Okay, okay, I know I take too damn long for each of the chapters, but it's not like I have a lot of fans breathing down my back for new updates, anyways. Here is the second chapter. It's pretty short, and about Inuyasha's travel to Goshinboku Seminary…

NOTE: Read the cliffnotes. Very helpful. That is, if you don't already know Japanese well enough to understand every translated word.

Enjoy…

-Alohaturtle

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CHAPTER II: Domain of Suijin

Inutaisho summoned the Harbormaster's apprentice early that week; he had just arrived late that night.

The majority of the courtiers had welcomed his coming. Although that to them he was largely inferior to their high, might selves, they loved just the fact that he was here strictly on business that required taking a certain hanyou away.

And, for the record, the hanyou loved it himself.

The last week had been extremely restless for Hosusori. Lord Subeki's slander reached many ears, all believing, so that Inuyasha's life was put in considerable jeopardy.

He spent most of the days practicing with his new Tetsusaiga; but the blade seemed heavy and awkward in his grip. His father had told him it was made to transform, but so far he had not been able to harness that power.

The third day of the week was the occurring of the full moon.

The human inhabitants of Hosusori knew nothing of this happening every month; neither did the demon lords, of which there were few. It was a rare thing that he and his father shared, and insofar as Inuyasha knew, nobody had caught wind of it.

He intended to keep it that way.

With mixed emotions, Inuyasha prepared for travel. One thought told him that it was right to get away from here, no matter how much he'd miss his father, the other completely discouraged him and told him that Goshinboku would just be another prejudice shithole.

Inuyasha had already packed. There wasn't so much to bring for the Seminary except for changes of clothes. He was grateful the place didn't require uniform.

When he thought of costume, he immediately saw the estate's guard in his mind. They wore resplendent gray silk haoris under leather straps and metal joint guards and armor. The uniform went perfectly well with their taciturn job- they were not permitted to speak, ever. However, they always seemed to make exceptions specially for Inuyasha.

He supposed their stupid, brash expletives they shouted at him every day were due to their holding of the inferior ranks in the Court. To them, sadly, even a hanyou was living dirt.

Mostly, Inuyasha chose to ignore the repetitive remarks about his heritage, but if provoked, the black temper would spill out of him like it had with Lord Subeki.

And that's why he was grateful to be getting out of here. No matter how the students of Goshinboku regarded hanyous, Inuyasha figured he couldn't be the only one going. There must be one kid in the thousands that knows exactly what I've gone through, will go through. So from similar experiences, he could find a band of friends.

Inuyasha was escorted across the plains of the Western Lands by the Harbormaster's apprentice, a plain and quiet man who kept to himself. Feh, suit yourself, Inuyasha thought. He'd encountered worse things than prejudice. But it felt different. As a human, this man was…

…fearing me?

He shook the thought off and did his best to become friends with the man. His name was Izanagi, and sadly, he wouldn't be on the boat that would take Inuyasha to Okinawa.

Together they traveled in a small caravan. Inuyasha knew that for the travels of the lords, a company of caravans and a unit of cavalry were often summoned.

Thieves of the Eastern Lands often came to pillage his father's prospering countryside. Caravans were easy to spot, and since they were slow-moving, easy to surprise.

Inuyasha didn't give these matters second thoughts. He knew his blade and his claws well enough to defend himself and Izanagi.

After seven long days, the pair arrived at Port Kibou. To Inuyasha who had never cared to leave the regions of his father's close grasp, the port was a marvelous new place. The seaport had half a hundred boats and galleys rocked at quayside. Some lay hauled up and overturned for repairs, or out at anchor in the roadstead with furled sails and closed oarports. The sailors shouted in different dialect of Japanese, and Inuyasha even caught a bit of Chinese and Hsien with the merchants and parrot boys.

Some infantile riff-raff closed in on him and his guide.

"You want beas, sir? Very good, sir. Very cheap…"

"Lady, you want porcelain? Look-great queen-very lucky…"

"You want ride donkey?"

"That bad donkey, M'Lord, donkey very bad, that donkey fall down."

"This good sake! Sake, good sir!"

Inuyasha noticed with some amusement as the last shout roused a large crowd in front of that certain booth.

Izanagi gave a meaningful roll of the eyes.

Inuyasha nodded in agreement, then watched with intrigue as fishermen unloaded their catch, coopers pounded, shipmasters bellowed, clamsellers sung, and shipmakers hammered. The bay was silent and shining in itself.

With eyes, ears, and mind bewildered he followed Izanagi to the broad dock where the Buraindo no Shinkyou was moored and tied.

With a few words spoken the ship's master agreed to take Inuyasha as passenger to Okinawa, since it was the apprentice of the Harbormaster that asked. Izanagi parted with a kind goodbye, and bestowed his blessing upon Inuyasha.

The master of the Shinkyou was a big man, and fat, in a red cloack trimmed with gold taffeta such as rich merchants wear. He never looked at Inuyasha but asked him in a mighty voice, "Can ye work weather, boy?"

He had to say he could not, and with that the master told him to find a place out of the way and stay in it.

The oarsmen were coming aboard now, for the ship was to go out into the roadstead before night fell, and sail with the ebb-tide near dawn. There was no place out of the way but Inuyasha easily jumped onto the bundled, lashed, and hide-covered cargo in the stern of the ship, and clinging there, watched all that passed.

The well-built ship rode low with her burden, yet danced a little on the lapping waves on the shore, ready to be gone. Then the steersman took his place at the right of the sternpost, looking forward to the ship's master, who stood on a plank let in at the jointure of the keel with the stem, which was as dragon.

"Open ports," the master roared, and the great oars shot rattling out, fifteen to a side. The rowers bent their strong backs while a lad up beside the master beat the stroke on a drum.

The noise of the Kibou fell away suddenly.

Of the seventy crewmen aboard, some were Inuyasha's age, very young in years, but all had made their passage into manhood. These boys called him over to share food and drink, and were friendly though rough and full of jokes and jibes. They called him half-demon, of course, but they did not go any further than that, and Inuyasha was grateful.

He was as tall and strong as them, and quick to return either a good word or a jeer; so he made his way among them and even that first night began to live as one of them and learn their work, just a little bit. This was fine with the shipmaster, because there was no room aboard for idle passengers.

The wind grew stronger by the day, tearing waters of the East China Sea into flying tatters of foam. The stints at the oars were shortened; for the labor was very hard; the younger lads were set two to an oar, and Inuyasha took his turn with the others as he had since they left Onzhou. They labored among the waves that ran like smoking mountains under the wind, while the rain beat hard and cold on their backs, and the drum thumped through the noise of the storm like a heart thumping.

A man came to take his place at the oar, sending him to the ship's master in the bow. "Can ye abate this wind?" he shouted above the storm.

"No," Inuyasha answered.

"Have ye craft with iron?"

He meant, could Inuyasha make the compass-needle point their way to Okinawa, making the magnet follow not its north but their destination. That skill was a secret of mages, and again he said no.

So to the beat of the drum they rowed wearily forward, tossed around by the high and treacherous seas. Clouds hung dark to north and east and south a mile over where they were. But over Okinawa, stars were coming out one by one in a clear and quiet sky.

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Pretty short, wasn't it? I hope it wasn't bad writing, though; I did it in a relatively rushed amount of time. Shall I explain things to you again of the story?

I KNOW you're wondering who the hell Suijin is, right? Right? Right? Okay, Suijin is the omnificient, omnipotent, omnipresent, and well, yeah you get the picture. He's the all-seeing Japanese god of the oceans. Thought it would apply, since Inuyasha traveled by ocean to Goshinboku.

Who's wondering what Port Kibou means? (I'm guessing you want to know the "kibou" part, heh.) Okay. "Kibou" in common Romaji means hope. Ta-Da. Port Hope is supposed to be symbological inspiration. You know, a lighthouse shining a beacon is rekindled hope for storm-worn sailors, so…

Buraindo? I wouldn't be surprised if a few of you guessed this: BLIND. The Japanese do that to a lot of words, taking English pronunciation and tweaking it slightly. Same with "real" (riaru) and "meet" (mito). Anyways.

Shinkyou. In the simplest terms, it means "faith."

Does that answer your questions?

Domain of Omni-Everything God of Sea…

Port Hope…

Blind Faith.

Hrm, maybe the good happy words are misleading to what lies ahead??? I wonder.

Oh, I almost forgot to explain the Hsien. Let's say, for example, that the Chinese treated the Hsien as the British once treated Australia. China, unpopulated, was the place to send soldiers, prisoners, exiles, and adventurers. The Chinese intermarried with the local tribes, the Hsien. It was only in the Mongolian Invasion that the Chinese began to thoroughly colonize China. The Hsien were considered barbarians, always at war with each other, but eventually their kind became extinct as they intermarried the Chinese. However, at the time that this story is taking place, they STILL exist.

Not too confusing on all this? Moving quick enough for you? Moving TOO quick? Let me know. I love reviews.

-Alohaturtle