Chapter 24: Allies of the West
It took a couple of days to get to their destination, but soon enough Kagome's pack arrived to where Bokusenō lived. He was greatly surprised that a dragon demon had a holy sword. When Bokusenō had asked him how he obtained it, Masahiro gave him the whole story. He kindly gave Masahiro a scabbard for Sukaiburēdo.
"Thank you, Bokusenō-sama." Masahiro thanked, bowing at the wise tree yōkai.
"A sword like Sukaiburēdo deserves a good scabbard for its incredible power." Bokusenō said in a deep voice.
"Bokusenō-sama." Masahiro said.
"Hai?" Bokusenō asked.
"I must ask you something." Masahiro requested.
"And what might that be?" Bokusenō asked.
"Where can we find allies in our quest?" Masahiro asked.
A small, but powerful wind blew throughout the forest. Bokusenō's eyes closed for a moment while his branches rustled at the wind. Then he opened his eyes after a short silence between them and stared at the young dragon prince.
"My advice to you, young prince: request for Lord Sesshomaru's assistance in the upcoming battles." Bokusenō replied, "He will refuse at first, but if you mention Naraku, he will give you his aid."
"I doubt that, Bokusenō." Totosai said in a bored tone as he sat on Momo, his demon ox. He knew that Sesshomaru would never ally himself with one of Ryūkotsusei's kin. Afterall, he was the one who caused Inu no Taisho's death. Well, he was the cause of Taisho's heavy wounds to be most precise.
"Koga, the wolf prince will also help you. Ayame, the white wolf princess will be to help you as well." Bokusenō said, ignoring Totosai's comment. He knew the swordsmith didn't favor Sesshomaru very much since he tried to kill him when he wanted a better sword than Tessaiga.
"I will take your advice, Bokusenō-sama." Masahiro said.
"I wish you luck, Masahiro." Bokusenō said.
"Thank you, Bokusenō-sama." Masahiro thanked as he bowed once more towards Bokusenō. Then his face slowly faded into the tree. When Bokusenō's face was gone, Masahiro and the others soon decided their next goal in their quest: find Lord Sesshomaru of the Western lands, Koga the wolf prince, and Ayame the white wolf princess.
Kagome sensed a familiar aura coming towards them after they left the forest of where Bokusenō resided. It belonged to someone that she didn't expect to encounter: Lord Sesshomaru. Unexpectedly, he suddenly appeared in the middle of the path they were walking on. Kagome could see his golden eyes staring at her while he stood in front of her new companions. It was like he was observing them within a comfortable distance between each other. But she was very uncomfortable with him when he stared at her. It was she was being watched like a hawk.
Tomoe ran behind her, scared of the mighty dog demon. Tomoe had heard the tales of Lord Sesshomaru. She heard that he despised hanyō. Well...he mostly hated his younger half-brother, Inuyasha who is also a hanyō. She clutched onto Kagome's blue hakamas.
"Sesshomaru, what brings you here?" Hansuke asked, curious to why his cousin decided to show himself soon after they decided to look for him.
"It's none of your concern, Hansuke." Sesshomaru replied in a flat tone at Hansuke. He frowned at the tone of his cousin's voice. He knew that Sesshomaru didn't have much respect for him because his mother fell in love with a human.
He'll never let that one go. Hansuke thought.
Sesshomaru turned his head towards Kagome who was standing near Hansuke. Then he stared at Masahiro and the others.
"Miko, why do you and your kit travel with my cousin and one of Ryūkotsusei's kin instead of my foolish half brother, the demon slayer, the fire neko, and the cursed monk?" Sesshomaru questioned.
Kagome clenched her teeth and started to tremble. She didn't want to answer the question, it was too painful to answer. She knew that Inuyasha was enchanted at the time, but...she was still angry with him for choosing Kikyō over her. Actually, he always favored Kikyō over her when it came to danger. Enchanted or not. The group noticed her reaction to Sesshomaru's question. They knew the topic of Inuyasha and Kikyō was a sensitive one.
"He found a replacement." Kagome answered.
"Replacement?" Sesshomaru asked, his brow arched.
"Kikyō." Kagome replied, "But now she's returned to being dead."
"I see." Sesshomaru understood. He knew that his half brother would choose the dead miko sooner or later. It was no surprise to him. He also knew that his brother seemed to have favored more of the dead miko than of the living miko.
"Any movements from Naraku?" Kagome asked, changing the subject.
"None. There hasn't been much activity lately." Sesshomaru replied.
"I see." Kagome understood. She thought that Naraku would attack Sesshomaru or her group since she wasn't around and unneeded.
Sesshomaru walked over to her and held his hand out that revealed two sacred jewel shards, "I retrieved them from a snake demon that I defeated. I didn't trust the dead miko." He dropped the shards into Kagome's hands. The shards were purified once they landed in her hands.
"Thank you, Sesshomaru-sama." Kagome thanked him as she took out her bottle of jewel shards and put the two shards inside.
"Another question I have for you." Sesshomaru said.
"Hai?" Kagome asked, putting the bottle back underneath her clothes.
"Why is that dragon's scent on you?" Sesshomaru asked.
"Masahiro is courting me." Kagome replied, nodded.
"You're courting a dragon?" Sesshomaru asked, curious to why the miko was courting a dragon demon.
"Hai." Kagome said.
"You do know that he is a relative of the dragon who fought against my father?" Sesshomaru asked.
"Hai. But Masahiro is nothing like Ryūkotsusei." Kagome stated, stern.
"Is that so?" Sesshomaru asked, his brow arched once more.
"Hai." Kagome nodded again.
"Kagome is telling the truth, Sesshomaru." Hansuke stated.
"I was talking to the miko, not you Hansuke." Sesshomaru said.
An irk appeared on the back of Hansuke's head. He agreed with his first thought: Sesshomaru will never respect him. Never.
"KAGOME!" A young female voice said from above them. The group saw a two headed dragon, Ah-Uhn, landing beside Sesshomaru with Rin and Jaken on its back.
"Rin!" Kagome said when she saw the small, black haired girl jump off the two headed dragon and ran towards her. Rin leaped onto her mid-section and Kagome gave her a short twirl with her. After she carefully put Rin back onto her feet, she noticed that her pack was curiously staring at young, little Rin.
"Everyone, this is Rin. Rin, this is Tomoe," Kagome said pointing at Tomoe, "Masahiro," Pointing at Masahiro, "Hansuke," Pointing at Hansuke, "And Akari." Pointing at Akari, "You also remember Shippo, right?" Rin nodded. Hansuke walked up to Rin who was staring at him.
"So you're Rin, huh?" Hansuke asked, gazing at the little girl.
"Hai, how do you know me?" Rin asked, pointing at herself.
"Sesshomaru's servants told me about you." Hansuke smiled at her.
Sesshomaru's brow twitched at the mention of his servants telling his cousin about Rin. He made a mental note to warn his servants about telling personal information to certain demons.
"How do you know Lord Sesshomaru?" Rin asked, curious of Hansuke.
"I'm his cousin." Hansuke replied. Rin's eyes widened at the revelation. Then she quickly spotted Tomoe.
"Can I touch your ears, Tomoe? They look so cute and soft!" Rin said, excitedly.
"Um...sure." Tomoe said, nervously. She never expected a human to ask right out to touch her ears. Then Jaken decided to break the short silence between Tomoe and Rin.
"Rin, you shouldn't go near this hanyō!" Jaken said while pointing at Tomoe, "Who knows how dangerous she is! She could b-" Jaken never got to finish because Kagome sent him flying headfirst into a nearby tree.
Sesshomaru smirked at Kagome as she watched Jaken slowly peeled himself off of the tree. He was about to punish Jaken, but Kagome beaten him to it. Even though he didn't know much about the lion hanyō cub, he felt he could trust her. He had heard about her father. He was a powerful lion demon who fell in love with a ningen onna. He was from the lion clan who was allied to the panther demons of the South, but he left his clan after the onna was pregnant with his child. He couldn't understand why a powerful lion demon would leave his clan for a ningen. Was it the same reason for his father as well?
Tomoe, Shippo, and Rin were chasing Kagome and Akari in a field filled with flowers. Masahiro, Hansuke, and Sesshomaru kept a watchful eye on them from a distance. Totosai and Momo were at an even safer distance from the three powerful demons. He knew that Sesshomaru was mad at him for making a sword for Ryūkotsusei's nephew. Luckily the inu demon didn't kill him.
"Sesshomaru-sama." Masahiro said, looking at the 'Killing Perfection'.
"Hm?" Sesshomaru asked as he turned away from the children and the two women and he glanced at the dragon demon.
"I was hoping that you would help us in our quest." Masahiro said. Sesshomaru was silent as he continued to stare at Masahiro.
"That's not all you need me for, is it?" Sesshomaru asked, narrowing his golden ember eyes.
Masahiro sighed when he was narrowing his eyes at him. He knew that he couldn't lie to an inu daiyōkai. They always know what the truth is and what is a lie. Also that you'll be dead if you lie to them.
"But can you also help me fight against my older brother, Shinji?" Masahiro asked.
"Why should I?" Sesshomaru asked. He was curious to why he should help the relative of the dragon who gravely wounded his father which lead to his death. What made him more curious to why the younger brother wants to fight against his older brother.
"Shinji is ruling the Eastern lands and plans to rule the Western lands as well. I believe that he has Naraku's aid." Masahiro said. This caught Sesshomaru's attention.
"I'll be your ally of the West, Masahiro." Hansuke declared.
"You will?" Masahiro asked, turning towards his all but blood brother.
"Of course, we're brothers after all." Hansuke replied, smiling at Masahiro.
"You're brothers with the dragon, Hansuke?" Sesshomaru asked, his brow arched. He wondered how his cousin and the dragon demon were related. They were two different species after all.
"His mother was friends with my mother. They were like sisters." Hansuke replied.
"Hn." Sesshomaru said. That somewhat made sense to him. He could never understand the bond between two different kinds of demons. Sesshomaru turned his head away, observing his ward and her friends as they chased Jaken around the field. It always amused him when Rin would always put a necklace of flowers on the toad demon, not that he would admit it or show it.
"Sesshomaru-sama, if Shinji is using Naraku's help, that means that he'll try to take over the Western lands." Hansuke stated.
There was a silence between the young dragon demon prince and the inuyoukai lord of the West. Sesshomaru turned towards Masahiro, seeing the determination and will to defeat any enemy that comes his way: in his amethyst-colored eyes. The same eyes as his father, Lord Inu no Taishō of the Western lands.
"Fine, but I'm only helping you until Naraku is defeated." Sesshomaru accepted.
"Thank you, Sesshomaru-sama." Masahiro said as he bowed towards Sesshomaru.
After gaining their new ally, Kagome's pack went on towards to find their next allies: Koga, the wolf demon prince and Ayame the white wolf princess.
Inuyasha sat up in a tree while staring up at the big blue sky. He had been sitting on the same branch ever since he and the others came back after Kikyō died. He gave her remains to Kaede, who put them back in her grave and placed a seal on it in order to prevent history from repeating itself. The others began to worry about Inuyasha because he had never been this quiet in a while. Actually, he has never been this quiet. Especially when it comes to Kagome.
"Inuyasha." Kaede called down from below. She was also worried for Inuyasha's well-being. Even though he was a jerk, he still had a caring heart underneath all of his stubbornness shell.
"We're having some lunch right now. It would be a good idea to have some food in your stomach before you starve." Kaede announced.
"I'm fine. I can last a whole week without food." Inuyasha denied, huffed.
At that moment, his stomach growled. Kaede gave a small chuckle when she heard Inuyasha huffed again. She knew he was trying to tough it out that he was hungry.
"Perhaps I'll have a bite or two." Inuyasha said as he jumped off the branch and landed next to Kaede.
When Inuyasha and Kaede returned to the hut, they noticed that Myoga was sitting between Kirara and Miroku while they held their bowl of stew and he was drinking tea from a mug.
"What news do you bring us, Myoga?" Miroku asked. He was curious to why Myoga had come back within two weeks since the last time he came to report to them. He thought that he would come within a month or two. Inuyasha sat next to Kirara while Kaede sat next to Miroku.
"Kagome and her friends defeated the revived Yamata no Orochi." Myoga replied.
"Yamata no Orochi was alive?" Kaede questioned, shocked that the mighty eight-headed dragon was alive.
"Yes. Yamata was revived by a corrupted golden dragon, who turned out to be an apprentice to Ryūkotsusei. But they managed to rescue the village children and defeated the dragon. It was a great battle and two of their friends were given new weapons as well." Myoga answered.
"What kind of weapons?" Sango asked, curious.
"Masahiro received Sukaiburēdo and Hansuke was given the Hasshōdō staff." Myoga said.
"Sukaiburēdo?!" Sango exclaimed.
"Hasshōdō?!" Miroku exclaimed.
Inuyasha winced at the volume of Miroku's and Sango's shouts. Then he blinked at the mention of the names that Myoga had just said.
"Whose Sukaiburēdo and Hasshōdō?" Inuyasha asked, confused. Miroku, Sango, Kaede, Myoga, and even Kirara blinked at the dumbfounded Inuyasha.
"Sukaiburēdo which is also known as the Sky Blade, is a holy sword that was made from a fang of a golden dragon and blessed by one of the Kami." Sango explained, "The sword disappeared after the golden dragons were all slaughtered by Ryūkotsusei."
Inuyasha stiffened at that moment. He couldn't believe that Ryūkotsusei would killed a whole clan of dragon demons. He couldn't believe that the dragon demon would destroy one of his own kind.
"Hasshōdō is a powerful staff, known as the Noble Eightfold Path, that once belonged to a powerful being that had reiki and youki inside of himself." Miroku added, "He disappeared after Susanoo killed Yamata no Orochi."
Inuyasha was very interested in the two weapons that Miroku and Sango had just mentioned. Even though Tessaiga was powerful, somehow he felt the two weapons were more powerful than his. He pouted at the thought.
"It seems to me that both of the weapons have demonic, yet holy powers in them." Kaede stated. She was surprised that two different demons were able to handle that kind of power. Since Masahiro is a dragon, he would be able to wield Sukaiburēdo. But only one of the golden dragons would be able to. Hansuke was another story though. If he is able to wield the staff, then he could possibly be a reincarnation of Hasshōdō. After all, you don't meet many demons that have holy powers.
"I agree with you, Lady Kaede." Miroku agreed. He was most intrigued that Hansuke is able to wield the Hasshōdō staff. Would that mean that Hansuke has youki and reiki within him? If so, how come he never showed his use of reiki to him? Maybe he showed it to his father when the both of them were hunting for Naraku.
"Aside from their new weapons." Myoga said, "I believe that Masahiro, the dragon prince, has an interest in Lady Kagome."
"WHAT?!" Inuyasha exclaimed as he quickly stood up.
"Really, Myoga?" Sango asked. She was surprised at the news. She didn't expect a dragon demon to have a love interest in her friend. Well, Koga was a wolf demon who has an interest in her. But Kagome was never interested in him. As long as Kagome is happy with the dragon demon prince, that's all that matters to her. She smiled at the thought.
"Hai, I believe he already asked to court her before I left." Myoga replied, "I can tell that he's very affectionate towards Lady Kagome."
