Ebony
Chapter 8
Youko sped back to the market place in search of the vendor that held the bathing supplies. The scent of it still fresh on his mind he tried to use it to find his destination. It seems though that whoever the vendor was, they either did not sell it anymore or they travelled. Walking through there he looked at all the stands to find anything that might help the situation. He had thought at first he should bring the women with but they were all out cold. If they came under attack the four males would have a hard time defending five unconscious females. He decided to go alone and drag the vendor to his home after he knocked him unconscious if he found him.
He came up empty handed and it puzzled him. Did the vendor not know of the sleepy side effect or did he have too hard of a time tracking them that he couldn't do what he planned? Deciding on the latter he turned home, already coming up with a plan to get the powder out of their system.
Meanwhile at the fortress, Yomi and the others kept tabs on the women. They worked on cleansing the spring but knew it would be some time before they entirely got rid of the substance. If they could get Kagome awake again they figured she could purify it but if it is not demonic then that would be a problem and also why she did not know the danger in that powder.
"Doesn't lemon juice help clear the body of toxins?" Kuronue questioned.
"Yes, but it might not work fast enough. I think we should find another possibility and combine them." Aki suggested as his forehead wrinkled in concentration.
"Sweating?" Yomi suggested. He had heard that sweating out an illness would help one recover faster.
"So lemon juice to help force it out and somehow making them sweat. We still have to keep them hydrated too. Should we take them back to the other portion of the spring or pile on the furs?" Kuronue looked at the other two as they tried to agree on the best method.
Youko arrived then empty handed. Usually it would be surprising but being the vendor had two whole months to make his escape, it wasn't very shocking. Plus they had no description or scent of the demon, just the powder. He looked at them expectantly.
"No change in either of them but we might have a way to wake them up faster. Lemon juice and sweating; either in the springs or in the room under the furs should get the sleeping powder out of them. We would have to change the bedding often but it might get them waking up within a few days." Aki threw out there; returning Youko's gaze to see if he had a better solution or disapproved of this one.
"I had similar thoughts and other methods. Yours sounds easiest, we shall try it first." Youko assigned them all tasks and they all dispersed to get it done besides Youko. He stopped in the room holding the women and went straight to Kagome, wanting to see her. He felt guilty. Had he not been keeping his distance he might have discovered the powder before she used it. He was only relieved a little that it only seemed to be a sleeping potion, nothing more but he still did not want to let his guard down just in case there is more to this than it seems.
Heading out of the room he flexed his fists to keep his cool as he got busy helping the other males get what should cure the women. Eyes flashing a glowing red for a split second, he took off gathering the materials.
Another day passed and they were all feeling edgy as they seemed to make no progress with the women. They washed and changed the bedding several times a day. They even had to help the women with not relieving their bowels and bladders in bed. After a whole day of this, they relocated the women to the opposite side of the springs so it was easier to take care of them as they left to make another batch of watered down lemon juice and clean all the bedding again. Youko also made broth to get another form of nourishment in them and went hunting to find nourishment for the rest of them.
The rest of his clan was put on watch, not allowed to party or anything while they had a crisis with the five unconscious women. Not daring to say no since they have had it quite easy usually, they all took up shifts and patrols to ensure nothing sneaked up on them. His men did feel quite curious as to the mystery evolving around the women but figured they would not hear more unless it was important.
All through the night they kept themselves busy and prepared themselves for using other methods to rouse the sleeping beauties. None understood just what was coming to play but they still stayed alert as they expected anything and everything.
Yomi was the one to break the silence. "Do you think we should send a few of the men to gather information? Go to a tavern and see if any others had similar experiences." The other three males perked up at the suggestion. Immediately, Youko set out orders for some of his men to change into casual clothing and gather information, see if any rumor or problems similar to this could be found. At least they would know if it could be an isolated incident, maybe even an accident although he doubted that.
Eight of his men left going in different directions to locate any information. All of them heading to taverns as they were the best places to go to since lips were often loose under the influence of alcohol. Youko and the rest of the men finished cleaning up the bedding and laying out dried furs before they proceeded to return the women to the room they would be staying. They also setup their own bedding, staking out the four corners of the room to get their own rest as they guarded them.