Disclaimer: And here I would come up with some clever way of informing you of my non-ownership of Inuyasha. Instead I'll simply say that I don't and, once again, apologize for not only being able to not write in quite a while but also not being able to answer everyone's wonderful reviews, and of course pleas to write more. I'll just tell you that a lot of shit's been going on that I don't really feel the need to explain just yet but here, another chapter. Thank you all for the wonderful reviews and enjoy this new installment!
IMPORTANT!! PLEASE READ BEFORE CONTINUING ON: A few of you guessed our mystery character..or more than a few; I can't really remember. But your speculation ends now: it is, in fact, Sesshoumaru's mother, the beautiful yet deadly Nerina! (The site I looked on with her profile said she was just called Sesshoumaru's mom so I took the liberty of giving her my own name; it means sea nymph) But to explain a few things before readers start sending me scream-mail or something: I vaguely recall reading something a few years back explaining that in the Inu bloodline, Sesshoumaru's marking were passed to him via his mother, not his father. Also, in nearly every story being written or ever wrote when there is a mating-usually the youkai to the human-it is the human, or just the female, who's appearance changes to match that of the Inu's. Therefore, with the power invested in me as author of Fearless, I have taken the liberty of divulging my own background for Mira. Before mating with Toga and becoming Sesshoumaru's mother she did in fact have black hair and blue eyes, as well as the crescent marking that she would have then passed onto her son when he was born. It was after the mating and consummation that she would change and her hair turn to the silver of the Inu bloodline and her eyes turn amber. So that explains her appearance being different than described normally, and my reasoning behind it. As well, when referring to the "dark arts" she mentions in the last chapter, our naughty future-lady-of-the-west likes to dabble in the powers of youkai. Killing them with special-made weapons, stealing their powers-but that'll all be explained in due time. I know; you're probably disappointed it isn't Izayoi, but her time will come. At the moment it's much too soon for her but she'll be here eventually. And now, onto the story.
Fearless
Chapter VII
Toga was lost. Not in one of those where-the-hell-am-I-and-what-am-I-doing-in-this-place ways but in one of the I-can't-remember-what-was-said-to-me-two-minutes-ago-let-alone-two-seconds-am-I-losing-my-mind-oh-fuck-I-feel-like-I'm-going-to-die kind of ways.
The evening had started off well enough; there was polite talk with the other lords, discussing who was warring with who and when the new heirs were due while sipping vintage wine and blood and eating specially prepared all-meat wraps. Even foreign dignataries were attending from across the oceans, a rare treat. He'd been amusing himself with Koga and Kiyoshi when he notice his mother descending the stairwall, left arm locked with a human of astounding beauty.
Somehow he missed the fact that this beauty was Kagome, dressed up in a flowery sky-blue kimono tailored to wrap around her frame like a second skin, leaving her just enough room to walk yet accentuating soft curves in a way to send raise even the most stiffest of brows in admiration. Her inky black hair had been curled and piled high atop her head, settled with a jeweled comb in the shape of a fox basking in sunlight. Dark blue and black kohl rimmed her eyes and shot upward, enhancing their color and giving her an air of darkness to offset her purity. Even next to the impeccable beauty of Ayaka, looking stunning in her crispy white kimono and streaming locks of hair with her own brand of accenting kohl, she stood out and every head turned to watch their descent.
Toga had nearly gone foreword and most likely made some sort of fool of himself before he sniffed and caught the lady's scent-Kagome's scent. That had settled him back a step or two but still he couldn't keep his eyes off her, watching the way two fat curls bounced with her steps and slipped down her cheeks, caressing them like a lover would as her eyes smiled at whomever she addressed, no matter their age or disposition. He'd felt himself inadvertantly curling his claws into his palms everytime one of the lords or foreign entities approached her, either to ask her pedrigree and where she hailed from or discuss possible ventures in their direction. He didn't understand the anger that simmered in his gut everytime she took the hand of another man, allowing her fingers to curl around his as she looked into his eyes when she spoke.
His lip lifted over a fang and Toga hurled himself around, forcefully handing his glass of wine to an awaiting servant and instead picking up a piece of raw boar meat wrapped in marinated salmon, taking nearly half of it into his mouth before realizing he was being watched. A growl filtered through the meat at the ever-quiet Kiyoshi.
Those tranquil eyes merely regarded him for a moment before his brother-in-arms chose to speak. "You are needlessly working yourself into a rile, my friend. You must calm yourself before you lose control and land in trouble even Lord Kaemon would have problems getting you out of." Even his voice was infuriatingly calm, as if nothing got to him. As if he didn't care that their Kagome was being pawed by every breathing male here!
Toga swallowed and closed his eyes, inhaling deeply before exhaling slowly. His friend was right; he was allowing his anger to dictate his actions and control his mind, the exact thing his father had been warning him against since he was a pup. Any form of aggressive emotion was strongly discouraged because it gave the beast inside more of a chance to take control. Ruthlessly he forced calmness into his body and mind before turning to Kiyoshi. "Thank you, friend. I do not know what might have happened had I lost control."
"I do. You would have tried to destroy every male here and taken Kagome against her will." Those oddly glowing eyes turned to watch the miko decline someone's offer of wine, instead sipping her own specially made drink of fruit juice. "I do not know why you persist in denying yourself what you want. If seeing the girl with other males angers you then simply go to her and monopolize her so that no other male goes near her. It is her introduction to society but if you cannot bear to see her with another then make sure they understand who she belongs to." He turned back to Toga, only to find the youkai prince already making a beeline for Kagome. He shook his head before taking the half-eaten wrap and finishing it himself. "The fool. He should really learn his own mind instead of listening to me work things out for him."
Kaemon, who'd sidled close to hear the silent Kiyoshi give what sounded like the longest speech of his life, chuckled when he overheard. "How can you say such a thing, Kiyoshi? Think how boring the son of this Kaemon would be if he ever figured out how to think for himself!" He was still chuckling when he went to find his mate after picking up a plate of meat to feed her.
xx
"Kagome.."
The miko turned when she heard, and felt, Toga approach her from behind, politely saying her regretful goodbyes to the Greek Inu she'd been conversing with. "Toga! How...uh, you've got a little..." She paused, wondering how she should phrase this without sounding insulting. His spit-it-out glare made her shrug and she just went ahead and said it. "There's a little of what, ah, looks like blood on your-lip." She brushed her own lip, mirroring the place on his, wincing slightly.
Toga flicked his finger across the place mentioned and stared at the bloody smear, secretly glad for his perfect composure although a twinge of embarrassment made itself known deep in the recesses of his soul. He quickly licked it away before nodding to her. "Thank you for informing me; it appears I wasn't all that careful with my food earlier."
She smiled up at him, not even a hint of her earlier sadness and despair showing on her face. Those hot springs had really worked and eased away her troubles like a well-experienced masouse from her time. "You know, your mother tried to tell me what this kind of party would be like earlier but she didn't come close. This is really upscale!" She waved a hand to encompass the place.
Toga had no idea what exactly "upscale" meant but he guessed it was probably something close to "fancy," or "high class." They seemed to fit the context. "Yes, some might call it that. Myself, I simply wish there weren't so many people here. Of course, do not tell the others that; they might get offended." When that suceeded in producing a giggle he nodded and offered his arm. "May I escort you to the Star Walk, milady?"
Huffing but inwardly tickled at the title Kagome placed her hand in the crook of his elbow and allowed him to lead her out of the extravagant room, wondering what would call where they were going to be called "Star Walk." However, her musings weren't enough to prepare her for the amazing sight of a domed walkway, curving like a snake in what appeared over a mile of dirt, closed in on both sides with a sheer wall so that all one saw was one's reflection when walking and the reflections of the glittering stars and constellations visible through the sheer ceiling. Kagome gasped, hardly able to believe that something like this was hidden in the Moon House.
"Incredible, isn't it? Mother and I thought Father was crazy when he suggested the idea, but we can't say we aren't impressed with the result. It took him years, and three genius men to accomplish the feat. These walls on the sides? Made of crystalline rock cut in half to reflect the images back on people." Toga informed her, pointing to the sides weaving with them with what could only be called a smug look on his face.
"And the ceiling? How did you make it so we can see the stars? Or is a mural, painted on so it's always visible?" Kagome couldn't resist asking, studying as the picture seemed to move with them, so that they didn't leave one portion behind to see another.
"Painted on? No, Father would not hear of such a thing. It is...it is hard to explain to one who does not understand the Primal Source." He frowned, claws flicking absentmindedly on her resting hand as he thought. "It isn't so much that there is a ceiling above us, although there is a sort of shield that protects against the rain, snows, and any sort of debris or attack that might otherwise fall on the unsuspecting traversers of Star Walk. The first constructer was stumped with this impossible task: how does one make visible the maps in the sky without leaving one open to the elements?" He looked at her as he spoke, as if he expected her to answer the question. She shrugged, not wanting to interrupt; her brain felt on overload as it was. A fang winked at her as he turned his head. "It is simple: one does not create a surface that one can touch, feel and therefore know is a tangible substance that will block the eyes. So he finished the walls and the floor, but left the ceiling to another man, to accomplish what he could not."
They rounded a turn now and passed another couple, older and walking close enough that they had to be a couple. They nodded to Toga as they passed, smiled at Kagome, and looked back at each other as if they couldn't bear not to. Kagome ignored them and turned back to her partner; he was already talking again.
"It was the second man who suggested the use of the Primal Source, the main power source of everything-youkai, human, miko I imagine, plants and animals alike-to do what no other had done. Of course, this required something to constantly hold open a gate to the other side, that there always be a path between the Source and one thing on this side-in other words, the ceiling. It-ah, I am talking myself in circles. I have never tried explaining this before." There was almost a sheepish look on his face. Kagome, watching him closely, reached up to place her free hand on his cheek, turning his head so that he faced her now. Toga's eyes were riveted to her own cerulean gaze; it was as if the stars had descended to shine in her eyes. It seemed like he stared into a deep well, falling farther and farther into a well as deep as that of the Source he spoke about.
Holding the look Toga took the arm he'd offered her earlier and wrapped it around her waist, pulling her close as his youki swirled around their feet, lifting them into the air at his wish. His other arm he used to grasp the hand still resting on his face, drawing those pale and fragile fingers into his grasp, feeling the feeble strength that was merely a drop in his bucket. It was crazy, this thought that had just entered his mind but something inside him urged he do this. It would tie them together, a part in the deep recesses of his mind whispered, connect them in a way that no other would be able to do. He decided that, since this night was special in its own right, he would follow it. "You have power, do you not?" His voice came out undeniably husky against his will, dropping an octave as the call of the night descended.
Kagome felt a slight tremor work its way through her body, from the tips of her hair that shivered in a non-existant wind to her toes planted on a surface of tangible power that screamed youkai. She'd read in books she wasn't supposed to own of a man using his voice as a weapon against his woman but she'd never imagined it could be done in real life. Wordlessly she nodded, unable or perhaps unwilling to mention that her power seemed locked so tightly she could never call on it when she wanted to, only when she was in dire need.
"Good." Another octave lower, a silky whisper that seemed to enter through her pores, just like the sweet breath that ghosted across her cheek. Valiantly she resisted the urge to turn her head, to feel it across her lips, an urge she'd never felt before, not even with Inuyasha. "Don't be frightened." Her eyes snapped to his, wondered what he was going to do that prompted that phrase. But she saw only urgency, the slightest of hesitation, and an anticipation that beat all else. "Don't be frightened." He repeated more urgently now, his face inching forewords. "I will be with you the entire time; you won't be in any harm. But I want to show you the power, the Source; your own power should protect you, as will mine. You will be dropped into the pathway that holds the gateway and, in theory, will understand what it is that causes the ceiling to be visible yet a shield."
He seemed to be waiting for a response so she nodded, trusting him more than his words. Her reward was a sort of childish glee that flashed in warm honey, replaced with determination. The hand that grasped her own reached up, pulling her up a few inches so her reach extended. The tips of her fingers bumped against something solid but when she gasped and looked up, there was nothing there. There was only what seemed to be a ripple in the air around her fingers, a bend in the light that lasted only seconds. She heard Toga say something but missed its meaning. He pushed her hand up further and her fingers sunk, as if they moved through the thickest mud she'd come across, just short of becoming solid. She looked down, intending to ask him what was supposed to happen, when a shockwave went through her entire body and through Toga's where his was connected to hers, back again through her and up through her fingertips back into whatever it was she was reaching into. Her mouth opened but nothing came out. She wasn't even sure what she would have said. And then she heard it.
It was as if a thousand voices were all vocalizing around her, reverberating around and in her ears so that the very blood and bones in her body thrummed to the rythm. They, the voices that seemed male, female, child and adult, yet genderless and ageless at the same time, all seemed to be singing the same thing, a foreign song to an unrecognizable tune that she felt she should know but had forgotten in time. After a while the voices dimmed-only she realized they weren't dimming, they were flowing away from her on that pathway she realized she was in the middle of, off to another who would inevitably connect to this power. She closed her eyes so that she was better able to capture this feeling, that she was whole and connected to everything on the earth at this one point in time. As if a barrier had been released information flooded her mind-the Creation, the Destruction, the beginning and the end, the Maker of everything, their powers-but most of it escaped her just as instantly.
As Toga had promised the information she really wondered about came to her, slower than the rest and sticking longer. She saw that every little thing on the earth, be it people, grass, animals, or dirt, was made up of tiny silvery particles that made the shapes of whatever they chose. The perceptions of faces and bodies were simply creations of the mind to provide comfort to the inhabitants of the world, a security blanket so to speak. Even she and Toga, connected at the waist and hands as they were, were made up of the same particles, the silvery essences with purple-red and pink tinges respectively twining around each other as if to keep them in longer contact. Looking down-or was it up?-she saw the shield she was connected to to experience all this. It, too was made up of particles that were drawn together to appease the whim of one who had tapped into the Primal Source, the Creation and Destruction power of the world. They held their shape because that was what one with Primal power asked of them.
It was an altogether overwhelming experience and Kagome slumped against Toga's chest, her hand going limp in his as the power began to overwhelm her senses. She wasn't in danger she knew but it was too much all at once. Immediately Toga drew her hand back from the shield and drifted back to the dirt path, cradling her body against his as he drew his other arm around her waist.
"You understand now." He whispered to her, not wanting to destroy what they'd just went through by speaking to loudly. She nodded mutely, her face pressed loosely to his shoulder as she inhaled his earthy scent. "You heard the voices of the Souls, those who have passed on and are waiting to begin again. That is fortunate; many do not ever hear them in their lifetime, no matter how many times they step into a pathway." He sighed and picked her up easily, heading back to the courtyard so he could put her to rest. At once his voice was more business-like, as if the whole ordeal of before was nothing more than a memory now and he was back in future-taiyoukai mode. "This tired you. I should not have done such a thing, allowing one as untrained in her power as you, to venture so deep. In truth I did not expect you to grasp so much of it."
"'Is fine." Kagome murmured into his shoulder, shifting to get more comfortable. With the strength she felt running through the skin barely containing his youkai she expected him to be much harder and rougher than he was. She was grateful he wasn't.
"Kiyoshi." Toga didn't so much as say it as whisper it to the night, sending a pulse of his yokai along with the call to insure his brother would hear and obey. Only seconds and the youkai appeared, bending to one knee to hear what would be so urgent that he would be forced away from the festivities. "Inform my mother and father that Kagome was forced to retire early and will most likely sleep through tomorrow. She expanded too much energy today and, although she wishes not to upset them, needs her rest or else she would only embarrass them by keeling over during dinner."
Kiyoshi nodded, barely risking a glance at the limp form in his general's arms, and disappeared with nary a sound. He, fortunately for the three of them, missed the way Kagome lifted a hand to thump Toga's chest and her miffed reply, "Embarrass indeed. You're such a jerk, Toga."
xx
"Lord Kane, Lady Nerina, how wonderful you were able to join us this evening." Ayaka smiled disarmingly at the father and daughter duo that had walked over to greet her, inwardly berating herself for allowing Kaemon to slip away and now she had to visit them on her own. "We hadn't expected you to come; you always seemed so busy in the past."
Kane, a simple human who held power over a few humans that held the looks of common japanese-dark hair and dark eyes-looked well for a man in his late fifties who cleaned up well. His scent was also simple-oldish, money, wine, and slight deception and boredom.
His daughter was another matter altoghether. Having obviously inherited her mother's looks she had the lighter hair color of those from the north, almost the color of dead grass in its light brown. Her eyes were a cool orangish-brown, made more muddied by darker hues of brown above and below them. Her cheeks held spots of color but if that was from powder or expectation Ayaka couldn't tell. She wore a smooth kimono that looked as if it had been cut lower than had been tailored above the chest, tied with a maiden's knot at the waist to signify that she belonged to Lord Kane and, if any were to seek her as a potential mate, they must enquire through him. Personally Ayaka believed it should be the butterfly bow, the denotation of a whore but who was she to say anything and offend one of the few humans in loyalty to her house? She was small, delicate in nature but there was a darkness around her that neither she nor Kaemon could get a grasp on but knew was dangerous. It was why they never allowed her to get too close to anyone in their family, but they had to tolerate her.
"Lady Ayaka. I was hoping to see your mate but he must be busy." Kane muttered, an utterance that would seem rude to others but those gathered knew he meant it as a business venture. And he always muttered, a known fact so she didn't mind that as well.
"He will be back soon, if you wait by me. He's just making his rounds. Lady Nerina, you look well. The air in the south is treating you well?" She inquired to be polite.
"Yes it is, thank you for asking. Tell me, where is Lord Toga? I was hoping I could converse with him on a matter of upmost importance but he appears to be missing." Nerina's eyes were looking to and fro, like little beads of light.
"I sent Kiyoshi to summon him a little bit ago. Here he is; tell me, where has my son disappeared to?" Ayaka was secretly grateful for the appearance of the youkai, and that he didn't have Toga with him.
Kiyoshi bowed his head but didn't kneel, as he had done earlier. "I sought out Toga as you asked, milady. He informed me that on their walk the Lady Kagome became quite tired and was forced to retire. Both send their regrets that they had to cut their time short this evening." That was all he said, deliberately misleading the three. Toga could use the extra points where he was concerned.
"What? Who is this Lady Kagome? And what was she doing with Lord Toga?!" Nerina forced her voice to remain mild and disinterested where inside she was shrieking. How dare that wench move in on her territory already?!
Dun dun dun; cliffy! I think you guys get the gist of this though. And, honestly, I have no idea where that middle part came from! But hey, it gave me the slightly fluffy moment I wanted and helped me to remove the block of writer's I often obtain-say what?-and move this story along so you should be happy. HEY GUYS! I've recently found out that in a year and a half I'll be moving to Texas so right now we're renovating our house, which means home construction and not much time to write, like I ever had any before. But actually I'm hoping the noise and falling debris and new scenery will stimulate my brain. REVIEW PLEASE!!!!!!!!! And if any of my wonderful readers, who I love so VERY much for all the amazing reviews 333333, live in Texas, then I might come across you in a year or so! If not, well then, I'm moving farther away from you.
Ayame