Ever Us – A Slice of Life Ryuu in Greece

word count 3353

Time/date: 2080

Location: Ibiza

Cast: Kyo babysitting Sango, Kohaku, Rin and Suzy. Inuyasha and Sesshomaru teaching at the Demon Medical School. Ryuu rescuing a very special dragon in Greece. Yuki flying the Cyprus- Madrid flight

Ryuu liked his nomadic style of life. He enjoyed wandering from sanctuary to sanctuary, sleeping outdoors, eating off the land; this was his idea of a perfect life. He checked in with his social media connection every other day, checking for rumors and phantastical stories. And now he got more opportunities to visit his parents and kid sisters at Kyo's place.

Life was good. He was in no hurry and chatted happily with all his animal friends.

The weather was warmer these days. He had stopped carrying a coat. It was just too hot. The mosquitos were annoying too. Sometimes he just wanted to snap at them and flip his tail.

'Yet another symptom of climate change. What a pain!'

Ryuu found a mountain spring and splashed in it in his smaller dog demon size. Ryuu changed into his dog form more often than any of his siblings, but he was multiple times more careful. The other animals related to his dog form the most. Then he would transform to his human form to tend to them. He made a point of telling them prior to transforming. The first time he transformed it caused a stampede, so he made sure he explained it thoroughly now.

After a nice cold water splash Ryuu started at his muzzle and quaked to his tail. Water flew everywhere. Content that he had dried sufficiently he switched back to his humanoid form and continued his exploration of the Greek country side.

As he neared the city Myloi, he heard a muffled cry. Ears perked he searched for the source of the sound. It smelled dusty yet there had been water there once. Ryuu walked carefully over the ground toward the cry. Just as he closed in on the sound he noticed a crack in the ground. Bending down on one knee he looked into the foot wide crack. At the bottom of the crack he though he saw movement.

Ryuu started to stand but the ground collapsed on him and he slid down ten feet, the tunnel collapsing around him. Looking around he saw he was in an underground cave. He tried to stand but realized the tallest open part of the cave was about five feet high. He searched for the way he had fallen in. Light trickled in a crack.

'Will I be able to change into a big dog and break through without the cave collapsing and suffocating me? Maybe I should turn on my cell phone light and look around."

Ryuu grabbed his cell from his pocket and turned it on. He flashed it around the cavern. It was five feet tall but much wider. Ryuu got on his knees and changed to his smaller dog size.

'Wasted bath,' he snarled.

A cry answered the snarl.

Ryuu made a 360 degree turn searching for the source of the sound.

Far in the corner trapped under some rubble lay a miniature dragon's head. From the dragon's neck down the beast was trapped. Ryuu couldn't see the whole dragon but if the size of the head was any clue the dragon was only two feet long.

Ryuu walked to the dragon but as he got closer he had to crawl on his belly. As he approached the dragon he attempted to communicate with it. It took a little while as the dragon had an ancient accent Ryuu hadn't heard before. Most animals spoke in ancient dialects but this might be one of the oldest Ryuu had heard.

Finally in front of the dragon Ryuu reached out with a paw while explaining that he was here to rescue it. The dragon sniffled. It wanted to be rescued but humans had hurt in in the past and it was truly scared.

Ryuu stopped and asked the dragon to tell him of the last time it had been on the surface of the Earth.

"It has been a very long time. I would not know how to tell you," the dragon replied.

"I understand. My family is long lived as well. I am 272 years old but my father is over one thousand. We are shiro inu dog demons from Japan. Have you heard of Japan?"

"No. I only know of the world around Our Sea."

Ryuu reflected. 'The ancient Greeks' call the Mediterranean "Our Sea" He spoke to the dragon. "I believe you are from the ancient Greek civilization. They call the Mediterranean "Our Sea."

"Mediterranean?"

"Yes. Our Sea"

"Mediterranean. That is my sea.

The dragon seemed at ease now that Ryuu had something in common with him.

"I am called Ryuu. That means Dragon spirit in Japanese. I have many dragon friends. May I have your name?"

"I am Lernean."

"Nice to meet you Lernean."

"You too Ryuu."

The two continued to converse for a while longer then Ryuu explained that he also had a humanoid form.

Lernean became very skittish.

"So you make friends with me and then kill me just like the other humans! I can trust no one."

Ryuu remained still.

"That is not true, my friend Lernean. I have not kept that from you to surprise you. I have been honest and told you everything truthfully. I am a dog demon. I have a dog form and a humanoid form. Don't you?

With the exception of A-Un, most of Ryuu's dragon friends had some sort of humanoid form.

"I do not know," Lernean replied. "I have had to fight for my life longer than I remember. I do not remember my parents or any time in my life where I could focus on anything but surviving. Humans have always wanted to kill me. They have misunderstood me and hurt me. I defended myself against until the strongest of them trapped me here. I'm not sure I would ever like to look like them."

"I am sad to hear that," Ryuu said. "I have known many nice humans. And I had my family with me to teach me. I had had the best parents in the world. There are thirteen children now in our family and I love every one of them."

"Love? Tell me about love," Lernean asked.

As Ryuu told of his parents and his siblings, Lernean's eyes open wide, amazed with the concept.

Eventually Ryuu finished telling Lernean of his family and mentioned that he thought it was time they freed it and got out of the cave.

Ryuu talked through his ideas with his new friend. "We are about ten feet below the surface. I can try and break through at the shallowest point but it could cause a cave in. I could try and climb out and then come back and dig you out. I'm an excellent digger in my dog form."

Lernean was impressed with Ryuu's thoughtfulness. "Try and break through. Even if I die in the cave in I can rejoice that I finally met a friend."

"Are you sure?"

"I am."

"Then, hang on." Ryuu backed up to the highest point of the cave and allowed himself to grow.

Three feet.

Five feet.

Seven feet.

Ten feet tall!

Meanwhile the cavern creaked and moaned. Stones rumbled. Dirt sifted through. The air around Lernean became so dusty it was challenging to breath, but Lernean kept an eye on Ryuu.

Suddenly the ceiling of the cave blew up and out and light poured in.

A dust colored shiro inu shook his fur to clear his coat.

"Lernean? Are you okay?"

"I am," came the reply.

Ryuu continued to widen the hole so that he could get to Lernean's place. When all he could see was the night sky he realized he was very tired and upon excusing himself he laid down to take a nap in his human form.

Lernean marveled. It didn't believe it would ever see the Greek night sky again. He watched the stars in the sky all night. When Ryuu woke in the morning, he sent a text message to Kyo.

Have found a Greek Dragon. Tell Dad and Father that I'll see them in several days.

Then he got back to work clearing the rest of the debris to free Lernean.

At Kyo's villa in Ibiza

Sesshomaru and Inuyasha were lecturing today at the demon medical school. Generally they staggered their lectures so one of them was home with Kohaku and Sango but today they had been asked to give a joint lecture. Inuyasha was excited to tag team the lecture with his mate.

Sesshomaru rubbed his mark. 'Calm my love. They are just young medical students.'

Inuyasha adjusted his tie for the thousandth time. 'I'm excited about lecturing with you, Koi.'

Sesshomaru gave him a lustful look. 'Keep that up and we won't get there in time.'

Inuyasha returned the sultry look. 'Let's try and get there on time. I'm up for it.' He pointed to the bulge in his pants.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Redressing quickly the dynamic duo orbed off to the lecture leaving Kyo to babysit Suzy, Rin, Sango, and Kohaku. Kyo thought it was an easy job for the most part. Suzy and Rin could entertain themselves. Sango would follow them everywhere. He would grab her when she started annoying them. It was Kohaku, the four year old, that required 100% of his attention. Just recently he had tried to fly from the balcony to the living room, a ten foot drop. If he was better with his dog form that wouldn't be a problem but he was still pretty shaky with his transformations.

Kyo feed everyone French toast and bacon and then turned to clean the kitchen. Kohaku wanted to help because "super heroes always help" so he was given a dish towel and told to dry the plastic dishes. Suzy and Rin started giggling about some teen pop star and Sango wanted in on the discussion. They drifted off to their room.

On their way to the girls' room Suzy heard a cell phone ping and led the trio on a search for it. They found Kyo's phone and a text message complete with GPS location.

"Looky, Ryuu found a dragon!"

"Yay!" Rin replied.

"Yay!" Sango echoed.

Suzy and Rin leaned over the phone staring at the GPS map. Sango tried to see but got elbowed out and after several tries decided her books were more interesting and she walked to their room.

Suzy bit her lower lip. "Rin, want to see Ryuu's dragon? I think I can use the map and figure out how to get there."

All of the Takahashi kids had gifts. Suzy's just happened to be directional sense. She knew where she was any time, any place.

Rin bit her cheek and made a couple of faces. Finally she nodded. "Yeh, let's see a dragon together."

And like that the two girls orbed off across the Mediterranean to Greece.

Yuki was flying the Cyprus to Madrid flight when she saw two orbs zoom toward Greece. Thinking it was her parents on another crazy romantic date, she distracted the human crew from the scopes until the orbs past. 'Have fun Dad, Father.'

Kyo smiled. It was time for Yuki to pass by. He led Kohaku outside and pointed up.

"There's Yuki's plane."

Kohaku bounced, "YAY! Big sissy flies as high as Daddy and Father!" And he pointed to the two orbs zooming by the plane.

Kyo's heart dropped.

Their parents were supposed to be at the medical school lecturing. 'Dad was so excited about lecturing if they left, there would have had to be an emergency. OH, No! Ryuu are you okay?'

Kyo ran to grab his phone only to find the message Ryuu had sent earlier open, GPS coordinates clearly displayed.

Kyo called out. "Suzy! Rin! Sango!"

Sango came running. "What's wrong Kyo?"

"Where are Suzy and Rin?"

"Don't know," Sango pouted. "They wouldn't let me see."

"See what, Sango?" Kyo was patient and soft spoken.

"See the message on the phone. There. That phone."

Sesshomaru's lecture had been informative and the medical students were asking pertinent questions when Inuyasha's phone beeped. He was tempted to ignore it but something inside him made him look. Kyo's number popped up.

Rather than answer he texted, Getting ready to start my lecture. Can it wait?

The reply was brief and instant. Suzy and Rin are missing. I think they are on their way to Ryuu in Greece.

Excuses given, Sesshomaru and Inuyasha chased their two girls across the Mediterranean. Meanwhile Kyo attempted to contact Ryuu but to no avail.

Lernean's body had been under the rock since that human had tried to kill it.

Ryuu wasn't sure what he would find when he removed the final debris. He prepared Lernean for the worse.

"It's possible the rock has been acting like a pair of pressure pants. I don't know what will happen when I lift this. It's possible you may die. I am a physician of animals. I will do my best. Please hang on Lernean."

"Thank you Ryuu. I will consider myself blessed if this is my last breath because I made a friend."

Ryuu bent down and put his arm around the large rock. He took several cleansing breaths and started to move the boulder. It didn't move. He may have underestimated the size of the boulder. He released his grip and repositioned again.

Just as he was prepared to try a second time, Suzy and Rin orbed in behind him.

Lernean cried in shock.

"More humans!"

Ryuu turned to protect Lernean when he saw his little sisters.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Ryuu's heart was in his throat. This whole area was dangerous and now his baby sisters were in the middle of it. The ground rumbled.

The air rumbled.

Sesshomaru and Inuyasha landed softly.

"I'm going to die!" Lernean screamed.

Inuyasha jumped in front of the girls and stared back and forth between Ryuu and the dragon.

Sesshomaru took in the entire scene. He used his youki to calm everyone including Lernean.

"Son, we have come to retrieve two wayward pups. But as long as we are here, can we assist you in your rescue attempt?"

Inuyasha turned to face the two girls. "You two are going to get the longest lecture ever when we get back to Kyo's house. Do You Hear ME!"

Suzy and Rin shrank as their Dad's volume increased.

Lernean looked at the group and then to Ryuu. "You haven't lied. They love you. I am honored to meet you. My name is Lernean."

Inuyasha flipped around, eyes wide. "Lernean? Lernean Hydra?"

"Yes, that is me."

"It's such an honor to meet an ancient. How can we help?"

Ryuu's face adopted a confused but curious expression. "Dad?"

"Come son. We need to help Lernean." Inuyasha's attitude toward Lernean was almost reverent.

Ryuu explained to his parents that he had been concerned for circulation issues when he removed the boulder, but that he was thus far unable to remove the boulder.

The three physicians conferred.

"Lernean? Is your body still immortal? Will you be able to heal?" Inuyasha asked.

"I am not sure."

"Is there a substance that will help heal you?" Sesshomaru queried. Sesshomaru had heard of Lernean from the tales in his father's library. This being was very special. The Kami had put its images in the night sky.

"I am not sure but I do know I am looking forward to being in Our Sea again. How I miss her salty kisses."

"Why don't you just pick up the dragon and the dirt and take her to the sea?" Rin asked.

The physicians looked at each other and the young girl.

'She continues to teach us,' Sesshomaru rubbed his mark.

"Yeh," the inuhanyou sighed. "Here I thought it was our turn to teach her. Silly hanyou."

Ryuu wrestled with the idea. "Father, I couldn't lift the boulder. How will I lift more even with your help?"

Sesshomaru approached the dragon.

"Lernean, I will apply my poison to the ground around you to cut the earth and free you. Your poison is much older and stronger than mine but you are currently weak. Do you think you can handle it?"

Lernean looked over the tall elegant demon. "Let me smell your poison."

"Oh course." Sesshomaru dropped one small drop in front of the dragon.

"That smells divine. Please continue with your plan." The dragon licked the drop from the earth, savoring it like it was a prime vintage.

Soon the area around Lernean was eaten away with Sesshomaru's poison. What remained was an islet of rock surrounded by an empty moat.

"Lernean, how are you doing?" Sesshomaru asked.

"I feel stronger than ever. The smell of your poison has rejuvenated me. Perhaps you could put some on the rock to decrease the size."

"We can try, but I would like to get you to the sea as soon as possible."

"I leave it to you then." Lernean dipped its head.

"Ryuu, you and I are going to be harnessed together and Dad is going to drive the sleigh."

"Girls, will ride on us. You will not be allowed to get out of our sight for the near future."

"Yes, Father," chorused the girls. Internally they were thrilled. They were going to ride on their Father.

Sesshomaru returned his attention on Ryuu. "Your Dad and I are going to get the equipment. The girls will be with us. Please keep Lernean company."

Then Sesshomaru, Inuyasha, Suzy and Rin left but not before they bowed deeply to the dragon.

Ryuu sat in the ditch next to Lernean.

"Tell me more of this thing called love" Lernean asked.

The two conversed for a while and rested the rest of the time awaiting the return of Ryuu's parents and sisters.

When Ryuu's family returned Sesshomaru showed Ryuu how the harness worked then he switched to his dog form and allowed Inuyasha to fit the harness. Ryuu watched carefully and then when it was his turn he switched to his dog form. Side by side the two dogs were similar size but it was clear who the alpha was. Then Inuyasha spread the net around Lernean and the rock. The sled was backed up to the rock. The girls were told to take their places. When all was in place, Inuyasha gave a whistle and Sesshomaru and Ryuu started pulling.

The slack in the lines drew up quickly and suddenly there was tension on the lines.

"Okay, Now!" And with a sharp whistle the dog team took off into the sky.

The plan worked perfectly and soon the team was in a remote area next to the sea. The sleigh was partially in the water. Sesshomaru and Ryuu resumed their humanoid forms and went to the side of the dragon. As the water glided over the dragon, strength returned to its limbs. Lernean arched its back and the boulder rolled off.

The odd shaped dragon shuffled as it tried out its legs. Once sure it was able to move it turned to face the Takahashi family.

"I owe you a life debt. If you ever need me I will be at the farthest point of this island at the depths of Our Sea. Just bark. Farewell."

Lernean started to disappear into the water.

"One last thing, Ryuu," Lernean said. "I'm a girl."

Ryuu blushed.

Suzy rushed to his side and hugged his leg as if to say, "MINE". Rin grabbed Inuyasha's hand.

Lernean mumbled "Love- Interesting…" just before disappearing into Our Sea.