"Must you disturb me every time I have work to do?" a male asked, his voice laced with slight anger, but a hint of playfulness, to those who knew how to find it.
"Of course. And I will continue until you answer my question," a female answered, her own voice portraying playfulness, but with no anger to accompany it, but rather a bit of seriousness.
With a sigh, the male pushed his chair back and stood, then gestured for the female to follow him through many halls until they reached the door to the outside. He quickly grabbed a kimono from the servant that stood there and placed it upon the female's shoulders and held the door for her, while she walked out of the large castle and into the crisp morning air of the early spring.
The male then led her to the perimeter of the walls and led her through the southern gates and into a beautiful cherry tree grove, where they often went when they wished to speak alone. As they went deeper into the grove, the silence was broken.
'Tell me, what is it that you have been pestering me so much for an answer to?" the male asked, while keeping his eyes forward, his hands behind his back in a relaxed manner that he could only achieve in her company outside of the castle walls.
"Have you not heard me ask it before? I believe I have many a time," the female asked, her voice a bit distressed that he had forgotten. She turned her head to stare at him, hoping to crack him for an answer. It worked like it always had.
"No I do not remember," though it wasn't the answer she had expected.
'Although quite typical of a male,' she thought, her lips turning up slightly.
"What I had wished an answer to was…" she began but paused, her head turning down in deep thought.
"What is it?" she stopped when he had asked, and he too stopped beside her. She stayed quite for quite a while and he finally could not take her silence any longer. He reached out and took hold of her chin, raising it to his eye level which was quite high for her, considering her head only came to just below his shoulders. However, she kept her eyes downcast, not looking at him directly, but preferring to look at the ground.
His face turned to a slight grimace at her action and he lowered his hand, while she in turn lowered her head.
"I'm sorry," came her soft voice, just above a whisper. His head shot up, as he smelt the saltiness of tears, and watched a single drop fall to the ground. How he hated tears, especially when woman cried. He lifted his hand up to wipe away her tears, and she lifted her hand to meet it.
"Please, tell me," he asked, his voice soft, for her sake. She nodded her head and swallowed the lump within her throat and spoke, although a bit shakily.
"I'm sorry, I just, I'm not sure what your answer will be. I'm afraid of what your reaction will be," she said, and turned her head to the side in shame. But he grabbed her chin and turned her face towards his own again, encouraging her silently to ask him, to not be afraid. Again she swallowed and spoke.
"Tell me, the truth. Why do I not sense fear from you when you look me in the eye?"
That one had threw him. What was that to mean? How could he answer that? He shook his head, and his eyes softened more in genuine concern.
"My Aijin, whatever do you mean?" Her head lowered and he began to think that he had said something wrong. That's when the scent hit him, the scent of anger, pure anger, and it scared him greatly. His instincts were screaming at him to run, get away from this, this power, that was streaming out of her body in tidal waves. But his heart told him otherwise. His heart told him to stay and try to comfort her, to calm her.
His heart had spoken loader then his instincts could reach, and were overthrown as he reached to grab hold her, to try and embrace her. However, that would become his most deadly mistake. For at that moment, when he reached his arms out to her, they were grabbed and forced upward at the wrist in a very painful position. Normally he would not feel pain from such an act from another demon. However, the woman before him was no ordinary demon. She was powerful, probably more powerful then him, that much he knew. But he still had yet to see her true power, he still had yet to witness her true power unleashed, in battle.
About ten miles away, the Inu-Yasha crew was on their way to another demon battle. It had attacked a large trading village and stole most of their food.
"So, how far 'til we reach the mountain pass do you think?" Kagome asked, not liking how quickly Inu-Yasha was expecting them to travel. The road was very rocky, and it was wearing her out quite quickly.
"Oi! Quit your wining, I can already smell its den," Inu-Yasha told her, a scowl upon his face. He had had its scent the whole time, but only decided to make them walk since the demon didn't smell very strong at all. Actually, it smelled pretty puny to him.
'What weak villages they were!' He thought, and began to quicken his pace, as the scent got very strong, telling him that they had found its den.
It was dug into the mountainside, looking to have been dug into the very mountain itself.
As they approached it, the mountain began to shake, and a giant mole rat sprang out, its teeth snapping to show off its strength.
"What a puny demon!" Someone shouted, and they all turned towards Sango. They divided so that she could go to front. The mole rat stomped its foot and screeched, once again showing its strength.
"So you want a show power do you?" Sango asked it, an evil glint forming in her eye.
"You are just a human female! You can nothing to stop me and my power!" the mole rat told her.
"Oh, ok then. Show what you do," she said and leaned against her boomerang.
The mole rat shook its head in rage of her insulting him and grabbed a nearby boulder that was about the same size as it was and broke it in two. Sango only a small shake of her head and then began to laugh.
"Hah! That just proves how puny you are! Now then, let me show you what real strength is!" Sango told it, and picked up her boomerang and threw it at the mole rat. It knew immediately to duck.
"Hah! That was pathetic!" the mole rat exclaimed.
"Oh, well, I don't really think so. I hit the mark that I'd aimed for," Sango told it. "Look for yourself."
As it turned around, its face paled, and it turned back with a very frightened look on its face.
"I-I-I'm so sorry! I will leave now!" and with that it ran off away from the village and away from its destroyed home.
The group had confused looks on their faces, not understanding the whole ordeal.
"Wow," said Sango, "and I thought it would feel rage at me for destroying its home, not fear…"
"Um, Sango, I don't think it was you who it was so scared of," Kagome said, putting her hand on Sango shoulder.
"What do you mean Kagome?"
"Look," she said, and pointed a finger just past the mole rat's destroyed home. She gasped and the others turned to see what was the matter. They could only stare at the sight before them.
Beyond the trees, very far from them, they could see what looked like two giant creatures battling each other. Lights were shining from what looked to be the mouth of one of the beasts. The other looked to be getting beaten.
"Oh, wow, I've never seen two demons fight like that before! I wonder if a war is on the brink?" Sango said. Miroku nodded in agreement.
"Neither have I. A sight like this does not bode well," he said.
"What kind of demons do you think they are?" Kagome asked, placing a hand above her eyes to shield them from the sun to get a better look.
"Well, the one appears to be a type of serpent from the looks of its long body," Miroku stated, shielding his own eyes for a better look.
"The other one has got to be a four-legged land beast," Sango commented, "and with a terrible sense of balance at that!" she added when it simple tripped and fell.
"Inu-Yasha, what do you think?" Shippou asked, and turned toward him. His eyes narrowed and he tapped Kagome on the shoulder. She looked up at him and Shippou pointed a finger at Inu-Yasha. She turned and her eyes filled with concern. He was staring wide-eyed at the fighting beasts, his mouth slightly open.
"Inu-Yasha…"
"I know who that is," he said and his eyes hardened.
They all turned to look at him, and he stiffened from their stares.
"Who is that Inu-Yasha?" Miroku asked.
"Can't you see it? All the white? And the large tail wrapped about it? That's my elder brother, Sesshou-Maru, over there," he said simply, and sniffed the air. "And he's getting his ass whipped by that female…"
"Inu-Yasha, do you know what it is? Do know what kind of demon the female is?" Kagome asked. Inu-Yasha sniffed the air.
"I'm not certain, but from what little I know about my brother, I'm almost certain that isn't any ordinary serpent…"
"What do you mean Inu-Yasha?" Sango asked, not liking his tone of voice.
"I've got a bad feeling that my brother made a bad choice…"
"Inu-Yasha, please tell us what you think she is!" Kagome pleaded, just as a huge blast of light appeared and a billowing cloud of dust, rock and smoke erupted into the air. She'd seen how powerful Sesshou-Maru was before, and to see him getting beaten was not a very welcoming sight to her.
"I don't think she is, I know she is. That female is a Kuuketsuki no Hiruma, a Kinmotsu…" He said, and they each gasped, looking back at the battle that lay before them in wonder, awe, and untouchable fear.
Well? What do y'al think? It took me awhile to figure out how to introduce the Inu group into this chapter, but I knew it was necessary! They will help with a key role in this story! But I will only post another chapter once you send me enough reviews! I will need 5 reviews each time. That simple. And I don't care if it's all from the same person! Reviews are reviews! I won't complain! JA!