The boat trip obviously took longer than expected. The sun started to set as the 3 arrived at the village. The village is clearly in bad shape and experienced numerous attacks. The village was surrounded by wooden pillars bound together, standing at least 5 meters tall. Evidently, this gate isn't perfect, as many of the pillars had scars and most had burned marks.
"This place is amazing!" Kagura said, sizing up the walls surrounding the village.
"One of the four highly respected clan lives here." Jaken said. "All 4 surround the castle in 4 directions. It is believed that for millions of years, the 4 clans had protected the West in time of war."
"So. Why are we here if they're so mighty and amazing?" Kagura asked. This had better no be a waste of time.
"This village, like I said before, had never had much of an army. But then again, they never needed a big one; they were all strong enough despite their lack of numbers. It turned out that some members of this clan had betrayed their own people, attacking their families at night. People say that it's because they think that their clan is falling and they'd rather be on the winning side of this war. Now their small army is even smaller."
"Huh. And the other Lords knew this?"
"Yes, and they made a deal with those who were willing: if they form an alliance with the Lords, they will live in their land for eternity in peace. Most of their best warriors decided to fight against their own clan, so everything's a bit of a mess right now."
"So why exactly did they decide to kill their own family members Jaken? Couldn't they have just left?"
"Um, well…I have no information on that part."
"Nice researching Jaken."
"Um…My deepest apologies?" Jaken lamented nervously.
BANG
"OW!" Well, nice try anyways toadie.
"Be quiet." Sesshoumaru said. "Let us in." He said to the guards by the gate.
"Who are you demons?" One of them demanded.
Stricken and decided that there's only so much he can handle in a day, Jaken quickly stepped up. "You fools! This is Master Sesshoumaru! How dare you speak so rudely! This is princess Kagura of the North, and we've come to help you. Now let us in!"
"My sincere apologies masters." The second guard apologized, bowing low. The first guard however, stood with his mouth agape. "Apologize you idiot! And open the gate!" He hissed at his partner.
"OH shit. Please forgive me! It is just that we had to take more caution now that everything's a complete mess." He turned and called to the other guards to open the gate.
An old man came up and greeted them.
"Master Sesshoumaru! I am so glade you're here. I am Matsuno, the current leader of the clan." He said. "And who, may I ask, is this beautiful lady?"
"I'm Kagura, and I'd appreciate it if you'd address me when asking the questions about me." Kagura growled.
"Of course, of course! I'm sorry. Princess Kagura. How honored we are to have both of you here. Please follow me."
They entered the village, around them were women carrying water and medicine to the inside of the houses. There seemed to be a lot of injured villagers.
"Where's Inuyasha?" Sesshoumaru asked, scanning the area. The runt obviously didn't do a very good job of keeping people safe.
Suddenly, a sword flew by, missing Sesshoumaru's face by a few strands of hair.
"Hey, what took ya so long Sesshoumaru?" A figure sitting on the roof tops called out.
"That was no respective way to greet your own brother, Inuyasha." Mockery dripping on every word. Jaken really did look like he was going to get a heart attack and looking completely miserable.
"That was about as much respect as you deserve." Inuyasha smirked, leaping from the roof.
"Mind your place, half-breed." Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes.
"Oh shut up Sesshoumaru." Inuyasha growled.
The old clan master shifted uncomfortably up to Sesshoumaru.
"Perhaps you would like to get settled down before the sun fully sets?" He asked Sesshoumaru and Kagura.
"Hey, what about me old man?" Jaken called.
"Oh, and of course Mister Jaken too."
The master of the clan showed the 3 their rooms. Jaken was at the North wing. While Kagura slept in the room beside Sesshoumaru's facing the garden. Since human food was unnecessary for full demons, they skipped the dinner with the rest of the clan.
The moon was out as Kagura got out from her bath, getting ready for bed. They were going to the battlefield tomorrow and it would be a good idea to have a good night's rest. As she entered her room, she heard voices in the garden. Sesshoumaru and Matsuno were outside, discussing something. Curiosity got the better of her and she couldn't help but lean her ear on the inside of her door to listen.
"Please help us Master Sesshoumaru. The youngsters are simply confused, I'm sure you could convince them to change their mind."
"I'm not here to solve personal problems." Cold as ever.
"But without them, our clan may as well parish. They're the strongest of the clan and we won't stand a chance!" Matsuno begged. "We need them!"
"Need or depend?" Sesshoumaru's velvet voice asked. "The eyes of your men shows helplessness, looking as if this is a bad dream to wake up from. Needing is different from depending Matsuno. Your people did not need them to help, but depended on them to take care of everything."
Kagura suppressed a smile. He'd make a good psychologist.
"You're right, but what other option do we have? Everyone's losing the will to fight, especially now that part of the enemy is their own family."
"We'll set for the battlefield tomorrow. Your family is your business."
Outside of Kagura's window, the birds were chirping. With a yawn and a stretch, she rolled off of bed with more rest than she's gotten in a while. Getting dressed, she got ready for the battlefield. The sun was not yet fully raised and the air is still a bit chilly. When she stepped out, she met Inuyasha, who was walking past her room.
"So, you're the Princess." Then he stopped and looked at her while shaking his head. "Boy do I feel sorry for you."
"Why?" Kagura frowned.
"You're marrying Sesshoumaru." He said in disgust as they walked to the gate. Kagura giggled at his tone. "You're gonna need therapy in a couple of days after this."
As they arrived, they can see that Sesshoumaru was already waiting for them at the gate. Obviously he's the first one there.
"Why do we have to go so early in the morning? Some people actually sleep around here you know, unlike you!" Inuyasha asked, clearly annoyed at Sesshoumaru.
Instead of giving an answer, he began to walk. Kagura and Inuyasha could only follow. The 4 clans were to protect the castle, in other words, the castle is in the middle of a circle created by the 4 villages. In order to be able to attack the castle, they must get past the 4 warrior clans.
The group traveled at a high speed and Kagura found it hard to keep up on her feather. She really should've listened to Shina when she told Kagura to practice her flying more.
A man walked towards them. "It is an honour to see you again Sesshoumaru-sama, Inuyasha-sama, and this must be Kagura-sama. I am the general of this army, Hakaru."
"This place is a mess. I can smell all the blood." Inuyasha remarked.
"Yes, we've lost a lot of our men from the last battle and over half of us are injured. It seems that they have a new general, and a much stronger one at that." The general said, "He was a demon, and almost all of our casualties were the works of that man."
"SESSHOUMARU!" A voice came from behind them. "I heard you were coming here."
"Bankotsu." Sesshoumaru said, facing the raven-haired man. He held an overly sized sword in his hand, resting its hilt on his shoulder.
"The whole band's here. Well, almost, Mukotsu isn't of much use here so he's out scouting and doing his thing with the poisons. I know we don't separate much but," He shrugged, "There's always exceptions."
Soon the rest of the band came up behind him: Kyokotsu, Renkotsu, Ginkotsu, Suikotsu, and Jakotsu.
They're all humans, Kagura thought. What're they all doing here? And what's up with the attires and weird markings?
"INUYASHA!" Jakotsu, the man with the snaked blade called, running towards Inuyasha and enveloping him in a hug.
"Get off me!" Inuyasha howled, all the while trying to peel Jakotsu off his waist.
Awkward stare.
"Huh. Your brother's gay?" Kagura asked Sesshoumaru, stunned at the public display of affection. You'd think they'd get a room.
Everyone turned their attention to Kagura, finally noticing her. Jakotsu let go of Inuyasha, much to his relief, and asked. "Hey, what's up with the girl? Who're you?"
"I'm Kagura. And do you have a problem with a girl being here?" She raised an eyebrow, as if to challenge him.
"Nope, 'course not. Surprised is all."
"Good"
"So, what're you doing here?"
"What would anyone be doing here you moron?" Inuyasha growled. It seems that he's not as fond of Jakotsu as he's fond of Inuyasha.
"Oh. Right."
"Woah woah woah. Back up a sec. Are you some Northern Princess or something? The villagers were talking about it a while ago." Bankotsu asked.
"Yeah."
"Ahh…" He grinned woofishly at Sesshoumaru. "So—"
"If I were you, Bankotsu, I'd keep my mouth shut." Inuyasha warned.
"That's the most intelligent thing I've ever heard him say in his entire life." Sesshoumaru said in a dangerous tone. One couldn't help but notice his eyes glinting perilously.
"Oh come on Sess--"
"Don't call me that."
Suddenly, an explosion came, followed by screams and cheers.
"Aw, way to ruin the fun!" Bankotsu complained.
Inuyasha drew his sword, Kagura snapped open her fan and the rest of the gang followed Sesshoumaru and Bankotsu out into the opening of the forest. The general took no time to start barking out orders to his men, who warily got to their positions. Another bloodshed's on its way.
The battle's on.