"Oh yes, the past can hurt. But, you can either run from it or learn from it." –Rafiki (The Lion King)
Two days into their travels, they ran into some slight trouble. Half way Kohaku had changed back into her original clothing and took out her two plats, opting to now wear them up in two puff balls, utilizing some silk from Yoru (it was very strong, and self-repairing) to hold her hair in position.
They were walking on a footpath at the edge of a forest, and the sun was high but indicating it was past noon. The heat gradually began affecting the teen who was slumped riding the two-headed dragon. Jaken was also roosted on top of the dragon, his small form leaning back to back with her. She took off her grey hoodie, exposing her sweat-dampened gray shirt to the surrounding air, releasing a sigh at the contact.
Just over yonder, she could see a village and a decently sized body of water. Kohaku was about to shout ahead to Sesshomaru, asking if it was okay to stop at the village so she could attempt to sell some of the herbs she found when from behind her she heard a noise. Turning to peek, she glimpsed a big shady brown humanoid figure with horns coming from the trees, its brawny arm crushing a tree, aggressively moving it out of its way. Whatever it was, the dirty green kosode it was wearing helped it blend with the trees and shadows slightly.
She let out a small yelp, gripping tightly to the bridles and attempting to usher the dragon to quickly move and catch up with Sesshomaru, but it was too late. Large bulging red eyes darted around as the thing's upturned nose sniffed the air, before landing on her panicked form. Too quick for someone of its size to be moving, it attacked taking hold of her in its meaty hands, knocking Jaken and the dragon aside. But before it could even truly do any damage Sesshomaru was there, his right-hand glowing green while his other grabbed her by the waist. He had severed the massive creature's left hand, its agonized roars filling the air.
The demon lord brought her over to the recovering dragon and imp, gently placing her down as Yoru came creeping from out of the fluff on his shoulder, snuggly positioning herself into the teen's arms. "Stay here," he instructed. All Kohaku could do was numbly nod as she clutched her spider. Turning away the dog demon proceeded to attack the creature that had dared to try and harm the girl when unexpectedly another one came from the woods. This one was grayish-blue and shirtless, only sporting some tattered brown pants. With an unruly mane of gray hair and pointed ears, its red sights went from the lord and then to her.
It let out a roar and ran to seize for her as well but Sesshomaru wasn't having it. His glowing clawed hand struck out fast, a green whip-like light shooting out and piercing the thing in its face. It hollered out in pain while the other which had lost its hand by now was infuriated and had attempted to take a swipe at the silver-haired male. Not even phased he hit that one as well and then with a fast swirl, he decapitated the beast. About to do the exact to the other, he leaped into the air and slashed the being in the neck, its head tumbling off its shoulders.
Not a drop of blood was on him as he landed back onto the dirt, dismissing the two now deceased orge demons he slew and instead focusing his attention on Kohaku. Her eyes were wide as she held on tightly to Yoru, the dragon standing protectively next to her as the imp was griping his staff nervously, at the ready in case another demon stood to try to attack while Sesshomaru was finishing off those two demons.
The teen was just in fright though. She's been here for at least a week and a half, and this was the first time something/someone had tried to put her in harm's way. Slowly she started to quiver as her mind went into overdrive. What if that thing decided to squeeze harder than it did? What if Sesshomaru wasn't quick enough to save her? What if he wasn't there at all? All these thoughts ricocheted around in her head, her breathing hastening and her hold nearly choking Yoru.
Wanting to try and refocus herself, Kohaku lowered down into a crouched position but it did not help much this time. "Come along," Sesshomaru called to Jaken and the dragon as he proceeded to scoop up the unresponsive teen into his arms. Worried, the tiny spider stuck within the teen's hold chirped in remorse. Diverting away from their initial original direction, he started to head due east towards a stony formation in the distance, that if his speculation was correct was not too far from the nearby village they spotted. But he wasn't going there.
Soon as the party got to the rocky area they steered towards a slight opening of a cave that was there. Sesshomaru had caught a scent of it earlier, the smell of moss and cavern moisture letting him know that inside had to have held a source of water somewhere. Striding inside, he didn't sense any indications of animals or demons occupying the shelter and went further in. The deeper they went, the more the temperature got cooler as vines and roots started to occupy the wall.
The space got darker until deeper inside minerals started to dimly shimmer and emit light into the place. The cave ended in an extensive opening with numerous gemstone formations and a crystal clear shallow source of water in the center of the cavern. In the epicenter of the defacto mini lake stood a tiny island with a tree, iridescent and reaching up to a small skylight above it.
Florescent moss shrouded some of the rocks close to the water, and greenery clung heavily to the walls and surrounding earth. Mushrooms shone and stunning blooms adorned the location, the dragon sniffing around before attempting to take a bite but sadly still had their masks on. "We'll camp here for the rest of the day and night. Jaken, unmask the dragon and start a fire." the lord ordered. "Uh...yes my lord," the imp readily agreed, getting to work of taking the two-headed dragons' masks off. The tiny man speedily moved to now collecting anything useful for building a quick fire, the staff of his bobbing as he ran around.
Satisfied that his vassal would complete the job in haste, Sesshomaru, with Kohaku and Yoru still in his arms, seamlessly drifted over the surface water and onto the lone island. He strode over to the single tree and sat down gracefully, making certain carefully nestle the teen into his lap and blanket her with his fluff. He could still feel her limbs quivering as her breathing was still coming out rapidly. Listening closely he could also hear her lowly murmuring in that language of hers.
"I want to go home. I want to go home. Please. Help me. Help me. Help me." she pleaded as small tears ran from her closed eyes and down her slightly red cheeks. "Oh, Amber..." the spider pitifully moaned as she snuggled closer to the teen. Sesshomaru lowered his chin to rest atop the girl's crown, shutting his eyes and letting out a resounding calm breath. From deep within his chest he started to softly let out a low comforting growl. It wasn't meant to be threatening and was almost the dog's equivalent of a cat's purr.
Taking calming breaths, Kohaku eventually corresponded her breathing to Sesshomaru's even ones. She allowed the rumble of his growl to ease her mind, enabling her to ground herself and slowly become more mindful of her surroundings. She took in his scent, burying her face into his chest plate, and unexpectedly a little broken growl came from her. She felt the lord's breath hitch briefly but he didn't stop growling either. All he did was just pull her further into his embrace.
Across the way, Jaken was in shock, watching as his master cradled the brown-skinned girl like she was a baby. Of all his years faithfully serving his lord, he has never seen him act so soft with someone. He's also never seen him give any female, either human, demon, or half-demon, the attention he gives Kohaku. Jaken will admit the girl wasn't ugly but he has seen far more beautiful women than her, even if she is considered an exotic beauty.
Taking a set by the newly lit fire he created, the imp sighed resignedly and just accepted that he won't understand his master's thinking anytime soon. The two-headed dragon had finished eating its fair share of fluorescent grass, the left letting out a yawn, the right snorting at the imp, as they flopped to the ground to rest. Knowing they won't be leaving until tomorrow Jaken made himself comfortable as well and began to snooze off into dreamland.
"Se...Sesshomaru? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to freeze up and lose myself like that. It's just...I...I", she stammered out before the lord interrupted her. "It is alright. You had a reason to be fearful. But this Sesshomaru also knows that you would not have remained down for long. You never did." he divulged. His hold eased so he could gaze upon her tear-stained face. She gazed back at him even as he gently grabbed ahold of her face, using the thumb of his right hand to brush her cheek clean. His face was apathetic but she saw how his stare seemed softer, compelling her heart to flutter erratically (she was sure he could hear it).
"Yeah! Yeah! Kohaku never let a beating bring her down for long~ kura-kura!" Yoru chirped up ruining the moment a bit. Kohaku let out a laugh because she knew the spider did that on purpose, she could tell by the way her mandibles wiggled. "Remember Sesshomaru? That time Kohaku wanted to train with you but that foolish general you were sparring with called her a stupid half-breed? And after making one of his underlings openly challenge her to a fight she couldn't reject, he humiliated her in front of everyone. Remember how after she was bruised and beaten to the ground, she forced her body to get back up, and she challenged him to fight her again, and again, and again? And even though she kept losing, she gained that underlings respect a little and he ended up coaching her until she eventually defeated him. Shame she didn't get to rub it in that idiot general's mug, he was mean for no reason."
"Yes, I remember. General Yuu was an insufferable man who waited until father passed, to attempt to kill me like a coward. He managed to escape me once, it won't happen again." the lord promised. Kohaku tried to see if she could put a face to the name, with a brief flash of a ruggedly handsome man sneering crossed her mind. She made a disgruntled noise as more unpleasant memories of the demon man surfaced.
From what her mind was providing, the general was an ape demon who was giant in stature but was jacked as hell. Clad in a dark blue kimono and hakama, black boots, and sporting red chest armor with gauntlets. His eyes were brown and always filled with disdain when looking at her, making the red markings underneath his eyes constantly crease and look like fangs. He was a man who did his position as a general well and gained the esteem of many others by leading and prevailing in numerous battles. But he was an asshole to her, and he like others saw her as a disgrace to demons.
"Huh? That's weird." the teen said confused. "Hmm?" Sesshomaru sounded. "Another memory. I remember that general. And his subordinate. What was his name again?" she asked. A thought appeared, of a nice young man dressed similar to General Yuu. He too was big and fit, with brown eyes and shoulder-length brown hair pulled into a low ponytail held by a red string. He too at first was mean to her but she remembered that after she had gotten up a third time after he had mercilessly beaten her to the ground, he had started to be nicer to her. He even went out of his way to secretly train her and tutor her in the art of war tactics.
"Kuro! Now it's coming back to me. His name was Captain Kuro. He became my friend. I wonder what happened to him." Kohaku reminisced. " He was General Yuu's ninth son. No one knows what happened, but he left his father's army and disappeared~ kura-kura." Yoru informed her, "Well, I'm done here now. You two need some reconnection time anyway~ kura-kura. Bye!"
The spider pushed herself out of the nest between the two and scampered across the water to take shelter on top of the sleeping dragon, one head lazily opening an eye to peak at the intruder before grunting in dismissal and going back to slumber. "It seems she is still dramatic as ever," Sesshomaru commented. That brought up a question for the teen.
"Hey, Sesshomaru? What was I like back then? When I was younger? How did we meet? Were we friends?" Kohaku fired off. She wanted to know now that she was accepting that she was more than human and that she had a past here in this era. She still didn't know how and doesn't fully remember but maybe talking about it could help her remember some more. It's been working like that so far.
"Hmm, you were three human years when we first met. Father had taken me out to the nearby forest to run around unrestricted in my true form," he started. "True form?" she asked. "Yes. This form is just something demons use to wander among humans more leisurely. Or to easier access areas we couldn't before due to our size. Now don't interrupt me." he warned. "Sorry." she quickly apologized.
"As I said Father had taken me to run in my true form. Everything was fine until a light appeared in the sky and started to fall towards us. Father had transformed back into his human form to catch whatever it was, at the time I did not know why he would do that. As he landed, he was cradling the object, whatever it was was releasing pitiful cries. I, still in my true form went over to see and was shocked to find in my father's arms you, a little brown-skinned girl. You were babbling in an unknown language, obviously confused and scared. Your hair was very curly, held up in a ponytail exposing your pointed ears. But when your wide amber eyes turned to look at me, something inside of me felt different. You reached out to me, calling me a puppy, and were wiggling to get out of my father's grasp. It seemed he knew what the word meant because he started to laugh, startling me and you. That's when you bit him and he dropped you by accident."
"Wait...I bit your father?" she questioned with a small smile. "What did I say about interrupting?" he growled playfully, pinching her in her side. Kohaku let out a squeal, peels of laughter escaping from her. She retaliated by attempting to reach up and nip his ear, ignorant that her canines had been slowly getting sharper since she'd been transported to this era. To her, it felt like the suitable thing to do. And it seems like she was right as it prompted a little game between the two.
The demon lord pushed the teen off of him not too harshly, causing her to tumble on the grass, giggling at the slightly irked expression he was wearing. Rolling into a crouch, she lowered herself close to the ground on all fours before launching herself at Sessomaru. He dodged her attack lazily, instead plucking her from the air and holding he close to his chest as he spun around. Her laughter rang into the cavern air, not too loud though as to not wake the others.
Using strength she didn't know she had, she was able to break free (secretly he allowed it) and landed on her feet unsteadily. Quickly Kohaku righted herself up, watching as Sesshomaru just stood back underneath the tree as if to taunt her, a barely noticeable smile on his youthful face. She bared her teeth at him playfully, again lowering her body to the ground to pounce.
"Oh it is on perrito," she growled out, and with a burst of speed flew through the air and tried to attach the lord head on. He met her half way, tackling the girl to the ground, their bodies getting tangled as they ended up rolling around on the ground.
Sesshomaru easily got Kohaku in a head lock, her struggling futilely to escape his grasp. "Cheater! You know your stronger! Release me or you'll regret it!" she squeaked out. " I'll regret it? Is that a threat?" he whispered in her ear, his warm breathe eliciting a shiver down her spine. As she angled her head to stare at him, the demon lord could see that her pupils were dilated, her gaze full of an emotion that was awakening something inside of him.
He was about to let her go until she decided to let out a battle cry and take a big chomp of his clothed forearm. The utter deadpan he gave her made her chuckle, and one thing most didn't know (his father surely knew from experience) was that Sesshomaru could be petty.
Still holding her in a headlock, he tightened his hold and slowly walked over to the waters edge. Kohaku amusement stopped when she saw where he was going. Now scared, and not wanting to play any more, she tried to escaped. But it was no use, he wasn't letting her break free this time. Tauntingly he held the teen over the edge, her now clawing at his arms to be released.
"Come on. You don't wanna do this Sesshomaru. You're a reasonable guy right? We can work something out." she pleaded. All he did was smirk viciously at her as he let his grasp loosen. In almost slow motion he watched as she fell bottom first into the undoubly cold water with a small splash. He watched as she flailed and sputtered helplessly, spitting her now wet hair from her mouth. "Fucking pretty boy and his unatural strength.I'll get you back for this. Just you wait."
"You and your threats are always the same." he told her as he gracefully went back to sitting under the luminous tree. She crawled her way out of the water, shaking herself dry like a dog before going and plopping herself beside the man. She stuck her tongue out at him before resting her head on his fur covered shoulder, now feeling tired from playing. But her mind was at ease now, and with a clear mind she was now able to make one thing clear. She needed to learn how to truly survive in this world.
The knowledge she has of foraging and camping in the woods would surely help, but what she really needed was the knowledge of fighting. With her memories still being foggy, she had little to no fighting experience to use to protect herself. Her dad did want to teach her how to protect herself after her mother's passing but she had declined. At the time she was still grieving and was too angry at herself to even want to learn.
"Hey Sesshomaru?" Kohaku quietly piped out, letting out a small yawn soon afterwards, her eyelids getting heavy but she turned towards him. "Hmm?" he grunted, tilting his head towards the girls awaiting tired gaze. She smiled softly, "I know I asked if you could teach me Japanese, but I was wondering...could you teach me how to fight? I don't want you to always have to go out of your way saving me. I refuse to be weak. I refuse to be defenseless. I refuse to become a victim. I will become strong, whether I like it or not."
He stared at the girl as she made her vow. It reminded him of his youth, back when she said these same words. Back then he believed in her words and even now as he watched as her amber eyes were tired but filled with a passionate fire, he believed her. And for the short while she was with him during his younger years, she did become strong. Strong enough that he and and a few other demons respected the small girl.
"I suppose I can teach you," the demon mused, staring out towards the water, "but I will not coddle you. As you said, you will become strong, whether you like it or not." Looking down at the girl after not getting a reply, he saw that she had fallen asleep, head nuzzled into his fur. Humming in amusement he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, resting his head on top hers. And though he didn't need sleep much, he decided to close his eyes, and allowed his self to rest just a bit.
Back in the present day, a man sat limply on a brown sofa, his gaze blankly staring at a picture on the creme painted wall. The picture in question was of a laughing little brown girl with dark brown course hair pulled into two puffballs, her amber eyes happily staring back him. She was being hugged by a woman who was also laughing, her light brown eyes gazing lovely at the little girl who shared most of her features.
The man let out a heavy sigh, as he looked at the picture, remembering the day he took it. They had been out visiting his great-mother-in-law at her home in the valley, enjoying the summer day barbequing and gardening. He had took the picture of the two females as they had just finished up helping the older woman cook, her telling them a joke that had made them last. He had took that moment to snap the picture, happy that his wife and daughter were enjoying their selves.
But they weren't here now anymore. One dead while the other was missing again. Tears welled up in his amber eyes as he thought about his little girl. Not long ago he lost his dear wife, and now it seemed like he was going to lose his oldest child. Why her? Hasn't she been through enough?
Deep down he knew she was still alive though. Even though he was informed that the chances of her being found alive was slim, he knew she was still out there. Just like years before when she disappeared, she ended up coming back, even if it was many years later.
"Dad? You okay?" a boys voice called from a doorway. Turning towards the voice, the man smiled tiredly at a his son. The boy was a year younger than his big sister, his birth a surprise back then. He looked alot like his sister too. Same colored skin. Same untamed hair. Same face shape. Same shaped eyes. But he had his mother's eyes color. Same shimmering light brown that stared at his with concern.
"I'm fine son. Just thinking." he told the boy. The son wasn't convinced, for he too wasn't okay. He was also affected by his sister's disappearance. Like all siblings they fussed and righted, but at the end of the day, his sister, even after years apart, would do anything for him. They love they had for each other was what held them together when their mom passed, and it pained him when he heard she may have been kidnapped again.
"I miss sis. I miss Amber, dad." the boy began to cry as he made his way over to his father, feeling like the child he was, and climbed into his dad's awaiting arms. They held each other as they cried for loved ones gone, alone in their empty home no longer filled with joy.
"I miss her too, Hunter. I miss her too."