Chapter 18: Passing Through the Gate

The wound on Tora's arm, inflicted by Kasumi's fan, still tingled. The poison had been neutralized during her transformation and the torn flesh was already half healed, but she found the sensation mildly irritating. She flicked away dried blood with her clawed fingers and rubbed the tender new skin gently.

Sesshomaru walked a few paces ahead, and her eyes lingered pensively on his hair and furry mokomoko. The whisper of his kimono filled her ears, and his crisp, earthy scent tickled her nose. Yet it was his presence, thickened by his brooding, that kept her attention.

Not a word had been spoken since they left the clearing, and while she usually did not mind, the silence was uncomfortably oppressive this time.

The lady samurai took a deep breath and released it slowly. She casually surveyed the forest around them. They were following the same path that they had taken that morning, but the atmosphere of the forest was vastly different. The air was warmer, causing all of the various scents to mingle and dulling the sounds. The wood around them was more alive, as well, as the inhabitants, both large and small, scurried about their lives.

Thus occupied, Tora was surprised when the daiyōkai abruptly froze mid-step. Her fast reflexes prevented a collision, and she glanced up at his profile. His brow was furrowed and a deep frown was etched on his usually emotionless face. Beneath his armor, she could see his body was tense.

Something was not right.

Tora hastily scrutanized their immediate surroundings and then expanded farther. She hastily hunted through the scents, sounds, and vibrations for the cause of the daiyōkai's concern. Nothing.

Her heart pounded louder in her chest, and she close her eyes. Breathing slow and deep. Not a sound, scent, vibration, sensation was to be overlooked. Locate. Analyze. Move on. She pushed herself to the very limit. Sweat broke out on her forehead and the hand on her injured arm shook.

Her eyes opened, and she clenched her fist to stop the involuntary quivering.

Whatever had caught Sesshomaru's attention was beyond her abilities to sense, and that made the lady samurai uneasy. Her fingers immediately curled around the hilt of her katana, and the pointed dog-ears protruding from her hair twitched slightly. Her mind raced through all possible causes as her body tensed, preparing for a fight.

"Rin..." Sesshomaru breathed.

Tora's heart seemed to catch in her chest. Rin! Had something happened to the girl? Was she in danger? Had she been attacked again?

Then the daiyōkai was gone.

He moved with a speed that Tora had never before witnessed. One moment he had been standing at her side, tall and still as a statue, and the next moment, he had vanished. Only his scent lingered.

Tora frantically searched and located his yoki above her. He had taken to the sky, and Tora did not hesitate. She darted forward and raced through the forest as quickly as her legs would carry her. Ignoring the branches that scratched her, she lept over obstacles and barreled headfirst through the thick brush. She kept her attention on Sesshomaru's yoki. At the speed the daiyōkai was moving, his presense was fading quickly, but he was traveling west.

And though she was bound to the land, Tora had no intention of being left behind. She forced herself to move faster, her lungs burning with every gasping breath and her legs screaming from the exertion. She pushed the pain aside, refusing to stop or pause. It was the yōkai blood, pulsing through her veins, that gave her the strength to continue on. Without it, she would have collapsed from total exhaustion, and she did not know how long the transformation would last.

If Rin was in danger, she would not stop until either she reached the child or died trying.

"Tora!"

The lady samurai glanced hastily in the direction of the faint voice. Ah-Un dove from the sky and landed heavily in a small clearing, Jaken clinging desperately to its back.

Tora swung herself on to the dragon yōkai's back behind Jaken, and the creature lept powerfully into the air. The clearing and surround forest fell away beneath them.

"What happened?" she shouted down at Jaken.

"Rin... garden... vanished... barrier..."

The wind snatched the little yōkai's words from his beaked mouth, and even with her sharp ears, she could barely hear him. What she did hear only made her heart pound louder, and she impatiently scanned the world below for any sign of Rin or the garden Jaken mentioned. All the while, she kept monitoring Sesshomaru's presence in her mind. His yoki grew in intensity as they neared his location.

A sense of foreboding came over Tora, much like the omnious calm before the onslaught of a fierce storm. Her sharp eyes scanned the trees below and caught a glint between the canopy of leaves. She instantly knew that it was the barrier Jaken had mentioned, but it was far stronger than she had anticipated, radiating yoki. Intermingled in the barrier's aura was that of the daiyōkai, causing shivers to run down her spine.

The dragon yōkai dove towards a break in the trees, and Tora had to duck her head to avoid being hit by branches. As Ah-Un landed, it only took the lady samurai a few heartbeats to assess the situation.

Sesshomaru was attacking the barrier with the larger of his two katanas in hand, and his overwhelming yoki was rushing from him like a raging waterfall, crashing against the barrier, filling the forest around them with brilliant flashes of greenish light. Yet the barrier held fast against the powerful bombardment. The daiyōkai's eyes had gone completely red, and she noticed for the first time that his facial markings seemed more pronounced than before.

Tora had never seen the daiyōkai angry before, and it was indeed a frightening experience. The human part of her was filled with fear and whispered in a corner of her mind to flee. This was no place for a human, and the very air seemed to reek with the scent of danger.

The yōkai part of her, fully awakened during the battle with Kasumi, was in awe of the daiyōkai and enjoyed basking in his strength. She felt drawn to him, unable to take her golden eyes from his back as he struck the barrier again. His yoki overwhelmed all of her senses and thrilled her to her very core. She found herself longing... No, hungering for more.

"Oh, not good. Not good."

Jaken's nervous voice pulled Tora back from the precipe that she was tittering on, and the lady samurai glanced at the small yōkai still on Ah-Un's back.

"Even Sesshomaru-sama cannot pass through the barrier."

The tiny retainer's words were not completely true. The daiyōkai's attacks were weakening the barrier. Tora could feel the strain as it fought to maintain its intregity against his steady, unwavering blows, but if this barrier had been created by a powerful yōkai and Rin trapped inside...

She could not wait for the daiyōkai to burst through.

"Jaken, the barrier refuses yōkai entry, does it not?" she demanded hastily.

"Yes..."

"But Rin walked right through?"

"Yes...

Tora's eyes narrowed as her eyes caught glimpses of the picturesque garden beyond the barrier inbetween the flashes of green light. She had to reach Rin, to keep the little girl safe. According to Jaken, the gateway Rin had passed through – and therefore the weakest point – was between the two slender trees, right where the daiyōkai was staging his attack. Without a word or even drawing her sword, the lady samurai sprinted forward. She ducked beneath the daiyōkai's downward swing and dove head first into the barrier.

She plunged into darkness and her body was immediately immobilized, as if she had fallen into a pit of mud. She struggled to continue moving forward, fighting with all of her strength. The barrier, created to expel all yōkai, had sensed her yōkai blood and was attempting to push her back.

But Tora refused to give in, even as her vision exploded in blinding flashes of light and her entire body, from the inside out, felt as if it was burning. To her, an eternity passed as she struggled in that black void. Still she fought to gain ground. Her fingers tingled as her claws withdrew, her ears stung, and her head pounded furiously as all of her own yoki retreated deeper inside of her.

At last, when her strength was nearly gone, Tora's eyes noticed tiny speck of light ahead of her. The light grew larger and brighter, and she found herself falling onto solid ground.

"Tora-san!"

The lady samurai looked up to see the smiling face of Rin beaming at her from across the most beautiful garden she had seen in her entire life, a garden far more grand than any daimyo's. The pain in her chest eased to see the girl safe and unharmed, but then her quick eyes noticed the stranger who held one of Rin's hands.

Though her own yoki had buried inside somewhere deep within, Tora did not need it to sense that this serene young man was, in fact, a yōkai. His presence filled the entire garden, and in spite of her fatigue, Tora forced herself to her feet and her hand instinctively went for her weapon.

"Rin, get away from him!" she ordered sharply.

"Tora-san?"

The little girl hesitantly looked from Tora's defensive posture to the passive Katsutoshi at her side, confused. The golden-haired man was smiling the same as before, and everything about him was open and friendly, yet Tora was reacting as if he was dangerous.

"Ah, you must be the famous Tora-san. Rin-chan has told me much about you, though I must admit that I did not expect you to be a hanyō."

"Let the child go." The lady samurai's eyes were as cold as ice as she leveled the stranger a glare that would have made even veteran warriors uneasy.

"I am not keeping her against her will."

Tora held out a hand towards the girl. "Come to me, Rin."

Rin obedied wordlessly, suddenly sensing the dangerous atmosphere surrounding the lady samurai and the mysterious gardener. The young woman grabbed Rin's hand and pushed the girl protectively behind her.

In her present condition, Tora was no match for the yōkai nor was there any possibility of escape. Their only chance was to stall long enough for Sesshomaru to break through the barrier.

"The great inu-yōkai is finding my barrier difficult to pass, I am afraid."

Katsutoshi's smile deepened, as if he had read her very thoughts. He stepped towards the two humans, and Tora drew her katana with speed and precision. Her exhausted muscles balked at the abuse, and her body was on the brink of collapse. She strained keep the blade upright as her knees buckled. Her focus was fading quickly despite a struggle to stay alert.

All the while, the yōkai continued to approach.

"That you were able to pass my barrier is intriguing. Even though a hanyō, your yōkai blood should have been repelled."

He stepped closer.

"Stay back!" Tora ordered.

"Put down your weapon. Had you the strength to fight, you would have attacked already."

He was close enough for her to strike, but her exhausted body refused to respond. With his hand, Katsutoshi gently knocked the blade away, and the katana fell from Tora's hands. With Rin clinging to Tora, and she knew she could not lose! She took a deep breath and clenched her fists, trying to call any of her yoki. She had to focus... focus...

Katsutoshi touched her cheek as softly as a feather. "Don't. You have used too much already." His voice was a quiet whisper in her ear. "Sleep, Tora-san. Sleep."

Despite her inner protest, Tora's body obeyed the yōkai's gentle command. Her vision faded, and she collapsed into Katsutoshi's arms. Rin cried out in alarm, pulling at the lady samurai's clothing. The yōkai's gave the child a charming smile.

"Don't worry, Rin-chan. Your precious Tora is only sleeping."

"You didn't... hurt her?"

"No."

Katsutoshi lifted Tora's limp form and carried her through the garden to a small open area. Rin followed wearily, watching as he laid the young woman down on the grass.

"What did you do then?"

"I merely persauded her to sleep. Come, sit with me as we wait for your Sesshomaru-sama."