Chapter 45: False God
Kenji sat back and studied the little female cowering before him, carefully considering everything he'd been told. The thought occurred to him just how pleasant it would be to take Teruko, bind her power, and gift her to any of the humans that had survived their home's destruction over the winter. It would be simple justice, as he saw it, to let those people have her as payment for all the suffering they'd endured, and all at her orders. The orders she'd given for such a petty reason as to cause the death of one person. Teruko had no respect for life at all.
Yes, it was true that youkai didn't see life and death and even justice in the same way that humans did, but those allied with the Western Lord knew that he did not approve of taking lives for such petty reasons. There was no honor in killing innocent people, people that couldn't even defend themselves against you. And especially humans – humans who weren't even warriors, no less.
Oh yes, Teruko was in for it, and he was going to enjoy watching her get it.
A slight movement off to his side had him glancing that way, and he caught the very slight smirk on Arata's face. And I'm not the only one that will, either. Almost everyone in Kangetsu will. Touga will be extremely happy to have her dead and gone from the citadel, and if her family wants to challenge whatever his decision regarding her ends up being, he'll be even happier to give them the satisfaction of a to-the-death match.
He let his gaze sharpen and looked at the maid trembling before him. "As of this moment, you are under protective custody. You will not be returning to Teruko. There will be at least two guards with you at all times, and we will have to move you to a more secure room than the one you no doubt have in the servant's wing." He paused, turning his gaze to look out one of the windows, then glanced at Arata. "Would you summon the captain of the palace guard? I'd like this matter to be taken care of as soon as possible."
The lounging fox rose rather languidly with a small bored-seeming sigh, though Kenji knew better. He was simply putting on a front for the female. Never show too much interest.
"Certainly. I will return momentarily."
Acknowledging that with a nod, Kenji returned to his perusal of the maid, once more considering what she'd reported. However... all this does beg the question... "You told me that the attacks on the humans in the east during the winter was part of Teruko's plot – that she was responsible."
Shivering, the maid nodded. "Yes, my lord."
"Then why are you only reporting it now?" he finished softly, watching her very closely.
"Because I hadn't put it together until just today when my mistress began savaging me and yelling about her plan being ruined. She ranted for some time, and I couldn't help but to listen, since she would not allow me to leave."
Kenji's eyes narrowed just slightly. "Put it together?"
"Well, yes. You see, this isn't the first time she's done something like this. She enjoys causing trouble, and so she's set youkai on humans before. I thought that's all she was doing. But with the things she said this morning, I finally realized what she'd really been doing, and chose to come to you rather than follow her commands." The young female shivered inwardly and hoped they bought her story. Yes, what she'd told them was all true – however, she was doing her best to try to minimize her own perceived involvement. The less complicit in the plot they thought her, the better her chances of avoiding any punishment herself.
"Your duty to the pack, and the alpha," Kenji acknowledged, and the maid nodded, keeping her eyes lowered as appropriate. Still, the fox was almost certain that she was quite thankful at the moment that such a thing was considered appropriate. It gave her excuse...
How much she actually knew was questionable, however, so he chose to play along for the moment. If she was hiding any other knowledge, they would get it out of her slowly over time. If they were slow enough about it, they would be able to seduce (so to speak) the knowledge she held away from her, and all without her suspecting their motives at all.
There was a small commotion at the door as the captain of the guard arrived, and Kenji chose to wait until it was quiet again to speak, intentionally making the young female a little nervous. It would be best to keep her a little off-center, at least to begin with.
"Very well," he began, his voice still just as soft and bland as it had been this entire time. He proceeded to give his orders for the disposition of the female to the captain, who bowed and took her into custody, leaving the room with her in tow.
When the door slid closed behind them, he looked at Arata.
"Thoughts?"
The fox grinned. "I almost couldn't wait for you to ask." His grin widened, and Kenji sighed.
~oOo~
Izayoi sighed slightly, nuzzling into the bedding and moaning softly, her slowly wakening body stretching almost unconsciously as her mind drifted sullenly up from the depths of her sleep. As her awareness gradually returned, she groaned a little and rolled over, opening eyes that felt weighed down with lead to peek at her husband's side of the futon. She scowled lightly when she realized that he was not there, but as she squinted in the early morning light, she realized why.
"Mmm..." she mumbled, pushing herself reluctantly up on her hands and then from there into a seated position. Despite the fact that it was later than she usually woke to begin the day, she felt groggy and as though her head was stuffed full of wool. A headache was already knocking at her temples, and she frowned for a moment, wondering why she felt so exhausted and sad, as well. It only took a few seconds for her to remember her dreams, and then she understood.
She shook her head a little and rubbed wearily at her eyes, her lips turning down as she relived those terrible nightmares of fire and death howling angrily on bitter, frigid winds. Since she'd married Touga and moved into her new home with her husband, the nightmares she'd begun having after returning to Setsuna from the shrine had lessened greatly, though she still had them fairly regularly. But once again, as soon as she'd stepped foot in one of her childhood homes she'd had them every night, and she knew she was going to have to speak to her husband about once more taking sleeping draughts while they were visiting in Setsuna.
A faint echo of the voices in her dreams pricked at her mind, and her frown only deepened. Once more, voices I feel I should know say things I think I should remember, and yet... it's just out of reach, taunting me with soft threads of foreshadowing and past knowledge. I feel like a pawn in some game of the kami. Why all this nonsense? Frustration surged up from within, and she huffed in irritation. Why do the kami and the fates play such games, anyway?! Why couldn't they just lay it all out in a straightforward and concise manner, so that I could then accomplish their desire and rid the world of the Shikon no Tama? All this mess could have been avoided... she sighed and her face fell. But then... if they had, I wouldn't have had the extraordinary life that I've had so far. I've been blessed to see and experience things that I should never have known in the normal course of things. And for that... for that, I can only be thankful. Though that doesn't take away the fear... she laughed, a dark, almost brittle sound.
Shaking all such thoughts off for the moment, she arose and readied to face the day, as breakfast would soon be served. If she didn't appear, she'd have three anxious males looking for her, and she didn't want to pass on her stress to her family. This was her burden to bear, for some reason, though she didn't know exactly why she'd been chosen by the gods to be tied to the poisonous jewel that Midoriko had created in a foolish, last-ditch attempt to defeat the many youkai that had attacked her. It worked, but then it became the instrument that the darkness used to wreak more havoc and destruction over the centuries than the original youkai would have ever been able to.
Hands rather mechanically tied the knot in her obi as her thoughts wandered further down that particular path. She couldn't understand what Midoriko had been attempting at all, it just made no sense whatsoever. There had to be something that had been missed all these years. Damn that jewel anyway, she thought. So much trouble because of it. She paused, her fingers stilling as a passing thought caught at her attention.
I remember... when I was in the jewel after we defeated Naraku... her brow furrowed as she struggled to grasp at the memory and keep it from escaping her... what I realized then. That the jewel doesn't grant you your true wish. And then I wasn't Kagome anymore... instead I became Izayoi. But that would mean... if the jewel doesn't give you what you wish for, then there is no way to use a wish to deal with it, because no matter what I wish, it will not give it to me!
She straightened in dismay at this, her expression freezing at the unexpected and unanticipated thought. This was a huge conundrum - one that she had no idea how to solve at all! What am I going to do? I have the feeling that time is running out, and I have absolutely no clue how to fix this! She began to tremble as visions from her nightmares pressed in on her. But as she had already gathered, those nightmares weren't really bad dreams, but visions. Visions of what would be should she fail.
Thankfully, before she could unravel too far, Kirara interrupted.
'Be calm, Kagome. Everything will work out, you will see. I can sense the energies that have tied your fate to that of the jewel now that we are bonded. And the dark energies of the others that the jewel has chosen as its champions. They are aligning almost perfectly – something that they did not do the last time. I understand your fears, but you must push past them and simply let yourself do whatever comes naturally. Your soul was created to deal with this situation, and the kami made you well. Just let yourself be, and go with your instincts. When it is time, you will know what to do.'
Eyes falling, the young woman absently let her hands finish the task of tying her obi as she thought about what the firecat had said. Kirara was probably right, but the one thing still tying her to her humanity - her fears - kept her from truly believing that. Because this was not just a private choice on her part. This would decide the fate of an entire land. If she were wrong... well, she had already glimpsed what would become of her homeland, and it terrified her.
The jewel did say that there were three possibilities – a right wish, a wrong one, and one that was neither right nor wrong. It was that path I stumbled on back then, and it was what brought me here. So... in order for there to even be a 'right wish', there has to be at least one wish that the jewel has to grant in order for a wish to destroy it. Right?
"I wonder why, though," she mumbled aloud as her brow furrowed thoughtfully at that realization. "What could possibly make the consciousness of the jewel obey that one wish, when it can warp any other to suit its desires? That seems awfully odd."
'What did you dream that has you so much more upset and nervous than usual?' the firecat asked, her head tilted curiously.
Izayoi glanced at her, then went back to dressing herself. After a moment she sighed with evident frustration and blew a disobedient strand of hair out of her face. "It's not so much what I dreamed this time – it was mostly the same as all the others. It's just..." she hesitated, then blurted, "I had a very strong feeling throughout it that those possible events are much closer now. We're running out of time."
Kirara considered what her mistress was saying. 'How long do you think...?'
"I'm not sure... but I feel as if it will all end – for good or ill - by the end of this next winter, no later. So... less than a year," she replied, her voice soft and worried as she met her friend's eyes.
There was nothing the firecat could really say to that, and so, after a momentary pause, she said, 'Well, we had best begin heading for the dining room. Touga will come apart if you are not there when he arrives,' dryly, and Izayoi nodded, quickly brushing her hair into some semblance of order. When she was finished she washed her face with some cool water, grateful for its early morning chill, as it served to clear some of the last cobwebs of the night from her mind.
"Alright, I'm ready," she announced a few minutes later, opening her arms as Kirara trotted over to her and then jumped into them, crawling from there to the girl's shoulders. Once she was comfortably settled, Izayoi headed out the door.
'You know... you should tell your mate of this as soon as possible,' Kirara said softly. And your family, as well, since it is they who will bear the brunt of any move that Takemaru makes.'
"I know. I don't really want to, though; they already have so much on their shoulders, especially Touga – I know he worries even more about Ryukotsussei than he does about Takemaru." She ignored the odd looks passing servants and others were giving her as she spoke aloud to what looked to be nothing more than a cute kitten.
There was a momentary pause as Izayoi fell in behind others also heading for breakfast, and then Kirara replied, 'He's right to worry. Ryukotsussei is one of the worst evils besides the Shikon and Sou'unga this land has ever seen. But... Takemaru is just as much a danger in a different way. After all, it doesn't matter that one is human and the other daiyoukai – both are just as capable of murdering you as the other.'
Reaching her seat ahead of her family and husband, Izayoi nodded as she sat down.
"I know. However, if Takemaru attacks, my family and I will be the ones affected. If Ryukotsussei attacks, everyone in Nihon will be affected. The dragon is a much worse disaster than one human madman could ever hope to be."
Kirara found she had nothing to say to that, since it was entirely true.
~oOo~
Breakfast was just about to finish when a messenger rushed in and knelt by the lord of Setsuna's side, head bowed as he awaited his attention. When Hiraku's slightly more relaxed posture straightened, both Izayoi and Touga were intrigued. The young woman's brow rose sharply – it was rare that a meal was interrupted by business, as usually only dire emergencies were grounds to interrupt the family's mealtime.
The noise level in the rest of the room fell as all those gathered listened breathlessly in the hopes of catching any new gossip first, and all eyes were turned on the head table.
Hiraku took all that in peripherally, a jaded smirk just touching his mouth. Vultures, all of them. Then he looked back at the patiently waiting messenger and the smirk vanished.
"What is it?"
"My lord, a runner has just arrived from one of the outposts on the new southern border."
Hiraku and Ichiro exchanged glances. "And?" the lord prompted after a moment.
"He would not say anything but that it was imperative that he speak to you immediately, my lord," the man reported.
After a moment Hiraku nodded. "Very well. See to it that the messenger is escorted to my study, then." He looked at his son and then Touga and Izayoi as the man bowed before standing and leaving the room. "Would you all care to join me?"
Touga simply nodded, and Izayoi and Ichiro both murmured agreeably. The four stood and promptly left the room, a buzz of conversation breaking out behind them as they disappeared out the doors.
The walk was accomplished in silence, but as soon as they reached the study and everyone was seated comfortably, all eyes turned to the man just being escorted into the room with curiosity.
"Report," Hiraku demanded curtly as soon as the relatively young man knelt and bowed.
"My lord, I am come from Captain Seidaii," the messenger began without preamble. "The border has been breached. The offender is a male youkai, humanoid and with great power. The outpost nearest the breach responded to the threat, but they have all disappeared. There is also-" for the first time the young man paused, seemingly in a little bit of shock, then blurted, "-odd damage to the area that we have never seen the likes of before."
It was absolutely silent as each person there took that all in, and then Touga glanced at Hiraku questioningly, who immediately nodded and gestured for the messenger to answer his guest's queries.
"You said the unit stationed at the outpost have all vanished? Are there any signs that may point to what happened to them? Blood, bodies, signs of a battle?"
"No, sir," the man responded, not sure how to address the obviously youkai male that he'd never seen before. "It's as if they all just vanished into thin air."
"And the damage you reported to the surroundings?"
"It looks as though rocks, trees, even hills have had their tops sheared off, some parts seem as though large circles have been cut right out of the landscape leaving relatively shallow holes in the ground. I... hesitate to try to describe it any further – it's something that needs to be seen to be believed," was the quiet reply from a suddenly weary-seeming courier.
"Do you think it could be... Ryukotsussei?" Izayoi asked Touga, speaking for the first time since leaving the dining room.
She was relieved when her husband instantly shook his head in the negative – she definitely didn't want that madman anywhere around her family. Takemaru was bad enough.
"No. Ryukotsussei would have gone straight for Kangetsu to challenge me. I doubt he knows or cares where you are from." He sat back and rubbed a hand against his chin absently as he thought about the news. "The only way to find out what is truly going on – and more importantly, why - is to head there right now and see what we can find out for ourselves."
"Ah," Hiraku's rueful half-smile caused Touga to tilt his head curiously, "we humans aren't normally able to respond in quite such a rapid manner, my friend."
The inu waved that off. "Do not be concerned, Hiraku. I can easily carry the four of us to the area in question, you know that."
Hiraku nodded, pleased to be reminded of that, as Ichiro spoke up. "How did Captain Seidaii learn of what had transpired if the unit in question had all vanished?"
"The captain sent off a message to both other outposts along the border before leaving to attempt to contain the threat, my lord," the messenger answered, and Ichiro inclined his head in acceptance. He glanced at his father, who indicated he had no further questions, and then dismissed the man to rest and eat.
All four stood at the same time.
"We'll meet you both in the entrance courtyard in fifteen minutes, father," Izayoi said as they left the study to gather their weapons.
"Very well. I will have travel rations and waterskins delivered to us there, since we don't know what we are heading into or how long we will be gone," he said in passing as the shoji slid shut behind them.
Within seconds the hall was empty as they hurried off to ready themselves for the coming battle.
~oOo~
"There."
The tense silence that had fallen between the four as they flew was broken as Touga spoke, and his three companions all looked in the direction he had indicated. Of course, Izayoi could feel the powerful youki of their opponent for herself, but she was certainly very curious to see what the messenger that had come to her father was talking about when he described the damaged landscape.
"Can you tell what type of youkai it is from here, Touga?" she asked.
Gaze fixed in the distance, the inuyoukai shook his head. "No," he said tautly, his mind already on strategy and how to defeat the being, whoever he was, that was heading deeper into Setsuna territory as evidenced by distant explosions of power. "He is most definitely quite strong, however," he added.
"Hmm," she breathed, her own senses extended as she felt out whatever she could about the youkai for herself. "Yes," she agreed after a moment, "but not as strong as you. Though... his youki is... strange," she added, frowning softly.
"Strange?" her father asked, and Izayoi nodded and looked back over her shoulder at him.
"But yet in some ways it almost feels... familiar?" she answered almost hesitantly, as though she weren't sure that was the word she was looking for but couldn't think of any other. She shook her head with frustration after a minute and looked back towards the odd aura they were rapidly closing with, trying to grasp just what it was that was poking so hard at that part of her that had once been Kagome.
"You recognize this aura?"
"Yes... and no," she finally responded. "It feels familiar, but not to Izayoi... to Kagome," she finished after a moment, shrugging tensely as all three males looked at her with interest and some caution. After all, the name Kagome had become almost synonymous with bad things since the start of this whole affair, and now was probably going to be no different.
"So you're saying that in that life before, you met this youkai?" her brother asked, and Izayoi nodded slowly, still a little uncertain about what it was exactly that she was feeling.
"I think so. Maybe it will come to me when we actually see him."
"Which will be in just a few more minutes," Touga inserted, beginning to lower the cloud of his power they had all been standing on. "We should take the time to decide how to approach this menace."
Nothing was said to that, since there really was no need, and within seconds they had landed at the head of a large valley – one which was right in the path of the youkai aura. Apparently he had also sensed them, because his pace had picked up.
"Not a very cautious being, whoever he is," Hiraku noted when that was mentioned by Touga, to which they all agreed.
"All the better for us," Ichirou grunted.
"True. In this case I think that it would be best, at least until we know what we are dealing with, if I face him alone. Right now we just don't know enough about our enemy to make too many plans, but Izayoi, my love, you I wish to set along that ridge up there," Touga relayed, his mind clearly only on the coming battle. He glanced at Ichirou. "I would have you with her, just in case."
Izayoi was all set to protest, but after thinking it through she simply nodded and readied herself. When Ichirou also nodded, Touga flew them all up to the spot he'd chosen and settled gently to the ground. "Speedily, my love," he rumbled at her when she paused to look at him. "The youkai will be here within seconds."
Without protest Izayoi stepped down followed by her brother, and Touga met her eyes tightly, all the cautions he would have normally given verbally passed by sharp, liquid gold, instead. The young woman nodded, understanding him perfectly without need for words, and then he lifted away from her and her brother, heading back toward the head of the valley with her father.
Hiraku said nothing during this time, and when Touga once more settled to the ground beneath a thin line of trees and foliage, he simply inclined his head with a tense grin and stepped back, keeping hidden from view as much as possible.
Returning the grin, the daiyoukai took a long leap to stand atop a small promontory overlooking the entrance to the valley, and waited impatiently for the youkai to close with him.
Fortunately, he wasn't forced to wait long.
Nothing but the soft breeze of the day greeted the arrival of the male youkai as he alighted on a rock a little distance away and stared at the imposing figure of the inudaiyoukai facing him.
Izayoi watched carefully from her place high above and slightly behind Touga's position, still feeling that same sense of recognition as before. But her first sight of the male did nothing to trigger her memory any further, though her sense of wariness was rapidly increasing with every passing second.
Wait... Something occurred to her that probably should have occurred to her before – her firecat companion. 'Kirara... do you recognize that youkai?'
The small two-tail poked her head out from beneath her mistress' hair, and then jumped down to the ground. She would probably need to be able to change into her battle-form quickly very shortly. 'His name is Shishinki.* That's all I really know, besides that he uses that staff to open a meidou to yomi,' she replied with a yawn. There really was no need to go into any further detail; the fact that the male youkai had faced Touga in that previous past and lost, only to return over two hundred years later to challenge Sesshoumaru over the matter really had no bearing on the current situation.
Izayoi felt odd the moment she heard the word 'meidou'. Odd flashes of youki and splashes of vibrant color against vast darkness whirled past her mind's eye, making her feel momentarily dizzy. Meidou... meidou zangetsuha... why do I know those words? Portals... After a moment she shook her head and dismissed her preoccupation. "It doesn't matter right now," she muttered under her breath.
"What was that?" Ichirou whispered, eyeing his sister when she stiffened, as though she'd forgotten his presence.
She had. Izayoi tensed when her brother's voice whispered past her ear, but then she brushed his question aside. "Never mind. Keep watching – I have a bad feeling about this."
With a quick pulse she sent a warning along her link to her husband to beware of the male's staff, even as her eyes were pinned to said male as a warrior's tension filled her body.
~oOo~
"It seems my information was correct," the youkai finally stated, apparently getting bored with waiting for Touga to say something. "You are Touga, Inu no Taisho and Lord of the West."
Surprised that it seemed as though the youkai opposite him was actually looking for him, in Setsuna lands, he tensed inwardly but did not react outwardly. Why would he come here if he were looking for me? Has the identity of Izayoi's family truly spread so far as to reach even those I have never seen before?
"I am. And you are?"
The male bowed mockingly. "I am known as Shishinki."
Shishinki, is it? Interesting... "Tell me, then, death god spirit, why you are attacking these lands."
"To draw you, of course, which I'm sure you had already gathered. To answer your true question, I am here-" he smirked, "-because I have heard of your... ties... to the human who plays at being lord over these lands. I deduced that causing trouble here would soon draw you."
"Why did you not simply come to my seat of power if you wished audience with me?" Touga asked.
Shishinki shrugged, blinking red eyes almost sleepily. "Because this was closer, and I did not feel like wasting the energy to beard you in your den. Besides... I wouldn't want to destroy my soon-to-be-property. Kangetsu is too beautiful to send to hell, after all."
Ah-ha, Touga thought to himself. "You wish to challenge me for rule of the West? So be it, then," he agreed, his body heating as he prepared himself for the fight to come. He deliberately loosened his muscles and rolled his shoulders while he surveyed his enemy, looking for every bit of information his advanced senses could give him.
It was very probable that Shishinki already knew most of his strengths and his style of combat, since it was apparent that he had been planning this challenge for some time. On the other hand, he knew next to nothing about the male, which was a decided handicap in a match like this.
Touga, his staff. He uses a technique called a meidou with it. It opens a direct portal to yomi, sucking in everything in its path. I don't know anything else, though.
The inuyoukai heard his wife's thoughts loud and clear, his eyes immediately locking on the staff that the self-proclaimed 'death god' held casually at his side. Meidou. I see. That was what he meant about Kangetsu going to hell. An interesting technique.
"So be it," Shishinki echoed, the ritualistic words of challenge and acceptance not even out of his mouth before he was moving into an attack.
Touga grinned at the surge of power and energy coursing through his body, drawing Tessaiga in one smooth motion as he closed with his opponent.
Izayoi flinched at the first clash of Tessaiga against Shishinki's staff. She still wasn't remembering anything about the male, but the longer she watched the more leery she became, and the words meido zangetsuha kept echoing through her mind. Each iteration of the words made it worse – until she was almost shivering with a fear she wasn't used to feeling. What is this? Why am I so afraid? I don't have time for this!
She could still hear the clashes of weaponry and vague explosions of power, but suddenly she could no longer see her surroundings; instead, she was being swallowed by darkness. It was an oddly familiar darkness... I've been here before... Suddenly, her nightmares came back to her, and she knew where she was. Inside the jewel! I remember...
And she did. While Shishinki might only have the capability to use the meidou as portals to yomi, they could be used to open portals to other places. Terrifying places... places much worse than hell. She shuddered. The terror that had blossomed inside her during her last days of life as Kagome swelled within her once more, almost choking her, and though inwardly she cried out for Kirara, Ichirou, anyone, no one answered – because no one else was there.
Except the Shikon no Tama.
It's final words to her in that life surged through her, reviving every second of the time she'd spent locked within its poisonous embrace. That was when true fear rose up and choked her.
"Izayoi!"
Startled at the voice in her ear and the feel of being shaken, she was thrown out of the darkness of her memories and almost fell forward as Ichirou shook her again, desperately yet quietly trying to snap her out of her odd fit.
With a silent gasp she tumbled back into the present, the darkness of the meidou and the jewel withdrawing, leaving her confused for several moments as she tried to calm her breathing and the fine tremors still raising goosebumps across her skin.
"I'm fine, Ichirou," she finally managed to get out in a voice held just above a whisper. She wasn't certain whether Shishinki knew they were there or not, but there was no need to give in to the slowly dissipating need to scream with the horror and fear that her last hours of life as Kagome had left inside her soul. "Just more memories."
Her brother gave her a deeply skeptical look but chose not to say anything about her lapse, too concerned about what was happening below them to be lured into thinking about anything else, at least at this point in time.
Kirara was not so sanguine, however. She was very worried – when whatever it was had reached out and grabbed her mistress, it had been enough to completely block Izayoi's mind from her, and she didn't like that the least little bit. She curled around her companion's arm, rubbing against her soothingly.
'Are you okay?' the small firecat asked. What happened? I've never felt so much fear from you – not even when that male tried to force himself on you.'
I was just remembering what happened when Kagome was trapped inside the jewel, she returned with a deep sigh as her breathing finally evened out. She looked over the ledge she and her brother were still hiding behind as Kirara told her about the male's challenge to her husband. "We need to get out of here," she said aloud. "I don't know why Shishinki isn't using the meidou yet, but once he starts flinging them around, anything in their path is in danger. We can't help Touga in this battle, so the best thing we can do is get out of the way so that he doesn't have to worry about protecting us while fighting."
"If we move now, we'll give ourselves away," her brother protested.
"I know, but it doesn't matter. He won't attack us directly – that would go against the rules of a challenge such as he gave Touga. But father's closer than we are – and if a meidou comes at him, he won't be able to get away."
"Challenge?"
"Yes," she replied absently. "He has challenged Touga for his rule of the West. Because of that, we can't interfere."
Kirara flared into her battle form and Izayoi immediately mounted her, urging her brother to climb on behind without delay. She couldn't see her father from where she was, but as soon as Ichirou was on, the now greatly enlarged feline leaped into the air and headed straight for the human male she could scent out quite easily.
As soon as the firecat landed before her startled father she urged him to get on, and Kirara took to the air as soon as he did so, now pushing her pace to get as far as possible from the fight currently taking place behind them.
'There, Kirara,' she said after a few seconds of flight, the firecat heading as fast as possible to the northeast to escape any stray meidou or other explosions. 'That section of forest there in the distance. We should be safe there. It's a good bit away from the fight, and Touga will know which way we've gone and lead his opponent in the opposite direction as much as he can.'
Her father and brother were questioning her before Kirara even landed.
She shook her head, silencing both men, then looked back to where she could feel her husband's youki, as well as the power of the challenger. After a moment her eyes dropped and she turned back, her expression closed.
"No. There would be no point. In this fight, I cannot help him." And though her features were still, both men could see hear the slight waver in her voice, and knew that she was more worried than she was letting on.
Hiraku touched her arm. "I cannot imagine this youkai is truly a danger to Touga," he replied soothingly. "He is too smart to fall to a male that is so much younger and less experienced than he."
That statement startled Izayoi, and she looked at her father with a confused expression taking over the blank one of moments before. "How do you know which one is older? They don't appear to be much different in age."
Ichirou nodded, agreeing with his sister.
Their father chuckled. "It is apparent, if you know what to look for."
Both his children tilted their heads at him, and his chuckle became a fond smile as he watched them.
"It is there in how he holds himself, and in his eyes," he explained. "Though a youkai may appear forever young, it is in the eyes that a being's age can be seen most – and that holds as true for youkai as it does for ningen." His own eyes darkened a little with weariness and sadness, and it was then that both his children could see what he meant. "I see that same telling expression in your eyes sometimes, my daughter. Your soul understands my words."
The young woman nodded without saying anything.
Ichirou looked sympathetic and sad, since there was nothing he could do about the fact that her eyes did, indeed, give that impression. She'd seen too much, been through too much for even three full lifetimes, let alone the much-shortened first two she'd already lived, and her current one.
She would undoubtedly see much more over the span of her now immeasurably expanded lifetime.
A definite pause in the sounds of combat still detectable even by their human ears drew all of their attentions to the place they had left Touga, and all three waited breathlessly for any further hint of what was going on.
And then both men gaped at the sudden appearance of several fairly large, very dark orbs shimmering with odd lights and bright stars. Izayoi stared as well, though not in surprise; instead, her knowledge simply caused her to look on them with eyes dark with unpleasant and painful memories that still clamored at her through time-muted voices.
"Meidou," she murmured, watching as the portals spread out and then eventually faded away, taking the tops off of hills and carving holes through everything they touched.
"You said they are portals to yomi?" her brother questioned softly, still staring at the damage those dark orbs had left behind.
She nodded absently in affirmation. "Shishinki is only able to use them in that way," she began, though both men could feel that her mind wasn't really with them. "But they can be used as portals to other places... places you don't really want to know about," she finished with a shudder when both looked curious.
A brow tilted slightly into his bangs as Hiraku carefully watched his daughter. He wondered what she truly remembered of these other lives... and even more... what she hadn't. What other dangerous and probably deadly secrets were still hidden within her mind? Inside her soul? He shuddered inwardly. I do not think I want to know, he decided after a pause. Her eyes have seen things hardened men twice my age have not seen... and her soul... it is haunted by those things. I truly think I am content to have known the comparatively easy life that I have. I could not have survived a fate like hers. He had no problem admitting to that truth – Izayoi was much stronger inside than almost anyone he had ever met.
Several more explosions were heard followed by more meidou, and all three turned their attention from their thoughts to what they could each sense of the battle being fought not so far away.
~oOo~
In the bare seconds before Shishinki attacked, Touga thoroughly studied his opponent with all his senses.
First and quickest was eyesight.
Tall, bare threads beneath his own rather great height, the male was lighter of frame than he but not thin by any means. Violet hair that was short and rather spiky, and red eyes filled with the self-assurance and even arrogance that was typical of youkai, with pale, unmarked skin.
He carried no weapon besides his staff, which was not so surprising since it could send a being straight to yomi. Not many had weapons with such a dangerous, self-taught attack. He had some form of personal wealth, as his clothing and accouterments were of very fine quality and obviously well-cared for.
Next came scent; and though normally this would have been his most reliable sense, this time it was not. At least not entirely.
There was something strange about this youkai's scent. While it held traces of all the scents normally found in all living things, and even those that were unique to youkai, there was something else there. Something... cold. Foreign. It was something he'd never scented before in any being he'd ever come across – and that was surprising, because in his long lifetime he'd certainly scented most everything that existed in their homeland, and even outside of it. He had traveled the world, after all.
Then there was hearing.
Every beat of Shishinki's heart echoed in his ears, every twitch of a muscle, every inhale and exhale he took gave away much information to the inuyoukai. His heart was not pounding in fear, but nor was it completely calm, either. So he was not afraid, but he was nervous.
There were many tiny explosions of lesser energy as his muscles trembled minutely beneath his skin even as he tried to calm them. The youkai was an adult male with some life under his belt, but not as old, experienced, or controlled as he himself was.
His breathing patterns were smooth and cadenced to the ear but only somewhat accelerated; he was preparing to start with physical attacks rather than ones using his meidou ability. The rhythm of breathing was different during physical attacks compared to an attack that took youki. And those were different than when both were combined into one.
And finally... instinct. Instinct took everything that all the other senses gathered and bypassed the normal route from point A to point B, going straight to conclusions without all the time-wasting and tedious thought-processing steps in between. It was more hazy and less distinct in some ways than direct knowledge gained by long-term study, but it was often more correct in its conclusions because it drew on esoteric ways of learning as much as more physical means. It was more... balanced.
That balance of knowledge and senses was what had brought him here, to this bit of understanding.
Shishinki's weapon was powerful.
But it was also its own weakness – in more ways than one.
As those few seconds of stillness before Shishinki attacked wound down, Touga knew everything he needed to know about his opponent's weaknesses and strengths. Now all that was left was using what he had just learned in the battle itself to gain any tactical advantage necessary to win.
Thus it was with no hesitance that he leapt into the attack, smoothly drawing Tessaiga and countering each of the other male's blows with the ease of one who had been wielding weapons for centuries. He was curious to see how long this Shishinki would continue to fight him in this manner before losing patience and attempting to use his staff's youki attack to banish him to yomi.
It didn't take long to learn that the male was a more-than-competent warrior, though not quite in his class. At the very least, this one would give him a good battle, even an enjoyable one. However... he was a bit concerned by his weapon's ability. It was dangerous, and his wife was still far too close to it for comfort.
It would be a very good technique to take for himself, actually, the more he thought about it. And he might even be able to find new ways to use it, new uses for it. This chance was rife with possibilities, but there were a few things he was curious about before he brought this little tussle to an end.
As they flew into each other and locked weapons, Touga held his opponent's eyes. "You may be here to challenge me for rule of the west, but that is not the only reason. You would be attacking me even if I were not lord of the western lands. What is it that you hide?"
"Very astute of you," Shishinki grunted, pushing back fiercely against the Inu no Taisho but not gaining much headway. I didn't believe he was this strong, no matter what I was told. This might not be as easy as I had thought. "It is more a matter of proving who is the strongest. You defeated this one's father, taking the chance for such from me. So I am here to prove that I am greater than you. It also regains the honor my clan lost when you destroyed him."
Touga nodded inwardly, satisfied so far with the answers he'd gained. Time to push him a little farther. With flawless grace he sent a wave of youki out, and watched with opaque eyes as the other male was blown back into the rather sheer left side of the valley. There was an earthshaking explosion of rock and soil as he hit, the wind generated by the blow sending dust billowing upwards to obscure vision in every direction.
Nonetheless, Touga was already in motion even before Shishinki hit, and before he could do more than take a breath and shake his head to try to clear it the inuyoukai was wrapping a clawed hand around his throat as he slammed him back into the rockface again.
"Your father, eh? And just who might that have been?" he asked, loosening his grip just enough to hear whatever answer he received.
"Does it matter?" Shishinki gritted out.
A shrug of one powerful shoulder was his answer. "I suppose not." And then he leapt back just as a dagger flashed at him, managing to actually strike him enough to draw blood, though it was a paltry wound for him that would heal in less than a minute. Touga grinned. "Your speed is impressive."
Shishinki's eyes widened as his enemy disappeared from his sight, twisting his head rapidly in an attempt to find where the inu had gone. He barely managed to dodge the blow coming from above, though his hair wasn't quite as lucky as several locks floated to the ground far below them, flashing forlornly as they disappeared. In the same motion he twisted and spun, throwing out a wave of youki so black it was a darkness pure and perfect that would almost seem as if no light could ever illuminate it.
He immediately slipped away into the billowing clouds of dust, listening intently for his blow to make contact or for some other sound that would give away the daiyoukai's location, but cursed inwardly when he heard not a sound from the other male. There was not even any scent of blood anymore, the smell already gone as the wound he'd managed to inflict on the Inu no Taisho was completely sealed by now.
It was only the slightest bit of air displacement that saved him in that moment – and only because he'd moved far enough away from the center of the explosions that the agitated air currents had almost completely calmed. Damn him! It's taking everything I can do just to avoid him! As much as it enraged him to have to admit such a thing, he knew that the longer this fight dragged on the less of a chance he would have. He just wasn't as strong as the blasted dog. I don't have a choice. If I want to win I'm going to have to use the meido.
Silence had once again fallen, nothing coming to his ears except the normal sounds of nature. The air was stilling again, and Shishinki decided that the thinning dust cloud was no longer of any use to him. He shot high into the air, hoping to get above the inuyoukai so that he could strike as soon as the other male also lifted above the dust.
For several long seconds there continued to be no movement, no sound, and no sign of youki from the inu. Shishinki held his breath as he tensed, desperately extending all his senses to their utmost. Just one little breath, Inu no Taisho... just one...
When he felt movement directly below and caught a flash as something moved towards him at impossible speeds he surged his straining power into his staff, swinging it down towards the coming attack and releasing all the gathered power with pinpoint precision.
There was a terrifying pause in the very air as silence fell, oppressive youki weighing heavily all around...
And then a series of relatively small, perfectly round meidou sprang into being, spiraling outward at great speed. It was then that Touga realized what the morning's messenger had meant when he'd spoken of the odd damage to the terrain that Shishinki had left behind as the orbs crashed into trees and cliff faces, the ground and anything else in their way.
When the meidou winked out of existence, anything they'd touched went with them, forever lost in yomi's endless depths.
That explains that. And now for the rest of it... With an ease of movement and power that Shishinki simply did not have yet Touga pressed in, attacking in a relatively slow pattern so that his opponent could keep up. He needed to see the meidou performed at least a couple more times in order to gather everything he could about the technique and how it was fueled – so that he could take it for his own. It would be a powerful attack to hold in reserve in any battle – if used at exactly the right moment.
The younger male responded strongly though the inu was pretty certain he was becoming tired, sending out two more sets of meidou in two opposing directions in a blind attempt to hit his opponent in any way he could. Unfortunately, the move did little for the 'death god spirit' except give Touga exactly what he desired – a further chance to study the move.
And study it he did. It was an intriguing ability, there was no denying it, though it was incomplete and unstable in its current state. He was certain he could find other uses for meidou than as just gateways to yomi if given a little time to study and complete the technique.
But for now he had learned all he needed to know, and it was time to finish the fight.
Barreling in from right behind one of the expended attacks, he circled Shishinki in a blur, bringing his own heavy youki in to bear on the younger male as he raised the Tessaiga in preparation. Placing the potentially dangerous power under his own fang's sealing strength would keep it safely contained until he was ready to deal with it. As his youki built up, Shishinki countered by manifesting his youketsu in close to himself in an attempt to shield, but that was exactly what the inu general had hoped for. He jammed the Tessaiga into the other male's spiraling youketsu and began to absorb the power that he was cutting through, the resonance between the differing energies increasing their strength exponentially and surging into the sword ever faster.
Moments or eternities later he felt a dangerous intoxication begin to seep into his mind; there was so much power, too much power and it was time to cap off the flow. With a savage twist he ripped the screaming sword from the now-faltering whirlwind of energy.
As soon as the end of the sword lost contact with what power was still left he broke away and disappeared, only to reappear at a suitable distance from the stunned and weakened Shishinki. He could now feel the meidou swirling through Tessaiga's energy, and with a considering hum, he savored that energy and all its nuances, looking for a way to finish its weaving so it would finally be a whole technique. He kept his eyes, however, on his enemy – weakened, he was ten times as dangerous as he had been to begin with.
"What have you done?" he hissed angrily, the red of his eyes bleeding to an even deeper crimson. He stabbed hatred through his opponent's heart with them, filled with impotent rage that did nothing to injure or destroy his enemy at all.
"You waste your breath asking foolish questions that you already know the answers to." Touga's voice had now lost its generally genial edge and gone cold. If Izayoi were able to hear him at this second, she would be forcibly reminded of the iciness of Sesshoumaru's voice in Kagome's life. In this moment, the similarities between father and son were abundantly clear.
"Then wh-"
"You also know the answer to that. Power is power, and no youkai would turn down the chance to gain more, especially not in honorable battle."
"Heh." The still-panting youkai straightened. He knew this was it. This was the last chance he would have to escape with his life, for if he didn't, the Inu no Taisho would kill him. Since that was the case, there was no need to hold anything back. He would expend every bit of energy he still had left to get away.
From the deadly smirk crossing the daiyoukai's face, he knew it, too – and welcomed it.
Shishinki stiffened, bracing himself.
~oOo~
A/N: And after a year and a half, I leave you with a cliffie. I would beg your indulgence, however. Please keep the objects thrown to a minimum. I don't think I could come back from any more brain damage than I already have.
P.S. If you're still with this story, then all I can say is a great big THANK YOU!
