Hikaru: Hooray for the holiday break! In between studying for the SATS, a thesis for my history paper, and the oral presentation I have to have prepared for English, I'll try to find time to update other stories of mine (and maybe another new story… still thinking about it…)
Meanwhile… wanna get this chapter off my 'To Do' list because it's been sitting here for a month so enjoy!
"HHHEEEEELLLLOOOOOO…… Andy…"
Is someone calling me? Whatever… going back to sleep…
"AANNNNDDDRRREEEEAAAA…."
"I thought I said never call me that…" Andy muttered, trying to get back to sleep.
"Just so you know…. we're at the hotel, so I thought that you might wanna check us in since YOU got the hotel stuff…" a long lean human Native woman said, tapping her friend on the shoulder.
"Ok… ok… Arlene… I'm goin' I'm goin'…" Andy groaned, getting out of the rental car.
Seesh… I was having a good dream too… but I'm still confused as to why Sessh was wearing a cowboy hat…
It has to be the time of heat…
Don't remind me…
Andy walked into the small motel. It was the best she could get on short notice. But it was nicer that the cockroach infested excuse of a room that her grandpa got one time during a roping down in Laughlin, Nevada.
(A/N: True story actually… I don't remember where we were staying… but it was horrible!)
Andy growled after the 17th youkai was giving her the eye. Arlene noticed it too.
"Are you sure you're going to be ok?" Arlene asked.
"I'll be fine…" Andy said. "I doubt I'm going to be the only half demon in heat there anyway…"
"Yup… just need to find the demon couple hiding in the shadows making out or finding someone in heat…"
"YOU'RE NOT HELPING!"
"I thought I was…"
"May I help you ladies…?" A male's voice said from behind them.
Andy sensed a hand reaching for her butt.
"Paws off!" Andy shouted, throwing a punch.
The person in question ducked, but not in time for the slap that came after the punch.
"Geez Ands, I was just kidding!"
Andy blinked in confusion.
"Oh my god! Are you ok Arnold!?"
Arlene rolled her eyes.
"Don't worry, he's always fine…" she said, pretending to be mad.
The 6' 5 Native man with black hair reaching his shoulders placed his tattooed arm around Arlene.
"Aw… come on… you know I was just kidding…"
"I know you were, Mr. Joseph…" Arlene cooed, loving the attention that Arnold was giving her.
Andy grinded her teeth, as she got the room keys.
She is so not helping! Andy thought bitterly to herself.
I said ignore them…
It was you that got us into this mess…
OH! If only there was some warrior on horse back with silvery hair to save us from this misery…
Cut it out! The mental picture's scaring me…
Would the Japanese armor work?
Andy kept growling loudly, making Arlene and Arnold worried.
"Andy… are you having an inner self argument now?" Arlene asked.
Andy let out a 'meep'.
"No…."
"Liar… anyway…" Arnold said, ending the discussion. He knew what it mean when a half demon or a demon were constantly staring out into space and seemed grouchier than usual. After having his brother marry an eagle demon, he knew the signs of heat.
"Here's your stuff from home…" he said, handing Andy a few hangers with plastic over the shining material that was her dance costume out of his truck.
"And your mother says hurry back when the weekends over."
"That's nice…" Andy mumbles, taking off to her room.
Arlene and Arnold looked at each other and shrugged. This weekend was not going to be as fun as they hoped, since Andy was acting like she was having cramps.
"Dad… you know when Miss Andy's comin' back?
"In a few weeks…"
Rin sighed as she continued to spin around in Sesshomaru's spiny chair.
Sesshomaru's ear twitched every time the chair turned. No wonder he wasn't getting any work done. Because of the fucking annoying noise… and the lack of presence of a certain hanyo.
"It's so boring…"
"Then why don't you go over to Angel's or Hikaru's house?"
"They're on trips with their families…" Rin said, sighing again. She flipped through the photo album that Andy lent to her.
"You know what would be cool…" Rin said.
"What?" Sesshomaru replied boredly.
"To go to one of these 'powwows' Miss Andy told us about…"
Just at that moment, a light bulb went off in Sesshomaru's head.
"You really want to go to one of those?"
Rin perked up at the suggestion her father was throwing at her.
"Are you serious?"
"You still didn't answer my question…"
"Yeah! Can we dad!?"
"I'll get ticket for the next flight to America…"
"Yipee!"
Rin bounced off the chair and clung onto Sesshomaru's neck.
"But first…. This Sesshomaru needs to breathe…"
"Day one of the three day competition…" Andy said in front of the video camera.
She turned it towards a dancer, in a maroon tube like dress, long sleeves flowing in the wind, her buckskin crown sitting on her head, her hair in a long braid trailing behind her. All along her skirt, small cone like bells jangled as she took a few steps, her right hand on her hip, her left clutching an eagle feather fan.
"Bell Dancer, Arlene Little Eagle, warms up for the tough, hard competition ahead…"
"Oh, will you knock it off?" Arlene said.
Andy shrugged and turned off the camera.
"You're a spoiled sport…" Andy said, smoothing out her skirt.
Andy's dance costume was different from Arlene's. While Arlene's was long sleeved and had limited movement and lacked other color, besides the light blue and teal ribbons weaved into her braid, Andy's outfit was much more colorful.
Her outfit had short but wide sleeves, and she wore a chest collar that had a phoenix beaded within. Her dress had a wider skirt compared to Arlene, but only because for the style of dance she did. Andy's hair was in two braids, the tips covered with old fur from otter tails (A/N: It's a Native tradition to do that to give off the illusion that your hair's longer, but I'm not sure if it was otter tails…)
A feather hung off a hair clip behind Andy's head.
She gathered her shawl up, with the blinding yellow, orange, and red clashing with one another, and purple phoenixes flew about in the flame pattern, strands of extra fabric hung along the edge of the shawl.
"And shawl dancer, Andrea, takes off towards the main gate…" Arlene said teasingly, mimicking what Andy said earlier.
"Shut up… "Andy said, attempting to kick her with her moccasin clad foot.
"And quit calling me 'Andrea'! You know I hate it!"
"Ok… Dances With Wolves, chill…" Arlene said.
"Har har har…"
"Come on ladies… were going to be late…" Arnold called to the arguing women.
"Hey! Why aren't you dressed?" Andy asked.
"The hoop dances don't start until Saturday night…"
"Oh really?"
"Just come on..." Arlene said, dragging Andy along.
Andy sighed as she and her friends went to the entrance, having their entrance fee discounted because they were competitors.
Rin would really love it here… Andy thought to herself. The smell of the many food stands filled the air, along with the fresh scent of sage, buckskin, and other things. Of course Arlene and Arnold weren't able to detect the more distant scents, but what can you do? The thing that bugged Andy beyond belief, was that the number of demons that detected her scent.
It's gonna be a long weekend…
Later that night, Andy just sat there on her bed, flipping through the channels on her TV.
Arlene and Arnold were out for dinner. She was still tired from the drive from Las Vegas, her connection from San Francisco. Arlene met up with her in Vegas and the two continued down to Albuquerque.
Andy couldn't help but giggle at the thought that just came into mind.
"Arnold and Miroku sure have a lot in common. This would just make Sango's day…" Andy said, picking up her cell phone.
She thought for a moment.
"It's not too late is it?"
She did the math.
It's probably in the middle of the morning now, so that means Sango would be busy keeping Ayame in line. There's only one person I can think of that has time…
Andy picked the speed dial. It went straight to voicemail.
"That's strange. Sessh always answers his cell…"
At the very mention of Sesshomaru, Andy started to get antsy.
"Oh! God Damnit!" Andy cried out, the sexual mental picture never leaving her mind.
"I really hate this…"
(Next Day)
"Where are we?"
"Albuquerque, New Mexico…"
"Is this where it takes place?"
"Yes. Now the question is where…?"
Rin took a look at the tourist guide they received from the friendly lady at Customs.
"Hey dad! Look!" Rin said pointing at a picture of a traditional Native Dancer.
"The Gathering of Nations, the University of New Mexico Arena…." Sesshomaru read.
"Answers that question, yes?" Rin asked.
"Let's go…" Sesshomaru said, carrying their luggage, towards the shutter to the rental car place.
"Ew… I can't believe you stuffed that many…" Andy said in disgust.
"15 pieces of fry bread… that has to be a record…" Arlene said, staring at the empty wallet.
Arnold just smirked, swallowing the last bit of chewed fry bread.
"That was good. Why didn't you two grab any while there still were some?"
"Because we wanted to see if you really were going to scarf all that…" Arlene said. "Plus, you spent all our spending money, man!"
Andy sighed.
"Forget you two…" she said taking off to the giant white tent that contained many vendors from all over the country, her hair blowing in the breeze.
Arlene and Arnold, who, like Andy, were dress casually for the daylight hours, stood stumped.
"What's with her?" Arlene asked.
" 'Tis the season…" Arnold said.
"Smart Ass…"
"Um dad… is it just me or are we the odd people out?"
Sesshomaru and Rin took a good look around. There were Natives everywhere. Many dressed in traditional costumes, while others were dressed normally. There were hardly any non natives, except for a few Caucasians that claimed to be a little Cherokee, but that hardly counted as Native American anymore…
"Just stay close Rin…" Sesshomaru said, a little more for his comfort rather than Rin.
When he noticed that Rin wasn't next to him, he found her browsing through one of the many stands that vendors had set up.
"Oh boy…"
Andy wandered through the hordes of people. Out of the odds, she was bound to run into someone from her hometown. After all, every Indian in the world was here…. Or it certainly seemed like it.
She stopped at an herbal stand, and bought a few bundles of sage for her grandmother, who was the mystic in the family. At least the scent of the sage helped drone out the scent of her heat.
Enough of this… Andy thought to herself, as she headed back into the main building to watch the drum competition.
"Dad are we lost?"
"We're wandering… there's a difference…"
Rin rolled her eyes. Her eyes kept looking around, from the different face paints on each native, to the bells and shinny material of the dance costumes, to the many people surrounding them. From her latest count of non Natives, excluding herself and her father, there were at least five others around, two Asians, and three Africans.
"What are you looking at?"
Rin meeped at the sudden growl from one of the Traditional Dancers.
"Sorry!" Rin piped out.
Sesshomaru turned to find a big man staring him down.
"Enjoyin' the view…" the mean looking man said.
"Uh…"
"I asked you a question…"
"Dad…" Rin said nervously.
She didn't like the looks of the big man, who seemed to have a few friends behind him. He looked like trouble.
"My daughter and I were just passing through…" Sesshomaru said, not wanting a fight to break out.
"Then tell your kid it's not polite to stare…" the big man growled.
"Geez! Are you harassing the tourist already?" a voice piped up.
A figure got in front of Sesshomaru and Rin.
"It's not even three yet…"
Suddenly, the big man let loose a big grin and chuckled.
"Sorry! But you know I like to mess with peoples' minds."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can't you be nice for once, Elais?" the woman huffed.
"Oh… touchy aren't we Andy? Only for you, my dear…" the big man said, giving Andy a bear hug.
"Ack! Can't breath… let go Ten Bears…" the wolf hanyo whined, trying to catch a breath.
Elais placed her down.
"Alright, Dances with Wolves, I'll see you later at the Grand Entry…"
"Just go…" Andy said waving her hand.
Elais chuckled as he and a few of his friends laughed as they took off to get a few more rounds of beer.
"Are you guys alright?" Andy asked turning around.
At that moment, her eyes went big.
"Miss Andy!" Rin cried out happily, as she tackled Andy.
"Hi?" Andy said, not knowing how to react.
"What are you guys doing here?"
"We decided to take a small trip…" Sesshomaru replied.
"Dad really wanted to…"
Before Rin finished her sentence, Sesshomaru covered her mouth.
"…to take a trip to America for a while now…"
"Mmfhhhummmfff…" Rin argued.
"Rrrriiiiiggghhhhttt….." Andy said eyes narrowing.
Rin groaned.
Dad, you liar… you wanted to see Miss Andy…
"As far as I'm aware of…" Andy said, getting closer to Sesshomaru. "I didn't invite you…"
"Like the surprise?" he replied coolly.
Andy smirked.
"Absolutely…"
"Ands! There you are!" Arlene suddenly called out ruining the moment.
"Have you seen Arnold? I swear I'm gonna grill his…"
Arlene stopped mid sentence when she spotted Sesshomaru.
"Andy, who's this?" Arlene asked, looking Sesshomaru over.
Andy growled to tell Arlene to back away.
Back off! He's mine!
You got that right…
"Arlene… this is my boyfriend…" Andy said, hooking arms with Sesshomaru.
Arlene's eyes went big.
"Your… boyfriend?"
"Mm hmm…"
"Your dad's gonna throw a fit…"
"Not if he can get pass my ma…"
"Nice job…"
"Oh! Before I forget… this is his daughter Rin!" Andy said, pointing at the little girl next to them.
"Nice to meet you…" Arlene said slowly, assuming neither Sesshomaru nor Rin spoke English.
Andy smacked herself on the forehead.
"Good grief…"
"How are you enjoying your visit to America?" Arlene continued.
"We're enjoying our stay just fine, thank you…" Sesshomaru said in perfect English, making Rin and Andy laugh while Arlene stood there, feeling like an idiot.
"Well… I feel stupid…" Arlene said, sighing.
"Ands! There you are. You got to help me…" Arnold said out of nowhere, crashing into Andy.
"Arlene's after my…AH! ARLENE!"
"'Bout time you showed up…" Arlene grumbled. Then she smirked.
"Now you get to meet the guy that's been keeping Andy busy in Japan."
"ARLENE!!!!"
"What? Don't act like it's not true…"
"But did you have to put it like that?"
"Come on, Arnold, we got to let those love birds catch up…"
"And you are?" Arnold said sweetly to Rin.
"My name is Rin…" Rin said politely.
"How about Arlene and myself show you around the powwow. If it's alright with your father that is…"
"Can I?" Rin asked Sesshomaru.
"I swear they're trustworthy!" Andy said, throwing up the Girl Scout sign for props.
Sesshomaru sighed.
"Just behave…" Sesshomaru said.
Arlene, Arnold, and Rin took of in one direction.
Andy took a good long look at Sesshomaru.
"So…" she said, circling Sesshomaru.
"You followed me back to the homeland… what are you going to do with me now?"
Sesshomaru noticed the bait she was throwing out.
"What do you want to do?" he asked.
"I know a place where we can be alone. Arnold and Arlene always take care of my little cousins so Rin should be alright for a few hours."
"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" Sesshomaru asked, when he finally noticed the scent of her heat.
"Just shut up and let's get to the room…"
Hikaru: Just a little something I tossed together…Man, Andy's on the prowl isn't she?
What more mishaps are in store?
Stay tuned and Please review!