Pointless to Argue
The next morning everyone walked along, chattering as usual while Inu yasha remained cool and quiet. Inu yasha was jus itching to tease his older brother about having a nightmare but Kagome had said that if he did she'd sit him twenty times in front of his brother. In other words he had to keep his mouth shut. He was pretty sure everyone else knew about the nightmare too but none of them were brave enough to bring it up, Inu yasha thought darkly, sulking as he walked beside Kagome with Shippou's useless chatter ringing in his ears.
"Uncle Inu yasha?"
"Hmm? What?" Inu yasha demanded to know as he looked at Sora, his niece in the future apparently as weird as that sounded. She looked so much like him though so it was kinda hard not to believe she was Sesshoumaru's pup. His brother had such a girlie face.
"I wanted to thank you. For not bringing up last night with father. I know how much you must want to." Sora said quietly, low enough that she hoped her words wouldn't reach her father's keen ears. No one had ears like her dad, especially when he was already on the alert for trouble. "Thank you."
"No biggie." Inu yasha replied, feeling a little guilty for being thanked for doing something he was being forced not to. Normally he would have taunted Sesshoumaru into a fight but now wasn't the time for it and beside he couldn't fight Sesshoumaru with Sango attached to the bastard the way she was. Besides if he killed his brother then that meant Sesshoumaru's children would never have existed which would be a bad thing as much as it pained him to admit. Sora was coming in handy anyway.
)
"It is, you likely saved your life not bring it up. Father's always at his worst after that particular dream. Especially when it comes to you." Sora said with a knowing look in her eyes, a certainty that was a little scary. She knew all about that dream and since she couldn't stop her father from having them she would simply make it clear that reminding her father of it was a very, very big no no.
"That bad a dream huh?" Kagome whispered having been listening in on the conversation. Apparently this bad dream wasn't a one time deal and Kagome doubted very much Sesshoumaru would have told the girl about it. In other words this was a dream that had been plaguing the lord for years and years. "It must take a lot to scare him." That was an understatement. She'd never seen Inu yasha's brother look afraid or even all that upset about anything. Even when he was angry it was always a cold rage, never with out of control heat and anger. She and Sango didn't call him the ice king sometimes for no reason.
"Not a dream so much as a memory. One that he doesn't like to remember. I suppose I should have been more specific though. I didn't mean that reminding him would make him kill you..I meant I might." Sora said with a dead serious look on her face as she met Inu yasha's eyes squarely. "At the very least you'd have never been able to walk again." Her message clear Sora walked away to walk beside her father, her head high and shoulders back, his mirror image.
)
"She's serious." Kyou said from behind Kagome and Inu yasha, Shippou getting a riding on his little brother's shoulders. "No idea what she means by memory but you could see in her eyes she was serious. It's all in the eyes with her."
"That memory is not one that should not be prodded." Andrea said from Kyou's side, her eyes scanning the areas for trouble since no one else seemed to be doing it at the moment. Sora and Lord Sesshoumaru might be but with those two you could just never tell.
"Hey, wait a minute. He's my uncle, how come you know and I don't?" Kyou demanded, sending Andrea an insulted look. Of the two of them he was certainly the one that should know if it was worth knowing. Which it obviously was. Andrea was only related through marriage, he was blood dang nabit.
"Because no one ever tells you anything even remotely important." Andrea shot back sweetly, smirking when he sent her an I want to kill you right now look. "And it's wise to remember that the females in your family are all Daddy's little girls. They're particularly fierce when it comes to their father's well being whether it be physically or emotionally. In other words don't push your luck, baka."
"Well it was pretty obvious that Mika was going to be a Daddy's girl, she's so much like Inu yasha." Kagome said quickly before a fight could break out which would lead to loud words that might set off Sesshoumaru or Sora or even both.
"No kidding, it's scary how much they're alike. Mika is like Dad, Sora is like Uncle Sesshoumaru and Hermione is a lot like Uncle Kouga." Kyou agreed as he nodded his head, letting his mother distract him for the moment. "Then again all the women in our family are pretty tough and scary sometimes, even Rin and Hotaru."
)
"Since Hotaru apparently apologizes to everything she kills I can't quite see that." Inu yasha pointed out dryly, still just a little thrown off by Sora's warning. And Kyou was right, she'd meant it too. He must have really touched on a nerve for her to react that way. Just what memory did Sesshoumaru have that was so terrible?
"True but you've never seen her in full fighting form, Dad. When Hotaru had to fight to get Link back she was downright Mika scary." Kyou said with a mock shiver. "And damn but she kicked ass that night. I didn't though because they made me fight this little girl and I knew mom would kill me if I kicked her obnoxious little butt."
"It almost sounds like you guys were fighting a tournament with poor Link as a prize." Kagome said with a chuckle at the idea.
"That's how it was, pretty much." Kyou agreed, perfectly serious. "It was only supposed to be a fight between Hotaru and this other chick but the woman was being beaten so badly she called on this old rule and got it turned into a ten person event, two groups of five duking it out for Link. It was pretty cool all in all though, gotta love cat fights...OWW!" Kyou yelped when Andrea's elbow connected with his side painfully. "That hurt, damn it."
"Well duh, it was supposed to."
"You're so mean to me." Kyou said with a hurt look on his face, his side really hurting now. "Why can't you ever hit like a regular, inexperienced and shy girl who'd never dream of raising her fist to anyone? Cause oww but my side hurts."
)
"Big baby." Was Andrea's opinion on the whole thing. Sometimes she couldn't get why she even liked the little idiot,. Really she couldn't. "And that wasn't even a real fight, it was more of a us crushing the opponents at the speed of light fight. There weren't any cat demons involved for that matter. The only one of us that got hurt was you because you refused to fight back."
"The kid was half my size, a girl and had her hair in pigtails for Christ sake. What was I supposed to do, huh? Mom would have had my hide if I'd beat her up. You guys got the women and I got stuck with little Dennis Mitchell in female form. At least she was cuter then Margaret but that was all the more reason not to hit her." Kyou said as he made a face, this not a particular fun thing to remember about that night. "And I did win the match as you'll recall. One good bop to the head and the kid was out for the count. Dad taught me well."
"And why exactly did you get stuck with the little girl?" Inu yasha wanted to know.
"Well because in the eyes of bird demons men are the weak ones in comparison to women so they automatically stuck me with the weakest of their group, aka the little pigtailed pip squeak." Kyou said with a shrug. "Of course I preferred being in the audience with Link. I mean the guy was totally convinced Hotaru was gonna get her butt kicked but it's like I told him. The females in our family are mean and scary normally, throw in a full moon, their man being threatened and spring time and you're dealing with the scariest creatures known to man."
)
"I heard that, idiot." Sora called out and had Kyou going just a little paler then he was a second ago.
"I'm gonna pay for that later. She'll tell Mika and then they'll never find my spleen after she rips it out." Kyou said with a man walking towards his death look that was a little too exaggerated. He knew his sister would never actually rip out his spleen but it was one of her favorite threats against him. Odds were she'd punch him in the side too though and she was even meaner then Andrea.
"Wouldn't Hotaru have been weaker if it was a full moon?' Kagome asked under her breath so that Sesshoumaru wouldn't hear her.
"Oh no, actually. We kids do the complete opposite of Dad in terms of the whole moon thing. We're nearly twice as strong on a full moon and a few days after depending on how much of the moon's rays we've soaked up." Kyou said with a cheerful look on his face, always glad to talk about something, especially if he actually knew something about the topic.
"Wait a minute...so that would mean on full moons..Mika is twice as strong as she normally is." Inu yasha said slowly, a grin taking over his features. If Mika was tougher then any of Sesshoumaru's kids normally then she far surpassed them when it was full moon time. Oh but it just kept on getting better and better.
"Lets not talk about Mika and full moons..gives me nightmares." Kyou said with a mock shudder. "Anyway I hope everyone in the future is good and kicking ass. Not to mention figuring out how the hell to get us home at the end of this."
)
Meanwhile in the Future
"So Kiyoshi really thinks this place might exist?" Mina wanted to know as she read over her daughter's shoulder at the carefully copied out information in Kiyoshi's familiar hand. "Sounds like the stuff of folk lore made up by drunks with too much time and booze on their hands."
"Well he wasn't sure of course, you can't be without going there but he said he got the story from several different sources and usually if it's made up then it varies from place to place as it's embellished." Hermione pointed out, pushing black hair out of her eyes and behind her pointed ears. "And apparently people have been sent to check it out and never came back so that would indicate there is something there anyway. Something powerful."
"Which is why we should avoid it and look for some other way to get to the past." Shippou said with a shake of his head. "We can't help them if we're dead in some mountain range."
"You're such a sissy. I'm going anyway." Mika said as she sent her older brother a I'm tougher then you are look. "If there's a chance we can get to the past and kill Ferio I'm in. That bastard's got a date with death and I intend to deliver him there personally."
"You aren't in any condition to do any such thing. I'll remind you that when we left your keep Ronin was still down for the count and recovering and he's nearly a full demon." Ren said as he sent Mika a your a stupid idiot look. "And it's like Shippou said. We aren't any good to them dead."
"Boy but the men in our families are just big babies." Hermione said as she smirked at Shippou and Ren before looking over at her mother with a gleam in her eyes. "Guess it will be us three girls going to this mountain to check it out. Works for me, no dumb boys slowing us down."
)
"I'll go too. If you guys are going." Aiden said quietly, sitting on a rock as he watched them argue. Never one to talk unless it was necessary he thought he should put in his vote before things really got out of hand. Personally he didn't think it was such a great idea but if the girls were going then he was going to. After all there were few girls in this world he could handle being around, he wasn't going to lose three of them if he could help it. Especially Hermione. Looking over his sketchbook to stare at her and pretend like he wasn't Aiden sighed as he watched a huge argument break out about who was allowed to go and who wasn't. Typical, so very typical. Hearing laughter Aiden looked over to see Dare standing slightly apart from the group like him, obviously finding the whole thing amusing. "Aren't you going to try to help them talk the girls out of it?" Aiden wanted to know as he closed his book and turned to face Dare instead.
"As if anything I said would go through those thick skulls?" Dare replied with a chuckle and shake of his head. "Besides, with Mika and Aunt Mina along for the ride odds are it will be interesting at the very least."
"Well that's true. I wish that Kiyoshi could have come back with us, but I understand why he stayed." Aiden said, understanding the shadow that had crossed Dare's face. They'd been all set to head out for a visit to the wolf demon tribe when Kiyoshi had arrived home with a not looking so good Nomi who had apparently been killed protecting the stupid wolves and then been brought to life again thanks to Kiyoshi's dagger which contained a splinter of his father's life giving sword. Nomi had been fine of course but Kiyoshi had insisted on staying there with her and no one had really argued. So Dare had come along in his brother's place to kick some bad guy butt instead of helping out at home. So instead it had been Dare, Hermione and himself that had headed off to Hermione's home where they'd found the wolf tribe still alive and thriving. Which was good even though he was sure everyone had hoped that they'd at least find Manta dead, as mean as that was.
)
"Yeah, but Nomi will be fine, she's too stubborn to die. I remember when she was little she told Kiyoshi that she was going to marry him and stay by his side till the day he died. The squirt just might pull it off too." Dare said with a chuckle. Nomi almost dying had obviously shook his older brother up, he'd never seen his brother be the one sticking to Nomi like glue instead of the other way around. That was good though, Dare wanted more nieces and nephews anyway. Nothing attracted good women like adorable kids after all and he was thinking maybe he should start looking for a wife. He wasn't getting any younger after all even though he'd look this good a hundred years from now.
"Well here's hoping." Aiden agreed, thinking that his best friend was up to something. Then again when wasn't Dare up to something.
"We've decided that Mom, Mika, Ren, Shippou and you two are all coming with us!" Hermione called out to Dare and Aiden who just shrugged their agreement. They were used to the bossy women in their families telling them what to do.
"You two could have put in a little more input." Shippou said dryly as he walked over to give them a hard look. "They might have listened to you."
"When do they ever listen to us?" Dare wanted to know.
"Well there's a first time for everything." Shippou resorted grudgingly, not wanting to admit that they were likely right. He couldn't remember the last time he'd won an argument with any of the women he called family. At least when they were kids Mika, Hotaru and his female cousins had listened to him. Then they'd had to grow up and start telling him what to do. And they were really mean if they didn't get their way.
)
"And another time for them to beat us." Dare said with a good natured smirk, always having been one to go with the flow. After all the only female relatives he had to deal with on a regular basis were his grandmother, Mika and Hermione. Since he shared a building with Hermione and Mika it was kind of hard not to see them but Mika was a workaholic and rarely around which worked since she was the meanest of the female relations. Of course he had to visit his grandmother often but she always plied him with cookies and good stuff to eat, plus she was his grandmother and he loved her to pieces. No one was better at making you feel better then a doting grandmother with a true genius when it came to brownies. Of course he came home often to see his mom and sisters and the rest of the family but he didn't live with them anymore. Of course out of all his brothers he got along with the female species the best too. "So who's the poor bastard that's reporting to Kouga that his wife and beloved baby girl is going off to face unknown dangers in a perilous journey with no guarantees? Not to mention the fact that he'll be stuck watching the twins while they're grounded."
)
"Oh no, there is no way in hell you two are doing this and that's final." Kouga said as he crossed his arms in front of his chest, glaring at his mate. "And don't even think of siccing Hermione on me because I swear if you do I'm going to steal your favorite leather jacket and shred it to pieces. Just see if I don't."
"But if you did that I'd have to hurt you and you know how excited I get when you bleed." Mina said with a smirk on her face, more then capable of handling her mate. She'd been doing it for years after all. "And why can't we go? If it's about the twins then Hotaru said she'd be happy to help you watch the little monsters."
"No it's not about the twins. It's about you and Hermione getting torn to shreds by some unknown demon army or sorcery. And yes I know you have yet to discover anything that can kill you but there's a first time for everything. Plus Hermione can be killed and Sesshoumaru won't be there to bring her back."
"But all I would have to do is bring her corpse to him and he could fix it." Mina pointed out reasonably though the idea of carrying around her daughter's corpse didn't exactly sit well with her. She liked her baby fine and alive thank you very much. "And besides that who knows what this place will be like or if it even exists. We're just going to look and find out."
)
"And if it does exist you'll jump right in and to hell with whatever dangerous situations you might find yourself in." Kouga ranted, glaring at her now.
"You know me too well. Does the fact that we're going with several others help though? I mean, when you think about it, the combination of Mika, Ren and I is a pretty dangerous combination. Especially when you consider the rest of the party isn't exactly made up of slackers either."
"You aren't going and that's final."
They were going.