Meant To Be
By Onira
Chapter Three : "Yes…"
Ishiru spun the exotic weapon she had seen before, her feet braced wide to give her leverage. She brought it down in a graceful arc, controlling her speed and hit force so not to break the wooden floor of the dojo. No matter what anyone said, Ishiru thought that it was harder to control her speed than maximize it. She whirled and slashed, striking down multitudes of imaginary opponents.
Sesshoumaru watched her from the door. His eyes followed the path of her weapon, judging the amount of force that she would put behind each blow. He watched her as she flew about the dojo. She was so engrossed in her imaginary battle she didn't notice him. She would have to work on that. He made a mental note to tell her later.
Ishiru followed an imaginary opponent on the vaguely colored plain of her eyesight. Her sight had come back to the point that she could see things near her, and brightly colored things. Surprisingly, she could see better at night.
She was about to make a final swing when her weapon was jerked from her grip. She looked around wildly, but saw only the few feet in front and around her. It was empty.
Ishiru growled and took in a deep breath of air. Before she could analyze the array of scents that she received, a pair of strong hands closed around her wrists. The person molded her body to his, guiding her into place.
"Watch your stance." Sesshoumaru said from behind her. Ishiru pouted for a moment then tightened her muscles, keeping the stance on her own. Sesshoumaru released her, returning her weapon, and moved to stand in front of the demoness.
"Now you will fight a real opponent." He said, slipping into stance. Ishiru nodded and gripped the exotic blade tighter. "Without weapons." Sesshoumaru's voice gave only a hint of reprimand, but that was enough for Ishiru to pick up. She calculated the location of the weapon rack and hurled the arched blade accordingly. It clanged resoundingly into place properly resting in its rack.
Ishiru corrected her stance and faced Sesshoumaru, bringing her hands up, claws slightly extended. She waited, but not for long. Sesshoumaru darted at her, striking without his claws. Ishiru moved to the side just enough to avoid his hand. Had she seen him sooner, she would have been able to avoid the strike from his other hand.
Ishiru darted back, using the momentum from the blow to make it look like she hadn't been hit. Sesshoumaru knew otherwise of course, but he had taught her not to act like she was, or had been, hit. Ishiru darted back towards Sesshoumaru, her claws extending.
She struck, but hit nothing but air. She easily compensated for the lack of impact. Easily only because she had been training without an opponent, so she didn't need to make an impact to keep her balance. Her muscles tightened as she whirled around after Sesshoumaru's rapidly moving form, striking out with her claws in which weak venom had begun to form.
He darted out of her vision range and Ishiru slipped back into stance, holding her claws at ready. A slight breeze brushed by her side and Ishiru swung around to her left. She felt a soft impact, like the tearing of cloth and heard the gentle shredding sound of her claws slicing through fabric.
"I got you." Ishiru said firmly, sure of her statement. She waited, listening intently for any sign of Sesshoumaru's location.
Sesshoumaru stood silently at what he knew was just outside of her sight range. She had sliced through the front of his armor and through his haori. A shattered fragment of his armor rested precariously on the broken edge of his breastplate. It teetered and fell, landing with a barely audible clunk on the dojo floor.
Ishiru didn't move for a moment, and then in a flash of motion she had her claws at Sesshoumaru's throat, grinning slightly. Sesshoumaru stood still, taking just what had transpired in the preceding instant. She had heard the sound of the crumb sized piece of armor fall to the ground, and deduced his position, as well as calculating her movements and other such tactics of battle, and all in that little moment.
oOo
Erisa's eyes lit up as she watched the scenario. She shook the stardust off her hands and got up out of her bath, which was not much different from a dense cluster of stars, poured into a tub of sorts. She leaned over the edge of the tub to her table and tapped lightly on the marble edge. It zoomed in on one part. Erisa looked about the Western Fortress and found the dojo, then picked up a little piece, shaped like a little girl, and put it at the doorway.
Erisa grinned and opened a portal so she could watch.
oOo
It was at that moment that the door creaked open. Rin peeked in, ignoring the commands of the toad, who was still somewhat pinkish. She saw something that she didn't really expect.
Sesshoumaru stood in the center of the dojo floor. Ishiru stood in front him, well not really in front of him. She was nearly spread out along his body, using him as a support for she was standing on her tiptoes. Her claws WERE indeed at his throat, but Rin, being ignorant of most things violent, overlooked that. The tip of Ishiru's nose just barely touched his jaw, simply from how she stood.
To Rin, it looked like they were hugging. She pushed open the door the rest of the way and ran over.
Both Sesshoumaru and Ishiru heard Rin as soon as she really entered the room and abandoned their previous arrangement. Rin stopped in front of them and smiled up at Ishiru.
"Is Ishiru going to be Rin's mother?" She asked, smiling hopefully. Ishiru fought the blush that rose to her cheeks, but only toned it down to a light sprinkling of pink, instead of the beet red that wanted to surface.
Before Sesshoumaru could say something that would disappoint Rin, Ishiru knelt and looked at Rin, who was now within her sight range.
"Rin, do you want me to be your mother?" She asked, looking the child in the eyes.
"Yes! I want you to be Rin's mommy and Sesshoumaru can be Rin's daddy! And then Rin would have brothers and sisters!" Rin said. Ishiru hugged Rin to hide her blush, even if she wasn't quite sure why she blushed.
Sesshoumaru had taught her the basic rolls of family when she had asked him what "mother" meant, having heard Rin say it. She knew that the mother and father in a family were to share a very strong bond, one that Ishiru wasn't sure she wanted to have with anyone. To be bound to someone, forever. Forever was a very long time.
"I'd love to be your mother, but I don't know what Sesshoumaru would say about it." Ishiru released Rin and looked at Sesshoumaru with a look that clearly said. "Say something dedicated and I will make your life a living hell." In other words, don't give her a real answer. Sesshoumaru was silent for a moment.
"Perchance Rin." Was all he said, but it seemed to satisfy Rin, who promptly ran over to hug Sesshoumaru around the legs.
"Yay! Rin is going to play outside. Will Ishiru come too?" Rin looked at Ishiru hopefully, who looked up at Sesshoumaru, standing up.
"May I put my training on hold to go with Rin?" She asked. Sesshoumaru nodded. Ishiru took Rin's hand and headed out to the garden.
oOo
Ishiru walked about the gardens with Rin. The little girl ran off at random intervals to pick a flower or chase a butterfly. Ishiru felt strangely on edge. Like something was about to happen. She brushed it off and kept walking. Rin tugged on Ishiru's pant leg, gaining the youkai girl's attention.
"Yes, Rin? What is it?" She looked down at the little human. Rin pointed at a flower on a high bush.
"What kind of flower is that?" Rin asked. "Rin has never seen that flower before." Ishiru looked for the flower that Rin was talking about. "Which flower Rin?" Rin led the girl over to the bush and pointed up.
"That one." It was a scarlet, day-lily type of flower with white streaks coming from its center.
"I don't know Rin-chan." Ishiru knelt. "Would you like to see it better?" Rin nodded and Ishiru stood again, her slender fingers gently grasping the stem at the base of the bloom. She felt a sharp prick on her fingertip and pulled her hand away.
It wouldn't come free of the tempting bloom. She froze and felt the flower melt into a hand, the body to which the hand belonged hidden in the bush. Ishiru jerked her hand from their grasp.
"Rin, go back to the fortress." She said, trying to hide what was really going on.
"Why? What's wrong?" Rin asked.
"Take your flowers to Sesshoumaru, ok Rin?" Ishiru lightly turned the girl towards the path.
"Okay." Rin said, heading up the path towards the fortress, her steps quickening.
Ishiru turned back to the "flower" as soon as Rin was out of sight. The owner of the hand had come out of the bush. A plant user youkai stood before her, grinning at her. 'So that's why I didn't scent him. He smells like the plants.' Ishiru stepped into a defensive stance, automatically correcting it. She smiled inwardly, remembering how many times she had been reprimanded about her stance. The shape changer grinned, baring a fang.
He lunged at her; Ishiru sidestepped him, drawing a dagger from her obi. He vanished from her sight range and she altered her stance to be ready to strike.
The youkai studied her. Why didn't she attack him? What was she waiting for? The youkai tossed aside his hesitation and moved behind her before darting back towards her. Ishiru dodged in time to avoid being gored on his needle-like claws. But she earned a stinging scratch on her side for her lack of sight.
Ishiru whirled before he could leave her sight again, thrusting her dagger into his side. The plant user growled, knocking her hand away and taking the dagger from his side. He stood a ways away, easily out of Ishiru's sight range. The youkai girl fell back into her stance and waited.
"Why do you not attack me?" Asked the plant user. "Truly, it disheartens the great Otsuma to have someone who makes so few advances for an opponent." He said, tilting his head to the side.
"It's not your concern. Your battle is with me, and with me it shall be finished." She said, darting towards him, using his voice as a locator. Her claws extended, burying themselves into his chest before releasing mild venom. Her venom was not yet potent enough to do any immediate damage, but it would slow him down. She used him as a springboard to back away before Otsuma could make a counterattack.
Otsuma stood there, grinning. Ishiru narrowed her eyes and saw his features. She frowned. 'Why is he smiling when he is wounded?' She thought.
A small flurry of leaves surrounded his wound and filled it, renewing the mangled flesh. Ishiru's sensitive hearing picked up the sound of the little leaves, then put some of her jyaki into temporarily extending her sight range. It was a difficult trick for her, but she saw that he had healed. 'How can I defeat him if he can just heal like that?' Ishiru thought, her mind scrambling for a solution.
"Indeed this battle will finish. But it will be I who emerged victorious, and that girl will be my next meal." Ostuma said, indicating Rin with a slight nod of his head. The girl was still heading up the path.
Ishiru blanched. She couldn't let him eat Rin! Again using his voice, she struck at him. This time, coating her hand with what was for now, the strongest of her venom. The flesh of Otsuma's torso burned and hissed at the venom. Otsuma grimaced and stepped back.
"So. You can't heal from my venom." Ishiru said. 'Maybe I can defeat him.' She thought. Just as she finished her thought, Otsuma snarled and crashed into her. He pinned her against the wall by her wrists. Ishiru let her venom coat her hands and flow down her wrists into Otsuma's hands. The plant user's flesh hissed briefly, but wasn't harmed. 'No! I can't be out of venom already!' Ishiru thought, slightly panicked. 'Gods, if I hadn't used any in training today!"
Otsuma grinned. Vines grew from the wall and bound Ishiru's wrists. The youkai girl struck out with her legs, landing a solid kick on Otsuma's chest. He was knocked back a few yards.
"Keep your slimy hands off me!" She snapped. Otsuma stood up, growling.
"You'll pay for that, you animal-youkai bitch." He balled his hand into a fist and struck her midsection. Ishiru let out a yelp.
The little servant boy from Ishiru's room turned looked to the left of his path at the sound of a yelp. Yoji went over to the source of the yelp and saw Ishiru tied to the stone garden wall, Otsuma beating her.
Yoji backed away with a gasp. He had to get help. The sparrow youkai child focused on his youki and his body altered to that of a sparrow. Quick as a flash, the boy flew up to the fortress.
Yoji lost his shape as he landed on a balcony, breathless from the flight. He ran inside to find his master at his desk. The boy dropped to his knees and bowed his head.
"Please forgive me, Master. But there is a youkai out in the gardens who is attacking milady Ishiru." He said, trying not to anger his master.
He heard Sesshoumaru stand up from his desk. Yoji flinched, waiting for a reprimand. Instead, a light breeze blew past him. Yoji looked up and saw that Sesshoumaru was gone. The boy turned around to look out the balcony.
oOo
Sesshoumaru flew over the gardens. He made note of Rin who was just entering the fortress. But he kept going. It wasn't Rin he was looking for, but her caretaker Ishiru. He picked up her scent, and that of a plant user youkai. Sesshoumaru sped up, his youki swirling around his feet.
He soon reached them. But Sesshoumaru did not interfere. Instead, he drew his scent and aura from around him and stood a ways away, where he could see, but could not be seen. He would help her, only if she truly needed it. He moved so he was able to see the two, just in time to see a massive vine pierce just below Ishiru's collarbone.
Otsuma had stopped striking Ishiru and had resorted to using his plants to make many small cuts along her arms, beginning to bleed her dry. A massive vine sprung from the ground and dug into and through her shoulder. Ishiru bit back a shout as the vines on her wrists released her, leaving all her weight on the vine through her shoulder.
Ishiru was pulled into the air as the vine grew to become level with the canopy. Ishiru growled, glaring at Otsuma. She dug her claws into the vine, tearing through it. She landed at the top of a wall of earth and tore the rest of the vine from her shoulder. It writhed in her hand, wearing away at the skin of her palm. Ishiru looked from the vine to Otsuma. The vine wrapped around her hand and began to tear at the skin of her wrist.
Ishiru growled and leapt at Otsuma. She collided with the plant user, burying her hand into his chest, with the vine held tightly in her claws. Ishiru released the vine inside his chest cavity and leapt away. She stabilized herself on the wall, glaring at Otsuma. A flurry of leaves signified that the wound had healed over the vine, which was now loose inside of him. The vine writhed inside his body, tearing at what flesh it could reach, as it was created to do. Ostuma's eyes widened in realization.
"You!" His voice was cut off as the vine tore through his chest and throat. Ishiru just watched, glaring bitterly, as he was devoured by his own creation. Even when his body was gone, the vine continued to tear at the surrounding foliage.
Ishiru scowled and walked over to the squirming vine. She looked at the vine distastefully. In a flash of movement, she grabbed it, releasing what little venom had formed during the battle, her body stimulated into a high-producing state by blood loss and battle-hype. A growl spilled form her throat as it wore away at the minimal flesh of her hand, even whilst her venom disintegrated it.
She let her hand fall to her side. Ishiru looked down at herself. She was covered in her own blood, and though it couldn't be seen beneath the grime, she was covered in bruises, lacerations, and other various injuries.
"I guess I had some venom left after all..." Ishiru dropped to her knee, then fell over. Her body curled forward in a graceful arc as she tumbled over herself to the ground.
Sesshoumaru came out from concealment in the foliage and knelt next to Ishiru. He turned her over and picked her up with one arm curling under her back and the undersides of her legs, as he would do with Rin. Ishiru woke up briefly. Gold and silver met her eyes and she blinked, brining the image into slightly better focus. She saw what she thought was Sesshoumaru's face.
"You... You came, to save... Me?" She said before falling unconscious again. Sesshoumaru looked down at her for a moment.
"...Yes."