A/N: Happy holidays and thanks for reading.
Constant exposure to the building's spiritual bind on youkai abilities was taking its toll on him. He'd noticed over the months, now nearly a year that he'd spent here. Of course he was hindered during his watch, but at first that was the extent of it. Then his attack abilities outside began to dwindle. Soon after, it was his sight and hearing. He was not blind, nor was he deaf by any means, but he was more impaired. He imagined it was how humans must feel most of the time. He could heard fine, but the special sharpness he had with tones before was gone. The brilliant colors and distance sight was gone now, as well as his feline ability to see in the dark. Even with the loss of his hearing and night vision, he hadn't been so angry as he had been at the realization he was becoming head blind.
It was the other night when his mate sat between his legs with her back resting against his chest. His clawed fingers slightly circled over her swollen abdomen and she spoke with him.
"Sorry." He hated to ask and was happy he didn't need to. She'd gotten used to his less adequate hearing.
She stroked his cheek as she repeated herself. "He's going to be coming soon." She directed her gaze to her own distended belly.
That's when it hit him. He couldn't sense the cub's aura and he could barely smell his mate when he wasn't within touching range. Both of these together took away the most important part of his youkai self. At least to him. Without sight, he was still a panther youkai. Lacking hearing did not affect what made him what he was. But the fact that he could no longer smell his mate's scent from afar when that was what initially attracted him to her (as was the case with most panther youkai mating), and he could not read the aura of his own cub well enough to know the sex—it was appalling. That was what took his sense of self away.
The black skinned guard growled to himself as he gripped his sword. What was happening to him could very well be permanent. For this, he hated his lord.
In whatever ways the binding on the prison was a downfall for the panther guard, it was a great aid for Shippo as he hopped past the feline without so much as breaking the guard's concentration. His aura, which would always be a dead give away no matter his form, was completely hidden from the guard thanks to the securities put in place by his lord.
Shippo himself did not take the time to ponder this, as he was in a hurry and the panther youkai's badly dealt hand was the least of his worries. As he felt the moonlight touch his fur, he could feel the youkai within him grow more dense. Surprised that although the dungeon was below ground, there was no lord's keep over the structure as there normally would be. In fact, as Shippo looked around, he noted that there was no keep to be seen. There was nothing at all.
The young fox whined softly into the night, free from the barrier of the prison. He had no clue where they were. Judging from the time of night, he didn't think Sumi and he could have been brought too far from Kaede's villiage, but he had never seen such a place before. He though he was completely familiar with all that surrounded the older miko's home at least for a fifty mile radius. Of course, if they had been kidnapped by a who could cover large distances quickly, there was no telling how far they'd come.
He didn't need to worry about that now. What he needed to do was find a way to get Sumi out without having to go back in himself.
That was when a dark figure emerged from the underground holding area. Shippo's nose told him instantly that it was the panther guard who he'd just snuck past—or so he thought. The humanoid ears at the side of the male's head twitched as he turned towards the small fox figure. Shippo held his breath, sure he was toast.
The guard could barely hear the small pants from the tiny fox in front of him, but it had caught his attention as he stormed away from his post. It was simply a fox from what he could tell. It was small like a fox rather than a youkai's beast form, and it held no aura of anything unusual. He growled to himself. Not that he'd be able to feel such an aura if there was one or smell anything out of the ordinary. It was for those reasons that not two minutes ago, he broke his sword over his knee and stormed out of the prison, effectively ruining his career.
Shippo thought the panther could pass for a human if not for the pointed ears, sleek tail, and onyx colored skin. He was a large, wiry guard, and the teen found he'd rather not have to fight him if it came down to that. And, with how the panther was staring at him, Shippo was sure the feline knew that he was no ordinary fox.
The small fox seemed to twitch in front of him, nearly shaking. The guard pitied the foolish thing. He wasn't going to harm it, but he was sure his simple presence frightened it greatly. He was torn between attempting to soothe it and vacating. He wished to go home and see Morita, his pregnant mate.
With a soft sigh, the panther youkai shrugged and took a step toward the young fox. "Alright there. I'm not going to hurt you. Just go back into the woods." He felt ridiculous as he waved his hands in a small "shoo shoo" gesture.
The small fox did as told and scrambled under a small bush nearby. The guard held back a chuckle—really; he'd always been a bit of a soft heart for small furry animals. He began to walk away from the underground prison to his home, which he should probably relocate soon since he may piss off his lord by simply leaving on duty. He stopped and held out his palm, running his finger over the lines. The nagual—she was still in her cell with her young fox youkai.
He closed his hand into a fist, his claws biting into his flesh just a bit. He had such poor control over the retraction anymore. He grimaced. She was by all purposes rightfully his lord's property. The nagual had come over on the ship with him, and he as a simple guard had no right to fight that system. And maybe if he didn't have a mate and cub on the way, he wouldn't care if he pissed off a strong lord, but he did have those things. The panther growled lowly at himself. He'd always prided himself on dignity, and so far this year, he'd taken a disgusting post as guard for a disgusting lord's holding area. The coward didn't even have the nerve to park his keep anywhere near the dungeon. He'd done this because it was insinuated that all those in the region who did not take up service to the new lord would be hunted. It hadn't seemed worth the fight so newly mated.
But the young woman was just like Morita. She was probably a very similar age. She may not have been a youkai, but even he could remember her scent had been so close to that of his own. She was not below youkai, that much he knew, and he had always been an oddity in his more liberal attitude toward other youkai. He barely lived by traditional law himself, mating for the first time at such a mature age and ignoring most females' heats until then. The only other youkai he knew that had waited longer than him was Lord Sesshomaru of the Western Lands, a taiyoukai he knew little about, but had met in passing once and respected greatly.
Grunting at himself and his own impulsiveness, Ueda, the guard turned back and fled from the moonlight into the building below.