A/N: Dude, seriously. Like the 6th chapter…and I'm super stoked! And no, Stuff2Eat, I don't want anyone to die. I mean, if all my readers died, I'd have no one else to leave me awesome comments (course I get naggings from Lynn to write some more in real life so does that count? Lol). Anywho, as I said last chapter, I thought about continuing the chapter for another couple of pages, but I didn't want to cut it off in the middle of the Ball scene and just like leave you guys hanging wondering what the hell was going to happen (though with all the proclaiming I do that I hate cliffys, I sure leave you guys with a lot of them XD) during the ball, so this chapter is dedicated strictly to the Ball ceremony. Hope you guys enjoy it! And remember, reviews fuel the plot bunnies! Love you guys!
P.S.-Oh, and if you haven't already seen the links to Lynn's outfit, I will be reposting all links at the end of the chapter again so that you will know what I'm talking about. Just wanted to let you know.
Previously: When it got closer to night time, they began heading back, Lynn once again bouncing ahead of them full of energy, only this time it was nervous energy. She had never been to a Ball, or even a dance other than Homecoming and Prom in high school, and even then, she didn't dance well. Though she was sure that with the help from Kurama and her father, as well as that of her own Youkai, that she would be fine. She nervously chewed on her lip as they made it back to the Palace and retired to their room to get ready for the Ball. 'This is going to be a long night…'
Lynn found herself getting more and more nervous even as she readied herself for the masquerade Mating Ball. She didn't know how much more tension she could handle. She was even more nervous given the fact that she didn't like dancing except around her friends. Kurama and her father had taught her the necessary dancing at intervals during her training, but she didn't feel confident enough to be doing those intricate dances in front of literally hundreds of demons. Let alone in front of the demon Lord of the West, Lord Sesshomaru.
"Feara, love, calm yourself. It's just a Ball dear. More people will be talking with each other than dancing anyway," her father said in a calming voice to his agitated daughter. Each of them were mostly ready. Lynn herself only had her make up to do and she'd be done. Her father and Kurama only needed their masks and they'd be ready to go. They were just relaxing in their chambers until it was time to go to the Ball. Which wouldn't be much longer now. "Yes, but what if someone wants to dance? I'd probably end up killing them with my clumsiness," she fretted until Fury caught her arm as she paced by him for what seemed like the thousandth time and pulled her into his lap.
He and Kurama, who was still in his Youko form, were both wearing their traditional outfits for occasions such as this. They both were wearing black flat shoes made out of special demon silk, white silk pants cinched around their ankles and long sleeved kimono like tops that fell to their ankles and resembled Kuramas' fighting top only in black with spatterings of silver stars that seemed to twinkle with their every movement. Over each of their hearts was the symbol for their clan (and I'm totally pulling this out of thin air here…not sure what other symbol could possibly be used in this instance), a howling Silver Fox, in Fox form of course, with a blue crescent moon over it, as if it were howling at the moon, showing that they were from the Silver Fox clan and that they served the West. Though the Silver Fox adorning her fathers' breast held a slight difference than Kuramas'. His was bigger and had at least twelve tails-which she'd heard her father had in his true form-whereas Kurama only had nine and was slightly smaller than her fathers. She assumed it showed their ranks among their clan.
She instinctively snuggled deeper into her fathers' arms, sighing in contentment as his Youkai flared out in a calming manner and soothed her anxiousness. "I hope she isn't going to be this anxious then entire two weeks we are here," Kurama said, mostly to himself. Course, he only realized his mistake after he said it. "TWO WEEKS?!" Lynn shrieked, instantly clambering from her fathers' lap-who shot a glare at Kurama for his tactlessness- and started pacing again. "Two weeks?" she repeated in shock though at a lower decibel. "What the fuck am I supposed to do to keep people from asking me to dance for two weeks? I don't wanna dance! I mean, I know I'm rather sociable, but I don't dance!"
"Feara, sweetheart, come here," Fury said, trying to get her mind off of it but jumped when she whirled on him and pointed a finger at him. "You didn't tell me we'd be here for two weeks! I only thought a few days at the most! I can't do this! I-I'm going home, now. I shouldn't have come here," she said in nervousness and shock, twirling and heading towards the door, not having noticed that she had disrespected her father both with her pointing and yelling at him, though Fury didn't hold it against her as he didn't tell her about the time frame, knowing she was nervous enough to begin with. He was actually rather hoping that she wouldn't notice that he hadn't said anything and that the two weeks would pass without incident.
'Obviously not,' Fury thought bemusedly as he used his demonic speed and reached Lynn at the same time as Kurama and both to her into their arms, holding her silver and blue clad body close. "Calm yourself," Fury said again and let his Youkai pulse out of his body in calming waves. Kurama did the same though his wasn't as effective as that of a parent, but it certainly helped. "I didn't tell you about it because I knew it would only stress you out more. I know you don't want to be in front of that many demons, dancing or otherwise, but you have to trust that I won't let any harm come to you. Not to mention, Lord Sesshomaru will have anyone's head if they dare to cause problems within his home."
Lynn literally whimpered in anxiety but tried to calm herself. "Come, Lynn dear," Kurama said, grabbing her hands and dragging her to a vanity that had been brought in shortly after they had left for the market and sat her on the small stool in front of it. "Let us put on your paint, ok?" Lynn relaxed a bit. Make-up was something she was familiar with and she closed her eyes, letting Kurama do as he pleased. Lynn was already beautiful in his opinion, but he wanted to accentuate that beauty, so he dabbed some coral colored paint onto her lips giving them a shimmery look as well as made her look quite kissable…well, more so than usual. He then set about working on her eyes, carefully using a charcoal pencil and outlining the bottom of her eyes with it and found an odd clear concoction that one of the females of the clan had given her when she found out her desire to wear paints and used it to coat her lashes with, making them thicker and longer, though he didn't see the need for it as they were already quite long and beautiful on their own.
Without having to be told, Lynn closed her eyes and let Kurama start with the eye shadow. He carefully dabbed some silver shadow onto the brush that Lynn had made for the powder itself and brushed it carefully over her eyelids, completely covering them. Once he finished with both eyes, he brushed off the remaining silver off onto a rag specifically for that and dabbed it in the white powder next, gently brushing the color over the silver to up under her silver brows, surprised that the colors didn't blend in with her eye brows. Finished with that color, he brushed it off and dabbed the brush in the final color, black, and brushed the powder over the silver about half way over her eye out to the corners and in the crease between her brown and eye and gently brushed the color up under the outer corner of her eyes.
Setting aside the powder once he was finished, he carefully took up the charcoal pencil and lightly dipped it in a black concoction and lightly drew a line right above her upper lashes.** Once he finished, he stepped back and admired his work. Nodding to himself, he checked to see if she had already done her nails and smiled as he saw that both her toe nails and finger nails where covered in the special blue paint as well as the something shimmery at the tips to make them sparkle in the lights. Smirking, he carefully placed the silver butterfly mask** on her face and tied it back with sheer silk strings so it would blend in more with her silver hair and would look as if held there by magic.
Kurama finally stepped back and looked his cousin up and down with a slight smile. "I do believe we are going to have quite a few suitors looking for your hand, Feara, love," Fury said, smiling at his daughters' beauty, which was much like her mothers. Scowling, she scrunched up her nose at the thought but sighed and stood. "Is it time to go?" she asked, but noticed that she needn't have bothered with the question as her father and Kurama both put on their masks that they had bought a while back. Compared to hers, they were simple silver metal half masks that covered their eyes and the bridges of their noses and shimmered in the light as they were encrusted with dozens of small diamonds and were tied back with the same type of string that hers was.
Nervously, Lynn took the hand her father offered her and they made their way out of the room and to the Ceremony Hall for the Mating Ball. Gripping her fathers' hand tightly, she tried to ignore the stares she was receiving, both from the males and females, most of which were guards or servants, but there were a few dignitaries making their way to the Hall openly staring at her, including a handsome demon that looked and smelled as if he might be some kind of reptile demon. He was wearing nothing but what looked to be like an Egyptian wrap around his waist with a golden sash holding it up with what looked like a golden clasp holding the sash in place. He wore a golden half mask and necklaces as well as bracelets and golden arm bands on his upper arms and was wearing gold colored sandals that had thin straps wrapping around his lower legs and tied in the back. His white blonde hair that was tipped in black looked to have silver paint combed through it as well.
Given he was half naked, it wasn't hard to spot several places on the demon where it looked as if he had silvery shimmery scales. The scales themselves seemed to only be on the strong line of his chin and extended down his neck a little, over his shoulders and even a bit in the crease around his armpits, down his sides to his hips and flaring out to almost his belly button and she assumed the same was on his back, the inside of his elbows, the tops of his hands and feet and behind his knees. The most fascinating thing she saw about said demon was his eyes. They seemed to be a silver grey color. They were a rather unique color, much like her own and her clans, as well as Sesshomarus'.
She sidled closer to her father as they passed, a little unnerved that the demon seemed to be undressing her with his eyes-though she hadn't really left much to the imagination with her strapless dress that pushed her breasts up until they were almost spilling out of her top. The demon next to him, who was his father if she went by scent, didn't seem to notice either his child or the people passing him as he talked with what seemed to be a white leopard demon with the brightest blue eyes she had ever seen.
Kurama, who had noticed her agitated scent, glanced in the direction she was looking, and subtly shifted closer to her as he saw the predatory gleam in the demons eyes and took her other hand, drawing her attention back to him. "Don't concern yourself with the dragon, Lynn love," he whispered where only she and her father, if he chose to listen, would hear. She found that he indeed was listening as he squeezed her hand in reassurance and let his Youkai wrap around her own to comfort her.
She was shocked when they finally entered the Ceremony Hall, being introduced as they walked in as if they were royalty or something and looked around. The room was huge and everywhere she looked there were streamers of silver with gold ribbons holding them in place and there were many tables, both long and short, with shimmery silver table clothes on them and plush wooden chairs situated all around each table for comfort. Most of the tables where laden with all types of foods and drinks, while the others were occupied by the visiting Lords and Ladies of each land. There were tall pots of white flowers of different varieties scattered throughout the room and off to one corner there seemed to be demon musicians as well as dancers who were giving the entertainment.
Not to mention the flickering lights from the many, many candles and torches and even a couple of fire places throughout the room, keeping the cool air of the evening at bay as well as reflecting off all the white marble of the room. Seriously, the whole room itself was made of what looked like white marble that was so shiny she was surprised no one was slipping on the floor itself it looked so slick. "Kurama," she said quietly, continuing when she saw she had his attention, "Just how loaded is Sesshomaru if he can afford a huge ass room like this, made of nothing but white marble?" Kurama chuckled a bit. "Lynn dear, it's not just any marble. It's a special marble that comes from his mothers' side of the family, though this Palace was made way before Lord Sesshomarus' mother and his Lord Father were ever together."
"Indeed," Fury chimed in. "I do believe Lord Inu no Taisho had the marble expressly shipped here when he began building his Palace. I do believe that is how our late Lord and the first Lady of the West came to know each other." "Late? You mean, Sesshomaru's father is dead?" Fury nodded and she frowned a bit. "How long ago?" she asked curiously. "Well, in human terms, it would be a rather long time, but in demon terms, as we live quite a long time usually, it's rather short. He died a little over 200 years ago I believe. Around the time Lord Sesshomarus' younger half brother was born, if I remember right."
"Speaking of his half-brother, I do believe that is him over there," Fury said, pointing across the room to a red clad male in bare feet and no mask, white pointy dog ears adorning his silver head. She could even see that his eyes were the same color as Sesshomarus', if a little less bright. "He looks bored," she noted. "Yes, I imagine he would be. He isn't one for these kinds of things, even more so given the fact that pretty much every demon here abhors half-demons, half-humans. Even Lord Sesshomaru at one time held a disliking for them. I'm not exactly sure what he feels now as he seems to get along with Lord Inuyasha now, though he hasn't claimed his as his brother. He even has a young human ward by the name of Rin that he takes care of. That would be her standing beside the human girl next to Lord Inuyasha."
Lynn looked across the room again and noticed the rather odd group of people standing next to Inuyasha. The first she noticed was a girl with black hair and brown eyes wearing a white kimono top and red baggy pants with her hair tied back. Tilting her head curiously, she muttered out, "She looks kind of like a priestess." "She is, I believe," Kurama agreed, though she hadn't really been asking. The little girl next to her was dressed in a pretty blue kimono with what looked like pink cherry blossom petals scattered throughout it and a light pink obi with full cherry blossom blooms on it in a darker pink spread throughout. She wore no mask and had some of her hair tied up in a side ponytail. As the girl wasn't facing her, she couldn't tell what color her eyes where. Next to her was what looked to be a young fox who was barefoot and was wearing a light blue plain kimono with a darker blue obi, his fuzzy little tail sticking out of the back.
Next to her was another black haired and brown eyed girl wearing what looked to be a formal kimono that was a light pink in color and had what seemed like red roses blooming all over it. The obi itself was just a plain light pink, lighter than even the kimono itself. On her shoulder was a two-tailed Neko who idly seemed to be paying attention to everything at once. Next to her was a man with several earrings in one ear, his violet eyes twinkling in mischief, his dark hair tied back in a small ponytail at the back of his head. He was wearing a dark purple kimono with a silver obi, both of them plain in color, and looked as if he were about to pull something on the unsuspecting woman in front of him.
"The wolf demon next to Lord Inuyasha's group," Fury said, drawing her attention from the man who was sneaking his hand towards the girls' bottom, "Is the Lord of the East, Lord Kouga. From what I understand, Lord Inuyasha and he are somewhat of comrades. The demonness next to him-" he winced as the male that had been reaching for the woman's' bottom got slapped and everyone heard it reverberate throughout the Hall, "Is none other than Lady Ayame, his mate." Lynn looked back over to the two wolf demons her father was telling her about. The male, Kouga, didn't dress up for the event, or at least she didn't think so. He was barefoot and wore what seemed to be brown wolf furs around his lower legs, his waist to just above his knees and around his lower arms. She wondered if the fur wasn't somehow his own as it seemed to match his tail that flicked back and forth. His ears were pointed and his dark hair was tied in a pony tail and wore a head band around his head. His green eyes were sparkling with merriment at the pain of the male human.
Then there was the last person hanging around who they were assuming was Inuyasha, another wolf who looked different from Kouga, yet almost the same. She was barefoot and had furs in the same places as Kouga, only she had furs wrapping around her upper chest as well covering what looked to be well endowed breasts. Her eyes were a light blue (at least from what I remember, if not, that's what they are now lol-same goes for Kouga too) and her white hair was pulled back into pigtails on either side of her head and she had a white flower adorning her hair. She smacked the wolf next to her as he laughed at the human.
Shaking her head at the antics of the humans across the room, she looked back at Kurama. "Hey, Kurama. Isn't one of those humans the one you were talking about was from the future?" "Indeed. The priestess is the one that is supposed to be from the future. Of course, I could be wrong. Would you like me to come with you to speak with them while Uncle talks to the other visiting dignitaries?" Kurama asked her quietly. "Sure," she nodded before turning to her father and letting him know as he had started talking to one of the Lords from a different clan in the West. He shooed them off and continued his conversation.
"Inuyasha!" They heard the priestess shout at the silver haired male of their group, most likely in regards to bopping the fox child on the head for whatever real or imagined thing that he said. "Keh! He deserved it, Kagome! Lil' runt needs to learn his place!" "I know my place, dog-boy, and that's where it's always been; with Kagome!" "Why you little-" "Inuyasha, enough! Don't make me say the word!" "Damn it, Kagome! This isn't fair, wench! We're mated so why the hell do I gotta still wear this stupid thing! My blood hasn't gotten out of control in ages!" Lynn looked between the two of them, wondering curiously what they were talking about. "I'll explain to you later," Kurama whispered in her pointy ear and she nodded before clearing her throat, causing the whole of the group to look at her.
Lynn shifted a bit nervously at having so much attention on her at once, but before she could say anything, the one she assumed was Inuyasha, spoke. "What the hell do ya want, Fox?" "Inuyasha!" the girl Kagome hissed out, smacking his arm. "Ow, wench!" "Oh get over yourself, that didn't hurt. I'm sorry," she said, turning to the two demons before them. "Excuse my mate, he doesn't have very good manners." "So I see," Lynn muttered and Inuyasha bristled. Before he could do anything, a muttered "Sit!" came from Kagome's mouth and sent the boy face first into the marble, luckily not breaking it. "It's nice to meet all of you," Lynn said politely and bowed a bit at them.
"My name is Johnnie-Lynn Carter, or that's my human name. You can call me Lynn. Or Youko Feara, which is my demon name. And this is my cousin, Shuichi Minamino or Youko Kurama." "You're a human?" Kagome asked incredulously. Then her mouth widened in an O shape as if she just remembered something. "Oh, I'm sorry. You just don't look…human. At any rate, where are my manners? This brute here," she gestured to the male getting up from the floor, "is my mate, Inuyasha. I'm sure you can tell he's a half-demon. I'm the Shikon Priestess, Kagome. The little ones here are Lord Sesshomaru's ward, Rin and our adopted son, Shippo who is a fox kit." Both of the little ones waved at her and she squealed at how adorable they were. Before she even thought about what she was doing, she kneeled down and scooped them into her arms, hugging them tightly. "You are so cute!" she squealed.
Kurama chuckled and looked to Kagome. "Forgive my little cousin, Lady Kagome. She adores children of all types." Kagome chuckled at this and waved it off. "It's quiet alright. I'm sure the both of them enjoy the attention." After a few moments, Lynn pulled away and looked back at Kagome. "Sorry," she said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. "It's quite alright. Shall I continue?" Lynn nodded her consent and Kagome nodded and gestured to the female in the pretty kimono next to her. "This is Sango of the Demon Slayer clan. The Neko on her shoulder is Kilala, and yes she's a demon Neko. The pervert Monk behind her in the purple kimono is Miroku. And the two wolves behind him is Kouga, Lord of the Eastern Lands as well as the Eastern wolf tribe and his mate, Ayame of the Northern (if I remember correctly) wolf tribe. It's nice to meet you," she said, bowing to them both, the others except Inuyasha mimicked Kagome.
"Sorry to bother you," Lynn said, smiling at the fox kit who was showing Rin some tricks with his fox magic. "I was just curious. My cousin here told me that you were from the future time period." Kagome blinked and looked to Kurama curiously. "But how did you come to know that?" she asked in shock. Inuyasha growled and Kurama held up his hands peacefully. "I mean no offense. I just heard rumors from most all of the villages I've been through and they spoke of a girl dressed in weird clothes. I was curious so I investigated. I'm rather good at sneaking around-occupational hazard I'm afraid-so it's no surprise that you didn't notice me. I stuck around for a couple of days in the village that is near Inuyasha's forest in my human form so I'd be less noticeable. I heard your group and the Lady Kaede often speaking of you being from a different time. I was curious about many things, but I had decided that I shouldn't overstay my welcome and my curiosity was somewhat sated so I returned home. Forgive me for the deception," Kurama said and bowed.
"Keh, I don't recall seeing you around the village. And ya don't smell human, so apology not accepted," Inuyasha snarled. Kurama just continued to smile. "I would imagine not. I am half-demon in a way. Long story short, I was killed a couple hundred of years ago and I wasn't ready to die just yet so I sent my soul away. My soul, surprisingly enough, inserted itself into an unborn human child. So when I was born from my human mother, my Youkai was dormant within my human form. It took a while for my Youkai to come to the surface while I was growing up, but it finally merged with my human soul, so now I'm both human and demon. But my scent is that of a Silver Fox, which is what you likely smell. My human form smells of roses if I remember correctly. Oh, and I'm sure you saw me at least a couple of times during my stay there. My human form has red hair and green eyes."
"Oh, yeah!" Sango said. "I remember now. You were a gardener for hire!" "Yes, that was my cover at the time," Kurama agreed. "Yeah, I remember a red headed guy that smelled like roses staying for a few days in the village. That was you?" Shippo asked curiously. "Indeed, little fox." "Keh," Inuyasha muttered. "Well, with that established, why do you ask?" Kagome said after a moment. "Oh. I was curious to see if you could tell me what time frame this is. You see, apparently my situation is like Kurama's and I was reborn in a human. The only difference is, I was born in America in 1996 (for the sake of argument that's going to be the current time frame as I'm not entirely sure what year it is in the actual anime let alone the Final Act series) and he was born in this time frame."
"You were born in America?!" Kagome gasped out. "How is it you understand Japanese? I mean, in our time frame I could see that, but in this time frame everyone speaks Japanese." Lynn blinked. "Huh. That is a good question. I mean, I know a tiny little bit, but I hadn't really noticed that I could both understand and speak it. I guess it was my Youkai. So you are from my time frame then?" "Huh? Oh, yes, it would seem so. That's so cool! Someone else from my time! But I wonder how you got here. I mean, the Bone Eater's Well has been closed other than the last time when it let me through. Do you know how you got here? Oh! I'm sorry, I never answered your original question. This is the Sengoku period. Oh, and this is Japan in modern times, so you probably wouldn't have known what I was talking about anyway. Heh," Kagome said, bonking herself lightly on her head.
Lynn nodded. "I had thought as much. As for how I got here, I'm not sure. I went to sleep in a meadow and woke up in one similar to the one I fell asleep in. If I remember correctly, it wasn't too far from the village you stay at, if Sesshomaru wasn't lying." "You've already met my ice prick of a brother before now?" Inuyasha said in disbelief. "Un. When I first came to this time. I had just kicked a swamp demons ass when I met him. He was rather…what's the word… stuck up I guess. Or high and mighty." "Yeah, that sounds like 'im," Inuyasha muttered, grunting when Kagome lightly socked him in the gut. "Now, now. You know he's calmed down some." "Be that as it may, Lady Kagome," Miroku said, "it is, unfortunately, true." "Yeah. Kurama said I got lucky that I lived when I both insulted and picked a fight with him and am still standing." "You fought with him?" the adults of the group said in unison, gaping at her. "Yes. But at the time, I wasn't aware of what I was doing."
"What do you mean, if I may ask, My Lady?" Miroku said politely. "Oh, I'm sorry. I only learned of my Youkai powers about two months ago. Apparently because I was in a place that didn't have any Youkai-" "-Or something was repressing your Youkai to where you couldn't use it," Kurama added in. "-my Youkai didn't feel the need to show itself. I occasionally heard things, but at the time, I wasn't aware of it being my Youkai trying to communicate with me. When I arrived here two months ago and I fought with Sesshomaru, I blacked out and apparently fought with Sesshomaru in my Youko form. I didn't remember it at the time, but shortly after I started trying to access my Youkai it became clear to me and I remembered, including the attack of Naraku on my village when I was born."
"Heh. No need to worry 'bout that slimy bastard. He's in the darkest pits of hell right now," Inuyasha said with a smirk. "I suppose one could say that," Miroku said casually. "What do you mean?" Lynn asked. "Well," Kagome answered, "as you know, I'm the Shikon Priestess. I accidentally shattered the jewel-oh dear, I forgot. You have no idea what I'm talking about do you?" "Not exactly," Lynn said. "The Jewel of Four Souls," Kurama said before Kagome could speak. "It's a rather powerful jewel, or was. I heard rumors of that as well. The jewel itself gives the owner of it awesome powers. The only problem was that it didn't cater to one specific side, good or bad. If a pure hearted person held it, they would be granted powers if they so wished. But more often than not, it was demons that went after it trying to gain more power. I do believe that is what Naraku was after when he attacked our village. It had been in our village at one time before it went to a Priestess to protect. If I remember correctly, the last to be in charge of protecting it was-"
"-Kikyou," the Inu group murmured. Kurama nodded. "Yes. I had heard that it was burned with her body. I assume that it is how it came to be in your possession, Lady Kagome. You must be her reincarnation." Kagome nodded. "Yes. Apparently I was born with the jewel inside of me. At any rate, it was torn out of me by a Youkai called Mistress Centipede and then it got stolen by a crow demon shortly after. I didn't know how to use a bow and arrow then so I couldn't hit it, but I used its foot to shoot it with, as it could call its missing body parts back to it, and managed to hit it. In the process, I accidentally shattered it and shards went everywhere." "Then Momma Kagome and Inuyasha-papa went looking for the shards and that's how they found me."
"And me," Sango echoed. "And me," Miroku chimed in. "Anyway, we were all looking to complete the jewel for our own reasons and also to kill Naraku. Inuyasha at the time wanted to become full demon, though I'm not sure when that changed. I wanted to fix it because I felt bad for breaking it and considered it my duty to fix it. Shippo came with us simply because he had nowhere else to go because his parents were killed several years ago. Sango came with us to avenge her Demon Slayer clan who were deceived by Naraku and to get her younger brother Kohaku back from Narakus' clutches. Miroku here had a wind tunnel in his hand that his grandfather was cursed with by Naraku and had been passed down the males of his line. And Kouga wanted to avenge his dead pack mates killed by one of Narakus' detachments, Kagura the Wind Witch."
"We finally defeated Naraku who had managed to complete the jewel, but he had sucked poor Kagome into the jewel with him to fight an eternal battle with her. Like Midiriko did, who was the creator of the Shikon jewel. Inuyasha managed to find her and save her from the darkness and Kagome managed to destroy the jewel for good by wishing for it to disappear, taking Naraku with it. She was sent home to her time for a while until it let her pass through one more time and now here we are," Sango finished up. "Wow, sounds like I missed a good fight." "I'll say. I'm rather curious as to how you woulda faired against dog-breath there, or even his brother Lord Sesshomaru," Kouga said, yelping when Ayame hit him for being mean.
"You wanna say that to my face, ya mangy wolf?" Inuyasha snarled. "Inuyasha!" Kagome said warningly. Lynn watched in amusement as the group playfully argued amongst themselves. "Lady Feara, would you like to play with Rin and Shippo?" a small shy voice said gaining Lynn's attention. Looking down, she noticed Rin and Shippo looking up at her with hope shinning in their eyes. "Of course, I would love to play with you, Rin dear. Kurama, I'm going with the children ok?" Kurama chuckled and waved her off, getting to know the rest of the Inu gang better.
Lynn spent hours playing with Rin and Shippo, thanking them mentally for giving her a reason to not having to dance. Finally, she took a break from playing with them and went to get a drink. She tried her best to ignore the looks she had been getting from the many males, mated or not, and even the glares from both the mated and unmated females of the room. She sipped at some wine that a servant poured for her and stiffened when she felt someone standing behind her. Knowing her luck, it was probably some idiot male trying to sleep with her like usual. "Excuse me, my dear. I happened to notice your beauty and was wondering if I might be able to persuade you to give this humble demon a dance?"
'I thought as much,' she thought to herself. 'Here we go,' she sighed out. Turning with a polite smile on her lips, she faced what she found was a tiger demon. He was rather handsome really. He looked mostly human with orange hair streaked with black stripes. His eyes where a dull golden color. But what caught her attention was his tail, which was idly making its way up her thigh and across her butt, caressing it. Stiffening further, she tried to keep a polite smile on her face as she answered. "I'm sorry, but I'm quiet worn out from playing with the children earlier. I don't think I would be a very good dance partner for you." "That's quiet alright," he said, invading her space and taking the wine goblet from her and setting it on the table before pulling her to him, mashing her body to his, growling softly when her breasts pressed against his chest. One arm remained around her body while the other made its way to her bottom, squeezing one cheek in his hand.
Growling, she reached back and grabbed his hand and squeezed as hard as she could, not letting go until he howled in pain and the bones in his hand broke. He backed away from her, holding his injured hand. "You bitch!" he howled, and anyone who hadn't already been looking at his first howl, gave them their undivided attention now. Lynn's eyes flashed silver with her rising anger, and she grit out, "That was for sexually harassing me!" Raising her manicured hand clenched into a fist, she sent it slamming into his left cheek, jerking his head to the right and sending him flying into the startled crowd of demons, leaving him with a bloody lip and a nice knot on his head from the impact to the floor. "And that was for calling me a bitch for defending myself against your harassment!"
Fury and Kurama shook themselves from their shock and ran to Lynn's side, looking down at the hapless demon who dared to lay a hand on her. "Feara, what happened?" Fury demanded. "That…bastard…was touching my ass with his damned tail and then was force me to dance with him, thinking that if he grabbed me and squeezed me to him that I would be ok with him grabbing my ass with his hand," she growled out, her ears slicked back with her anger and her tail swishing from side to side. "Is this true, Lord Lou?" Sesshomaru asked as he walked up to them.
Lynn looked over at Sesshomaru, anger written all over her face, noticing that while his Youkai aura seemed to radiate anger, his face had its normal stoic look. "M-my L-Lord Sesshomaru, I did nothing! This vicious bitch attacked me for no reason!" the tiger demon groveled. Lynn growled, her eyes flashing again and she instinctually jumped forward to attack the demon again for daring to lie to get her in trouble with Sesshomaru. Thankfully, Kurama and Fury each wrapped an arm around her waist and held her back, rubbing soothing circles on her back to calm her. Fury and Kurama both looked down at the obviously lying demon at their feet with rage clear in their eyes. If it weren't for the fact that they were holding her back, they themselves would have attacked him.
"He's lying," Inuyasha said from behind them, coming to her defense. Sesshomaru merely looked over his shoulder at his half-brother. Inuyasha held his gaze, his eyes showing Sesshomaru that he wasn't lying. "Indeed, My Lord. I must admit, I myself saw what happened. It happened as the Lady Feara said," Miroku chimed in from Inuyasha's side. "From what I saw," Sango said, sipping at the goblet she had come to get shortly before the incident occurred, "she was politely refusing to dance with him, informing him that she had just been playing with the children and didn't think she'd be a good dance partner for him. He didn't want to take no for an answer and took her drink from her before pulling her to him. She wasn't lying when she said he was assaulting her. He did so first with his tail, and she was trying to be polite. Then with his hand when she refused."
"M-m-my Lord! You can't possibly believe the words of that half-breed imbecile and his disgusting pack of humans over your own subject could you?!" Lou screeched out. Inuyasha sneered and was about to attack at the insult but Kagome, who had come up behind him to find out what was going on, stopped him with a hand to his arm and he calmed himself, letting Sesshomaru handle the demon. "As it stands, Lord Lou, while I do not know the female Fox, she is a subject as well. And in actuality, half-breed or humans or not, they are also my subjects," Sesshomaru said dispassionately before looking to the gathered demons. "Can any hear testify that Lord Lou did not assault one Silver Fox Youko Feara?"
Lou gulped when the demons nearby remained silent. They weren't stupid, it seemed, for they knew if they lied for the sake of the tiger that they as well as Lou would be punished, either spending their remaining time in the Western Palace dungeons or killed for their transgressions. Sesshomaru smirked a bit, one that let the tiger know that he was about to be in a world of pain. "Hikaru, Kaoru (I'm borrowing the twins from Ouran; I own neither of them but I call dibs on their made up demon form)," he called. Moments later, twin Neko demons appeared next to him, their golden eyes twinkling with amusement. Both had short red hair, each demon had their hair parted to different sides.
Orange cat ears flickered to and fro on their heads and their long orange tails swished idly side to side as they hugged each other close. They wore matching dark blue kimonos and light black armor, with their katanas strapped to their sides, held in place with a sword holster that angled down one side of their hips. "Yes, My Lord?" they purred in unison. "Take Lord Lou to the dungeons for sexual harassment. I will deal with him after the Mating Ball is concluded," Sesshomaru ordered calmly. "Yes, Lord," they again said in unison and dragged off a struggling Lou, begging for Sesshomaru to spare him as they left the hall with him. The twins' chuckles at how pitiful the tiger sounded floated into the silent hall.
Sesshomaru suddenly clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention back to himself. "This Sesshomaru apologizes for the disturbance. Please, continue." He waved a hand at the demons playing music, gesturing for them to continue. Once everyone had returned to mingling and dancing, Sesshomaru turned to Fury, Kurama and Feara. Eyeing the still irate Feara, he murmured softly, "This Sesshomaru hopes that you are no worse for the wear, Lady Feara." Shaking her head, Lynn burrowed into her father's arms. "She's fine, My Lord," Fury assured him. "She's just upset. It'll pass in a bit." Sesshomaru inclined his head in understanding. "My Lord," Miroku said, popping around Kurama. "How have you been? It's been quite a while since you last visited the village."
Sesshomaru mentally rolled his eyes at the lecherous Monks' attempts to change the subject. "Hn. This Sesshomaru has been well. Other than the mundane paper work I have to do every day on top of getting things settled for this wretched event, things have been comparatively normal." "Heh, I'm surprised he answered you, Houshi. And with more than one word," Inuyasha said, amusement in his voice. "Silence yourself, half-breed. This Sesshomaru has no desire to fight with you here, but if you persist I will." "Please ignore your brother, Sesshomaru-nii-san," Kagome said, oblivious to the irate look Sesshomaru sent her, not to mention the disturbed look Inuyasha was giving her.
Lynn stayed close to her father for the remainder of the night, talking with a few of the dignitaries, Sesshomaru himself and even Inuyasha and his friends. They had been talking with Sesshomaru for a while now when Lynn heard it. She heard Rin crying. Looking towards the sound, Lynn found another dog demon yanking on Rin's arm, ignoring the childs' cries and pleas to stop, that she was hurting her. Apparently so did Sesshomaru, her father, and Kurama as they had turned towards the sound as well. Kurama and Fury, looked from the crying child, glancing at a livid red eyed Sesshomaru, to Lynn, who they knew without a doubt would be attacking very soon, only to find she wasn't there.
'Uh oh,' they both thought, looking around for her. Before even Sesshomaru could act on the situation concerning the demonness, they heard another scream, this time from the demonness herself. She was being held upside down from the ceiling by vines that had crawled up from the pots onto the marble columns nearest her and had her arms being pulled from vines that came up from the floor itself, the flowers that had been nothing but docile in the pot originally was now overflowing and continuing to grow, wrapping its vines around different parts of the demon and pulling. Sesshomaru looked from the cursing and screaming demonness to look for his ward.
He found her sniffling in the arms of Feara and blinked in surprise as he noticed that her eyes where glowing silver, her aura a dark purple around her, indicating that she was a strong demonness herself. Much stronger than the idiot who had dared to attack his ward, he mused. "Like her aura," he heard his Youkai rumble in his mind. "She's a half-breed," he informed his Youkai within his mind, letting it know in no uncertain terms that she was off limits, no matter how much it liked her aura. "She is not," came the reply. Sesshomaru ignored his Youkai and concentrated on the situation at hand.
"You wretched, half-breed Fox!" the Inu demon by the name of Kimiko snarled down at Lynn. "How dare you do this to me! Put me down, now, bitch!" Lynn growled at the Inu bitch who dared to harm a child, her eyes flashing silver again as her vine pulled even harder, beginning to pull the demonness' bones out of place. The woman screamed in pain, spewing even more curses at her. Fury and Kurama hurried over to Lynn, attempting to calm her down even as Sesshomaru stared up the demon, red seeping into his eyes. "Lord Sesshomaru!" the demonness screeched. "Are you going to allow this half-breed to keep me up here?!" Sesshomaru growled. "This Sesshomaru should let her kill you for daring to lay a hand on my ward, you insolent wretch!" he roared, his voice shaking the entire room and those with sensitive hearing had to cover their ears from the pain.
"Feara, love. Let her down and let Lord Sesshomaru handle her," Fury urged her, trying to calm her down even as her aura snapped at him. Kurama was having the same problem. "Lynn, dear, please calm yourself. Lord Sesshomaru will take care of it. This isn't your concern any longer," Kurama tried. "That's right, bitch! Let me go now!" Kimiko roared. Lynn's aura flared, causing the plants to pull harder on her and making her scream as well as startling Fury and Kurama. Sesshomaru merely looked at her, his Youkai clamoring to get to the Fox whose power rivaled his own. Sesshomaru shoved it down, watching curiously as Fury's eyes began to glow silver as well. "Youko Feara," Fury growled out, his Youkai bleeding into his voice. "Release her!"
Lynn jumped, startled that her father would use his Alpha authority on her, let alone in anger. She looked at her father, staring into his furious face for long moments, before she calmed and instantly released the demonness, dropping her like a ton of bricks. Kimiko, who hadn't been expecting the sudden release, plummeted to the ground and landed hard on the back of her neck, startling her and causing her breath to be knocked from her. She lay there gasping for breath as Lynn cooed to the still sniffling Rin. "Lady Kimiko of the Inu Sun clan," Sesshomaru snarled out, his rage getting the better of him momentarily. "You have assaulted this Sesshomarus' ward, and punishment for that alone is death. However, given the circumstances, and the fact that my ward was not permanently harmed, I shall let you live. You are forthwith stripped of your title and banished from my lands. Should you step foot on my land again, you will be slaughtered on the spot, am I understood?"
Kimiko looked up at him in horror. "M-my Lord! You can't possibly mean that! It was an accident!" "Lying bitch!" Lynn seethed, drawing Sesshomaru's attention to her again, internally smirking at the Fox covering one of Rins' ears with one hand and pressing the other to her breast. "I was watching you the moment that this poor baby cried out. The poor child was simply going to her room and you stopped her out of spit for the fact that she's human and grabbed her by the arm when she politely excused herself, trying not to offend you!" "Indeed," Sesshomaru agreed. "You should have known better, both given the fact that I already have one in my dungeons for assault and because Rin is this Sesshomarus' ward, regardless of how human she is, than to attack my ward. Sebastian!" he roared.
A raven demon, bowing at the waist, appeared from the shadows. "Yes, My Lord?" he said silkily, his pitch black hair glinting in the light. "Take this wretch and escort her from my lands," Sesshomaru ordered. "As you wish, My Lord," the raven said, standing up. 'He's gorgeous!' Lynn found herself thinking. He had black hair that contrasted well with his pale skin. His hair itself was pretty as well, the back cut short with long side bangs hanging on either side of his face. His eyes were a tea color that looked human, but soon flashed into red with cat like slits. Black feathers lined his hair and if it wasn't for the texture, would have blended in. He was wearing a plain black kimono with a silver obi, covered by grey armor. He had a katana at his side as well, but sensing his aura, she had a feeling that he didn't need it much. She also noted that his nails were painted black.
Sebastian walked over to the prone demonness and held his hand out. "Come this way, if you wouldn't mind," Sebastian purred out. Kimiko merely smacked his hand away and stood on her own. "You will regret this, Lord Sesshomaru. And you too, half-breed bitch," she growled out between clenched teeth before turning on her heel and heading for the doors. Sebastian followed her out and closed the doors behind him, his cat-ate-the-canary grin still in place. Sighing to himself, he turned to address the Fox only to suddenly find her missing. Fury and Kurama had been watching the raven and hadn't even noticed that Lynn moved.
Sesshomaru heard something at the doors leading into the Western wing of his Palace and turned to look, finding Feara just walking through the doors with Rin. He turned back to Fury and Kurama who had just noticed themselves and made to follow. Sesshomaru held a hand up and stopped them. "Return to the Ball. This Sesshomaru will see to her. Worry not," he said when they exchanged concerned looks. "This Sesshomaru owes her a debt of gratitude for helping my ward, as needless as it was. I will not punish her; she merely acted as a guardian." Fury and Kurama looked relieved, smiling and bowing to Sesshomaru before returning to the festivities. "Please, continue," Sesshomaru said, his voice ringing out before he turned to follow the girls.
He walked through the doors just as Lynn was rounding a corner down the left side of the hallway. It wasn't long before he caught up with her, given his long legs. He followed behind her as she walked into Rin's chambers, smirking internally as she tossed a glance over her shoulder at him. "Rin is sorry to cause the Lady Feara problems," Rin sniffled out. "Nonsense," Sesshomaru said before Lynn could answer. "The Lady Feara chose to help you, Rin. Moreover, the former Lady Kimiko had no right to touch you, let alone pull on your arm as she did. You did nothing wrong Rin," Sesshomaru informed her. Rin gave a watery smile at her Lord and rubbed at her eyes, getting rid of her tears. "That's a good girl, Rin," Lynn cooed as she finally settled down.
Lynn set Rin down and asked her to get her things that she would need for bed. As Rin scurried off to get her things, Lynn turned towards Sesshomaru. "I suppose I should apologize for interfering, given that she is your ward. I wasn't exactly thinking about that when I saw that bitch grab her. I grow easily attached to children and get downright pissed if someone hurts them, especially for no reason," Lynn said quietly. "You have no need to apologize. In fact, I must thank you. The help was unnecessary, but I appreciate it none the less. More so given that most humans, other than my half-breed brothers' followers, would try to convince her to return to them. Most demons, however, don't take kindly to humans and would sooner see them dead than have anything to do with them. Unfortunately, I can't control their hate of humans, but I can control their harming my ward."
Lynn nodded but before she could say anything else, Rin came running back to her with a bright smile on her face that seemed to light up the room, and her things for bed. Sitting Rin on the bed, she carefully brushed out the girls hair as she chattered excitedly about how much fun she had, the incident with the demonness far gone from her mind. Sesshomaru watched as Lynn assisted Rin into her sleeping yukata, growling lightly in the back of his throat as he saw the bruises forming on Rins' arm from where Kimiko had grabbed her. "We should have killed the bitch. Or better yet, let our future mate kill her for harming our daughter," his Youkai growled out upon seeing the bruises as well. "She is not our mate. But yes, the bitches death would have suited nicely," Sesshomaru replied to his demon side. He smiled slightly at the thought that his inner Youkai considered their ward their daughter. Incidentally, he quiet felt that way himself.
'I think I should remedy that soon,' he thought to himself as Lynn tucked in his ward. He stepped closer to Rins' bedside and placed a hand on her head gently, in his own affectionate way, bidding her a good night. He followed Lynn out of the door into the hallway and closed it softly behind him, bidding a rabbit demon called Kayko to see to Rin should something be needed. They walked quietly back to the Ceremony hall. Before they entered, Sesshomaru stopped Lynn with a hand to her shoulder. "I was wondering, Fox, if you would perhaps like to dance with this Sesshomaru?" Sesshomaru asked softly, rather nervous about his feelings towards the Silver Fox before him. Lynn blushed profusely and stuttered out a strained "W-wh-what?!"
A/N: Ha! Chapter 6! And 16 pages! Woohoo! I only got one review so far for chapter five, but hey, it's still an ongoing story, so I'm hoping to see more reviews soon. Nice reviews are awesome XD. **Anywho, I didn't bother describing the dress, shoes, mask or even the hair overmuch in this chapter, but I'm gonna leave the links again so that you can get an idea of what it looks like in case you didn't see it in chapter 4. Also, I decided to cameo three characters into the story. The Hitachiin twins from Ouran High School Host Club, Hikaru and Kouru, though in this story they aren't Hitachiin and are Neko demons. Also, Sebastian Michaelis from Black Butler or Kuroshitsuji, who was the raven demon (which is actually what he is in Black butler only I don't actually know what his demon form looks like other than he usually has sharp teeth and odd looking sharp pointed hooker boots). I love these characters (including Kurama) so I decided to make them guards in Sesshomaru's employ. Heh. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. More Mating Ball fun coming up in the next chapter. I may even throw in a Sess/Lynn kiss in there somewhere. Maybe. If I can work it in. If not, there's other chapters lol. Ja!
Mask: user/Johnnie-Lynn_Carter/media/butterfly-mask-2_ .html
Hair: user/Johnnie-Lynn_Carter/media/hair-designs-1_ .html
Shoes: user/Johnnie-Lynn_Carter/media/shoes-heels-ki-queen-10silver_2_ .html
Dress: user/Johnnie-Lynn_Carter/media/adf9ee2f967f95aecc0acb98c266733f_ .html
Polish: user/Johnnie-Lynn_Carter/media/imagesCANY1KYA_ .html
Make-up: user/Johnnie-Lynn_Carter/media/Silver-Smokey-Eye-Makeup_ .html