Chapter 24: Birds Of A Feather
Once Sesshomaru was informed that Naraku had an heir, one last incarnation that was roaming about and openly declaring to be his enemy he had taken matters into his own hands going off to investigate on his own and to hopefully silence this so called heir of Naraku for good. He didn't like to fight battles that had already been won twice. This situation had annoyed him the very moment that it was brought to his attention as he knew that he had absolutely nothing to gain from this fight.
The start of Sesshomaru's travels had been uneventful. He had come across two devastated villages that had been touched by the son of the demon Naraku who was now calling himself Onigumo. From what Sesshomaru had witnessed he thought that this new enemy Onigumo was pathetic. He left nothing but the corpses of weak targets in his wake and Sesshomaru had better things to do other than to chase a mediocre demon like him. If it weren't for his family he wouldn't have even bothered with investigating on his own but after the incident with Zero over 14 years ago he was determined not to let history repeat itself.
Most of the people who had lived in both villages that Onigumo had attacked had perished not just from Onigumo's actions but also because the demon Onigumo had let other demons that he was in league with ravage about the land after he was done.
Sesshoumaru had arrived at the second location of Onigumo's attacks a day before Inuyasha and his friends did.
When Sesshomaru arrived to the ghost like village he silently walked through the town to merely observe what had happened and to see if he could find any evidence to where this demon that was related to Naraku was going next, Jaken was with him too walking a few paces behind him in silence to Sesshomaru's surprise but the dog demon wasn't complaining. He enjoyed the silence.
As Sesshomaru openly walked through the village silently daring Onigumo to come out and fight him if he were anywhere near. He quickly realized that the person that he was looking for had already long fled the scene of all of this devastation. So this was yet another pointless excursion.
Onigumo had already long left this place so all that Sesshomaru's presence here had accomplished was scaring the humans that had survived in the aftermath of the attacks even when Sesshomaru had quickly killed a weak demon that was still lurking in the village because it had dared to attack him. This only further frightened the remaining humans but they were of no concern to Sesshomaru so he decided not to stick around for much longer.
Saving the lives of humans had never been a concern or a priority of his. Sesshomaru could count the number of people that he cared about with his hands. If it didn't involve any of those people then it frankly wasn't his business and if there was no opponent for him to fight this time then he saw no need to remain in this devastated place that his half brother would be coming to soon.
Sesshomaru went back to his family after this. He had expected to talk to his daughters about finally leaving the human village that they had grown up in now that they were old enough to take care of themselves.
When the girls were 3 he and Rin had decided that it would be better to raise the two of them in a human village after she and his daughters had been attacked by Zero one night but now his daughters didn't need to hide behind himself or Inuyasha, they were both strong enough to survive out here on their own and to finally learn from him what it meant to be the bold of a great dog demon.
Sesshomaru was ready to have this talk with his girls but when he returned to their village he found only his wife in their home. She explained everything to him.
"So while I was away, the girls met the heir of Naraku and decided that they wanted to go after him themselves because they're "friends.". Sesshomaru questioned as if he wasn't hearing what she was saying correctly and Rin nodded.
He immediately turned to leave.
"Wait!" Rin grabbed onto his sleeves. "The girls were really sure about this and they were hurt that no one had told them about Naraku before." Rin said.
"The past is of no concern to them. Especially when it involves dead demons that they will never know." Sesshomaru told her.
"Maybe the past doesn't concern them but when it shows up in front of them that's a different story." Rin told him.
"And you just let them go?" Sesshomaru asked as he turned to face her again. "You could have told them no."
"Sesshomaru what did we just talk about before you left, they're 17 even if I had said no if they still wanted to go we both know that I couldn't have stopped them." Rin said.
"I could have stopped them." He stated frankly.
"You weren't here." Rin told her husband and she thought that that was a good thing but didn't voice that thought to her husband because she needed to make Sesshomaru see reason if the girls had decided that they could stop their friend without killing him.
"Besides, didn't we just agree that the girls were adults now and could decide if they wanted to leave the village or not?" Rin asked.
"They can leave but only on my terms, that way they won't get themselves into stupid situations. Did I not just rescue our oldest girl from a snake demon a few months ago?" Sesshomaru sighed.
Towa was so stubborn he thought as his head began to hurt just recalling that whole situation.
Rin smiled. "She's so much like you, rushing into things head first without much thought."
"You are not humoring me Rin." Sesshomaru said, annoyed.
"Awe come on, they're your daughters. They'll be just fine." Rin said with empathy she could tell that Sesshomaru was worried about the girls even if he wasn't showing it. She just knew him. "The girls didn't leave alone, they went with their cousin and Hisui. So much has happened since you've been gone. I wasn't expecting it. Did you know that our Setsuna wants to be married to the son of the monk and the demon slayer that traveled with Inuyasha? I found out because Setsuna and Hisui had fallen asleep next to each other by the bone eaters well a few nights before they left and they were out all night." Rin said.
Sesshomaru gripped the hilt of his sword. "I didn't know that they had that kind of relationship. I'll kill him before I kill Onigumo." Sesshomaru said seriously.
"Sesshomaru, my love you can't do that, none of the girls would ever speak to you again. They're all so close." Rin smiled.
"Maybe for five years or so but I've got patience, what would a daughter of mine see in an already once engaged human boy? If he wasn't good enough for a village Princess then what makes him think that he's good enough for my daughter?" Sesshomaru sighed again, having kids was the biggest stress of his life. "I'll take care of this so don't worry." He added.
Being a father was truly exhausting.
"No, I think that you should wait for Setsuna to talk to you about him first. He makes her really happy and the kids should be back home soon. The two of us should go on a trip together while we wait. Wouldn't it be nice to travel again just the two of us for a little bit?" Rin asked.
Sesshomaru just stood silently for a few moments as he thought over everything that Rin had just told him and he let his wife get closer to him before he pulled her into a tight embrace.
He always longed to be near her and this closeness was almost enough to make him forget what he had been the most annoyed by. He would love for the two of them to have some time alone together but if he allowed himself to get distracted the girls might get themselves into trouble even if they were with their cousin and the demon slayer boy.
"I won't kill the demon slayer boy." Sesshomaru said reluctantly as he held Rin and she smiled as she melted more into Sesshomaru's hug.
"Right away…" Sesshomaru added.
Run sighed into his chest in response before pulling away and Sesshomaru let her go.
"You said that Inuyasha's daughter is with them too? Something tells me that this is on her whim. Hers or Towa's." Sesshomaru added.
"Hmm." Rin thought. "You know what, I didn't ask but I'm sure that one of the two probably did decide this and the others followed along." Rin said and Sesshomaru shut his eyes briefly as he thought for a short second.
This had to be on the whim of Inuyasha's daughter. Sesshomaru thought. He hoped that he wasn't going to have to save Towa twice because of her own choices, he silently hoped that his daughters were just following along with this one this time.
"Hey." Rin said as she grabbed his hand and pulled Sesshomaru's mind back to what was in front of him. "I'm getting tired let's go to bed together and talk more about this in the morning." She asked her husband.
Sesshomaru placed one of his hands on her face, feeling the warmth of her cheek in his palm and her other hand reached up to hold his hand over her face.
"Fine, I'll stay here for a night or two but then I'm going to go get our daughters back."
"Do you want me to come with you?" She asked.
Sesshomaru kissed her forehead pressing his lips to the top of her head for a long while before answering. "Rin, I love you but I'd prefer not to risk your life along with the girls." He held her face in both of his hands now as he looked into her brown eyes as he continued to speak. "If you can stand to stay here until I get back I promise that I will return with both of our daughters safe and then we won't need to take such long breaks away from each other anymore."
Rin pressed her lips to his telling him everything that he needed to know with her actions before slightly pulling away from his lips and opening her eyes to look into his golden gaze.
"I trust that our daughters will be fine on their own but I also understand that you worry for them just like you worry for me so I'll stay behind just this once okay. I'm really looking forward to when we won't have to be separate like this anymore." Rin said seriously.
"Once I bring the girls home things will be different." Sesshomaru said. "I do worry about our daughters but they were raised by a strong mother so I'm sure that they won't let their cousin drag them into too many dangerous situations."
Rin smiled at her husband. He was always like this when they were alone. He always made it known how much he cared for her. "Should we go to bed now?" She asked and Sesshomaru nodded.
After much more than two days with Rin. Sesshomaru had been able to think the situation through some more before he went on his way to find Towa and Setsuna until he unintentionally met back up with Inuyasha and his wife as they were looking for their daughter too.
The two of them had heard of a group of half demons that had been spotted in one direction while Sesshomaru had been told about a spotting of half demon girls in another direction. There weren't too many formidable, half demons just roaming about and Sesshomaru was sure that he had been told the correct information. Inuyasha was probably just chasing his own tail Sesshomaru had thought so he paid what his half brother had told him no mind and followed his own lead while Inuyasha and his wife followed the other.
Sesshomaru was very annoyed to find that it was in fact him who had been told wrong.
In his search after passing by Inuyasha, Sesshomaru came across two half demon girls that had destroyed an entire human army.
Corpses littered the space around them and right in the middle were two girl that looked no older than his own daughters.
One of the girls had golden eyes and long red hair that was braided down in one long braid behind her back and the other half demon girl had mid length lavender hair and eyes.
Sesshomaru stared at them as they spoke but he didn't hear a thing that the red headed demon said to him. He was just mad that Inuyasha had ended up going the correct way and not him. Sesshomaru moved to walk by the girls, deciding to leave them be.
The girls didn't seem much older than his own daughters. Maybe that was why though he was annoyed, he hadn't planned on killing them. Sesshomaru was going to let the girls live until the red haired fire demon attempted to burn him.
He quickly showed her why that had been a bad idea as he shook off her flames with one wave of his sword before immediately moving to kill the girl.
All of the color had left the girls face as he was in front of her in an instant with his sword at her neck, but the lavender haired girl immediately bowed her head in apology before pulling friends far enough from his blade so that she could push her head down too as she begged for both of their lives. So he let the two of them live.
After that, Sesshomaru turned around to go the way that Inuyasha had been headed.
At least Inuyasha would have killed Onigumo by now and would be bringing the girls home but to Sesshomaru's surprise when he saw Inuyasha again him and his wife alone and less than a day's trip away from their village.
Sesshomaru landed from the sky in front of Inuyasha and Kagome.
"Inuyasha, where are my daughters?" Sesshomaru asked in disbelief. How the two of them were returning empty handed, Sesshomaru did not understand.
"We were going to make them come home but after talking to them about everything we decided to let them do what they want. You shouldn't worry about Naraku's heir, the kid is their friend." Inuyasha said the last part bitterly.
Sesshomaru sighed as he looked at Inuyasha, with a mix of disgust and disappointment. "You are as incompetent as ever." Sesshomaru said before flying off immediately to finally finish the job himself.
"You're not just going to let him go like that are you?" Kagome asked her husband and he shrugged.
"He won't kill the kid if he sees that his daughters like him." Inuyasha told her.
"Do you really believe that?" Kagome asked.
"I do, because like me he really loves his children. Even if he acts like he's too tough to show it." Inuyasha told her. "Him and I don't have much in common but he loves his daughters the same way that I love mine."
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Now here Sesshomaru was across from his daughters and his niece as they stood right beside Naraku's last remnant of this world.
His daughters were in front of him next to the demon slayer boy while his niece was standing right beside the heir of Naraku and a wolf demon boy. The teens all looked at him as if they were confused by his words.
There should be no confusion, he had spoken clearly.
"Father, what are you talking about?" Towa asked, confused while Setsuna kept a serious expression and Moroha looked just as confused as Towa did.
"Why Inuyasha did not rid you of the last of Naraku's vile incarnations? I have no idea but I will remedy this now. I'll ask you girls one last time. Step aside." He ordered again.
"So you're here to kill Yuki, have you spoken to Uncle at all? He doesn't see him as a threat in the slightest." Setsuna told her father.
"It's true, my parents both gave me their blessing to continue traveling with Yuki." Moroha said.
"Your father's incompetent lack of better judgment is none of my concern at the moment. I refuse to allow any blood of mine to continue on with the likes of him any longer. You all can continue to go about your travels as you see fit but the life of that boy ends today." Sesshomaru said seriously.
"No! You can't just show up out of nowhere and threaten our friends! I'm not letting you take a single step closer to Yuki." Towa said.
"Towa don't be ridiculous." Her father said, annoyed maybe he should have brought Rin along to get them to see reason.
"You're being ridiculous." Setsuna said. "You don't know anything about Yuki and you're demanding that we step aside and let you kill him?" Setsuna questioned skeptically.
"That is what I said yes. Assuming that Yuki is Onigumo." Sesshomaru said.
"That's correct, he goes by Yuki." Moroha told him.
"Doesn't matter what his name is, he said that he was out for our family's blood so I'll spill his." Sesshomaru told her and the girls as well as Hisui all exchanged looks with one another.
Towa hadn't moved from a fighting stance since she had claimed that she wouldn't let her dad take a step closer to Yuki and he was looking at them as if he were dealing with spoiled children. He would see no reason.
"If you want to kill Yuki then you'll have to fight all of us." Setsuna told him, deciding that she had no choice other than to follow Towa's lead.
"I won't go easy on you either Uncle. Can't we just talk about this? He's really not who you think he is." Moroha pleaded now too.
Sesshomaru looked at them as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing now before briefly closing his eyes and touching the bridge of his nose for less than 10 seconds.
The girls could have swore that they even heard a small laugh escape from his lips at their challenge.
"The three of you plan on fighting me? You're no match, is this how Naraku's fearful heir fights not with swords but from behind the blades of children?" Sesshomaru asked.
"Girls, you don't have to fight him on my behalf. I started this so I'll handle it, if I end up dead that's my own fault for starting this fight." Yuki told his friends.
"No!" Moroha grabbed his wrist immediately and with a tight grip too, as if she were afraid that Yuki might actually step forward and fight Sesshomaru.
"That is a terrible idea! He will kill you in seconds." Towa told Yuki.
"Yeah just shut up and let us handle this."Setsuna said, scolding Yuki as well.
"What they said." Jade added. "You're my friend so if he tries to kill you then I'll have to fight too and I'd like to avoid that if we can." Jade said to Yuki. Sesshomaru's demonic aura felt even stronger than Corvus's had so Jade was not looking forward to this potential fight at all.
Donguri, the little fox demon that they had just agreed to help, looked utterly terrified as he silently clung onto Moroha's shoulder and watched everything happen.
"Lord Sesshomaru, please reconsider your thoughts about Yuki since we've been traveling together. He has been nothing but an admirable friend and ally to us." Hisui told him.
"Your words will not dull my blade." Sesshomaru said as he pulled out Bakusaiga.
It would seem that Hisui's words had actually done the opposite of what they had hoped for and the teens knew that they needed to think fast now.
"I'm done with words if the 6 of you intend to fight me together then so be it, just know that I can not ensure the safety of anyone whom I do not share blood with." Sesshomaru said cold and began to walk towards them now.
"So what's the plan?" Jade asked Hisui immediately.
"Well this is something that I actually hadn't planned for." Hisui said nervously.
His prophecy from Tora had claimed that he would die at the hands of a powerful demon. He just hadn't expected it to be Towa and Setsuna's father.
"Kilala." Moroha said already a step ahead of Hisui and Kilala got bigger.
"There really aren't any other options. Yuki, you and Moroha go with Kilala and Donguri and the rest of us will stay and fight Sesshomaru." Hisui said.
"What!?" Both Jade and Yuki asked, shocked.
Right as Sesshomaru sent a wave of demon energy their way.
Yuki hastily summoned his barrier that just barely was able to withstand the powerful attack.
"What about surviving together like we had said before!?" Yuki asked as another attack came their way and he felt his barrier being weakened.
"No time to talk, let's get out of here!" Moroha said as she grabbed Yuki and pulled him and Donguri onto Kilala before taking to the sky before another attack could come their way.
Sesshomaru immediately went to follow the two of them, his heel barely lifted from the ground before Setsuna used her cyclone burst attack on him.
"Towa, Setsuna, this is uncalled for. The three of you girls won't die like the others but I can't guarantee that you won't get hurt." Sesshomaru said.
"We're being uncalled for?" Setsuna repeated.
"Nice to know father because I can't make any promises about your well being either." Towa said boldly before rushing towards Sesshomaru.
She summoned her blue energy weapon and slashed fast at Sesshomaru.
She slashed her weapon quick and with tact as she knew that she stood no chance if she acted predictably. Her father only countered her blows with his blade and she gritt her teeth at not being able to force him to take this fight seriously.
Setsuna jumped in next right as her father moved to strike Towa decisively.
He looked at his daughters annoyed.
He might have seemed serious about hurting them but he definitely was moving more cautiously.
Towa moved to attack him again right as Setsuna moved out of her way to clear an opening for attack for her sister.
Sesshomaru smiled at Towa as he blocked this clever move that his girls were trying to pull off. Towa looked at him annoyed now as she tried but failed to over power him as their blades clashed.
"Take me seriously!" Towa yelled as she gave up on trying to over power his blade and jumped back from him while sending a wave of blue energy his way.
Sesshomaru cut straight through her attack before moving faster than both she or Setsuna could keep up with and closing in to knock her unconscious as her eyes got bigger once she realized what he was doing but it was already too late Towa couldn't get out of the way.
"I'm proud of how strong you've gotten." Sesshomaru said right before he moved the butt of his blade down in one motion to knock her out and Towa braced herself angrily squeezing her eyes shut but Jade tackled Towa out of the way and onto the ground to safety just in time to the surprise of both Towa and her father.
Sesshomaru attacked Jade next.
Jade moved while trying to keep Towa safe. First rolling out of the range of Sesshomaru's attack as Sesshomaru moved with insane speed and then Jade attempting to stand with Towa to get the two of them to a better position to try and counter but Sesshomaru was too fast and he knocked both Jade and Towa through multiple tree before moving to swing his blade in that direction again only to be blocked by Setsuna who held her weapon out in front of her signaling that she would be taking over before Sesshomaru could attack Jade and Towa again.
Sesshomaru was already growing tired of this so he decided that he would hurry things along now.
"Your mother told me about the demon slayer boy." Sesshomaru told his daughter.
This should make things go quicker, he thought to himself.
"What do you care about that?" Setsuna asked as she stayed firm in her stance.
"I don't care for him but don't you think that you should take better care of him in the middle of a fight like this?" Sesshomaru asked her.
"What are you?" Setsuna started to say right as Sesshomaru put his sword away and moved from infront of her and went straight for Hisui at the same speed that he had used to trip Towa up just moments ago. Setsuna could barely keep up with him as it looked like he was going in straight for the kill on Hisui and she moved with urgency as his poison claws were just inches from being buried deep into Hisui's chest and she felt her heart stop.
Sesshomaru turned to her right before he could deal the finishing blow to Hisui. She was right behind him in moments but she was so disoriented from how fast everything had happened that her mind couldn't keep up anymore and Sesshomaru switched his focus to her in that instant and knocked her hard on the head instead and she fell to the ground unconscious.
"Setsuna!" Hisui said as he caught Setsuna before she could fall.
Everything had just happened so fast too fast.
"Look at how easy you made things. You got Setsuna to throw all common sense to the wind and it wound up getting her knocked out." Sesshomaru stated.
Hisui put Setsuna down gently. Before standing and facing Sesshomaru with his hand on Hiraikotsu.
"I had hoped that we would meet under better circumstances." Hisui said confidently and that surprised Sesshomaru but he wasn't impressed. Hisui was still just a human boy. What did Setsuna even want with him?
"What she sees in you, I don't understand." Sesshomaru told Hisui.
"I don't either at times, but I love Setsuna and I want her to be my wife." Hisui declared proudly.
"Do you think that you'll live past today?" Sesshomaru asked him and Hisui did his best but one hit from Sesshomaru had him out cold too.
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"We've got about 10 minutes tops." Moroha said as soon as she had flown off with Yuki.
"What?" Yuki asked.
"Until he catches up." Moroha said seriously.
"You don't think that they can hold their own against him?" Donguri asked in fear.
Moroha shook her head. "No, they're just buying us time." Donguri you can hide smells can't you?" Moroha asked.
The little fox nodded. "I can but not for more than two people."
"That's fine." Moroha said. "Mask Yuki's scent."
"What about you?" Donguri asked.
"Don't worry about me. I've got a plan." Moroha smiled.
"Which is?" Yuki questioned.
"I'll be safe, you just go with Donguri to wherever you need and then I'll come and find you when this is all over." Moroha said.
"Something tells me that Sesshomaru isn't going to stop looking for me. Let's just go back together. We're a team aren't we? I don't want to runaway while you all fight." Yuki said.
"You can not go back! Just go with Donguri and once my uncle calms down everything will be alright okay? I really don't want to lose you for real this time." Moroha told him and she smelt it, Sesshomaru's scent was getting closer to them and it had only been 6 minutes. She needed to go.
Yuki went to speak again but she cut him off before the words could come out of his mouth.
"Don't you follow me." She told Yuki seriously before she jumped from Kilala's back and fell down into the forest. "Yuki land somewhere and split up from Kilala! He can't catch your scent if you're with Donguri so you'll be okay!" Moroha called as she fell from the sky.
She jumped down into the trees landing on the different branches before she stuck her landing and she was soon on solid ground again.
"I was wondering when you were going to come down from there." Sesshomaru said.
"You can't kill our friend." Moroha told him.
"You kids have known him for less than a year. Why don't you just let me pass so I can get this over with?" Sesshomaru said.
Moroha shook her head.
"My own daughters and the wolf demon boy couldn't even stop me and you're here alone. You won't fare any better than they did." He said.
"I'll take my chances." Moroha said while grabbing her bow as she had a good distance from him.
"Very well." Sesshomaru ran at her and Moroha shot her heavenly arrows his way. He dodged each one of her arrows and she pulled out her sword before he could get closer only for him to knock it from her hands almost as soon as she had pulled it out.
"Why can't I smell his scent anymore?" Sesshomaru asked as he looked at her intimidatingly but that was doing anything to scare her at all.
"Who knows." She smiled.
"Moroha." Sesshomaru scolded but he didn't move to hit his unarmed niece. "That kid is a danger to all of you." He scolded.
"Father, he's our friend!" Towa said from behind him looks like she had caught up to him.
The wolf demon boy along with the other two that he had knocked unconscious were not too far behind her too, somehow they were both awake now.
"You just don't know him, he's changed he really has. I would have been the first to kill him if I needed to and Yuki knows that." Setsuna said.
Sesshomaru grabbed Moroha by the front of her cape and pulled her off the ground before throwing her aside.
"Well this is annoying." Sesshomaru sighed. Maybe he would actually have to kill these kids.
"Yeah, I think that this is enough." Yuki said as he came out.
"Yuki!" Moroha said with wide eyes.
"I'm sorry guys but I couldn't run away, thank you all for showing me how much you care about me living, but running away while you all fight as hard as you can for my sake just isn't my style. I don't want to cause a rift between you and your dad Towa and Setsuna." Yuki said seriously.
He had never imagined that he would have friends that would fight for him unconditionally but he couldn't leave them to fight for him while he ran away. He just couldn't bring himself to leave them behind even if they asked him to.
"Well at least you're no coward." Sesshomaru said before going straight for Yuki and this time no one could help him in time.
Yuki took out his blades and moved to fight Sesshomaru but the dog demon just punched him dead center in the middle of his face before he could even move and Yuki fell back onto the ground.
"I can easily kill you at any time that I want so you better not give those three any reasons to want you dead if you plan to continue living." Sesshomaru told Yuki seriously.
Yuki sat up from his place on the ground. "I promise to never upset any of them. Ever." Yuki said as he added the last part.
"You're not killing him?!" Towa gasped and she smiled.
"Lord Sesshomaru only wished to see for himself if he needed to take matters to his own hands." Jaken said as he flew down from the sky on A-un.
"You know a conversation could have gone just as well." Setsuna said, annoyed.
"Setsuna, what do you see in this human boy?" Sesshomaru immediately questioned.
"Father, you can't just ask me that." She said embarrassed.
"Why not? He so boldly declared to me today that he wants you to be his wife."
She looked at Hisui annoyed before her features calmed down enough to push her annoyance to the side for a second and answer truthfully. "When I look at Hisui I see the person that I love."
"I see." Was all that her father said.
"Lord Sesshomaru, it would be the greatest honor of my life if you would give me your blessing to marry Setsuna." Hisui asked.
"No." Sesshomaru stated simply and with no thought.
Hisui forze.
"Father!" Setsuna scolded.
"Just not right now, I'll talk about this more later on with your mother." Sesshomaru said.
"Alright." Setsuna agreed.
"Towa you should stay sharp, you've gotten considerably stronger and the dragon scale that you've got hidden around your neck is a once in a lifetime gift. I'm really proud of you." Sesshomaru told her.
"Really?" She asked, unable to hide her surprise and appreciation as his sudden compliment.
"I am." He told her.
"I would expect nothing less from the daughters of lord Sesshomaru." Jaken said.
"And Moroha, do tell me if you're ever knocked down the bone eaters well again. An attack on you girls is not just an attack on you."
Moroha smiled. "Will do uncle."
"I can fight my own battles thank you." Towa said and Sesshomaru turned to walk away from the group as he hid a small smile.
"Lord Sesshomaru is so generous now." Jaken said.
"I'm leaving Jaken no time for your poor comments." Sesshomaru said as he went to leave. He saw no need to stay here any longer and he was not a babysitter so he was going back to his wife.
"Yes my lord." Jaken said before following after Sesshomaru.
Moroha got close to Yuki as Sesshomaru was leaving. Yuki went to speak but his words didn't come out before Moroha pulled him close, wrapping her arms around him in a shaky embrace.
"I told you not to follow me." She said she sounded mad but she didn't let go of him and Yuki paused.
She was still shaking like she had been afraid that he was actually going to die again.
Yuki held her back wrapping his arms around her just as tight. "Did you listen to me when I told you to do the same thing after you left the village?" He asked and she stopped shaking and jerked out of his arms fast before pushing him from her.
"Just listen to me next time, those times before we're different." Moroha scolded with lightly pink cheeks and he tried his best to keep a clear head but she just looked so adorable as all of their friends pretended not to be paying attention to them.
All Yuki could do was nod his head in agreement and the teens went on their way again.
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"I think that I like Moroha's dad better." Jade told Towa once they had resumed traveling to save Donguri's twin.
"Why's that? Mine is cooler and stronger too." Towa smiled.
"I didn't think that I was going to die once when we met Moroha's parents." Jade said.
"Awe come on Jade you lived." Towa teased with a smile.
"Just barely." Jade countered.
"Thank you all for fighting to save me today." Yuki said.
"It didn't feel so good to be on the other side did it?" Moroha scolded. Referring to when Yuki had wanted them all to leave him behind not so long ago but in this case the 5 of them weren't all likely to die.
"No." Yuki shook his head.
"You're our friend of course we were going to fight for you. I'm just glad that dad didn't mean it after all. I didn't want to fight with him just yet." Towa said.
"Just yet?" Donguri questioned.
"One day I'm going to beat him and become stronger than he is." Towa smiled.
"Your family is insane." Donguri said in disbelief and both Towa and Moroha laughed while Setsuna smiled along.
"Hisui, you have got nerves of steel to ask to marry Sesshomaru's daughter." Jade said.
"But he said no." Hisui said disappointed.
"He said not right now, but it doesn't matter, I don't need his permission for anything." Setsuna said.
"Hell yeah, just like me." Towa applauded her.
"Not like you, my personal affairs are just none of his concern." Setsuna corrected.
"Whatever." Towa rolled her eyes.
The 7 of them then traveled the few days that it took to get to the demon's camp where Donguri's twin was being held captive.
Soon they walked through a forest that seemed thicker than normal and fewer specs of sunlight seemed to hit the ground where they all stood. All of the teens could sense the presence of multiple demons here too.
"Are we almost there? Is this the place?" Hisui asked Donguri as he was the only one who was familiar with the area.
Donguri nodded. "We'll have to go up into the trees soon." He said.
"Huh?" Jade asked.
"A bird demon took my twin and he lives in the giant demon's nest in the trees above us." Donguri stated.
"Don't worry we'll get her back." Setsuna told the little fox.
"Thank you." Donguri said.
"Well three of us can go up there on Kilala and then she can fly back down. She just can't carry us all up at once for that long." Hisui said.
"We don't need to split up, there might be a large group of them waiting up there. I can take 3 of you up too." The little fox demon said bravely.
"Really can you fly?" Jade asked him and the little demon nodded before shape shifting.
Hisui, Moroha, and Yuki went up with Kilala while Donguri flew up with Towa, Setsuna, and Jade.
They flew up into the trees and right onto the middle of the large nest house that spanned expansively above the network of trees.
The nests were elaborate and it looked like the demon's nest was home to a great number of bird demons. Up in the trees there was an expansive group of nests that were connected to one another with wooden bridges and long tree branches. Some nests lay open up in the high tree branches and the group could see them clearly while there were also structured nests there as well that were a lot larger and looked more like homes and tree houses up in the trees.
"The demon that took my twin has green feathers and one eye." Donguri told them.
"Well where do you think we should start?" Towa asked Hisui.
Hisui's eyes scanned the area. "We should split off into two groups so that we can cover more ground. This is going to take all night if we stick together with how big this place is.
Two bird demons swooped down on the teens a moment later.
The bird demons were man like but were covered all over in feathers and had monstrous faces.
"It's the little fox again." One of them noticed.
"Should we kill him?" The other asked.
"That's what Cardin said to do if we saw him again."
One of the birds dove down while the other sent shap feather blades that came from his wing's flying their way.
Hisui tossed Hiraikotsu with haste right before Yuki's barrier went up around them protecting the group from the feathered attack.
Hisaikotsu cleanly cut the bird demon who sent the feathers flying in half just as the other hit Yuki's barrier before being taken out by Moroha's arrow.
"Moroha and I shouldn't be a part of the same group since we're the only two that can fight long range like this if we need to." Hisui said.
It shouldn't take more than two hours if that, to cover every possible part of this nest so let's meet back here if none of us find anything." Hisui said.
Jade, Towa, and Hisui went off in one direction together with Kilala while Setsuna, Moroha and Yuki went off in another direction along with Donguri.
"Can either of you smell anything?" Hisui asked.
"Nothing more than I already smelt when we got here." Jade said.
"Same here." Towa said.
"Donguri said that his ability was that he could mask scents and his sister has the ability to create a powerful barrier. I wonder if her abilities are similar to his when it comes to scents too." Hisui said.
The three of them traveled through the wood and straw houses in the trees. They hadn't found much and had been pretty lucky as to not come across any bird demons just yet but soon enough when they were outside and walking across the nest, feet landed behind them and the three turned around fast with their weapons drawn just as a large number of bird demons descended and surrounded them.
"Three things that don't belong but it doesn't look like any of you have the red pearl that we were promised would come from you half demons." One of the birds said.
Donguri was told that we had a red pearl too. Hisui remember that's why he had been stalking them the morning that they met. Hisui didn't like this, who was telling everyone that they had a rainbow pearl?
"Who the hell told you that we've got a rainbow Pearl?" Towa asked menacingly and the birds forze momentarily as her aura changed. It would seem that Towa was thinking the same, Hisui thought.
"That's none of your business." A bird demon with red feathers said.
"Look, we're not here to kill you all." Jade told them. "Tell us where the demon is that killed one fox demon and took a little fox with him a few days back and we'll be on our way. I think that the demon that we're looking for has one eye." Jade added.
"Last I checked there's 15 of us and 3 of you." One of the birds said.
"Well there's a human amongst them and I can smell the silver haired girls halfling blood all the way from here." Another added.
"How about you come closer if you want to talk about the stench of my halfling blood." Towa dared them scarily.
"Cardin would kill us if we surrendered to them." A blue bird demon said as a few of them paused at Towa's words but the majority still wanted to fight.
But Towa, Jade and Hisui had heard enough from the bird demons. Hisui actually started first by hopping onto Kilala and throwing Hiraikotsu right through two bird demons that were flying in the air.
"You'll pay for that human!" One of the birds yelled as he flew at Hisui next and sent sharp feathered blades his way and now all of the demons went to attack them.
Hisui flew up higher to avoid the attack from the feathers and 3 bird demons followed him up and out of the view of Jade and Towa.
A bird demon flew right for Towa and she jumped over another one that was attacking her. She slashed the bird demon that was flying at her before she took care of two more demons that came to attack her before spinning and killing the one that she had just jumped over a second ago.
Jade took out bird demons too as Towa dealt with another one while two more of the bird flew to try and gang up on Towa and Jace while they were occupied with others and did their best to cover each other's blind spots. But Towa and Jade were too skilled to be simply overwhelmed just by the amount of enemies they were fighting them. They were too skilled and they were too strong.
"Do you think that Hisui will be alright?" Jade asked as they fought.
"He knows what he's doing, I wouldn't worry about him." Towa reassured Jade before running at three more of the demons spinning tactically slashing across three of the bird demons then kicking a forth one before pinning him down and placing the butt of her sword horizontally to his neck making it hard for the feathery daemon to breathe.
Towa and Jade had taken out all of the demons that had come at them and very few remained now.
"You were the one who brought up the red pearl." Towa said with a scarily calm voice and the demon looked at her horrified as he looked for other bird demons to come to his rescue.
The remaining demons all tried to attack Towa but there was no getting past Jade and Hisui was flying back down now too. His weapon flew right behind Towa taking out one last enemy before Hisui landed into the trees again next to his friends.
"I asked you a question, didn't I?" Towa spoke as she pressed down even harder on the bird's neck and the demon's neck was turning purple under his feathers from her tight hold.
Towa let out a sigh she was letting her feelings get the better of her right now. So she took a deep breath and Towa let up on her choke hold enough so that the demon could breathe properly enough to speak.
"An auburn haired demon with earrings told us that the 6 half demons with a rainbow pearl would be making their way here soon. The half demon in red will have the pearl he told us. So if we want the last rainbow pearl then we need to isolate her. He had instructed." The bird demon spoke the best that he could.
"Riku." Towa, Jade, and Hisui had all groaned at once.
That description had told them all that they needed to know and Towa loosened her grip more as her anger shifted away from the bird she was holding captive.
The demon that Towa had pinned took this opportunity of Towa's distraction at this realization to cut her with his claws before grabbing her ankle with his foot and flying up fast.
Hisui and Jade moved quick in response but they weren't fast enough as more bird demons flew in and stopped them from following after Towa.
"You just made the last mistake that you'll ever make." Towa threatened the demon as he flew up higher and higher. "Put me down now!" She ordered.
"From how far up do you think you could survive falling from?" The bird asked, clearly reserved to die if it meant that Towa would too.
"If you beg I won't make this last as long." The bird demon added as he continued to fly ever higher.
Towa smirked at the bird demon. She was fearless even now.
She clenched her sword tight in her hands as she summoned her blue balde. If he intended to keep flying up before dropping her to her death then she would stop him right here.
"Don't know, but you'll sooner find out how hard I need to swing my sword in order to claim your life." Towa then swung up fast, cutting through the torso of the bird demon that had carried her off into the sky. His blood splashed through the air and Towa immediately started to fall.
She looked down and it was a lot higher than she had ever been before even when flying on Kilala. This would definitely leave a scratch she thought gravely as she fell fast.
"Got you." She heard right before she felt herself being caught.
Hands were under her knees and behind her shoulders now as she was being carried bridal style in the air and all she could see was the color auburn as her mind caught up with her now that she was no longer falling but was now being held completely still in the air.
"We meet again Princess Towa." Riku smiled charmingly at her.
Towa looked down from where they were in the air ignoring him at first as her thoughts calmed. It still looked so far from where she had been in the trees but even so she quickly wiped the look of shock off of her face.
"I'd prefer if you would drop me." She said seriously.
"And watch you fall to what could possibly be your death?" Riku tightened his grip on her. "What kind of friend would I be if I didn't save you and without an ultimatum remember." He smiled.
"What did I tell you about trying to hurt my cousin for that rainbow pearl?" Towa scolded him angrily.
"I didn't try to hurt her. I simply just told the inquires that the red pearl was being held by a powerful priestess. I've got 6 pearls now and hers is the last that I need but because of my friendship with you I haven't tried to take it by force." Riku said.
Not directly anyway he added in his head.
"Putting a target on her back is just as bad to me if you're going to keep this up then I'll kill you as soon as we get down from here." Towa said seriously.
"Then maybe we should just stay up here then." Riku smiled. "Aren't the clouds pretty from up here? We could even go up higher but you'll have to hold on tight." Riku added as he looked up at the clouds as if he were daydreaming.
Towa looked at him flat for a moment before rolling out of his arms with a smile and Riku moved fast to catch her again as she fell through the air all while he was looking at her as if he feared that he wouldn't get to her in time this time and she just watched as if she knew something that he didn't.
She laughed when he caught her the second time.
"You almost died!" Riku stated.
"But did I die? No, now bring me down already before I fall again." She threatened.
Riku sighed as he held Towa in the sky. "Fine." His smile then returned to his face. "Princess Towa you never cease to surprise me." He said as he started to bring them both down now.
"And you never cease to annoy me. Do you think that my threats are a joke? I mean it when I say that I'll kill you if you hurt my cousin but not just her, any of my friends." Towa warned.
"The opposite really. I believe every word that you say and that's why I want you by my side. I want someone like you to care for me too with such fierceness." Riku said.
Towa looked at Riku for a long moment after he said this, searching his features for any sight that might betray him. He was serious.
"Towa!"
She turned her head and saw that Jade and Hisui were flying towards her on Kilala.
"Looks like our time alone together is coming to an end." Riku said disappointed.
"Let Towa go." Jade ordered Riku who didn't like the sound of Jade ordering him around like that.
"Calm down you half wit wolf. I was merely saving Towa from her fall after she slayed the bird demon that flew up with her. She'd probably be dead if she had needed to wait for the likes of you." Riku said.
"I was doing just fine." Towa lied.
"Okay, She can come with us now." Hisui said cold to Riku.
"You know you two should be a little more grateful to me for saving your friend." Riku said annoyed.
"Those guys are just over the moon can't you tell?" Towa said sarcastically.
"We'll in that case I'll just put you down in the trees like the perfect gentleman I am." Riku said before flying fast away from the others and placing Towa down on the nest below them.
"I didn't like being held hostage by you for so long but thank you for catching me up there." Towa said.
"Always, Princess Towa. I hope to see you again soon." Riku said sincerely.
"I wouldn't hold my breath." Towa told him.
Riku smiled. "A dragon scale should be in your hands. Tora made a perfect choice in choosing you to have his gift." Riku said just as Hisui and Jade landed.
Riku then gave Towa one last goodbye before flying off.
"He was responsible for all of these demons knowing about the rainbow pearl." She told them.
"That rat." Jade scoffed.
"Maybe we should have dealt with him before he could go incentivizing more demons to attack us." Jade said.
Towa shook her head. "We'll worry about him later, let's go find that other fox so we can go home."
XXXX
Moroha, Yuki and Setsuna were far on the opposite side of the large bird demon nest looking for Donguri's twin. They didn't search for long after they had been walking around for a while they ran into what they assessed was Donguri's twin's barrier.
"This sucks!" Donguri said worried and he looked like he was about to cry. "I've never seen anyone break through Cloud's barrier before. I can pass through it freely because her and I share blood but other than that no one can break through unless Cloud herself takes it down."
"Donguri calm down." Setsuna told the little fox.
"Yeah, you've never seen other demons break through her barrier but we're not normal demons." Yuki told him and Moroha smiled.
"Yeah I've got this." Moroha said confidently as she pulled out her bow and pulled an arrow from her back.
Moroha shot a single arrow in front of her and to their surprise it didn't break the barrier completely. Moroha's arrow had just made a hole for them to slip into which the 4 of them did without hesitation but this was still not what the teens had been expecting.
"Damn Yuki looks like a little demon fox is stronger than you, maybe you should ask her for some tips on how to create stronger barriers." Moroha teased him and normally he would have been annoyed at such a comment but he was just glad that she was treating him normally again after he had kissed her. Things recently hadn't been what they were between them and he hated himself for it.
"I just might." Yuki said sarcastically. "Can you imagine me calling someone who is barely bigger than Kilala my master?" Yuki joked, making Moroha laugh and Setsuna smile.
"Cloud is very kind she wouldn't mind helping you out if you asked her nicely." Donguri reassured Yuki and both girls chuckled to themselves.
"Thank you Donguri." Yuki said not having the heart to tell him that he had only been joking.
XXXX
"Cloud, what is this?" Cardin the bird demon with green feathers asked scarily calm as he threw Moroha's arrow down at the little fox demon's feet?
"Um, it looks like an arrow to me? Did you take up archery?" Cloud asked sarcastically.
She missed her brothers and she didn't like it here with the birds. She took almost every opportunity to tell them that she wasn't happy with them too and Cardin the demon who had snatched her and killed her older brother usually would let it slide. But not this time.
Cardin kicked Cloud across the room.
"Do you think it's funny to make my entire clan vulnerable by bringing down your barrier?" Cardin asked with venom in his voice.
Cloud got up slowly as she clenched her side that had been kicked. Most days Cardin didn't hit her even when she spoke to him like that so she wondered what was wrong now.
"I didn't take the barrier down." She said weakly.
"Then what is this that I found within our protected area?" Cardin asked.
Cloud shrugged.
"Do you think that I'm stupid?" Cardin asked. "You keep playing dumb and I'll go and kill that other fox that we let get away."
"No! I'm sorry, I'll make the barrier better I promise." Cloud pleaded.
"I don't know Cloud at first I thought that we had an understanding but now I think that maybe we ought to bring that other fox demon here to teach you a lesson." Cardin said seriously.
An arrow flew through the air and into Cardins left wing.
His eyes widened in that instant as he felt the worst pain of his life as the feathers of his left wing burnt away in sacred light.
"Found you." Moroha smirked at Cardin as he turned to face her before he side eyed Cloud again.
"I didn't, I didn't do—" Cloud started.
"I brought these people here to save you, cloud. They're going to kill him." Donguri said from Setsuna's shoulder and Cloud froze.
"I don't see how these half demons will do you any good but you're all as good as dead for injuring me." Cardin threatened seriously as he pulled out a weapon made of sharp feathers and sent a powerful attack Moroha's way.
Moroha went to counter his attack fast as she pulled out another one of her arrows from her back and used her heavenly arrow barrage attack, forcing the demon to scramble to find cover.
Setsuna ran to Cloud during all of this and got the little fox and her Twin away from the tree house that they had entered and to safety out of the way of the fight while Moroha and Yuki took care of Cardin.
Setsuna was met with three bird demons just as she was leaving cardin's nest and the two fox demons looked horrified as the Rhee demons flew in front of them.
"Step aside and I'll let you keep your lives." Setsuna told them.
"A little girl and two fox demons. I sure am shaking." One of the birds said.
Setsuna didn't give them another chance to speak before she used her burning vermillion attack and the birds couldn't fight off her demon flames as they fell from the trees.
"Are you two okay?" She asked the fox twins.
They nodded.
"Hey cloud, is your barrier still up?" Setsuna asked and she nodded.
"Go ahead and take it down now." Setsuna told her.
"But." Cloud started.
"It's okay cloud, I know that they can really beat Cardin." Donguri reassured which made Cloud reluctantly let the barrier fall.
XXXX
"If you surrender and promise to leave the fox twins alone I'll spare your life." Moroha said.
Cardin emerged up from his cover and went to attack her with what would be one fatal stab.
"Don't make me laugh, I'd rather die than surrender to the likes of trash like you." Cardin spat.
Yuki pulled Moroha close to him as Cardin closed in and Yuki summoned his barrier to protect her. She felt her back pressed against his chest as his arm went over her shoulders and he held her firm next to him. Cardin's weapon broke in half from the impact aginst Yuki's barrier.
"That was the last move that you'll ever make." Yuki said cold.
"You can make a barrier too? Is that how you got in here?" Cardin asked as Yuki let his barrier fall and he and Moroha held up their weapons ready to attack Cardin again.
"No, that was all me." Moroha said proudly.
"What do the three of you care anyway if us bird demons force that fox to make a barrier for us? We haven't done anything to you and we only hunt down humans that wonder into our forest. We could have had a harmonious coexistence if you weren't so naive." Cardin told them. "And if you didn't have a rainbow pearl."
"You rule over others with force and threats, we don't believe in harmony with the likes of evil like you." Moroha said.
"From where I stand it looks like you're the evil one here. Why shouldn't the strong take what's rightfully ours?!" Cardin scream before attacking them again, going to attack Moroha with his sharp claws this time attacking with more urgency and recklessly this time.
If he was going to die he wanted to take her with him.
He slashed at her again and again and she evaded him each time before Yuki dealt the finishing blow to Cardin stabbing straight through him with one of his blades.
"Being strong doesn't mean that the world belongs to you. It means that your choices have the power to either harm or protect. You chose to harm others so that's why you're dead." Yuki said before pulling out his sword from Cardin's chest and slashing through Cardin's body.
"Are you okay? I was trying to let you have this one but I couldn't take his yapping anymore." Yuki told Moroha apologetically.
"I'm fine, I'm not mad at you for not letting me kill him. Are you okay?" Moroha asked Yuki and he nodded.
The two of them put their weapons away and started to walk out of Cardin's tree house.
"I missed fighting beside you." Yuki told her.
"Yeah me too." Moroha smiled.
After finishing off Cardin the teens had decided to take the twins to the village of fox demons that Shippo had told them about a while ago before returning home but not before stopping to see a long time friend of theirs whose village was along their way home.
A.N: Thank you for reading. I started this story a little over a year ago and now it's officially about half way over. Thank you to anyone who's read this far and for the favs and follows. Reviews are welcomed as well, as long as they are constructive or positive. I think that I'll probably write about 20 more chapters or so and that will wrap up this story. I don't have any more chapters finished right now so I'm planning on taking a break from this story for a little bit. When I come back to this story, I hope to be doing weekly updates again. The next chapter will take place where the story started back home at the village. Thank you again for reading.