Saysuku's Discovery
" What the—" InuYasha exclaimed when they saw what was standing before them at the base of the Northern Gate. Saeka started to shake and shook her head in disbelief. " It can't be." She mumbled.
But it was. A serpentine white dragon lay before the gate, tail swishing pleasantly, head draped lazily over a rock as it waited. But when they approached, the head snapped up alertly and stared at them. It looked exactly like Saeka; only it had a white mane and deep-set topaz eyes, similar in color to Sesshomaru's. It eyed them all with a sense of curiosity.
" Good day." It grumbled. " How can I be of service to you, travelers?" he grumbled politely, eyes falling on Saeka for a moment. The eyes widened slightly.
" Ah, I see you have a dragon with you." He noted. But InuYasha thought he detected a note of something else in his voice. But he couldn't place what it was. He glanced at Saeka briefly. " Yeah. We want to pass through. We're searching for someone." He said. The dragon nodded.
" State your names and the name of whom you seek." He said. InuYasha wanted to yell in frustration. Something about this dragon seemed familiar. Maybe it was just because it was the same type of dragon as Saeka.
" I'm InuYasha. These are my companions. Kagome, my mate, Naraku, Saaya, Sango and Miroku, their daughter Rona, my daughter Sakura, Kirara and Saeka." He said. " We're looking for a demon by the name of Sesshomaru."
Inuyasha grimaced and then added, " He's my older half-brother and Saeka's mate."
The dragon hummed and nodded. " I see." He stood up, revealing that he was much larger than Saeka. He looked at the healer again. " And you believe that the one you seek is here, in The Northern Domain?"
" Yes." InuYasha replied.
" Very well. I shall allow you through and guide you to our leader."
The dragon moved to open the gate, but InuYasha held his hand up. " Wait. Did you say, 'our' leader?"
" Yes. Our leader, and for many of us, Grandsire." The dragon replied. Something in his voice sounded doubtful, but InuYasha let it skip.
" What might your leader's name be?" Naraku asked.
" Golgiroth." The dragon replied, as though it were any other question.
" No! No way is that possible!" InuYasha yelled before Kagome could stop him. " Golgiroth is supposed to be dead! There aren't supposed to be any other dragons living in the north!"
The dragon turned, eyeing him evilly. Suddenly, before InuYasha could react, he found himself pinned up against the rock wall, his sword clattering to the ground in its useless state. InuYasha felt the claws of the dragon pierce into his fire rat robe and saw the hard, topaz eyes leering into his.
" How dare you, a worthless half-breed insult our leader like that!" the dragon snarled. " Just so you know, these claws of mine can slice right through this fire rat fur armor of yours. So don't try anything rash." He hissed. There was a strange glint in his eyes as he said this. He let InuYasha slide to the ground and eyes the group angrily. His gaze fell again on Saeka. " The female dragon shall walk beside me. I wish to speak to her. The rest of you follow." He said. InuYasha seemed hesitant and Saaya made a noise that suggested similar feelings with herself. The dragon chuffed. " I will not harm her. I merely wish to broach a subject having to do with her heritage." He said.
Saeka stepped forward and paused beside the dragon. " Who are you?" she asked him evenly. When directly beside him, the dragon was easily taller than she was. He'd just barely be the same way once she transformed. He looked at her tamely. " You may call me Storm. But I cannot tell you my name." He said. Saeka nodded. " All right then." She murmured. Storm turned to the rock wall and braced his long horns against its smooth surface. For a moment, he seemed unsure of what he was doing, but it was only passing as the next minute, he shoved at roughly and a large gate opened like a drawbridge. The rock was only an illusion. He pushed hard until it was high enough that they could all pass. He waited until the last of the group was beneath it and then hurried under himself, letting it fall back into place with a hard bang. He turned to them.
" Follow me." He instructed. Saeka, remembering that he wanted to speak to her, kept a steady pace beside him, struggling not to lose her composure. She knew the others were a good distance back and that thought unsettled her some. She didn't like being in such a vulnerable position.
" Dragon." Storm said. " You are the one named Saeka."
This was a statement, not a question.
" Yes." Saeka replied.
" You possess the same scent as our leader."
" I suppose. But I do not know who your leader is." Saeka said to him. He made a strange sound that seemed to Saeka to be one of amusement. " You will shortly."
His ears suddenly perked and he lowered his head to face her. " I sense a young one within you." He said darkly. Saeka was suddenly afraid to answer.
" Uh, yes." She said clumsily. A strange look came into Storm's eyes when she said this, but he grumbled and looked up again. " Would you care to ride if you are weary?" he asked.
" No, thank you." She said.
" Is the young one the reason you seek this Sesshomaru figure?"
" Sort of. He, kind of left us. I figured that he might have come north, if he hadn't gone west instead. I sure hope I was right."
" Golgiroth will know." Storm said. He glanced back at her companions.
" Do they know of your condition?" he asked. Saeka's anger suddenly flared. " Of course they know! Do you really think they would let me accompany them if they didn't think I couldn't handle myself?" she snapped. Storm pulled his ears back angrily, much like a dog would. He bared his teeth and growled softly.
" I do not tolerate defiance, Saeka. You will keep your anger to yourself unless you wish to die." He hissed at her.
" Whether you like it or not, Storm, I can transform and I'm not afraid to fight you, whether I'm going to have a baby or not. Is that clear?"
Storm made a noise of disgust and Saeka heard a crash as his tail slammed against a rock pile in rage.
" We are almost to the realm of Golgiroth." He snarled through clenched teeth. Saeka hummed and clutched her cloak tighter about her neck. In reflex, her other hand went to her stomach and she swallowed nervously.
If what Naraku said about her was true, she should be approaching her home now.
So why didn't she feel at home here?
Golgiroth heard the announcement that his white messenger was returning with his granddaughter in tow, along with several other people. He had wanted Saeka to come through with The White Messenger alone, but he supposed a change of plans was in order. The only thing that mattered was that the demon remained asleep. He turned to Crin and told him to be ready with a squadron to meet Saeka and The White Messenger when they arrived.
Crin bowed at his orders and turned to carry them out. Golgiroth once again glanced at the cave of the sleeping demon. So far, things were going as planned. The demon only had to remain asleep in order for this to go perfectly. The White Messenger also had a duty to be fulfilled. Neither one could afford to mess up.
He was surprised when he saw Saysuku returning to the demon's cave. She went there regularly to check on him. He also knew that the young female was attempting to wake him up. Golgiroth smirked. If the demon awoke, both he and The White Messenger would know it instantly and she would die. But she was so ignorant because she was so young she failed to realize this. He chuckled to himself.
It seemed they were getting devious.
Saysuku morphed into her human form and sat down beside the demon who lay sound asleep thanks to the heavy drug she'd been forced to give him without his knowledge. Feeling terrible for what she'd done, she'd tried to make him as comfortable as possible, even though to him, it really didn't matter. Earlier, she'd lifted his head and placed a part of the fluffy wrap around his shoulder beneath it, so it wouldn't ache when he woke up. Every day, she came and watched over him, for two good reasons. One, she felt horrible that this whole thing was her fault and two, the other younglings liked to try to wake him up by throwing things at him, or shaking him roughly or something like that. He was incapable of defense in this condition and she knew it. She often chased away even her own brothers just to keep this demon safe. Sometimes, she talked to him, even though he probably couldn't hear her. She hoped to the gods that he would wake up and The White Messenger would leave. The White Messenger had only appeared because this one demon had gone to sleep. Saysuku knew that if she could just wake him up, she could fix everything.
She could save him.
Saysuku wanted to cry, scream, wring her green hair in agony that all of this happened because she had listened to Golgiroth who was beginning to show signs of being senile anyway.
" Saysuku sorry." She whispered to Sesshomaru. Tentatively, she reached down and lifted his limp hand from the ground. She studied it carefully, noting that it was similar in demonic fashion to her own. It was very cold from his perpetual induced sleep. Like her, he had retractable claws on each finger, though his were much more formidable and quite long. Hers were barely long enough to be dubbed claws.
Saysuku felt the sobs wrack her tiny body and she shook her head bitterly.
" Please forgive Saysuku." She said shakily. " Please. Saysuku sorry."
Suddenly, she felt his hand grow slightly warm and her eyes snapped open in disbelief. But as quickly as it happened, it stopped and his hand grew cold once more.
Saysuku smiled gleefully. She knew what had happened. He had regained consciousness for just a second. Something she had done had coaxed his spirit back. It wasn't nearly enough to rid the Northern Domains of The White Messenger, but it had been something. She knew he would have to actually be able to walk around on his own before The White Messenger would leave.
Saysuku carefully laid his hand back on the ground beside him and closed her eyes. She folded her hands beneath her chin and silently thanked the gods for showing her how to mend what had been broken.
Storm had convinced the group to bed down for the night about three miles from the actual domain of the last of the dragons, as he'd explained. As it turns out, there were actually many dragons left that were living within a large mountain with the aging leader, Golgiroth. Saeka had found this difficult to accept, but Storm assured her that she would like what she saw.
Awhile later, Saeka was lying on the ground, preparing to go to sleep. Storm went over beside her and coiled his body around her protectively. InuYasha noticed this and became curious.
" Hey." He said to the dragon. Storm looked up. " Yes?"
" Why are you doin' that?" InuYasha asked.
" She is vulnerable. Because she is a fellow dragon, I feel it my duty to protect her." Storm explained. InuYasha appeared skeptical, but said nothing.
Saaya came up at that moment. Naraku was with her. " Um, InuYasha?" she said. He looked up. " Yeah?"
" Do you mind if we go for a walk?" Saaya asked coyly. InuYasha made a face. " I don't mind if you go for a walk, but not with that thing!" he yelled, pointing at Naraku.
" InuYasha, let them go." Kagome called from the fire. InuYasha threw her stunned look. " Wha-? You're just going to let him take Saaya off to who knows where? Who knows what he'll do to her!" InuYasha yelled.
But while he was ranting, Naraku and Saaya simply walked off. By the time InuYasha noticed, they were gone.
Naraku and Saaya didn't stray far from the campsite. Just enough to stay out of both InuYasha's sight and smell. They chose a little cliff overlooking the mistiest part of the valley and sat down, staring into it from the light of the half-moon.
Naraku glanced at Saaya. The moonlight drifted onto her hair, making it shimmer in the darkness. It gave him another urge to feel it, like he had back in the village. But he didn't dare this time. He wasn't sure why.
Saaya suddenly leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed. " I sure hope dad is okay." She murmured.
" Saaya, I'm sure your father is fine. He's always been a little weird." Naraku said.
" And you would know." She snapped playfully. He was reminded of their constant secret meetings at the base of the oak tree and he smiled. " Yes, actually."
Saaya giggled and sighed. " I hope he changes his mind about you. He brought you back to life, but he still forbade you from seeing me."
" Feh, like that was going to keep me away from you." He said. She looked up at him. " I'm sure glad that you're too stubborn for your own good."
" It's what kept me alive, Saaya." He replied. She rolled her eyes.
" Sure." She said skeptically. Though he could tell she didn't mean it.
He shifted positions and put his arm around her protectively.
" Yep." He said, in reference to her reply. " It has."
Storm continued to stay awake and watch Saeka, even after everyone else had gone to sleep. Something about this girl puzzled him. Something about her seemed familiar. He knew she was a dragon; that much was obvious. But there was something else about her that he wasn't sure of.
Using one of the white tendrils at his muzzle, he touched her forehead gently and closed his eyes.
Through her memories, he saw a girl with wavy silver hair and golden eyes sitting on the roof of a hut someplace. He saw another memory with that same girl surrounded by horrible green flames in a room filled with all sorts of strange devices the likes of which he'd never seen before. The girl's eyes had gone from gold to bright green and she had a look of pure fury on her face.
He quickly left that memory and probed another one. This one was of the young girl who traveled with the group. She resembled the other one in many ways, but her hair was pure white instead of silver and her eyes were as green as freshly mined emeralds. She was sitting on the floor of what was probably the same hut, weaving a braid into her hair.
Storm grumbled thoughtfully and probed for a different memory. This time, he got a surprise.
This new one was of a demon. Storm knew what it was right off the bat. This demon had long silver hair and golden eyes, just like the first girl's had been. Storm immediately guessed that this must be Saeka's mate, the one named Sesshomaru. He was standing on a rocky overhang, staring out at the horizon to the east. As Storm watched through Saeka's eyes, he turned around, expression blank. But there was no mistaking the gentle aura drifting from him as he saw what had to be Saeka in a distant past.
Storm removed the tendril from her head and saw her furrowed brow relax as her mind was set at ease. Storm couldn't shake the feeling. Everything about her memories, he felt he knew; yet he was sure he'd never met this dragon in his life. He just couldn't place it. He sighed and shook his head.
Return.
Storm's eyes widened. Where had that come from? Why did that word suddenly appear in his mind? Was he losing it? No, he was far too strong for that. He couldn't lose it, like any ordinary demon or dragon. He was Golgiroth's chosen one, selected for this task alone.
He glared at Saeka angrily. But as soon as his eyes made contact with her, his anger melted like ice in a noonday sun. How could he hate her? He didn't understand it. He couldn't hate her. He could dislike her, maybe, but not hate her.
He sighed again and looked up at the starry sky.
The next morning dawned dull and misty, but the group was as refreshed as they were going to get. Saeka awoke to find Storm coiled about her as though protecting her. She still, however, didn't trust him and moved to walk with Kagome and Sango. Storm stretched and moved in front of the group. We should be there by tomorrow!" he announced.
" That long?" InuYasha snapped. Storm grumbled low. " Yes, that long." He replied moodily. He glanced back at everyone. Saeka was talking low to Sango and Kagome. He turned and faced forward. His powerful eyes could see the mountain where the tribe awaited him. Soon, they'd return.
Soon, he'd be rewarded.
Saysuku waited until everyone was asleep before getting up and morphing so she could try to wake him up further. She knew that the guard at the demon's cave wouldn't stay the whole night and nobody believed that he was that much of a threat to keep understudy guards waiting. Only Saysuku knew what she could do. She knew she was probably the only one who could fix this.
She entered the cave and gazed around. He was there, exactly the same as always. She knew he was alive, but just to be sure she placed her hand just over his mouth to make sure he was still breathing. He was.
She sat back and lifted his hand off the ground once more. She knew it would be awhile. She started to talk to him, like she usually did.
" Saysuku very sorry." She whispered. " Saysuku no want do this to gou. Saysuku know what in potion and know what potion do to gou. Saysuku very, very sorry."
She sighed.
" Saysuku want gou to return. Dragon Lady comes soon, with White Messenger. Saysuku hate White Messenger. White Messenger bad. If gou can wake up, White Messenger not stay."
Saysuku glanced to the right. " Gou know, gou just like me. Want be nomad." She said. " Saysuku no belong here. Saysuku orphan. Dragon Lady I with no mama. Saysuku forced to call Dragon Lady that. Real mama killed. No know real papa. Saysuku want belong. Saysuku grow fast, so Saysuku can leave. Maybe, when gou returns, gou will take Saysuku with gou." She said.
As what happened earlier, his hand grew slightly warm as his spirit was coaxed back for a few seconds. Saysuku smiled. " Gou will return. Saysuku has faith in gou." She whispered.
The whole day that brought them closer to the mountain was uneventful. Except for InuYasha yelling at Naraku for just wandering off the night before, Kagome yelling at him to sit and Miroku and Sango getting into a minor skirmish, nothing out of the ordinary happened.
By the time night fell, Storm told them that they would be able to enter the mountain cavern where the tribe was at dawn.
In the meantime, Kagome, Sango and Saeka decided to try to find a hot spring nearby. Though even if they found one, Saeka wouldn't be able to enjoy it.
Storm gave them brief assistance and then left them to their business. He said he knew the local area well enough to detect a hot spring.
Once he was out of sight, two of the three girls who stayed at it got into the warm water while the other one, Saeka sat wrapped in her cloak on a rock on its edge with her feet dangling into it instead.
Kagome sighed. " This feels great and it's so cold too." She said. She glanced at Saeka. " Are you sure you don't mind hanging out? We feel bad that you can do nothing but soak your feet." She said. Saeka smiled.
" Nah, I love hanging out with you girls. It's nice when I'm feeling down, that I know I have someone to converse with. I mean, even when he was here, I did and do love Sesshomaru, but it's nice to have some girl-time too. You know?" she said. Sango and Kagome both agreed wholeheartedly.
" Yeah. One good thing about being with Miroku permanently, he's stopped flirting with other girls."
" What about the other thing that always irked you?" Kagome asked. Sango sighed. " He's working on it. I still have to slap him occasionally, especially when Rona's around and he does it." She grumbled. Saeka and Kagome both burst out laughing. Sango sighed again and giggled. " But yeah, it is nice to have a little girl time." She agreed.
" I know." Saeka said.
" Hey, Saeka. Do you remember that one time when we lost Saaya and didn't know she was with Naraku, you were hurling rocks and stuff at Sesshomaru while you guys were trying to trap each other? What exactly did he do to deserve that?"
Saeka started to groaned. " You really want to know?
" Yes!" Kagome and Sango said in unison. Saeka sighed. " He…ugh, I can't believe this. Now, this wasn't something he did on purpose, mind you, but…he sort of walked in on me while I was bathing at the river."
Sango's eyes widened and Kagome covered her mouth in shock. " Are you serious?" she exclaimed. Saeka nodded. " Yeah. He realized his error the second he saw me and hurried away as I started to turn around. After I'd dressed and found him, I sort of lost it."
To her surprise, Sango and Kagome laughed. Saeka cocked her head. " Did I say something funny? Guys, that wasn't funny."
" I know." Kagome said, wiping her eyes and laughing at the same time. She giggled again. " But InuYasha has done the same thing to me, even before I became his mate. It was never intentional, of course."
" Miroku also tried to sneak several peeks at us on occasion." Sango said, folding her arms. Saeka rolled her eyes. " It seems that now we have all sorts of stuff to relate to. But the difference is that your guys are more prone to do stupid stuff than mine is."
" True, I've never known Sesshomaru to make mistakes anywhere." Kagome said, sinking deeper into the water.
" Well, maybe once." Saeka said gloomily. Sango looked at her. " What do you mean?"
" He might have made a mistake now." Saeka mumbled, burying her chin in her cloak. Sango and Kagome exchanged glances. " What do you mean?" Sango repeated.
" It's…uh, nothing. Never mind." Saeka said.
" No tell us." Kagome urged. Saeka sighed. She removed the cloak from around her shoulders and folded it beside her. She then placed a hand on her stomach. Kagome and Sango gasped. They already knew of course, but something didn't seem right. In fact, it was downright obvious.
Saeka was visibly bigger and it had only been two and a half weeks.
" I look almost four months pregnant and I'm only two or three weeks along." Saeka said. " I don't know what's happening, but something is very different about this one." She said.
" Well, you are a demon. Maybe you have a different growth rate." Sango suggested. Saeka shook her head. " No, it was nine months with Miharu and Saaya. I have a bad feeling about this one. Or, maybe I'm just imagining things. In any case, if it keeps growing like this, I could have it while we're traveling. I'm scared now."
" Why?" Kagome asked. Saeka folded her knees up, being mindful of her lower abdomen. " Because of all that I've been through, I only feel truly safe around Sesshomaru and it's sort of been that way since the time following my father's death. I don't want to have this baby if he isn't around. I remember when Miharu was born, Sesshomaru wasn't called for beforehand and neither of us got to see her until three years later, when all of her childhood days were long gone. But when Saaya was born, I felt secure, because he was right outside and I knew that I was safe to have her without the worry I'd suffered with Miharu. I knew he'd protect me and our new child."
Sango looked at Kagome softly. They both understood this. They also both felt deep remorse for Saeka because of Sesshomaru's departure.
Saeka continued. " Because this new one is growing so quickly for some reason, it could very well happen here in the wilds. I at least want him to be with me. I'll feel much safer having it than otherwise."
Kagome waded over and took Saeka's hand. Sango did the same. They both looked up at her tenderly. " Saeka, we'll find him." Kagome assured her.
" Yeah. But on the chance that we don't Saeka, we'll protect you when the time comes." Sango said, making sure realism was there. There always was the chance that they wouldn't find Sesshomaru in time. Saeka smiled at them gratefully. " Thanks, Sango, Kagome." She said quietly.
A/N: Sorry it took so long. My dad and step-mom came out to visit and I spent the time with them. Besides, I had a bad writer's block on this last bit for awhile. As you can see, The New One is actually a dragon, so it isn't Sesshy. I have a plan for this, I just hope you won't hate me for it. R&R!