Over here. Back with another chapter even though we technically posted the last one!
Well Over, you gotta post the previous chapter before you post the one that comes after it. I call doing the disclaimer!
That's my job!
Disclaimer: Over gots the ship and bit of plot, I've gots the ideas and most of the plot, Rumiko Takahashi gots all InuYasha stuffs including plots, characters, and drawing style. Over and I don't gots money from these recreational habits. We've also gots no original characters for this fic at all yet. Well, there was that kitsune in the last chapter but we wasted him so he doesn't count.
P.S.: Over owns the 'scum demon' aka Samuke.
Very nice. Now on with the story.
The cool water easily slipped up to her bare ankles as Toran waded into the river at the base of a water. Pulling apart her kimono, she pulled the now loose ends up to her knees, walking still further into the water.
'I guess this wasn't that bad of an idea,' she thought as she gazed over her shoulder at her armor drying on the bank underneath the pale moonlight before throwing the rest of her clothes next to them, stroking out into the middle of the river. Despite her avid hate of water, it was nice to just relaxinto the gentle flow of it once in awhile, removing all impurities that she loathed even more.
Getting used to the water, she took a deep breath, falling gracefully under the surface as her hair swirled up after her, the blood and grime releasing almost instantly.
She floated up to the surface nearly instantly, and watched as a very pale pink tint took over the water's surface. A very romantic view indeed, she thought, looking around the scene. A maiden bathing in a pink lit river below a silver moon, perfect for any who chanced to watch her. All that was missing were water flowers. Toran allowed the silly mental image to flow away with the river as she let her self and body relax under the rare moon.
Jaken still hadn't caught up with Sesshoumaru when the daiyoukai had found his way to the outskirts of the Domain of Musashi. How he had managed to avoid him for so long was anyone's guess, but he was glad of it, wanting more than anything to be alone at that moment.
Why did the damn toad have to bring her up of all people? Sure he had no idea of what had gone on between them, but just thinking of her now was enough to make him lose his cool air, even for a short time.
The cool night air played with his hair, so much longer now than it had been. He paused on a small forested cliff, his mind racing to the last time they had seen each other. The vow he had made to himself would remain absolute.
Even if . . .
His eyes traveled down at the sound of disturbed water, and oh so slightly they widened.
Not only was it the damnable panther youkai Toran, but she was completely naked, bathing in the water.
The accursed liquid had taken on romantic tinge of pink, most likely from blood or a similar substance, but that didn't distract from its attractablity, in fact making it rise a bit, unfortunately enough. The winds that were cooling the air tonight had made the darkened sky's clouds move quickly and the moon was certainly not helping by having that silver aura. The only thing that could possibly be missing were water flowers.
As if to spite him, a single blossom from a cherry tree fell right in front of his nose, gently floating down to land in front of her incredibly perky bosom. This action only caused him to stare for a little bit longer than he was comfortable with.
He slowly put his foot back, ready to turn, but as she stood to walk out of the water, his eyes stuck to her form as if he were actually transfixed by her.
"Ludicrous," he whispered to himself, finally being able to turn away once she had put her kimono back on.
It kept all his conscious strength to focus his thoughts back onto Jaken and the avoiding of said demon, and not on the female youkai he had fallen in love with once so long ago.
Toran sneezed, and wondered if it was wise of her to bathe so late at night. It was still chilly out sometimes, and though youkai had an incredibly hard time catching colds, or illnesses in general, it was known to happen on occasion.
At any rate, she continued walking towards where she had seen a small human settlement. Even though the panther tribes normally were the type to capture, and then enslave a human village or sometimes town, she had made it explicit to the others that this time they were going to keep a low cover as to not let the canines know they had come back so quickly.
Once in the town, she immediately spied the village's tavern, mostly due to the drunkard being kicked out. Toran checked her sash for anything of worth. She had quite a bit of coins that had been 'taken' from the humans she had interrogated earlier. It would probably be worth it to see if the humans had any knowledge of Sesshoumaru's whereabouts.
She quietly sighed to herself, not liking to rely on human (and the occasional low-class demon) gossip. Straightening to make her look as not to be messed with as possible, she proceeded forward, drawing back the hanging and instantly covering her nose at the scent of fresh alcohol and vomit.
'How can these humans stand to stay in one of these places?' She pushed her way through the crowded wooden tables, looking for the main counter as her eyes slightly watered simply from the reek of it all.
The only good news was that the men were mostly ignoring her and were chatting, the way they were always said to. As she sat down, she watched a dark haired scum demon, she could tell by the scent he was not human, beside her stiffen at the sounds of some old men talking about a bounty.
'So apparently I'm not the only one to come here for gossip,' she thought, leaning her cheek on her hand.
"Hey, sweetcheeks. What can I getcha?" The bartender that looked as if he could pass for an old fart in demon years wiggled his eyebrows at her as he leaned on the counter, cleaning out a wooden cup.
"Get the hell away from me before I show you what your shriveled insides look like." Her death glare would send most humans running.
"Feisty. I like that in a girl." He slipped some mysterious liquid in front of her. "Have some. On the house."
Toran inwardly twitched at the liquid as she held up its container. She couldn't even figure out what it was by smell, though she did know that she did not want to drink it.
"No thank you, sir." She smiled cynically as she put the container down. She inwardly told herself the day she drank that would be the day that she and Sesshoumaru loved each other once more.
Ignoring any protests the man had to offer afterwards, she turned around on her stool to see what the rest of the creatures lurking in this depressing place were up to.
"...'s heard a demon slaughtered those travelers up yonder. True as true!" Toran heard as she looked at the patrons of the place. Aside from the low demon, all were human, and some quite odorous ones at that.
"Couldn't have been! I heard that it was a group of bandits! Yoru's a blind ass drunk, and so are you for believing his trash!" another man bellowed, despite being as sober as Toran was content.
"You suppose it was that thief the lord of the region's after?" a younger man with the armor of a slightly higher official added, arms around a few whores.
"That girl thief ain't known for slayin' humans though," the original speaker leaned back in his seat, loosening up his sash for his belly to spill out. "If it wasn't bandits, my money's on that dog monster the rumors talk about."
'Dog monster?' Toran's attention peaked at the mere mention of it. 'If that's not Sesshoumaru, I'm not a panther.'
"You mean that one that killed the armies warring in the south?"
"Yeah, him."
The official let out a visible shiver, amplified by the girls' moans. "I'd hate to get on the wrong side of that demon. I hear all the other youkai in the area fear him as well."
'Definitely Sesshoumaru.' Toran slipped quietly off the stool, noticing for the first time that the other demon had left, leaving a rather large tip on the counter that a neighboring drunk was eyeing greedily. Quietly, she walked over behind the man surrounded by whores that had spoken last. "Tell me. Where was this massacre you were speaking of?"
"Woah ho ho!" The men instantly got excited at the presence of a pretty female, and the panther had to fight off the urge to throttle them. "Come 'ere, baby!"
She tried to contain herself, but the temptation was too much as she bared her fangs, letting them know just who they were dealing with here.
Apparently, her little show of demon prowess was enough to keep their steadily approaching hands away from her.
The older man, the second speaker, who had not been hitting on her, scratched his ear lazily. "Yoru's got it in his head that the attack was just a ways north of here, though you never can trust that old geezer's eyes." He pulled out a rather large chunk of earwax, flicking it off his finger.
"The north, eh?" Toran straightened, smirking in her usual fashion at the thought that Sesshoumaru was so close. "If I ever meet you old farts again, I'll be sure to think twice before killing you."
Her fingers glided gently over the hilt of her rarely used sword, and she found herself suddenly longing for Sesshoumaru's blood to stain it.
This hatred she felt suddenly almost surprised her. Hadn't she originally just wanted him back as her own? No. She wanted to kill him. She wanted to murder him. No cold hearted bastard that had so easily turned on her would touch her heart again.
Of that she would be certain . . .
Wow. I got a little overboard there on writing the end, didn't I, JF?
... crickets sound from JF's unwillingness to write...
Umm . . . right . . . I'll just . . . post this now . . .