblins walked beneath her, she landed on one and swiftly slit it's throat. The dead goblin's companion shrieked in horror and tried to run. Ankha cut it's throat as well, and it's scream ended in agurgle. She heard alarm sounds coming from below, and knew her time here undetected had passed. The cat demon ran down the last couple of steps and into a large hall. Filled with goblins.
The last thought she had before fighting stopped all other thinking was: 'This may be harder then I thought.'
About the same time as Ankha began to fight, Rain, Sessho and Loeyla found the first dead sentry. Sounds of battle reached their ears, and quickly they ran down the hall, Loeyla and Sessho following Ankha's scent trail, and Rain following them. While running down the dark stair case, Rain nearly tripped in goblin blood.
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W.W.- "It's troll blood that's acidic and can hurt you. Goblin blood is just blood. That's why trolls can't be melted by their own blood, but their blood does melt goblins."
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The scene they ran into was one of death. Scores of goblins were laying on the floor, dead or dying, and still more were attacking the cat demon. They saw her go down under a mass of goblins, still fighting. Immediately they started toward her, slaying even more goblins. When they reached her, Rain and Sessho formed a small protective circle and Loeyla went in to get Ankha on her feet again. Ankha wasn't too badly wounded, but Loeyla asked anyway.
"Can you still fight?" Ankha smiled at her, fangs gleaming, eyes shining.
"If I can breathe, I can fight." The assassin immediately leapt back into the seething mass of goblins, light sword swinging. As she passed him, she tossed Rain a bag. He cut it open and put the white powder on his blade. Swinging it in Ankha's direction, she lit it on fire.
Soon, the entire army lay dead at their feet. Ankha looked sheepishly at her friends.
"Sorry about that. I just couldn't stay any longer." Loeyla rolled her eyes, and Sessho said,
"Well, since we're here, let's get this over with." Rain was panicking about his sword.
"Can't you put it out!" He asked Ankha.
"Nope! She said cheerfully. "It has to wear off. Be careful how you hold it!" They started down he bloody hall, and Rain's sword was a good torch. The floor got rougher and more uneven the longer they walked, until they can upon another downward spiraling staircase. At the end of this one was a room, and the end of the room was two thrones. Gobline sat in one. Rammahallen sat in the other. They had been waiting.
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W.W.- "Sorry to interrupt, but I need to tell ya'll something. Gobline is hot. My philosophy is that all male bad guys (and good guy for that matter, but what can you do?) Should be hot, because, as you know,
BOXERS + BRIEFS + SPEEDOS It's all good."
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Gobline greeted them very politely, inquiring after their health.
Ankha snapped at him. "Was that the plan, kill me, then go after my friends?" Gobline clicked his tongue, shook his head and smiled.
"Manners, my dear, manners." He motioned to Rammahallen, and she rang a bell.
"Are you always going to be a servant, Rammahallen?" Asked Loeyla. "Can't you do anything for yourself?" Rammahallen's face turned red with rage, but Gobline only smiled wider. Nothing more was said right then, however, because the room filled with trolls. 'These again?' Ankha thought. She yelled over her shoulder, "Go for the neck!" And attacked.
But these trolls were different from the one in the forest.
These were smart.
The troll she had leapt at plucked her out of the air and tossed her into a wall. She got up right away, and said, "Ouch. I meet too many walls this way."
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Ankha- "Every wall I meet is a potential slamming sight."
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Sesshomiru had also attacked a troll, and met the same fate. But his troll had thrown him into a wall, not tossed his against it. Why? I don't know. I guess the troll just didn't like him. Anyway, he crashed through the wall. Goblins poured through the hole.
Ankha started hacking away at the trolls ankles, dashing around faster than they could get her. The blood started to melt the goblins. Her friends saw the effects of the troll blood, and steered clear of it. They started copying her, and soon the goblins were gone, and there were only the trolls left. Soon even they were gone, helped along by Rain's still flaming sword. Standing on the remaining bodies of the dead, they faced the two beings on the thrones.
Finally, Gobline was mad. He jumped out of his chair (another note: troll blood has no effect on Gobline, that's why he's the GOBLINe KYNG.) Grabbing his sword from beside his throne. The man ran at Sesshomiru, a being with a sword, but feinted and instead attacked Loeyla. Caught unprepared, the blow connected and she flew across the room, hitting a troll and falling. Just before she hit the ground, Sessho was there, saving her from hitting the bloody floor. In the process, though, he wounded his feet so badly he couldn't walk. Gobline went after the pair, but Ankha jumped in his way, sword drawn.
"What's the matter, Gobline? Are you so weak and unmanly that you can't even take on a female in a fair fight?" She taunted him. He attacked her. She met his every blow, but was distracted momentarily by Rammahallen leaving. That was all the time Gobline needed. He swung hard and his weapon caught her across the abdomen. She landed about twenty feet away, thankfully on a troll, and then Rain was there, asking if she was all right. She stared at him.
"Where the HELL have YOU been!" He had no time to answer, however, because now Gobline was attacking him. Ankha rose, shouted, "Can you handle this?" As Rain sent his attacker flying, he nodded an affirmative. She left, to hunt down Rammahallen.
Rammahallen ran through Gobline's maze of a house, searching for a place to hide. But Ankha was faster. She zipped down the halls, faster than lightening, following the odor of fox, and soon caught up with her prey. In the blink of an eye, the assassin was in front of the fox.
"Boo!" She said. Rammahallen screamed, and tried to run the other way. But Ankha was there too.
"Like cat and mouse, huh?" She said in a sickly sweet voice. Her eyes hardened, and she pounced. She sang a short song, and Rammahallen went still except for her eyes, that were looking around wildly. Ankha started talking again.
"While I have the time, and the tools, to torture you to a slow death, I don't want your filthy, lying, cowardly, whoring blood to touch me. I could sing you to your death, or simply cut your throat, but going either of those ways is too fast and too good for you. So, I had a dilemma. How am I going to kill you? Well, while we were waiting to find you all, I researched poisons. And, I believe, I have found the perfect one." She pulled out a small glass bottle from her cloak. It was the very bottle the Shikon Shard had been before she had given it to Kagome. Inside now, however, was a deep blue liquid. The cat demon continued her speech.
"Isn't it beautiful? I've always liked poison for killing. This one, called Rision, is rather special, and very expensive, because it's so rare. You see, what it does is sharpen the senses while paralyzing the limbs. But that's only the beginning. After a few minutes, if you have swallowed the poison, you will find it becoming difficult to breathe, as your tongue swells, blocking the air passage.
"Then, the real fun starts. One by one, your insides will explode, and you will stay alive the whole time, until finally, your heat explodes as well. I thank the person that discovered this amazing poison." Ankha uncorked the bottle and force fed it to the trapped fox demon. Rammahallen died, just as Ankha said she would, as the cat demon looked on in satisfaction.
Then the assassin went back to the throne room, to see if her friends were living or dead.
