A/N:. What do you think the special connection is that ties these dreams together for these two? What kind of strange property of dark magic is that? Or maybe it's something else...well, you're about to see, don't worry, I won't make you wait TOO long. :)
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Their arrival at the village was met with the expected welcome, and the expected clamor, and the expected attentions. The first day was spent solely with everyone catching up with each other, Sesshoumaru making his rounds with his new wife and with Rin and with Kaede and with his kin and kith, Inuyasha and Kagome and all the others happy to see him; in truth most of it a perfunctory blur, there was little of any real consequence to relate about the first day. It all seemed ordinary enough and even the night passed in a comfortable normality, such that, not wanting to spoil it prematurely, Sesshoumaru and Shippou left off saying anything to anyone else about their newfound little troublesome and odd secret; they of course would have plenty of time in the next day and night to discuss that with whom it concerned.
Thus it was that on the second night after they arrived, after dinner as night began to fall, Sesshoumaru headed to the hot springs, with Shippou on his heels, and having noticed by now that Shippou had stayed unusually close to his older brother, Inuyasha followed them.
"So," Inuyasha began after about ten minutes of relative silence, the only noise the soft swooshes of them scrubbing themselves, "you two have been awful close since you got here. Did he finally con you into going to the Maboroshi?"
"Never," Sesshoumaru snorted, still amused despite the undercurrent of worry in his brother's cover question.
"Inuyasha, have you been...having strange dreams lately?" Shippou asked quietly.
"No, not really. Well nothing that would interest you," Inuyasha blushed, "sometimes I still dream of those noodles Kagome used to bring...I don't think that counts though. Why do you ask?"
Shippou paused. Sesshoumaru paused. Inuyasha thought about it for a few seconds, then understood.
"You two are both having strange dreams then? About what?"
"Well, maybe it's nothing," Shippou said hastily, "after all, it would be easy to explain as just...you know, those things, Kagome calls them backfla-no, flashbacks. That could explain it too, nothing really-"
Sesshoumaru sighed.
"Nightmares, not dreams. Nightmares of Sou'unga continuing to seek me, to drag me back to Hell. I had thought nothing of it until Shippou told me he'd been seeing my dreams in his own. For me to have these nightmares is...expected. For Shippou to see them is Strange. For you to not see them, while he does, is even stranger. If anybody were likely to share this experience, I'd have thought it would be you, little brother. But for some reason unknown to us, it's Shippou."
"That Is weird," Inuyasha admitted after a somber pause, deciding not to overfocus on the most uncomfortable part, "I'd have thought that too, seeing that Tenseiga and Tetsusaiga were once one and the same sword, and they're connected to the Nether, and we're blood related, that woulda been how I woulda guessed somebody else could see your dreams. But Shippou?" here he frowned, deep in thought. "Yeah. Weird."
"Indeed. So now we must deduce why, and perhaps from our deductions we can learn more about this mystery."
"Maybe we should ask Toutousai and Myouga," Inuyasha murmured, "I mean no offense, Shippou," he turned to look at the kitsune, "but I don't know how you'd have any kind of connection to the Nether or Sesshoumaru that would let you see that."
"None taken," Shippou raised both hands in a gesture of sincerity, "I was wondering the same thing myself. Especially if you Don't see it."
They all pondered for a moment, idly returning to scrubbing themselves in silence as they all turned about thoughts in their own minds, but none of them could even fathom a good answer to that riddle. After a long two hours of bathing, they finally dressed and left, Inuyasha returning to his house, and Sesshoumaru and Shippou going out on a patrol around the village.
Which was to say, they walked around and stared at things idly. The village was well known enough these days that rarely would any kind of youkai or sorceror dare to attack; it was no easy prey for any would-be menace, for sure. Patrolling was mostly just a way to relax the nerves of anxious resident youkai who couldn't sleep or stay still at night, and this was both Sesshoumaru and Shippou right now.
"I haven't slept since just before I caught up to you," Shippou admitted.
"I noticed."
"You haven't either."
"You noticed."
Shippou paused.
"I don't wanna have nightmares again," the fox whispered softly, blushing a bit as he turned his head.
"Me either," Sesshoumaru admitted softly, and Shippou dared not look at his expression.
They continued to walk for a little ways before Sesshoumaru finally spoke again.
"In your visions, Shippou, are you present in the same place as I, or watching from afar through some magical means of viewing?"
"Uhm...both, I guess?" Shippou blinked, "I felt like I was right there, but I was like, watching from above like I was floating in the clouds. And I couldn't get any closer to you when I tried. So it seemed like I was in the same place but actually I was just watching."
"You didn't tell me," Sesshoumaru paused, licking his lips that suddenly felt chapped before he restarted, "you didn't tell me what you saw after he caught me."
"I...Sesshoumaru, it's...probably not important to, to go into detail..."
"If I am to know if you watched the exact dream, or if there are differences, I must ask," Sesshoumaru said quietly.
Shippou sighed, realizing that the question was an emotional one, thinly disguised behind a logical excuse.
"That...that tool he used, to hurt you, he...had it in his claws. I woke up shortly after that," Shippou mumbled, unhappy.
"So you have seen the exact same dream. That must mean something, Shippou," Sesshoumaru huffed, subconsciously laying his hand on Tenseiga.
"But What?" Shippou asked, and there was still no answer that they could conclude.
"Inuyasha's reasoning is sound. We should ask Toutousai and Myouga," Sesshoumaru finally said after a long pause and many steps.
"It's a good place to start," Shippou agreed, "and if that leads nowhere...we'll have to ask your Mother."
"Shhh, you'll jynx it," Sesshoumaru shushed him, and Shippou giggled despite himself.
"I think I already did."
"Damnable nogitsune," Sesshoumaru spat out the words with a completely insincere tone of insult, and the fox chuckled more.
They spent the rest of the night wandering the outskirts of the village together, but mostly quietly; a few casual exchanges here and there aside, they were relatively silent until shortly after dawn, informing the others they'd be taking off. Leaving Jaken to stay with Rin and Kagura, Sesshoumaru gestured for Ah-Un to carry Shippou as they headed to leave.
"We'll be back soon," Shippou waved reassuringly as they sped off, and though the others were curious at this unexpected journey, Inuyasha would not tell their secret just yet, merely saying that it was a Youkai Thing and that they would find out what they needed to know soon.
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So Sesshoumaru, Shippou, and Ah-Un flew to Toutousai's forge, which was usually aso the best place to find Myouga when he wasn't on the move; as they drew near, Moumou greeted them cordially, bugling at their arrival.
"Is Toutousai inside?" Shippou asked her, and she mooed loudly, and they understood that to be an affirmative, so went in.
"Toutousai, wake up," Sesshoumaru nudged the old smith with the tip of his boot, "you have company, old man."
"Hn-huh-hwaa-whaaatt?" Toutousai snarfled and stammered himself awake, sitting up with a jolt, "oh, it's you, Sesshoumaru! And Kippou. What're you two doing here, I wonder?"
Shippou didn't even bother to correct any of these old people anymore, just sighing slightly.
Suddenly faced with the question, though, Sesshoumaru balked. He hadn't really thought about how he would react to having to recount this nightmare thing to Toutousai, and though he trusted the old man good and well, it was...a little unnerving, for they'd never been especially, per se, Close.
"Uh, well, you see, Toutousai..." he fumbled for a minute, "there's this thing that's been happening lately..."
"Yeah? Go on," Toutousai prompted.
"I've been having...visions. Nightmares. I'm not sure. I hadn't thought much of them actually, until Shippou...well, he saw my dreams."
"Oh?" Toutousai raised both eyebrows, but then furrowed his brow, "now that's interesting indeed, but what's it got to do with me?"
"Well, the nightmares are about...Sou'unga," Sesshoumaru flinched at even saying the name himself, but for the sake of grace, the other youkai didn't point it out or make a fuss of that, in fact pretending to ignore that flinch entirely.
"Hmm, I see. And has Inuyasha seen these nightmares also?"
"No, that's the really odd part," Shippou finally took up the dialogue, "we figured it would've made more sense if he'd been the one to see the nightmares, because of how Tetsusaiga and Tenseiga are connected to the two of them and their blood and the Nether and all that other stuff, but he wasn't. None of us can figure out why it's me instead of him seeing these things."
"Well, now that is indeed strange," Toutousai agreed, then glancing at his shoulder, "whaddya think, Myouga?"
"Hmm," Myouga piped up from the smith's shoulder, "well, it is indeed a bit of a mystery, isn't it? Let's see now. Let me think."
They all sat there for a few minutes, each turning thoughts around in their head, until Toutousai seemed to have a moment of epiphany, tapping his fist into his palm.
"I've got it," he said, smiling.
"You do?" Shippou leaned in eagerly.
"I'll have roast boar for supper," Toutousai decided, rather proud of himself for the choice too.
"TOUTOUSAI!" Shippou barked, and the old man jumped a bit, startled.
"What? What?" Toutousai blinked at him rapidly, and the others just sighed at him.
"It's no use, Shippou, he's senile," Sesshoumaru rolled his eyes.
"Senile! I'm an elder and I deserve your respect! Why if I were senile, I couldn't tell you that your connection is through a saved soul that changed both your hearts, now could I? Huh! Senile," Toutousai scowled, crossing his arms with Kaenhanma resting in the crook of an elbow.
"Huh?" Myouga, Sesshoumaru, and Shippou all blinked at him in unison and confusion.
"I said what I said and I know it was what I know it was," Toutousai huffed, "and the truth is, it changed you both forever. Tenseiga told me what happened the selfsame day, and it was a great step on the journey to unleashing the Meidou, in fact."
"But...how? And who? A saved soul that changed both our hearts? A step on the path to the Meidou? What are you even talking about?" Shippou grew more confused, though he would feel awful stupid in about two seconds, and so would Sessoumaru, when they were reminded of what they'd forgotten about. Although truth be told it was still obscure enough, they'd probably have never conjectured upon it on their own.
"That youkai you saved together. The beaver," Toutousai frowned, "or well he was something of that nature. A water rat?"
"Oh, Kanta's father!" Shippou gasped, tapping his fist into his palm. "I remember-but how...how does that even have to do with this?"
"Kanta's father?" Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow, still lagging just a few seconds behind the fox's recollection.
"When Hakudoushi was chopping off heads and I was a little runt and the otter youkai died and so I stood in front of you-"
"Oh, oh that one. I recall," Sesshoumaru agreed, but then frowned, "but indeed, how Does that relate to anything now?"
"Don't you see?" Myouga huffed from atop Toutousai's shoulder, "You two Changed each other that day, something Special happened. I recall now that Moumou showed us here at the forge, now that Toutousai mentions it. That was the first time, Shippou, that you dared to be bold enough to be vulnerable and trusting of him, to risk whatever might happen if you stood in his way to beg for your friend's sake. Lord Sesshoumaru, it was the first time somebody stirred your heart into a Purely Selfless use of Tenseiga. The resurrections before that were all somewhat, well I won't say Selfish, but Self-Serving. You brought back Rin because she had cared for you. You brought back Jaken because he cared for you. You partially animated Goshinki's head to restore energy to the fangs for Toukijin. You had used it to defeat the Panther King and to fight other undead enemies. But only after Shippou asked you to restore the otter to life did you swing your blade for a reason which was truly not your own, a reason that offered you nothing to gain," the flea finished.
"But Tenseiga had known that when Hakudoushi-"
"No," Toutousai spoke this time, interrupting with a firm voice full of conviction-which was rare for him, so they stopped to listen, "that was inconsequential. Tenseiga would have remained silent, had your Heart not been Moved. You know it, and I know it, because Tenseiga knows it."
Sesshoumaru stilled, then glancing at Shippou, he actually almost blushed as he spoke quietly.
"I remember now, that when you said...if his Father dies, he will be all alone...I think, I had been too proud back then, and Inuyasha was watching, and I didn't want to have anything to do with him at the time. But Tenseiga knew...you got to me. A little bit."
Shippou smiled, knowing that 'a little bit' translated to 'A Lot' in this context.
"But Shippou," Sesshoumaru asked after a short pause, "what exactly were You afraid of, that you had to be brave to face me?"
"Uhm. Sesshoumaru?" Shippou peered at him more closely, then paused.
"Yes?"
"You're Sesshoumaru."
"I forget that sometimes," and here his tinge of a blush deepened into a noticable flush on his cheeks.
"You were scary."
"I forgot that you ever used to be afraid."
"Well, that's when that started to change," Shippou chuckled, amused at the taiyoukai's reaction to the obvious answer.
"It was more than that, though," Myouga said quite matter-of-factly. "Shippou had been brave before, but it was a greater courage that drove him to appeal to your emotions, at a time when you did not acknowledge them even to yourself so easily. He sought Your Heart when none others among his friends believed you had it, by baring his Own to you. It was his vulnerability that made him strong, and made you reflect on your decision later, am I right?"
This time both Sesshoumaru and Shippou blushed a bit at Myouga's words, unable to really deny any of that.
"So you see, Tenseiga imprinted this memory of Shippou at that time," Toutousai explained, "because his heart touched yours, in a way none other had before. It was unique, and extraordinary, and Tenseiga does not forget."
"Okay, that explains the special connection, but what about this sudden dream sharing thing?" Shippou hurried along the conversation, not wanting to get too embarrassed and mushy.
"Well," Toutousai frowned, "that's harder to tell. I suppose that it's because of the trust it has in you. You showed Sesshoumaru and Tenseiga that you were willing to be vulnerable to save a friend. I guess it values that trait in this matter," the smith murmured, "but beyond that I'm not sure I really know why that's so vital, or why Inuyasha and Tetsusaiga weren't included. That's still strange."
"Well, at least we have a little better idea of what's going on now, I guess," Shippou glanced uneasily at Sesshoumaru, as if to apologize for something he surely hadn't done, "but it only answers one of our questions. How do we figure out the rest?"
"The dreams," Myouga asked quietly, "what are they like?"
Sesshoumaru scowled, but assuming the most dignity he could, he told them most of the details, and Shippou recounted what it had been like for him, and the old men frowned deep in thought after that, and mumbled to themselves for a bit.
"Perhaps," Myouga paused, choosing his words carefully, "perhaps Tenseiga trusts you, Shippou, to...to help heal these bad dreams. Somehow. Maybe you see it because it's calling you for help with the matter specifically."
"I, uh...don't know if I'm qualified," Shippou nearly stammered, raising his hands appeasingly, "it would be presumptuous of me, you know..."
"Tenseiga seems to think otherwise," Toutousai remarked as the Blade of Heaven pulsed softly but noticeably at Sesshoumaru's side.
"I uh..." Shippou gulped, embarrassed, "I wouldn't have the first clue how to...to help with another person's nightmares."
"Hn," Sesshoumaru noised, but rather than the usual stoic look that accompanied that noise, he smirked, but rather than a happy smirk, it was tinged with not only happiness, but sadness also; not only understanding, but confusion; not only acceptance, but resignation, "So, Shippou, you are the one Tenseiga chooses, of all the people I know, to save me from my own restless sleep. Ironic that it should be none of the people I would expect," he said quietly, but meaningfully, and then he extended his hand in a strange gesture nobody understood at first.
"Uh, I uhm, that is..." Shippou looked at Sesshoumaru in confusion, and after the dog raised his eyebrow expectantly, not knowing what else to do, Shippou reached out his own hand.
Sesshoumaru gripped him by the forearm, tightly, and held on for a few seconds, wrists touching and holding the kitsune's gaze until Shippou smiled and gripped his arm back; after a few more seconds they both let go, and it made more sense then-they had made an unspoken pact, it was a sign of trust.
"Well, I'm always up for a challenge," Shippou finally broke the awkward silence with a nervous scratch of his head after a few moments.
"Indeed," Sesshoumaru mused, then glanced at the two old men, "and would there be anything else you need to tell us now?"
"Not that I can think of," Toutousai shrugged, "but you might wanna ask yer Mother about it. She's got a sense of the magics of the Nether better than I ever had."
"You know, we were thinking-"
"We jynxed it," Sesshoumaru sighed, turning to leave in heavy mock disappointment, "and the sooner we get it over with, the sooner we get it over with. If there's nothing left to discuss..."
"Ah, no, I think that's everything," Myouga agreed hastily as Sesshoumaru and Shippou made to leave.
So now the flea deigns to speak to me!
Actually, he wasn't talking to either of us. It's just a noise they use sometimes.
Is it?
It is.
Ah, I knew that.
Ah, I knew you knew.
Shippou climbed on Ah-Un's back as they bid farewell and took to the skies; apparently, it seemed, off to see the Dog Mother after all...
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BET YOU THOUGHT I was gonna be CHEAP and use my own created reason from the Myobu thing I wrote in the previous stories to tie them together. NOPE! I Went with something Otter than that-something Most People didn't piece together about the special connections these two have all over the series until you look Really Close at some things...well, I won't ruin all my own fun by pointing out everything prematurely. But for pointing THIS out to you, you're WELCOME! :D
Review if you want to :)