Unwelcome Party Member

"Thank you for your gifts, Lord Sesshomaru!" the clan leader of the Bake-danuki clan said, bowing repeatedly. "I'm so sorry you witnessed our fatal squabbling! It's so embarrassing!"

"We don't know what to say," the clan leader of the Anaguma clan said, bowing deeply as well.

Sesshomaru and Jaken merely stood before the clan leaders and villagers with blank and pleased expressions, respectively. The Western lord had to admit, if only to himself, that this exchange was different compared to his years as ruler of the West. He could credit his newfound sense of compassion for becoming more open to saving others of his own accord, and he was kind of thankful that no one decided to occupy Meioshi's former haven for the children. It made him wonder for only a moment about the whereabouts of the patrons and adult laborers in all the chaos that ensued once the doctor set the village ablaze. It was somewhat unfortunate that the doctor put in so much work for so many years to build this place only for it to go to waste. Perhaps seeing his rival again after their battle wasn't simply a coincidence set up by the universe. In seeing her small village of young wards, he was able to see her nurturing side as a caretaker and her angry side as a vigilante. She was capable of being ruthless, if necessary, and had no shame in being so, but there was a key difference between the two: she reserved her aggression for those who couldn't be saved. She planned her moments of lashing out and made sure her wrath was felt by all. It was probably the one side of the doctor that Sesshomaru understood the most. In their short, nightly talks near the stream, he was able to see how Meioshi acknowledged her vulnerability, accepted her past failures, used her emotions as a weapon, and eliminated the danger of having them control her. It was a fascinating but... inspiring process.

Returning his attention to the clan leaders, he merely raised an eyebrow at them before looking at Jaken's work in bringing the demons here. Both clans were able to fill up the estate to full capacity and then some, but they had what they needed in terms of essentials. They had places to sleep, a kitchen to cook, and a medical area for healing. The location of it may have been a little distance away from the woodlands, but they were safest at the estate among the field of flowers. Some little demon children decided to play together in the stream where he and Meioshi talked periodically. Seeing this unity among rivals woke a sense of longing in Sesshomaru that was tucked away. Laughter had sounded from the children that drew the western lord's attention. A pair of children found a few toys left behind to play with. It looked like a ball. One of them had a necklace around his neck, and even though he knew the species and age were different, the youngster's face and body melted away like wax on a candle and he saw Inuyasha. It surprised him, to say the least, because he would've thought about Rin playing with her childlike innocence, but Rin was never his rival.

"Say that you will do better to protect each other," Sesshomaru said quietly, forcing himself to return to reality and shake the image of his young brother from his mind. "If you can stand to live with each other in the woodlands the way you had, you can stand to go a step further and ensure the safety of your people together. Bringing you here was not a gift. This place once belonged to someone who protected innocents and vowed to free them from their injustice for several years. It is her you should thank. Look at this place the way it was meant to be seen: a place of refuge and serenity for the innocent. Disrespect it, and what it represents, and your lives are forfeit. Let's go, Jaken."

"Right away, me lord!" Jaken responded, taking note of Sesshomaru's deadly tone when he spoke his last words to the clan leaders.

Lord Sesshomaru truly has changed for the better, it seems, Jaken thought, looking up at his liege. But I wonder if what he was lecturing about was because of the doctor. Has she truly gained your respect in the time you've known her, my lord? Perhaps this temporary alliance was meant to be the final trial of his late father. Now that he has gained compassion, will his rule over the lands be different? How drastic of a change could that be? I hope those woodland demons will be okay for a while. They won't be able to return home if we can't figure out what's going on in time. What about that other inu who knew my lord? What was he doing getting caught up with that woman from before?

"Are we going back to that rendezvous point, my lord?" Jaken asked, following behind Sesshomaru as he was walking across the soribashi bridge.

"No," Sesshomaru responded, narrowing his eyes. "We're going to a nearby camp north of here. It is similar to a watch tower. I demand to know why that bumbling fool has yet to inform the court about these killings when they happened close to where he is."

"Uh... this... particular creature displeases you, me lord?" Jaken asked, not understanding the sudden bout of annoyance Sesshomaru was exhibiting.

"Lord Sessho~mar~u!" a voice sang out with howling in between.

This earned the "bumbling fool" quite a few smacks versus the one with Jaken if he sang the Western lord's name aloud. Jaken merely said with understanding in his eyes, "I know the feeling..."

The watch tower was by far one of the most interesting places Jaken had seen. It was a wonder why they never visited this place before for information, but the imp supposed Lord Sesshomaru had similar hostility towards it as he did the stronghold of the House of Inu. Although from the looks of things, Sesshomaru seemed to be more annoyed at the master of the watch tower than the place itself. After Sesshomaru caught the scent of burning sand, he took flight with Jaken in tow. The imp tried to ask questions about the watch tower, but Sesshomaru kept blowing it off as unimportant information, which usually meant that this was going to be a one-time visit. That left Jaken simply enjoying the view from the Moko Moko. So much for that bout of compassion from earlier. At least the trip there was quite nice. Flying above seas of trees and brush, the two were getting closer to the beachfront. He could smell the salty waters when they approached it along with that burning sand smell.

As it turned out, the burning sand was a glassmaker's doing. Bubbles of colorful glass shapes and varying sizes either floated in the air or floated in the waters of the sea. Reflections of boats, birds, or fish danced across the glass spheres. The beach waters weren't the typical sapphire blues to peaceful greens. They were rosier in color where green would typically be and more orange to vermillion in color where blue would normally be. No blood or magic was involved in the beach's rosy appearance. It was a natural color. The glassmaker was a lanky demon that was almost all mouth and hands. It had tiny feet like chicken paws and barnacles and coral bunches growing on its back and arms. Its skin was a vibrant yellow that collected bits of green algae in corners. The tower was positioned on a cliff overlooking the beach, but, at the bottom, was the entryway into the tower. Two openings could be seen from the high altitude. When Sesshomaru landed, the glassblower didn't greet them immediately as he was preoccupied with making dotted orange and yellow glass. It wasn't until he placed his creation onto what could only be described as an ornately-shaped chandelier that it waved its large claw in greeting before returning to its work. When they entered the watch tower's entryway, Jaken marveled at the tower's eye floating above all. It had glass spheres rapidly orbiting around it before it blinked, widened, and shrunk its pupil down to merely a dot. A wave of yoki energy covered the tower from tip to base before it reversed to the eye again. The balcony just below the eye housed the master of the watch tower.

Unfortunately, the master of the watch tower must've known they were coming because they only made it to the first floor of the tower at the top of the stairs by the time Sesshomaru was greeted with a song. Jaken marveled at the stairway leading to the inside of the tower. The walls were made of water and served as a bridge for flying squid to leap out from one side to the other. Once they reached the first floor, it was a tiered area with another set of stairs spiraling to a couple of floors up to the top. The center of the floor looked more like a lounging area as it held a table with seating pillows around it. The bumbling fool that greeted them, however, was a robust Nautilus demon. Its skin was a lovely pale blue with colorful, reflective red eyes and a perfectly rounded belly. He had one humanoid hand holding a trident and a claw serving as a main weapon for defense potentially given the size of it. Its cheekbones and shoulders were covered in what looked like a hard shell, and its loin cloth seemed to be made of prawn legs and seaweed. Judging from his personality, though, he was quite jovial and loved to sing.

"What was that for?" the fool asked, rubbing his head covered in lumps.

"Silence, oaf," Sesshomaru hissed, narrowing his eyes at the creature. "Why have you remained silent on recent events, Okakura?"

Okakura smiled brightly, showing a row of teeth similar in structure to an otter's teeth, and replied, "Well, I've been so fascinated by other things, my lord."

"What the hell is more important than demons being wrongfully killed, oaf?" Sesshomaru questioned, temper rising.

"That was actually quite interesting if I had to be most honest, my lord," Okakura replied, eyes glittering like an excited child. "You performed beautifully in saving those demons! I actually wanted to cry, but my tear ducts don't exist! And, I'm afraid I took a greater interest in the oni that have begun to move."

"Oni?" Sesshomaru questioned, furrowing his brow. "Lives were lost and/or possessed by Netherworld demons and the only thing you cared about was the movement of a few other bumbling fools?"

"Ah, but you see, that's not the interesting part," Okakura said, lifting a finger to emphasize his point. "It's not just a few oni. It's all of the oni from the living world and hell itself. They're on a hunt for something. What happened to the citizens of the Mujina Woodlands and a few inu was a tragedy, but - "

"Wait, what do you mean 'few inu'? More was involved there?" Jaken asked, unfolding his arms.

"Why, yes. Didn't the court tell you?" Okakura asked, raising a brow with some confusion. "A few of my lord's kind have gone missing. Something may have stopped the alleged kidnapper from taking more victims, but the fact remains that other inu have been reported missing. I suppose your court sent another to investigate that. It happened after the oni started moving. That's why I focused on that. I wondered if maybe they were the root cause of all this."

"What are the oni hunting for?" Jaken asked.

"That's where I'm lost," the Nautilus demon responded, angling his trident to point at Jaken before returning it to an upright position. "It's an atypical kind of prey whatever it is, and I can't tell if it's linked to all of these events or not. Even the disturbance from the Netherworld confuses me."

A melodious bell rang, silencing the men, until the visitor's scent tiptoed into the room. Jaken didn't recognize the visitor, but a delighted Okakura and a furious Sesshomaru knew who the person was. Preparing to run out of the tower altogether, Sesshomaru took a step right as the door opened to reveal a young woman. She was dressed in a pink kimono that was mixed with sheer and lace fabrics. Her figure was slender, her lips colored a baby pink, and her eyes lined with kohl to make her yellow and blue eyes pop. She bore the crescent moon on her forehead and gold whisker lines on her cheeks. Her hair was unique in and of itself. Instead of the white locks that Sesshomaru was known for, she had spotted locks of a grayish-blue and black pattern. Her hair was also cut into an asymmetrical bob.

Her eyes sparkled at seeing a dominant figure of her past and she whispered, "L-lord Sesshomaru? What are you doing here?"

"Ah, Lady Homugi, how are you?" Okakura greeted, smiling cheerfully.

"Hello, Okakura," Homugi greeted, bowing politely. "Is Lord Sesshomaru here to investigate the missing inu, too?"

"Ah, were you the one the court sent to look into that?" Jaken asked. "How do you know of my lord?"

"Oh, well, I, uh..." Homugi replied, blushing a bit and averting the attention by looking elsewhere. "Knew him as a child, so to speak. I didn't know he was coming here."

"Not a problem, my dear," Okakura said, waving a hand to encourage her to approach him. "Have you found a clue to it all? Lord Sesshomaru was sent elsewhere to investigate another problem."

Shaking her head violently, Homugi refocused her attention to say, "Yes! I noticed that some puppets or things that looked like them were in the homes of the missing inu. Ones that were placed in different locations like the bedrooms, playrooms, or kitchens. The puppets are completely gray with no distinctive facial features. The bodies are the only things well-defined. You can hear the insides of these puppets filled with what sounds like rocks. I don't quite understand it. Were the puppets meant to be decoys in some way?"

"That's a strong possibility. Since the situation in the Mujina Woodlands is under control now, why don't you work with Lord Sesshomaru to put the pieces together? These events are connected whether we like it or not. Once Lord Sesshomaru quelled the rally, things seemed to calm down more. The only thing of great puzzlement now is the oni migration. If the inu are being replaced with puppets, the kidnapper must be harboring them somewhere. Perhaps you can try to find it," Okakura suggested.

Sesshomaru took a long, deep breath before closing his eyes and tilting his head upwards to the ceiling. Jaken took note that he was not at all thrilled at having Homugi joining them briefly, but he also didn't understand why Sesshomaru didn't tell them about Rakuyama and that rogue inu that attacked them. Was he trying to keep that information a secret for a reason?